(Qarnell Ininerattg Sithtarg 3tt|aca. S^etD loth -4 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 TTie date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. ...-itiC...IiOV.2.0.54. HOME USE RULES All Books subject to recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be returned within the four wsek limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Ofr;cer5 should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Vohunes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special pur- ,,„ poses they are given out for u limited time, Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. .^ Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks and writins. 4 Cornell University Library DA 396.A22H65 Narratiye of the attempted escapes of Ch 028 050 940 3% ^\^ A NARRATIVE THE ATTEMPTED ESCAPES CHARLES THE FIRST FROM CARISBROOK CASTLE. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in .tjie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028050940 A NARRATIVE of the Attempted Efcapes OF CHARLES THE FIRST from Carisbrook Caftle, Arid of his Deterition in the IJle of Wight ^ from November, 1647, t° *he feizure of his Person by the Army, at Newport, in November, 1648. INCLUDING THE LETTERS OF THE KING TO COLONEL TITUS, Now firft Deciphered & Printed from the Originals. BY GEORGE HJLLIER. L O N D O N I RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. IM.D.ccc.Lii. ^, y K Is! I: M. ^ UKt|Vl=iu;nY I. II; 1^ A in' I^V^^lsi: London : Imprinted by Harrifon & Son, at The London Gazette Office, in St. Martin's Lane. TO EDWARD S. DENDY, ESQ., ROUGE DRAGON PURSUIVANT OF ARMS AND EARL MARSHAL'S SECRETARY, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. Silas Titus was born at Bufhey, in Hertford- fhire, in 1622, and entered Chriftchurch Col- lege, Oxford, in the year 1637 ; but after con- tinuing about three years in that univerfity, he removed to one of the inns of court, and upon the breaking out of the civil war engaged in the fervice of the Parliament, under whom he held a captain's commiilion. He afterwards efpoufed the royal caufe, being found in attendance upon King Charles the Firft, at Carifbrook, in the year 1648, where the remarkable correfpondence it is the efpecial objedt of this volume to elucidate, was contrived. At the Treaty of Newport, he was again in waiting upon the king, after whofe execution bo. vi IntroduBion. he attended Charles the Second into Scotland, whence, in 165 1, he was defpatched to the queen-mother with fecret inftrudtions* refpeft- ing a propofed marriage of the king with a daughter of the Marquis of Argyle. At the battle of Worcefter he was l^kewife with his majefty, and continued a correfpondence with him during the time of his exile ; whilft at the Treaty of Breda he reprefented the Engliih party, in conjundion with Lord Wil- loughby of Parham, Major-General Maffie, Colonel Richard Graves, and Alderman Bunce. Captain, ultimately Colonel Titus, is however better known to the public as the author of the celebrated pamphlet, " Killing no Murder," which he publifhed in 1657, under the fictitious name of William Allen ; and in it endeavoured to prove that killing the Protector would be both a legal and meritorious aft. Cromwell is faid to have been fo powerfully affeded by the perufal of this publication, as to cause him ever afterwards to become gloomy and fufpicious, feldom fleeping two nights in the fame bed, and invariably carrying fire-arms. Having by fome fecret intelligence difcovered the real author, he * See Appendix. IntroduSlion. vii made the following attempt to fecure his perfon. Underftanding the royalifts were in the habit of holding meetings at a certain tavern in London, he fent an officerj in whofe attachment and fide- lity he placed great confidence, to feize Colonel Titus and Firebrace. The officer ordered his men to halt at the door until he went into the houfe for further information. He there pri- vately afked the landlord whether Titus and Firebrace were within, affuring him that his purpofe was to fave, and not to take away their lives; and going into the room where they were, threw his red cloak over his head, and exclaimed, " if Titus or Firebrace be in the room, let them efcape for their lives this in- ftant." He then returned, and called in the foldiers to take them; but they, heeding his advice, had in the meantime efcaped through the window, and mounting their horfes, pro- ceeded into Scotland, where they joined General Monk.* After the Reftoration, in confideration of the many important fervices he had rendered, Titus was appointed one of the grooms of the * Additions to "Camden's Britannia," by Gough; article " Huntingdon." viii IntroduSiion. bedchamber, and his wife, Catherine Titus, lady of the queen's privy chamber ; whilft as a further recognition, he received an augmentation of his arms, viz. or, upon a chief embattled gu. a lion of England, paflant-guardant or, to be borne by him and his defcendants, quarterly, together with the arms of his family. The grant exprefled that this mark of favour was rendered in confideration, " that in the years 1646, 1647, ^"^^ 1648, he was by our royal father intrufted in his affairs of the greatefl: importance, both in relation to his reftitution and in order to his efcape out of the captivity in which he was held by the rebels, for which he was by them charged with high treafon, and forced to fly beyond the feas. After which, as the higheft teftimony of our royal father's juflice and confidence, he did, even at the time of his execrable murder, and upon the accurfed fcaf- fold, recommend him, the faid Silas Titus and his Angular fidelity, unto us, by the late Arch- bifhop of Canterbury then affifting, who happily lived to declare the fame ; fince when, even unto our happy reftoration, we being as highly fatis- fied with his great prudence, loyalty, and zeal to our fervice, have entrufted and employed him IntroduStion. ix in our moft private affairs and defigns, whereby he was expofed to the greateft dangers, had his eftate confifcated by the rebels, and was, by an aft of theirs, condemned of high treafon; not- withftanding which he croffed the feas in order to our fervice about twenty times; and by his pen and practices againft the then ufurper Oliver, vigoroufly endeavoured the deftruftion of that tyrant and his government. And after our ref- toration (being then a member of Parliament), he did as vigoroufly purfue to juftice the ac- curfed regicides \ and by his motion, the carcafes of Oliver Cromwell, Bradfhaw, and Ireton, were taken up out of our royal chapel at Weftmin- fter, drawn to Tyburn, there hanged, then burned under the gallows, and the heads fet upon Weftminfter Hall; for which, and other his fervices and fufferings, he has three thoufand pounds voted him by the two Houfes of Parlia- ment, in fuch terms as the honour thereof was equal to the gift." After the preparation of the draft from which this extraift is copied, an .alteration in the in- tended grant feems however to have been made by the heralds, as the chief in his coat is not embattled. X IntroduSiion. In 1678 he was elefted member of Parliament for the county of Hertford ; and in the follow- ing year, by oppofing the prerogative on the occafion of Gates' Plot, he loft his place at court. In the year 1681 he was elefted for Hunting- don, and fhowed great zeal in favour of the Bill of Exclufion. The following extempore lines, which formed part of his fpeech in oppofi- tion to the Duke of York's claims, have fince been oftentimes quoted : " 1 hear a lion in the lobby roar. Say, Mr. Speaker, ftiall we ftiut the door ? Or, do you rather choofe to let him in ? But how then fliall we get him out again ?" In November 1687, notwithftanding the pro- minent part he thus played, he procured an introduftion to James the Second, after his ac- ceffion, by William Penn the quaker, and was the following year fworn of the Privy Council, but retired on the abdication of the king. Soon after the revolution, he was elefted to ferve for the borough of Ludlow, in Shropfhire ; and having lived to the age of eighty-four, died in December, 1704^ leaving three daughters, who were never married. IntroduSiton. xi The letters and papers of Colonel Titus, to- gether with his refidence in Bufhey, were in- herited by his defcendant Mrs. Shorte, and as part of her fortune, conveyed by marriage to the Rev. Dr. James Ibbetfon, formerly redlor of Bufhey, by whose reprefentative they have been recently fold to the truftees of the Britifti Mufeum. As defcriptive of that remarkable epoch in the life of Charles the Firft, his incarceration at Carifbrook, the feries of fifteen letters written there by the king to Captain Titus, are invalu- able ; and it having appeared, upon confidera- tion, that many portions of England's hiftory which were of lefs intereft to the general reader than the events to which thefe letters refer, had been more fully chronicled, it was refolved, in connexion with their publication, to colled: into one perfedt whole the many fcattered illuftrations of the Angular incidents attendant on the refi- dence of Charles in the Ifle of Wight. From this determination originated the fol- lowing pages ;* and in offering them to the * I would here acknowledge the valuable advice and kindly co-operation I have received in furtherance of the defign, from John Henry Hearn, Efq. of Newport. xii IntroduBion, public, I would only wifh to remark, that my endeavour has been the rather to prefent an in- terefting fummary of all the recorded fafts I could difcover bearing on the fubjedt, than to produce a felf-opinionated efFufion, perhaps fatis- fadtory neither to myfelf nor my reader. Under thefe circumftances the work has been compiled; and niy only hope is, that the im- menfity of intereft which is attached to all retro- fpeftions of this memorable time, will create for it the little attention which, in a literary point of view, it could not claim, and I have no preten- tion to afk. George Hillier. London, Auguft 185Z. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I, Page The King comes to the Ifle of Wight . . . . i CHAPTER n. Hammond's Proceedings after the King's Arrival — Recep- tion of the Warrants for the Arreft of Afhburnham, Berkeley, and Legg — Interviews of the Parliamentarian and Scottifh Commiffioners with the King, and his Rejeftion of the four Bills — Faffing of the Ordinance of no further Communications with the King — Extrafts from contem- porary Pamphlets — Firft propofed Efcape, and Difmiflal of Afliburnham, Berkeley, Legg, and other Attendants . 2 1 CHAPTER III. Mutiny at Newport — Apprehenfion, Trial, and Execution of Captain Burley — Arrangements of the Royal Houfe- hold, and Habits of the King 59 CHAPTER IV. Condition of the King — Arrangements for the Tranfmiffion of his Correfpondence — Overtures and Services of Captain Titus and others — Firft attempted Efcape — Change of Lodging — and Arrangement for the Reception of Charles in the Quarters of the Chief Officer . . .82 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Page Sir John Bowring's Narrative — Preparations for Second At- tempt to Efcape — Letters to Captain Titus — Difcovery and Fruftration of the Attempt — Accufation againft Major Rolph — Curious proceedings confequent thereon — Trial and Acquittal of Rolph at the Affizes at Winchefter . 127 CHAPTER VI. State of the Kingdom at large — Renewal of Correspon- dence with Captain Titus — A Treaty Propofed by the Parliament, and Accepted by the ^ing — Preparations for the Treaty — The Treaty of Newport . . .213 CHAPTER VII. Deportment of the King during the Treaty — Overtures to Hammond by the Army, and his Recall to Windfor — Seizure of the King by the Army at Newport, and his Removal to Hurft Caftle . . . . . . 273 Appendix : InftruSions received at various times by Colonel Titus from King Charles the Second and Queen Henrietta Maria 321 NARRATIVE OF THE DETENTION OF CHARLES I. IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. CHAPTER I. The King comes to the lile of Wight, The details of the flight of King Charles tht Firft to the Ifle of Wight, in the month of November, 1647, g^^^ ^'^^^ to fo much theore- tical fpeculation, as well as variety of reprefenta- tionsj on the part of nearly all contemporary writers and after commentators, that an endea- vour was made by the late I^ord Afliburnham, in the attempted vindication of his anceftor's reputation in the affair, to unveil much of the obfcurity in which the hlftory of the tranfadion had been concealed; and the interefl which is 2 T^he King comes to attached to. every occurrence connefted with' that difturhed unhappy period of our hiftory, efpecially in connexion with thofe who were in immediate attendance upon the unfortunate monarchj muft ferve therefore as the reafon for bringing the following pages before the public* The king, having a fufpicion that his life Would be endangered if he remained at Hampton Court, where he was then refiding, refolved, after a conference with Sir John Berkeley, and Mr. Aftiburnham and Mr, Legg, grooms of his chambers, to retire from thence to the Ifle of Wight, where he would have an opportunity of fojourning with his tried and right loyal adherent Sir John Oglander,-|- until the feel- ing of Colonel Robert Hammond, who was then governor of the ifland, could be afcer- tained. Early on the evening of the nth of * The principal publiflied authorities fmm which information can be derived relative to the king's refidence in the Ifle of Wight are, Aihburnham's " Narrative," Berkeley's " Memoirs,'' Herbert's "Memoirs," Firebrace's "Narrative," Warvpick's " Memoirs," Cook's " Narrative ;" all attendants on his majefty. Clarendon's " Hiftory of the Rebellion," the various Hiftories of England, Journals of the Houfes of Parliament, Wagftaffe's "Vindication," Ruihworth't " CoUeftions," Mafere's "Trafls," ■ — coUeftion of cotemporary pamphlets, Lingard's " Hiftoi-y," Peck's " Defiderata," Clarendon's " State Papers," &c. &c. &c. * Of Nunwell Houfe, near Brading. the IJle of Wight. 3 November, 1647, after leaving three letters on his bed-room table, addrefled to the Parliament, Colonel Whalley, and Lord Montague, wherein he ftated his reafons for privately withdrawing from the palace, the king accordingly made his way from his apartments, through a door where no guard was fet, into the park unperceived, at once croffed the Thames by means of a boat ready to convey him, and landed at Ditton, where Afhburnham had been previoufly refiding, and where his majefty was received by him. Sir John Berkeley, and Mr. Legg. In their company, he immediately direded his courfe into Hamp- fhire ; but on arriving within twenty miles of the coaft, Charles ordered Mr. Afhburnham and Sir John Berkeley to proceed to the ifland, and afcertain how the Governor would receive him— a command they were relu6tantly compelled to obferve; whilft. he at the fame time, accom- panied only by Mr. Legg, progrefled towards Tichfield Houfe, the refidence of the Earl of Southampton, where, in the abfence of her fon, he was entertained by the old Countefs of that name, during the time his adherents were profecuting their miflion in the Ifle of Wight. B 2 4 The King comes to Colonel Hammond, at this time Governor of the ifland, was the fecond fon of Robert Ham- mond of Chertfey, in Surrey, Efq., elder brother of Dr. Henry Hammond, the eminent divine, and chaplain to the king, and fon of the phy- fician to Prince Henry, Dr. John Hammond, whofe daughter Jane married Sir John Dingley, of the Ifle of Wight. Colonel Hammond was born in the year 1621, entered a commoner of Magdalen Hall, in the Univerfity of Oxford, in the year i St, 2,* and having continued there three years, left the Univerfity without the honour of a degree. Upon the breaking out of the war in 1642, he engaged in arms on the fide of the Parliament, by the perfuafion of his uncle, Thomas Hammond, then captain of horfe, and -afterwards lieutenant-general of the ordnance, by whofe intereft his nephew was made a captain, and then major, under Colonel Edward Mafley, during the fiege of Gioucefter. In the courfe of this fiege he killed a Major Gray for giving him the He, when he was ordered to be tried by the .Council of War in the Lord-General's army,f by whom, however, he appears to have been * Dr. Birch, in a note to Hammond's "Letters." f Whitelock, page 106, ed. 1732. the IJle of Wight. 5 acquitted. He was afterwards raifed to the rank of colonel of a regiment of foot, in which he continued until the end of the war ; and on the 6th September, 1647, by an ordinance of both Houfes of Parliament,* was appointed " Captain and Governor of the Ifle of Wight, and of all ports, forts, towers, and places of ftrength therein, until the Lords and Commons in Parliament aflembled fliall otherwife order ;" and, on the 9th of the fame month, it was likewife ordered that Mr. Bulkeley and Mr. Lifle, and the reft of the gentlemen that ferve for the Ifle of Wight, do go down with the Governor, for the better fettling him in the government of the faid ifle : it being alfo worthy of remark, that the ordinance contained a claufe, wherein it was ftated that " the faid Colonel Robert Hammond be fubjedt to the commands of Sir Thomas Fairfax, Knight, Commander-in- chief of all the land forces in the kingdom of England, and in the pay of the Parliament," fliowing that, although fubordinate in matters ftridly military, in the civil appointment of Governor he was dependent on the Parliament alone, — a fadt which enables a pofitive inference * Commons' and Lords' "Journals." 6 The King comes to to be drawn of the jealoufy which exifted in the Prefbyterian party of that time relative to the power to which the organifation of the army was then rapidly tending. The king's parting inftrudions to Afhburnham and Berkeley were, that they .fhould carry to Hammond a copy of the letter his majefty had left at Hampton Court, and of two letters fent to him — one by Cromwell,* and the other with only the initials E. R. attached — which laft- named communication contained great appre- henfion and fears of the ill intentions of the levelling party in the army and the city againft his majefty, and ftated that Mr. Dell and Mr. Peters, two of the preachers of the army, would willingly bear company in the defign ; for they had often faid to thefe agitators, " Your majefty is but as a dead dog;" Cromwell's efpecially adding, that in profecution thereof a new guard was the next day to be put upon his majefty of that party. The king's letter exprefled his dif- truft of the diforderly part of the army, and his neceffity thereupon to provide for his own fafety, which he would do fo as not to defert the * See Whalley's Letter to Lenthall, in Peck's "Defideiata Curiofa." the IJle of Wight. 7 ihterefts of the army ; whilft he verbally defired them, at the fame time, to intimate to Ham- mond, that he made choice of him as one in whom he imagined' he could confide, on account of his being a perfon of good extraftion ; and that, although he had declared againft him in the war, he had ftill never fhown any animofity, but, on the contrary, had fpoken in terms of refpedl towards his perfon. His majefty's pur- pofe in fending to him being, that he might not furprife him, and to requeft a promife of protec- tion to the befl: of his power for himfelf and his fervants; and if it fhould happen he had neither the ability nor inclination to forward his defires, that he fhould fufFer thofe by whom he was addrefled to depart freely and unmolefted. Berkeley, however, making rejoinder that he knew nothing of Hammond, and, therefore, could not tell whether he might not detain them in the ifland ; and fhould they not return by the next day, his majefly had better fecure his own efcape, without looking to their fafety. Berke- ley alfo flates in his memoirs, that on his after- wards interrogating Afhburnham concerning his acquaintance with the governor, he elicited that " he knew but little, yet had lately fome dif- -L.c".^ 8 The King comes to courfe with him upon the highways near King- fton {upon Thames), and found him not averfe to his majefty ; but that which made him conceive the beft hope of him was, the charafter Mr. Denham {The Cavalier Poet) and the commen- dations my Lady Ifabella Thynn gave him." On reaching Lymington, the inclemency of the weather prevented them croffing the Solent until the next morning, when they made their way from thence to Carifbrook, arriving there between ten and eleven o'clock; and having learned that Hammond had gone to Newport, to meet fome gentlemen and officers connedted with the ifland, followed and overtook him ; Berkeley, apparently in a moft unfkilful and abrupt manner, at once telling him the king had left Hampton Court, under dread of aflaffi- nation, and was then in the neighbourhood : to which Hammond made anfwer, " that he knew not what courfe to take;"* but having, upon ferious confideration, weighed the great con- cernment that the perfon of the king was of, on this jundion of aifairs, to the fettlement of the peace of the kingdom, refolved it his duty to the king, to the Parliament, and the kingdom, * H ammond's " Letter" in Rulhworth. the IJle of Wight. 9 to ufe the utmoft of his endeavours to preferve his perfon from any fuch horrid attempt, and to bring him to a place of fafety, where he might alfo be in a capacity of anfwering the expecta- tions of Parliament and the kingdom, in agree- ing to fuch things as might extend to the fettle- ment of thofe great divifions and diftradtions which abound in every corner thereof." On this much controverfy enfued, and diftrufl: as to Hammond's charadter evidently fprung up in the minds of both Afhburnham and Berkeley ; it being, however, ultimately agreed, that Berke- ley fhould remain at the caftle, whilft Afhburn- ham took horfe and returned to the king, with the vague intimation from Hammond, " that he believed his majefty had made choice of him as a perfon of honour and honefty, to lay this great truft upon, and, therefore, he would not deceive his majefty's expeftations." Berkeley, hereupon, to ufe his own language, " embraced the motion mofl: readily, and immediately went over the bridge into the caftle, though I had the image of the gallows very perfedlly before me. Mr. Aftiburnham, I believe, went with a better heart to horfe ; but before he was gone half a flight- fliot, the governor (being before the caftle-gate) I o The King comes to called to him, and had a conference of at leafl: a quarter of an hour with him ; to what purpofe I never knew, until I came into Holland, where a gentleman of good worth and quality told me that the governor affirmed afterwards in Lon- don, and in many places-,, that he then, offered Mr. Afhburnham that I fhould go,, and he fhould ftay, as believing his majefty to be lefs willing to expofe him than me, but that Mr. Afhburnham abfolutely refufed. Whatever pafled between them, I am fure they both came back to me : and the governor, putting himfelf between us, faid, that he would fay which he was fure ought to content any reafonable man, which wa?, that he did believe his majefty relied on him as on a perfon of honour and honefty, and, therefore, he did engage himfelf to us to perform whatever could be expefted from a per- fon of honour and honefty. Before I could make any, Mr. Aftiburnham made this reply, ' / will afk no more.' The governor then added, 'Let us then all go to the king and acquaint him with it.' Mr. Afhburnham anfwered, ' With all my heart. ^ I then broke from the governor, who held me in his hand, and went to Mr. Afhburnham and faidy ' What,- do you mean to the IJle of Wight. 1 1 carry this man to the king, before you know whether his majefty will approve of this under- taking, or no ? Undoubtedly you will furprife him.' Mr. Afhburnham faid nothing, but '/'// warrant you.' ' And fo you ftiall,' faid I ; 'for you know the king much better than I do ; and, therefore, when we fhall come where the king is, I aflure you I will not fee him before you have fatisfied his majefty concerning your proceeding.' Well, he would take that upon him. I then defired he would not let the governor carry any other perfon with him, that in all events we might the more eafily fecure him, which he confented to." This, as I have already ftated, is Sir John Berkeley's narrative of this remarkable inter- view; to which Afhburnham's verfion differs in many refpedts, but, evidently, fo far only as to endeavour to exculpate himfelf from any blame which might be attributed to the promi- nent part he certainly played in the extraordi- nary meafure of Hammond's accompanying them to the king, which propofition, if it did not originate with him, undoubtedly received his firft and full concurrence. 1 2 T^he King comes to Sir Philip Warwick, in his Memoirs,* writes: " I never had occafion, but once at the Ifle of Wight, to fpeak with the king upon this affair, and it was by an accident, or the king's letting himfelf into that difcourfe ; and he did but touch upon it, nor durft I feem to be more inquifitive. But when I mentioned that the world had an ill opinion of my friend Mr. Afhburnham's guiding him thither, I remember he freely replied, ' / do no way believe he was unfaithful to me; hut I think he wanted courage at that time,' (which I interpreted his majefty meant, his not flaying with the governor,) ' whom I never knew wanted it before.' " On the completion of the arrangement jufh related, Afhburnham and Berkeley, accompa- nied by the governor, at once proceeded to Cowes ; where Hammond, notwithflanding the remonflrances of his companions, was joined by Captain Bafkett, who held the command of the caflle there, and two fervants, and from thence crofTed the channel to Tichfield, when Afhburn- ham alone went upflairs to the king, and aflounded him by announcing the governor's * Page 306. the IJle of Wight . 13 prefence, who, he faid, had come with them to make good what he had promifed. The king, ftriking himfelf on his breaft, exclaimed, " What, have you brought Hammond with you? O Jack, you have undone me ; for I am by this means made faft from ftirring." To which Mr. Afhburnham replied, "that if he miftrufted Hammond, he would undertake to remove him ;" a propolition the king moft difdainfully rejected by faying, " I underftand you well enough ; but the world would not excufe me. For if I fhould follow that counfel, it would be faid and believed that he (Hammond) had ven- tured his life for me, and that I had unworthily taken it from him. No, it is now too late to think of anything but going through the way you have forced upon me, and to leave the iflue with God;" and as if Fortune had fet herfelf to confound his plans and fruftrate his hopes, he was not allowed even a few moments to think calmly over his fate and let refolution fix itfelf, for Hammond and Bafkett grew fo impa- tient, a fervant belonging to Lord Southamp- ton was obligated to remind his majefty they were in attendance ; confequently, in about half aix hour their prefence was defired, and after 1 4 The King comes to kiffing the king's hand were received cheerfully by him, the king addrefling the governor to this efFed: — "Hammond, after an intolerable reftraint to my perfon at Hampton Court, I found there was a further defign againft my perfon, by fome which infinuated themfelves into divers regiments of the army ; and having an earneft defire of the fettling of the kingdom in fuch fort as might befl: conduce to a lafting peace throughout my dominions, and not to be an inftruraent of ftirring up 'a new war, I have thought good to come in this place, with confi- dence of your fidelity in proteddng my perfon from danger, until, by fuch addrefles as ihall be made unto us by the Parliament, there be a mutual agreement concluded, and our kingdom fettled." * To which Hammond declared " that he ten- dered his majefty's perfon above his own life, and would not fail in doing his utmoft in fulfill- ing his majefty's juft defires (in relation to the orders and diredtions which he fhould receive from the Parliament) :" thus promifing more unrefervedly than he had done to Aflibumham and Berkeley at Carifbrook. His majefty, how- * Tracey's Letter from Cowes Caftle, November 17, 1647, the IJle of Wight. 15 ever, taking Berkeley afide, faid "to him, " Sir John Berkeley, I hope you are not fo paflionate as Jack Afhburnham?" pathetically adding, " Do you think you have followed my inftruc- tions ?" Anfwer was made by Berkeley : — " No, indeed, fir ; but it is none of my fault, as Mr. Afhburnham can tell you if he pleafes : I have expofed my life to prevent it ;" repeating the fubftance of what had pafled, particularly of his being a prifoner in the caftle, and of Afh- burnham's firfl: leaving without him, fads, it appears, he in his ftatement had. omitted. Further temporifing being now ufelefs, the king, attended by Hammond, Baflcet, Afhburn- ham, Sir John Berkeley, and Mr. Legg, left Tichfield Houfe for Cowes, where they remained during the night, the king fojourning at an ale- houfe,* as the caflle was then appropriated for a prifon, and the next morning faw the unfortu- nate Charles quietly condufted to the caflle of Carifbrook. In his progrefs thither " a gentle- woman, as he pafl"ed through Newport, pre- fented him with a damafk rofe, which grew in her garden at that cold feafon of the year, and prayed for him, which his majefly heartily * Oglander MSS. 1 6 The King comes to thanked her for;"* an incident fingularly and intereftingly illuftrated in the following com- munication. The writer fays, " When vifit- ing Paris fome years fince, in looking over the catalogue of the gallery of the Luxembourg,! the name of " Newport, I'lle de Wight," caught my eye when curioufly fcanning its pages, and on examination I found the fubjed of the pidure to be the fuppofed voluntary furrender of King Charles to Mofes Read the mayor, and a young girl, 'Frances Trattle,' prefenting the king at the time with a rofe. This defcription was interefting to me, and the infpedtion of the pic- ture equally fo, as I found the corn-market place moft accurately pourtrayed; tlie fmall houfes ftanding in the angles of the church, the butchers' fhambles, and the old corn-market houfe, drawn in exad: accordance with the defcription afforded * Herbert's " Memoirs," •j- In the fucceeding editions of this Catalogue the picture ftill appears, but thus defcribed : — " gz. Sujet tird de la vie de Charles i". " ' Charles i", apres f'etre echapp^ d'Hampton-Court, vint fe livrer au gouverneur de Newport, qui, apres de longues hefitations, le fit arreter et conduire priffonnier au chSteau de Cariftrook. Au moment ou il traverfait la place, une jeune fille, touch^e de fon abattement et de fes malheurs, fapprocha de lui et lui ofFrit une rofe.' " the IJle ofWight. ij by our muniments ; it being alfo equally correft that Mofes Read was mayor of Newport at this time." In thus proceeding to the Ifle of Wight, the king had probably fettled on no particular place in preference to another, his flight having been fo fudden ; although it is believed he had origi- nally intended to fail for Jerfey, and had ftill fome hopes to procure a veflel. The fhip was mentionedj but there was no time to procure one, and the refult was as I have defcribed. There can, however, be little, if any, doubt but that Charles was unthinkingly purfuing the courfe which Cromwell's machinations had been devifed to drive him upon ; it being alfo evident that the circumftance of Cromwell's informing Colonel Whalley, the officer who commanded at Hampton Court, of the defign of the agitators to feize the king's perfon, was done with the fole intent of infligating Charles to remove from thence : but to believe that Hammond had been placed in the Ifle of Wight in readinefs to re- ceive the king is morally impolTible, there having been no vifible caufe to direft his majefly's flight in that diredtion — the one circumstance fortui- toufly and cafually led to. the other. 1 8 'The King comes to Hammond's firft care was to defpatch infor- mation of the king's arrival in the ifland to Cromwell, who, almoft immediately, after the receipt of the intelligence, began to dired: his energies againft thofe proceedings in the regiments which had been firft introduced into the army by his connivance, and fomented for his own ambitious ends, making Fairfax the dupe of himfelf and his coadjutors, Ireton and Skipton. Ludlow, Afhburnham, ■ Berkeley, Hobbes in his Behemoth, and others, fpeak of the inftitution to which I am now alluding as " adjutators," although the corred: appellation was the fignificant one of agitators ; Mr. God- win, in his hiftory of the commonwealth, ex- plaining their office as one devifed to aid the regular councils of war, and to agitate fuch queftions as the interefts of the army required to have confidered. At first two perfons were chofen, by the private foldiers of each troop or company, to form a kind of fubordinate council, whilft the fuperior officers arrayed a general aflembly of themfelves ; but this body being found too numerous, the eleftive principle was adopted, and two or more reprefentatives, either foldiers or fubalterns, were chofen for each regi- the IJle of Wight . 19 ment, — a council of agitators : a captain of horfe in Fairfax's regiment, named Berry, who had formerly been a gardener, but was now a confi- dential ally of Cromwell's, being chofen as the prefident foon after its inftitution. At this jundure three of the principals were tried, and one fummarily executed at the rendezvous at Ware ; a procedure which, having partially re- ftored the neceflary difcipline, Cromwell, under the advice of Ireton, aflembled a council of officers at Windfor, to deliberate on the iettle- ment of the nation and the future difpofition of the king's perfon. In this conference, fays Hume, following Clarendon, "which com- menced with devout prayers, poured forth by Cromwell himfelf and other infpired perfons, was firft opened the daring, cruel, and unheard- of counfel of bringing the king to juftice, and of puniftiing by a judicial fentence their fove- reign for his pretended tyranny and mal-admi- niftration." * Cromwell well knowing that while the king lived, whether in prifon or at large, he muft be the rallying point for the efforts of thofe large bodies of his fubjefts who were fincerely attached to the monarchy and to his • See Hallam's " Conftitutional Hiftory," vol. ii. p. 303. C 2 20 King comes to the IJle of Wight. perfon, and of all thofe other numerous clafles who were now difgufted with the oppreflive domination and immenfe pecuniary levies of the army and the Parliament. * " To murder him privately," .fays Hume, "was expofed to the imputation of injuftice and cruelty, aggravated by the bafenefs of fuch a crime. Some unex- pedted procedure muft, therefore, be attempted, which would aftonifh the world by its novelty, would bear the femblance of juftice, and would cover its barbarity by the audacioufnefs of the enterprife." And towards fuch a confummation, events from this memorable furrender of the king to Colonel Hammond quickly progreffed. " And Hampton ihows what part He had of wifer art, Where, twining fubtle fears with hope, He wove a net of fuch a fcope, That Charles himfelf might chafe To Cariftroolc's narrow cafe." -j- * Trial of Charles the Firft. t Andrew Marvell's " Ode on Cromwell's Return from Ireland." CHAPTER II. Hammond's Proceedings after the King's Arrival — Reception of the Warrants for the Arreft of Afliburnhara, Berlceley, and Legg — Interviews of the Parliamentarian and Scottifli Commiffioners with the King, and his Rejection of the four Bills — Faffing of the Ordinance of no further Communica- tions with the King — Extracts from contemporary Pamph- lets — Firft propofed Efcape, and difmiffal of Afhburnham, Berkeley, Legg, and other attendants npHE hiftory of the Caftle of Carlfbrook may be faid to commence with the burial of Withgar, and conclude with the imprifon- ment of Charles, and although amongft the thou- fands who annually make their pilgrimage to this hallowed relic, which feems to exift but as a mere phantom of paft fcenes — one of thofe refrefhing tombftones which tell of the mailed power of the baronial times and the conflid between civilization and feudalifm, there are 22 Carijbrook Caftle. doubtlefs but few who ha-ve heard of the Saxon chieftain, yet none look on the mofs-woven tapeftry of its walls without beftowing some pitying ejaculation on the sorrows of the mo- narch who was so long immured within them, or fail to ponder on the sad but too true a tale of the endeavours of a few faithful adherents to releafe him from the keeping of men whofe fympathies were none of his. Carifbrook was at this time, 1 647, a ftructure of fucceffive eras, and confequently incongruous defign, ranging from the reigns of the firft Plantagenets to that of Elizabeth, when the old caftle had been furrounded by a counter- fcarp, and many of the internal buildings recon- ftruded under the fuperintendence of Genebella, an Italian engineer of confiderable eminence; but although fcarcely a century had elapfed fince thefe repairs were effeded, its ftrength had already become confiderably impaired. The go- vernor's houfe then confifted of a portion of the habitation of the early lords, and of the more lofty elevation erefted by Montacute, Earl of Salifbury, who held the lordihip of the ifland in the reign of Richard the Second, which ftill Hammond's Letters. 2J remains nearly in its priftine ftate, having his arms fculptured on one of the buttrefles, and was appropriated as the royal lodging on the king's arrival, — a fad eafily deducible from the evidence which exifts, of there having been three rooms immediately over each other, an arrange- ment no other part of the fortrefs then prefented. Having fecured the perfon of the king, Ham- mond's firft care was, to convey an intimation of the incident to Cromwell, in priority to a letter he difpatched to both Houfes of Par- liament, containing the like information, but ufing in addition this remarkable expreffion, " found the king near the water-fide (at Tich- field), and conceiving my/elf no way able to Jecure him there, I chofe (he defiring it) to bring him over into this ifland, where he now is. My lord (Manchefter), my endeavour (as for my life) fhall be to preferve and Jecure his perfon." A fecond letter was at the fame time received couched in fimilar terms from Captain Bafkett, governor of Cowes Caftle ;* and a de- bate arifing upon the fubject-matter of their * Rufhworth, p. 847, vol. iv., part 2. 24 Parliamentary 'Thanks. contents, it was referred to a committee of both Houfes further to confider the bufinefs, and draw up inftrudions for Colonel Hammond re- fpefting the difpofal of his majefty's perfon during his ftay there. Captain Rolph, the bearer of Hammond's communication, having aoZ. given him by the Commons, and the perfon who conveyed Bafkett's, \ol. Whilft on the 17th November, Wednefday, a letter of thanks to Colonel Hammond was reported and pafled, and the inftructions concerning his majefty pafled both houfes, the Lords the fame day fending a meflage to the Commons, with a lift of fuch perfons as might attend his majefty in the Ifle of Wight, which they referred to the committee of revenue. Thefe inftrudlions (called the firft or old in- ftrudions) are set forth in feveral cotemporary pamphlets, but are fttill worth transcribing : "DieMartis, 16 Nov. 1647. " Refolved by the Lords and Commons in Parliament aflembled : " I. That the fecureft place, during the time Hammond's Injlriictions . 25 the houfes fliall think fit to continue him in the Ifle of "Wight, be Carifbrook Caftle. " 2. That no perfon who hath been in arms, or aflifted in this unnatural war againft the Par- liament, be permitted to come or remain in the faid ifle during the king's relidence there, unlefs they be inhabitants of the ifle, and have com- pounded with the Parliament. " J. That no perfon who hath been in arms, &c., fhall be permitted to come into the king's prefence, or into any fort or cafl;le in the faid ifle during the king's refidence there, although he be an inhabitant, and hath compounded with the Parliament. " 4. That no fl:ranger or perfon of a foreign nation fliall be permitted to come into the king's prefence without (the) directions of both houfes : except fuch as have warrant from the Parliament of Scotland, or from the committee of that Par- liament, thereunto authorized, and are not dif- abled by the propofitions agreed on by both kingdoms. "5. That a fufEcient guard be appointed by Colonel Hammond, governor of the faid ifle, for fecurity of the king's perfon from any 26 Feeling in the Island. violetjce, and (for) preventing his departing the faid ifle without the directions of both houfes." The popular opinion throughout the ifland had, however, fet in greatly favourable for the king after his arrival, whilft the garrifon of the Caftle of Carifbrook confifted but of twelve old men who had ferved under the Earl of Port- land; and as no reftraint was perceptibly put upon the king's movemeats, it was confidered he might choofe his own time of leaving the ifland — a feeling of fecurity which was, however, too foon to be difpelled ; for on the receipt of thefe inftrudtions, Hammond inftantly iffued orders commanding " all mafters of boats be- longing to Hampfhire or the Ifle of Wight, that they fliould land neither perfons nor goods, in any part of the ifland, but at Yarmouth Cajlle, Cowes Caftle, and Ryde, where alfo a guard was placed with diredtions as at the two firfl;-named cafl:les, to examine all perfons landing, and to detain and fecure thofe who could not give a very good account of them- felves or their bufinefs ;"* it being, however, • Hammond's Letter to the Speaker of the Houfe of Lords, Nov. 19. 'The King's Reception. 27 likewife incumbent on me to ftate that at his firfl; coming Hammond endeavoured, by every outward appearance, to make the king's lodge- ment in the caftle partake more of the nature of the entertainment of a gueft than a prifoner^* accompanying him whilft hunting in the foreft of Parkhurft, which was at that time plentifully flocked with deer ; and believing his houfe to be badly ordered for his majefty's comfort, he being a bachelor, fent for his mother, who was then refiding at Chertfey,f to fuperintend his domeftic arrangements, whilft on a repre- fentation to the Houfe of Commons of the infufficiency of his houfehold appointments,^ it was ordered on the 24th of November, "that the feals fhould be removed from his majefty's bedchamber at Hampton Court, and the furniture therein tranfmitted and employed • for his prefent service." The gentry of the ifland were alfo allowed freely to vifit the court, and many of them admitted to kifs the king's * On the Thurfday after his arrival, he vifited and dined with Sir John Oglander at Nunwell. — Oglander MSS. f Tracey's Letter from Cowes Caftle. X Hammond's Letter, i6th Nov. 28 ConduSl of the King. hand, the inhabitants of Newport further de- claring themfelves as promifing fecurity to his majefty's perfon, and to preferve and defend him from all danger whatfoever. The fudden and unexpected efcape of the king made a great impreffion upon the minds of moft of his fubjedts, every man's predilections imagining he would a6t the part he wiflied him to perform ; and although Charles at this time was undoubtedly infincere with all par- ties, excepting the old and devoted royalifts, now headed by the Marquis of ' Ormond, who, after making terms with the Parlia- ment in Ireland, had been permitted to come over to England, it is a queftion, confidering the peculiarity of his pofition, if the charge of perfidy can with any degree of juftice be urged againft the vanquifhed and more than half- dethroned monarch, for receiving the overtures of the three prominent parties, and for being willing to clofe either with the Scots, the army, or the Parliament, accordingly as the offers of the one or the other were bafed on the greateft probability of ultimate advantage. On the 17th of November the king addrefled Hammon(fs Letter. 29 a letter to both Houfes of Parliament, containing propofals for a perfonal treaty in London, which was read in the Houfe of Commons on the 19th of the fame month without comment, and on the fame day a communication was tranf- mitted by Hammond from Carifbrook, wherein he ftates, " that yefterday there came to me an officer belonging to the ferjeant of the Houfe of Commons, with particular warrants for the ap- prehending and bringing up in fafe cuftody the perfons of Mr. John Afhburnham, Mr. William Legg, and Sir John Berkeley, who came hither with the king, the faid warrants requiring my afliftance to and aid here in the execution of them, but with no order to me from either or both houfes for that purpofe; and finding the matter to be of very great importance, I have defired the meflenger to forbear the execution of his warrants till I have given the houfes to underftand that in cafe the faid warrants Ihould be ferved and put in execution, it would be impoffible for me to anfwer the expec- tations of Parliament in preferving the perfon of the king in fecurity to be difpofed (of) by them, unlefs I fhould keep him clofe prifoner, which is a bufinefs of that naturej that it is 30 Hammond's Letter. neither fit nor fafe for me to do, efpecially of myfelf." Further adding, that the king intimates " in cafe thefe gentlemen be taken from him, and puniflied as evil doers, for counfelling him not to go out of the kingdom, but rather to come to the place where he now is, and for their endea- vouring accordingly in attending him hither, he cannot but himfelf expect to be dealt with ac- cordingly, his cafe being the fame; and from fuch apprehenfibns, your lordfhip may eafily judge what he will do by his former actings, he having that liberty which hath ever been allowed him fince hath he been difpofed (of) by the Parliament. " My lord, I fhall further let you know, that befides the care I fhall always have of thefe gentlemen, they have engaged their honours not to depart from me, fo that I am moft con- fident of their fecurity. " And truly, were not their ends the fame with their pretences (in relation to the peace of this kingdom), I am confident they would never have advifed nor conducted the king to this place. " Befides, were they at this time removed Hammond's Letter. 31 from the king, there would be none left for his attendance, which (befides the offence) how great the inconvenience would be to him your lordfhip cannot be ignorant. " And further, give me leave to add (if fo unworthy a fervant of your lordfhip as I am, and that which concerns my honour, were at all worthy your confideration) whether it would not much reflect upon me, in cafe thefe gentle- men fhould be thus removed from hence, the king and themfelves having freely thrown them- felves upon me for fafety upon confidence (as they pleafe to fay) of my honour and honefly, and the fatisfaction they expect it would have given the Parliament, the king being neceffi- tated to remove."* In addition to the Serjeant's meffenger, there was alfo a command forwarded to Ham- mond by Sir Thomas Fairfax, " that he fhould with all fpeed and conveniency fend up Sir John Berkeley, Mr. John Afhburnham, and Mr. Legg, and the gentlemen that went with his majefly from Hampton now refiding in the Ifle of Wight, that they may give an account * Hammond's Letter, publifhed by R. Ibbitfon, Smithfield, 1647. 32 Letters to Hammond. to the Parliament of his majefty's proceedings and carriage in his journey from Hampton to the Ifle of Wight, and in cafe he fliould ftand in need of men to guard them up or the like, his excellency hath ordered Captain Peck's troop to Redbridge, near Southampton," a private injunc- tion to the fame effect being likewife found in a letter from Ireton of the 21 ft November, 1 647 ; but notwithftanding thefe reprefentations, Hammond's interceffion feems to have prevailed with the houfe, as no ulterior meafures were adopted againft them, and the warrants iflued by the fpeaker for this purpofe were called in on a motion of Cromwell's the 2nd of December. The king had, therefore, as yet little apparent reafon to repent his confidence; but the gover- nor, whilft he granted every indulgence to his captive, had evidently no intention of feparating his own lot from that of the army. He con- fulted the officers at head-quarters, and fecretly refolved to adhere to their inftructions.* In No. 6 of the Mercurius Anti-fragmaticus of the 25th November, 1647, there appears fo quaint and ftrangely prophetic a paragraph in connexion with the foregoing matter, that I • Lingard, vol. viii. p. 191, Cotemporary Pamphlets. 33 cannot forbear quoting it, believing it not alto- gether foreign to the fubjeft before me. " But the king being gone, it is good to fear the chil- dren's fhoes be made of the fame running leather, and therefore the houfes have fent a meflage to the Earl of Northumberland, their guardian, to have a ftrift eye over them, that they be not ftolen away, and have alfo ordered that Sir John Berkeley and Mr. Aftiburnham be examined, as, concerning the matter of the king's departure, it is good policy to keep them from refiding near his majefty, he loving the one (Afhburnham) as well as ever the Second Edward did his Piers (Pierce) Gave/ton, and who is likely to bring as many inconve- niences upon his majefty as ever that fantaftic minion did upon his deluded lord. This fire- drake led his majefty out of the way cleane when he forfook Oxford in difguife, and ftiould have come to London, and not into the Scottifti camp ; but his majefty will have better guides when he forfakes the Ifle of Wight ; he forfook paradise for this ifle, and when he leaves it and comes to his palace at Weftminfter, it's but a ftep to heaven." On the 14th December following, the Parlia- 34 Parliamentary Refolutions. ment pafled four refolutions drawn up in the form of four Adts, which, when the king had figned, he was to be admitted to a perfonal treaty in London. The firft of thefe propofitions enacted, after veiling the command of the army in the Parliament for twenty years, it might, at the expiration of that time, be reftored to the crown, but not without the previous confent of the Lords and Commons, and that ftill whenever they fhould declare the fafety of the kingdom to be concerned, all bills pafled by them refpedting the fea or land forces fhould be deemed A(5ts of Parliament, even though the king, for the time being, fliould refufe his affent — the fecond de- clared all oaths, proclamations and proceedings againfl: the Parliament during the war void and of no effeft — the third annulled all titles of honour granted fince the 20th of May, 1642, and deprived all peers to be created hereafter of the right of fitting in Parliament without the confent of the two houfes, and the laft gave to the houfes themfelves the power of adjourning from place to place at their difcretion.* The Scottifh commiflioners who had poflibly been acted on by Lauderdale, Lanark, and * Journals, vol. ix. p. 575. Arrival of CommiJJioners. 3 r Berkeley, and who had received feveral com- munications from the king himfelf, through the agency of Dr. Gough, one of the queen's chap- lains, protefted against fending thefe bills to Charles before he fhould be treated with in Lon- don, neverthelefs the Commiflioners appointed by the two houfes — the Earls of Digby, Nor- thumberland, Kent, Rutland, Pembroke, Salif- bury, Warwick, and Mulgrave, on the part of the Lords; and Mr. Bulkeley, Mr. Lifle, Mr. Robert Goodwin, and Mr. Kemp, on the part of the Commons, together with their chaplains Mr. Marfhall and Mr. Rye, proceeded to the Ifle of Wight; and on the 24th of December, at two o'clock in the afternoon, prefented thefe bills to the king at Carifbrook, his majefty returning for anfwer " he was afTured that they could not expedb a prefent reply, but he would take the fame into confideration, and give his anfwer in a few days." Consequently four days were allowed for a reply, in obedience to the orders of the houfe. The next day, however, there came the Scottilh Commiflion in all ap- pearance to proteft againft them, but covertly with the more important defign of making fuch conceflions to Charles as would enable him to D 2 36 Departure of Commiffioners. conclude and fign the treaty that had been so long agitated between them, and which was now done. The parliamentary commiffioners re- turned to London at the time appointed with the anfwers to the two houfes from the king, " that neither his present sufferings, nor the apprehen- fion of worfe treatment, fhould ever induce him to give his afTent to any bill as a part of the agreement before the whole was concluded;" but he sent immediately afterwards fundry propofi- tions of his own not much lefs advantageous to the Parliament than their own Acts, and defired a perfonal treaty for the purpofe of fettling the peace of the kingdom. The Parliament denied them to be sufficient for the purpofe, and on the 3rd of January, having fat from morning until night on the queftion, *' whether any addrejfes Jhould be mads hereafUr to his majejty" refolved, ift. That no more addreffes be made from the Parliament to the king, nor any letters or meflages received from him. ind. That it fhall be treafon for any perfon whatfoever to deliver any meffage to the king, or to receive any letter or meffage from him, without leave from both Houfes of Parliament, jr*^. That the members of both houfes of the committees of both king- , Vote of Non-addrejfes. 37 doms have power to fit and adt alone (as for- merly the committees of both kingdoms had) for the fafety of the kingdom, /^th. That the Earl of Kent be added to this committee in the place of the Earl of Eflex, deceafed ; and Sir John Evelyn and Mr. Fiennes in the place of Sir Philip Stapleton, deceafed; and Mr. Glyn, recorder (now in the Tower), ^th. That a committee be nominated to draw up a decla- ration to be publifhed, to fatisfy the kingdom of the reafon of paffing thefe votes. Laftly. That the concurrence of the lords be desired to thefe votes ; * votes extorted principally by the fpeeches and menaces of the army-faction then prefent in the Houfe of Commons, Sir Thomas Wroth advifing thefe three points : f \Jt. ■ To fecure the king in fome inland caftle with guards. ind. To draw up articles of impeachment againft him. 2>^d. To lay him by and fettle the king- dom without him. Ireton faying that his denying the four bills was refufing protection to his fubjects, and that therefore they might deny him fubjection, alfo adding that till the Parliament forfook the * Riiihworth, vol. iv. pi. 2, p. 952. f Pari. Hift., vol. xvi. p. 491. 38 CrontweU's Letter. army, the army would never forfake the Par- liament. And laft of all Cromwell himfelf telling them it was now expefted that the Parliament fliould govern and defend the kingdom, and not any longer let the people expedb their fafety from a man whofe heart God had hardened, nor let thofe that had fo well defended the Parliament te left hereafter to the rage of an irreconcileable enemy, left they fliould feek their fafety in fome other way, laying his hand upon his fword as he fpake it. Hereupon the vote of non-addreffes was made an ordinance, which the houfe would after- wards have recalled, but was forced by Crom- well to keep their word,* who in the joy of his heart immediately returned to Lord Wharton's, and the fame night penned the following letter to Hammondi announcing the fuccefsful termi- nation of the queftion. Superfcribed — " For Colonel Robert Hammond, Governor of the Ifle of Wight, thefe for the fervlce of the kingdom, hafte, poft hafte. * Hobbes' " Behemoth," in Maferes' tracts, p. 596. Cromwell's Letter. 39 "Dearest Robin, " Now (blefled be God) I can write and thou receive freely, I never in my life faw more deep fenfe and lefs will to fhow it unchriftianly than in that which thou didft write to us when we were at Windfor, and thou in the midfl: of thy temptation, which indeed (by what we un- derftood of it) was a great one, and occafioned thee greater by the letter the general fent thee, of which thou waft not miftaken when thou didft challenge me to be the penner. "How good has God been to difpofe all to mercy ! and although it was trouble for the prefent yet glory is come out of it, for which we praife the Lord with thee and for thee ; and truly thy carriage has been fuch as occafions much honour to the name of God and to reli- gion. Go on in the ftrength of the Lord, and the Lord be ftill with thee. But, dear Robin, this bufinefs hath been (I truft) a mighty provi- dence to this poor kingdom and to us all. The Houfe of Commons is very fenfible of the king's dealings and of our brethren's in this late tranf- aftion. You ftiould do well, if you have any- thing that may difcover juggling to fearch it out, and let us know it. It may be of admir- 40 Cromioeirs Letter ^ able ufe at this time, becaufe we fliall (I hope) inftantly go upon bufinefs in relation to them, tending to prevent danger. The Houfe of Commons has this day voted as follows : ift, "They will make no more addrefles to the king. 2ndly. None fhall apply to him without leave of the two houfes, upon pain of being guilty of high treafon. jr^/y. They will receive nothing from the king, nor fliall any other bring any- thing to them from him, nor receive anything from the king. Laftly. The members of both houfes who were of the committee of both king- doms are eftabliflied in all that power in them- felves for England and Ireland which they had to a6t with both kingdoms ; and Sir John Evelyn of Wilts* is added in the room of Mr. Recor- der,f and Nath. Fiennes in the room of Sir * Evelyn was afterwards appointed one of the Council of the State, with General Monk, at the head of it, on the 23rd Feb- ruary, 1659-60. — Kennett's "Regifter," p. 66. f The Recorder was John Glynn, Efq., educated at Hart Hall, Oxford. He had been one of the managers of the Houfe of Commons at the trial of the Earl of Strafford, and was him- felf one of the eleven members impeached of high treafon by the army on the i6th June, 1647, and in January following deprived of his place of the Recorder of London, but in Octo- ber, 1648, made Serjeant-at-law. In June, 166 5, he was appointed by the Protector Cromwell, Lord Chief Juftice of the Upper Bench, and afterwards one of the lords of the other houfe. He CromwelPs Letter. 41 Philip Stapleton,* and my Lord of Keritf in the room of the Earl of Efsex. I think it good you take notice of this, the fooner the better. Let us know how it is with you in point of ftrength, and what you need from us. Some of us think the king well with you, and that it concerns us to keep the ifland in great fecurity, becaufe of the Frenchy &c., and if fo, where can the king be better ? If you have more force you will be fure of full provifion for them ; the Lord blefs thee : pray for " Thy dear friend and fervant, "Oliver Cromwell." " My Lord Wharton's, near ten at night, January 3rd, 1647." The diminutive Mercuries, and many with was chofen knight of the ftiire for county of Carnarvon in the parliament which began at Weftminfter, 25th April, 1660; and after the Reftoration made, on the 8th November, 1660, the king's oldeft ferjeant-at-law, and on the i6th of that month had the honour of knighthood. He died at his houfe in Portugal Eow, Lincoln's Inn Fields, November isth, 1666. — Dr. Birch. * Sir Philip Stapleton had diftinguiihed himfelf at the battle of Newbury, but was afterwards one of the eleven members impeached by the army in June, 1647, upon which he retired to Calais, where he foon after died. — ^Whitelock. f Henry, Earl of Kent, who was appointed by the Parliament one of the Commiffioners of the Great Seal on the 15th March, 1647, and died in April, 1649. 42 New/papers. ftrange defignations to our ears there were, True Informers, and Daily Journals of the year 1647 —48, feem to have been as equally alive to the importance of early intelligence as their more imposing fucceflbrs of the prefent day ; no fooner, therefore, was Charles located in the Ifle of Wight than the fervices of a feries of corre- fpondents appear to have been inftantly enlifted for the purpofe of detailing the minuteft occur- rences conne6ted with his detention there' — moft valuable records of matters which were then per- chance confidered of only paffing intereft, but in our generation of confiderable moment, in rendering a perfed knowledge of the real ftate and pofition of the unfortunate monarch in his latter days; for although the firft reports were of fomewhat a cheerful defcription, each succeed- ing ftatement became more and more tindlured with fuch gloom as evidently foreboded the part it was the intention of the afcendant party here- after to perform. On the 9th December, I find it ftated: "His majefty is very ftriftly looked to, his lodgings being locked up every night and the keys carried to the governor, and this is done becaufe they now know his ihajefty's defign was not for that place. On the loth New/papers. 43 January, "Here is a melancholy court, walking the round is the daily recreation, for other there is none. Horfe are fuperfluous. His majefty is cheerful, notwithftanding his knowledge of the refult at Weftminfter. The vigilancy and induftry of the governor. Colonel Hammond, is admirable; fuch is his faithfulnefs and care, he deferves much honour and reward;" and on the 1 2th, " The king is now kept from de- ftructive counfels; the governor of the Ifle of Wight finds no mifcarriage in thofe courtiers fent by the Parliament. His majefty is fad, and fpends much time in writing and at his books, and for refrefhment takes air about the caftle (Colonel Hammond waiting upon him) but pafleth not the works, and becaufe he may not have epifcopal men to preach to him hears none at all; but the Houfe of Commons refolv- ing to ufe what means they can to convince his majefty, (this day) appointed fome of their mem- bers to confider of fome able divines to be fpeedily fent thither." To fuch an extent, however, had the publi- cation of thefe pamphlets at this time reached, and in fuch unmeafured terms did the majority of them refledt upon the conducSt of the Parlia- 44 -New/papers. ment in their treatment of the king, that a fpecial committee was appointed by the houfe, on the 6th January, 1 648,* to fupprefs all " un- licenfed and fcandalous pamphlets," with power to meet daily and reward thofe who made known either the authors or publifhers thereof to the authorities ; but, notwithftanding fuch ordinance, they apparently daily increafed both in number and freedom of expreffion. No. 13 of the Mercurius Melancholicus, or news from Weft- minfter and other parts, of the 29th Novem- ber, 1 647, (anonymous) writes : " I pray you who was it that ordered his majefty to have not fo much as a man to wait upon him, left his three fervants, Mr. Afliburnham, Major Legg, and Sir John Berkeley, without fword or fpear, fhould conquer the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland? Who was it that refufed a perfonal treaty with his majefty for fear the people ftiould take a furfeit in the enjoyment of too fudden a peace ? Who was it that fent the malapert and faucy agents or agitators to the feveral gaols of Newgate and the Gate-houfe, for demanding things deftruftive to the being of parliaments and the fundamental government of * Rufhworth, vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 957. Neivfpapers. 4^ this kingdom ? and all this within the compafs of one week, befides what they have done for the fpace of feven years before ; was it not the Parliament? I hope the kingdom will take thefe worthy ails into confideration, and for the future fpeak better of them than ever they did deferve." " Colonel Hammond, ftand to your tacklings, for I know not how you can come off with credit ; there is fuch antipathy between the king and the Parliament that all the eyes and fpec- tacles that I have cannot fee how you can well ferve two mailers : you have hitherto gained the reputation of a good fubject and an honeft man ; it requires policy to continue fo, though there I muft confefs my faith ftaggers. I do not like that claufe in your letter, dated November 19, 1 647 : ' "That whatever is commanded by autho- rity , ejpecially that of Parliament, though never Jo contrary to your Jenje of honour, you will never difobey !' How now, Mr, Hammond! Should the Parliament authority command you to do that in the IJle of Wight which fhould have been done at Hampton Court (you know my mean- ing),- would you do it? Truly by this you 46 Play of Crafty Cromwell. have dulled the good opinions which many thoufands befides myfelf had of you." Whilft in a curious ftage-play iflued about the fame time, entitled " Crafty Cromwell ; or Oliver ordering our new ftate; a Tragical Comedy, wherein is difcovered the traiterous undertakings and proceedings of this faid Nol and his levelling crew," (an anonymous pamph- let), occurs the following fcene : "Actus Quartus. "Enter Colonel Hammond, his majefty's jailor, with a bunch of keys at his girdle ; a fervant. " Hammond.-^ls the guard placed about the privy chamber, and are the caftle gates barred fure? " Servant. — They are, fir. " Hammond.' — On what a ticklifh point I ftand ; and like a man walkes a ridged battlement, if he digrefle to the right hand or the left, hazards the bruifing of his flefhly tenement, and forfei- ture of his foul ; fo I, betwixt the fealtie I owe unto my rightful king and the commands of an all-powerful ftate, am doubly plunged : the one Cavalier's Litany. 47 defires me ftiew z/ubjecfs duty, the other doth command a traitor's hate; if I obey the one, then I accrue my fovereign's difpleafure; if I fatisfie the other, then be I liable to imprifonment, or if they pleafe, to death. O Fear, how potent art thou ! the man pofleft with thee cares not to fell his country and his king, to act the worft of crimes that hell ere hatched, fo he fecure himfelf. " I am refolvM, though LOYALTY diffent. To a6l even as 't ftiall pleafe the Parliament." \_Exit. And in the "Cavalier's Litany, lately com- pofed by a well-wiflier to his majefty's person and all his moft loyal fubjects ; very fitting to be obferved and made ufe of by all thofe who defire deliverance from the damnable, execrable, unparalleled, and not before heard of deteft- able adtions, proceedings, defigns, humours, conditions, votes, and ordinances, now fully and moft exadtly pradifed, delivered, and di- vulged, by the only (yet illegal) governors of thefe our fad, defperate, diftradted times" (anonymous). 48 EffeSi on the Public. " From being like the army hated, From the throne* in which Charles they've re-inftated. From by the committee to be fequeftrated, Libraaos. " From the treacherous votes of the Houfe of Commons, From the Parliament's accurfed fummons. From every one's ire, efpecially a woman's, Libranos." ' By the aid of the prefs alfo the king himfelf, foon after the pafling of the vote of non-addrefles, perfonally endeavoured to appeal to the good fenfe of the people — putting it to them to judge between him and his opponents, whether by his anfwer to the four bills he had given any reafon- able caufe for their violent and unconftitutional vote, and whether they by the obftinate refufal of a conference did not betray their refolve not to come to any perfonal accommodation ;■(■ and in confequence of the great impreffion thus made in the public mind, a long and laborious anfwer, in which they endeavoured to vindicate their proceedings, was prepared by the Houfe of Commons, copies of which were allotted to the members to circulate among their conftituents * The Prifon. + The King's Works, and Pari. Hifty. Effect on the Public. 49 as well as fent to the curates to be read by them to their parifliioners ; but having inferted much queftionable matter, and made numerous ftate- ments eafily open to refutation, the advantage was eagerly feized by the royalifts, feveral an- fwers moft convincingly written being likewife circulated in many parts of the kingdom, and with the aid rendered by the lefs eloquent, but ftill with many clafles equally perfuafive, publi- cations from which I have quoted, the king's caufe made an unexpedledly rapid progrefs among the people, although it muft alfo be acknow- ledged that in the army itfelf the principles of the levellers were certainly getting an afcend- ancy, making a great parade of a fact they had recently difcovered in the Bible, ift Kings, viii. 8, that the government of kings was odious in the fight of God, and contending therefore, after fo diredt an aflertion, that Charles had no right to the fceptre. Such was the feverifh ftate of the public mind in England during the king's early refidence at Carifbrook, which I have briefly narrated, to the intent that my. readers may be enabled fully to comprehend the bearings fuch proceedings would 50 Departure of Berkeley. be likely to have on his prefent and fubfequent condud: there. For fome little time, as related by Sir Thos. Herbert and Sir J. Oglander, after his majefty's arrival in the Ifle of Wight, there was no prohi- bition as to accefs by any one defirous of feeing him, and thither, as foon as his place of refi- dence was rumoured, repaired feveral of his old fervants, and fuch men as his majefty thought fit to nominate; whilft, in about ten days, at the inftigation of Hammondy Sir Thos. Berke- ley,* with a pafs from the captain of Cowes Caftle, accompanied by his coufin, Mr. Henry Berkeley, left the ifland, charged with two com- munications from the king to the general (Fair- fax), the one expreffing his defire for a perfonal treaty, and the other acquainting him that three of his chaplains. Dr. Sheldon, Dr. Holdfworth, and Dr, Heywood, had come to the ifland, for whom he alked protection.f Berkeley was likewife intrufled with letters both from his majefty and Hammond to Crom- well and Ireton; but by whom, to ufe his own • Berkeley's " Memoirs." f Rufti worth. Cromwell's Reply. 51 words, "he was faluted very coldly, having their countenances quite changed towards him ;" and thereupon feeing it was no place for him, on coming to his lodging he defpatched his coufin to Carifbrook with two letters, the one contain- ing a general relation and doubtful judgment of things in the army, which he intended to be fhown to the governor ; and the other in cipher, wherein he gave a particular account of the interview above narrated, concluding with a moft energetic fupplication to the king to meditate nothing but his immediate efcape, which he pre- fumed he could eafily do in a few days, the wind ferving ; as the queen had fent a fhip for that purpofe, and prefled it earneftly by her letters. The next morning he fent Colonel Cooke to Cromwell, to inform him he had letters to him and inftructions from his majefty, from whom in return he received word that he could not give him an interview, " but he was willing to ferve his majefty as long as he could do it without his own ruin," defiririg, at the fame time, that Berkeley ftiould not expect he would peril his life for the king's fake. On hearing this Berkeley took horfe for London, where he had. feveral conferences on his majefty's behalf E 2 5^ Berkeley's Return. with the Scottifli commiffioners, and on the fol- lowing Saturday he received a letter from Mr. Afhburnham, requiring, in the king's name, his immediate prefence, which as he believed it in- tended for a fummons to aflift in the projected efcape, remarking, " that though Mr. Afhburn- ham were willing enough to appropriate employ- ments of honour and profit, yet he was contented to communicate thofe of danger to his friends," was the next morning again with Charles at Carifbrook, by whom he was thanked for his despatch from Windfor. Sir John Berkeley, however, asked the king in return, "if his majefty fo highly approved his advice, why he did not follow it?" and "why he was ftill in the ifland, where he could not long promife himfelf the liberty he then had ? " Queftions to which his majefty replied, "he would have a care of that time enough, and that he wifhed to conclude with the Scots before he left the kingdom." Several confultations are likewife defcribed as having been held before the arrival of the Par- liamentarian and Scottifti commiffioners, and as many injunctions given to the king to attempt the efcape whilft yet there was the opportunity of doing fo; but all endeavours were in vain Interview with Commifsioners. 53 until the day of the delivery of his refufal to accede to the four bills of the commiffionerSj a fcene of intenfe excitement, as when the time came for the king to render his anfwer, he fent for the Engliih commiffioners, and on their entering his apartment, aflced Lord Denbigh, the chief commiflioner, whether they had received the power to alter any fubftantial part of the meflage with which they were entrufted, who anfwered they had not, whereupon his majefty handed his reply fealed, and they withdrew ; but on returning after a fliort lapfe of time. Lord Denbigh told the king, that though they had no authority to treat or do anything but receive his anfwer, yet they were not to be looked on as common meflengers to carry back an anfwer they had not feen; and that unlefs they might fee what was entrufted to them, they would not receive the anfwer, but depart without any. Charles fearing the confequences that would re- fult if the commiffioners returned without any reply, after a long controverfy was per- fuaded to remove the feal, but fo far from this procedure on the part of the king fufficing to allay the ftorm, it materially affifted to augment it, the governor enlifting himfelf on the fide of the 54 Refolution to Efcape. comrmffioners, who by the opening of the def- patch, became aware that the king had waved the interefts of both the Parhament and the army to clofe with the Scots ; and then, on the termi- nation of the audience, apparently reflecting on the confequences to be apprehended from fuch refufal, he refolved to anticipate the vengeance of Parliament by flying the fame evening, or early the next morning, to the fliip fent by the queen, which ftill remained in the Southampton Water. It, however, now unfortunately happened that not only did the wind, which had hitherto re- mained favourable for his purpofe, fuddenly change to an oppofite quarter, but that Ham- mond, on the departure of the commiflioners, accompanied them to Newport, where he in all probability became aware of the inconfiderate orders and counter-orders which had jufl ema- nated from Afliburnham in relation to the move- ment of fome horfes on the oppofite coafl:, a^s on his return, he ordered the gates of the cafl:le to be infl:antly clofed, and the king to be confined to his chamber, the next afternoon difmifling his chaplains, not excepting even his own kinfman. Dr. Hammond, with fome other attendants. Difmifsal of Attendants . 5 5 Including Afhburnham, Berkeley, and Legg, who on taking leave of his majefty, managed, to inform him " that they would leave the captain of the veflel, and two honeft and trufty gentlemen of the ifle to aflift him, whilft they fhould prepare everything on the oppofite fide of the water." Sir Thos. Herbert, in his Memoirs, erro- neoufly records this occurrence as taking place on the 8 th of February, inftead of at the time here fet down. In his defcription of it, he ftates that Hammond foon after the king's dinner came into the prefence chamber, and with a fhort preamble, addrefled himfelf to his majefty, by faying he was very forry to acquaint him that the orders he had the night before received from his fupe- riors, were to forbid Mr. Afhburnham, Mr. Legg, and the reft of his fervants who were with him at Oxford, any longer to remain in attendance on him, and that the jealoufies and apprehenfions of the time rendered it incumbent on him to difcharge them from the caftle. On hearing this, the king was not only fur- prifed, but his countenance evinced a confiderable degree of trouble; and after a ftiort interval, beckoning Mr. Afliburnham and fome others 5 6 Difmifsal of Attendants . with his hand to approach him, he told them what the governor had communicated to him, and faid that it was an announcement that he certainly did not expect. Remonftrance on the part of thefe gentlemen was, of courfe, ufelefs; therefore, the next day after the king rofe from his dinner, they all came together, and proftrating themfelves at his majefty's feet, prayed God for his prefervation, then kiffing his hand departed, their affliction being only alleviated by the knowledge that they could not be excluded from their royal mailer's affection. After this parting, the king, feeling the bitter pang and fearful apprehenfion in his heart, fent for Colonel Hammond, between whom the fol- lowing converfation is recorded to have occur- red,* "a dramatic piece, full of natural touches, and perfectly characteriftic of Charles the Firft." King Charles. — Why do you ufe me thus ? Where are your orders for it? Was it the fpirit that moved you to it ? Hammond, who had no orders from the Par- liament, but likely fome advice from the com- * See Clarendon's " State Papers," Appendix, vol. ii. Charles ana Hammona. 57 miffioners, faid nothing at firft, but afterwards laid it upon his majefty's anfwer. King Charles. — Did you not engage your ho- nour you would take no advantage from thence againfl: me? Hammond. — I faid nothing. King Charles. — You are an equivocating gentleman ; will you allow me any chaplains ? You pretend for liberty of confcience — ftiall I have none? Hammond. — I cannot allow you any chap- lain. King Charles. — You ufe me neither like a gentleman nor a Chriftian. Hammond. — I'll fpeak to you when you are in better temper. King Charles. -r-\ have flept well to-night. Hammond. — I have ufed you very civilly. King Charles. — Why do you not fo now, then? Hammond. — Sir, you are too high. King Charles. — My fhoe-maker's fault,* then ; my fhoes are of the fame laft, &c. {twice or thrice to this furpofe.) * Sir John Oglander relates this expreflion of the king's, but as having occurred on another occafion. 58 The King's Conviction. King Charles. — Shall I have liberty to go about to take the air? Hammond. — No ; I cannot grant it. His majefty then charged him with his alle- giance, and told him he muft anfwer this. A converfation of dark and ftern fignificancej as from this time moft of the courtly fafhions were laid afide, the whole of the ifland beyond the caftle prohibited to the king's footfteps, and previous privileges of communication annulled, all thofe arguments which faction can bring forth to colour treafon being urged in juftifi- cation of fuch unprecedented meafures; whilfl Charles, thus made fully fenfible by the break- ing up of old aflbciations, that mere words were but a frail fecurity for protection, immediately commenced directing his own energies, and enlifting the fympathies of others, towards his enlargement, now well knowing that if he inertly remained, he remained only to deftruc- tion. CHAPTER III. Mutiny at Newport — Apprehenfion, Trial, and Execution of Captain Burley — Arrangements of the Royal Houfehold, and Habits of the King. '"pHESE were bufy days in the Ifleof Wight, fo manifold the rumours, fo frequent the changes, and fo rapid the events ; and notwith- ftanding the belief of Hammond that his orders would be vigoroufly fupported, if requifite, by the majority of the iflanders, the faith of the fuperior authorities in the integrity of thofe who there profefTed attachment to the Parlia- ment, appears to have been more than doubtful, as an intimation was fent him by Ireton not to confide wholly in the affections of the iflanders ; and in order that a fuffici'ent force might be at his command, detachments were fent over from Southampton, and immediately afterwards from 6o Reinforcements. the head-quarters of Sir Thomas Fairfax, includ- ing Hammond's and Captain Rolph's own com- panies of foot, as well as Sir William Conftable, Lieutenant-Colonel Salmon, and Lieutenant-Co- lonel Goffe, to affift the governor, whilft provi- fions were ordered to be laid in at Carifbrook, and all the forts in the ifland ; and as an addi- tional meafure of precaution, a fleet under the command of Vice- Admiral Rainfborough, after fome little controverfy between the Lords and Commons, was fent to watch the entire coafl: of the ifland, a ftate of things very different to the circumfl;ances in this locality at the king's firfl; arrival. I have already fl:ated, that on the morning after the departure of the Parliamentary com- miflioners, amongft; others of the king's atten- dants, Afliburnham, Berkeley, and Legg were difmifled the caflile, whence they, during fome portion of the fame day, proceeded to New- port, Afliburnham remaining at an inn, whilfl: Berkeley and Legg vifited an acquaintance of theirs in fome other part of the town. After about an hour's flay, they heard a drum beat confufedly, and becoming aware that one Captain Burley, and divers others,- had rifen to hurley's Infurrection. 6i refcue the king, at once returned to the Inn, finding Mr. Afhburnham making fpeeches to the people, advifing them to defift from their vain enterprife ; but on the remonftrance of Sir John Berkeley, who deemed it exceedingly dangerous in their pofition to be found in communication with the populace, not knowing what interpreta- tion might be put upon language fo addrefled, however amicably intended, he gave over — advice, it was foon fhown, to have been moft oppor- tune, as many of the perfons feized are repre- fented to have had promifes of pardon and liberty made them on their implicating thefe three gen- tlemen in the tranfaction ; but as fuch a proce- dure was totally impoffible, an order was tranf- mitted by Hammond to the captain of Cowes Caftle to put them immediately on fliip-board, and tranfport them to the coaft of Hamplhire, where, it appears they remained fome weeks, in daily expectation of the accomplifhment of his majefty's defired efcape, and confequent arrival there. Although Alhburnham preferved his reputa- tion and his credit among the moft eminent of the loyalifts, much opprobrium has been showered on him for his fhare of the action in conducting 62 Who Burley was. the king to the Ifle of Wight, it being more than infinuated that his honour in the tranfaction was not fo pure as he would have it confidered, and that if not actually corrupted, he had been outwitted by Cromwell and Ireton. It would, of courfe, be an impoflibility now to unravel the motives which then innately guided him, and his own narrative, in connection with the more candid ftatement of Sir John Berkeley, fhows him to be open to reproach, and liable to juft cenfure, for the fatally perfuafive influence he exercifed, perchance with integrity, but cer- tainly with indifcretion, over his majefty, on many occafions, when it is not improbable that contrary reafoning would have been better fitted to the pofition in which he was placed. Captain Burley, the inftigator of this mutiny, (as it was defignated in the letter defpatched by Hammond to announce the incident to the Houfe of Commons,) was of a good family in the ifland, his father having held the command of Yar- mouth Caflle there, and Captain Burley himfelf a captaincy in the Royal Navy, from which he was difcharged on the occafion of the fleet re- belling againft the king, when he joined the' army, and continued an officer of good account. Refult of Outbreak. 63 until finding the king's affairs irremediably ruined, he retired to the Ifle of Wight, where many of his kinsfolk were refident, and chancing to be at Newport on the day the difmiffal of the king's attendants had created a confiderable commotion, the people feemingly feeling the indignity with fo great a degrefe of afperity, as to induce him to believe their refentment had deeper root than the mere effervefcence of other- wife inconfiderate language, caufed a drum to be beaten, and urged the inhabitants with the rally- ing cry of "for God, King Charles, and the people !" to feize upon Carifbrook Caflile and refcue the king, an attempt, as the refult provedj to be fhort-fighted and utterly impracticable, he being joined but by few of the towns-people,* except women and children, the entire mufter having only one mufket among them. On the fummons of the mayor, the military were fent from Carifbrook, the moft prominent parties arretted, and Burley himfelf committed to a dungeon in the caftle he had propofed to attack, * Perhaps, remembering the prominent part they had taken in originally fecuring the caftle for the Parliament in 1643 — 44.. 64 Orders of the Houfe of Commons. for fafe keeping, until the pleafure of the Parlia- ment could be afcertained refpecting him. On the receipt of Hammond's communica- tion by the Houfe of Commons, an order was made ''that the general. Sir Thomas Fairfax, be required to grant a commiflion to the gover- nor of the Ifle of Wight, to try by martial law the chief actors in this mutiny, or that fhall make any further difturbance; and fuch as are not triable by martial law, are to be tried by a commiflion of oyer and terminer, to be forth- with fent down for that purpofe," a letter of thanks being the fame day voted to the mayor of Newport, in the Ifle of Wight, and to the well-aiFected perfons there for their care and good affections exprefl"ed in the late mutiny in the town by Captain Burley and others. Thus was this ill-judged and unfortunate, but well-meant tumult eafily allayed — the inhabi- tants of Newport, although mofl: liberal in pity- ing and indignant expreflions, evidently confi- dered the fl:ep taken by Burley to be too dange- rous an enterprize for them fingle-handed to embark in, oppofed as they would be by men who were then doing a foul wrong, capable ■ Trial of Bur ley . 6 5 of anything, and reftrained by no perfonal con- fiderations; whilft he, himfelf, after raifing the cry, and having no time to revolve the adtual poffibihty of the achievement in his mind, was, probably like many others who do daring aftions, forced on becaufe he had not the opportunity given him to think of retreating. The trial of Captain Burley^ which took place at Winchefter, is, with the exception of the king's, which fo foon followed, one of the moft peculiar in Englifh hiftory, although a perfect record of it has hitherto remained unpublifhed; for there was a judge, without any legal commiflion, afting againft the law — a king's attorney, without the royal defignation, adling in the king's nanie, againft the king, in purfuing a loyal fubjedb to death, for undertak- ing what he believed to be the faithful defence of his majefty — and charging him with trea- fon, becaufe he oppofed thofe who were com- mitting it. Sergeant Wild, a man of infamous charafter, who was made chief baron of the Exche- quer for fuch fervices, prefided ; and every other counfellor refufing to adt, Steele, who was imme- diately after the trial made recorder of London, 6^ Trial of Bur ley . conduced the profecution; the indiftment charg- ing Burley with high treafon, for levying war againft the king, and endeavouring to engage the kingdom in a new war. Some little difficulty was at firfl: experienced in procuring a jury; but by enforcing the attend- ance of many of the county fequeftrators and others in the pay of the Parliament, the tafk was ultimately accomplifhed, the roll of their names being thus commented on in No. 4 of the Mercurius Dogmaticus : "Edward Heighes — fuch another knave {I warrant you) as Heighes, the bookfeller, at Fleet-bridge. Robert Cooper — let every tub Hand upon its own bottom. John Knight — noble only by name. William Doleing — let him know forrow. Thomas Coles — Oh! what a price might he have been fold for for a Chriftmas block, when coals were kept from London. Peter Percival — ^what kin to Per- cival, once minifter of Bafmgftoke ? William Fisher — no swearer, I'll warrant, tho' he aflifted to give up a lying verdid: with the reft. Ai^- thur Lipscomb — of Bradley, coxcomb. Wil- liam Hiloker — there's a ftoole. John Elliot not allied to Tom Elliot, I'll warrant him. Trial of Bur ley. 67 WrtLiAM Hunt — Adeon's kinfman. John BiDLEcoMB — two coxcombs in one jury. An- thony Casbert — a fharp man, fure, Theo^ PHiLUS Smith — Mulciber be thy protecftor." A curious and fignificant compilation; but one, of courfe, only applicable to the feelings and eomprehenfion of the public at the time of its publication. On the 2'2nd of January, 1648, the grand jury, so named, aflembled at the place of trial, and after hearing a mod violent and accufatory fermon againfl; the prifoner, delivered by one Ellis, an Antinomian, the following charge was read by Steele : " That the faid Captain Burley was the chief caufe, or incendiary, for caufing a drum to be beat up for God and King Charles, at Newport, in the Ifle of Wight, and caufing a mutiny there, contrary to divers ordinances of Parliament made in that behalf;" which he undertook to fhow the jury was treafon, under the ftatute of 25th Edward the Third, and other ftatutes ; but on their retiring, the queftion was agitated, even among men fo feleded, as to the legal evidence on which they were urged to find a bill of treafon againfl: the captain, and they returned into court, requiring further in-' F 2 6 8 Trial of Bur ley: formation on the fubjeft; becaufe the ftatutes which Mr. Steele had quoted were found to be repealed, and confequently of no efFeft ; whilfl: the 25 th of Edward the Third did not appear to them to touch the matter in queftion, fince the only high treafons there fet down, were — I ft. The compaffing or imagining the king's death or the queen's, or their eldeft fon and heir. 2nd. The violating of the king's companion, or the king's eldeft daughter unmarried^ or the wife of the eldeft fon and heir. 3rd. The levying of war againft our fovereign lord the king in his realm, or to be adherent to the king's enemies in his realm, igiving to them aid or comfort in the realm or elfewhere; 4th. The counterfeiting the king's great feal, or his privy feal, or his money. 5th. The bringing of falfe money into the realm; 6th. The flaying the chancellor, treafurer, or the king's juftices, being in their places doing their offices. If any of the treafons therein mentioned were applicable, it dould be only the firft or third, and they did not underftand that Captain Burley had any thought of compaffing or imagining the death of the king, the queen, or their eldeft Trial of Bur ley . 6 9 fon and heir, or of levying war againfl: the king, or of adhering to his enemies, Steele replied, that the ftatutes to which his attention had been called by the jury, were indeed repealed, but that fie had forgotten to tell them fo, for which he requefted their pardon, and that the 25 th Edward the Third was the ftatute on which he relied, afking them whether they did not believe that the king was virtually, in the Parliament, 3. courfe of argument which feems to have removed all fcruples, as a true bill was thereupon found. Burley pleaded "Not Guilty," aflerted his right to challenge the jury who were to try him, and addrefs him- felf to the court, both of which requefts were denied by the judge, who faid in anfwer to the latter demand, "Captain Burley, you Ihall be fure to have a fair trial, and be heard to fpeak at full; but now the king's evidence is to be heard, and therefore you muft forbear," The witnefles produced againfl; him were a boy, a woman, and a man. The Boy. — Said he was 14 years of age, and that Captain Burley wiflied him to go for. the (town) drum, which he accordingly did, and that it was afterwards taken from him. JQ Trial of Burley: , The Woman, — Said fhe heard Captain Burley fay he would be the- firft that fliould enter. TJie Man. — That the mayor of Newport came to the drummer to demand the drum, who gave him ill language, and that therefore Captain Burley reproved him for fo doing, afking him whether he knew who it was he was fpeaking to, and telling him it was the mayor of the town who demanded the drum, which was accordingly then delivered to him. This was the evidence for the profecution; and on the jury's retiring, Burley defired the performance of the promife the judge had made him of a fair hearing for himfelf, but to little purpofe ; he being told that all he could fay would be only for the information of the jury, who were gone, and it was therefore too late for him now to fpeak. As might have been expefted, after fuch an almoft incredible mockery of juf- tice, the verdidt of guilty was returned, and a fentence pafTed in every way worthy of the man who delivered it — "That his body was to be drawn upon an hurdle to the gallows and there hanged, and afterwards cut down and quartered, and the quarters hung upon flakes and pikes. Non pana, sed caufa, facit meriyr«m-~it is not Addrefs from the fury. ji the punifhment, but the caufe, which makes a martyr." The other perfons taken with Burley being only jndid:ed for a riot, were punifhed by fine and imprifonment. On the 23 rd of January, the day before that appointed for his execution, the refult of the trial was reported to the Houfe of Commons, but upon fome confideration the fentence was for the prefent reprieved; and it having pleafed the grand jury, ere they feparated, to addrefs the Parliament on the then exifting ftate of things, there was the fame day a paper read in the houfe, purporting to be the "Humble and thankful acknowledgment and declaration of the County of Southampton, prefented by the grand jury of the faid county, at the fitting of a commiflion of oyer and terminer, to be pre- fented by the knights and burgeffes that ferve for the county. "To the Right Honourable the Houfe of Commons afl"embled in Parliament. " As we deteft witli horror the levying of a new war, fo we defire with our hearts the firm fettlement of a lafting peace. After fo many 72 Addrefs from the Jury. applications to the king made by the Parliament, and efpecially after the laft addrefs, wherein the. houfes (as we humbly conceive) demand nothing but what is moft eflential to the fafety of the people; and after the king's abfolute negative to the laft meflage of the honourable houfes, we exceedingly doubt of any fettlement by future application to the king; and therefore we do moft humbly acknowledge the wifdom and good- nefs of the Parliament in refolving to fettle the peace of this poor, miferable, diftracted nation; and by the bleffing of God (as in duty we are bound) we ftiall not only moft willingly and cheerfully fubmit and acquiefce in fuch fettle- ment as they, in their grave judgment, ftiall find to be moft conducible to our peace ; but alfo, in our feveral placings and callings, fliall heartily endeavour to promote the fame. "Signed by the jury as before rendered." For this addrefs the thanks of the houfe were ordered, and Sir H. Mildmay received a similar vote for the fervices he had rendered at the time of the trial. After Hurley's condemnation, a vain endeavour was made to obtain a commutation of his fen- The Execution. 73 tence into a banifhment for life; and his wife petitioned the judge that his eftate fhould not be fubjefted to forfeiture, but divided be- tween her and her children, and also that the body of her hufband might be delivered over to her for burial. Wild replied, that as her hufband was a traitor, the eftate was not in his power, but in that of the Parliament; and if he granted her other requeft, " he thought he fhould be doing her a difcourtefy in it —for if his body was fufFered to hang — the cavaliers that came by would fay, ' There hangs honeft Captain Burley, that was true to his king.' "* The reprieve was, however, but of fhort dura- tion, as the execution is recorded to have taken place on the 3rd February ; and becaufe no one in Hampfhire could be prevailed on to under- take the executioner's fundlions, Gregory, the London official, was taken to Winchefter to perform his hateful duty. Burley took leave of his wife and children at the door of the prifon; and on entering the cart, requefted to be driven fpeedily to his journey's end, in order that he might obtain endlefs peace and reft. * Relation of the proceedings againft Captain Burley at Winchefter, 1648. 74 ^^^ Execution. On coming to the place of execution, where were already the faggots to confumehis bowels and the cleaver to divide his body, Burley requefted the 1 2th chapter of Ifaiah to be read to him, together with the 8 th chapter of the Romans, and the 69th Pfalm; and having taken leave of the world, and repeated a prayer he had written for the occafion, which he prefented to the IherifF, and which was afterwards publiflied, afcended the gallows, where he was again moved by a minifter to be humbled, that the Lord might have mercy upon him, and to confefs his fms to God, particularly the treafon for which he was to die. Burley faid he was a finner, but no traitor ; and on being told what a fair trial he had, and how legally he was condemned, anfwered, it was true the judge condemned him upon the bench, the minifters in their pulpits, and the gentlemen of the county in their verdifts, but ftill he was no traitor; whereupon he was urged how bloody an ad he had agitated in seeking to take away the king through blood ; to which he replied, he was happy to die fo, and hoped his blood might be the laft that fhould be so flied ; when he again pra.yed fer- vently, and, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, T!he Execution. 75 proclaimed, with undaunted courage. Fear God and honour the King. The hangman thereupon pulled the cap over his face, and the unfor- tunate man, as he was turned oiF, called out, "Lord, preferve my foul — Lord Jefus, receive my foul !" Such are the particulars of this remarkable trial, the firft precedent of a man being brought to a formal arraignment, found guilty of high treafon, and deprived of life for adhering to the king; a procedure which, as Clarendon juftly remarks, made a deeper impreffion upon the hearts of all men than the cruelties which had been already exercifed in the courts of war ; for, though they took the lives of many innocent men, their eftates were allowed to defcend to their families; but when it was seen that the condemnation of high treafon before a judge of the land might accrue _ for ferving the king, and their eftates be thereby confifcated, many began to think they would be juftified in keeping their hearts entire, without involving themfelves by their actions in a capital tranfgreflion. Scarcely a day now pafTed that was not marked by fome new occurrence indicative of the reftraint Charles would ultimately have to endure, aj- 76 Pqfition of Charles. though, as the new defigns of his opponents' were gradually developed, he derived the fatis- fadtion of finding many who had formerly aided the contrivers of thofe machinations which had refulted in th'e unforefeen thraldom of their king, folicitous to wipe off the inadvertencies into which they had been so led, by a proportionate zeal in any notable fervice that could now be ren- dered him. It being a Angular but truthful afier- tion, that the mofl: energetic and faithful of his adherents, and thofe who preferved their reputa- tions moft unfpotted in the tranfadtions connedbed with his attempted efcapes from Carifbrook, were the men who thus voluntarily proffered their allegiance from the ranks of the Parlia- ment for that efpecial purpofe. Charles was, in fadt, now a clofe prifoner; although fuch was the vigilance and ingenuity of his confidants that an adtjve correfpondence was immediately commenced and fecretly carried on between the royal captive and his friends in London, Scotland, and France, in defiance of the endeavours of a committee fitting daily at Derby Houfe, compofed of feven peers, viz., the Earls of Manchefter, Northumberland, Kent, and Warwick, and the Lords Say and Seale,Wharton Committee at Derby Houfe. "jy and Roberts, together with thirteen merri- bers of the Houfe of Commons, Mr. Pierre- pont, Mr. Fiennes, Sir Harry Vane, Harry -Vane, junior. Sir William Armine, Sir Arthur Hafelrig, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Sir John Evelyn, Lieut.-General Cromwellj Mr. St. John, Mr. Wallop, Mr. Crew, and Mr. Brown, who held power to reprefs tumults and infurredions, to raife forces as they faw occafion, and to whom thofe having the cuftody of the king were for the future to be refponfible. The power to place and difplace any attendant, or to ufe any mea- fures in relation to the fafety and fecurity of his majefty's perfon, had been already deputed to Colonel Hammond and Sir William Conftable by vote of the Houfe of Commons, on the 5 th January, 1 648 ; but on Sir William Conftable's receiving another appointment, a few days after- wards, at the suppbfed inftigation of Cromwell, the fole refponfibility devolved on Hammond, by whom an intimation from the above-named committee was received on the 21ft of the fame month, informing him that as they were under an oath of fecrecy,* he might fafely commu- nicate any intelligence to them, and that for its * Letter to Hammond. yS Committee at "Derby Houfi. better concealment a cipher ftiould be tran^ mitted to him ; whilft fo fubtle were their pre^ cautions, and well-devifed their efpionage,. that there was fcarcely a movement of the king, or of thofe in correfpondenee with him, but was henceforward known to them; the firft inform- ation of many of the intrigues neeeflarily en- tered into for the purpofe of accompliftiing the efcape of Charles, being adlually communicated to Hammond from Derby Houfe, although contrived in his own refidence, and almoft in his immediate prefence. The death of Captain Burley, which had at firft materially afFeded the king, was, in the prefTure of other matters, in the prefent pofir tion of his affairs, quickly forgotten ; the princi- pal private griefs now affedling him being the lofs of his chaplains (his majefty's wifh for the return of whom, or at leaft Dr. Hammond and Dr. Sheldon, had been reprefented to the Parliament); as he was firm in his purpofe of abftaining from hearing thofe who miniftered according to the dire6tory then practifed ; and the reftriction of his ufual out-of-door exercife. This determination, however, did not prevent his private devotions, which he. daily and care- A. B. Cane Head, and top of Cane Head, used by Charles the First at Carisbrook j now in the possession of Thomas Cooke, Esq., of Newport. C. Bing worn by King Charles at Carisbrook ; now in the posseBsion of George Wallace, Esq., of Southaea. The Hall in which the Treaty of Newport was held in 1648. Recreation of the King. jg fully attended to, especially obferving the Lord's- day by reading the Bible and other books fitting him for prayer and meditation in his clofet. The cefTationof his accuftomed exercife, which was always more violent than moderate, as when he walked on foot he rather trotted than paced, he went fo faft, and invariably ufed a cane or ftafF, as was the cuftom of the time,* involved him, how- ever, in frequent bickerings with the governor ; and • An anceftor, of the name of Howe, of Mr. Thomas Cooke, now refidcnt at Newport, in the Ifle of Wight, was at this time mafter gunner at the caftle of Carifliroolc, and as a mark of the king's fenfe of the attention paid him by that officer, he on one occafion prefented him with the ftaff he was fo ufmg. The ivory head of this relic is ftill in the poffeffion of Mr. Cooke ; it is inlaid with filver, and unfcrews, the top forming a fcent-box. Mr. Howe had also a fon, a little boy who was a great favourite of Charles : one day, feeing him with a child's sword by his fide, the king aflceil him what he intended doing with it? " To defend your majefty from your majefty's enemies," was the reply; an anfwer which fo pleafed the king, that he gave the child the fignet ring he was in the habit of wearing upon his finger. The ring has defcended to a Mr. Wallace, a kinfman of Mr. Cooke. It is alfo recorded that Mr. Worfley, of Gatcombe, received his majefty's watch (ftill preferved in the family) as a gift, the morning he was leaving the ifland ; but this fuppofition muft be erroneous, as Mr. Worsflcy was at that time not only pro- fcribed from the precinftsj but the removal of the king fo fecret that none were aware of the procedure. The probability there- fore ia that Mr. Worfley faw him in his route from Hurft Caftle to London, and then received this interefting memorial. 8o ReJiriSiions in the Houfehold. on the 4th of February, he pointedly told him, that that was the laft " argumentation " he would hold with him about it, and he might yet ere long be beholden to one of his fons for his life. But little were his appeals heeded, and no fhadow of hope appeared by which he could difcern the pro- bability of any relief, as not only were one thoufand pounds granted for repairing the caftle,' but on the following day, the 5 th of February, Hammond was expressly ordered to remove fuch attendants about his majefty as he could not im- plicitly truft in, and power at the fame time de- puted him " to appoint eight fuch perfons as he can repofe confidence in to ferve the king until the family arrangements now in progrefs fhould be fettled by the general," who demanded a lift from Hammond of " thofe who were then about his majefty, as well as gentlemen in the ifland fit to be confided in, and that if he could not fill up the number of thirty, to which they were to be reftrifted, including gentlemen, their fervants, cooks, butlers, &c., the quality of thofe he could not fupply was to be ftated, in order that they might be fent from London." Ten pounds were allowed for the expenfes of the king's table, nine pounds for the pay of a guard of two hundred Habits of the King. 8i men and their officers, and thirty fhillings for the governor's table daily, and Hammond alfo received a gratuity of one thoufand pounds, with an annuity of five hundred pounds per annum to be fettled on him and his heirs. Of the habits of the king at this period of his imprifonment, a very perfect account may be rendered by following the ftatements of Her- bert and Rufliworth, wherein it appears that it was his usual pradice, the weather being fair,, in the morning and afternoon, to walk round the caftle walls, accompanied by Hammond, who, as a farther means of recreation, converted the place of arms without the caftle wall, • but within the counterfcarp, into a bowling-green, with a fum- mer-houfe, where, as the fpririg advanced, the king was in the pra6bice of fpending many vacant hours. At his dinner-table his majefty converfed with his attendants, principally refpedting the occurrences tranfpiring in the other parts of the kingdom; and after dinner foon retired to hig chamber, where he remained fecluded, but in- variably obferved his allotted hours for devotion 9,nd writing.' The unpleafant altercations with the governor, for a ftiort time, apparently ceafed ; and, notwithftanding his reftraint, it, was the 82 Habits of the King. cuftom of difeafed perfons, troubled with the evil, to refort to the ifland from all parts of the king- dom, and to ftay in Newport and the furround- ing villages, until they could find means of accefe within the caftle, there to watch the opportunity of the king's going to the bowling-green, to pre- fent themfelves before him and be touched for their diftemper. The chaplain to the governor and the garrifon was a Mr. Troughton, a young man, a graduate in one of the univerfities. He feldom failed being in the prefence-chamber when the king dined, as, before his majefty retired to his cham- ber, he would ufually take feveral turns in the room, and pleafantly enter into a difputation with him, he being capable of arguing pretty well in defence of the tenets he held in oppofition to fome of the ceremonies of the church, and on the difcipline of the epifcopacy. On thefe occa- fions Mr. Troughton was generally very earned in maintaining his aflertions, which were never difcouraged by Charles, becaufe, as he was the better logician, and poffefled a fuperior know- ledge of hiftoric and controverfial points, his majefty always had the advantage, and thei* partings were confequently invariably amicable. Habits of the King. 83 [But it occurred, on one occafion, during their difcourfe, when the young difputant was ftanding between a lieutenant of foot (who had his fword in his hand, intently liftening to their conver- fation) and a Mr. Duncomb, a gentleman well known to thofe who were prefent, that the king, in the heat of the moment, feized the fword fo unexpeftedly, as not only to aftonifh the officer but frighten the chaplain, who did not compre- hend the reafon, .until Mr. Duncomb falling upon his knee, his majefty laid the fword upon his flioulder, and thereby conferred the honour of knighthood, faying it was done in purfuance of a promife he had made to his relations. About the fame period, a Mr. Sedgwick, who had been a preacher in the Parliamentarian army, came to Carifbrook for the purpofe of difcourfing with the king on his fpiritual concerns, and pre- fenting a work he had written, entitled " Leaves of the Tree of Life," an explication of the 22nd chapter of the Revelation of St. John, in the belief that his majefty would derive much benefit as well as comfort, in his prefent pofition, from its perufal. He defired the governor's interceflion to procure him an audience of the king, as well as permiffion to addrefs him, a requeft to which G 2 84 Habits of the King. Charles readily acceded, when he was informed that the applicant had journeyed from London with that efpecial defign. ^ Mr. Sedgwick offered his book in a refpedtful manner; but the king, after reading fome fmall portion, returned it with the remark, that by wh^t he had read, he thought the author ftood in need of fleep ; an obfervation the minifter received with much fatisfaflion, and departed. The next day there likewife arrived a Mr. Harrington, a gentleman of property, near Bath, upon the fame charitable errand. The king, however, having previoufly heard fomething concerning him, proffered his thanks for fuch good intentions, but faid he had then no defire to enter into a difputation on controverfial points ; whereupon Mr. Harrington wifhed the king much happinefs, and returned homewards. By the middle of the month of February, Fairfax completed his difpofitions for the future governance of the royal houfehold, and the minor arrangements were left to the difcretion of Hammond, who, by command of the Par- liament, iffued ftridt orders that no greater, number than thirty- perfons fhould be allowed within the walls of the caftle as fervants of the Hammond's Regulations. 85 king, on any pretence whatever; whilfl: a fecond regulation provided for an unceafing furveillance on his majefty's movements, by the feledlion of four gentlemen to wait and watch by turns, two and two, at the door of his apart- ment by day, when he was within it, and at the entrance of his chamber by night, againft which their beds were to be fo clofely drawn as to prevent all means of ingrefs or egrefs, until removed in the morning, or by the wifh of the governor. Thofe felefted for this fervice, and approved by the committee at Derby Houfe and the Houfe cf Commons, were Mr. Thoma^ Herbert, Mr. Mildmay, Mr. Prefton, and Cap- tain Silas Titus. A biography of Captain Titus is rendered in the introduction to this work; and as, among the other perfons approved by the governor and the general, whofe names appear in the progrefs of it, Ofborn, Dowcett, and Firebrace, will be recognifed as the most prominent, it becomes neceffary here to obferve that Ofborn, by extrac- tion a gentleman, was oftenfibly recommended to Colonel Hammond by Lord Wharton, to be placed in fome near attendance about the king as a fpy, an introdudion which procured hini 86 I'he King^s Attendants. the occupation of gentleman-ufher to his majefty ; Dowcett had been formerly in the fervice of the Earl of Holland ; and Firebrace, a former depen- dent of the king, on receiving an order foon after the coming of Charles to the Ifle of Wight, to haften to him with what intelligence he could procure, went to Carifbrook by permiffion of the fpeaker, was made one of the pages of his majefty's bedchamber, and for some time managed to efcape fufpicion, although continually engaged in furthering the king's clandeftine correfpondence. *' His firfl; endeavour," (he writes,) after his, arrival, was "to give his majefty an account of bufinefs, and to fafely put into his hands the letters he had for him — a difficult proceeding, as there were fpies perpetually upon him ;" but for his purpofq he found a very convenient and private place in the king's bedchamber, where he depofited the papers, and intimated their fecre- tion there to the king the fame night, by putting a note into his hand as lie was preparing to go tor bed ; whereupon the next morning, he found an anfwer in the appointed place, in which his majefty was pleafed to exprefs his fatisfaftion at what he had done, and direfted a continuance of the adopted njode of converfation, — an arrange- Correfpondence. 87 ment which proved fo available for fome time, that Charles never wanted good intelligence from the queen, the prince, and many of his friends, feveral defpatches being every week so conveyed, not one of which mifcarried. CHAPTER IV. Condition of the King — Arrangements for the Tranfmiflion of his Correfpondence — Overtures and Services of Captain Titus and others — Firft attempted Efcape — Change of Lodging — And Arrangement for the Reception of Charles in the Quarters of the Chief OiEcer. i TTAD any effort been made by Hammond to confole the unfortunate monarch in his calamity, there would be honour due to his memory ; but it does not appear that any perfonal defire to alleviate the king's misfortunes was ever manifefted, as in all his communications with the committee at Derby Houfe, as well as with Fair- fax, Cromwell, Ireton, and others, he rather evinced a ftern, vindidtive fhow of fatisfaction at " the fpecial fervice" on which he was employed, than fuch confideration as majefty demanded, humbled as it was before him. The captivity of Charles Xhs King's Correfpondence'. 89 is therefore a tale of unvaried forrow, for day glided away after day; and week fucceeded week, whilft his adverfaries were not only abufing their advantage over him, but at this very time meditating the terrible confummation of the artful game of their ambition, which fo foon followed. The furprifing fecret intercourfe which Charles kept up with his friends in his various capti- vities, is no ordinary evidence of the ftrong per- fonal attachments this unhappy prince, when deftitute of means to bribe the fordid, or to flatter the ambitious, infpired in many of his enemies. He was rarely deferted or betrayed, although it is certain that fome underlings took advantage of their knowledge of his clandeftine tranfaftions, as well as correfpondence. Witherings, of the Poft-ofEce, and one Lowe, a merchant, are fuppofed to have been of this defcription of agent during the king's imprifon- ment at Carifbrook, and the perfons alluded to by Lord Clarendon, as fome of the "many who did undertake to perform thefe offices, and did not make good what they promifed." Firebrace, in one of his notes to Charles, obferves, " You keep intelligence with fomebody 90 ^he King's Correfpondence. that betrays you, for there is a letter of yours fent to the governor (Hammond) from Derby Houfe ;" to which the king's reply is, " Is' it poffible that the rogue Witherings hath dif- covered thofe I fuperfcribe to my wife, and hath fent one of my letters to the committee ? Enquire and fee if I have not guefled right. Do not fend that letter of mine to the poft- houfe, but either to Dr. Fraifer or my Lady Carlifle, with a caution not to truft the poft- mafters." In all accounts of the king's fojourn at Holmby, mention is made of a Major Bofville, as the perfon intruded with the tafk of condud:- ing his majefty's fecret correfpondence, and who feems to have effeded his purpofe by occa- fionally transforming himfelf into a variety of perfonages, fometimes a mariner, fometimes a (Sountryman or mendicant. For thefe treafonable manoeuvres, as they were termed, Bofville was feveral times com- mitted to prifon, but as he alfo excelled in the Angular art of efcaping from his keepers, he invariably foon recovered his liberty. Afhburnhafti, Berkeley, and Legg, on their ftimmary ejedtioh from the Ifle of Wight, had The King's Correfpondence. 9 1 ftationed themfelves at Netley Caftle, near South-; ampton, which thenceforward became one of the principal rendezvous for thofe royalifts who enjoyed the more immediate confidence of the king. One of the moft prominent of thefe perfonages was Major Bofville, who here again, in conjundtion with Mrs. Wheeler, the royal laundrefs at Carifhrook, and her affiftant Mary, voluntarily undertook his old employment. This arrangement, however, foon came to the knowledge of the committee at Derby Houfe, and fuch fpeedy intimation of the important fatSb was tranfmitted to Hammond, that he was materially enabled to counterad the efficiency of their plans. A difcovery took place on one occafion, in con- fequence of the ftupidity of the meffenger dif- patched from Bofville's veffel to the caftle, where he himfelf was afraid to venture. This man, get- ting partly tipfy at Newport, {b far forgot his inftrudtions, that on reaching Carifbrook, inftead of afking for Mrs. Wheeler or her maid Mary, to either of whom he was authorifed to deliver his cliarge, remembered only that he was to fee a woman of the name of Mary ; and' although he was admitted within the walls, his condud was (b fufpicious that he was watched by the guard. 92 T^he King's Correfpondence'. and seized on their obferving that he made direftly for the king's apartment, inftead of ftiaping his tourfe to the portion of the caftle allotted to the royal domeftics. In his pocket was found a packet addreffed to Captain Mildmay, a procedure adopted to efcape fufpicion ; and on admitting he was ordered to deliver it into the king's handsj he, as well as Mary the affiftant laundrefs, were committed to fafe-keeping, whilfl: Bofville, who quickly received intelligence of the mifcarriage of his truft, quietly eifedled his efcape. The packet, on being opened by Hammond, was found to contain two letters from one J. Darley, two from N. D., one from the queen, another from the princefs, and one from the Duke of York, who, with the Duke of Gloucefter and their filler the Princefs Eliza- beth, (then detained at York Houfe, under the care of the Duke of Northumberland,) had remained in ignorance of their parent's imprison- ment, until informed by a fervant of the duke that fuch was the cafe. On receiving permifllon from Northumberland to write to his filler the Princefs of Orange, the duke feized tlie fame op- portunity to indite a letter in cipher to tlie king. The King's Correfpondence. 93 which was handed to Bofville by Mr. Oudart, but unluckily failed in delivery, from the caufe just mentioned. Thefe letters were of courfe immediately tranfmitted by Hammond to London, and the queen's epiftle was found to ftate, that during the fad condition he (Charles) was in, nothing could bring more comfort to her than hearing from him, and wondered that on the lafl: return of the defpatch ftie had heard nothing from him, but fuppofes the letters were intercepted. A confiderable portion then followed in cipher, and the conclufion implored the mercy of God for the prefervation of his majefty, and his power for the deftrudtion of his enemies. The princefs humbly reprefented her duty to her father, and craved fhe might be fo honoured by him, and made fo happy as to underftand by a line or two under his royal hand, the good news of his health, for which fhe daily prayed. A committee of the houfe was appointed to examine the duke,* who would acknow- * On the 21ft of the month of April following, the Duke of York effe6led his efcape by one of thofe romantic feries of ad- ventures which feem almoft allied to the name of Stuart. It was an adventure to which he was urged by the queen, with the ap- provaI;of the king. Confequently the opportunity for fecuring his 94 '^^^ Duke of Tork's Letter^ Jedge nothing except he had written to his father to let him know the queen and his brothers freedom was eagerly fought for' by the prince, and an immediats advantage taken when the probability of a fuccefsfiil termination to his endeavours prcfented itfelf. By the report rendered to the Houfe of Commons, it appears the manner was in this wife : — " The duke, with his brother and lifter were, after their suppei*, playing in a room by themfelves, when he privately ftepped down ftairs without either coat, cloak, ftioes or ftockings, and by means of a door communicating from the garden to the park, whereof he had obtained a key, made his efcape from his im- prifonment." The Duke of Gloucefter with the Princefs Eliza- beth, however, ftiU remained prifoners, and were foon after con- figned to the care of the infamous Lady Carlifle at St. Jartes's, who had a grant of 3000/. per annum for their maintenance, with a ftrift injunftion that they were to be deprived of all princely dis- ftinftion. From St. James' .however, they were ultimately confignisd to the faddeft of ail fad places to them, the caftle of Carilbrook, the fcene of their father's cmeleft imprifonment, and from whence he was dragged to die. It is well known that the princefs died in this caftle on the 8th of September, 1650, of a fever brought on by anguifti and defpair, defpite of all the medicine and remedies tried by Sir Theodore Mayerne, her father's faithful phyfician, who, oh becoming aware of her proftrate condition, came to Cariftjrook to prefcribe for her. She is faid to have expired alone, whilft fitting in the apartment allotted to her, with her cheek reclining on her parent's laft gift-^his Bible. Her interment took place in the church of St. Thomas's, at Newport, on the z4th ,of the fame month, attended by the corporate authorities of Newport, ■with fuch little fliow of ftate as was then permitted, Crawford fays flie was a lady of incomparable abilities and admirable vir- tues ; but being by order of the regicides fent to the tedious prifonof her royal father, and more fenfiblc of his murder than the lofs of her own liberty, ftie wasted away, and expired with the extremity of melancholy and grief, in the 15th year of her age. The Duke of Gloucefter remained at Cariflarook^ with no Situation of the ^een. '95 and fifters were in good health, and that he had burnt the cipher; but on his becoming aware it was likely he would be committed to the Tower, he sent a letter of fubmiflion, in- clofing the cipher ; a refult which probably explains the medium through which the comr mittee were afterwards enabled to decipher much of the king's intercepted. correfpondence. Queen Henrietta Maria, who was moft unpo- pular with the principal among the Englifh cava- liers, was at this era refiding either at the Louvre, or St. Germains ; and although much calumny has been heaped upon her by moft hiftorians for her alleged negled of the king during his im- prifonment at Carifbrook, an impartial examina- tion of the facts goes very far to difpel fuch an opinion. Her own lituation was deplorable; and on the return of the fhip fhe had with great difficulty raifed the means to defpatch to South- ampton, fhe well knew the impolicy and danger of advifing Charles to betake himfelf to the French capital during the alarming juncture which then prevailed there. The troubles and deprivations of Henrietta Maria, in the year other flyle than "Mr. Hany," till 165a, when Cromwell per- mitted him to embark for HoUa&d. 96 I'he Prince of Wales. 1648, were, in truth, in some particulars more enduring than even thofe of the king, and as the fortunes of her royal confort grew darker and darker, her own lowered dark enough. The Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles the Second, was alforefident in Paris at the commence- ment of that year, engaged, until he departed to take the command of the Englifh fhips which had forfaken Cromwell and taken refuge at Helvoet- fluys, in devifing and counfelling meafures for the relief of his father. A touching memorial of the prince's folicitude being deducible from " the litany and prayers compiled by order of the prince for the king of Great Britain in his fad condition, and conftantly ufed in his highnefs's chapel, at eight in the morning and at five in the afternoon, daily."* " O moft gracious Lord God, the ruler of princes when they are on their thrones, and their proteftion when they are in peril, look down mercifully from Heaven, we moft humbly pray thee, upon the low eftate of thine anointed our king : comfort him in his troubles ; defend him in his dangers ; ftrengthen him in his good refo-- lution ; and command thine angels to pitch their •Printed at Paris, 1648. Public Reeling towards the King, 97 tents round about him, that he may be defended from the hands of all thofe that defire his hurti and may fpeedily be re-eftablifhed in the juft rights of his throiie, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen." Charles was now a king without a kingly power, but not without kingly influence ; for, as writes Difraeli,* the captive of Carifbrook Caftle was ftill awefully remembered by the people. He dwelt in their thoughts, and fometimes in their hearts. He had long ceafed to be an object of fear, and in their defpairs he had now become mingled with their laft hopes, becaufe, prefled by monthly contributions (on the i6th February the Ifle of Wight had been aflefled to a monthly contribution of 69/. yj. 6d. on ac- count of an ordinance for 20,000/. for the relief of Ireland) for the arrears of the foldiery, and vexed by taxations difguifed under forms and names unheard of, the fliip-money feemed but a light grievance. The labourers of the harveft found no glean- ings at the evening hour. The giddy multi- tude in the capital burft into a commotion, and called for "God and the king." The fpon- * Commentary. H 98 Public Feeling towards the King. taneous cry was re-echoed by the populace of diftant cities. The royal ftandard was unfurled m Wales, the Kentifh men flocked to the trumpet of Goring, and the men of Eflex had the fad glory of fufFering the laft in the miferies of the civil war by the memorable fiege of Colchefter. The fleet revolted to the prince. The cloud of an army was gathered in the north, where the Englifli royalifts here and there were awaiting for the army of Scotland led by the Duke of Hamilton. The cavaliers appeared in almofl: every county in England, and all rofe in oppo- fite directions, but too difliant to communicate, too early to be joined by the tardy, and too late to unite with the difpersed. Thefe various actions had called away from their feat of power in Weftminfter the chief commanders of the army ; and in the abfence of their authority and their complicated intrigues, the Prefbyterian party gradually recovered their power of pre-eminence ; the late exiled mem- bers returned to their feats ; and Holies, the great orator of the Preflayterians, once more refumed his preponderance, whilfl: the Independents, with- out their chiefs, lurked in a minority. This was a fl:ate of things mofl: favourable to the vanquiflied Sympathies of Attendants. 99 monarch, who, however, in the mean time was subjected to the moft rigid and defolate imprifon- ment: even the tone of the governor again changed to infolence and reprimand, though the perfons that had been placed about the king, and heretofore ftrangers, foon formed a deep perfonal attachment for him ; and thus gave rife to the extraordinary- incidents and guileiefs ftratagems which have ren- dered fo romantic all relations (imperfect as they are) of the captivity of Charles within the walls of Carifbrook, and the caftle itfelf a habitation of melancholy memories. At this time friends devoted to his fervice nightly hovered on the fea-fliores, watched about his dwelling, and held an invifible intercourfe with the lonely monarch,, who could not openly command a fingle mes- senger. Harrington, one of the perfons fent by the Parliament, and a zealbus republican,, became fo forcibly affected by the ability and dignity of the king as fx» be removed from his attendance. Ofborn, who had been fixed as a fpy near his perfon under the title of his gen- tleman-uftier, and whofe ofiiee was confequently to hold the king's glove during his dinner, foon Aid a note with an offer of his devoted fervices in the finger of it, which thus became the recep- H a ioo Firebr ace's Arrangements. tacle of an uninterrupted correfpondence between them, whilft Firebrace by Ingratiating himfelf into the favour of one of the king's confervators, fd far obtained his confidence as to be permitted to affume his duty of waiting at the door opening into the backftairs, wjiilft he abfented himfelf at fupper, and by fo doing, obtained a feries of uninterrupted interviews with the king, who invariably retired to his chamber after he had fupped ; but as danger might be apprehended during thefe ftealthy interviews from the intru- fion of the principal guardian, the expedient was adopted of perforating a chink in the wainf- coat behind the hangings, which, Firebrace writes, " ferved as well as the opening of the door; and was more fafe, for upon the leaft noife, by letting fall the hanging all was fafe ;" and by this means Charles received and deli- vered many an important defpatch, and devifed the arrangements for attempting his efcape from an imprifonment which was now tecome intolerable. So early as the 7 th of February in this year. Lord. Kent, on the part of the committee, wrote to Hammond informing him they have received fome intelligence from a very good hand which D^gnsfor the King's Efcape. loi has never failed, that there was then a defign in agitation through the medium of one Napier, and a fervant of David Murray (believed to be his majefty's tailor), to effect the enlargement of the king, by breaking the floor and ceiling of the room over the royal chamber, and drawing him up through the aperture fo formed, from whence he was to be conveyed from one apart- ment to another, until all the rooms were pafTed where there was a guard at either door or window.* On the 13th of March, the governor was again apprifed by the fame authority that two of thofe in attendance on the king were engaged in a fimilar enterprife, although they could not dif- cover their names, nor " the grounds they have to expect their fervice in it," but defired him to exercife increafed vigilance over the actions of his majefty's houfehold. So ingenious, however, were the artifices which were practifed by thofe engaged in thefe perilous undertakings, and fo multifarious the manoeuvres adopted to evade Hammond's precautions, that his determination and authority were equally at fault in difcovering and fupprefTmg the intrigues infti- * Letter to Hammond. 102 Additional Reinforcements. tuted by the contrivers of this dreaded proceeding. Five hundred additional men were fent over and quartered throughout the ifland, " two pieces of fix-pound bullets, two fakers, and eight three- pounds brafs ordnance," were fent thither from Poole in Dorfetfhire, and planted about the out- works of the caftle, as well as two hundred demi-culverin fhot from Arundel Caftle;* and an aflfeflment on the ifland for three inonths was granted at the requeft of the governor for the payment of the foldiery there.f In the Appendix to the fecond volume of Clarendon's " State Papers," it is ftated that about this time (March, 1648) there was "a flying report" (Lord Clarendon, however, remarks, " which feems to me fomewhat improbable,") that Hammond came in to the king " fuddenly at two o'clock in the night, and the king fufpecting fome treachery [from his] coming at that unfeafonable hour, flipped on his clothes ; and Hammond went readily to his cabinet and fearched it, but found not fuch papers as he looked for, and then en- deavoured to fearch the king's pocket ; but his majefty refifted and gave him a box on the ear; and it is {aid he ftruck the king again. Upon * Rufhworth. f Hammond's Letter. Alleged Violence of Hammond. 1 03 this violence ofFered, the king took the papers out of his pocket and thruft them into the fire, which Hammond attempted to pull out again; but the king fo well guarded them that they were all burned, though in this fcuffle it is faid the king got a hurt on his face by a knock againft the edge of the table." Mr. Secretary Nicholas adds as his opinion, that this ftatement is confirmed by other relations ; and that fome fuch belief was at the time generally entertained, is evidenced by Afhburnham's ftatement, as well as by reference to a pamphlet, publifhed (April 1 2th) immediately after the implied aflault, and entitled " The Fatal Blow, or the moft impious and treafonable fact of Hammond in offering force unto and hurting his Sacred Majefty, dif- cufled;" wherein the writer fays, " notwithftand- ing gaoler Hammond's moft folemn proteftation unto his majefty to treat him well, promifeth this Parliament that he will obey all their commands, although never so contrary to his fenfe of ho- nour, id esty his former engagements to his ma- jesty, so abfolutely is he their creature. And to fhow us how true he is unto his laft engage- ment, in his majefty's late refiftance to him, in the search of fome papers, he hath mofi im- 104 Reafonfor Hammond's Conduct. pioujly and traitoroujly wounded his moft Jacred majefty" Many furmifes might be entertained, and all with fome fhow of truthfulnefs, as to the con- tents of the papers the Parliament, by the aid of Hammond, (perhaps at the inftigation of Cromwell and Ireton, for if the remarkable cor- refpondence at this very time carried between thefe perfonages and Hammond had come to the knowledge of the two Houfes, it is more than probable a ftrange difclofure would have been the refult) were fo eager to obtain. As great aftonifhment was openly exprefled at the king's knowledge of the Votes of the Houfe of Com- mons, and other matters of a more extended import, no doubt fome anxiety would be ma- nifeflied to difcover the means whereby his information was obtained ; but the moft probable conjecture feems to be, that it was an endeavour to secure the record of the tranfactions between Charles and Tthe Scottifli commiflioners, which was reafonably, although erroneoufly, fuppofed to be ftill in the king's pofTeffion. Luckily, how- ever, on the departure of Afhburnham and Berkeley from the ifland, they had taken the precaution to induce his majefty to provide for Note to Fire brace. 105 the fafe-keeping of fo important and dangerous a document, by allowing" them to encafe it in lead, and afterwards temporarily depofit it in a garden belonging to Sir Charles Berkley, In the meantime, the king appeared to fubmit with patience to the reftraints put upon his free- dom, and even affected an air of cheerfulnefs in order to difguise the defign for making his efcapey which he ftill cherifhed, and was now perfecting ; whilft the almoft daily written injunctions to Fire- brace, " if you can let me fpeak with you this night at the chink," intereftingly Ihow the generous devotion of thofe who were feeking to ferve him in this endeavour, perfons to whom when in the prefence he hardly dared to direct a filent look, or a meaning gefture, as in one of Firebrace's notes, he writes, " I hope this day at dinner you under- stood my looks, for the foldier I told you of, whofe looks I like, was then there in a white nightcap, and as I thought you took notice, I hope to find fomething from you when I come in from walking;" thus forcibly showing the prompt sagacity of the king, and the romantic courfe of that remarkable fecret correspondence which caused a general fufpicion to be excited, and every ©bftacle adopted in the way of that perfonal io6 Sympathies of the Attendants deprivation which could be fafely devised to counteract its eiFect. " The fuperftition " of dw majefty of his " grey* difcrowned head,*' as Mr. Godwin exprefles it, was however gradually exciting the fympathies and receiving the truft of thofe who had teen placed about him as men of approved fidelity, but whofe judgments and affections, then of an oppofite character, were pow connected with, and eager inaffifling, fevoiai of the principal inhabitants of the iilaiKl, in fo- menting the ferment bjr which the exactions for the fupport of die military and other obnoxious impofls were agitating the entire mafs of the community there. Mr. Edward Worfley, connected with one of the mofl reputable families in the ifland, and Mr. John Newland, a member of the corpo- ration of Newport, ventured to intimate to Charles, through the agency of Firebrace and Captain Titus, their defire to aid in an attempt to reftore him to liberty; whilft others within the caflle, probably Burroughs and CrefTet, pro- feflxng themfelves true penitents, and anxious to redeem paft errors by prefent and future fervices, made a fimilar proffer through the fame me- dium, a procedure which gave rife to a portion Correfpondence •with Captain Titus. 107 of that correfpondence with Captain Titus it is the intent of this volume to place before the public; a moft interefting and curious memento pf the memorable occurrences which immediately followed, in which Captain Titus became fb prominent a leader, and fo trufted a confidant of the king's. These letters are written on pieces of paper of various fizes and fliapes ; fome on the full fize of half a iheet of foolicap, others on merely fcraps of little more than an inch in breadth, and with the exception of the firft, in a feigned hand, having the moft important portions in cipher. This fecret is a valuable and authentic illus- tration of tlie very plans arranged for the efcape of the king by himfelf and his confe- derates, and renders it evident that the adherence of thefe parties to the fervice of his majefty foon imparted a new tone to the proceedings which had been before rather hopeleffly than hopefully arranged; whilft Charles haftened to convey his acceptance of their overtures in the foUoV/ing communication : — io3 Letter to Captain Titus. Number I, "Capt. Titus, " Let thofe officers, you told me of, know that as my neceffity is now greater than euer, fo what feruice lliall be done me now, muft haue the firft place in my thoughts, when euer I fhall be in a condition to requite my friends and pitty my Eennemies : I coinand you (when you can do it, without hazard either to yourfelfe or them) that you fend me, in particular, the names of thofe who you thus finde fenfible of their duty, and refolued to difcharge the parts of true Englifhmen ; laftly, afTeure euery one, that, with me, prefent feruices wipes out former falts ; so I reft, *' Your afTured friend, « Charles R." From this time the new partifans proceeded without diffimulation in any of the negotiations or dangerous endeavours their exertions for the king's welfare prompted them to undertake, and only earneftly fought to extricate him from his moft trying fituation ; whilft fo well was the fecret of the great change meditated by the king kept. Firehrace's Narrative. 109 and fo difcreet and - fagacious was the propofed courfe of action, that it is more than probable if Charles had been lefs fanguine of the part he himfelf was to play in his defperate refolve, that the efcape firft contemplated, under the aufpices of Firebrace, Titus, and others, on the 20th March, 1648, would have been fuc- cefsful. Firebrace fays, " Amongfl: other ways I pro- pofed his coming out of his bedchamber win- dow, which he faid he could do, there being room enough. " I told him I fancied it was too narrow. He faid he had tryed with his head and he was fure, where that would pafs the body would follow : yet, ftill I doubted, and propofed a way to make it a little wider, by cutting the plate the cafe- ment fhut to at the bottom, which then might eafily have been put by. " He objected, that might make a difcovery, and commanded me to prepare all things elfe ; and that, he was confident, would not impede him. " I had made for this efcape Mr. Worfley (now Sir Edward Worfley), a very worthy gen- tleman now living in the ifland, Mr. Richard no Firehrace's Narrathe. Ofburn, a gentleman put in by the Parliament to attend the king, and Mr. John Newland * of Newport, who all proved very faithful: and thus we were to proceed : I fhould tofs fbme- thing againft the window, which was the fign to put himfelf out, and to let himfelf down by 3 cord which I for that purpofe had given him. " Being down, and in the dark night, I was to conduct him acrofs the court (no fentinel being in the way) to the great wall of the caftle, where I was to have let him down by a long cord, a ftick being fattened acrofs the end for him to fit on. " Beyond this wall was the counterfcarp, which was low: beyond that, and quite out of the caftle, waited Mr. Worfley and Mr. Oft)urn on horfeback, with a good horfe, faddle, piftols, boots, &c., for the king. They were to help his majefty from the counterfcarp, which they could eafily do from their horfes. ' " At the fea-fide, in a convenient place, was * On reference to the corporate books of the Borough of Newport, for the year 164.8-9, it is found as a corroborative and Angular coincidence, that although generally moft punctual in his attendance at the meetings of the corporation, Mr. New- land was abfent during the whole of the time the king's affairs engaged his attention. Firehrace's Narrative. 1 1 1 Mr. John Newland with a lufty boat, which might have carried his majsfty to what part he had thought fit : all things were thus prepared, and every one well inftructed in his part. The king, as he walked, had been often fhewed the place by me where he was to be let down, and where he was to get over the counterfcarp, which his majefty well approved of. " In the middle of thefe hopes, I gave the fign at the appointed time ; his majefty put himfelf forward, but then too late found himfelf mif- taken, he fticking faft between his breaft and fhoUlders, and not able to get forward or back- Ward, but that, at the inftant before he endea- voured to come out, he miftrufted and tied a piece of his cord to a bar of the window within, by means whereof he forced himfelf back. " Whilft he ftuck I heard him groan, but could not come to help him, which (you may imagine) was no small affliction to me. So foon as he was in again, to let me fee (as I had to my grief heard) the defign was broken, he fet a candle 1 in the window. If this unfortunate im- pediment had not happened, his majefty had certainly then made a good efcape. " Now I was in pain how to give notice to 112 The King^s Note to Firebrace. thofe without ; which I could find no better way" to do, than by flinging ftones from the high wall, where I fhould have let down the king to the place where they flaid, which proved fo eiFectual, that they went off, and never any difcovery was made of this."* In a note, pafled by the chink; from the king to Firebrace, immediately after this unfor^ tunate failure, he fays : *' The narrownefs of the window was the only impediment of my efcape, and therefore some inflrument muft be had to remove that bar, which I believe is not hard to get : for I have feen many, and fo portable, that a man might put them in his ppcket. I think it is called the endlefs fcrew, or the great force, I have now made a perfect trial, and find it im- poffible to be done, for my body is much too thick for the breadth of the window, fo that unlefs the middle bar be taken away I cannot get through. It is abfolutely impoffible to do anything to- morrow night, but I command you, heartily and particularly, to thank in my name, A. {Crejfet), C. {Col. Legge), F. (Dowcett), Z. {Mr. Worf ley), and him who ftaid for me beyond the * Letter written by Mr. Henry Firebrace to Sir George Lane, Knt., Secretary to the Duke of Ormond, July zift, 1675. Secrecy of Attempted Efcape. 113 Works (Mr. Newland)y for their hearty and in- duftrious endeavours in this my fervice ; the which I fhall always remember, being likewife con- fident that they will not fail in fo good a work." Lord Clarendon, in his " Hiftory of the Re- bellion," relates, this incident as if it were only a tale which the " idle jade. Rumour," had fpread abroad, and exprefTes it as his opinion that it was a mere fidtion, a conjecture which perhaps fhould not create much furprife when one of the prin- cipal inftigators and aftors in the aifair is found, after a lapfe of nearly thirty years, ftating it as his belief, "that never any difcovery was made of it ;" and that Mr. Afhburnham, to whom the refult was immediately communicated, alfo writes in his Narrative, " Hee got back again without anie certaine notice taken by anie man but by him (Firebrace) who waited to have ferved him when he had come downe," Thefe fuppofitions, however, by reference to a letter addrefled to Hammond by Cromwell, on the 6th of April following, are feen to have been tnoft fallacious,^ although it may be aflumed as a matter of certainty, that until the receipt of this epiftle, the authorities at Carilbrook were as equally ignorant of the near consummation of I 114 Information from Cronnwell. the king's defign, as of the untoward refult which had attended his, friends' endeavours. Cromwell fays, *' Intelligence came to the hands of a very confiderable perfbn, that the king attempted to get out of his window, and that he had a cord of filk with him, whereby to flip down ; biit his breaft was fo big, the bar would not give him paflkge. This was done in one of the dark nights about a fortnight ago. A gen- tleman with you led him the way and flipped down. The guard that night had fome quantity i of wine with them. The fame party afliires that there is aquafortis gone down from London to remove that obftacle which hindered, and that the fame defign is to be put in execution in the next dark nights. " He faith that Captain Titus and fome others about the king are not to be trufted. He is a very confiderable perfon of the parliament, who gave this intelligence, and defired it fhould be speded to you. The gentleman that came out of the window was Mafter Firebrace ; the gen- tlemen doubted are Crefl*et, Burroughs, and Titus : the time when this attempt at efcape was .... the 20th of March." From this time, Firebrace intimates in his Fir ebr ace's Narrative. 1 1 5 Narrative, ''there ensued a general suspicion, but they could point at nobody. Hammond fet his engines at work, and did pump me ; fo I heard he did others : but at laft he took me into exa- mination, and when he could make no difcovery he told me the reafon. " I acquainted the king with all paflages, at which he was much troubled, and told me, if they had a fufpicion of me, they would never leave till they had ruined me ; and would have had me gone with his letters to the prince his fon (now our fovereign lord and mafter), but I told his majefty I was confident they could prove nothing againft me, and therefore begged I might ftay to fee the ifTue ; and that if the worft happened, they could but put me away, and then I did not doubt but that I fhould be able some way or other to ferve his majefty. " After this Hammond sent for me again, and told me he had received other letters, and that he muft difmifs me as he fhould do others, but that I might ftay, if I would, three or four days. This I looked upon as a trap ; however, I accepted of it, but carried myfelf cautioufly^ I acquainted the king, and fettled fuch a way . of correlpondence that his majefty did not want I a Ii6 ^ Difmijfal of Titus , conftant intelligence from his friends, as before, and had his defpatches brought carefully to me, and fent them away with the like good fuccefs aS formerly, during the whole time I was from him." On or about the 21 ft of April, as announced in the " Every Day Journal " of the 27th of that month. Captain Titus, Burroughs, and Creflet were fent from the caftle by order of the gover- nor, under the authority he had received from the Derby Houfe committee on the i8th of February, wherein he was empowered " to place and difplace fuch perfons as were to attend the king as he Ihould fee occafion;" although, if any credibility can be attached to the report which reached the committee, thefe perfonages had conceived the idea " of fetting fire to the caftle by firing a great heap of charcoal that lies near the king's lodging, and upon that tumult he to make his efcape"* before they left. The royal lodging, from the firft coming of the king to Carift)rook until the month of May, 1648, confifted of the moft lofty por- tion of the governor's refidence ; an elevation, as will have been perceived in the progrefs of this • Letter to Hammond, 1 5th April. Change of Lodging. 117 narrativcj of three rooms : a presence-chamber, a retiring apartment on the firft floor, and above both of these the room in which the floor was to have been broken through, as fpoken of in the relation of the defigned efcape by Napier and others, at page 10 1 ; a detail which enables the identity of their pofition to be mofl: fatisfactorily determined. In the accompanying plan of the caftle of Cariftjrook, prepared after a recent inveftigation, carefully made for the purpofes of this work, and in accordance with the remaining frag- mental evidences of its internal adaptation at the period of the king's imprifonment there, the site of thefe rooms — the Saliftjury Tower — is eafily diftinguiflied by the dotted line drawn from it indicative of the route intended to have been taken by Charles and Firebrace, had they succeeded in regaining his antici- pated freedom ; but on Hammond's becom- ing aware of the circumftances appertaining to this abortive attempt, he refolved at once to remove the king from thefe apartments to a suite of rooms appended to the quarters of the chief ofiicer, then a building compofed of a feries of gable frontages of the era of Elizabeth^ 1 1 8 Cajile of Carijbrook. placed on the left fide of the firft court of the caftle after pafling the great gate-way, and direftly oppofite the chapel ; as he deemed the pofition to be one entirely free from many of the facilities the king and his counsellors had hitherto been enabled to avail themfelves of. The caftle of Carifbrook marks the fituation of one of thofe rude and almoft primeval for- trefles confifting of a raifed earthen ballium and fofle ftill to be ftudied in many parts of the kingdom ; afterwards occupied by the Romans, and, on their retirement, fucceffively by the Saxons and Danes, as their varied fuccefles gave them pofTeflion of the ifland. With the coming of the Normans, however, dates that firft permanent ftone ereftion, which, after being more than once re-modelled in accordance with the faftiion of the age in which the improve- ments were effected, eventually afliimed the ele- vation which, grey and time-worn, has defcended to our day. Amidft all these re-edifications, the priftine. earth-work, as the fubftructure of its more important fuccefl*or, ftill remained intaft, a formation which caufed the entire outline of the area within the caftle at the bafe of the walls Arrmi^ement of Rooms. 119 to iH-efent an almoft precipitous bank of earth, which defcended to the natural level, whilft on its fummit was upreared the fabric which has long refted within the embrace of the terrific conqueror of all things, but even amidft the ruin and depofit of centuries is vaft and venerably grand. The retention of the work of the olden time would of courfe materially diminifh the fize of the chambers on the ground floor of thofe buildings approximating to it, although the rooms immediately over, by embracing the additional fpace the formation of the earthwork confumed, were well-proportioned and convenient. The apartments now to be occupied by the king were on the upper floor of a building to which fuch a defcription is incident, aind confifl;ed of a prefence and bed-chamber, having communica- tion by a paflage that diredlly conneded them; whilfl; to the principal door of the prefence- chamber there was appended a ftaircafe, which defcended to the court-yard through the dwel- ling of the chief ofiicer. In the year 1 7 1 9, as appears by a rude Iketch fl:ill extant, this divifion of the fortrefs was even then in a ftate of great dilapidation, if not of abfolute ruin ; a decay principally attributable to 120 'Pojition of the Window. the fact that but little coft had been incurred in reparation from the time of the Reftoratlon, as, when the office of the governor of the ifland tapidly merged into a finecure, the expendi- ture was naturally limited to his own habitation. For a long feries of years, therefore, the thiftle has bloomed amidft their defolation, and the winds have moaned over the ruined walls, little heeding the fad review which an inspeftion of the precind: conjures up. The fite of the king's prefence-chamber is ftil-1 eafily diftinguifhable, as to it appertained the window which has been ■long looked on with a feeling of curiofity from the allufions made to it in all narratives of the king's projected efcapes. It has thereby been made memorable; but incorreftly fo, as the fir ft attempt was made, as already fliown, from the refidence appropriated to the governor, and as will be hereafter perceived, the fucceeding efibrt was again defigned through the window of his majefty's bedroom, an aperture blocked up in after-alterations, but neverthelefs eafily recognisable on the exterior of the wall, as it nearly adjoins the only buttrefs on this fide of the caftk. From the peculiarity of the pofition of the tietter to Titus, 121 fortrefs a confiderable fall in the level of the ancient earthwork, nearly eight feet, is found in the fpace which intervenes between thefe win- dows. The floor of the prefence-chamber refted on the ballium itfelf, whilfl; that of the retir- ing-chamber was confiderably above it, a dif- pofition which obliged Hammond materially to Vary the additional precautions he deemed neces- fary to take for preventing all fears of the king's fafe incarceration in his new abode. The win- dow of the prefence-chamber, which had hereto- fore contained but one Iron bar between the flone mullions, a fpace of fixteen inches, re- ceived a fecond ; and beneath that of the bed- room a platform was thrown up, where a fentinel was ftationed, and ordnance placed, — alterations which caufed the little delay in the king's removal, which he intimated in his note to Captain Titus. Number II. King Charles to Captain Titus. "W. " This trufly bearer will eafe my paynes by telling you why yett I have not yet changed my lodging; and alfo defyre your advice con- cerning remouing of obflrudtions ; so that thi$ 122 Letter to Titus. being but to ^ye you an occafion to wryte to mee, I need fay no more, but that I am " Your moft real friend, «J." "I pray you ccanmend me verry hartely to 688." This note is written in a feigned hand, and ■without date, but evidently about the 24th April, 1648. In the cipher ufed by the king at this time, the letter W exprefled Captain Titus, and J, the king, the trufty bearer having in all probability been Firebrace, who received his difmiflal within a few days from that of Titus himfelf. It muft not, however, be fuppofed that the fittings of thefe apartments were merely limited to the rude military appointments of the day, for by a reference to the appraifement of the furniture and plate within the caftle after the king's execu- tion, it is evident that regal fplendour prevailed therein, for the appraifement is fo minute in its defcriptive detail, that a moft vivid idea may be readily conceived, and more than imaginative picture drawn of the " Royal Portraiture, in his folitudes and fufferings," and whilft living in the Inventory of Furniture. 123 cuftody of his enemies, as from this time he is found fubjedled to a rigid and defolate imprifon- ment, and injury and infult became familiar ±0 him. An inventory of goods in Cariibrook Caftle, appraifedthe 17th October, 1650:* Imprimis, one (landing bedftead, covered with £ s. d, crimfon velvet, trimmed with gold and filver lace, and fringed, with all the furniture there- unto belonging, fuitable, and the cheft . 120 o o Sold Mr. Houghton and Mr. Bafs, the 8th October, 1651, for ditto. One fuftian down bed and bolfter, one fuftian quilt, one holland quilt, two cloth blankets, and a fuftian blanket . . . . 1 1 o q Sold Mr. Houghton, ditto for 11/. o o One crimfon damafk window curtain, of feven breadths, lined with perpetuana , ,700 Sold to ditto, for ditto. Two fmall window curtains, of crimfon damalk, lined as aforefaid . . . 3 10 o Sold to ditto for ditto. One 10 qr. feather bed and bolfter, two woollen blankets, and a red rug . . .500 Sold to ditto for ditto. One watchet velvet neceffary ftool . . i 10 o Sold to ditto for ditto. One foot carpet . . . . . 4 10 o Sold to ditto for ditto. Two fmall Turkey carpets . . . 12 o o Sold Mr. Houghton and Mr. Bafs for ditto. • Harleian MS. 4898, 124 Inventory of Furniture. £ s. d. Eight pieces of Arras hangings . . , 210 o o Sold Mr, Mildmay, 19th Auguft, 1653, for ditto. Eight pieces of Turkey hangings of the Roman Emperors . . . . 90 o o Sold Mr. Houghton the 8th October, 1651, ditto. Two pieces of tapeftry of imagery, marked O. J. iz 10 o Sold to ditto for ditto. Twelve folding ftooles of green velvet, trimmed with gold 3nd filver fringe . . . 800 Sold to ditto for ditto. Two green velvet chairs, two culhions, and a foot- ftool ... .700 Sold to ditto for ditto. Two high chairs, of yellow-wrought fatin, and two high ftools, two cufhions, and two foot- ftools suitable . . . .600 Sold to ditto for ditto. One high chair df crimfon velvet, two high ftools, , and a footftool of tlie fame . . . 3 1 race)y and I defyre you to make good tryals and giue me good inftrudlions, for I know not how fyling can be, without much noife and tyme ; but if you can cleare this doute, I abfo- lutely conceaue this to be the beft way : yet D.'s (^Firebrace) new way is not to be rejedled ; and may be tryed (as I iuppofe) without much danger, that is to fay : make this fellow of the Backftaires try how he can condudt his friends in & out at that tyme of night, without ftrid: examination of the Cards : in a word : you that walk abroad freely can much better judge of the fefibilitie of this, then I : wherefor, feri- ousely I remitt myfelf to your judjement herein : only with this opinion ; that the eafie or difficult remouing of the barr will caft the fcales, in my judjement, betwixt the two wayfe, " Now concerning the place Whether ? I know you fay true that many of my frends thinke London the fitteft place & particularly 146 Letters to Captain Titus. A. {Crejfet), and Q. (Lowe), but I am clearely of your mynde ; wherfore I earneftly & parti- cularly recomend the prouyding of a Ship, to your care; for really (upon the joynt Letter you fent me from London) I haue difcharged the corefpondent, I tould you that I had, beyond the Water. *' If your Difmiffion flood upon me, it ftiould not be in hafte; but in earneft, it would be well if you might ftay till Monday or Teufday, for ajufting all things the better. "No Cipher of myne hath mifcaried, for I fent but one fince I came hither & that I am fure was receaued, " I have now no more to fay, but I pray you haue more afleurance then bare confidence for hauing a. fhip readdy : Number VL King Charles to Captain Titus. Without date. «W. " before I anfwer yours I mufl defyre you to let me know to whom you have lent your Letters to Captain Titus. 147 Cypher ; for if you have not, a Copie of it hath bine ftolne from you, as by theafe inclofed Notes you will fynde : Now to anfwer yours in your owen order. " As for 7 1 5 {Mrs. Whorwood) I beliue you are not miftaken ; for I am confident fhe will not deceaue your trufl: : I think 457 {Lady Carlijle) wifhes now well to me but I beliue fhe loves 546, 493 aboue all things: for 714 (Dr. Fraizer) I hope he is honneft but I have not had much expe- rience of him: for L. {Ofborne) I [fully concur with you both for thofe things that are to be left & how to comunicat bufinefs to him; wherfor I will impart nothing of theafe things to him, untill you fend him to me about them, or that you be gone. As for W. {Titus himfelf) I afTure you that I am moft confident in his faithfullnefs, circumfpeftion and diligence : you bid 715 {Mrs. Whorwood) be confident, that I am no wais difgufted with anything that I heard concerning her. Be confident if an underhand Treaty be ofFerd me, I fliall make no other ufe of it, but fuch as my frends fhall be glad on : and cheefly to the end you mention. As for Mr. Myldmays information concerning what I fliould fay of my Childrens intertainment, my L 2 148 Letters to Captain Titus. Anfwer is " Cujus Contrarium verum eft :" & a Gods name fay it in my name : for the other, I am confident that no Sonday fince I came heere (except the laft) I read on any fuch Booke as Argenis,* so that certainly the information was then falfe. " Since D. (Fire^race) muft be gone, will it not be neceflarie that F. (Dowcett^ be particularly acquainted with all things? for I afleure you that I will communicat it to none but thofe whom you thinke fitt. I haue now no more to say : but I pray you ajuft particulars as foone as you can : and give me an account of it as foon as you may : " Comend me hartily to 4.^ j (Lady Carlijle) with as many other ciuilities or thanks as you fliall thinke fitt. " I pray you decypher this inclofed Note, for I would not doe it though I begun it, becaufe I thinke it a Rogery : I fend you all that came with it." * This was a work which went through several editions in Latin, and was afterwards (1636) tranflated into Englifh ; it was entitled " Barclay, his Argenis, or the Loves of Polyarchus and Argenis," Letters to Captain Titus. 149 Number VII. King Charles to Captain Titus, ■Without date. «W. '* Since your ftay is fo fhort heere you muft excufe me though I importune you with papers hauing little to fay : Amongft other par- ticulars I pray you thinke ■w"'' way I fhall re- moue the Bar out of my Window without noife and unperceauedj and what tyme it will take me to doe it. " I am glad that you will acquaint F. (Dow- cett) with particulars ; for fince D. {Firebrace) muft depart I think it abfolutly neceflary : but I doe not defyre that A. or O. ( Crejfet or Lowe) fhould any more medle in it: though I beliue they meane well, yet let us not loofe theire correfpondence. If you hit in this new way, confider if the tyme of night would not be alterd ; for I beliue you will now fynde that I muft firft goe to Bed, before I offer to goe away : but I refer it to your judjement. "J." " Trye what you may doe to ftay till Monday : & forgett not to giue me an account of your meeting as foone as you can." 150 Letters to Captain Titus. Number VIII. King Charles to Captain Titus. .Without date. "W. " I haue been confidering the Bar of my Window & fynde that I muft cut it in two places ; for that place where I muft cut it aboue^ I can hyde it with the leade that tyes the Glaffe ; but there is nothing that can hyde the lower part: wherfor, I conceaue it cannot but be difcouered, if I leaue it off, when I have once begune it : and how to make but one labour of it, I cannot yet conceaue: but if I had a forcer, I could make my way well anufe; or if you could teache me how to make the fyre-fhouell & tongues fupply that place, w"^ I beliue not impoffible. " Of this (I meane how to remoue the Bar) I defyre to be refolued before you goe ; wherefor I pray you giue me an anfwer to this as foone as you can, for I beliue our maine Bulinefs depends much upon it. "J." " I pray you 577 : 359 : 117: 343 : 279: 20: ;^^6: {to be sure of a/hip)." Letters to Captain Titus, 151 Number IX, King Charles to Captain Titus. Without date. " W. " The difficultie of remouing the Bar, hath made my thoughts runne much upon the later Deligne : it is this : fince for my goeing out at Window, it is neceflary that an Officer or two fhould be gained, will not they as willingly & may they not more eafily, helpe me out at the Dores ? " And truly in my judgement there can be nothing of lefle hazard then this laft Defygne, if any one Officer can be ingaged in it ; for then my Difgyfe will make me pafle fafly through all the Guards, wherefore I pray you thinke well upon it, for I am moft confident that I am in the right, yet for Gods fake make your objec- tions freely to what I haue faid ; or, if you do not underftand me tell me in what, & I hope that I ftiall fatisfie you ; howeuer I pray you lett me haue your Opinion of this, as foone as you may, whether it be Pro or Con : if this Defygne be refolued on, we need not ftay for Dark Nights. "J." : " I am extreamly wel fatisfied with the later part of your Paper." 152 J^etters to Captain Titus. .Number X. .King Charles to Captain Titus. Without date. «W. >'This being a Bufinefs of Aftion & not of words, I will be verrie brife, & I were much too blame, if I were otherwais ; for really (to my judgement) it is fo well layed, that I haue but one particular to make a Quere upon (after thryce reading over your paper) w"** is, whether I fhall haue tyme anufe after I haue Supt & before I goe to Bed, to remoue the Bar : for if I had a Forecer, I would make no queftion of it ; but hauing nothing but fyles I much dout that my time be- too fcant ; where- fore I defyre to be well inftrudted in it: w"** being ajufted I know nothing to be mended in your Paper. But you know, there muft be ^' Terminus ad quem," as well as " Terminus a quo ; " therfore I defyre to know, whether you intend that I fhouid goe after I am ouer the Water ? "J." " I desyre you to Anlwer this Paper as foon as you can. "Hencefoorth I will goe early to Bed." Letters to Captain 'Titus. 153 Number XL King Charles to Captain Titus- ()()C^ : 6j7 : 643 : 279 : 672 : ( Sunday \^h of May).. «W. ^'Yefterday I receaued fower letters from yora with a great number of others from diuers of my friends as 634:169:251:680: (>2,(i: 169:457: {one from my wife and from Lady Car life) as many from 715 {Mrs. Whor- wood) : the lyke nomber from both A. and O. {Crejfet and Lowe) befydes a great bundle from 714 and 708 (Dr. Fraizer and Col. Legge), alfo fower from D. {Firebrace') and one from T : this I giue you an account of because not hauing tyme now to write to any of theafe my friends I defyre you make my excufe to them, & lett tliem know that I have receaued all theire let- ters : now as to your Anfwer : all that I have to fay to yours of the firfl: of this Month, is, that as I fee that you are well fatisfied with me, fo I am with you, (for thofe two of the I2thj that w""* is out of Cypher I know not what you meane by it ; but I thanke you for the Aduice you giue me in the other. 739:209:165:363:284: 1 54 Letters to Captain Titus. 478: ( 104:359:361 :302:) 263: 117: 106: 78:91:313:67: {though Ifinde that our dejign \as to this place"] muft be alltered"). Now as to that of the 9th, my Anfwer is, that 158 : 251 : 60 : 108 : 210 : 302 : 420 : 263 : 20 : 7 : 10 : 212 : 78 : 210 : 230 : 411 : 420 : 108 : Z : 263 : 79: 144 : 250 : 404 : 209 : 349 : 80 : 21 : 41 : 92 : 705 : {for my landing place you muft apoint it, likewije You and Worfley muft tell me where I /hall take boate). I can write no more concerning 25 1 : 686 : {my ejcape) untill I haue confulted with L : {OJborne) : in the mean tyme I muft tell you that now I can afleure you that no letter of myne hath mifcarried, for I haue had an Anfwer of that from 251 : 680 : {my wife) w"''' Ifufpected, there being no other in poffibiletie of doeing harme. 660 : 639 : 643 :* before this morning I could not fpeak with L. {Ofborne), vf'^ hath giuen me tyme to write theafe two inclofed; that fuper- fcribed in french is to 251 : 680 : {my wife) the other to 715: {Mrs. Whorwood); this laft I thought fitt to write to encourage and thanke 1 87 {her), becaufe I fynde that 63 : 14 : 91 : 90 : * Blanks are oftentimes inferted by the king for the purpofe of rendering Ithe deciphering ftill more difficult by thofe unac- quainted with the cipher. Letters to Captain Titus. 155 194:437: 143:420:212:571:216:360:356: (Jhe hath affifted you in providing the Jhip). Now as for 284 : 1 84 : 453 : 200 : 209 : 479 : 420 : 359: 117:38:212 : 2S9 : 53 : 20 : 210: 158: 250: 281 : 659 : 274: 108 : 335 : 112: 151 : 46 : 275 : 79 : 158 : 22 : 65 1 : 359 : 39 : 92 : 360 : 50 : 29 : 117 : 131 1634 : 275 : 80 : 253 : 164 : 108 : 102 : 289 : 14 : 210 : 202 :2io:ii7:2i6:35: 10: 78 : 15 : 608 : 637 : 108 : 483 : 11 : 382: 3S9 '• 340 : 279 : 643 : ZS9 '• 42o: {our great bujine/s, I dejire you to begin to waite for me on Monday next and Jo after, every night for a weeke together, becauje one night may faill and accomplifh it, and it being both trouble- some and dangerous to send off word to you); and for the 371 : 203 : 420 : 263 : 226 : 2^3 : 210: 211 : 251 : 96 : 16 : 103 : 36 : 93 : 51 : 392 : 135 : 1 18 : 405 : 209 : 263 : 137 : 340 : 360: 289 : 1 17 : 216 : 335 : 54 : 23 : 97 : 16 : 143 : 2^2 ■ 210 : 126 : 270 : 117 : 98 : 31 : 78 : 404 : 158 : 209: 263:631: 177:359:35:143:335:363:251 : 371 : 279 : 128 : 216 : 169 : 251 : 99 : 15 : 103 : 36:94:52:399 :ii7 : 115 : 644: 105:275: 78 : 200 : {time here, you muft know that it is my chamber window on which I m'uji defcend, the other being Jo wached that it cannot be cut. 156 Letters to Captain Titus. wherjor I muft firft to bed so that my time of coming from my chamber may be about eleven at night') : for the reft 420,: 401 : Z: 263 : 128 : 296 : 91 : 89 : 16 : 282 : 344 : 209 : 126 : 117 : 401 : 420 : (^you with Worjley muft compute how soone I can be with you). This is as much as for the prefent I can fay concerning 251 : 686 : {my efcape), and I hope fuch as will giue you reafon- able good fatisfadion : bxit I defyre you to fend me fpeedie word if any thing that I have writen be obfcure, or not full to what you defyre to know; alfo 404 : 209 : 349 : 78 : 23 : 41 : 705 : 108 :404: 531 : 200: 230:411 1420: 263: 182,: 250 : 20 : 2 : 53 : 280 : 67 : 2^2 '■ ^09 • '^S3 226 : 251 : 174 : 6^ '• 212 : 360 : 141 : 42 : 92 {wher£ I fliall take boate and when lande, like^ wife you muft give me a fajfe word that I may know my friends in the darke). And now I have no more to fay but what I cannot fay according to my mynde, W'' is to exprefs my fatisfadbion & thankes to you^ for what you haue done for me in this Bufinefs ; only this, you fhall fynde me really, " Your moft afTeured conftant frend, "J." Letters to Captain Titus. 157 " You muft remember to 231 : 198 : 64 : 33S '• 3^3 • 209 : ^53 = 264 : 269 : 65 : 80 : 21 : 46 : 117 : 78 : 54: 212 : 251 : 531 : 216 : 108 : 315 :35 : 280 ; 1 1 : 33 : 40 : 1 6 : 24 : (leave horjes Jo that I may have no Jlay between my landing and ^eenhorough')." Number XII. King Charles to Captain Titus. 659 : 647 : 635 : 672 : {Monday ttJbenty-two May). «W. " Yefterday & not before I receaued three of your letters, in Anfwer to which firft I afleure you that 367 : 21 1 : 269 : 338 : 377 : 104 : 109 : 375 : 1 17 : 78 : 53 : 91 : 94 : 71 : 92 : 689 : 108 : 250: 280: 109: 377 : 230 : 210: 200: 108: 209 : 399 : 389 : 93 : 50 : 251 : 232 : 213 : 209 : 193: 20:656:363:360: 136: 133: 127:96: 94: 51 : 72 : 216 : 541 : 97 : 281 : 108 : 251 : 680 : 21 1 : 21 : i : 67 : 103 : 73 : 113 : 228 : 91 : 158 : 106 : 187 : 532 : 63 : 359 : 250 : [there is no Juch thing as any tiff between him and me or anything like it, and I will offer my life ifl had a chance that 158 Letters to Captain Titus. the dijcourfe concerning Con* and my wife is a damned lye, for all he fays to me) ever fince I came hither 397 : 218 : 359 : 360 : 127 : 79 : 52 : 22 : 50 r 46 : 2 : 65 : 152 : 201 : 108 : (was jufi to the contrary paffe, and) I defyre you to aflure all my frends in my name that all this is punc- tually true, & in particular to 457 (Lady Car- lijle) : & that if (as you haue faid) 367 : 349 117 : 109 : 564: 254: 91 : 250 : 118 : 360 : 512 298 : 209 : 399 ; 281 : 22S -.264. : 382 : 92 : 279 210: 212 : 557 : 359 : 251 : 686 : (there fhall be any Treaty made me by the Parliament party I would only have ufe of it in order to my efcapey^ alfo take notice in my name to 457 : 279 : 360 : 181 : 599: 546:493 : 140: 250:212:360: 505: (Lady Carlifle of the good fervice done me in the affair), & excufe me to 187 (her) that now I doe not write my felfe, for indeed I haue no tyme. "As you have aduifed, 662 : 274 : 399 : 1 17 : 360:631 : 275:80:363:209:349:430:359: 686 : 90 : (Wednefday next may be the night I fhall endeavour to efcape) ; but I defyre you (if it * Con was a Scotchman who was afterwards fucceeded by Rofetti, an Italian. He refided openly in London, and fre- quented the Court as vefted with a commiffion from the Pope. The queen's zeal, and her authority with her huftand, was the caufe for a time of this imprudence so offenfive to the nation. Letters to Captain Titus. 159. be poffible) 117 : 158 : ^2i '• 3^4 '• ZS9 '• ^°4 343 : 250 : 7,(^1 '• 420 : Z99 : 1 17 : 50 : 143 : 67 47 : 118 \ze2 : 275 : 78 : 108 : 340 : 250 : 3 23 : 4 : 55 : 280 : 68 : {before then to ajjeure me that you will be reddy on that night, and fend me afaffe word) w"'' yet you have not done. I have now no more to fay, but that I hope you will remember 359 : 557 : 377 : S^ : 33S ■ 3^3 • 209 : 349 : 264 : 269:64 : 78 : 10: 7 : 381 : 80 : 215 : 209 : 128 : 359 : 360 : 356 : (to order things Jo that I fhall need no flop until I go to the fhip), fo I reft, " Your moft afleured conftant frend, "I thought it neceffary to wryte this to 715 : 3^2 : 209 : 63 : 78 : 20 : 46 : 270: 158 : 260: ^c^S: {Mrs. Whor- wood, that 1 flay not for thefhif), there- for I pray you fend it fpeedily to 187 {her)." 1 6o Letters to Captain Titus. Number XIII. King Charles to Captain Titus. 662 : 647 : 638 : 672 : {JVedneJday twenty-four May.) "W. " Yours of yefterdayes Date I have re- ceaued this afternoone, v/'^, though fhort, gaue me much fatisfadtion ; & to w"'' my Anfwer is, that 118: 360 : 185 : 279 : 176 : 209 :349 : 376 : 359: 686 : 383 : 281 : 66^ : 275 :78 : 274: 200 : (l>y the help of fate Ifhall try to efcafe upon Sunday night next). The caufe why 391 : 132 : 270 : 135 : 91 : aio : 361 : 275 : 79 : 211 : 117 : 131 : 360 : 133 : 279 : 360 : 38 : 31 : 107 : 67 : 63 : 107 : 106 : 80:92:50:67: 158 : 284:255: 193 : 210 : 427 : 335 : 2^3 : 367 •• V^ = 32 : 51 : 71 : 93 : 128 -.S^: 116 : 281 : 665 : 275 : 79 : 274: 201 : 271 ••359:360: 149 •3(>3 ■ 715:253 : 53: 20: 210 : 158 : 250 : 401 : 104 : 257 : (we could not doe it this night is, hecaufe thecourje of the guards are altered, for our men have it fettled, fo that their turn comes but on Sunday night next ; and to the end that Mrs. Whorwood may wait for me with as much) patience, 104:209:226:420: 399:209:379:80: 210: 159:359:413 -{^^I CharaBer of Charles. i6i know you would, I thought it fit to write) this enclofed, w"'' I pray you fend fpeedely to 187: 202 (^her hand.') So I reft, " Your moft afleured conftant frend, "J." "I defyre, for my fatisfaftion and encouragement, that you will fend me word that you have receaued this as foone as you can." Charles has moralized on his own hiftory; and he who has read the illuftration, will eafily comprehend the charafter of the "captive of Carifbrook," as it has been expreffed by his commentator, " a charadler only changed by new acquirements, or modified by protracted adverfities and contemplative experience;" but he who perufes the foregoing letters, and in meditating over them reflefts likewife on the critical fituation of the unfortunate writer, will not only eafily perceive how adverfity had foftened the feverity of his manners, but will alfo forget the errors of his calamitous reign in the felf-drawn pidure of the humiliative doubts and fears of the fubdued and chaftened monarch. M 1 62 Artifice of Job Weak Many. afFefting circumftances arifing out of the peculiarity of his diftrefles, reveal the man of forrows ; whilft the prompt fagacity of the king, and the perfpicuity of ftyle in a correfpondence which muft have been written in fecrecy and hafte, are no mean proofs of the mental ability of Charles; an ability, fays Difraeli, that has been always greatly undervalued. But whilft this correfpondence was being carried on with Angular and undaunted perfe- verance, both by the king and his friends, and the perilous enterprife it was its purpofe to advance ftill further facilitated^ there were alfo many humble expedients and artifices to hold in- tercourfe with Charles, adopted by lefs confpi- cuous perfonages than his more energetic con- fidants. On the 2 and May, Hammond informed the committee of Lords and Commons " that laft night there came hither one Job Weale, a phy- fician, as he calls himfelf, living at Kingfton- upon- Thames. He came hither upon poft- horfes, pretending to come in great hafte from my lord-general, employed by him to me upon bufinefs of higheft concernment. He counter- feited himfelf at firft in a fainting fit, by reafoii Ariifice of Job Weal. 163 of hard riding to me, and that he could not declare his bufinefs until he had drank fome hot waters to recover his fpirits : which preamble being ill managed to his bufinefs, made me fuf- petft him to be a knave, as I afterwards more plainly found him. " So foon as he feigned to come to himfelf he began to tell me that his bufinefs imported the fafety of my life, and that which was dearer to me, the great charge in my hands, the fecurity of the perfon of the king ; and to that end I fhould immediately remove the king to Portf- mouth, to Major Lobb, to whom he had direc- tions to receive him. That otherwife the king would be violently taken hence the next morn- ing by four o'clock, and myfelf a dead man. For to his knowledge the defign was in hand, and it was thus — that there was a fleet of fliips at fea near this coaft that were to come in between the ifland and the lee-fliore that evening, who were to land in the night, and that great numbers were to come out of the mainland, pretending occafion at a fair which was to be kept at Newport on the morrow, who fhould aflift them, and at the fame time all the beacons in the ifland-were to be fet on fire, and to raife M 1 164 Artifice of Job Weal. the country for the king : and if not, to amaze them with fear, that fo they might the better carry on their defign, which there was no way to avoid but as he had given me diredlion; When he had concluded his tale, I enquired of him whether he had anything in writing to confirm it. He told me that his inftrudtions to me were entrufted to him to communicate only by word of mouth; but he had inftrudtions in writing quilted up in his waiftcoat for Major Lobb. I defired him to let me fee them. He told me his order was only to communicate them to Major Lobb. I told him I muft fee them. He refufing, I told him I apprehended he had other bufinefs here, and if he would not immediately let me know it, I muft take another courfe with him. Whereupon I caufed him to be ftriftly fearched, and found only thefe papers about him. That letter from him without fuperfcrip- tion or direftjon he faith was to my Lord Dover.* The reft, petitions, and fome notes of inftrudtions of his own. When he found his idle plot would * The letter to Lord Dover concluded thus : — " Your lord- Ihip's friend and fervant to command for my country's good^ And the word is an anagram of my name, ' Obey Lawe.' "Job Weale." Artifice of Job Weal. 1 6 5 not take, and that he was difcovered, he told me he would deal ingenuoufly with me, and would tell me truly his bufinefs was principally by this means to gain an intereft with me, that he might fpeak with the king to procure leave from him that the county of Surrey (from whom he was fent for that purpofe) might have his majefty's approbation to choofe a commander-in-chief under whom to put their county in a pofture of defenge. Upon his way he flopped a poft goirg from Portfmouth to London with this enclofed packet, which, if your lordihip pleafe, may be fpeedily delivered, being about vidtual for the navy." The urgency of the prefent moment rendered all concerned anxious to conclude without delay the difficult proceeding which it was hoped would once more give Charles freedom and fafety ; and as the feledtion of time and opportunity now refted folely with the king, his adherents re- mained with unftirinking patience, in nightly expectation of favourable circumftances enabling him to acft on the well-arranged plan. Confequently, as nights as dark as the feafon of the year would allow had again fet in, it was decided by his majefty, every preparation 1 6 6 Failure of projeSied Efcape. being fully perfedted, that the attempt fliould be made on Sunday, the 28th of May, On the evening of that day he therefore betook himfelf early to his chamber, and in the ftillnefs of mid- night, having already ftealthily cut the former fatal impediment to his flight, determined to pafs through the window; but noticing more perfons under it than he expeded to be in waiting, and perceiving the abfence of him on whom he principally depended, his fufpicions became excited, and, in the belief that his intentions were difcovered, he clofed the cafement and retired. Fate had arrayed itfelf againfl: him, and his brief ray of hope was again doomed to difap- pointment. What the eiFed would have been, had a con- trary refult enfued, none but the Seer of all hearts can tell. There might have fucceeded years of peace and ufefulnefs, or of even flill greater terror and fatal retrofpedlion than thofe which followed. That there were faults in the govern- ment of Charles, and that injuflice at one time ftained the royal caufe, none can deny. The demerits of the man are, however, forgotten in his adverfity, and it is therefore equally felt that Hammond's Letter. 167 much poifon was mixed in his cup of Hfe, and that his lot was caft in an evil time. On the and of June a letter was received from Hammond by the Speakers of both Houfes of Parliament, containing full details of the king's intent, as well as a relation of the fteps which had been adopted to thwart the defign. Having been entered in the journals of the Houfe of Lords, this communication is fortu- nately ftill preferved. The governor wrote as follows : — " To the Right Hon. the Earl of Manchefter, Speaker of the Houfe of Peers, pro. tern., this prefent. " My Lords, " As an account of the great truft your lordfhips have been pleafed to repofe in me, I take the boldnefs to acquaint your lordfhips of a defign cunningly laid, and carried on almoft to perfection, for the king's efcape from this place, which was the laft night (being the fet time for putting it in adb), by the blefling and goodnefs of God prevented. It was thus : Through the corruption and naughtinefs of two gentlemen attending the king, Mr. Osborn arid Mr. 1 68 Hammond's Letter. Dowcett, three foldiers were fuborned and dealt with, to affift in this efcape, who were to be on duty at the king's window at the time appointed. Mr. Dowcett, who was to be accommodated with cords, to convey him down the caftle wall, and then the outline, after he had let himfelf down through his window to the prepared fen- tinels, was to be his guide to his horfes, which were ready provided, and laid at a convenient place within mufket-fhot of the works ; and Mr. OJborn and one Mr. Worsley, of Gatcomby a young gentleman of this ifland, who were to condud: him to a creek, where alfo at the fame time lay ready a boat to tranfport them to the mainland, to a place where (as is confefled by one whom I have apprehended) there were horfes to convey the king whither he pleafed. This defign hath been long in hand, but kept from me until yefterday, when two of the foldiers who had been dealt with came to me, and acquainted me with the whole bufinefs (which 1 am confident, though I had had no knowledge of it, they would have found fome difficulty in eiFefting). I fufFered and advifed them to carry it on, as if I had not known it, that fo I might the better difcover the whole bufinefs with the Hammond* s Letter. 169 lefs pretence of excufe to thofe unworthy men who were to affift the king in this efcape. But being over-curious in fecuring all places in more exadt manner than formerly, Mr. Dowcett, by happening upon an unufual guard, who at the firft apprehended them to be of his own party, but upon examination finding other anfwer than he expeded, made a difcovery : which, fo foon as I underftood, immediately I fecured Dowcett and a foldier who was the chief inftrument in this defign. Then I fent after Ofborn and Worfley, to apprehend them ; but they, finding they were difcovered, fled in great hafte to the waterfide, where their boat lay ready to receive them; " whither they were purfued ; but they, it feems, being in hafte, quitted their horfes and turned them loofe upon the fhore, and themfelves efcaped in the boat. I have fince apprehended one John Newland, of Newport, whofe part it was in the defign to ad: the bufinefs concerning the boats. This morning I find the window-bar of the king's bedchamber, looking to the fentinels appointed, to be cut in two in the middle with aquafortis. By this your lordfhips may pleafe to fee not only the dangers paft, but may alfo expedt that nothing will be unattempted that the 170 Reward offered by the Commons. art of man can find out to perfed the king's efcape," &c. &c. "Robert Hammond. " Carifbrook Caftlcj May 29th, 1648." After this letter had been read in the Houfe of Commons, it was ordered that tool, fhould be fent to Hammond, " to difpofe of fuch part thereof as he fhall think fit to fuch perfons as made the difcovery of the defign for the king's efcape, for their good fervice therein, and the reft to fuch other perfons as ftiall hereafter do the like good fervice ;*" whilft Dowcett and the other two perfons under reftraint " for contriving and defigning the king's efcape," were defired to be fent to London in fafe cuftody. The conjedlure that Oft)orn and Worfley had efcaped to the boat was, however, erroneous; as, by a ftiort MS. account drawn up by Mr. Worfley himfelf, it appears that, in riding bflf from the caftle, they received unhurt the fire of a party of muflceteers, fuppofed to have been placed in ambufli by Hammond, and. fucceeded in reaching the boat which was to have conveyed * " Commons' Journals," 1648. Public Excitement. 171 the king; but the matter refufed to let them embark, they having come without him. On this they were compelled to conceal themfelves in the adjacent woods for feveral days, and pro- cure fuftenance in the night by the affiftance of a kinfman of Mr. Worfley, who eventually provided a vefTel to take them off from the south fide of the ifland. Intenfe excitement was created by this unto- ward mifchance, in confequence of the reports currently circulated that treachery had been praftifed by "fome officers who profeffed fin- cerity" to the king's friends, and had, therefore, to a certain extent, been made truftingly aware of the contrivances they afterwards exercifed their guilty knowledge to counteradt. Thefe rumours were principally direcfted againft Major Rolph, the chief officer, who, fome little time previoufly, had greatly attached himfelf to Ofborn in the fuppofition that, from the perfon by whom he came recom- mended, he would be well inclined to anything which might advance his own interefts. He told him, " according to his cuftom of reviling the king, he wifhed he were out of the world, for they fhould never make any fettlement 172 Ralph's Overtures to OJborn. while he were alive ; that he was fure the army wifhed him dead, and that Hammond had received many letters from the army to take him away by poifon, or any other way, but that he faw it would never be done in that place, and therefore, if he would join with him, they could get him from thence, and the work be eafily done. Ofborn afked him how It could be pof- fible to remove him from thence without Ham- mond's or the king's own confent. Rolph anfwered that the king might be decoyed from thence as he was from Hampton Court, by letters from his friends, intimating that danger threatened him, when he would doubtlefs be willing to make an efcape, and be eafily def- patched." Ofborn, however, found a fpeedy opportunity to inform the king of Rolph's intentions, who neverthelefs bade him continue his familiarity with him, and engage to affift in the contrivance for effeding his removal, as he thought by this means he might make Rolph's villany fubfer- vient to his own defires. Such is Lord Clarendon's verfion of this affair, who adds, that a common foldier was alfo recommended to Ofborn by Rolph, to be em- Ralph's Defign, 173 ployed with Dowcett, whom the king had before known ; and that this foldier wrought upon one or two of his companions who ufed to keep guard at the place where the king was to get out; but Ofborne, not Implicitly confiding in his new ally, thought fit to conceal from him many important matters. By the aid of one of the foldiers, Rolph became aware of this fact, and judging his motives were thereby fufpedted, he, on the night agreed on, diredled the foldier to ftand fentry in the place to which he had been appointed, whilft he and fome others, he trufted, would be at hand, armed with piftols, in order to fhoot the king as he defcended. Of this arrangement, Hammond is faid to have been aware ; * and it is afTumed to be that which caufed the king to relinquifh his attempt. That the common foldiers had been tampered with, and that a fimilar endeavour was propofed to fome of the officers, the king's letter to Captain Titus exprefsly declares, whilft the in- cident of his betrayal by thefe men is equally certain. In a MS. volume of topographical notes, coUedbed in the year 17 19, principally relating • Worfley's « Hiftoryof the Ifle of Wight." 174 Betrayal of the King. to the Ifle of Wight, the writer traditionally says, " that as the king was getting out, a fen- tinel unluckily efpied him, and fired, and waked the watch, and fo he was prevented; but the fentinel that fired was afterwards accidentally fliot, no perfon can tell how." This is a romantic explanation, but ftill one that contains the germs of truth, as not many years fince there was a ftone near the fouth porch of Cariflbrook Church which marked the place of fepulture of one of thefe very men, and ftated that he was named Floyd, and fo {hot " by New- port." This ftone has been removed of late, but is ftill well remembered. Prior to the efcape of Oftjorne from the ifland, he managed to indite and forward a letter to his former patron. Lord Wharton, wherein he detailed thefe circumftances, and boldly charged Rolph with aiming at the deftrudlion of the king. " The intelligence I speak of con- cerning this defign," he wrote, " I received from Captain Rolph, a perfon very intimate with the governor, privy to all his counfells, and one that is very high in the efteem of the army. He, my lord, informed me tha.t to his knowledge the governor had received feveral letters, from the OJborn's Letter to Lord Wharton. 175 army, intimating that they defired the king might by any means be removed out of the way either by poifon or otherwife; and that another time the fame perfon perfuaded me to join with him in a defign to remove the king out of that caftle to a place of more fecrecy, proffering to take an oath with me, and to do it without the governor's privity, who, he faid, would not confent to lofe the allowance of the Houfe. His pretence to this attempt was, that the king was in too public a place, from whence he might be refcued ; but if he might be conveyed into fome place of fecrecy, he faid, we might difpofe of his perfon upon all occafions as we thought fit, and this he was confident we could eifedt without the governor's privity. My lord, confidering all thefe pregnant circumftances, I think it will ap- pear that there were, if there are not fuch inten- tions concerning his majefty's perfon, as may well juftify any endeavours that have been made for his remove from fo much danger; and for my own part, my lord, I muft be fo plain as to declare concerning my own adtings in relation to this bufinefs, that had I done lefs (having fuch grounds), I muft believe I had then verified all thofe afperfions of difloyalty and breach of truft 176 -E/^f/ on the Parliament. which I am contented to fufFer from thofe whofe intereft is perchance oppofed to my endeavours, to prevent fuch damnable defigns." Lord Wharton kept this communication fome days in his pofleffion, and then fent it to Ham- mond, as the fitteft perfon to examine into the truth of the accufation; but, on the 15 th of June, Osborn, rather confirmed than difcouraged in his determination by this negledt of Lord Wharton, followed up the appeal by calling the attention of both Houfes of Parliament to his allegation. He offered to verify it upon oath, and be confirmed therein by Worfley and Dow- cett. He acquainted the Speakers that he had previoufly placed before Lord Wharton the flate- ment he enclofed to them, that he was unaware what reafon his lordfhip could have for con- cealing a bufinefs of that nature, unlefs it was to give thofe who were concerned in it better time to think of fome ftratagem to evade the dif- covery, and prayed that freedom and fecurity which ought to be afforded to any gentleman and Chriflian in witnefTmg a truth. In the Commons this information was tempo- rarily flighted and laid afide ; but in the Houfe of Peers it made a greater imprefTion, accelerated Proceedings in Parliament. 177 perhaps by the condud: of Col. Hutchinfon, which occurred almoft cotemporaneoufly, as well as by a growing jealoufy of the increafing power of the Lower Houfe. Their lordlhips fent with more than ordinary earneftnefs to the Commons, a demand that Rolph fhould be fummoned from the Ifle of Wight, and afked their concurrence in an ordinance for according forty days to Ofborn, to come forward and make good his aflertions. To this requifition, fupported as it was by the clamour of the populace, on whom the intelli- gence of the difclofure had a furprifing efFedt,: — an influence the pamphleteering fcribes of the day lofl: no time in fomenting* — tlie Com- mons, after fome difcufllon, agreed ; and as there was no place mentioned in the letter whereby it could be difcovered where Ofborne was refident, a declaration containing copies of the charges and the letters, was ordered to be publifhed and * The " Parrottittg Mercury,''' of the 26th June, afteir defcrib- ing the circumftance, adds : — " Oh, curfed traitors and damned hypocrites Doe kill the king, mix poifon in his meat. Or let a red-hot iron do the feat j Soufe him in malmfey,bore his royal head, Or cramp his vitals in a feather-bed ; Yet know his fon doth live though he be gone. To fink your fouls into perdition."" N 178 Letter from Hammond. pofted at Weftminfter, Pauls, and the two Ex- changes, fignifying that he might, within forty days from the date thereof, "come with fafety to his perfon, to make good, the accufations men- tioned in the faid letter, fo long as he may ftay here for the examination and proof of the bufi- nefs, and likewife have free liberty to depart, without moleftation, let, or hindrance." In the meantime, (on the 23 rd,) Rolph him- felf appeared before the Houfe of Commons, with a long and: laboured teftimonial from Col. Hammond, in which he. not only vouched his belief in Rolph's integrity, and recounted the many good offices he had done the ftate; but at the fame time denied the reports which had been circulated refpeding his own " inhu- mane abufing the perfon of the king," and afked a relief from "this intolerable burdenj (which God only, and a good confcience only, fupported a poor weak man to undergo,) either ijy a removal of his majefty's perfon from thence, or that fome other perfon might relieve him from the care of the king ;" and ftated, as a poftfcript, " that fince he had ended his letter, he had examined the three foldiers who were dealt with to have been aiffifting. in the king's, efcape, but Appearance of Ralph. 179 that they all affirmed, and were ready to make good upon oath, that neither Ofborne, Dowcett, nor any other, told them that the king's life was in danger, it being evidently a device to inflame the people." After this communication had been read to the houfe by the Speaker's command, Rolph was called in, and acquainted with the heads of the charges urged againft him. He was told, that " what he was to fpeak, was to be spoken in an high court of juflice, and therefore required and exhorted to fpeak the truth, as he would anfwer the fame at the dreadful day of judgment." Rolph abfolutely denied that he ever had any difcourfe with Ofborn, the governor, or other perfon, to the purpofe mentioned; and it was therefore determined that Mr. Wheeler fhould go to the Houfe of Lords, and defire their con- currence in a committee to unite with the Com- mons for the purpofe of examining him forth- with upon oath, and taking the evidence of other pdrfons that would come in and teftify any know- ledge of the accufation. On the 27th of the fame month, Ofborn pre- ferited himfelf at the bar of the Houfe of Lords, and ftated he was come to make good what he N 2 1 8o Avoivat of Ojborn. had written, but that he greatly relied on Dow- cett's corroboration to verify what he had ad- vanced. He was then exprefsly alked, whether he would avow the letter and juftify the matter;* and on anfwering yes, and defiring Mr. Worfley and Mr. Dowcett, as his witnefles, it was ordered by the Houfe, that Major Rolph fhould ftand committed to the Gatehoufe at Weftminfter, as he was accufed of high treafon before the lords in Parliament; that Mr. Worfley (who, how- ever, does not appear to have come forward at any time in aid of his compeers), fhould receive protedlion ; and that Ofborn fhould be bailed in the fum of 5000/. (" Richardus Ofborn recog- novit fe debere D'no Regi in 5000/.") to appear from time to time to make good this charge. Major Rolph, at firfl, declined to fubmit to the authority of the Houfe, and addrefTed a letter to their lordfhips from his refidence in Bifhopfgate-flreet, in which he not only totally repudiated the imputation, but by the oath of his chirurgeons, Thomas Farrar and Barth. La- vandar, declared " that he was not able to come abroad without manifefh danger to his * Lords' " Journals." Examination of Dowcetf. 1 8 1 health, and that it would be a month before he was competent to do fo." On the 3rd July, Dowcett, in the cuftody of the keeper of Peter Houfe, where he had been committed on his arrival iti London on the 21ft of June, was brought before the committee, and queftioned by Lord Hunfdon, as to his know- ledge of Rolph's defign, but as he urged his inability to addrefs them in sufficient lan- guage, not being an Engliihman,* he was per- mitted to deliver the following evidence in writing :-^- " My Lords, " I am ready to make oath, that Mr, Richard Ofborn told me the king's perfon was in great danger, and that the faid Rolph had a defign on foot for the conveying his majefty's perfon to fome place of fecrecy, where only three f fhould go with him, and where they might difpofe of his perfon as they fhould think fit; which information from Mr. Ofborn, and the afTurance I had of his majefby's intention * Dowcett was an Italian, f Rolph, Ofljorn, and another Parliamentarian officer. 1 82 Examination of Doivcett. forthwith to come to this Parliament, was the caufe of my engagement in this bufinefs. "2. I am ready likewife to depofe that the faid Rolph came to me when I was a prifoner in the caftle, and in a jeering manner alked me, ' why the king came not down according to his appointment ?' and then with great indignation and fury faid, he waited almoft three hours under the new platform, with a good piftol charged to receive him if he had come.* "Ab. Dowcett." This document was fworn by Dowcett, at the bar of the Houfe of Peers, and the effect of fo clear a corroboration of Ofborn's teftimony was, notwithftanding the written denial which had been received from Rolph, that Serjeant Fynch and Sir Thomas Bedingfield, aided by Ofborn, were inftrudted to draw up an impeachment of high treafon againft him ; and Mr. Thane, the gentleman-uflier, was ordered to take him into cuftody and secure him ; but to firft employ a furgeon to view and see what condition he was in, and report. On the following day, it was declared to the • Lords' " Journals." Committal of Ralph . 183 Houfe, that Rolph, although weak of an ague, might be removed without danger of his life, whereupon, in purfuance of the former order, he was direded to be sent clofe prifoner to the Gatehoufe; and their lordfhips further deter- mined, "that in case an indidtment fhould be found in Hants, the judge (Mr. Juftice God- bold) was to fufpend proceedings, as it was the refolution of the Houfe, that the indiftment fhould be removed hy certiorari into the Court of King's Bench, "that there might be a legal procedure therein." * If the obvious wifh of the Houfe of Commons had been heeded, no addi- tional inquiry would have been made into this myfterious accufation ; but if even the Lords had been lefs ftrenuous in their oppofition, the popular opinion was too loudly exprefled to allow of fuch an impolitic courfe. Several fruitlefs endeavours were made on the part of Rolph, to procure the acquiefcence of the peers in a fimilar ordinance to that by which Ofborn had been protefted, in order that he might be releafed from cuftody ; and in confe- quence of their determined refufal, a petition was prefented to the Houfe of Commons, by * Lords' " Journals." 184 Petition of Alice Rolph. I Alice Rolph, on behalf of her hufband, whereiri flie endeavoured to fhow that, " almoft to the hazard of his life, both in refpedt of his bodily/ diftempers and the fury of the multitude, he was violently hurried to the Gatehoufe prifon at I Weftminfter, being never fo much as examined, or carried before a legal magiftrate, as by law he ought, it being an adb abhorred even by Paul's heathen judges, viz., to condemn any man before he is heard, and he and his accuser be brought face to face. And to heighten their cruelty, the lords have fince pafTed a fentence of close imprifonment upon your petitioner's huf- band ; denying him the benefit and afliftance of his friends, which your petitioner conceiveth to be contrary to all law or reafon, and the very height of tyranny, that a man fhall ftand accufed (nay, without, and contrary to law condemned,) for fuch a heinous crime as treafon. And being fick of body, almoft to death, fhould be locked up and threatened to be laid in irons, and de- barred all ways, either to know what is in par- ticular laid to his charge, or to make his lawful defence." She concluded, by praying the interference of the Houfe in her hufband's behalf. Wild's Speech. 185 This ftatement fo far operated on the Com- mons, that a conference was demanded on the fubject with the Lords for the 1 2th of Auguft, when Serjeant Wild was deputed to requeft their lordfhips' concurrence in a meafure for bailing Major Rolph, " an act he confidered not more of favour than juftice." In his fpeech he ftrongly urged that, " even if Ofborn and Dowcett's tale were true, that the perfon he defired to murder was no king, the plot having been contrived whilft the votes for non-addrefles were in force ; that if a king was excommunicate, he was no longer a king, and therefore it was lawful to take him away. He that was an unprofitable king hath been for juft caufes (of which we are the fole judges) di veiled of all power ; therefore I fay he is no king, but we conjointly are king of England. " How elfe could we have trufled up Burley (not the leaft of my fervices), who would have refcued the king from Carifbrook ? " Befides, my lords, againft this gentleman there is a bare accufation or impeachment, and that only by two prifoners, whofe teftimonies in all the circumftances agree not ; for I am fure i86 Wild's Speech. there is a great difference in their handwriting, (a point worthy your lordfliips' confideration) ; but fuppofe they agreed, both in circumftance and fubftance, fhall the teftimony of two fuch men condemn fo well-deferving a man for a few foolilh fuppofed treafonable words or inten- tions, and but againft a titular king ? for we are king in effecft — we judges of the law, he our prifoner. " Nay, my lords, I will go further and affirm that if a jury of 12 men ftiould condemn him, yet, in point of difcretion and reafon of ftate, we may, and ought, not only to bail this virtuous gentleman, but alfo to releafe and fet him free." Such was a portion of the learned ferjeant's argument in favour of the Commons' propofi- tion ; but as, with all its ingenious fophiftry, their lordfliips were not convinced that Rolph was fo worthy a gentleman or fo great a martyr as Wild's ftrangely eloquent remonftrance, rather than appeal, would have had them believe, the Lower Houfe voted, on their own refpon- fibility, that the keeper of the Gatehoufe fliould, be direcfted to accommodate him " with fuffi-, cient lodging as a prifoner, and that his friends, , " The Cafe of Major Rolph." 1 87 phyficians, and furgeons fhould be permitted to refort unto him." The lords ultimately withdrew their ordi- nance refpedting his intended trial, and agreed that it fhould be profecuted at the coming affize at Winchefter. On the 28th of Auguft, Rolph procured the publication of a broadfide addrefs, under the title of " The cafe of Major Edmund Rolph truly ftated," a paper which contains fo intereft- ing an allufion to the part he acknowledged to have played in counteracting the king's efcape, as well as important teftimony of the ftate of the public feeling at the time, that much of it feems worthy of being tranfcribed to thefe pages. (Extraft from the Cafe of Major Rolph.) " Mafter Ofborne being gentleman-ufher to the king, and Mafter Dowcett, clerk of the kitchen, with others, had entered into a con- fpiracy to betray the perfon of the king out of the proteftion of Parliament, and to that end had corrupted feveral foldiers, which was dis- covered to me on the 28th of May, 1648, which 1 88 " The Cafe of Major Ralph." I immediately told to the governor the night following, the time when the faid defign fhould have been execufed. In order to which, Ofborne was gone out of the caftle to provide horfes for to convey the king from the place of his refi- dence by the authority of Parliament, and receiv- ing the alarum of the difcovery (being near the caftle-wall, waiting for the king's coming down)^ immediately fled and hid himfelf in fome fecret corner for the fpace of 3 days after ; only Dowcett was taken prifoner that night in the caflle ; and Floyd, one of the foldiers, who, upon examination, confefTed the truth of every parti- cular touching the faid defign before difcovered by three other foldiers that were engaged alfo, but never mentioned the leaft word that ever Ofborne or Dowcett had fo much as pretended that the king's perfon was in danger ; but fome days after that the difcovery was made, the faid Olborne fent a letter to the Lord Wharton, wherein he did charge me with fpeaking words to this efFeft, viz., that I ftiould fay, that to my knowledge the governor had received letters from the army, intimating that they defired the king might be removed out of the way, by poifon or other- " The Cafe of Major Rolph" 189 wife, &c., which letter the Lord Wharton fent unto Col. Hammond, the governor of the Ifle of Wight. " The governor having examined Dowcett and feveral other foldiers that were parties in the defign, (Dowcett having affirmed, in the pre- fence of many, as will be proved,) that he knew of no fuch defign, though the very rope by which the king was to go down, was found in his chamber, fent them to London, where being brought by a guard, and by the way hearing of Ofborne's pamphlet, and the charge contained therein, profefled openly that he was confident that there was no fuch thing as that the king's life was in danger, neither did he know anything concerning me ; and that he did believe Ofborne would never appear to make good his charge ; or if he did appear, yet he would never be fo wicked as to forfwear himfelf. " But Olborne appearing, having firft capitu- lated with the Houfes for a protection from the laws for his traitorous pradtices as aforefaid, the faid Dowcett, clean contrary to his former aver- ments, gave under his hand a paper, wherein he declared that Ofborne had told him that the king's life was in danger, &c., and that when he 190 " The Cafe of Major Rolph" was in prifon I had in a jeering manner aiked him why the king came not down according to appointment, and that I fhould fay that I flood under the new platform with a piftol in my hand to receive him, although it will be eafily proved that I was all that while in my chamber, until the very time the governor gave me order to apprehend the faid Dowcett. " Ofborne's letter coming to the Ifle of Wight on Wednefday, 2ift of June, I immediately, that night, though I had been fick a week before, by reafon of an impoftumation of my lower parts, took my journey toward London, and came to the Houfe of Commons on Friday 23, 1648, where, at the open bar, I declared what I knew, in every particular; from which time 1 attended upon the Houfe of Lords until Tuefday after, when, by reafon of that bodily diftemper then upon me, increafed by my journey, I was neceffi- tated to keep my chatnber and forbear any further attendance, only leaving notes of the place of my abode with feveral perforis attending the Houfes, in cafe I fhould be inquired for, as was affirmed by the Speaker of the honourable the Houfe of Commons; "Upon Tuefday, June ayth^ the lords, upon " The Caje of Major Ralph. " 191 thefe falfe informations, made an order for my attachment and commitment to the Gatehoufe, Weftminfter, not fo much as ever calling me before themfelves, or fending me before any- legal magiftrate, as by law they ought. " The day following being the faft-day, though I had received information of their proceedings, yet I could not receive fatisfadbion concerning the truth thereof, the houfe not fitting until Thurfday, being the a 9th June, 1648, on which day I fent to know the truth thereof: the faid warrant not yet being executed upon me, (as I conceive to give me time to run away,) hoping that I might prove fo cowardly as not to ftand to it, having fuch great men as the lords to deal withal, and such a heinous crime as treafon laid to my charge. But, contrary to their expedtation, on Friday, being June the 30, I fent a letter to the lords, certifying unto them my condition and place of abode, which I am confident they knew well ehoughj though they would take no notice thereof; and my two chirurgeons alfo, to the end they might atteft (as they afterwards did) that it was indeed a bodily diftemper which occasioned my non-attendance, and nothing elfe. Yet, notwith- ftanding this clear evidence of my integrity, the 192 " "the Cafe of Major Ralph. " lords perfifted, and their ofEcers, in the execution of their firft and fecond warrants, exercifed fuch cruelty as hath not been manifefted to the king- dom's greateft enemies, neither taking notice of the weaknefs of my condition, attefted by my chirurgeons, being not able to turn myfelf in bed, nor the invalidity of the charge brought againft me by criminal perfons, there being no crime in law laid to my charge, nor one legal accufer, infomuch that my life was, by my unfea- fonable removal, not only by my ficknefs, but alfo by the violence of an inconfiderate multi- tude, to whofe rage I was expofed, and from whofe fury I was with great difficulty by Provi- dence preferved. " Being thus cruelly hurried to the Gatehoufe, I was as tyrannically ufed there, having a fentence of clofe imprifonment pafled upon me, by reafon of which my wife, friends, and chirurgeons, were kept from me to the hazard of my utter ruin, where, had not the honourable Houfe of Commons timely interpofed, I had certainly perifhed. " Two months I have remained a prifoner without either legal warrant, legal crime, or legal accufer. And now, in order to the further Ralph's Petition to the Commons. 19^ profecution of their defign, not only to ruin me, but to blaft the repute of the army and all othe^ ■well-affe6led perfons, they "have framed an indidtment upon . the faid fcandalous informa- tions, and have ordered the fame to be tranf- mitted to the next affixes held for the county of Southampton." - . ^ Having thus effayed the way for another appeal to the Commons, a petition was prefented from him to that Houfe on the 3rd of September. He pleaded that an indidment had been pre- pared by the Lords, and tranfmitted to Win- chefter, whilft he was kept a clofe prifoner in the Gatehoufe ; and that Ofborn and Dowcett had been fent thither on the 28 th of Auguft to give evidence to the grand jury on the faid jndidment. " That notwithftanding the faid indidtment confifted of four feveral heads of treafon, wherein the whole army was accufed, yet the faid Ofborn and Dowcett gave nothing material in evidence whereon an indidlment could be grounded : fo that upon the examina- tion of the whole matters the grand jury returned an ignoramus upon the faid bill of indiftment, as by a certification from the clerk of the affize more plainly appeared. o 194 Rofp^-s Petition to the Commons. " That your petkionerj notwithftanding he is clear in the eye of the law, and in the con- fciences of all honeffe men, yet he is ftill a pri- foner to the will of the Lords, and left without a poffibility of legal reparation both for his illegal imprifonment, befides his great charges and damages in his eftate and cfedit fuftained, being left without all poffibility of vindieation or reparation, unlefs this Honourable House be pleafed (as in like cafes heretofore) to take him into confideration, and as a manifeftation of the juft fenfe of their own and the army's honour, and your petitioner's unparalleled fuf- ferings, find fome expedient both for the enlargement, vindication, and reparation of your petitioner^ the judges being both corrupt, and fo nearly concerned, the Lords fo powerful, and Ofborn and Dowcett fo beggarly, that it is impoffible your petitioner fhould ever be repaired in his eftate or credit without your juftice be exercifed in the obtaining thereof. " And forafmuch as the judges are appointed to fit with the Lords as their affiftants in point of laWj and ought to inform them by what rule they ought to proceed, being fworn thereunto^ and yet have, contrary to law and their oaths. Rolph's Petition to the Commons. 195 connived at the apparent fubverfion of the fun- damental laws of this nation, by fufFering fuch illegal warrants to pafs from time to time from the Lords upon fuch illegal accufations, that therefore this Houfe would be pleafed to call the faid judges to an account for thofe tlieir undue proceedings; and out of their eftates (who ought to have prevented your petitioner's fufFer- ings and damages) to allow him fuch legal reparations as your honours fhall deein meet and convenient." By this extradty it will be perceived that Rolph had been virtually tried and acquitted under a coiurfe of adion, which would certainly feem by his ftatement, to evince either an extra- ordinary emanation of malevolence towards him by the Houfe of Peers, or their firm convidtion of his guilt; whilft his detention would appa- rently fhow that it was their intention to take fome ulterior meafures of procedure againft him. The charge of corruption and oppreffion on the part of the judges is not, however, fo well founded; becaufe the fame agency which had fo fuccefsfuUy procured the condemnation of Burley, had been again enlifted to devife the o 2 196 'Trial of Ralph. acquittal of Rolph. On the death of Mr. Juf- tice Godbold, Serjeant Wild was ordered to pre- fide at the trial, which, as ftated in Rolph's petition, was held at Winchefter, on the 28 th of Auguft, 1648. At the time of trial, Ofbprn 'and Dowcett, by command of the Houfe of Peers, proceeded to Winchefter, where likewife Mrs. Rolph was found ** taking care for the difperfing of feveral papers in her hufband's vindication, and pofting them up in the moft eminent places in the Hall where he was to receive his trial." * The indidtment was framed under the pro- vifions of the fame aft of Parliament which had been urged againft Burley, the 25th of Edward the Third, fupported by the teftimony of Ofborn and Dowcett, who, however, were denied the ufe of counfel, although, — as was written at the time, — "confidering the zeal of Wild, (whose great ruff was the only confpicuous monument of authority on the Bench,) and Mr, Lifle who sat with him, who might have been advocates as well as judges, and saved Rolph the charge of a counfellor," two perfons of the names of Maynard and NichoUs appeared * Probably " The Case of Major Rolph," as already Quoted. Trial of Ralph. 197 on his behalf, Maynard having been a promi- nent charad:er at the trial of Strafford. The jury confifted of ^Humphrey Ofey, of Wherwell, gent. ; William Woolgar, of Havant, gent.; Thomas Domer, of Chicknel, gent.; Benediftus Barnham, of Northwarnboropgh, gent. ; Arthur Lipfcomb, of Alresford, gent. ; Bartholomew Stileman, of Mattingley, gent. ; John Hunt, of Altpn, gent, ; Robert Cooper, of Barton Stacey, gent. ; John Yeardley, of Prefton Candover, gent. ; William Soper, of Domer, gent. ; William Harward, of Charlcot, gent. ; Jo. Hornwood, of Church Okeley, gent. ; Robert Powlfon, of Hawkley, gent. ; William Demalk, of Everfeley, gent. ; Robert Bunney, of Ibdrop, gent. ; Jo. Waterman, of Tangley, gent. ; and Thomas Haflcer, of Bromley, gent. Wild firft addrefled himfelf to the jury, by reading them a letter from Cromwell, in which he announced his northern vidtory, telling them he did fo for the purpofe of enlifting their reverence for Oliver, and good opinion for Rolph; and, fecondly, the letter which had been conveyed by Rolph to the Houfe of Commons as his vindication, by Hammond. Dowcett defired to deliver his examination in 19^ OJhorn's Evidence. writing, alleging that the lords had allowed him a fimilar liberty at their bar, but was refufed his requeft by Wild, Ofborn ftated, *' That he, this examinat, being in the place of gentleman-ufher to the king, at and in the caftle at Carifbrook, in the Ifle of Wight, in the county of Southampton, his majefty, about a week after the beginning of the montli of May laft paft, as near as this examinat can now call the time to mind, complained to this examinat of the harflinefs of his ufage in the faid caftle, expreffmg that he was defirous to efcape from thence, and moved this examinat to affift him to that purpofe, and to think of the means how it might be done. And his majefly then faid, that it would be the moft expeditious way to procure a peace, if he could efcape ; or ufed words to that effedt. Howbeit this examinat did not then exprefs any confent to the faid motion ; but, at a time afterwards, this examinat being of familiar acquaintance with Captain Edmund Rolph, now Major Rolph, who had a refidence in the faid caftle wherein he [the king] lodged, this examftiat went into the faid refidence to vifit him. And this examinat enquiring of him what news there Oportis Efuideme. I99 was, the faid Rolph told this examlnat that the governor of the faid ifland had received feveral letters from the army, to make away with the king, by poifon or otherwife; at which news this examinat feeming to ftart, the faid Rolph paufed awhile, and fell off from that difcourfe. " Yet, before they parted, the faid Rolph pro- pounded another defign, wherein he moved this examinat to join with him, proffering to take an oath with the examinat concerning the fame; which other defign was to remove the king, who was then at and in Cariftrook Caftle aforefaid, out of, and from that place, unto fome odier place of more fecrecy; pretending that at Carif- brook, his majefty was in too public a place from whence he might be refcued ; but the faid Rolph faid, that if we carried him to a place of more fecrecy, we might difpofe of his perfon as we thought fit. *' Whereupon, this examinat enquiring of Rolph, whether the faid governor would agree thereunto, the faid Rolph anfwered, he feared he would not, for diat he was a covetous man, and would not agree thereunto, for fear of lofing the allowance from the Houfe. ** This examinat then obJ6<%ed, how this could 200 OJhqr'n's 'Evidence". be effefted againft the king's will ; to which the faid Rolph anfweredj he would deceive him by letters, pretending they came from his majefty's own friends. *' Then this examinat further objedled: It is to be fuppofed the king hath ciphers which he the faid Rolph could not counterfeit; to which the faid Rolph anfwered, it is true; but Glemham, or thofe that are far off, and have not lately been with his majefty, have no ciphers. And then the faid Rolph told this examinat, that' he had letters ready written to the purpofe afore- faid. "This examinat faid, it were very fit they fhould acquaint the committee at Derby Houfe, for their approbation to be had before they fhould endeavour to remove the king. And this examinat offered himfelf to come up to London to that purpofe; but the faid Rolph declared, that he utterly difliked that courfe, faying he could effed the faid defign without the governor's privity. " This examinat further faith, that the very fame day, or the next day after, being the firft opportunity that this examinat could get to fpeak of it to the king, he told his majefty all Ojborn's Evidence. 201 that the faid Rolph had faid unto him. And his majefty therefore faid, that he had lately received a letter from fome or one of his friends, purporting that there was an intention to remove his majefty not only from thence, but from the knowledge of all mankind, if poffible. And fhortly afterwards, his majefty having spoken again to this examinat, to think of fome way how his majefty might efcape, this examinat did confent to ufe his beft endeavour to help his majefty to efcape. " And this examinat further faith, that he did ihortly after acquaint Mr. Abraham Dowcett (who waited then as clerk of the kitchen to his majefty) with his majefty's defire to efcape, moving him to be an affiftant therein, who faid it might be a dangerous bufinefs, or to that efFeft ; but within a few days after this examinat went again to the faid Dowcett, and acquainted him with all that which the faid Rolph had formerly told this examinat, concerning the faid Rolph's defign for the removal of his majefty to a place of fecrecy as aforefaid, and moved the faid Dowcett again to join with this examinat to help his majefty's efcape. , " The faid Dowcett feem'ed then to make doubt 202 OJb^rn's Evidence. of his majefty's decree in that behalf, requiring to be fatisfied with the fight of fomewhat for it under his majefty's hand, which this examlnat fpeedily procured; but then the faid Dowcett demanded whither the king would go if he could efcape. This examinat told the faid Dow- cett, that his majefty's purpofe was to go to his Parliament ; and then the faid Dowcett faid to this examinat, that he would be afliftant towards the helping of his majefty to efcape, or ufed words to that effed:. " And upon Sunday, the eight and twentieth day of May laft paft, about twelve of the clock at night, this examinat, with the privity and afliftance of the faid Dowcett, and of one Mr. Edward Worfley, and of four foldiers, whofe furnames, as he taketh it, were Floyd, and Til^ ling, and Wenfcall, and Featherftone, thought to have effedled the fame by fuch means as was in that behalf agreed upon. And this examinat for his part, was thereby to attain the efFedting thereof, at the time and place in that behalf to him appointed; this examinat being by agree^ ment to attend with a boat to receive his ma- jefty at a convenient place to that purpofe aifigned ; to which place the faid other parties. Wild*s Addrefs to the Jury. 203 or fome of thenij fliould in the night-time have conveyed his majefty ; but this examinat finding by the relation of the faid Mr. Worfley, who came towards the faid place without the king, that their defign for his majefty's efcape was difcovered, he did, by the advice and help of the faid Mr. Worfley, who was an inhabitant of the faid ifland, conceal himfelf in the faid ifland, by the fpace of three days then next follow- ing or thereabouts; and then he and the faid Mr. Worfley, in the night-time, pafled over by boat from the faid ifland, into the county of Suflex." This examination having been taken upon oath and backed by the evidence of Dowcett, the ftatements of the foldiers as received by Hammond, were read, and Wild proceeded to addrefs himfelf to the jury. " Gentlemen," faid he, " this is a bufinefs of great importance; take heed how you move in it ; the Houfe of Commons refent it very much : for this Major Rolph is a gallant man, and hath done great fervice for the fl:ate. Now in a bufinefs of this nature, there muft not be only 204 Wild's Addrefs to the Jury. probable but provable evidence, evidence, * luce clariora,' which this is not. There was a time, indeed, when intentions and words were treafon, but, gentlemen, God forbid it fliould be fo now. Confider likewife the invalidity of the witnefles, more guilty than he for aught I fee, for it was a crime to endeavour to remove the king from thence. For we are all miftaken. The king is not in prifon; we only keep him fafe to fave bloodfhed, and the better to make addreffes to him, which thefe men would have hindered. How do you know, but that thefe men would have made away with the king, and Rolph charged his piftol to fecure him ? Take notice, gentlemen, of the word 'receive.' He might lie there to protect the king from the violence of other perfons ; and had the king mifcarried, thefe men would have been guilty of his blood. They indeed deferve to be indidted, for, their defign failing, they accufe him out of ill-will; and fo, ye gentlemen of the jury, I leave his innocence to your judgment and difcretion." But immediately bethinking himfelf, he again addrefled them on the importance of the word receive," which he faid meant, that Rolph " remained three hours with a good piftol ready (( Acquittal ofRolph. 205 charged to have received the king had he come down." To this Ofborn replied, " that in the language of a foldier, it fignified as much as ' I will kill fuch a man.'" Wild however filenced the interruption by faying, ** It might fo ; but God forbid he fhould proceed againft any man for words or expref- fions." The jury thereupon retired, and as they fpeedily returned with an ignoramus, the anti- cipations of the judge and the wifhes of the Commons were fully realized,* The effeft of this trial, aided by the receipt of the petition already cited, was a refolution by the Commons, that the body of Major Rolph fhould be brought by the keeper of the Gate- houfe to the bar of the Houfe on the fucceeding Monday at nine o'clock. In purfuance of this order he was prefented, and received his dif- charge from cuftody ; and on the 9th of Septem- * "The Second Centurie of ParliamentMen,"4to.,i648,fays: " Sergeant Wilde, Jujiiciarius itinerans, anglici, ' Journeyman judge,' had, after the hanging of Captain Burley, looo/. out of the Privy Purfe of Derby Houfe ; 'tis thought he afforded a great pennyworth in his fervice, which another would not have done for 100,000/., and it is affirmed he had 1000/, more upon the acquittal of Major Rolfe, fo it is all one to him whether he hangs or hangs not." 2o6 Credibility of OporrCs AJfertion. ber, 1 50/. were voted him as fome compenfatlon for his fuppofed wrongs. To this ordinance, the Lords however refufed their affent, and with the re-committal of Dow- cett to Peter Houfe, and the return of Rolph to his duties at Carilbrook, this Angular and myt terious propofition, or, otherwife, ingenious but monftrous expedient, terminated. With whatever care the circumjftances detailed in the foregoing narrative may be fcrutinifed, the detection of the betrayer or the betrayed is of Gourfe now an utter impoffibility. The plaufible ftatements of Ofborn at firft fight for- cibly arreft the fympathies of the reader, and thereby attach more than a probability of cre- dence to the charges he propounded. The tale is well conneded, and in many points capable of corroboration by cotemporary authorities, whilfl: the propofition is one to which many perfons of note attached to the army were known to be favourable. But then arifes the queftion, if all this was known to the king, why did he allow his communications to Titus and his other cor- refpondents to pafs without fome allufion to fo extraordinary and defirable a propofition. In thefe letters, he is found the rather urging them CharaSier ofOjborn. 207 to endeavour to gain over fome of the offi- cers, which was certainly, tinder thefe cifcum- ftances, quite an unneceflary danger, as the men whofe fervices he believed he had fecured, are fhown to have belonged to Rolph's own com- pany; and he by Ofborn's examination and letters, was fuppofed to be interefted in the king's attempted efcape, although prompted by nefa-» rious motives, A letter from Carifbrook, of the 24th July, 1648, defcribes Ofborn in the following terms : — "His carriage and language faintlike when he was in the company of religious men, but when affociated with vain perfons he was as vain and foolifh as they, fpending his precious time in tippling, finging, and unprofitable difcourfes. The day before he Ihould have aded his vil- lany, hearing a fermon wherein thefe or the like words were delivered, ' that the heathen philofopherSj if they were now livings would abhor thofe men that are falje to their principles and undertakings ^ and afterwards feemed to blefs God for fo feafonable a difcourfe, and to be deeply affeded therewith;" yet (notwithftand- ing) he was the moft forward man in the defign of conveying away the king the night following. 2o8 ChdraBer oJ^Ojborn: " No man inveighed more againft the' king's aftings and interefts than he, infomuch that he was blamed by fome, and fufpefted by others (well afFefted) upon this ground, as conceiving that a man may be fa.ithful to his truft, and confcientioufly difcharge his duty, without fuch bitter refledbions upon the adverfe party. - " His expreffion in the praife and commen-^ dation of the army (under the condud of Lord Fairfax) and their late adtirigs and proceedings were hyperbolical, as if he had been one of their greateft friends ; whereas, it appears he was one of their moft malicious adverfaries." This is the charafter drawn of Ofborn by an adversary, for the natural tendency of whofe ppinion fome allowance muft be made ; but even with this admiffion, enough will remain to con- vict him of having greatly overafted his part, and prove that much hypocrify exifted in him. He would therefore appear not altogether inca- pable of devifing fuch a fcheme, perhaps with the hope, that after the publication of so for- cible and damning an accufation, the Parliament would be either obligated to remove the king's perfon to fome other place of keeping, where lefs formidable obftacles would be likely to Letter to Captain Titus. 209 intervene for preventing his efcape, or that men lefs energetic than Hammond and Rolph might be appointed to the command at Carifbrook, and thereby further the fame refult. This fup- pofition is only ftated as a poflible incentive for the concodlion of the device, if device it were ; and in furtherance of the conjefturcj the rea- der's attention is requefted to a very remarkable obfervation by the king himfelf, in the follow- ing letter ; one of the feries addreffed to Captain Titus. Number XIV. Monday, 10 July, 1648. « W. " Yours of the 5th of this month I receaued upon Saturday laft : being glad to know where to fynde you, I will anfwer your Newes (for w""* I thank you), with Newes, leaft our doeings heere fhould be mifreported to you : I haue been tould by fuch as I know will not deceaue me, that, of late, this Gouernor thought witjk cunning to have fcrewed out an exami- nation from the king concerning his pretended efcape ; for by way of freedom, fliowing him a letter of Mr. Ofburne tuching that bufinefs, the p 210 Letter to Captain Titus. fayd Gouernor defyred to know of the king, if he had heard Major Rolph fay any fuch thing whereof Ofburne accufed him, but all the Anfwer that the king would give him was: If he knew nothing, he could tell him nothing: becaufe his maxime is neuer to cleare one man to the prejudice of another, or of his owen fervice : and be confident, this is all in fubftance, that the Gouernor could gett from the king, concerning this bufinefs: but upon occafion of Difcourfe before fome ladies, I heard the king fay, that the Gouernor never oiFerd any Perfonall inci- uility to him (hoping they belieued that he would never endure it fo long as his hands were free) nor did he euer fufpect hurt from him by way of Treachery : afleuring you this, in fub- ftance, is all that the king fpoke for the Gouer- nor's juftification : and now, I have no more to fay, but to recomend to your care the delivery of theafe two inclofed letters, and to fend newes as often as you can, *' Your moft afleured reall frend, "J." 209 : 263 : 563 : 228 : 226 : 360 : 468 : 279:493:509 : 63 : 429: 117: 158: 209 : 126 : 179: 189: 109:463 : Letter to Captain tit us. 2 1 r (I muji certainly know the contents of Rogers' Papers before I can get him any answer). "^ Since writing of this, I have receaued yours of the 3rd of this month, whereby I finde that you have written me two letters w""* I have not receaued. "One of thefe is to 457 {Lady Carlifle), and the other to 715 {^Mrs. Whorwood)." On the other hand, it is requifite that due attention fhould be paid to Rolph's known con- nexion with the moft violent party in the army, and his exprefled defire for fuch a refult as Ofborn's allegation foreboded, whilft it cannot be fuppofed that the Houfe of Lords would have purfued fo firm a refolve, or the Houfe of Commons fo great a laxity of regardful con- fideration for fo grave a charge, if there had not been ftrong reafons to believe, in the one cafe, that the accufation refted on a truthful foun- dation, and that in the other there was a fimilar convidion, but that it received the fympathies, rather than the indignation of the majority of the members. It is alfo worthy of remark, that at the time of trial, the true bill was ignored by the jury p 2 212 The King's Recogn^f ion of OJborn. becaufe the indiftment was qply fupported by a fingle witnefs; and that probabilities feem to render refutation as impoffible as would be the endeavour to arrive at a fatisfaftory con- clufion of the guilt or innocence of the parties whofe names occur in the relation of this myf- terious tranfa6tion, on both fides. Whether Ofborn was the injured or the in- jurer, the king was not however unmindful of his fervices, as in a letter written to the Prince of Wales, from Newport, on the 6th November following, he fays : — " P.S. If Qlborne (who has been in trouble for me about Major Rolph's bufinefs) come to you, ufe him well for my fake." CHAPTER VI. State of the Kingdom at large — Renewal of Correfpondence with Captain Titus — A Treaty Propofed by the Parliament, and Accepted by the King — Preparations for the Treaty — The Treaty of Newport. ■pOR the purpofe of elucidating this narrative, ■*■ it now becomes neceffary that a brief retrofpeft fliould be rendered of the tranfaftions which agitated the kingdom at large during the interval in which the thrilling occurrences that have been related in connexion with the per- fonal hiftory of Charles, were being enadted. It has been already ftated, that foon after the paffing of the vote of non-addrefles, the king appealed to the good fenfe of the people through the agency of the prefs ; and in the ftate of the public mind which thereupon enfued, every eye 214 Proceedings of the Scots. was turned towards Scotland ; but the return of the Scottifh commiffioners having difpelled the hopes which had been entertained of the king's acceflion to the Covenant, the Scottifh Parlia- ment was intimidated by the vehemence of the populace. The Duke of Hamilton, the avowed leader of the royalifts and prefbyterians, whofe defign it was to reftore the king, thereupon be- came neceflitated to conceal his purpofe under the pretence of fuppreffing herefy and fchifm; and in the meantime the Earl of Argyle, his chief opponent, promoted fo ftrong an oppofi- tion by heading the Covenanters, that of the levy of 30,000 foot, and 6000 horfe voted to ferve under the duke, there could only be raifed 10,000 foot and 600 horfe, nor even thefe until the month of July. Infurreftionary movements on the part of the royalifts were neverthelefs becoming general throughout England; as on the 9th of April, the initiative had been afforded by a mob of apprentices and other young people, who ftoned a captain of trainbands in Moorfields, and then marched in diforderly array to Weftminfter, with the cry of King Charles ! King Charles ! As might have been expedled, they were The State of the Kingdom. 2 1 5 quickly dilpeffed by a troop of horfe, which fallied from the Mews ; but on their retreating into the city, they filled it with diforder and fears, plundered houfes of arms, and forced the lord mayor to efcape privately, and feek refuge in the Tower. This example was quickly followed by fimilar difturbances in Norwich, Thetford, Exeter^ Canterbury, and other towns, which were in- deed fupprefled by the exertions of Fairfax and the county committees ; but the attitude affumed by the multitude, forcibly fliowed that a very ftrong current of feeling favourable to the royal caufe was again {etting in. The Prefbyterians having united with the concealed royalifts, apparently acquired a ma- jority in the Houfe of Commons, as on the 24th of April they fucceeded in carrying a vote vett- ing the military polls and defences of the City of London in- the Common Council ; four days after, that the government of the kingdom fhould continue to be by King, Lords, and Commons; and they then fubmitted a propofi- tion, notwithftanding the vote of non-addrefles, for a treaty to be opened with the king, whilft petitions from various public bodies poured into 21 6 Declaration of the Fleet. the two HoufeSj all reiterating the fame prayer, viz., that the army fliould be difbanded, and the king brought back to his capital. The inhabitaqjts of Surrey and Eflex felt dif- fatisfied with the anfwers returned to their petitions, and joined with thofe of Kent in their repeated aflemblages for confidering their caufes of complaint, and of devifing a means of redrefs. As the refult of their deliberations, they formed affociations, coUedted arms, and at an appointed time arranged a general rifing, in which the town of Deal fhowed fo great a fpirit of loyalty and determination, that preparations were made by Admiral Rainfborough to chaftife their pre- fumption, as it was termed. He left orders for the fleet to follow him, and proceeded in his barge towards the town ; but as his men were moftly refidents at that port, where their wives and families then were, murmurs arofe ; and on its being propofed by one Tindale, a boatfwain in the admiral's fhip, that they alfo fliould declare for the king, the inftigation was adopted, and the officers arrefted, whilft the crews of the other fliips followed their example, in defiance of the remonftrances of their commanders. This fleet confifted of fix fliips of war fully "Defeat of Goring. 217 equipped for fummer fervice; and after thus declaring themfelves, they immediately failed under the royal colours to Helvoetfluys, in Holland, in fearch of the Duke of York, whom they chofe as their commander-in-chief.* The men of Kent, after having threatened the Parliament for fome time, marched boldly upon London ; and as the Parliament had no armed power at hand to fupport its authority — the royalifts numerous, and the Common Council difafFected, this was a movement fraught with the moft important confequences. Conceffion, however, prevailed; and Fairfax having encoun- tered the Kentifh forces on Blackheath with feven regiments (aided by the terror infpired by the recent defeat at Maidftone), drove them back to Rochefter, where Lord Goring again made head, and proceeded to Gravefend, whilfl: other bodies of the fame party took poffeffion of Can- terbury, and endeavoured to furprife Dover; but being there defeated in his plan. Goring was obliged to crofs the Thames, and raife his ftandard in Eflex. Here he was joined by Lord Capel with the royalifts from Hertfordfhire, and * Lingard. 2 1 8 Rifings in Wales. by Sir Charles Lucas with a body of horfe from Chelmsford, and he ultimately fixed his head- quarters at Colchefter, which was foon after in- vefted by Fairfax, and, although only furrounded by a low rampart of earth, fuccefsfuUy defended, until the Scottifli invafion ftiowed the inutility of any longer prolonging the miferies endured by the befieged. Simultaneoufly with thefe movements, rifings had alfo taken place in Wales, where the royalifts fecured Pembroke Caftlej and it may be truly faid, that fcarcely any portion of the kingdom was quiet, the whole north of England being likewife in a commotion, and a Scottish army preparing to crofs the border in favour of the king ; whilft a new tone had been imparted to the proceedings in Parliament, in confequence of the abfence of the officers of the army, and the reftoration of the excluded members. The lords, however, with a great profeffion of liber- ality, ftill refufed their aflent to the propofed treaty, unlefs it was voted without any condition being impofed upon his majeftyj and the Com- mon Council offered an afTurance that if the king were fuffered to come to London, the city Advance of the Scots ^ 219 would guarantee both the royal perion and the two Houfes free from danger. The royalifts in the northern counties, in anticipation of the advance of the Duke of Hamilton, had reduced Berwick and Carlifle; and early in the month of July, the Duke redeemed his promife by croffing the borders at the head of his army, leaving Munroe to follow with reinforcements in his rear. Hamilton was immediately joined by Sir Marmaduke Langdale with 4000 cavaliers, who had flaked their lives on the refult; but thefe men being principally prelatifts and papifts, they unfortunately gave great offence, and created confiderable diffenfion in the Scottiih hoft ; and as the Parliamentarian army in the north was too weak to rifk an encounter, it at firft retired before Hamilton and Langdale, whofe force, had it been commanded by a man of talent and enterprife, would doubt- lefs foon have effected its purpofe of replacing the king upon the throne. Unluckily the interefts of the fervice and emergency of the occafion were facrificed to jealoufies and feuds; and Cromwell having recovered Pembroke, and finifhed his occupa- tion in Wales, at . once haftened to fuccour 220 Surrender of Hamilton. Lilburn and Lambert. He made an energetic attack upon Langdale, and drove him back upon the main army near Prefton, which was alfo the next day fo completely routed, that but few of the Scots returned to their native country, and Baillie, their general, furrendered at War- rington. Langdale, in this extremity, ordered the in- fantry to difperfe,,and, accompanied by Hamilton, who had refufed to abandon the Englilh cava- liers, fwam the river Ribble and reached Ut- toxeter, where the royalifts having difbanded themfelves by command of their leaders, the duke was compelled to yield himfelf a prifoner to Lambert and Lord Grey of Groby. Lang- dale made his way to Nottingham, but was there recognifed and taken in the difguife of a female; he afterwards effedled his efcape by the aid of Lady Saville, who, by bribing the keepers, and procuring a clergyman's caflbck, enabled him to proceed to London, where he remained in fafety for fome time as an Irifti minifter driven from his cure by the Irifh Catholics.* During this time the royalifts had likewife * Lingard. Proceedings of the "Earl of Holland. 221 been ftirring in the fouth, as the Earl of Holland, who had ferved and deferted every party, once more veered round to the king's affiftance, obtained a commiffion from the Prince of Wales to raife forces, and engaged to co-operate with the Duke of Hamilton, by efFeding a rifing in London at the juncture of his entering into England. On the 5th of July, at the head of 500 horfe, he fixed his quarters at Kingfton-upon-Thames, and calling upon the citizens to join him, fent meflages to the Common Council and the Par- liament, urging them to purfue a fimilar courfe of aftion, and thus put an end to the calamities inflidted upon the nation. As the citizens had fufFered feverely in the recent riot, this call was but little heeded ; and on the fecond day, being furprifed by Sir Michael Livefey, he was, after a fhort conflict, neceffi- tated to flee with only a few attendants to St. Neots, where, after a renewed encounter with Colonel Scrope, he furrendered to his purfuers. Although the reverfes of Holland created but little fympathy, much compaflion was excited at the fate of the Lord Francis Villiers, a young nobleman who had been perfuaded to join him. 222 Surrender of Colchejier. in company with his brother, the Duke of Buck- ingham ; the former of whom was flain at King- fton, and the latter, after many hair-breadth: efcapes, fucceeded in reaching the continent. Thefe difcomfitures were fpeedUy followed by the fall of Colchefter, the laft hope of the royalifts, which, after a memorable liege of upwards of two months, furrendered at difcre- tion on the 27 th of Auguft. Fairfax refufed other terms, as the officers had been declared traitors by the Parliament, and fuUied his tri- umph by the deaths of Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lifle. Goring, Capel, and Haftings were referred for the judgment of Parliament, and committed to fafe keeping in Windfor Caftle, where, with the inefficient Hamilton, they had the opportunity of lamenting together the ufelefs efforts of ill-concerted plans and pre- cipitated engagements. During the operation of thefe eventful occur- rences, the king had been engaged in the vain endeavours to efFed his efcape from the oblivion of the imprifonment to which hefeemed doomed —an imprifonment in which he was ftill dreaded by his oppreffors, and only fuftained by the attachment of his followers. Regulations hy Hammond. 223 After the difcovery of the laft thwarted at- tempt, Hammond's firft care was to iflue the following regulations to Major Rolph, Captain Bowerman, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Mildmay, and Mr. Leigh, "in cafe he fhould be detained by acci- dent from doing his duty in accordance with his orders," " By reafon of any accident that may befal me in detaining me from the exercife of my duty, according to the truft repofed in me by the Parliament, my occafions and duty alfo calling me abroad into the ifland, I have thought fit to appoint, and hereby do appoint, Captain Boreman and Major Rolph jointly, or, in the abfence of any one of them, the other fingly, to a(5t all things in relation to the fecurity of his majefty's perfon, and this caftle, according to the inftrudions given to that purpofe, in as full and ample manner as if myfelf were prefent ; and in cafe of fuch my abfence, I alfo appoint Mr. Herbert, Mr. Mildmay, Mr. Leigh, trea- furer, or any two of them, to take like care, and provide for the family in fuch way as formerly by myfelf. And the faid Captain Boreman and Major Rolph for the foldiers, and Mr. Herbert, Mr. Mildmay, and Mr. Leigh for the family. 224 Pofition of Hammond. are hereby farther defired by me fo to aft until the Parliament fhall pleafe otherwife to deter- mine the matter. In witnefs whereunto I do hereto put my hand at Carifbrook Caftle this and of June, 1648. "Ro. Hammond." By the apprehenfion and detention of Major Rolph, who, although poflefled with the fpirit of envy, and ftriving for the reverfion of his appointment, was Hammond's principal advifer and confidant, the difficulty of the governor's pofition was materially increafed. He even requefted the Houfes of Parliament " to relieve him of the great burthen impofed upon him ;" but negledted to communicate this defire to either his fupporters in the army, or the committee at Derby Houfe, becaufe he was influenced rather by the promptings of the vice paramount in him, than the caufe affigned. It was remarked by Rolph, in his aflumed inter- view with Ofborn, that " the governor was a covetous man ;" and here the caufe of his dif- fatisfaction arofe; for rewards were conveyed through him to requite the fervices of men who favoured and ferved the Parliament, whilft his CharaSler of Hammond. 225 own annuity remained unpaid. His meaning was therefore well underftood by the Commons, where the matter was at once ordered to be confidered, and asj- in a fecond letter, he reite- rated .the fame remark, but with the pregnant addition " that when he is thoroughly confidered they fhall find none more faithful to them, and none more obfervant of their commands, than he," a fatisfadtory ordinance was at once made, and no more complaints were received of the burthens impofed on Colonel Hammond. Difraeli corredtly fays that, during thefe rapid events, *' Hammond had become a more important perfonage than his real character would have made him ;" but the aflertion that from his clofe connexion with Cromwell and Ireton the Parliament fufpedted his integrity, is one of more queftionable authority. There are no data for fuch a conclufion; for the votes and debates in the Houfe of Commons rather evidence a contrary feeling towards him ; and quite as difficult is it to difcover what favours Hammond had heretofore received from the king, or which of his aftions in connexion with the furveil- lance of his majefly conflituted him a man of honour. Q ■ 2 2-6 , CharaBer of Hammond. He procured the imprifonment of his own uncle, the king's favourite chaplain ; and with the ready afliftance of Rolph and Bowerman, after the firft fix weeks of Charles's refidence at Carifbrook, took an ungenerous advantj.ge by treating him not only with contumely and negled:, but unneceflary rigour and infblence. The motives for (o doing were buried with him, but his anions remain on record againft him. His endeavours clearly were to accord with both the army and the Parliament for his own ultimate advantage; but by the army he was afterwards imprifoned and neglefted, and the Parliament only rewarded him with a coni- miffionerfhip in Ireland, where he died on the a4th of October, 1654. The Ifle of Wight had, by the month of June, 1648, gradually become one vaft garrifon, as continued demands were made by Hammond for reinforcements, and as conftantly acceded to . by the committee. On the ajrd of this month 500 men were fent thither from the general's army, which was ordered to recruit for a like number, whilft the fame day the governor is found again applying to the authorities for. a ftill greater number, and urging as his reafon Fears of Invafion. 227 the intelligence he had received of its being the intention of the revolted fhips to bring over men to invade the ifland, "which, if it fo occur," he fays, " the iflandersj not being able to defend themfelves (he fhould have written, not willing), would be obligated to join with them, by which means they would be able to keep ofF any forces of the Parliament that might be fent to relieve the caftle." By the fame poft he likewife impor- tuned Fairfax, and alked that a reinforcement of 300 horfe and 1500 foot at leaft might be fpeedily fent to him, "sure men" for, if other- wife, " it would be much in their power to undo him [Hammond], and the kingdom alfo, as he was In danger to have found by late experience." This alarm feems alfo to have pervaded the committee at Derby Houfe ; for on the 30th of June they intimated to the governor, on credit- able information, " that the fleet had received a reinforcement of 1000 landfmen under the com- mand of Lord Willoughby of Parham, prepa- ratory to an attack on the ifland; that the Lotd Rich* who had received a pafs from the * Lord Rich was the eldeft fon of the Earl of Warwick, "(lord high admiral under the Long Parliament,) whom he sue ceeded in his title and eftates in 1658. His only fon, Robert, Q 2 2 2 S , Fears of Invqfion . Commons to proceed to the king under the pretence of being touched for the evil, was, in truth, only defirous of treating with him relpect- ing the Earl of Holland, who at this time was heading the royalifts in Surrey, and that they believed the forces which had been collected by Holland were intended to proceed to the ifland —information they apprized him of, to the intent he might put himfelf into a pofition to prevent their landing, which, as there were but few places where fuch a procedure was feafible, they fuppofed he would find no difficulty in doing, and efpecially admonifhed him to prevent all boats leaving the ifland during the time thefe rumours were abroad." For thefe apprehenfions there were, however, legitimate caufes of concernmentj as the Prince of Wales (fuppofing we have reached the 20th of July, 1648) had been more than fix weeks in the Downs with a good fleet — the Englifli flaips which had deferted and feveral others he had procured in Holland, — in all nineteen fail. Men naturally imagined the fon's firft care would have been the liberation of his father married Frances, youngeft daughter of the Proteflor, but died before his father. Pqfition of the Prince. ±2g from Carifbrook, and there is little doubt, if he had appeared before the Ifle of Wight, but that Charles would have recovered his freedom. The council, with the prince, unfortunately- decided it was more to the royal intereft to fail to the mouth of the river Thames, and there endeavour to enlift the wavering difpofition of the city and the Parliament. While the Scottifh forces were advancing, this feemed a favourable determination ; but their deftrudion extinguifhed every hope. The king, by a private meflage, fuggefted that, before their departure from the coaft, they {hould free him from his captivity ;* and Lord Clarendon plainly fays, that, as no attempt was made to accomplifh his liberation. It is certain the perfpn of the haplefs monarch was little cared for. This, however, was not fo. The mariners were aftually matters of the fleet ; and in the defire to engage the hoftile force under the command of Warwick, they forgot all other claims on their pofition. This engage- ment he ftudioufly avoided, and, by different manoeuvres, eluded their purfuit until the prince • Lingard, 230 Fueling tfljlanders> was compelled, by a want of fupplies, to fteef for the coaft of Holland. The feeling of the majority of the iflanders, both from principle and prefent fituation, opprefled as they were by the numerous military exaiflions levied on them, was now fo diametri- cally oppofed to the interefts . of the army, that the prince would have been joyfully feconded by them, if the attempt which appeared fo pro- bable, and fo incumbent on him to endeavour, had been made. The fummer throughout was wet and boifterous, provifions grew remark- ably dear, and in common with the kingdom at large their . fenfibilities were becoming confider- ably agitated on behalf of a fovereign degraded a,nd languifhing within fight of their very homes. To counterpoife thefe unfavourable fymptoms, Hammond ufed every exertion and adopted every available meafure of preparation antici- patory of a collifion. Cowes, Yarmouth, and Sandown forts were well fupplied with provi- fions and ammunition ; the friends of the Par- liament were allowed to arm and prepare horfe for defence, and the minifters from their pulpits were ordered to be forward and ferviceable in Condition, of the King. 23 1 mftilling into their hearers a confideration of the danger they would be expofed to " if the com- mon adverfary fhould prevail." The deliverance of the king's perfon having failed from the caufes affigned, the great per- fecutions and petty malignity he endured with inherent dignity, again become matter for con- fideration ; efpecially, as their notoriety is con- firmed by almoft endlefs cotemporary teftimoniesj fpme of them, certainly, uncharitably embel- liihed by the inventive fancy of the propagators, but the greater portion perfedlly free from the reach of fuch fufpicion. His condition, for a time, was defolate in the extreme, as the arrangements for communication with his friends, by the lafl mifchance, had been completely difarranged and fruftrated. His. exiftence, in truth, was become one dull mono- tonous return of day and night; and as the grated window rendered little that could engage his attention, refignation to his books offered the only fubftitute for more invigorating avo- cations. In this unvaried interval of forrow and quiet, Mr. Herbert was the only one of his: faithful fervants permitted to remain in attend- ance on him, and his. care has preferved fome, 232 The King's Purfuits, interefting reminifcences of the employments of Charles at this very junfture. Writing of the king's purfuits, he remarks, " His majefty gave Mr. Herbert the charge of his books, of which the king had a catalogue, and, from time to time, had brought unto him fuch as he was pleafed to call for. " The Sacred Scriptures was the book he moft delighted in; and often read in Bifhop An- drews' Sermons, Hooker's Ecclefiaftical Polity, Dr. Hammond's Works, Villalpandus upon Ezekiel, &c., Laud's Paraphrafe upon King David's Pfalms, Herbert's Divine Poems ; and alfo Godfrey of BuUoigne, writ in Italian by Torquato Taflb, and done into Englifh Heroic Verfe by Mr. Fairfax, a poein his majefty much commended, as he did alfo Ariofto, by Sir John Harrington, a facetious poet, much efteemed of by the Prince Henry his matter, Spencer's Faery Queen, and the like, for alle- viating his fpirits after ferious ftudies. And at this tirne, it was (as is prefumed) he compofed his book called " Sufpiria Regalia," publiftied foon after his death, and entitled " The King's Portraiture in his Solitudes and Sufferings," which MSS. Mr, Herbert found among thofe The King's Purpuits. 233 books his majefty was pleafed to give him, thofe excepted which he bequeathed to his children ; in regard Mr. Herbert, though he did not fee the king write that book, his majefty being always private when he writ, and thofe his fer- vants never coming into his bedchamber when the king was private until called; yet, com- paring it with his handwriting in other things, found it fo very like, as induces his belief that it was his own handwriting, having feen much of the king's writing before. " In many of his books, he delighted himfelf with the motto, Dum Spiro Spero, which he wrote frequently as the emblem of his hopes, as well as endeavours for a happy agreement with his Parliament. " In one of his books he wrote this diftich : — " Rebus in adverfis facile eft contemnere vitam ; Fortiter ille facit qui mifer eAe poteft." And out of another poet, againft the levelling and anti-monarchic fpirit which predominated at the time — " Fallitur egregio quifquis fub Principe credit Servitum ; nunquam Libertas gratior extat Quam fub Rege pio," Claudian. 234 'The King's Pursuits, with many others which are memorable, and exprefs his delight in learning. For he under- ftood authors in their originals, whether Greek, Latin, French, Spanifh, or Italian, which three laft he fpoke perfedly, and none better read in hiftories of all forts, which rendered him accom- plifhed; and alfo would difcourfe well in arts and sciences ; and indeed, not unfitted for any fubject." It is generally admitted that the underftand- ing of Charles was far from defpicable, much, talent being difplayed in a ponderous volume, entitled BAXIAIKA, the words of King Charles the Martyr, althougb it is doubtful if much that is there rendered adlually proceeded from his pen, a doubt which has given, rife to many eontroverfies, and elicited many learned dif- putations. Whether Charles was adually the author of " Icon Bafilike," is a queftion that has been frequently canvafled, and, as there are pro- babilities on both fides, one difficult to refolve. It is however univerfally allowed, that whether the book was compofed by the king, or by fome other perfon in his name, it evidently con- tains his opinion of things, is well written, and was ferviceable to his memory. The poem here PoeiB of " Majejiy in Misery." 235^ appended, is acknowledged to have been written by Charles, at Carifbrook j and although fome- what long, will not only enable the reader to judge of the poetical talents of the king, but alfo afford a vivid expofition of his feelings at the time this narrative has now reached. It is entitled— " Majesty in Misery : [or an Imploration to the King of Kings, " Great monarch of the world, from whofe power fprings The potency and power of Kings, Record the Royal woe my fufFering lings ; And teach my tongue, that ever did confine Its faculties in truth's feraphic line To track the treafons of thy foes and mine. Nature and law, by thy divine decree (The only' root of righteous Royaltie) With this dim diadem invefted me : With it the facred Sceptre, purple Robe The holy Unftion and the Royal Globe j Yet I am levell'd with the life of Job. The fierceft furies, that do daily tread Upon my grief, my gray difcrowned head. Are thofe that owe my bounty for their bread. They raife a war and chriften it the cause, Whilft sacrilegious hands have beft applaufe, - Plunder and murder are the Kingdom's laws j 236 Poem of" Majejiy in Misery." Tyranny bears the title of taxation. Revenge and robbery are reformation, Oppreffion gains the name of fequeftration. My loyal fubjefts who in this bad feafon Attend me (by the law of God and reafon). They dare impeach and punilh for high treafon. Next at the clergy do their fbries frown. Pious epifcopacy muft go down, They will deftroy the crozier and the crown. Churchmen are chained, and fchifmatics are freed ; Mechanics preach, and holy fathers bleed. The crown is cnicified with the creed. The Church of England doth all faflion fofter, The pulpit is ufurpt by each impoftor. Extempore excludes the patermfter. The Preftyter and Independent feed Springs with broad blades, to make religion bleed Herod and Pontius Pilate are agreed. The corner-ftone's mifplaced by every paviour. With fuch a bloody method and behaviour Their anceftors did crucify our Saviour. My Boyal confort, from whofe fruitful womb So many princes legally have come. Is forced in pilgrimage to feek a tomb. Great Britain's heir is forced into France Whilft on his father's head her foes advance. Poor child! he weeps out his inheritance. With my ovVn power my majefty they wound. In the King's name the King himself 's uncrown'd. So doth the duft deftroy the diamond. With propoCtions daily they enchant My people's ears, fuch as do reafon daunt And the Almighty will not let me grant. Poem of" Majejiy in Misery." 237 They promife to ereft my royal ftem To make me great, t' advance my diadem If I will firft fall down and worfhip them I But for refufal they devour my thrones, Diftrefs my Children and deftroy my bones. I fear they'll force me to make bread of ftones. My life the prize at fuch a {lender rate That in my abfence they draw bills of hate To prove the King a traitor to the ftate. Felons obtain more privilege than I. They are allowed to anfwer ere they die, 'Tis death for me to afk the reafon why. But, facred Saviour, with thy words I woo Thee to forgive, and not be bitter to Such, as thou know'ft do not know what they do. For fince they from their Lord are fo difjointed As to contemn thofe edifis he appointed, How can they prize the power of his anointed ? Augment my patience, nullify my hate, Preferve my iflue, and infpire my mate. Yet though we perilh, blefs the church and ftate." Dr. Burnett ftates, he was enabled to copy the poem from the original; and obferves, " that the mighty fenfe and great piety of it will be found to be beyond all the fineft fublimities of poetry, which yet are not wanting here." * By the teftimony of Sir Philip Warwick, it would appear that even the perfonal attentions * " Memoiis of the Dukes of Hamilton." 238 Domejiic Privations of the King. of Herbert were foon interdicted, as he obfefves : " Being in the room with the king, at Newport, (at the time of the Treaty) he beckoned me, and fhowed me in the ftreet an old little crump- ling man, and afkt me whether I knew him : No, fir, (faid I,) I never faw him before. I fhew him you, (fays he,) becaufe that was the beft companion I had for three months together in Carifbrook Caftle, where he made my fires." The domeftlc privations of Charles were alfo not inconfiderable ; for Warwick likewife re- marks that, "obferving him to drink two parts of water and one of fack, I prefumed to afk how he came to leave French wine. He told me they afforded him not good, and then he thought this the better beverage ; nay, fays he, whilft I have been here among them I have wanted linen, which though I took notice of I never complained." A fact corroborated by Ham- mond himfelf, who, in a letter, dated as early as the 15th of April, draws the attention of the committee to the circumfl:ance. His hair had become grey in the prepon- derance of mental anxiety and deprivation; per- •fonal negleft had deranged his manners, clouded his countenance^ and proved him forrowfully Letter to Captain Titiis. 2339 confcious of the dark prospeift which was rapidly enfuing, when his pitiable condition excited the sympathies of an humble attendant, whofe tafk it was to perform a menial office in his majefty's room, and by her affiftance an intercourfe with Titus and his faithful confidants was again effeded. Number XV. "Saterday, i July 1648. "W. " I have newly receaued yours of the 22 June, for w""" I know not whether my aftonefhment or my joy were the greater; for indeed, I did difpaire of hearing any more from you, or any other of my iFrends, during theafe damnable tymes, without blaming anything but my owen misfortune ; w"'' makes me the more obliged to your kyndnefs and induftry for hauing found meanes to conuey a letter to me : I thank you for your Newes ; w* does much agree with what the Gouernor doth us the fauor to let us know; only we heere doe belive all the Gallant honneft men in Colchefter infallibly loft; though yet they hould out : and we have heard nothing concerning the votes of the Cornon Councell. 240 Letter to Captain Titus. I am glad to hear of the welfaire of Z & L {Worjley and OJborn) for I feared that they had been in fome diforder, to whom I pray you comend me hartely ; as lykewaife to all the reft of my ffrends: and particuly to 715 {Mrs, Wborwood), telling 187 (her) that I hope 24: 62' 186 {/he) knowes before this, how it was not my fait that I did [not] waite upon 187 {her) according to my promife , for which you may afleure 715 {Mrs. Whorwood) that I was and am uery much greeved. " Tuching the writings for O. Rogers, I know not what you meane ; and though I did, at this time, I would not fend you them, being not confident that this will come fafe to you; but how foone I can haue any probable afleurance of a fafe conueance I fhall not fail to fend you what Papers you fliall defy re, as alfo letters to dyuers of my frends, and fo I reft ** Your moft affeured reall frend, "J." 117 : 465: 71 -.78:363:209:349 72: 91 : 31 : 92: 50 : 136 : 96 : 10: 32: 93:51 : 109:377:359:292: 84:33: 136:94:109: 279: 251 : Renewal of Correfpondence. 241 174 : 66 : 44 : 369 : (be content that I Jhall neuer difcouer any thing to prejudife any of my friends' truft.) Comment on feelings fo fenfitively expreffed would be here ufelefs, efpecially as the refult of the other topics alluded to by his majefty has been already detailed; but, with an incident he had rather hoped for than deemed poffible (the unexpeded realization of a contrivance for fecuring intelligence from his friends) his lelf- control partly returned ; the dejedion caufed by his adverfity diminifhed itfelf in the anxious cares which the renewed intercourfe created; and he buoyed himfelf up in the expeftation that a renewed attempt for fuccouring and liberating him would immediately follow. As Charles gradually recovered fome degree of his ufual equanimity, he became enabled to look more fteadily on the pofition in which he now ftood; and hearing that the endeavours of the prefbyterian party in the two Houfes of Parliament were urging the fettlement of a treaty with him, he decided on fending a private communication to the Speakers, foliciting them to ftate their defires, as by fuch a courfe he R 242 Herbert's Narrative. imagined he might fucceed ;in conciliating the opinions of thofe anxious for a compromifej and perhaps facilitate the heceflary preliminaries for the tranfaftion. Mr» Herbert, to whom this defpatch, together with a letter to the Princefs Elizabeth, then at 3t. James' Houfe, Whitehall, was intrufted for delivery, minutely narrates that the wind was not favourable, and he had therefore " much ado to crofs the fea from Cowes to Southampton; but in regard the king had ordered him to make hafte, fo as the letter might be delivered the next day before tiie Houfes rofe, no delay was fufFered." Being landed, he immediately took poft for London. " It may not be forgotten that at one ftage, the poftmafter (a malevolent perfon), having notice that he came from the king, and required extra- ordinary fpeed, mounted him upon a horfe that had neither good eyes nor feet, fo as he ufually ftumbled very much, which with the deep ways and dark nights, in all probability might have abated his fpeed; but through God's goodnefs the horfe, though at his full gallop moil part of that twelve miles riding, neither ftumbled nor fell, which at the next ftage was admired." .iGorreffohdence of Mr. Hopkins. 243 The king's packet was delivered to the Speaker of the Houfe of Lords within the time Hmited, which done,, he waited (by permiflion) upon the Princefs Ehzabeth, who gave him her hand to kifs, being overjoyed with her royal father's kind letter, to which fhe returned anpther by Mr. Herbert, who had the king'is approbation, at his coming to Carifbrook, for his diligence. There were, at that time, living in Newport, two gentlemen, Mr. William Hopkins, mailer of the grammar fchool, and his fon, both ftrongly imbued with a ftrong predileftion for the royal caufe ; and the imprifonment of Rolph, coupled with the frequent abfence of Hammond in other parts of the ifland, having allowed of fome relaxation in the military regulations enforced at the caftle, Mr. Hopkins not only availed him- felf of the aid of the woman already alluded to for carrying on a clofe correfpondence with the king, but in company with Mrs. Whorwood, who had recently come to Newport, procured fome fecret interviews with him. This correspondence was printed by Wag- ftafFe in the laft edition of his " Vindication of the Royal Martyr," and reveals the fadt, in conneftion with other authorities, that with the R 2 244 Exertions of the King's Friends. king's concurrence, an extended confpiracy had been organized in the ifland for the purpofe of difarming the military, and by an arranged ftratagem feizing upon the governor and the caftle, if the Prince of Wales had appeared off the coaft. With the ufual fatality attendant on every incident in the life of the unfortunate monarch, this was not done ; and on fome rumours of the difafFeftion which exifted in the ifland reaching the committee, their exertions foon enabled them to inform Hammond of the medium through which the king's correfpondence, aided by the endeavours of Titus and Bofville, had been re- arranged, and that there was flill a hope of efFefting his efcape by the aid of a " little ancient man, and a lufty ftout young man about 26 or 27 years of age," (probably the two Hop- kins,) the place of landing to be near Gofport. In faft, . his friends were again vigoroufly battling his freedom when the critical event arrived which had been fo long the conftant objed of his wifhes, — the offer of a perfonal treaty ; for, towards the end of July, the Com- mons having yielded to the obflinacy of the Lords, the vote of non-addrefles was repealed, Offer of a Treaty. 245 and there is no doubt but for the intervention of Cromwell's decifive viftories, the ruin of Hamil- ton, and other contingent circumftances which revived the courage and hopes of the Independ- ents, and the fears and mifgivings of the Presbyterians, that Charles would have been brought to London, and there treated with unrefervedly. Information of this important fad was foon tranfmitted to Carifbrook, and on the 5 th of Auguft the king was officially waited on by the Earl of Middlefex, Sir John Hippifley, and John Bulkeley, Efq., who informed him that the Parliament had agreed to a perfonal treaty with him at Newport, in the Ifle of Wight, where he fhould be in the fame ftate and freedom as he was at Hampton Court, but that no per- fons excepted by the Parliament from pardon, under reftraint, in aftual war againft the Parlia- ment, or in fuch numbers as would caufe fufpi- cion, could be fuffered to come into the ifland during his refidence at Newport. That no fhranger or foreigner would be per- mitted to go into his prefence without an order from Parliament, but that if he wifhed any of the Scottilh nation to advife with him, the 246 Repeal of Vote of Nm-Addrejfes. governor would be authorifed to permit their coming. That Colonel Hammond was to provide a ftifficient guard for the fafety of the Ifle of Wight, and to hinder the taking away his perfon from thence. And that they were allotted ten days for their going, ftay, and return. With thefe commiffioners, under the autho- rity of a pafs froim the Houfes of Parliament, came alfo Captain Titus, Uriah Babington, the king's fworn barber, and Sir Peter Killigrew; and, as much of the reftraint which had h&&n impofed upon Charles was removed by the repeal of the vote of non-addrefles, Carifbrook put on a more cheerful appearance than it had exhibited for fome months- Herbert remarks that, on the introduftion of the commiffioners to the king, he in the firft place gave them his hand to kifs, and told them " that their addrefs being in order to peace, doubled their welcome; peace being the thing he eameftly defired:" and then aflured them withal "that if upon the treaty, peace did not enfue, it fhould be no fault of his — he would not be blamed," . Interview with Commijjioners. 247 In the calamitous ftate of the king's affairs, there feemed to be fome hope that, by this pro- pofed treaty, he would be once more reftored to his former condition ; and therefore, after the interchange of fome preliminary correfpondence, on Thurfday, the loth of Auguft, he fignlfied to the commiffioners his acceptance of the Par^ liamentary propofition. The room was full of ladies, and he exprefsly faid that " the laft mef- fage he fent was delivered to the commiffioners fealed, and if it had been fo prefented to the Houfes it would have been better for him; but he now thought fit to fend this open, for he thought he could not be in a worfe condition than he was, being under fuch clofe reftraint, none being fuffered to fpeak a word without fufpicion." On the receipt of this meffage, a vote of the Lords and Commons was immediately paffed, which requefted his majefty to send the names of fuch perfons ''as he fhall conceive to be of neceffary ufe to be about him during this Treaty." " That the Houfes agreed that fuch domeftie fervants (not excepted in the former limitations) as his majefty ftiould appoint^ jvere to be fent to hiih. 248 Charles Relieved from Rejiraint. " And that the time of the commencement of Treaty, was to be within ten days after the king's affent to treat, and to continue forty days;" with fome other refolutions of minor import. As the communications from the Parliament to Hammond had only intimated that the vote of non-addrefles had been repealed, he did not conceive himfelf juftified in permitting the king to leave the bounds of the caftle, until he received an exprefs order from the Houfes to that effeft, as he was detained there under the authority of a fubfequent ordinance. On the 1 5th of September, therefore, to relieve this difficulty, it was refolved that the orders concerning his majefty's reftraint in Carifbrook Caftle fhould be revoked ; and after more than eight months of durance and tribulation, fuch as few kings, and even few men, have expe- rienced, Charles was allowed to quit tlie fortrefs ; although he foon difcovered, that though appa- rently reftored to freedom, fo little reliance was placed on his word, that a troop of horfe was ever hovering about him when he was abroad.* • Aihmole'i MSS. Confirmation of Arrangements. 249 On receiving the king's concurrence to the votes of the Houfes, refolutions were at once propounded and agreed on, confirming the arrangements propofed ; and that " his majefty be defired to pafs his royal word to make his conftant refidence in the Ifle of Wight, from the time of his affenting to treat, until twenty days after the treaty ended, unlefs it be otherwife defired by both Houfes of Parliament. And that Colonel Hammond be authorifed to receive his royal word pafled to the two Houfes of Par- liament, for his refidence in the Ifle of Wight, according as is formerly exprefl*ed." This neceflary precaution having been duly enforced, the inftrufttions iffued to Hammond on the 1 6th November, 1647, were at once recalled, and frefh regulations, founded on the agreement thus perfedted with the king, for- warded to him for his guidance and direc- tion. The names and occupations of perfons whofe prefence was defired by his majefty, are preferved in the Journals of the Houfes of Parliament, and the original lift in the autograph of the king, together with the letter which accom- panied it to the Earl of Manchefter, as Speaker of 250 Attendants on the King. the Houfe of Peers, in the MSS. of the Britifh Museum.* The feleftion was as follows : — Gentlemen of his Bedchamber. — The Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Hertford, the Earl of Lindfay, the Earl of Southampton. Grooms of his Chamber. — George Kirke, James Levington, Henry Murray, Jno. Afhburnhamy William Legg. Barber. — Thos. Davis. Pages of the Backftairs. — Hugh Henn, Hum. Rogers, Willm. Levitt. Teamen of the Robes. . Rives. Equerries. — Sir Ed. Sydenham, Rob. Tirwitt, John Houfdon {yliith /^ or 6 footmen^ as they fhould find fit tefi, to wait). Laundrejs. — Mrs. Wheeler {with such maids as fhe fhall choofe). ■ Groom oftheprefence. — Per/ons to wait as they did, or as his majefiy fhould appoint them. — Sir Foulke Greville, Captn. Titus, Gaptn. Burroughes, Mr. Crefletj — . Hanftead, Ab. Dowcett, — . Fyrebrafle. Chaplains. — Bifliop of London, Bifhop of Salisbury, Dodor Sheldon, Do6tor Hammond, • Additional MSS. 11,251. >• Attendants on the King. 251 Do(5tor Ouldfworthj Dodtor Saunderfon, Dodoi* Turner, Doftor Haywood. Lawyers. — Sir Thos. Gardiner, Sir Or. Bridge- man, Sir Ro. Ofbourne, Mr. Je. Palmer, Mr, The. Cooke, Mr. Jo. Vaughan. Clerks and Writers. — Sir Edward Walker, Mr. Philip Warwick, Jno. Oudart, Chas, Whi- taker. To make ready the Houfe for treaty. — Peter Newton and Clem. Kennerfley. Advocates.' — Dr, Duck, — . Rives (in an after communication^. The Parliament confented to the attendance of all thefe perfons with the exception of " Dow- cett, who was alleged to be under reftraint; Dr. Sheldon, Dr. Hammond, and Dr. Holdf^ worth, who were likewife under reftraint; and Mr. John Aftiburnham, and Col. Legg, the firft of whom was an exception from patdon^ and Col. Legg being under reftraint." The friends and attendants of the king were, therefore, not long before they once more re- joined their old mafter ; " all haftened and took their places in the fmall houfe at Newport, and the delufive fcenery of a court on a fudde^l feemed to have crowded round the lone man as 252 Appearance of the King * in a pleafant dream ;" but, remarks Hume, " a great and fenfible alteration was remarked in his afpeft, from what it appeared the year before, when he refided at Hampton Court; as, from the moment his fervants had been removed, he had laid afide all care of his perfon, had allowed his hair and beard to grow, and to hang diflievelled and negledbed — his hair was become almoft entirely grey, either from the decline of years, or from that load of forrows under which he laboured ; and which, though borne with con- ftancy, preyed inwardly on his fenfible and tender mind :" a change beheld with compaflion by his friends, and perhaps even by his enemies. Firebrace writes, " When the treaty was voted, amongft thofe his majefty named to attend him I had the honour to be one ; of which he was pleafed to give me notice, by a letter, and com- manded me to make hafte to him. I no fooner arrived, than his majefty told me I fliould attend him as I did before, which was page of the bed- chamber and clerk of the kitchen ; for that there muft be feveral diets at the treaty, and he would have me undertake it, in order to fomething better he intended for me. "I defired to be excufed, as not at all under^ Expenfes of the Treaty. 253 ftanding the employment. He was pleafed to tell me he would inftruft me (which in earned he did). Within two or three days, I heard that a gentleman, one of his majefty's clerks of the kitchen, was come to Newport, in expectation to wait in his employment, and then I defired his majefty that he might wait accordingly, I being unlkilful. He was pleafed to tell me again I ihould undertake it, and that that gentleman fhould wait as comptroller, as accordingly he did." The eftimated expenfes of this Treaty amounted to the fum of 10,000/., lent for that purpofe by the City of London, of which 6oco/. were on the ijth of September ordered to be paid for the king's charges, together with 500/. to Sir Edward Sydenham, Captain Titus, and Mr, Tirwhit, to provide coaches and horfes, footmen's liveries, ftable requifites, &c., for his majefty's ufe ; and the court being thus fettled in the houfe of Mr. Hopkins,* the Free Gram- mar School of Newport, which had been feledted by his majefty, preparations were at once made in the town-hall for conduding the Treaty, * Mr. Hopkins was, at this time, knighted by the king, for. his fervices. 254 Parliamehtarian CommiJJioners. and at the Bull Inn,* for the reception of the ycommiffioners, appointed by the Parliament to -meet the king on their behalf, Thefe commiflioners were fifteen in number : the Earl of Northumberland, the Earl of Pem- broke, the Earl of Middlefex, the Earl of Salifbury, and the Lord Vifcounts Say and Seale on the part of the Lords : and Thomas Lord Wainman, Mr. Denzill HoUis, Mr. Wil- liam Pierrepont, Sir Henry Vane, Jun., Sir Harbottle Grimfton, Sir John Potts, Mr. John Crew, Mr. Saml. Browne, Mr. John Glynn, recorder of London, and Mr. John Bulkeley, members of the Houfe of Commons ; men per- mitted to argue, to advife, to entreat, but having no power given them to concede, as their in- ftrudions bound them to infift on the king's aflent to every propofition which had been fubmitted to his confideration at Hampton Court. Burnett ftates "that Vane, Pierrepont, and others, went to the treaty on purpofe to delay matters till the army could be brought up to * This fign was afterwards replaced by that of the Bugle, although the Bull is ftill ufed as the cognifance of the inn, on vehicles belonging to it. Pu'rpofe of Vane and Others. 255 London ; and all that wijftied well to the treaty, prayed the king at their firft coming to dif- patch the bufinefs with all poffible hafte, and to grant the firft day all that he could bring him- felf to grant on the laft ; Hollis and Grimfton telling him (Burnett), they had both on their knees begged this of the king. They faid, they knew Vane would ftudy to draw out the treaty to a great length; and he who declared for an unbounded liberty of confcience, would try to gain on the king's party, by the offer of a tole- ration for the common prayer and the epifcopal clergy. His defign in that, was to gain time till Cromwell fhould fettle Scotland and return from the north. But they faid, if the king would frankly come in without the formality of papers backward and forward, and fend them back next day with the conceffions which were abfolutely neceflary, they did not doubt but that, in a few days, he fhould be brought up with honour, freedom, and fafety to the Parlia- ment, and that matters fhould be brought to a prefent fettlement. Titus, who was then much trufted by the king, and employed in a nego- ciation with the Prefbyterian party, told me he had fpoken often and earneftly with him in 256 Day of Public Humiliation. the fame ftrain, but the king would not come to a refolution ; and he ftill fancied that in the ftruggle between the Houfe of Commons and the army, both faw they needed him fo much to give them the fuperior ftrength, that he ima- gined by balancing them, he would bring both fides into a greater dependence on himfelf, and force them to better terms. In this Vane flat'- tered the epifcopal party to the king's ruin, as well as their own. But they ftill hated the Prefbyterians as the firft authors of the war, and seemed unwilling to think well of them, or to be beholden to them. Thus the treaty went on with a fatal flownefs ; and by the time it was come to maturity, Cromwell came up with his army and overturned all." Tuefday, the 12th of September, was ap^ pointed as a day of public humiliation " by the members of both Houfes, and in all the churches and chapels within the lines of communication and weekly bills of mortality, to feek God earneftly for a blefling upon the Treaty of New-» port;" and on the 15th of the fame month the commiflioners, after being entertained by the authorities at Southampton, crofted to Cowes, where, on their arrival about two o'clock, they Reception of the Commijjioners. z^j were received by Colonel Hammond, and with " feveral voUies ofihot." The fucceeding day, Saturday, was likewife obferved by the king as a faft; and, after the morning fervice, the commiflioners were ad- mitted to an audience, and permitted to kifs his hand. On the announcement of their mif- fion, Charles feelingly faid, " My Lords and Gentlemen, " I am glad that you are come to treat with me for the fettling of my poor bleeding kingdom in peace. I pray God to perfe<5t' this blefled work, which I fhall on my part labour for, and I hope my Parliament and you will do the like. As for me, I fliall not feek revenge againft any, nor give occafion of delays, defiring that there may be no procraftination of time, but there being now only the broken piece of a day, and that the laft day of the week too, I defire that the treaty may not begin now, but that we may meet by 9 o'clock on Monday morn, and from thence the treaty to commence. And I pray God to give a bleffing upon our meetings, that there may be no more blood fpilt in this kingdom." s 258 Commencement of the Treaty. From this time the Lords and Commons waited on the king with great outward fliow of duty and refpeft; and, obferves Clarendon, " though none of them durft adventure to fee the king in private, they communicated freely with fome of thofe lords and others who, with the Parliament's leave, were come to attend the king during the time of the treaty ; and fo they found means to advertife his majefty of many particulars, which they thought it neceflary for him to know, which made impreffion on him, as the information proceeded from perfons better or worfe affedled to him." On Monday, the and Odlober, 1648, this memorable treaty commenced in the (old) town-hall of Newport, then recently erefted. The commiflioners aflembled in a room appointed to their ufe at 9 o'clock in the morn- ing, and after hearing prayers from Mr. Vines, one of their chaplains, fertt an intimation to the king " that they were ready to wait upon him at the treaty." His majefty proceeded "from Mr. Hopkins' houfe to the treaty-chamber in ftate, in his coach, with the lords and others in attendance on him, his coachman and footman having new fuits with broad plate filver lace. Arrangements at the Treaty Houfe. 259 two in a feam," and, being featedj the com- miffioners entered bare-headed. The king then arofe, and, taking oS his hat, defired them to be placed at the table, when they prefented their credentials, which authorifed them to treat with him perfonally upon the propofitions for- merly offered at Hampton Court ; and, as the king had frequently demanded a perfonal treaty, the commiffioners decided that it fliould be ftridtly fo, not admitting either peer or doctor to enter into the debates. " Charles was there- fore compelled to encounter fingly a hoft of fubtle diplomacy, and, what was worfe, another of the rabbins of the aflembly of divines." The arrangements were in this wife : — Under a canopy of ftate, afcended by fteps, was feated the king, whilft the commiffioners were arrayed at fome diftance on either fide of a long table ; and immediately behind the king's chair flood the lords in waiting and his chaplains, together with Sir P. Warwick, Mr. Oudart, Sir Edward Walker, and others. When his majefly defired to put a queflion, or his friends wifhed to offer a fuggeflion, he retired into a private apartment; and it fome- times happened, as Sir Philip Warwick, one of s 2 26o Procedure of the Treaty. his fecretaries, relates, " that fome of his penmen who flood at his chair prayed from the lords to do fo, but more liberty than this the attend- ants were not allowed. And I remember on one day he overdid himfelf, and it was upon the great article, whether he or the Parliament began the war, and, in effeft, at whofe dbor the blood Ihould lie ? The king would have extin- guifhed the whole difcourfe by ads of oblivion to both fides, or by taking an equal fliare, viz., by expreffing that jealoufies had abruptly and unfortunately caft them both into this engage- ment, and by adts of indemnity would have fecured all ; but where moft guilt was, there was moft difficulty to fatisfy ; and by no means would they waive an explanation of this article. The king retiring, I took the confidence to ftep to my lord of Northumberland, and fay to him, ' My good lord, remember how gracious this good prince hath been to you, and do you com- paffionate his diftrefles and the ftrait he is now in ;' and he civilly but pofitively replied, ' Sir, in this it is impoffible for me to do anything ; for the king in this point is fafe, as king : but we cannot be fo.' Two replies which the king made to two gentlemen that day were obferv- able — the one to a gentleman who is now a lord. . Procedure of the Treaty. 261 who prefled fomewhat upon him hardly: 'A good naturcj fir (faid he), would not offer this you fay, nor is it true logic ;' and then made another kind of ingenious reply unto Mr. Buckley (who was a gentleman of that ifland, and now a commiflioner, when he prayed the king to make a right ufe of this treaty, having promifed him, that if a treaty could be procured for him, the malice of the devil fhould not be able to break it) : ' Confider (fays he), Mr. Buck- ley, if you call this a treaty, whether it be not like the fray in the comedy, where the man comes out and fays there has been a fray and no fray, and being aflced how that could be, why, (fays he) here hath been three blows given and I had them all. Look, therefore, whether this be not a parallel cafe. Obferve whether I have not granted abfolutely moft of your propositions, and with great moderation limited only fome few of them; nay, confider whether you have made me any one conceflion, and whether, at this prefent moment, you have not confeft to me, that though upon any propofition you were all concurrently fatisfied, yet till you had remit- ted them up to your fuperiors, you had not the authority to concur with me in any one thing.'" 262 Mental "Powers of the King. The mental powers which the king difplayed in this treaty aftonifhed the commiffioners, " The king is wonderfully improved," faid Lord Salifbury to Sir P. Warwick. " No, my lord, it is your lordftiip who has too late difcerned what he always was," was the reply. Sir Henry Vane alfo told Sir Edward Walker that they had been much deceived in the charadler of the king, whom they had confidered a weak man ; " but now," fays he, " that we find him to be a perfon of great parts of abilities, we muft the more confider our own fecurity, for he is only the more dangerous." It has been already remarked that the com- miffioners had no power to fettle any point, and that all the king's objeftions and propofals were therefore transmitted to London, a procedure which caufed confiderable delay. Charles him- felf was alfo unfortunately too fond of difcuffion, in which he knew he excelled, fo that matters were protraded even beyond the time originally allotted. The treaty was extended twenty addi- tional days, and both the majority of the com- miffioners and his friends were urgent with him to concede all that was required in order to fave himfelf from the army, to whofe ulterior defigns Conclujion of the Treaty. 263 no one at this time could be blind. On the 27 th of November thefe remonftrances prevailed, and his firmnefs gave way. He eonfented to the demands he had hitherto ftedfaftly refufed to acknowledge ; — the abandonment of his friends, provided they were allowed the benefit of the ancient laws ; the fufpenfion of the funftions of the bifhops ; and the invefting their lands in the crown until religion fhould be fettled by the king and Parliament. This arrangement having been concluded, the commiffioners the next morning took their leave ; and Charles, it is faid,* addrefled them on parting, in thefe words : — " My lords, I believe we fhall fcarce ever fee each other again. But God's will be done ! I have made my peace with him, and fhall undergo, without fear, what- ever he may fuffer men to do unto me. My lords, you cannot but know that in my fall and ruin you fee your own, and that alfo near you. I pray God fend you better friends than I have found. I am fully informed of the carriage of them that plot againft me and mine; but nothing affedls me fo much as the feeling I have of the fufFerings of my fubjeds, and the • Evelyn's " Memoirs." 264 Records of the Treaty. mifchief that hangs over my three kingdoms, drawn upon them by thofe who, upon pretence of good, violently purfue their own interefts and ends." Dr. Lingard obferves, that the beft account of this treaty is that compofed by order of the king * himfelf, for the ufe of the Prince of Wales; but it is queftionable if it was not the produftion of his own pen, for, as has been urged, with much juftice, who could infufe the paternal feeling and the deep perfonal emotion therein contained, but Charles himfelf? In Peck's " Defiderata," there is alfo pub- lifhed a diary of each day's occurrences during this remarkable controverfy, drawn up by Mr. Oudart; but as the fubjefts which are involved in the articles have little intereft for the prefent generation, and as the endeavour of this nar- rative is rather to relate the pafling incidents Attendant on its procedure, than dilate on the fubjedl-matter of the treaty itfelf, it is believed the following abftrad of the demands and con- ceflions, as prepared by Mr. Oudart,f will * See Clarendon's " State Papers," vol. ii. f "Nicholas Oudart was born at Mechlin, in Brabant, and brought from beyond the feas by Sir Henry Wotton. who trufted Articles of the Treaty. 265 fvilly fuffice to fatisfy the reader; the fources already mentioned being eafily available for more extended illuftration of this extraordinary conference. Abstract of the propofition or demands of the Two Houfes, and his majefty's conceffions, at the Treaty, held at Newport, in the Ifle of Wight, 1648. I. An Adh for the repeal and nulling of all his majefty's oaths, declarations, proclamations, &c., with a preface about the legality of the war on the Parliament's fide. him with his domeftic affairs. He afterwards went with Sir William Bofwell, as his fecretary, when appointed ambaffador to the States in 164.0, and there ftudied medicine, of which faculty he was created a Bachelor at Oxford, in January 164.2, about which time he became fecretary to Sir Edward Nicholas, one of the fecretaries of eftate there (then compounding for its delin- quency), and afterwards attended King Charles at Hampton Court, and at the treaty in the Ifle of Wight. After the execu- tion of the king, Mr. Oudart lived in obfcurity for fome time, but at length became fecretary to the Princefs of Orange, and one of her executors, flie giving him a high charafter in her will. He was afterwards Latin fecretary to William, Prince of Orange, and one of his council, he being mentioned as fuch in 1659, and then held the fame appointment in the court of Charles the Second, dying in Little Dean's Yard, Weftminfter, about Chriftmas 1708."— Note in Peck's " Defiderata." 266 Articles of the Treaty. Granted, as defired, after a provifo made on both fidesj that nothing agreed in this Treaty fliould be binding, in cafe the fame break ofF. 2. That the king take and enjoin the Cove- nant. The Covenant, in fine, was not infilled upon. 3. An Aft for abolifhing archbifliops, bifliops, deans, chapters, &c. Granted, fo that epifcopacy only accord- ing to Scripture be preferved. Yet the biftiops to be fufpended till the king and both Houfes (after conference with the afTembly of divines, to which 20 to be added of the king's appointment) fhould agree. The pref- byterian government to be eftablifiied in the interim. 4. An Ad: to confirm the ordinances for the calling and fitting of the afl"embly of divines. Granted, with the proviso for the 20 afore- faid to be added by his majefl:y. 5. An A6t for reformation of religion accord- ing to the Covenant, as the Two Houfes have or fhall agree. Granted, as inviolable in the premifes. Articles of the Treaty. 267 6. An A(5t to take away the Book of Common Prayer, and to make the ordinances about Adls. Granted, as far as neceflary, till the agree- ment. 7. An A(5t for fettling the diredlory. Granted, as defired. 8. The Short Catechifm to be approved. Granted, as defired. 9. An Ad to abjure popery. Granted, as defired, 10. An A6t for the education of papifts' children. Granted, as defired. 1 1 . An A6t to levy penalties on papifts. Granted, as defired. 12. An Adt againft the growth of popery and hearing mafs. Granted, as defired. 13. An A&. for the obfervation of the Lord's day. Granted, as defired. 14. An Adl for the fupprefllon of inno- vations. Granted, as defired. 1 5 . An A6t for the advancement of preaching. Granted, as defired. 268 Articles of the Treaty. 1 6. An Ad againft pluralities and non- refidence. Granted, as defired. 17. An Ad: for reforming and regulating the univerfities. Granted, as defired. 1 8. An Ad or Ads to empower the Parlia- ment to raife money to pay public debts and for other public ufes, as the Parliament fhall agree, with a claufe, if the king confent not, yet the Ad to bind all the fubjeds. Granted, as defired, for two years to come. 19. An Ad for the Militia to be difpofed by both Houfes, both by fea and land, for 20 years, with feveral powers to levy men and monies. Granted, as defired, for 20 years. 20. An Ad to empower both Houfes to nominate all the great officers, counfellors, judges, &c., in England and Wales, for 20 years. Granted, as defired, for 20 years. 21. An Ad for nulling and disabling peers to fit in Parliament, who had been created fince May, 1642. Granted, as defired. Articles of the Treaty. 26g 22. An Adt about delinquents in feveral branches. All fubmitted to compofition as they could agree, but mitigation defired. His majefty's adherents not to bear office — fome reftrained from court and the Parliament, and others left to the known laws. The king's clergy to have the thirds; where difpofleffed to be reftored to the livings when not pofTeffed by others, and the fcandalous left to cen- fure. 23. An Adt for dating public debts and the difcovery of delinquents' eftates. Granted, as defired. 24. An Adt to render void the ceflation of Ireland, and to fettle the management of that war in both Houfes, with feveral branches. Granted, as defired, and the management for 20 years. 25. An A& fettling religion there according to the Covenant. Granted, as in England. 26. An Adt nominating the chief officers there without limitation of time. Granted for 20 years. 27. An Adt for the Militia of London to 270 Articles of the Treaty. be in the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council. Granted, as defired. 28. An A(5t that the citizens be not drawn out of the city but by their own confent. Granted, as defired. 29. An Ad: for the grant and confirmation of the charter and privileges of the City of London. Granted, as defired. 30. That the Laws made and to be made by the Common Council be to them as Ads of Parliament. Granted, as defired. 3 1 . That all propofitions which fliall be made for London by both Houfes be pafled into Ads. Granted, as defired. 32. An Ad to authorife all Ads pafled under the great feal made by the Two Houfes; and all done by any other fince May 1642, to be vacated. Granted, as defired. 22- An Ad for annulling all grants by the great feal of Ireland fince 1643. Gfanted, as in England. Articles of the Treaty. 2ji 34. An Adl that the two ordinances of the Two Houfes, for the abolition of epifcopacy and for the fale of church lands, be made Ads of Parliament. Refpited; becaufe the firft is included in the grant for taking all the hierarchy but bifliops, ordy ; and the other anfwered in that in which his majefty offereth the church lands to be fettled in the crown in truft for the clergy, charged wiith leafes for ninety-nine years to fatisfy purchafers; referring a rent for the livelihood of fuch to whom the fame appertained. 2$. An Aft for taking away the Court of Wards. Granted, as defired, fo as 100,000/. per annum be anfwered to the crown in lieu of it. (^Additional propojitions after the 40 days.) 26. That new delinquents upon the fecond war fhall pay one year's value more. All left to compound as they, can, but moderation defired. 37. That agreements made and to be made with the Scots, be confirmed by Ad of Parlia- ment. 272 Articles of the Treaty. Granted for all paft, and his majefty will be willing to join with both Houfes for the future, for fecuring the nations mutually. 38. That my Lord "of Ormond be difavowed and recalled. Granted, if the treaty conclude well, and the marquis fhould not then defert. Mean- time, a letter to be fent to him from his majefty to ceafe, becaufe a treaty is hopefully begun, and claufes in it about leaving that war to both Houfes. The king's proportions were four : — 1. For his revenues, lands, and houfes to be returned. 2. A compenfation to be given him and his fucceflbrs for what he is now to part with. 3. That he be fettled in a condition of honour, freedom, and fafety. 4. That an A.&. of oblivion be pafled, including all perfons. All four granted by both Houfes with fome limitations. CHAPTER VII. Deportment of the King during the Treaty — Overtures to Ham- mond by the Army, and his Recall to Windfor — Seizure of the King by the Anny at Newport, and his Removal to Hurft Caftle, T7OR fixty-and-one days Charles continued to ■^ date his correfpondence from " Our Court at Newport;" and it would certainly feem that Newport muft have been fuddenly endowed with the power of elafticity, in order to receive and accommodate the number of perfons this event- ful procedure had there congregated together. Years upon years have pafled fince then, but never again has Newport or any other town pre- fented fo Angular a tranfition from tranquillity and retirement to a fcene fo ftriking in the ex- treme. The ftaid inhabitant agape with wonder- T 274 Appearance of Newport. ing inquirement — the ancient pikeman and muflceteer with his coil of match flowly fmoul- dering — the republican high-crowned hat, and the more gaudy coftume of the cavaliers and others in attendance on the king ; — foremoft among them being recognized " Monfieur Circourt, refident in England for the Duke of Gilderlandj" James Stuart, Duke of Richmond, and his fon Efme Stuart, with his love-locks and plumed hat — the coming and going of Par- liamentary polls — and the conftant arrival of perfonages favoured with pafles by the Houfes. All thefe were prominent objefts during the time the negociation was allowed to proceed; whilft the ftate routine accompanying the paflage of the king to and from the treaty-houfe was daily enaded ; and as fome little relaxation, the Commiflioners oftentimes vifited the governor at Carifbrook, " where they went to the bowl- ing-alley, after being received with great affec- tion and love by the foldiers, and 20 fhot made from the great ordnance to give them a falute." Amidft fo difunited an aflemblage, there was alfo neceflarily a great variety of opinion; and on many occafions the diflenfions caufed by party-difputes were quelled with difficulty. Affray at the George Tavern. I'j^ A houfe of entertainment in Newport, called the George Tavern,* was the place of aflemblage for the royalifts; and among other difturbances which are noticed as occurring in this " hoftelrie," it is ftated, that on the night of the nth of Odober, " divers of the royal party aflembled here, and began to drink their fovereign's health right luftily; but upon a conference refpefting the king's conceflion to the Bill for the abolition of the archbifhops, &c., they refblved againft it, and made great proteftations to avenge their quarrel upon fome of the oppo- fite party. In a fhort time their difputation be- came fo noify, that four files of mulketeers were fent to apprehend and bring them before the governor ; but upon this endeavour, the royalifts drew their fwords, and difcharged their pocket- piftols, and fo bloody a conflidl began to enfue, each party refufing to give way, that a reinforce- ment of foldiers was fent for, who, under Enfign Smith, ultimately fecured the whole of the company, with the lofs of two royalifts and three foldiers killed in the affray." * The George was on the fouth fide of the High Street, where the (hops of Meffrs. Wavell (chemift), Cowdery (grocer), and Gubbins (ftationer), now are, T 2 276 Injincerity of the King. Whilft the negotiation lafted, it was believed the king might eafily have made his efcape; and the charge of infincerity, which has been often- times urged as prompting him to accede to this treaty, becomes painfully obfervable in the letters to Captain Titus. More than once he expreffes himfelf: "if the Parliament offer a treaty, I fhall make ufe of it only to my efcape." But to this determination a ferious impediment was raifed up by the engagement of his royal word that he would not depart out of the ifland during the conference, nor in three weeks after, although it is recorded that on one occafion he confidered himfelf releafed from it by mifcondud: on the part of Hammond, who, on the 4th of No- vember, became aware of that perfuafion, and with confiderable difficulty prevailed on him to renew the pledge ; and after the renewal, it has been incorredtly faid that he refufed to efcape, even when every facility was offered him. The exad time of this releafe is particularly recognifable by the tone of his anxious correfpon- dence with Mr. Hopkins; for in a letter written on the night of Saturday, October 7th, he fays : — "Though I doubt not of your care in expediting that bufinefs whereof I fpoke to you this morn- Letters to Mr. Hopkins. 277 ing, yet I cannot but tell you that you cannot make ready too foon ; for by what I have heard fince I faw you, I find that a few days will make that impoffible which is now feafible. Wherefore I pray you give me an account as foon as you can, firft where I ftiall take boat ? fpare not my walking in refpeft of fecurity. Then how the tide falls out ? or whether In cafe the wind do ferve, it be neceflary to look to the tides ? What winds are fair ? what may ferve ? and what contrary ? Confider alfo if a pafs from 50 (^Hammond), may not be ufeful ? Laftly, how foon all will be ready, and what the impe- diments are which refts ? I fhall order the time of night as you fhall judge moft convenient." The fame point is alfo touched on in his letters of the fucceeding days, Sunday and Mon- day ; and in that of Sunday he adds this expref- five remark, "I am fo careful to keep this bufinefs fecret, that 1 refolve to acquaint no man with it, but at the inftant when I am to aft." On Monday he wrote thus: "I pray you rightly to underftand my condition, which, I con- fefs, yefternight I did not fully enough explain, through want of time. It is this : notwithftand- ing my too great conceflions already made, I 278 Letters to Mr, Hopkins. know that unlefs I fhall make yet others, which will diredly make me no king, I fhall be at befl: but a perpetual prifoner, Befides, if this were not, of which I am too fure, the adhering to the church, from which I cannot depart, no, not in fhow, will do the fame. And to deal freely with you, the great conceflion I made this day (the church, militia, and Ireland), was made merely in order to my efcape, of which, if I had not hope, I would not have done ; for then I could have returned to my ftrait prifon without reluftancy. But now, I confefs, it would break my heart, having done that which only an efcape can juftify. To be fhort, if I ftay for a demonftration of their farther wickednefs, it will be too late to feek a remedy ; for my only hope is, that now they believe I dare deny them nothing, and fo be lefs careful of their guards. Wherefore, as you love my fafety, let us def- ■patch their bufinefs as foon as we can, without expedting news from London; and let me tell you, that if I were once abroad and under fail, I would willingly enough hazard the three pin- naces. To conclude, I pray you believe me (and not the common voice of mankind), that I am loft if I do not efcape, which I ftiall not be Letters to Mr. Hopkins. 279 able to do, if, as I have faid, I ftay for farther demonftrations. Therefore, for God's fake, haften with what diligence you can, and give a daily account to 39 (^the king)." On Tuefday, Odober 10, his majefty fays: ''What I wrote yefternight was not to add fpurs, but really to give you the true ftate of my con- dition ; and as I have freely trufted you with the greateft fecret I have, in regard to your fidelity, for the feafibility I j[hall trufl: to your judgment. It were a wrong to my confidence and your diligence, more to exhort you. Where- fore this is only to tell you that I find it necef- fary to acquaint this bearer, my oldeft and moft trufty fervant, with this great fecret, both to eafe my pains of writing, and the better adjuft- ing of all particulars, and fo I refer you to what he fhall fay to you from 29 {t^i king) ;" adding in a poftfcript, "the procuring of a Dutch pink would make all fure." Another letter, dated "Thurfday night, 9th November, after fupper," contains this paflage ; " I fhould be very forry that your expofing yourfelf to the eaftern wind fhould do you any harm ; but it will make me the more beholden to you, nor fhall I ever forget your daily pains 28o Letters to Mr. Hopkins. and hazards for jny fervice. In the meantime, I hope that the wind, which probably may bring me good luck, will do you no harm. At this time I will fay no more ; but if the fhip come, I like that way beft ; yet if fhe come not quickly, I muft take fome other way, for I daily find more and more reafon to haften ; and even fince fupper I have it from fure intelligence, that the bufinefs in Ireland will break all, wherefore I muft ftay no longer than towards the end of next week, if fo long, fo that you muft adt accordingly; and upon Levet's return, which I hope will be Saturday, I muft fet a day." And in the next letter, dated Sunday, No- vember 1 2th, the king tells the fame correfpon- dent, whom he ftyles 48 : " That you may give me the fuller account to-morrow night, I defire you to inform yourfelf of the tides, and alfo of the horfe guards, both how they are placed, and what rounds they ride. This is all now; but when you come I will propofe fome con- fiderations unto you how to prevent accidents." Among thefe letters there is alfo found one with the fignature " Hellen," to Sir W, Hop- kins, but evidently deciphered by the king him- felf. It was dated in Odtober, and contains the Appreh'enjions of the King. 281 following remarkable paflages : " There is a notable defign, to which are agreed the army and Parliament; and by concurring counfels, to which end an exprefs is fent to Cromwell to dif- pofe of his majefty. " Many here wifh (for his friends in the city are numerous), that the king would thoroughly concede, to prevent dangers incumbing. But, I fear, if good be not intended him, no conde- fcenfion of his can avert it. If then he will betake him to his efcape, let him do it on Thurfday or Friday next, but by all means out of fome door, and not from the houfe-top by means of ladders. For I have heard too much of that way talked of by fome near him. Farther I defire none may be trufted herewith but your fon and Levet." It has been feen, from the king's own words, in his parting addrefs to the commiffioners, that he had then apprehenfions for his life ; and it is ftill more apparent by thefe extrads, that of late his hopes had fucceffively vanifhed, until the convidtion was ftrongly felt that the refult of this trying treaty afforded no promife, even by ample conceffions, and a furrender of his rights^ of either a reftoration of his liberty, or reconci- liation with his opponents. 282 Condition of the King. His fituation at this moment was alarmingly critical; and it can therefore fcarcely create wonderment, that under fuch circumftances, he fought to efcape, or that his parole was feem- ingly no objedlion to the attempt. He knew that befides the Parliament there was the army, which had both the will and the power to fet afide any agreement which might be made between him and the two Houfes, and hence arofe his convidtion that " the treaty would come to notliing ;" whilft added to this, was his acquaintance, fince his releafe, with all that paffed in the private councils of his enemies — their determination to bring him to trial and the fcafFold — and the intimation he had received of an intention to aflaffmate him during the treaty. With all thefe thoughts in his mind, how pitiable was the condition of Charles at Newport. His labours were intenfe, and morning, noon, and night, brought neither ceflation of mental fatigue nor modification of his calamitous diftrefles, Defcribing the king's avocations at this time, a cotemporary authority writes : " on that day (Sept. 26) his majefty had confultation with the bifhop of London and the reft of the dodtors with him, about the bill for church government, prefented to him the night before. At dinner Labours of the King. 283 and fupper the bifliops faid grace, and waited upon his majefty (as they do every day), and after dinner his majefty had again confultation with them and the doftors upon the bill aforefaid. "His majefty in conference with them had pen, ink, and paper, and took divers notes for his private ufe afterwards, and after fupper was clofe writing in his privy chamber, " Wednefday, Sept. 27, was the faft-day ; his majefty had common prayer read that morning, and a fermon in the prefence-chamber, and the additional prayer* concerning the treaty was alfo read, and a pfalm fung for peace. * In addition to the ufual Liturgy, the following prayer, " drawn by his majefty's fpecial direftion and dictates for a blefllng on the Treaty at Newport," was ufed on all occafions of Divine Service : — " O moft merciful Father, Lord God of Peace and Truth, we, a people forely afilifted by the fcourge of an unnatural war, do earneftly befeech thee to command a bleffing from Heaven upon this prefent Treaty, begun for the eftabliftiment of a happy peace ; soften the moft obdurate hearts with a true Chriftian defire of faving thofe men's blood for whom Chrift himfelf hath fhed his : or if the guilt of our great fins caufe this Treaty to break off in vain. Lord, let the truth clearly appear who thofe men are which under pretence of the public good do purfue their own private ends ; that this people may be no longer fo blindly miferable as not to fee at leaft in this their day the things that belong unto their peace. " Grant this, gracious God, for His fake, who is our peace itfelf, even Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen." 284 Labours of the King. " After fermon his majefty had again further conference with the bifliops, doftors, and the lords then alfo in prefence who have leave from the Parliament to attend his majefty ; and they were very clofe in argument about the Bill for church government. "And after fupper his majefty withdrew to prepare a paper to be prefented to the Parlia- ment commiffioners the next day. But befides the difpute about this bufinefs of church govern- ment, the king had confultation with the lords, and alfo with the lawyers and others about him, concerning the reft of the propofitions."* Sir Philip Warwick alfo remarks that " every night when the king was alone about eight o'clock, except when he was writing his own private letters, he commanded me to come to him, and he lookt over the notes of that day's * " His majefty not long fince being prefent at the treaty, one of his late fervants that did attend him in his chamber, did fecretly break open his cabinet, in hope to difcover fomething by which he might both fatisfy his curiofity and advantage it j but the event not anfwering his expeftations he fuddenly clapt it together again. His majefty being returned, the diforders of the papers did confefs that his cabinet had been opened and exa- mined, at which his difcretion would take no notice, but being as full of forgivenefs as of candour, he took his pen and wrote this diftich readily on his cabinet : " A Pick-thanke and a Pick-locke, both are bafely evil. The difference is, this trots, that ambles to the devill." RecolleSiions of Sir P. Warwick. 285 treaty, and the reafons upon which it moved^ and fo didtated the heads of a difpatch, which from time to time he made concerning this treaty unto his prefent majefty, then prince :* and thisj Mr. Oudartj whofe hand his majefty ufed in thofe difpatches, tranfcribed. And I had my own papers when the king came over, but lent them unto fome hand that never reftored them to me, which hath lamed me much about this treaty. Some things I remember I faid which fhowed thofe eminent chriftian virtues in him which were rarely to be found among any fort of men — fcarce ever among princes. For about the latter end of the Treaty, finding it was like to be inefFedual, ' I wiih (fays he) I had confulted nobody but my own felf, for then where in honour or confcience I could not have complied, I could have early been pofitive. For, with Job, I would willingly have rather chofen mifery than fin.' " I never faw him flied tears but once, and he turned his head prefently away ; for he was then didtating to me fomewhat in a window, and he. was loth to be difcerned ; and the lords and gentlemen were then in the room, though * Several of thefe letters are among the MSS, preferved in the Britifti Mufeum. 286 RecolleSlions of Sir P. Warwick. his back was towards them — but I can fafely take my oath they were the biggeft drops that I ever faw fall from an eye — ^but he recoUedted himfelf, and foon ftifled them. " When he was preft by the Parliament minifters to give way for a fmall Catechifm for Children, * I will not (fays he) take upon me to determine all thefe texts you quote are rightly applied, and have their true fenfe given them ; and I aflure you, gentlemen, I would licenfe a catechifm at a venture fooner for men than I would for children, becaufe they can judge for themfelves : and I make great confcience to permit that children fliould be corrupted in their firft principles.' " And this was fpoken unto Stephen Marfliall, of whom I know by a gentleman that was in the fociety of the Parliament commiffioners, that he was a bloody man in thofe extemporary prayers, which in his courfe he then made unto the commijflioners (and his fermons fhow how far he was from a Chriftian fpirit), for that gen- tleman told me that there was a great diiference of fpirit betwixt thofe prayers which Vines, and thofe that Marfliall made. " I remember one evening, when I waited on RecolleSiions of Sir P. Warwick. 287 the king with the notes that paffed that day (and then fometimes he would eafe himfelf by fome difcourfe on the bye), his majefty told me that he fhould be like a captain that had defended a place well, and his fuperiors not being able to relieve him, he had leave to furrender it ; but (he replied), ' though they cannot relieve me in the time I demand it, let them relieve me when they can: elfe I will hold it out till 1 make fome ftone in this building my tombftone, and fo I will do (fays he), by the Church of England.' " Another time, talking of the unreafonable- nefs of the two Houfes' propofitions about the civil government : * Well (fays he), they will afk fo much, and ufe it fo ill, that the people of England will be one day glad to relodge the power they had taken from the Crown, where it is due, and I have offended againft them more in the things I have granted them, than in any- thing I ever defigned againft them.' " The chaplains fpoken of by Warwick were thofe fent by the Parliament to attend on the commiflioners, and before whom they preached. Herbert remarks that "the king would not accept of them amongft his chaplains, either preaching or praying. His majefty was never- 288 Religious Obfervances. thelefs affable to them, and faid they were wel- come, always defiring thofe pious affiftances which holy and good minifters, either prelates or preftyters, could afFord him, efpecially in thofe extremities which God had pleafed to per- mit fome of his fubjedls to reduce him to ;" and as the parifh church was poffefled by thefe men and the commiffioners, divine fervice was regu- larly and decoroufly performed before him in the prefence-chamber* by one of his felefted chaplains, or one of the prelates who had come to Newport to afTift him in his deliberations touching the government of the church, who preached from texts apparently felefted as perti- nent to the occafion of their aflembly. On the 8 th of Odober the fermon was deli- vered by Dr. Turner, dean of Canterbury, from the 5th chapter of John and 14th verfe: "After- wards Jefus findeth him in the temple, and faith unto him, Behold, thou art made whole ; fin no more, left a worfe thing come unto thee." On the fucceeding Sunday, Dr. Hey wood. On the 29th Odober, Dr. Turner again. On the 5th November, Dr. Heywood, from the 68th Pfalm. On the 12th Dr. Gulfon, from the * The prefent fchool-room in the Grammar School at Newport. Touching for the Evil. 289 wordsj " Ye fhall fwear by me in truth, judg- mentj and righteoufnefs." And on the 19th, his majefty's birthday, the primate of Armagh, upon the 49th chapter of Genefis and 3rd verfe; whilft on the remaining Sabbath is found the name of Dr. Sanderfon. Thefe matters were all carefully recorded by Mr. Oudart, in whofe diary many other intereft- ing reminifcences illuftrative of the king's difpo- fition and fortunes at this time are to be found. On the 7 th of Odlober he writes : — " This evening happened a very remarkable thing. A young gentlewoman of about fixteen years of age, Elizabeth Stevens, of Winchefter, came into the prefence-chamber to be touched for the evil, which ftie was fuppofed to have, and therewith one of her eyes (that, namely, on the left fide) was fo much indifpofed that, by her own and her mother's teftimony (who was then alfo prefent) fhe had not feen with that eye of above a month before. " After prayers read by Dr. Saunderfon, the maid kneeled down among others likewife to be touched ; and his majefty touched her, and put a ribbon, with a piece of money* at it, in ufual * Thefe were angels, called " Healing Gold," U 290 Proceedings of the Army. manner about her neck. Which done, his majefty turned to the lords, namely, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Southampton, and the Earl of Lindfey, to difcourfe with them. And the faid young gentlewoman, of her own accord, faid openly, ' I can fee of this fore eye.' And afterwards declared fhe did fee more and more by it, and could by degrees endure the light of a candle. All which his majefty, in the prefence of the faid lords and very many others, examined himfelf and found to be true. And it hath fince been difcovered, that fome months agone the faid young gentlewoman profefled, that as foon as ftie was of age fufficient, flie would convey over to the king's ufe all her land, which, to the value of about 130/. per annum, her father, deceafed, had left her fole heir unto." The army was now drawn together in the town of St. Albans, and there a council of offi- cers, after a week's deliberation, had drawn up a remonftrance to the Houfe of Commons, in which they urged their fad apprehenfions of the danger and evil of the treaty with the king, and of any accommodation with him ; that he ought to be brought to trial on account of the evils done by him j that the Englifli monarchy fhould EffeSt on Hammond. 291 henceforward be eleftive ; and that a period fhould be fet to the prefent Parliament, which, for the future, fhould be annual. This remon- ftrance, which is of great length, was figned by Rufhworth, the fecretary to Fairfax, and induced a long and high debate. In fadt, Cromwell was at hand, and he, the moft powerful of all, was determined above all not to confide in the treaty with Charles, nor to brook the domination of the Prefbyterian party, which had of late carried moft of their meafures by large majorities. He, together with Ireton and others of the vio- lent party, had been for fome time in earneft correfpondence with Hammond, reafoning with him, and exhorting him to hold the perfon of the king folely for the fervices and ufes of the army. But thefe appeals feem to have awakened Hammond, when too late, to that fenfe of his duty which the love of felf had hitherto ftilled within him ; and perceiving that, notwithftanding their overtures, he was determined to keep the king for the Parliament, they refolved to have recourfe to the expedient of drawing him away from his government for a fhort time, under the pretence of that claufe in his original appoint- ment, by which the authority of the commander- u 2 292 Recall of Hammond. in-chief had been exprefsly referved and con- firmed." To the fuccefsful accomplifhment of this fcheme, the refpedive charadters of each of the adtors in it were well calculated to afford every facility. It was eafy to make Fairfax believe the commander-in-chief poflefTed the right to fummon Hammond to appear before him ; and therefore, the right alfo of appointing a fubfti- tute during his abfence : a courfe of reafoning which procured the governor's recall to head- quarters, and the appointment of Colonel Ewer in his place; but on the receipt of the letter containing this information, Hammond, now poflefTed by fome confcientious fcruples, imme- diately tranfmitted it to the Houfe of Commons, by whom it was refolved, on the 27 th of No- vember, that he fhould be required to flay in the Ifle of Wight, and attend his charge there until further orders ; that the general be informed of this note ; and an order difpatched to the lord admiral, to fend fomq fhips to the Ifle of Wight, where he was to be in communication with Colonel Hammond, and confider himfelf under his commands. Before the arrival of thefe wifhes of the Hammond's InJiruSiions. 293 Houfe, Hammond, had however, left the ifland, by reafon of the pofitive injundiion exprelTed in the general's letter. He informed the lords and commons, from Farnham, that he was proceeding towards the army, and intimated to them at Bagfhot, that he was there put under reftraint. This intelligence caufed an ordinance to be pafled " for a letter to be written to the general, to acquaint him that his orders given to Col. Ewer, were contrary to the refolutions of the Houfe, and the inftruftions to Col. Hammond ; and defired him to recall the faid order, and imme- diately command Hammond back to the ifland." Although Hammond had obeyed the gene- ral's injundtions by haflening to head-quarters, he, however, refufed to furrender his charge to Ewer; as before his departure from the ifland, which he did in the company of Ewer by the fame boat as the commiflioners, he appointed three deputies for the fafety of the ifland, and the care of the king's perfon. Thefe three perfonages were, Major Rolph in command at Newport, Capt. Boreman at Carif- brook, and Capt. Hawes, to whom he delivered a copy of his own inftrudtions as received from the Parliament, as well as additional direftions 294 Hammond's InJiruBions, for this efpecial occafion. He particularly en- joined on them, " that if any perfon whatever, under any pretence whatever, fliall endeavour the removing the perfon of the king out of this ifland, unlefs by dired order of Parliament, that you refifl, and to your uttermoft oppofe any fuch perfons, and you ufe your beft endeavours to fecure the perfon of the king from being taken out of the ifland." He endowed them with power to fummon the trainbands, if neceflary, to their affiftance, and gave them command over all officers and foldiers of the army now in the ifland, captains, governors, and forts, and all boats and barks belonging to it ; whilfl to Sir Robert Dillington, colonel of the regiment of the Eafl; Medine Trainbands, and Sir John Leigh, co- lonel of thofe of the Weft Medine, fimilar in- junctions were addrelTed, with the addition that they were to be aiding and aflifting unto the three commiffioners already mentioned. The known prediledions of Rolph would not urge him to attach much importance to thefe commands; as the deliverance of the perfon of the king to the army was a procedure in which he would rather fympathife, than exert any authority delegated to him to prevent. Preparations for Seizing the King. 295 Little furprife will be therefore excited at the events which clofely followed the departure of Hammond from the ifland. Firebrace, after fpeaking of the refult of the treaty, quaintly fays, " Our hopes were all blafted, when the army, thirfting for his blood, fent a party into the ifland to fecure him, which was fo fuddenly and privately done, that there was no notice or appearance of them until that night they began their horrid tragedy, being the 29th of Novem- ber, 1648. " The king had commanded me to attend him that night at eight of the clock, for a packet he was preparing for me to fend to the queen; but before that hour I perceived fome foldiers with piflols in their hands, bufily prying about the houfe where the king was lodged; this, together with the news of a party newly arrived, put me into great apprehenfion of the king's danger. And, therefore, not flaying till the time his majefly appointed me, I knocked at the bedchamber-door, which his majefty had commanded me to do at any time when I had bufinefs with him ; and by fuch a knock, which he knew and directed me to ufe. He prefently opened me the door, and feeing me appear in 296 Firebrace's Narrative. great aftonifliment, afked me, * What is the mat- ter ? ' I anfwered, * God Almighty preferve your majefty, for I much fear fome difmal attempt upon your perfon; and told him what I had feen and heard. He was pleafed to lay his hand upon mine, and ufe thefe or like words : ' Fire- brace, be not thus affrighted; things will be well. You know Hammond is this day gone for London, and he hath appointed three deputies in his abfence ; thefe will be trebly diligent ; and it may be he will fet a treble guard upon me, but I am aflured there will be no danger.' " I replied. Ah ! fir, I much fear you are deceived ; for God's fake yet think of your fafety — there is yet a door of hope open. The night is dark, and I can now fafely bring you into the ftreet, and thence condudt you to your old friend Mr, John Newland, who hath a good boat always ready, and a good heart to ferve you. Commit yourfelf to the mercy of the feas, where God will preferve you, and truft not yourfelf in the hands of thefe mercilefs villains, who I fear this night will murder you ; which, indeed, I feared, and therefore was tranfported in my paffionate expreffions. Which his majefty, notwithftanding, took very well, and ufed ex- Arrival of Troops. 297 prefllons of great kindnefs to me, which I begged he would forbear, and yet think of his fafety, " He told me he did not fear, and that if he did think there was any danger, he fhould be cautious of going in regard of his word, which I fuppofed he had paffed to Hammond not to ftir ; then he bid me ftay, and he would feal up his letters, which he had jufl: finifhed, and gave me that difpatch to fend away, which accordingly he did, and I with a forrowful heart left him." Soon afterwards, another of the royal fer- vants was called by a difguifed perfon, who defired him to acquaint the king that the army would feize upon him that night, and then abruptly withdrew; and although as yet no one was aware that any additional foldiers had arrived in the ifland, for with fuch great fecrecy was this prelude managed, Lieut.-Col. Cobbett had actually landed with a troop of horfe and a company of foot. Boreman at firft refufed to admit him into Carifbrook, but Rolph readily offered his aid at Newport; and thefe movements foon after coming to the king's knowledge, he became alarmed, and inftantly fummoned to his councils 298 CoL Cooke s Narrative. the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Lindfeyi and Colonel Edward Cooke ; the latter of whom has preferred a minute defcription of this, the laft fcene in this memorable drama. He ftates, " That evening, between the hours of feven and eight, the king fent for the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Lindfey, and Col. Edward Cooke, (who were all three together at the Duke of Richmond's lodgings in Newport,) with all fpeed to attend him, who accordingly haftened to court, the two lords entering into the king's inner room, while the colonel waited in the outer room for further orders. " The king acquainted the lords, that one of his fervants had been fent for by a perfon in a kind of difguife, who having informed him that the army would that night feize upon the king's perfon, abruptly left him. The Duke of Rich- mond acquainting the king that Col. Cooke attended without, was commanded to call him in. The king afked him whether he had heard anything, that the army defigned to feize upon him that night ; he anfwered, that he did not hear anything fo much as tending towards it ; adding, furely if I had, I would have ac- quainted the king with it. The king, giving Col. Cooke's Narrative. 299 the colonel the reafon of his queftion, com- manded him to find out Major Rolph, and in- quire of him what he knew of it (who was then left as deputy-governor by Col. Hammond, with diredlions that on all occafions he fhould addrefs the king through Col. Cooke, as himfelf had ufually done during the treaty.) ''Col, Cooke having the king's commands, and opportunely finding Major Rolph in his chamber, acquainted him that the king fent him to inquire of him, whether the army refolved to feize upon him that night. He anfwered, not that he knew of, adding, you may ajfure the king from me, that he may reft quietly this night, he Jhall have no difturbance this night. Col. Cooke obferving that he placed fo much emphafis on thofe words, this night, though that was all he was commanded by the king to afk, urged him farther, whether really there was any fuch defign at all, or not. After a little paufe, he anfwered, it was impoflible for him to know the prefent purpofes of the army at fo great a dif- tance, but that as yet he had received no fuch orders. The colonel replied. But if you Jhall hereafter, /hall I be Jure Jo timely to he made acquainted with them, as that the king may not be 300 Col. Cooke's Narrative. furprifed with the execution of them. To which requeft he feemingly confented, anfwering, that was but a due refpedt to the king. " Col. Cooke thereupon returning to the king, gave him a punctual account of thefe paflages, who, in the meantime, having been informed that a confiderable number of the army were that night landed on the ifland, remanded Col. Cooke back to Major Rolph, to inquire the truth thereof; who thus anfwered him : That he knew frefh forces would ere long come over to relieve thofe that then pafled on duty there^ but that as yet he was not certain of their being landed ; which anfwer, alfo, the colonel returned to the king, who, in that fhort time of his abfence, had received farther information that two thoufand foot were drawn up about Ca- rifbrook Caftle, at which the king feemed to be much ftartled, faying, fure there muft needs be fome extraordinary defign on foot, that fuch a body of men fhould not only be fo privately landed, but alfo in fuch a bitter night as this to be expofed to fuch extremity of weather, the wind blowing very high, and the rain falling faft. The king expreffing a great defire to be fatisfied on the truth of this, and doubting that Col. Cookers Narrative. 301 he might not be fo clearly dealt with by Major Rolph, Col. Cooke offered his fervice to go and fee : but the king, refledting on the feverity of the weather, refufed to expofe him, yet owning it an important particular whereof to be rightly informed, which the colonel obferving, impor- tuned the king, that if he could be fo long dif- penfed with from his majefty's fervice there, he would give him leave to go, he knowing no other expedient for the king's certain fatif- fadlion. " He alfo preffed the lords to intercede for him therein, and at laft obtained leave of the king, his majefty adding thefe gracious expref- fions : that he hoped he being young and healthy would receive no prejudice by it, and that he might live to requite it ; repeating his defire to know the truth of it. "The colonel took leave, and having foon got himfelf and his horfe ready, though the night was extraordinary dark, fortunately groped out his way through the dark and found the caftle : which having carefully rounded, and finding nobody without, he went to the gate, and having performed the ufual ceremonies (as giving the word to the corporal), and fheltered 302 Col. Cooke's Narrative. himfelf under the gate from the excefs of rain that then fell, he fent his defires to the governor, one Capt. Boreman, a gentleman of the ifland who commanded a militia company there), with whom he was well acquainted, to come to him. In the meantime, he difcourfed with the foldiers to try what he could get out of them, but found they were altogether ignorant, being a company of the iflanders newly marched in ; the two army companies formerly garrifoned there being drawn down into the town of Newport, probably to double the guards. "After a longer ftay than he expeded, the meflenger returned with this excufe. That the captain could not conveniently come out to him, but invited him in ; who, when he came into the parlour, was furprifed with the fight of about a dozen officers of the army, moft of whofe faces he knew. And after mutual falutation, he ad- drefled himfelf to the governor, defiring to fpeak with him, who, he obferved, firft afked and obtained leave of thofe officers ; wherefore, alk- ing him in private what he meant by that, the governor plainly told him, he was no better than a prifoner in his own garrifon, for they had threatened him with immediate death if he but Col. Cooke's Narrative. 3°3 fo much as whifpered with any of his own fer- vants. The Colonel afked him whether he could imagine the caufe of all this ? He anfwered. He fuppofed there was fome con- fiderable defign on foot, but knew not what it was; adding, that he underflood that the cap- tain that commanded the troop of horfe in the ifland was in the fame condition, and that his lieutenant commanded in his place, but that he knew no other caufe for either, unlefs they fuf- pedted that they had too much duty for the king, which gave the Colonel the opportunity of alking the particular queftion, whether he knew anything of the king's being that night to be feized upon ? who anfwered. It was not im- probable but that might be their defign, though he knew nothing of it. "Colonel Cooke received as much light as the governor could give him, took leave, and haftened to give the king an exadl account of all that had pafled; but found, at his return, a great alteration at court. Guards not only fet round the king's lodgings, and at every window, but even within doors alfo, nay, fentinels at the king's very chamber-door, fo that the king was almoft fulFocated with the fmoke of the burning 304 Col. Cooke's Narrative. match, which haftened the Colonel to Major Rolph to complain of the rudenefs of the fol- diers, whom he found in bed (it being now near twelve or one o'clock), having entered his chamber againft the will of his fervant. After an apology, he made his complaint, and received this anfwer, that he was no way guilty of it ; that the two companies being late drawn out of the caftle, could not that night have quarters provided them, and therefore he had ordered them to double the guards, not forefeeing this would happen, but the next day he would redrefs all things himfelf, with due refped: to the king, and confult him, the faid Colonel, in it; and that in the meantime he was confident, on the Colonel's complaint to the captain of the guards, he would draw off the men from being ofFenfive to the king, adding, if the Colonel found it needful, he might make ufe of his name to the captain of the guards, to whom the Colonel making his application on his return to the king, prevailed with him to draw off thofe guards that were fo great an annoyance to the king, to a more tolerable diftance. " At Colonel Cooke's return to the king, he made him repeat over all the feveral paflages Col. Cooke's Narrative. 305 that had happened that night, which being com- pared together, and duly confidered by the king, the Duke of Richmond, and Earl of Lindfey, (for the Earl of Southampton, being indifpofed, was before that time returned to his lodgings, and the Marquis of Hertford had taken leave of the king, and left the ifland that morning, and was gone to Netley,) all unanimoufly concluded that the army would fuddenly feize upon the king's perfon, which being taken for granted on all hands, the queftion was, in this defperate cafe, what was mofl: advifable to be done ? " The lords argued for the king's attempting an immediate efcape, for he would better bring about a perfonal treaty with the Parliament (which he fo much coveted), when out of the reach of the army, than when within their power, and this would certainly fecure the fafety of his perfon, which elfe might be very probably much in danger. " But before they could proceed to debate the manner of this efcape, the king prevented it, thus arguing againft the efcape itfelf; firft arguing the difficulties, if not impoffibility, of accomplifliing it ; next, the confequences ; that in cafe he fhould mifcarry in the attempt, it would 306 Col. Cooke's Narrative. exafperate the army, and difhearten his friends; and, laftly, that if the army fhould feize upon him, they muft preferve him for their own fakes, for that no party could fecure their own interefts without joining his with it, his fon being now out of their reach. " The Earl of Lindfey replied. Take heed, fir, left you fall into fuch hands as will not fteer by rules of policy ; remember Hampton Court, where your efcape was your beft fecurity. The Duke of Richmond added. That yet he thought it feafible enough; and turning to Colonel Cooke, alked. How he pafTed to and fro ? Who anfwered. He had the word. The duke afked him. Whether he believed he could pafs him too ? who anfwered. He made no queftion but he could. At which the duke took a longer cloak, without a ftar, and made the colonel go along with him through the guards, and fo returned again to the king, acquainting him with what he had done, and with what eafe, and thence took the advantage again to perfuade the king's attempting to efcape. " Who on a fudden turning himfelf from the two lords, that were difcourfing with him at the window, to Colonel Cooke, who ftood drying Col. Cooke's Narrative. 307 himfelf by the fire, faid, Ned Cooke, what do you advife me ia this cafe? Who humbly anfwered, He fufpefted his own judgment too much to prefume to offer any advice, confider- ing both the greatnefs of the danger, and the perfon concerned in it ; that his majefty had his privy council with him, to whom he humbly befought him to liften, obferving what they preffed him to. At which tlie lords refumed their former difcourfe of attempting an efcape. " But the king, turning about again, faid, Ned, I command you to give me your advice. At which the colonel begged leave, that after he had premifed fome particulars, he might afk his majefty a queftion, who permitting him: Sup- pofe, faid he, I fhould not only tell your majefty that the army would very fuddenly feize upon you, but by concurring circumftances fully con- vince your majefty it would be fo ; and alfo that I have the word, horfes ready at hand, a veflel attending at Cowes and hourly expeding me; that I am ready and defirous to attend you, and this difmal dark night, as it were, fuited to the purpofe, fo that I can forefee no vifible diffi- culty in the thing, which I fuppofe to be in all particulars the true ftate of this prefent cafe. X 2 308 Col. Cooke's Narrative. The only queftion now is. What will your majefty refolve to do ? Who, after a fhort paufe, pronounced this pofitive anfwer: They have promijed me, and I have ■promijed them ; I will not break firfl. The Duke of Richmond urging the colonel to fpeak, he craved leave to fpeak to argue the point with the king, who faid. With all my heart. I prefume, fir, faid the colonel, your majefty intends by thefe words (they and them), the Parliament; if fo, the fcene now is quite altered or changed, your prefent apprehenfion arifing from the army, who have fo far already violated the promifes of the Parliament as to invade your majefty's freedom and fafety, by changing the fingle fentinel of ftate at the outer door, unto ftrong guards on your very bed- chamber, which is in itfelf no better than a con- finement, and probably the forerunner of fome- thing more — a fpeedy abfolute imprifonment. " The king replied, however. He would not do anything that ftiould look like a breaking of his word; and fo bade him and the Earl of Lindfey good night, and that he would go and take his reft too, fo long as he could. To which Colonel Cooke replied, I fear it will not Col. Cooke's Narrative. 309 be long. The king anfweredj As pleafe God. The king perceiving great uneafinefs and dif- order in the colonel, faid, Ned, what troubles you ? tell me. Who replied. Sir, to confider the greatnefs of your majefty's danger, and your un- willingnefs to avoid it. The king replied, Ne'er let that trouble you; were it greater I would not break my word to prevent it. Sir, faid the colonel, will your majefty but refpite the refo- lution, and give me leave to ftep and call my Lord Southampton ? What needs that, faid the king, are not thefe two my friends ? (pointing to the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Lindfey), I tell you they are my two true friends. Said the colonel. Be pleafed then to confult them. Said the king, I am refolved ; go you two to bed (meaning the Earl of Lindfey and Colonel Cooke, for the Duke of Richmond was then in waiting) ; and if I have need of you I will fend for you. Whereupon both took leave. ''But the Duke of Richmond ftepped after Colonel Cooke to confult him whether or no he had beft put off his clothes that night? who anfwered. He himfelf for his part would not; for notwithftanding Major Rolph's promife, he feared the king would foon be difturbed, or elfe the 3IO Col. Cooke's Narrative. face of affairs deceived him. The duke afked hinij Whether he fhould let the king know what his opinion was ? who anfwered. With all his heart ; and that he would flay in- the outward room in hopes that he might occafion fqme new difcourfe of the bufinefs. But the duke foon returned, and told him the king was refolved to go to bed. It was then almoft one o'clock ; and though Colonel Cooke went not to bed all night, yet all things were carried with fo great fecrecy and quiet, that not the leafl noife was heard, nor the leaft caufe of fufpicion given. " But in the morning, juft at daybreak, the king, hearing a great knocking at his dreffing- room door, fent the Duke of Richmond to know what it meant; who, on inquiring who was there, was anfwered. One Mildmay (one of the fervants the Parliament had put to the king, and brother to Sir Henry). The duke demanding what he would have ? anfwered. There were fome gentlemen from the army very defirous to fpeak with the king ; which account the duke gave the king ; but the knocking increafing, the king commanded the duke to let them into his drelT- ing-room. No fooner was this done, but before the king got out of his bed, thofe officers rufhed Col. Cooke's Narrative. 311 into his chamber, and abrupdy told the king they had orders to remove him. From whom ? faid the king. They replied. From the army. The king afked whither he was to be removed ? They anfwered. To the caftle. The king afked. What caftle? They again anfwered, To the caftle. The caftle, faid the king, is no caftle. He told them he was well enough prepared for any caftle, and required them, to name the caftle. After a ftiort whifpering together, they faid, Hurft Caftle. The king replied. They could not well name a worfe , and called to the Duke of Richmond to fend for the Earl of Lindfey and Colonel Cooke. At firft they fcrupled at the Earl of Lindfey's coming ; but the king, faid. Why not both, fince both lie together ? They promifed to fend for both, but fent for neither. ''And though the Duke of Richmond had ordered the king's breakfaft to be haftened, pre- fuming that there was but little provifion in the defolate caftle ; yet, when he was fcarce ready, the horfes being come, they hurried him away, only permitting the duke to attend him about two miles, and then told him he muft go no further; where he fadly took his leave, being 312 Col. Cooke's Narrative i fcarce permitted to kifs the king's hand, whofe laft words were. Remember me to my Lord Lindfey and Colonel Cooke, and command Colonel Cooke, from me, never to forget the paflages of this night."* Firebrace, on hearing that his anticipations had been too furely verified, procured leave, with fome difficulty, to enter his majefty's chamber, in difcharge of his duty as page ; and on the king's remarking, " I know not where thefe people intend to carry me, and I would willingly eat before I go, therefore give me fomething to eat;" immediately proceeded to comply with the king's defire ; but, as if in corroboration of Colonel Cooke's ftatement, he relates, " that on his returning in half an hour to tell him his repaft was ready, he met the officers, in company with Rolph, leading him down ftairs, to hurry him away, without fufFering him to break his faft. He then," he fays, " kneeled down to kifs the king's hand, at which he flopped and gave me leave to do, when they thruft him up into the coach, which was fet clofe to the door."j- * November 29, 1648. f On tefting the rhodomontade of Sir John Bowiing (f) with ftatements that cannot err, the Journal of the Hbufes of Farlia- Eff'eB on the Royal Attendants. 313 " Never," writes Mr. Herbert, " at one time, he thought, was beheld more grief in men's faces, or greater fears in their hearts, the king being at fuch a time and in fuch a manner hurried away they knew not whither ; but no remedy appearing, the noblemen, the venerable perfons, and others, his majefty's fervants, approached to kifs the king's hand, and to pour forth their fup- plications to Almighty God to fafeguard and com- fort his majefty in that his difconfolate condition. " His majefty, who at other times was cheer- ful, at his parting from his friends fhowed forrow in his heart by the fadnefs of his counte- nance — a real fympathy. ment, &c., I have thought it better to pafs by his extraordinary tales — for nothing more they are — of this. particular time, as alfo the unfounded allufion of Lord Clarendon to the ungenerous part the queen is fuppofed to have performed in connexion with the king's attempts to efcape. The letter on which the accufa- tion is founded, contains in truth no allufion to the queen at all. The perfon mentioned in the letter, under the number 351 (printed in Afliburnham's narrative), is not the queen, but Mrs. Whorwood, who was then in the ifland advifing with him. And it is here worthy of remark, that the king in his cipher letters never calls Henrietta Maria " the queen," but invariably fpeaks of her as " my wife," and that the numbers were changed for the ufe of every correfpondent ; as, for inftance, in Titus' cipher the number 315 exprelTed queen, but not the queen. And had Charles wiftied to write the queen, he would have ufed the num- bers 560 : 315 (the queen). 314 Departure of the King, " When the king was ready to take coach, he afked whether he was to have any fervants with him ; ' Only fuch, anfwered the Lieut.-Colonel, ' as are ufeful.' The king then nominated Mr. Harrington and Mr, Herbert to attend in his bedchamber, and fcarce a dozen more for other fervice. The king taking notice that Mr. Her- bert had for three days abfented himfelf, Mr. Harrington told his majefty he was fick of an ague. He then defired the Duke of Richmond to fend one of his fervants to fee in what condi- tion he then was, and if anything well, to come along with him. The gentleman the duke fent found him fweating, but fo foon as he received the meflage he arofe, and came fpeedily to his majefty, who foon took coach and commanded Mr. Harrington, Mr. Herbert, and Mr. Mild- may (his carver) to come into his coach ; and the Lieut.-Colonel, offering to enter the coach unin- vited, his majefty (by oppofing his foot) made him fenfible of his rudenefs,* fo as with fome * Firebrace afferts that this perfonage was no other than " Rolph, who had before attempted to murder him ; he impu- dently, with his hat on, ftept up into the coach, but his majefty, with great courage, rofe up and thruft him out, faying, ' It is not come to that yet — get you out;' and called up Mr. Herbert and Mr. Harrington, who at that time waited as grooms of the bed- chamber." — "Memoirs," p. 199. Progrefs to Worjley's Tower. 315 confufion he mounted his horfe and followed with a guard of horfe ; the coachman driving as direfted. " The king in this paflage fhowed no difcom- pofure at all, but would be alking the gentle- men in the coach with him whither they thought he was travelling ? They made fome fimple replies, fuch as ferved to make his majefty fmile at their innocent conjecftures ; otherwhile he could comfort himfelf with what he had granted at his late treaty with the commiffioners, whom he highly praifed for their ingenuity and fair de- portment at Newport, as formerly mentioned. " The coach went weftward, towards Wors- ley's Tower, in Frefhwater Ifle, a little beyond Yarmouth Haven, and thereabout his majefty refted until the vefTel was ready to take him aboard with thofe few attendants. The king, after an hour's ftay, went aboard, a for- rowful fpeftacle and great example of Fortune's inconftancy. " The wind and tide favouring, they crofTed the narrow fea in three hours, and landed at Hurft Caftle. The captain of this wretched place was not unfuitable ; for at the king's going aftiore he 3i6 Reception at Hurst Cajlle. flood ready to receive him.with fmall obfervance. His look was ftern ; his hair and large beard were black and bufliy ; he held a partifan in his hand, and (Switz like) had a great baflcet-hilt fword by his fide ; hardly could one fee a man of more grim afpe<5t, and no lefs robuft and rude was his behaviour. Some of his majefty's fer- vants were not a little fearful of him, and that he was defigned for mifchief, efpecially when he vapoured, being elevated with his command and puffed up by having fo royal a prifoner : fo as probably he conceived he was nothing inferior to the governor of the caftle of Milan; but being complained of to his fuperior officer, appeared a bubble; for being pretty fharply admonifhed, he quickly became mild and calm, a pofture ill becoming fuch a rhodomont, and made it vifible that his humour (or tumour, rather) was afted to curry favour, wherein he alfo was miftaken : for to give the Lieut.-Colonel [Eyres] his due, after his majefty came under his cuftody, he was very civil to the king, both in his language and behaviour, and courteous to thofe that attended upon all occafions ; nor was his difpofition rugged towards fuch as in loyalty Conclujion. 317 came to fee the king, and to pray for him, as fundry out of Hampftiire did, and the neigh- bouring counties." This, reader, is a faithful chronicle of the remarkable proceedings attendant on the deten- tion of King Charles the Firft in the Ifle of Wight — a hlftory perhaps unparalleled in the lives of kings ; and it is hoped that the incidents which have been here rendered may be deemed a not uninterefting memoir of the latter days of this unfortunate monarch. APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE INSTRUCTIONS RECEIVED BY COLONEL TITUS AT VARIOUS TIMES, FROM KING CHARLES THE SECOND AND QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA. APPENDIX. Anfwer to an Addrefs received by King Charles the Second when refident in Jerfey, froni the Englilh party, It was conveyed to him by Captain Titus, and apparently refers to the Treaty of Breda. "Charles, R. " Trufty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Having received your late addrefs by Captain Titus, we have accordingly given credit to him, and we gracioufly accept thofe profeffions he hath made to us in your name, believing that they proceed from perfons who are both able and willing to ferve us. As concerning your defires propofed to us by him, we conceive we have in part anfwered the fame by appointing a treaty with our fubjefts of Scotland, in which we fhall likewife endeavour to give you further 322 InJiruSiions to Captain Titus. fatisfadion in all reafonable things. To which purpofe we think fit and defire that you fend fome perfons fufficiently authorized to be prefent at the treaty, where we doubt not but they may be ufeful to us, and very inftrumental to the agreement between us and our fubjefts of Scot- ■ land, which we fo much defire. In the mean- time, as we are very fenfible of thofe endeavours which we underftand from Captain Titus you have already ufed to perfuade them to modera- tion ; fo we entreat you to fend prefently into Scotland to prevail with them to bring fuch reafonable demands to the treaty as, meeting with our inclinations and refolution to accord all juft and reafonable things, may, by the blefling of God, produce a full and happy agreement. " Amongft other things that we have under- ftood of your good afi^edbion to us, we cannot but take notice of the courage and conftancy of the minifters in their good wiflies and endeavours for us, which we fhall not fail to acknowledge efi^edtually both to them and to you, as it fliall pleafe God to blefs our proceedings, and bring any favourable change to ' our condition. And fo we bid you heartily farewell. "Given at our Court in Jerfey the ff th day of January, 1 6|f , in the firft year of our reign." InfiruSfions to Captain Titus. 323 Inftrudions (from the Englifk party) for the Right Honourable Francis Lord Willoughby, of Parham, Major-General Maflie, Colonel Richard Graves, Alderman James Bunce, and Captain Titus, whom in order to his Majeftie's Command we have defired to affift at the Treaty of Breda. cc I. You are to give his majefty our humble thanks for the great favour and grace he was pleafed to do us in his late letter. " 1. You are to give him an account that in order to his command we have deputed you to reprefent our moflt humble opinions and defires in things concerning us, and to employ all our intereft to bring this treaty to fuch a happy clofe as may give juft fatisfaftion to all his majefty's faithful fervants. "3. You are to communicate this to the Commiffioners of Scotland. " 4. You are not to make any particular addrefs to the king from us, but by their advice and approbation; that nothing from us may contra- dift what comes from' them. That in all things a good correfpondency may be preferved between us according to our covenant, and our enemies may find no advantage to attempt to divide us. y 2 324 InJiruSiions to Captain Titus. " 5. You are in our names to be inftant with his majefty to hearken to the juft delires of his fubjeds in Scotland, to aflure him that our fatif- faftion is bound up in theirs, being both engaged in one common intereft of the covenant, from which neither of us can recede without a mani- feft violation of our faith both to God and man, " 6. If it fhall pleafe God that the king fatif- fies the delires of our brethren in Scotland, you are to defire the affiftance of their honourable commiffioners in propofing thofe particulars to the king in our behalf which we fend you enclofed, "7. If you fhall find reafon to diflru'fl the ifTue of this treaty, you fhall then (after all pof- fible endeavours to perfuade the king to com- pliance) communicate to the Scottifh Commif- fioners thofe inflrudtions which we have fince fent you, wherein we fhall give you no direftions as to the managing of them, but leave that to your own difcretion." Inftrudions to Captain Titus from Charles the Second, on the occafion of his proceeding to Paris in 1651, for the purpofe of having her Majeflie's opinion on a propofed Marriage of Injlructions to Captain Titus. 325 Charles with a daughter of the Marquis, of Argyle* Thefe inftrudlions apparently reveal an inci- dent in the life of Charles the Second which is little, if at all, known, and are therefore of pecu- liar intereft in connexion with the memoirs of that monarch. The Earl of Argyle here alluded to was Archibald the eighth Earl, created Mar- quis of Argyle " in refpedt of the remarkable fidelity and loyalty of his family in former times to the crown," by letters patent bearing date November 15, 1641. In contradiftindlion, however, to this aflumed family virtue, he, during the civil war, joined with the Parliament, and fhowed himfelf a zealous aflerter of the rights of the Prefbyterian church government as then eftablifhed. After the death of Charles the Firft, he contributed much to the favourable reception of the fecond Charles in Scotland in 1650; and at the folemnity of Ms coronation, January ift, 165 1, he placed the crown on his head, but with the evident defign of forming an alliance between the young king and his only unmarried daughter. By the politic reply of the queen, this ambitious contrivance would feem to have been efFeftually thwarted, and the 326 InJiruBthns to Captain Titus. afFecftions of the marquis again transferred to Cromwell ; as, on the Refloration, he was accufed of high treafon for correfponding and complying with Crqmwell, and beheaded on the 27th of May, 1 66 1. Argyle had two fons and three daughters— Ann, who died ,unmarried, and for whom the erown was defigned , Jane, married to Roberty firft Marquis of Lothian; and Mary, to George Earl of Caithnefs ; and on his death, to John Earl of Breadalbane. (Accompariied by a paflport under the king's own hand and feal.) '* Inftruftions for our trufty and well-beloved fervantj Captain Titus, one of the grooms of our bedchamber. " Charles, R. " I. You are with the firft opportunity to go to Holland, and there to apply yourfelf to fuch perfons who are friends to our intereft, and to get particular information from them what is likely to be refolved and tranfaded there, in relation to England; you are likewife to give InJiruBhns to Captain Titus. 327 them account what is afted and determined here, which may be a means to hinder any refo- lution there that (by our enemies' fuggeftions) may be taken to our prejudice. " 2. You are to give us account from thence upon the firft: occafion how you find affairs there, that we may the better refolve what we have further to do in relation to thofe States. "3. You are after your defpatch in Holland to repair to Paris, and there to addrefs yourfelf to the queen our deareft mother, and to fuch perfons as flie fhall give you diredions to apply yourfelf unto. You are likewife to receive my Lord Jermyn's advice in your applications to perfons. " 4. You are with all fpeed to return us account what there is there afting, or a6led, in relation to England: how you find the Court of France inclined to our intereft : what refentment they have of the rebels' peace with Spain, and the late embaffy and acknowledgment they have received from that king. Laftly, you are to get the beft information and advice you can poffible, whether it would produce any effed: to fend an embaflador to France, to defire that king's afliftance, and to renew and confirm the ancient 328 InJiruSiions to Captain Titus. alliance that hath for fb many years been between that kingdom and this. "5. If you find your ftay neceffary, you are to give us account of your proceedings by an exprefsj and to attend our further commands; otherwife you are to haften your return. " Dated at our Court, at Perth, the fy day of January, 1651. (In the fecond year of our reign.)" Private inftrudtions from Charles the Second to Captain Titus, who arrived in Paris, March 17, 1657. " Inftrudtions for Captain Titus, one of the grooms of my bedchamber. " I. Firft you are with all convenient fpeed to repair to the queen my mother, and after delivery of my letters, to communicate to her what I here give you in command. " 2. You are to let the queen know, that taking into ferious confideration of how much importance the making of a right choice in my marriage may be to my affairs, I would refolve nothing in a bufinefs of that nature and con- InJiruSllons to Captain Titus. 329 fequence, without her privltie, advice, and con- fentj for which purpofe I have now exprefsly fent you to her* "3. You are to give the queen account upon what grounds and confiderations I do thus far propofe this bufinefs. *' I. That no foreign match can at the prefent be propounded, which does not either appear through fome impediment or defedb infeafible, or to my intereft and prefent condition incon- fiderable. " II. That the Marquis of Argyle is a perfon of great intereft, of a very ancient and noble family, that hath been always loyal to the crown, and fometimes allied to it, and himfelf, in all transadions between me and my fubjeds of this kingdom, hath particularly merited of me. " III. I am informed that this marriage will be a great fatisfadtion and fecurity to all the church and all the Prefbyterian party, and the beft means to unite all parties, and remove all differences occafioned by the late troubles. " IV. The ftrength of Scotland being united, it will be the greateft encouragement to all of loyalty in England. " Thefe confiderations you fhall reprefent to 33° InJiruBions to Captain Titus. the queen, but with this aflurance, that I neither am engaged, nor ever fhall engage in a matter of this importance, without her approbation and confent. "4. You are to communicate your meflage to my Lord Jermin. " 5. You are with all poffible fpeed to return with the queen's anfwer, and to omit no oppor- tunity to give me an account of your proceed- ings in this bufinefs. " Charles, R, "Falkland,Januarythe 23, 1657." In Captain Titus* autograph, and apparently the private inftruftions he received from the Marquis of Argyle. "I . That Scotland acknowledgeth her majeftie's great favour in her former interpofition for the procurement of a happy agreement between the king and them. " 2. Her majefty's advice and approbation of this to the king, will be a great confirmation of that favour, and lay upon them a perpetual obli- gation. InJiruSlions to Captain Titus. 3 3 1 (C 3. They are the more encouraged to hope this favour from her majeftie, fhe being a daughter of France, with which kingdom Scot- land hath had fo ancient and firm alliance for fo many ages, which this may be a means to con- firm, and procure that kingdom's affiftance to the king, '' 4. As to her majefty particular, Scotland will endeavour that her majeftie be reftored to her joynture, and all her other civil rights, and that ftie may live in a condition anfwerable to the honour and greatnefs of the mother of their king." " To my Lord Jermain. " That in this the Prelbyterian party repofe a great truft in him, and have a good confidera- tion of him, and opinion of his afFedtion to them. "That this will engage them to do him all good offices, both to the king, and any other way in their power. " This will fecure him againft that violent party that are his enemies." 332 InJiruBions to Captain Titus » Inftrudions for Captain Titus, from Henrietta Maria, April 15, 165 1, on the propofal of Charles the Second's marriage with the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle, accom- panied by a paflport under the hand and feal of her majefty. " You are to repair to the king our deareft fon, will all convenient fpeed you fhall be able. " I. You are in the firft place to let him know with how tender a fenfe I have received this great demonftration of his kindnefs, that in a matter fo much importing the future good and bad of his life, as his marriage, and fo confe- quently a thing wherein I muft neceflarily be fo much concerned, he would make no advance nor contrad, the leaft engagement, without com- municating to me the firfl; overtures. " 1. You are in the next place to let him know, that looking upon this propofition as no lefs importing then it doth in the nature of it, and by all the circumftances incident to it, that if I fhould give him council in it that fhould not be wife, I could not be fufpeded of offering that which fhould be infincere. " 3. You are in the third place to let him InJiruBions to Captain Titus. 333 know that I have moft ferioufly and frequently, fince your being here, taken this matter into my thoughts, and have confidered all the feveral circumftances relating to it. That I am not un- informed of my Lord of Argyle's ability, credit, or affecftions, nor how ufefuUy he hath em- ployed them all for the good and benefit of the king my fon ; that there is nothing new or extra- ordinary that a perfon fo well born as the Mar- quis of Argyle's daughter fhould be married to the crown ; that towards this daughter there can lie no exception in regard of herfelf, fhe being a perfon of whom I never heard any thing but very good. But it is to be confidered that the misfortunes under which we are fallen, are of a large extenfion — that the fettlement of the affairs of Scotland, though it be a great and difficult work, yet not to be refl:ed in without the recovery of England — that the kingdom of England, upon very great claims, is like to require a part in a council in which it is fo much concerned, and would take themfelves to be too juftly offended, if by a prefent conclufion of the thing in quefl:ion they fhould find themfelves excluded totally from it. That even Scotland itfelf may not be without parties very confider- able to the prefent affairs, that would be fo far 334 InJtriiSlwns to Captain Titus. perhaps from concurring now to this matter, that a finifhing of it might induce a moft un- feafonable irritation of them. " 4. You are in the fourth place to let the king our deareft fon know, that upon thefe con- fiderations fo irrefiftibly preffing againft a pre- fent conclufion, that I cannot think fit to give any other advice than that the thing remain for a while in the fame eftate it doth, by which he will have the opportunity, if the difficulties that now occur fhould be removed, to go then feafon- ably through with it. He will alfo avoid the inconveniences that have been reprefented for Scotland, which are not a little perilous ; and the kingdom of England will have no caufe to com- plain if the fufpenfion of the refolutions leave them the means of being feafonably confulted in a matter wherein they are fo much concernedj and fo like to pretend to have a part in the councils belonging to it. " Henrietta Maria, Regika." THE END, ERRATA. At page 96, line '),for " Cromwell," read " the Parliament." At page 1 37, line 7, for " Suffolk," read " Kent." At page 249, line zz,for " is," read " are." At page 256, line iiffor " Septr. 15," read " Septr. 30." London : Imprinted by Harrifon & Son, at The London Gazette Office, in St. Martin's Lane,