MASTER NEGATIVE NO. 93-81518-11 MICROFILMED 1993 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project" Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. I AUTHOR: SANFORD, JOHN LANGTON TITLE: STUDIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS PLACE: LONDON DATE: 1858 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT BIBUQGRAP HIC MTrROFORM TARHFT Master Negative # Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record 942,064 'Sa5 Restrictions on Use: Sanford, John Langton, 1824-1877. Studies and illustrations of the great rebellion By John Langton Sanford ... London, J. W. Parker and son, JoOo. vi. t2i. 6.10, t2i p. fold. pi. 22"". CoNTKNTS.-Frnni Tudor to Stuart-Puritanism: religions and social - Antecedents and first years of Kin^ Charles.-E.rly life of Ol ver Croi7 Pvt ~?XmenT/r '"'"T *" %'. I^O"^ Parlia^ment ^ Sord and rym. — Farl amentary royalism. — The Ear of Essex —Loniy-M-ir XSWABDS, PRINTERS, CBAKDOS STBEXT, OOYSNT OAROEK. PREFACE. I The present volume embodies some of tlie results of a course of historical investigation commenced more than fifteen years ago. My attention was then drawn to the great discrepancy in the estimates of the character of Oliver Cromwell in the pages of the historical authorities of that day. Being quite at a loss to arrive at any satisfactory conclusions as to the facts on which they based their several judgments of the Protector, I resolved to make for myself as complete a col- lection as possible of his letters, arranging them in chrono- logical order, as a backbone to any farther investigations into his character. Having access to the library of the British Museum, I found this a less difficult but more extensive task than I had anticipated. Besides the standard books on the subject, such works as county histories and the early volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, the Annual Register and the printed papers of the Antiquarian Society supplied me with not a few neglected records of interest ; and the MSS. collections in the Museum yielded a rich additional harvest. At the end of two years I had thus brought together about 300 letters, published and unpub- lished, and had read through and re-punctuated into some sense most of the Protector's printed speeches. Of course ■* \. V 146165 ^ IF PKEFACE. fllustrative reading and research on the points which thus presented themselves were not neglected, and the general result was a dear conviction that the theory of CromwelFs hypocrisy and selfish ambition was devoid of all support in the real facts. I had carried my studies thus far when, in 1845, the publication of Mr. Carlyle^s coUection of the ZeUers and Speeches of Cromwell gave me the results of a similar but independent course of inquiry, and confirmed me in my previous conclusion. Of course this collection contained several letters which were new to me, and, on the other hand, I found that it did not include a considerable number which it had been my good fortune to light upon, and gave others in a less perfect and authentic form. As some of these letters of mine were very interesting, I communicated the fact of their existence to Mr. Carlyle, and placed them at his disposal. They were accordingly included in his second edition (1846), with some other discoveries which I had made in the meantime, such as Cromwell's answer to the Clonmacnoise Manifesto. For the next year or two professional studies left me little time for historical pursuits; but I never lost sight entirely of the object which I had originally proposed to myself. At this point of time family vicissitudes altered altogether my prospects and intended career, and I was led to revert to my old studies, with the hope of being able to mould my previous investigations into a work which might be supplementary to Mr. Carlyle's volumes, and afford a critical refutation of the large mass of calumnious anecdote which still passed for history even in works of such general value and authority as Mr. Forster's Statemen of the Common^ wealth. These new investigations made me thoroughly acquainted with the contents of D'Ewes' MS. Jouriial of the Long Parliament, preserved in the British Museum Library j 1 1 PREFACE. _ and I then found that the Lives of Pym, Hampden, and many others of that time required re-writing quite as much as that of Cromwell. My labours were thus prolonged over an unexpected space of time. In 1848, through the courtesy of the late Dr. Buckland and the Rev. Dr. Bandinel, I had an opportunity of ex- amming and making extracts from the Tanner MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and the next year the Rt. Hon. Maziere Brady-then Lord ChanceUor of Ireland-procured me access, through the late Sir WiUiam Betham, to the for- gotten council-books of the Cromwells and the Common- wealth in the Record Tower of Dublin Castle. To the Rev. Dr. Todd and several other gentlemen my acknow- ledgments are also due for their courtesy in admitting me to the library of Trinity College, Dublin, and the various record offices in that city. I drew attention to the neglected condition and contents of the Irish council-books in some papers communicated to the Gendeman', Magazine, then under the able editorship of Mr. John Bruce. My new materials, however, had so enlarged my original plan, that when, in 1850, I went through the usual ordeal mth the London publishers, they shrank from incurring any nsk m such a speculation, and my MS. was consigned again to the shelves, where it slumbered peacefully for the next five years. I then made another and equally unsuccessfixl attempt to bring it before the public in a reduced and modi- lied form. I should, perhaps, have accepted this last judg- ment as final, if the publication of Mr. Forster's Hktorical ^say^. in the present year, had not caUed my attention to the fact that I had afready lost the credit of historical dis- coveries in which I had anticipated that gentleman by several years; and I accordingly considered that, in justice to myself, I ought no longer to delay placing before the public some portion of my labours, leaving in their hands the M \ ▼1 PREFACE. decision of the question whetlier or not tlie remainder ghonld follow in due course of time. . To prevent misapprehension, I may state that the form originally adopted was that of a lAfe of Oliver Cromwell, and that this was subsequently changed for the plan now employed. The volume merely reproduces in another form some of the matter contained in the MS. of 1850. My acquaintance with the real proceedings on the BiU of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford dates from the summer of 1847. My obligations to the authorities of the British Museum will be at once seen, and are hereby gratefuUy acknowledged. J. LANGTON SANFORD. % Brick Court, Temple, Avffust the iSth, 1858* CONTENTS. J VAOB X I. FBOM TUDOE TO STUABT x J 11. PUEITANISM: EELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL 64 III. ANTECEDENTS AND FIBST TEAES OP KING CHAELES . . . IO3 IV. EAELY LIFE OF OLIVES CEOMWELL 174 V. CONSTITUTIONAL EETFBNS TO THE LONG PAELIAMENT . . 269 VI. 8TEAFF0BD AND PTM 284 VII. PABLIAMENTAET E0TALI8M 180 VIII. THE EAEL OF ESSEX ^6*7 IX. L0NG-HAE8T0N BIOOB c8o X. CAVALIEE AND SOUNDHEAD LETTEBS : A.D. 1645 .... 6l(J APPENDIX •••••••.•••., 6^1 STUDIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ov THE GREAT REBELLION. ERRATA. Page 1 01, fourth line of second paragraph, /or conformable read compatible. Page 278, second column, /or OxfOBD read Obfobd. I. FEOM TUDOE TO STUAET. T'HERE is, perhaps, in the whole chronicle of history -i. nothing more remarkable, and at first sight more unac- countable, than the position among European nations occu- pied by England during the sixteenth century. We are so apt to associate inseparably with the name of our country those numerous sources of power and reputation which have been the gradual acquisitions of a long period of growing prosperity, that it escapes our notice that many years before the Kingdom of England sweUed to the dimensions of the British Empire, it had been universally recognised as a first rate European power. Destitute of outlying colonial pos- sessions—stripped of its French provinces— watched and menaced by a rival kingdom in the same island— garrisoning rather than governing Ireland— hardly itself emerged from a long and bloody civil war— stiU agitated by questions of succession to the crown-deprived, by the course of social and pohtical events, of its feudal mHitia, and without the substitute of a regular standing army— dependent even for the strength of its navy chiefly on the patriotic enthusiasm of the moment,-the England of Henry VIII, nevertheless stood on a level with the greatest of the continental empires' and the England of EHzabeth obtained among them a foremost place. How shall we account for a result so extraordinary? Many causes may be assigned which, in various degrees, contributed to this end; perhaps they are nearly aU reducible \ LIBRARY T i [ : 1 '-■:»« :', r: i ;; ;■ ii ..■itsairju-;- *^>^. STUDIES AND ILLUSTEATIONS or THE GREAT REBELLION. BT JOHN LANGTON SANFORD, OF LINCOLN'S INN, BAERISTKR-AT-LAW. " Historj comes like a beggarly gleaner in the field, after Death, the great lord of the domain, has gathered the crop with his mighty hand, and lodged it in hia gamer, which no man can open." — Goowiir. V LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER AND SON, WEST STRAND. 1858. £2%« Author re$trv9» ike riffhi qf Translation.'} \ i PREFACE. LONDON : SAYILL AND BDWAKDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, OOYENf OARSEK. £ SS. The present volume embodies some of tlie results of a course of historical investigation commenced more than fifteen years ago. My attention was then drawn to the great discrepancy in the estimates of the character of Oliver Cromwell in the pages of the historical authorities of that day. Being quite at a loss to arrive at any satisfactory conclusions as to the facts on which they based their several judgments of the Protector, I resolved to make for myself as complete a col- lection as possible of his letters, arranging them in chrono- logical order, as a backbone to any farther investigations into his character. Having access to the library of the British Museum, I found this a less difficult but more extensive task than I had anticipated. Besides the standard books on the subject, such works as county histories and the early volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, the Annual Register and the printed papers of the Antiquarian Society supplied me with not a few neglected records of interest ; and the MSS. collections in the Museum yielded a rich additional harvest. At the end of two years I had thus brought together about 300 letters, published and unpub- lished, and had read through and re-punctuated into some sense most of the Protector's printed speeches. Of course 146165 ^ IF PBEFACK illustrative reading and research on the points which thus presented themselves were not neglected, and the general result was a clear conviction that the theory of CromwelFs hypocrisy and selfish ambition was devoid of all support in the real facts. I had carried my studies thus far when, in 1845, the publication of Mr. Carlyle's collection of the Letters and Speeches of Cromwell gave me the results of a similar but independent course of inquiry, and confirmed me in my previous conclusion. Of course this collection contained several letters which were new to me, and, on the other hand, I found that it did not include a considerable number which it had been my good fortune to light upon, and gave others in a less perfect and authentic form. As some of these letters of mine were very interesting, I communicated the fact of their existence to Mr. Carlyle, and placed them at his disposal. They were accordingly included in his second edition (1846), with some other discoveries which I had made in the meantime, such as Cromwell's answer to the Clonmacnoise Manifesto, For the next year or two professional studies left me little time for historical pursuits; but I never lost sight entirely of the object which I had originally proposed to myself. At this point of time family vicissitudes altered altogether my prospects and intended career, and I was led to revert to my old studies, with the hope of being able to mould my previous investigations into a work which might be supplementary to Mr. Carlyle's volumes, and afford a critical refutation of the large mass of calumnious anecdote which still passed for history even in works of such general value and authority as Mr. Forster^s Statesmen of the Coynmon^ wealth. These new investigations made me thoroughly acquainted with the contents of D'Ewes* MS. Journal of the Long Parliament J preserved in the British Museum Library j PREFACE. _ and I then found that the Lives of Pym, Hampden, and many others of that time required re-writing quite as much as that of CromweU. My labours were thus prolonged over an unexpected space of time. In 1848, through the courtesy of the late Dr. Buckland and the Rev. Dr. Bandinel, I had an opportunity of es- ammmg and making extracts from the Tanner MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and the next year the Rt. Hon. Maziere Brady-then Lord Chancellor of Ireland-procured me access, through the late Sir WiUiam Betham, to the for- gotten councU-books of the CromweUs and the Common- wealth in the Record Tower of DubUn Castle. To the Rev. Dr. Todd and several other gentlemen my acknow- ledgments are also due for their courtesy in admitting me to the library of Trinity CoUege, Dublin, and the various record offices in that city. I drew attention to the neglected condition and contents of the Irish council-books in some papers communicated to the Gentleman's Magazine, then under the able editorship of Mr. John Bruce. My new materials, however, had so enlarged my original plan, that when, in 1850, I went through the usual ordeal with the London publishers, they shrank from incurring any nsk m such a speculation, and my MS. was consigned again to the shelves, where it slumbered peacefully for the next five years. I then made another and equaUy unsuccessftd attempt to bring it before the public in a reduced and modi- fied form. I should, perhaps, have accepted this last judg- ment as final, if the publication of Mr. Forster's Historical i'isays, m the present year, had not called my attention to the fact that I had ab-eady lost the credit of historical dis- coveries in which I had anticipated that gentleman by several years; and I accordingly considered that, in justice to myself, I ought no longer to delay placing before the pubUc some portion of my labours, leaving in their hands the i ii< « L il VI PKEFACB. decision of the question whether or not the remainder ghonld follow in due course of time. To prevent misapprehension, I may state that the form originally adopted was that of a Ufe of Oliver Cromwell, and that this was subsequently changed for the plan now employed. The volume merely reproduces in another form some of the matter contained in the MS. of 1850. My acquaintance with the real proceedings on the BiU of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford dates from the summer of 1847. My obligations to the authorities of the British Museum wiU be at once seen, and axe hereby gratefuUy acknowledged. J. LANGTON SANFORD. 3, Brick Court, Temple, Amgmt iU i%tK 18&8. CONTENTS. J tkQH X I. FROM TUDOB TO 8TUABT i 4 II. PUBITANI8M: BELIOIOUS AND SOCIAL 64 III. ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEABS OF KING CHABLES . . . IO3 IV. EABLY LIFE OF OLIVEB CBOMWELL 1 74 V. CONSTITUTIONAL BETUBNS TO THE LONG PARLIAMENT . . 269 VI. STRAFFORD AND PTM 284 VII. PARLIAMENTARY R0YALI8M 380 VIII. THE EARL OF ESSEX 467 IX. LONG-MABSTON MOOB 580 X. CAVALIEB AND BOUNDHEAD LETTEBS : A.D. 1645 .... 616 APPENDIX 631 / STUDIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Of THE GREAT REBELLION. f ERRATA. Page loi, fourth line of second paragraph, /or conformable read compatible. Page 278, second column, /or Oxpoed read Oefoed. L PROM TUDOE TO STUART. nPHERE is, perhaps, in the whole chronicle of history, -i- nothing more remarkable, and at first sight more unac- countable, than the position among European nations occu- pied by England during the sixteenth century. We are so apt to associate inseparably with the name of our country those numerous sources of power and reputation which have been the gradual acquisitions of a long period of growing prosperity, that it escapes our notice that many years before the Kingdom of England sweUed to the dimensions of the British Empire, it had been universally recognised as a first- rate European power. Destitute of outlying colonial pos- sessions—stripped of its French provinces— watched and menaced by a rival kingdom in the same island— garrisoning rather than governing Ireland— hardly itself emerged from a long and bloody civH war— still agitated by questions of succession to the crown— deprived, by the course of social and political events, of its feudal militia, and without the substitute of a regular standing army— dependent even for the strength of its navy chiefly on the patriotic enthusiasm of the moment,— the England of Henry VIII., nevertheless, stood on a level with the greatest of the continental empires,' and the England of Elizabeth obtained among them a foremost place. How shall we account for a result so extraordinary ? Many causes may be assigned which, in various degrees, contributed to this end ; perhaps they are nearly all reducible B jl 2 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. s to the national character itself, as expressed and formed by the national institutions, and by the congenial temperament of its Tudor princes. If we look to more strictly ultimate causes, we shall trace the fortunate destiny of England to a succession and mutual relation of events, and the conscious and unconscious operation of a variety of human motives, in which, if anywhere in the records of history, the hand of a superintending Providence may be clearly discerned. The solid and sluggish Anglo-Saxon, with his practical good sense and perseverance, and his unaspiring self-occupation degenerating into self-indulgence, was roused into bolder enter- prises and wider views of national life and duty by the restless and untameable Danish blood, and the fiery, keen, organized acquisitiveness of the Norman; while he, in his turn, tempered the desultory energies and irregular freedom of the one, and the unscrupidous eagerness of the other, by an in- fusion of routine habits and social responsibilities, and by the restraints of a far-sighted caution and instinctive honesty. Thus constituted, the Englishman was placed in a country in which the memory of Roman civilization and of the ancient dignity of Roman citizenship was not wholly extinct, and in which the traditions of Celtic valour and hospitality had been revived again, in an exaggerated form, by the enemies of the descendants of Cerdic. In his career of conquest the Anglo-Saxon invader eflfectually broke down the provincial dependency on Rome, and substituted for the enervating influences of a foreign and demoralized despotism a rude but home-spun system of self-government. The Danish rover next compelled England, in self-defence, to assert her mari- time supremacy; and when peacefully established on her soil, became the pioneer of her future commerce. He swept away the territorial obstacles to national greatness, only bowing to the supremacy of the princes of Wessex when he had sub- dued and amalgamated to their hands the rival kingdoms of the Heptarchy. That unity which the Dane created terri- torially the Norman effected politically and socially. Upon the ruins of the class-privileges and disabilities of the Saxon his conqueror erected the elaborate structure of feudalism, with its personal gradations of rank and its personal relations between superior and inferior, linking together the whole of society in one vast chain of mutual protection and obliga- tions, and placing every member of it immediately or mediately in individual relations with the sovereign. While thus enabled to grasp rapidly and firmly, on any emergency, the whole of the national resources of wealth and energy, the king was, by a rare combination of circumstances, prevented from turning them against the rising liberties of the nation. When, after the Norman Conquest, the first William scattered his distributions of land among his followers over every portion of England, so as to prevent, as far as possible, the growth of independent countships or duchies in the heart of the kingdom, he had probably before his eyes the state of England in the reign of Edward the Confessor, when the power of the great landed thanes overshadowed and eclipsed that of the crown, and when the family of one great thane successfully aspired to the heirship of the throne. The Conqueror saw, in this politic subdivision of the land, only a method of securing the authority of the crown against the aggressions of its great vassals. He could not have imagined, what is apparent to ourselves, that by thus acting he was really laying the foundation of a state of society which would eventually create the most efficient bulwarks against the encroachments of the crown. Unable to isolate themselves in great and independent duchies, the barons of England were drawn together as a national council around the king ; and an espriUde-corps thus grew up among them which at once supplied that counteracting influence to the royal authority which William had endeavoured to dissipate, and supplied it, not in the name and behalf of one great lord, but as the representative of the whole feudal array of the kingdom, and for the defence of common national interests. While feudalism was in the ascendant, and while through its successive links the immediate feudal lords were the natural chiefs of the nation, the great council of barons fitly and adequately represented the English people. But when feu- dalism decayed, and other interests grew up outside its pale — when especially the policy of the crown and the growth of commerce, concurrently with the increase of the wants of a B 2 FHOM TUDOR TO STUART. more advanced stage of society, had raised to extraordinary prosperity the cities and boroughs, — the encroachments of tyrannical princes rendered it advisable for the great barons to appeal for assistance to the mediate vassals (the gentry) and the middle classes of England. The loss of their pos- sessions in France made Englishmen of these powerful lords; while the distraction of the attention and resources of the English monarchs to the recovery of the French provinces and the conquest of Scotland, gave time for the newly- formed league between the upper and middle classes to attain consistency and experience, and control the expenditure of the crowB under the form ^f two Houses of Parliament. A national interest in national affairs was thus preserved and extended through all the influential classes of England, and a government was established in which the House of Commons held the balance and preserved the equilibrium between the crown and the aristocracy without itself possessing that excessive amount of power which might bring upon it the combined assault of the other branches. Thus the English Constitution grew up to a powerful maturity, and the influence of all three bodies within the walls of Parliament represented most happily their position without. The effect of the national spirit thus created and sustained on the reputation of England in foreign countries was extra- ordinary. The martial renown of the country was raised to a high pitch, and its commercial ascendency was permanently secured. The personal gallantry of our Anglo-Norman kings, and the chivalric qualities of the great princes who contended with the House of Valois for the sceptre of France, were fostered, if not actually produced, by those national influences in. the midst of which they had been brought up. . As leaders of so high-spirited and indomitable a race of warriors, their achievements and those of their followers soon became widely knoivn. The Crusades carried the name of England and her soldiers into the remotest comers of the East ; and the su- periority acquired by the English monarchs on these occasions over the rival sovereigns of the West contributed not a little to the position which this country subsequently assumed in European estimation. The age of chivalry brought into still FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 5 more striking and favourable contrast the military array of England with that of the Continent. Independently of the individual feats of arms of the knights and esquires of England in those dangerous contests of the 'flower of European chivalry' which lent lustre to every court-festival, the recollection was not soon lost of those fields of glory in which the vast armies of France succumbed to that impene- trable and irresistible phalanx in which English baron, burgher, and yeoman fought side by side, inspired by one common national interest. The name of England became associated in the mind of Europe with the idea of military superiority, without regard to her comparative territorial insignificancy. At the same time she drew to her shores, as to a secure and profitable mart, all the commercial activity of the civilized world. The quick-witted merchants of foreign countries were not slow in discovering that in England, more than in any country, commerce was placed under the guardianship of the law, and was preserved alike from the rude rapine of the great lords and from the arbitrary tallages of the crown. With security to their goods, justice to their commercial obligations became possible to our merchants and traders, and the credit of England soon stood as high among the merchants as her valour among the princes and soldiers of Europe. With good credit came wealth, and with this an increase in the comforts of life; so that the household magnificence of these singular islanders became as proverbial on the Continent as the freedom enjoyed by all classes was a subject of observation with every traveller. Of course most of these advantages were but comparative, and even in that point of view were somewhat exaggerated ; still they com- bined to give to England at the commencement of the six- teenth century her leading position in Europe. But there was also another cause — the personal character of the princes of the House of Tudor, and their anomalous position with respect to the English Constitution. They were the absolute monarchs of a free people. The constitutional liberties of Englishmen, achieved during a long struggle against the power of the crown, were at length undisputed by the sovereign; yet the king's prerogative was at its most FROM TUDOR TO STUART. extended limits, and was never before so cheerfully acquiesced in by tbe nation. It is difficult for any but contemporaries to entirely fathom the causes of this anomaly ; and contem- poraries were, as we may easily understand, almost un- conscious of its existence. Some explanation, however, may be given, and some definite propositions established. We may say at once, then, that there was scarcely an occasion, down to the middle of the reign of Elizabeth, on which any strong Mrish of the crown was thwarted by opposition in Parliament or in the body of the nation. Such exceptions as occur serve partially to explain this remarkable fact, and to corroborate the next assertion which we may make, that the English Constitution never lost during this period its substantially free character, and that the English people were never other than practically free. Were this not so, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to explain the abrupt transition to a state of abject slavery from one of long-cherished and deeply-rooted liberty. It must be remembered that, ever since the memorable contest which produced the first great charter of constitutional freedom, the nation, under various leaders, had been engaged in a nearly continuously successful struggle. Immimity from taxation, except through a parlia- mentary channel — privilege of Parliament, securing to its members the right of free speech and personal protection from the consequences of their free speaking — ministerial responsibility, and the right of parliamentary impeachment, — had been successively wrung from the necessities of the sovereign; and the first, at least, had been firmly es- tablished. The most crafty and the most warlike kings had alike bowed to this national power. In four reigns armed insurrection had successfully defied the power of the crown : twice had a sovereign been solemnly deposed from the throne; once had a dynasty been erected on a parlia- mentary basis ; and again and again had the validity of that title and the pretensions of its rival been the subject of debates and acts of Parliament. The House of Tudor reigned by a parliamentary rather than an hereditary title, and was supported through its early years against the more 'legitimate' pretensions of the inheritors of the House of V FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 7 York by the national will alone. Many of the sources from which constitutional liberty derived her sustenance had been largely swollen with the increasing prosperity of the people. Serfdom had nearly disappeared, and the ranks of the middle classes were every year strengthened by accessions from those beneath. The power of the pen was beginning to be felt, and literature was already aspiring to become the guardian of the national interests as well as the educator of the national taste. The first throes of the forthcoming religious birth were already felt, and the national mind was fermenting with fresh materials of thought and action. This was not the time when we should anticipate a national degra- dation under a yoke which less-instructed ages had abhorred and broken. At any rate, we should expect to find some great and significant revolution interposing between the reigns of the later Plantagenets and the earlier Tudors, and sweeping away the ancient liberties of the nation. No such event took place ; but the social revolution which actually occurred is sufficient to explain in a great measure the political results which are at first sight so bewildering. One great depository and organ of the national interests, and one member of the Parliament had been annihilated. The great barons of England had disappeared during the civil wars of the Red and White Roses. The actual slaughter of peers of Parliament on the battle- field had been very great ; and of those who escaped from the dangers of open combat, many perished by the hand of the executioner or assassin. Whole families were exter- minated; others were reduced to a few yoimger branches, glad to purchase safety by the obscurity of a lower rank. Where families still continued to exist, they frequently ceased to be 'families' in the technical acceptation of the term. Stripped of a large portion of their estates, or ruined by heavy fines, the representatives of the Plantagenet barons were soon lost in the mass of the population, and in a gene- ration or two their historic names subsided into the un- honoured catalogue of traders and menials. New laws, and an astute and rigorous application of old ones, destroyed a large portion of the old entails, and facilitated in numerous 8 raOM TUDOR TO STUART. ways the transference of landed property. A new ' gentry - arose, principally drawn from prosperous traders, inde- pendent yeomen, and wealthy tenantry, who purchased the freeholds of their lands on the downfaU of their haronial landlords. These were augmented by the ' new men,' upon whom royal favour bestowed grants of the confiscated estates of the older aristocracy, and who were frequently drawn from the lowest ranks of the people. From the new class thus formed the leaders of the House of Commons would thence- forth be naturaUy derived. Shrewd practical men of business, they brought to their new sphere of action admirable qualifi- cations for quietly working the political machine, but Httle capacity for, or appreciation of, broader constitutional ques- tions. In their previous thriving career the majority of them had been conversant chiefly with the special incidents of one narrow walk of life, and in their subordinate position had felt but indirectly the throbbings of the great constitu- tional struggle. They accepted the Constitution as the Tudors themselves did, as the settled order of things, the result of the ' wisdom of their ancestors,' which by their feudal or family traditions they were bound to defend ; and a majority of them entertained a vague apprehension of the possible consequences of a direct and uncloaked \dolation of Its provisions. But they had not participated in the counsels which achieved the various steps of its consolidation, and were incapable of appreciating the insidious approaches of old dangers in new shapes, i'ew of them were disposed to scrutinize suspiciously the actions or motives of the crown ; most of them were inclined to regard favourably anything proceeding from that quarter. The aggrandized merchant ' or tradesman had a fresh remembrance of the charters and other privileges which the poUcy of recent sovereigns had granted to the boroughs as the price of their allegiance in times of civil struggle. The 'Wars of the Roses' had (thanks to the wise forbearance of both parties) left the towns in comparative tranquiUity. The struggle had been one of the great barons and their retainers, and its results had been acquiesced in by the towns (with the exception of one or two of the greatest, such as London and York) with equanimity and FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 9 indifference. They had continued to flourish in the midst of civil anarchy, and had fallen back more and more on their old Saxon local life and self-government, regarding the king as the head of the state, and not troubling themselves about his particular name or pretensions. Still they must have ex- perienced considerable inconvenience from the proximity of victorious and beaten armies, and from the interrupted com- munication between town and town. The Tudors, therefore were welcomed by them as abaters of a public nuisance ; and they were wiUing to overlook stretches of royal prerogative (whenever conscious of them), if exercised in the cause of repressive order and in curbing aristocratic insolence, and not avowedly with despotic objects or attended with personal privations to themselves. The ' new men,' in gratitude for past, and in the hope of future favours, were bent on frirthering aU royal projects. The enfranchised tenantry looked to the peerage as their next step ; and with the anxious and restless consciousness oi parvenus, felt that every accession to the royal dignity and power would lend additional stability and consideration to their own status. What could the broken and reduced 'following' of the old families and the older free- holders effect in this tide of politic loyalty? They were, for the most part, too busily engaged in endeavouring to secure or mend their own fortunes, to pay much attention to nicer constitutional questions. The old tie between the Houses of Parliament was broken, and the House of Commons had be- come a pliant tool in the hands of the crown. The close connexion between the old barons and the Commons has been little remarked. From the time of Edward III., at any rate, the House of Lords had endeavoured to control the deliberations of the Commons, by an inftision of their own vassals into the Lower House. A system of interference with elections had sprung up ; and, naturally enough, the over- shadowing power of the neighbouring baron had been usually sufficient to determine the decision of the borough. Hence the great families were represented in both Houses, and were guided in their consultations, to a great extent, by a common policy. The family and retaina^ of ' the Nevile' and ' the Clifford' occupied no small portion of the benches 11 Nil 10 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. ii;i in the one House, while their chiefs sat in the other. But with their downfall the boroughs reverted for a time to their independence, or fell under the influence of crown fevourites, or became marketable to crown officials. Thus not only was one House of Parliament winnowed, but the leading element in the other was converted from an instrument of aristocratic, to one of royal, aggrandizement. One fraction, indeed, of the Upper House survived the ac- cession of the House of Tudor, which (however enfeebled by want of co-operation) might have preserved to some extent the germs of an independent authority. The church, with her baronial bishops and abbots, still stood erect, and, to an outward observer, as strong as ever. In her preferments the upper and lower classes had long found a common field of ambition. Drawn from both, she had successftdly mediated between them, and had frequently been their powerftd ally against the crown. Her peculiar and undefined relation to Rome, distasteful in other respects to the national pride, had, nevertheless, given her a certain independent position with reference to the crown. She had no longer, it is true, her Beckets to beard a king in the plenitude of his power ; but the tradition of the spirit which animated Becket long survived its practical embodiment. Supported by the state, yet independent of state control to the utmost extent compatible with the free spirit inherent in the nation, she occupied in the persons of her most distin- guished members some of the highest posts in the civil government. The struggles of the Lollards had lost their former significance in the country ; and, instead of being able to rely on the support of a party in the Houses of Parliament, and a prince of the reigning family, the existence of that heresy was only revealed by the public executions by which it was most injudiciously attempted to extirpate its remaining adherents. Some disgust had begun to be excited in the popular mind by the frequent recurrence to that convenient form of argument ; but this compassionate feeling did not assume a character which would have justified the most san- guine Lollard in regarding it as an omen of the approaching downfall of his oppressor, until other grievances were thrown FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 11 into the balance. The state of many of the religious houses, and the irregular and dissolute conduct of the clergy, had roused the attention of the Holy See itself; and as long as hope of reformation from that quarter remained, public indig- nation was to some degree suspended. The disagreement between the ecclesiastical and civil powers, as to the exemp- tion of the clergy from the jurisdiction of the common law, terminated for a time in a compromise, which showed the vast power still possessed by the church, and the danger to individuals of an opposition to her wishes. Still subsequent events proved that her security and strength were more appa- rent than real. It was an unfavourable symptom that she should have been obliged to exhibit the full extent of her power to secure her victory. Defeat under such circimi- stances was only an incentive to renewed exertion on the part of the defeated ; and all hopes of allaying discontent speedily disappeared. No amelioration took place in the conduct of the clergy, and indignation against them naturally led to distrust of their authority and doctrines. The stem followers of Wickliffe then met with a more favourable ear, and the spirit of Lollardism almost imperceptibly gained ground in the hearts of the people. That this ill-feeling towards the church, smouldering under the apparently firm surface of English society, did not sooner burst into a flame throughout the land, was owing in a great measure to the changed cha- racter of the Houses of Parliament which has been already spoken of. The House of Lords now contained a new nobi- lity, gradually created by the Tudors, whose claim to promo- tion arose from personal services to the sovereign, and who, therefore, in each reign, partook in their origin of the policy pursued by the particular monarch. Attainders and confis- cations were the groundwork of most of their fortunes ; and with the body of the nation they possessed little sympathy. In constant attendance on the court, they lost the hold of their predecessors on the local afiections of the people. Their property speedily dissipated in reckless expenditure, they became more and more dependent on royal bounty for support ; while the vicissitudes of their fortunes, under the frowns and smiles of royal caprice, effectually prevented them 12 I^OM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. u from assuming the character of a permanent and significant estate of the realm. It is evident that from this mushroom nobility no murmur would be heard against ecclesiastical abuses untH the king first gave the signal. The House of Commons, we have seen, was similarly at the beck of the crown ; and he must have been a bold man indeed who would have ventured to initiate such a discussion, with the terrors of excommimicationbeforehis eyes, and without far more powerful support than the feeble approval of such an assembly. Nor in the nation at large was there any great inclination, or, indeed, any organization to enter on an enterprise of so novel a character as a single-handed contest with the church. In short, the king alone was in a position to take the initiative on this occasion, and be the exponent of public opinion. If assured, indeed, of the reverence and respect of the mass of the population, the church might have safely defied the utmost anger of the Tudors ; but having once lost these, she was at their mercy. Henry VIII., during the early part of his reign, had, with one exception, supported the cause of the church. That one exception should have warned the court of Rome on what basis rested her protection from the English monarch. It was when, from the decision of the judges of England who represented the justice of the king. Cardinal Wolsey suggested that an appeal should be made to the Holy See. Henry, who felt that his royal dignity was thus en- croached upon, rejected the counsel in very significant language. Again the court of Rome crossed the feelings of the king on a more strictly personal question, though with more specious reason; and then, when he had taken the initiative against the church, it appeared how wide-spread and deep-rooted had been the ill-feeling towards much of the Roman-catholic ecclesiastical system, and how little, when the Pope's authority was in danger, that potentate could rely on the support of the nation. The overthrow of the church of Rome, which followed, added new power to the already exorbitant prerogative of the king. Wealth, lands, patronage, a fresh sphere of authority where men had hitherto most implicitly obeyed, were at once added to the crown of Henry. Is it to be wondered at, under these circumstances, that. without any overt encroachment by the Tudors on the limita tions of the Constitution, they should have virtuaUy enioved an absolute authority ? ^ J J But great as this authority was, it could not have been wielded by any princes less sagacious than the Tudors with out provoking an opposition in the nation which would have proved fatal to its continuance. Indeed, it was on the character of the Tudor princes themselves, and the manner m which they appreciated the sources and tacit conditions of their extended prerogative, that this royal absolutism afrer all real y rested; and by this alone can its tolerance be at aU reconciled with the free spirit of the nation. The Tudors more especiaUy Henry VIII. and his greater daughter Eliza- beth, with a strongly-marked character and will of their own thoroughly appreciated the spirit of the nation, and parti- cipated sufficiently in some of its leading characteristics to command the national confidence and sympathy. PersonaUv brave, they did not appeal in vain to the respect always paid by the people to animal courage. Crafty and dissembling they had wisdom enough to prevent the nation from ever imagining that it was itself the subject of their deceit. Not unfrequently mean in individual cases, they were generous in the eye of the public. Arrogant and overbearing where a display of such feelings was likely to override opposition they had a keen perception of cases where insolence would be indignantly resented, and carefuUy avoided any such doubt- ftU coUisions. These are less pleasing features of their cha- racter. But they had also, along with their personal selfish- ness, a strongly Mi^lisk feeling, which made them identify the elevation of their country with their own glory This feehng lent a dignity to their very vanity. It was the UnolM Harry and Elizabeth who prided themselves on bein/the handsomest and stateliest, as weU as the wisest of European sovereigns. With the royal magnificence and frank courtesy Of the Celtic monarchs, whose blood they boasted of inherit- ing, they combmed the proud patriotism of the Anglo- Norman kings. Under their auspices the reputation of England should never be lowered; nor in their persons should her dignity be insulted or sHghted. National dis- 14 TROM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 15 grace was to them equivalent to personal degradation ; nor to obtain their most cherished personal wish would either of these princes stoop to national dishonour. In their bearing to the people there was the same mixture of dignity and state-craft that characterized their dealings with foreign states. They could at once rebuke without offending, and yield without humiliation. With this princely demeanour was combined, in both Henry and Elizabeth, a gay and even boisterous affability to those about them. The king and queen of England lived as the personal and confidential firiends of their courtiers and nobles, and in the midst of their subjects of every rank. Neither was inaccessible to the lowest Englishman, and their courtesy to all classes won more deference to the royal authority than could have been secured by any alteration in the letter of the Constitution. It was by thus bringing their own personal character to bear immediately on the popular mind, by making themselves the embodiments and representatives of the popular will, and by carefully accommodating the general bent of their policy to the dominant feelings of the nation, that the Tudors con- trived to exercise without dispute their enlarged authority. They avoided all collision with popular prejudices, and as much as possible abstained from violation of the forms of the Constitution. They preferred making the nation itself an instrument in the carrying out of their most arbitrary proceedings. They preferred, as a general rule, acts of Par- liament to acts in council. They struck at individuals, and not at laws or institutions. In general, indeed, we may say, that under the Tudors, and especially Elizabeth,- public privileges and laws were respected, but the rights of indi- viduals were subject to unjust aggressions. In most cases where the prerogative she exercised stepped beyond the limits of the former, we shall find this encroachment was rather permissive than assumed as of right — personal, rather than attached to the idea of the office. In fact, the faults of Elizabeth's government were those of democratic, or, as they are sometimes called, 'popular' governments. Where public sympathy, or a feeling of public rights, could be en- listed in the cause of the individual, he was secure from attacks on his liberty, and practically lived under a strictly limited monarchy ; where he was, by circumstances or his own character, removed from the shelter of these, he lived in a state of liberty which depended greatly on the will of an absolute, but not on the whole tyrannical, monarch. These characteristics of the Tudors and their government apply more particularly to Henry VIII. and Elizabeth ; but also in a less degree to the other sovereigns of that family. Henry VII. and Mary were indeed wanting in the more genial features of this picture, and consequently (if they avoided any great unpopularity) did not rouse any very enthusiastic feelings of attachment on their behalf. In Henry VII. the caution and reserve dictated by the perils and vicissitudes of his early life, gave an imdue prominence to the less-pleasing Tudor peculiarities. But there was a grave, self-possessed dignity in his government, which was eminently calculated to compose the troubled surface of society. Mary, unfortunately, by the circumstances of her mother's divorce, was bound up irretrievably with the preju- dices and wrongs of a particular party, and the abortive attempt on the part of the protestant oligarchy of the reign of Edward to exclude her from the throne, embittered her at the outset against the faith of which they were the leaders, and narrowed still more an intellect already more intense than wide. But in great emergencies Mary showed a truly royal spirit, worthy of the greatest of the Tudors. It was her own determination and spirit which really secured her succession and preserved her throne through a short but troubled reign. Her conduct in the crisis of Wyatt's in- surrection calls forth the just admiration of the chronicler Holinshed. ' More than marvel it was,' he says, ' to see that day the invincible heart and constancy of the queen herself, who, being by nature a woman, and therefore commonly more fearftd than men be, showed herself in that case more stout than is credible. For she, notwithstanding all the fearfiil news that were brought to her that day, never abashed. Insomuch that, when one or two noblemen, being her cap- tains, came in all haste to tell her (though untruly) that her battles were yielded to Wyatt, she, nothing moved thereat. 16 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. said it was their fond opinion that durst not come near to the trial ; saying further, that she herself would enter the field to try the truth of her quarrel, and to die with them that would serve her, rather than to yield one iota unto such a traitor as Wyatt was ; and prepared herself accordingly/ It must also be said in behalf of Mary, that, if she fell below the Tudor standard in breadth of intellect, she rose above it in the quality of sincerity. Edward VI. was too much under the guidance of others, and died at too early an age, to enable us to form any very precise idea of the specialities of his character. He seems, however, to have been as narrow a Protestant as Mary was a Catholic ; to have been equally sincere, but to have exhibited his earnestness rather in intense obstinacy than in fiery zeal. Like all the Tudors, he was learned and accomplished, in something more than the ordinary accepta- tion of the term; but seems to have been rather stiffly pedantic. Henry VIII. was a very diflPerent man in his earlier and later days ; but his cruelties in the latter part of his reign fell on those in high places, rather than on the nation at large ; and being generally exercised on those who were unpopular,' did not affect the feeling entertained by the mass of the popu- lation, which continued to be cordial towards him to the very end. Elizabeth inherited much of the spirit as well as the power of her father ; and it is to the former, combined with higher qualities of mind, that we must attribute the extent to which she virtually preserved the latter. One great support which she possessed was the deep conviction in the national mind that she governed well. The French ambassador, M. de Bouillon, in the picture which he gives to his court of the state of England at that time, perceives with great keenness this source of the royal power. ' The nobihty,' he says, ' are deeply in debt, especiaUy through extravagance in dress and servants; merchants purchase the possessions of the nobles, persons of rank make humble marriages, and the lower classes of the people are comparatively very rich, inas- much as they Uve well indeed, but yet with economy, and are in no wise oppressed with many taxes. The towns increase through commerce. The government,' he continues, ' is en- FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 17 tirely m the hands of the queen, who has at the same time estabhshed a wonderful obedience to herself, and is uncom- monly loved and honoured by the people. The ParHament has usually had great consideration in the kingdom, but now turns Itself whichever way the queen wiUs. The prelates are dependent, the barons few in number. Neither dare to displease her, and the people has had such experience of the mildness and convenience of her government, that it grants her everything at a wish.' It will be at once seen that this is a description of a free people voluntarily submitting itself to the guidance of a wise and beloved ruler. ' The general prosperity of her reign,' said John Pym, in later years, ' overshadowed small errors and innovations.'— ^ That never-to-be-foi^otten, excellent Queen Elizabeth,' exclaimed his fellow-patriot Sir John Eliot, ^ whose name without admiration falls not into men- tion even with her enemies ! You know how she advanced herself, and how she advanced this nation in glory and in state ; how she depressed her enemies, and how she upheld her friends; how she enjoyed a full security and made them then our scorn who now are made our terror !'—^ Queen Elizabeth, of famous memory— we need not be ashamed to call her so !— that great queen,' said the Protector Cromwell to one of his ParUaments. 'No alteration in church or state,' writes the ambassador Beaumont, in the last year of her reign, ' is to be expected as long as she lives ; for she is not merely loved but worshipped.'— ' The good EUzabeth,' he writes, regretfuUy, in the reign of her successor, ' whose memory one cannot sufficiently honour.' These are testi- monies to the general impression left by the government of Elizabeth, which go far to explain the ascendency of the crown during her reign. So far from government and autho- rity being in themselves things from which a nation naturally shrinks, it always requires some great mismanagement in the exercise, or deficiency in the standard, to call forth any expression of popular resentment. The mass of the people really interest themselves little as to the exact limits of the sphere of action of a government, when its efforts are sensibly felt to be exerted for the public good. Hence it is that c Ifi FROM TUBOR TO STUART. under tlie reign of a great and wise prince there may ensue a sluggishness and political indiflPerence among the people, resulting from too implicit reliance on their ruler, and too little exercise of their own understandings, which would be of very great mischief were it uninterrupted. Anything is to be earnestly avoided which tends to withdraw from the body of the nation that wholesome activity of spirit which is the life-spring of its lasting prosperity. This danger is more especially to be apprehended when the limits of the action of the ruler and the people are somewhat indefinite, and have been apt to enlarge or diminish with the strength or weakness of one or the other. These limits may be, to a certain extent, defined by prescribed statutes ; but there is always a running commentary on them in the spirit of each successive age, which really interprets their meaning in a more monarchical or popular sense. Elizabeth herself never confounded the respect paid to hr good government with the general respect which might be thought the due of any sort of government. Her pride may have had some influence in inducing her to treat the deference she obtained as personal rather than official. Unlike other monarchs temporarily invested with an extended prerogative, she careMly avoided magnifying her authority in words at the expense of the traditionary liberties of the nation. Satisfied with the possession of substantial power, and in defending this dealing only with particular cases, she seldom indulged herself in the dangerous luxury of promulgating despotic theories or maxims of government. She suffered the political structure to remain, to outward appearance, in the same proportions, and she made it the stepping-stone to her own will. She anticipated and prevented, in a great measure, the promulgation of any popular principles in dan- gerous quarters, by attoning the voice of the throne itself in accordance with the liberties of the people. This courtesy was reciprocated ; and the people scrupled not to magnify, in words as weU as fa^t, a prerogative from which they had experienced great good and dreaded little harm. If you wish to have a recognition of the rights of the commonalty, you will ordinarily find it in the royal and ministerial speeches at FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 19 the commencement or close of sessions of Parliament ; if you wish to point out the real power possessed by the crown, you wiU find its hearty acknowledgment in the speeches of the members of the House of Commons. It has been afready remarked, that it was in the cases of iso- lated individuals that the prerogative of the Tudors was oppres- sive ; and in this respect it often overleapt the boundaries of the law. But, besides those prosecutions in which the body of the nation was not immediately interested, and those in which any excess of punishment was rather gratifying than other- wise, from the iU-wiU borne by the masses to the individual victims, there were also classes of cases in which the queen's will and the prejudices of the people walked hand-in-hand, and where justice, mercy, the law of England, and the higher law of right, of which it should be the reflexion, were vio- lently thrown aside. The mind of every reader wiU at once revert to the unhappy state of the Roman-catholics during the reign of Elizabeth and her successors. Cruelty, which in Mary's reign preserved at least the EngUsh character of death in the open day, in the presence of the thousands on whose reason or fears the sad spectacle was intended to act„ under Elizabeth lurked in the secret places of dungeons, and,*^ compared with its real extent, seldom appeared before the eye of the English people. The simple but pathetic inscriptions which stiU remain on our old prison waUs, track but imper- fectly the concealed wickedness which was perpetrated within their limits. The guilt of these cruelties against the Catholics must be equaUy divided between the monarch and the nation ; but there is another class, those directed against the Puritans,' in which the just odium rests on the queen and her advisers alone. Passing by, however, for the present, the puritan persecu- tions, a word or two should be said on certain aspects of the Roman-cathoHc question, in which some slight palliation of the iniquity of the proceedings of the queen may be suggested. Religious persecution in the reign of Elizabeth was so much mixed up with the question of civil patriotism, that it is at times extremely difficult to decide between the two ideas. The sight of the Roman-catholic priest, enduring with heroic C 2 20 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. firmness tlie cruel imprisonment or ignominious death which the government inflicted on him, is doubtless calculated to excite our earnest sympathy in his behalf, and our liveliest indignation against his oppressors. But here steps in the question of patriotism. The victim of religious bigotry dis- appears, and in his place we see the rebel to the authority of his sovereign, the traitor to the dignity and independence of his country, the intriguer with Rome and Spain, the slave and tool of a foreign power. The French ambassador Beau- mont declares against the conduct of the Jesuits. 'It is not,' he says, writing in July, 1602, 'necessary to be a bad subject to be a good Christian. Obstinacy, bad disposition, indiscreet zeal for the catholic religion, have brought that sect in England to desti-uction. They not merely refused to acknowledge and obey the queen, but entered into conspira- cies of all kinds against her person, and into alliances with enemies of the kingdom, in order to effect her downfall. Thus, instead of earning from her indulgence and support, they have provoked the queen in such fashion, that she was compelled, on behalf of her own security, to practise severity, and to take from them all liberty.' We must remember that undoubtedly many of the Roman- catholic clergy held that the sentence of excommunication against Elizabeth, pronoimced by the Vatican, dissolved any bond of allegiance, and rendered lawful every means, however odious in itself, when employed against her person and govern- ment. We are compelled to associate with that government the only means of opposition to the degrading doctrine, that on the ultimate approval or disapproval of an Italian poten- tate rested the succession to the throne of England, and that to this power belonged the right of bestowing on a foreign and hated prince the appanage of the crown of our country, when the Holy See deemed the actual occupier of it unworthy of the delegated trust. The right divine of kings has met with warm supporters in this land ; but the trans- ference of this divine selection to the popes, as the repre- sentatives 'on earth of the Deity, could not be so easily tolerated. But, of the Roman-catholic sufferers during this reign, some will be by no means excluded from our sympathy I-ROM TUDOR TO STUART. 21 under this plea. For, whatever may be alleged by Burleigh as to the theory by which the queen's advisers were guided, it is quite certain that practically the rule of this English inquisition was stretched over numerous persons, who cannot by any specious argument be brought under the head of political offenders. Undoubtedly, however, the strongest argument that can be urged in palliation of these persecu- tions, is the impossibility at that time of forming a calm judgment on the subject, amidst the passions excited by the recent influence of the Roman-catholic doctrines on social life. It is to the baneful effects produced in the family circle by the intrusion of priestly authority within its precincts, that must be attributed the peculiar virulence with which the priests were hunted from county to county, driven from the country, and sought to be extirpated like wild beasts. It was this feeling which gave almost a moral sanction to the penal laws by which the Roman-catholic priesthood were pursued down to comparatively recent times. It was the notion that, as long as a priest remained within the boundaries of this country, no moral tie was secure from being broken, and no moral principle in any one safe from the fear of per- version, which made men the most gentle and kind-hearted assume the aspect of cruel inquisitors, and astonishes us with the bitterest words of narrow intolerance from the lips of patriots the most enlightened and free-spirited. At eveiy period the Roman-catholic system must have pressed hea^dly on social life ; but when it was applied to the government of men of rude action and coarser feelings, the bondage, how- ever pernicious in some respects, had at least the merit of restraining or softening the otherwise unbridled passions of the laity, and of preserving in their minds some sense of moral duty, however low this might be. But when the energy of the mind took the lead of mere bodily strength, and when from an age of crusading warriors England passed into the era of thoughtful students, the Roman-catholic system loses its redeeming quality in the social relations, and the despotism which before we can hardly regret, becomes very like a moral crime. There can be little doubt, also, that the agitation attendant on the Reformation had the effect of ^\ V ■\ n PROM TUDOB TO STCART. giving fresh life to some of the more obnoxious tenets and practices of Romanism which had been little realised or insisted upon in preceding centuries. The peculiarities of church doctrine and discipline were more dwelt upon, and made of greater importance; and the management of the Roman-catholic church in England naturaQy passed into the hands of the most uncompromising zealots of the party. The origin of the English Reformation in a denial of the authority of the pope, inevitably gave an intensely Botnisk character to the most earnest of its opponents, and had the effect of paralysing, as far as the authorized voices of the church were concerned, that old English-hearted catholic party which, however inconsistently, had for several centu- ries withstood the papal usurpations while honestly accepting the doctrines (or rather the general authority) of the Papal church. The anger of the nation, from which all Catholics more or less suffered, was roused by and directed specially against the exaggerated Catholicism of the sixteenth century. These considerations, though they do not excuse, should make us hesitate to pass too severe a judgment on the con- duct of our ancestors. At any rate, it would be unfair, without some explanation, to stigmatize by the name of religious persecutions the errors of a nation maddened by alarm for the safety of its religious, social, and political freedom. But if these remarks at all explain the reason of the per- secution which the Roman-catholics encountered at the hands of the government and the puritan party, they do not justify the means to which a blind fear prompted them to have recourse. If we had the antecedents of those days more vividly before our eyes, we might indeed be led to concede that some coercive measures towards the Roman- catholic priesthood were then justifiable and strictly necessary; but every one will feel that no reason can justify, even if what has been said should be held to palliate the tyrannical and unconstitutional instruments which were called into action to do the work of protestant vengeance. In the Puritans especially, the support which, in most instances, they lent to these illegal proceedings in the case of the FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 23 Catholics, must be considered in the light of religious infa- tuation, since they were only sharpening the weapons for their own necks. The same machinery was called into play to crush freedom of thought, which had been instituted apparently for the purpose of protecting civil and social liberty. There can be no question as to the utter incom- patibility with the true prosperity of a nation of a jurisdic- tion usurped over the thoughts of the mind, and attempted to be set up in the heart in lieu of conscience, — guided by no legal rules — at once the slave of passion and the arbiter of truth — confounding the functions of the accuser and the judge — and following up a course of prosecution wholly opposed to English law by the practice of torture, which that law, by the mouth of its earlier expositors, ' takes for servile,^ and on that account expressly declares to be illegal in free England. Such a jurisdiction was that of the courts of the Star-chamber and the High Commission. Illegal and unconstitutional as both these courts practically were, it must still be observed that the Tudors had obtained for them the basis of parliamentary authority, and that while this admits the power of Parliament to revoke such grants, and to remove the courts, the breach of trust actually committed by the commissioners was at their own peril, and they might at any time be called to a severe reckoning, should the attention of the public be specially directed to some particular instances of their tyranny. The reign of Elizabeth, however, was not destined to afford throughout merely the spectacle of an absolute authority exercised by the crown with the passive acquiescence of the nation. A new power arose, which, although its influence was less in this reign than in the succeeding, still made its existence distinctly felt, even by the great queen herself. Dearly purchased had been the triumph achieved by royalty in England in the overthrow of the papal supremacy. While emancipating themselves from a yoke which was as galling to their personal pride as it was distastefrd to the national feelings, the House of Tudor called into vitality a new restraint on the prerogative of the sovereign, and supplied that animating cause the absence of which had hitherto prevented 24 FROM TUDOB TO STUABT. rZr,l ^ •*•. ^""^^^ '"^^^"^^^^ '"^'•^'y t° "Avenge ape«omJ mjury and gratify a despotic wiU by availing Wlf of a vulnerable point in the church of Rome. A B^onL. )^ ^'•P'^macy and interference of a foreign hkZ; w 5^^ ^r^'°* '"^ ^"S^***^ ''* ^ stages of her mlrr "" ^"''*'**''' ""^ ^"^ '*^ gratification involved no kwoiTT T'^r ''^ th'- a severance from E«me, ^we^ir .T' "'" ^""^ ^^ *° *^«f«' t''^ ^hole papal St Z T ^T""" *" '^' ^^S; and the only ILt Sl'IdtYg^^dfiLtfT^^^^ ^^^''"^^•^ «^ ^'"^ of tl,« „t 1^ ^gg'^dizement of the crown at the expense iLul lm r^""^;. ^"* '^ "«« °«* the case • for though the Tudors could take the power from Rome thev could no transfer it entire to Richmond. The s^U of infaU bdity was broken, and it was useless for a rebel from Im aJlegiance to preach impUcit obedience. One of th^ means employed by Hemy to subvert the power oJ Rome rtheTJh r"'^ authority, the pubUcation of the bS m the English tongue. It was no hard matter to show that (whatever its foundation in tradition) the domination If the Pope had no authority from the pages of Holy Writ but it ^ not easy to prevent men who read thus far! from ^ealg forth^ and .magimng that they discovered the absence of I i^?r^ i"*^"' ""^^ ceremonies which it did not enter T p' ^^' ?'^' "^ ^'"^ <^^^'- Besides, the rS from Rome brought the English nation into nearer commSL vn^ the foreign Reformers, whose systems had been fr^^ churS^ C '^ ^P""^* differences from the Papal Church. Prom a question touching on the principle of civil aspect of a question of church ceremonies and government a^d growing up with this, but at first only partSy ~d' arwe a discussion on points of doctrine. ^y ™o«ted, nf ,^"7' meanwhilcseemed determined that the Reformation of the Enghsh church should simply keep pace ^thTst^ FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 25 personal interests. The old Lollard opinions had revived with the downfall of their oppressors, and agreed negatively on many points with Luther and Calvin. In most of these in- stances Henry saw no reason for departing from the stan- dard of Rome. This being the ease, any attempt to do so without royal license was punished as heresy ; and thus, to the end of his reign, he hung Roman-catholics as rebels for asserting the continuance of the authority of the Bishop of Rome, and burnt Protestants as heretics for denying doctrines, and laying aside observances, the reception of which, with most men, rested on the basis of the infallibility of that bishop ! But this balance of parties, depending so much on grounds personal to himself, could continue only during Henry's life. A minority threw the power of the state, for six years, into the hands of the protestant party, the young king's uncles and chief councillors of state being of that faith. Thus the work of Reformation proceeded much further in this reign ; and assuming more of a religious character, seemed to be approximating to the model of the foreign Protestant churches. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that in more than one instance the zeal of the reforming government outstripped the wishes and convictions of the majority of the nation. The death of the young king wrought a great change. The re- storation and ascendency of the old religion, during the brief sway of Mary, purified the principles of the Reformation through a fiery trial, and fixed them on a firmer and nobler foundation. Although it is absurd to attribute the previous changes of religious opinion in England merely to the caprice of the king, yet since this had been the instrument by means of which they first gained any degree of freedom in their play, a slur had hitherto rested on the motives, and a doubt had existed as to the sincerity, of the new converts. It was now seen that, although many had adopted their religious creed merely as they would some new court fashion, and hence readily threw it off to resume the early habits which were again in favour in high places, yet there existed a by no means inconsiderable body of men, of all grades of society, who had imbibed the spirit as well as the outward form of Protes- tantism^ and who were ready to sacrifice honours and life for 26 FROM TUDOR TO STtTAHT. T. f'^f'^^'' ^^''^' Worldly interest had given place to t^e dread of an accusing conscience, and when the favour of the court and the law of Christ (as they read it) stood in antagonistic attitudes, they preferred the latter, and by their heroic bearing snatched from the side of the church of Rome the jmpathies attaching to the religious martyr. Between the death of Edward and the death of Mary the protestant religion assumed a firm footing on the English soil, which was never afterwards really shaken. Where hundreds had obeyed the king, thousands inscribed themselves as the sub- jects of conscience. To add to this zeal, the exiled protes- tant divmes, who had found shelter and the warmest sym- pathy among the Calvinistic churches of Switzerland and Germany, hastened back to England when the ' Romish qneen was no more, and brought with them a stiU stronger desire to forward the English Reformation to the advanced stage of these continental churches. They returned inspired with an ardent attachment to the principles which had sup- ported and comforted them during the evil day; they also returned, unhappily, with feelings strongly tinged with the bitterness created by unjust persecution, and with the not unnatural bigotry which arose from identifying opinions which had so weU supported them through their trials, with positive and indisputable truth. Thus with the return of seeming freedom was laid the foundation of future persecution. These men at once obtained aU the influence due to their vindicated sincerity, and the feelings of humanity which had been enlisted on the side of the expeUed monks and nuns, now ran vio- lently against the cruel conduct of the Romish church in her day of recovered power. From this point we must date the commencement of a new era in the annals of the English nation. A period extending from the accession of EHzabeth down to the third Parliament of Charles L, embraces almost exactly the history of the movement called < Puritanism,' from Its ongmal appearance in a simply religious character, through Its gradual development into the predominant element in the great civil movements of the seventeenth century. The com ^Bcement of this period exhibits it in its greatest weakness ; the close of it records the enrohnent of the first great charter FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 27 to the parentage of which it may clearly lay claim. The first Parliament of Elizabeth occupied itself in restoring to the crown the supremacy in spiritual affairs which Mary had renounced ; the third Parliament of Charles was successful in forcing from an unwilling king a recognition of the limits of his civil prerogative which earlier charters had more or less definitely fixed. Many forms and ceremonies had been retained by Elizabeth which were rejected by the followers of the Reformer of Geneva, and which would probably have been rejected by the English church also, had the life of Edward been prolonged. A discussion on these points, ending in serious disturbances, had arisen among the exiles at Frankfort during Mary's reign, and they brought to England with them minds suificiently heated by this controversy to render very difiicult any amicable arrangement of the question. The ceremonies and obser- vances which roused this ill-feeling, appear at first sight so unimportant as to excite wonder at their adoption or rejec- tion being the subject of any serious discussion. But at that period they possessed a real significance which it is difficult to convey adequately to our minds at the present time. It must be remembered that the outward changes in the church had been effected by royal authority, and that within her fold there were included very many clergymen who still retained their affection for the doctrines and ceremonies of Rome. The church of England, under Elizabeth's direction, while admitting the principles of the Reformation, felt herself at the same time to be connected with the government of a nation, no inconsiderable portion of which still leant towards the Roman church. The question, therefore, being looked at in a political light, naturally resulted in a compromise. Forced by the union of church and state into the character of a national question, a solution was attempted by steering a middle course between opposite tendencies in the nation ; and in accordance with tliis policy several Romish ceremonies were retained which might otherwise have been laid aside. Now, the connection in Romanism between ceremonies and doctrines is intimate ; so much so, that to retain the former, while disclaiming the latter, might be held either to empty 2B FROM TUBOB TO STUABT. tlie service of the clmrch of England of all meaning, or to be calculated, among its seriously reflecting members, to revive again the doctrines which the ceremonies were intended originally to embody. Independently of this, it would not have been unfair to reason, that either these ceremonies were unimportant, and in that case should be left to the dis- cretion of each parish ; or that, if held to be important and essential, it was necessary to oppose them on that groimd, as directly contrary to the spirit of the Reformation. It appeared, at first, as if the former of these alternatives would be accepted ; and for some years the ceremonies were retained, modified, or laid aside, according to the leaning of the particular district, the bishops either countenancing or passing over this breach of uniformity. Elizabeth, however, was jealously tenacious of her newly-acquired ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and, losing sight of her usual tact and prudence, provoked a contest with the feebngs of a large part of the nation, which shook the foundations of her hitherto undisputed ci\il authority. About the year 1567 the queen took her side against the tolerance of Puritanism, and adopted coercive measures against those who refused to submit to the royal mandates. A want of harmony thus ensued between the wishes of the sovereign and the convictions of large masses of the people, which produced the most important political results. The queen's council itself was divided on the subject ; but the Lower House of Parliament openly espoused the cause of ecclesiastical reform. ^The two statutes,' obsenes Mr. Hallam, ' enacted in the first year of Elizabeth, commonly called the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, are the main links of the Anglican church with the English Con- stitution, and establish the subordination and dependency of the former; the first abrogating all jurisdiction and legislative power of ecclesiastical rulers, except under the authority of the crown; and the second prohibiting all changes of rites and discipline wMoul the approbation of Farliameni/ This exception, in the end, proved of for- midable dimensions; for, by recognising a joint action between the sovereign and the other estates of Parliament, It necessarily gave rise to a discussion by the latter of i FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 29 subjects hitherto little attended to by them. It placed the crown, in fact, in a somewhat similar position relatively to Parliament in ecclesiastical to that which it had occu- pied in civil afiairs. This was extremely important; for, according to the estimate of Mr. Hallam, who is no partial judge, the Puritans formed considerably the largest part of the real Protestants of Elizabeth's reign. Undoubtedly among the protestant gentry they had a great preponderance, and when, by the act of the 5th of that queen, Romanists were excluded from sitting in Parliament, the Puritans re- turned a majority of members to the House of Commons. Trained by the queen herself, in the early Parliaments of her reign, to discuss theological questions, by the various acts which were passed by them, at her desire, for securing the transition of the church from Popery to Anglicanism, they proved themselves apter scholars and more searching contro- versialists than their mistress anticipated. The old policy of the Tudors now told against the crown. The power exercised by these sovereigns, however unwonted, had been in a great measure conferred by the Houses of Parliament, it having been part of the subtle state-craft of the Tudors to make the representatives of the nation their accomplices in their pro- jects. Acts of attainder were readily passed by the pliant Parliaments of Henry VIII., and with equal recklessness they were auxiliary to his various marriage-schemes, with their catastrophes. Had the Parliaments been less tractable at this period, or had questions arisen earlier to divide the crown from the people, it is not impossible that the Tudors might have laid aside such troublesome advisers, and a con- flict might have been precipitated for which the Commons were untrained. Victory would then possibly — ^not so much by stronger force as by superior policy — have rested with the crown ; the rising energies of the intelligent classes would have been crushed, and in the course of another century or two the renewed struggle for liberty might have been entrusted to the guidance of the lowest of a degraded people. As it was, during the growth in Parliament of a spirit of in- dependence, no such questions arose, and the crown rested on the head of a prince who carefuUy guarded against a ^, FROM TUDOR TO STUART. crisis ; nor was it until in its full maturity — a veteran in poli- tical contests — ^tliat the party of the Commons drew the sword against the royal prerogative. Without attempting to trace all the vicissitudes of victory and defeat which marked the struggle between the crown and the Lower House during Elizabeth's reign, it may be said, generally, that they err greatly who suppose that in the imperfect records of these proceedings we find no trace of the spirit of independence and true English liberty which characterized the succeeding century. The bold language of Peter Wentworth, in 1572 and 1588, was echoed by many equally dauntless supporters ; and the concessions continually made by the crown prove that Elizabeth felt that this Puritan zeal in the representatives of the nation was sus- tained by the assent of the great majority of English Pro- testants. If few marks of its influence were as yet impressed on the statute-law of England, Puritanism had achieved an important preliminary step in the formation of a national spirit, and in the perception of growing strength from a series of contests in which success was only rendered less effective by the general harmony of interests between the contending powers. We see, in the early part of the struggle, the queen attempting, though still with the caution and discretion which usually distinguished her, to resist or direct this new popular impulse -, but we also perceive that, though she some- times completely succeeded in this attempt, and in other cases managed to conceal the real extent to which she was compelled to yield, still, in the course of time, she became more dependent on accidental circumstances for the defence of her enlarged prerogative, and took a less haughty position in her intercourse with her faithful Commons. And when, towards the close of her reign, the shadow of her approach- ing death seemed to throw a gloom over her prosperous career — when the Irish Rebellion and the contests with Spain en- tailed on the country a taxation which it had been unaccus- tomed to support, and compelled the queen to resort to those money applications in Parliament which she had so wisely avoided as the invariable preludes to a discussion of grievances —when the treason and death of Essex, and the other per- I FROM TUDOR TO STUART. u sonal sorrows of the queen had impressed her with a deep melancholy, which led her to avoid the publicity that had formed so strong a tie with her people in the earlier part of her reign— when, in short, the authority resting on her per- sonal position was weakened, — we find the House of Commons gradually resuming the duties which it had rather voluntarily abandoned than been deprived of, and Elizabeth recognizing the change which had been effected in their relative positions, and not only suffering proceedings to pass unquestioned which, before, she would have visited with severe reprehen- sion, but expressly sanctioning the principles on which they were founded, and gaining her last great outburst of loyal enthusiasm by the gracious and thankful admission of the right of national interference in matters of national admi- nistration. This great closing scene in the parliamentary drama of the reign of Elizabeth, which occurred less than sixteen months before the death of the queen, gives so vivid a picture of her political skilfulness and royal bearing, that it forms the most appropriate conclusion to any sketch of her system of government. The abuse of the numerous mono- polies of manufactures, &c., granted to the great men of the court, had grown to such a height, that it provoked at length several animated debates in the Commons, whom the queen vainly endeavoured by conciliatory messages to divert from their purpose of introducing a bill on the subject. Finding them resolute, Elizabeth wisely anticipated further proceed- ings by annoimcing through her minister Cecil, that there had been already prepared the draft of a royal proclamation suppressing monopolies altogether. The effect of this gracious concession was magical ; and the House of Commons resounded with protestations of gratitude and loyalty. It was unanimously resolved that the queen should be entreated to appoint a time when the Speaker, in the name of the House, might express their hearty thanks for her gracious message. This was readily assented to ; and in the afternoon of the 30th of November, 1601, the Speaker, accompanied by about a hundred and forty of the House of Commons, entered the council-room, under a canopy at the upper end of which the queen was seated; and there, after three low I* 32 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. reverences made, delivered a speech of fervid loyalty, con- cluding with these emphatic words : — 'We come not, sacred sovereign, one of ten to render thanks, and the rest to go away unthankful ; but all of us, in all duty and thankfulness, do throw down ourselves at the feet of your majesty — do praise God, and bless your majesty ! Neither do we present our thanks in words of any outward thing, which can be no sufficient retribution for so great goodness ; but in all duty and thankfulness, prostrate at your feet, we present our most loyal and thankful hearts, even the last drop of blood in our hearts, and the last spirit of breath in our nostrils, to be poured out, to be breathed up, for your safety!' Then, after three more low reverences, he with the rest kneeled down, and Elizabeth commenced a reply, of which the following are the most striking passages, which I extract from a copy printed in later years, as a bitter satire on her incapable successors. * I do assure you,' she said, 'that there is no prince that loveth his subjects better, or whose love can countervail our love ; there is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I prefer before this jewel, —I mean your love. For I do more esteem it than any treasure or riches ; for that we know how to prize, but love and thanks I count inestimable. And though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crowTi, that I have reigned with your loves. This makes me that I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a queen, as to be a queen over so thankful a people.' — ' Of myself I must say this : I never was any greedy scraping grasper, nor a strait fast-holding prince, nor yet a waster ; my heart was never set on worldly goods, but only for my subjects' good. What you do bestow on me I will not hoard it up, but receive it to bestow on you again. Yea, mine own properties I count yours, to be expended for your good. Therefore render unto them from me, I beseech you, Mr. Speaker, such thanks as you imagine my heart yieldeth, but my tongue cannot express.' All this while they kneeled. Whereupon her majesty said : ' Mr. Speaker, I would wish you and the rest to stand up, for I shall yet trouble you with longer speech.' So they all stood up, and !.« FROM TUDOB TO STUART. 33 she went on in her speech : ' Mr. Speaker, you give me thanks, but I doubt me I have more cause to thank you aU than you me; and I charge you to thank them of the House of Commons from me; for, had I not received a knowledge from you, I might have faUen into the lap of an error, only for lack of true information. Since I was queen, yet never did I put my pen to any grant, but upon pretext and semblance made unto me, that it was both good and beneficial to the subject m general, though a private profit to some of my ancient servants who had deserved well ; but the contrary being found by experience, I am exceeding beholden to such subjects as would move the same at first.'— 'That my grants should be grievous to my people, and oppressions to be privileged under colour of our patents, our kingly dignity shall not suffer it. Yea, when I heard it, I could give no rest to my thoughts untU I had reformed it. ShaU they think to escape unpunished, that have thus oppressed you and have been respectless of their duty, and regardless of ou^ honour? No \'—' I have ever used to set the last judgment- day before mine eyes, and so to rule as I shaU be judged to answer before a higher Judge. To whose judgment-seat I do appeal, that never thought was cherished in my heart that tended not to my people's good. And now, if my kingly bounty hath been abused, and my grants turned to the hurt of my people contrary to my wiU and meaning, or if any in authority under me, have neglected or perverted what I have committed to them, I hope God will not lay their culps and offences to my charge.'-' I know the title of a king is a glorious title, but assure yom-self that the shining glorv of princely authority hath not so dazzled the eyes of our understanding, but that we weU know and remember that we Sd J' T ^^^ T- '''°''^* "^ """ "•'^^^^^ ^^""'^ ^^^ great Judge. To be a king and wear a crown is more glorious to them that see it, than it is pleasant to them that bear it ' Hot myself, I was never so much enticed with the glorious T?n :^ I ^^^' f """^^^ a'lthority of a queen, as delighted that God hath made me his instrument to maintain his truth and glory, and to defend this kingdom (as I said) from peril dishonour, tyranny, and oppression ! There will never queen D 34 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. '/) FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 55 sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, or care to my subjects^ and that will sooner, with willingness, yield and venture her life for your good and safety than myself. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat ; yet you never had, or shall have, any that will be more careful and loving. Should I ascribe anything to myself and my sexly weakness, I were not worthy to live then ; and of all most unworthy of the mercies I have had from God, who hath ever yet given me a heart which never yet feared foreign or home enemies. I speak it to give God the praise, as a testimony before you, and not to attribute anything unto myself. For I, O Lord ! what am I, whom practices and perils past should not fear ! O ! what can I do [these she spoke with a great emphasis] — ^that I should speak for my glory I God forbid ! This, Mr. Speaker, I pray you deliver unto the House, to whom heartily recommend me. And so I commit you all to your best fortunes and future counsels.' It is not strange that a sovereign wielding with such consummate ability the energies of a free-spirited and prosperous nation, should obtain a leading position among European princes. The rule of Elizabeth combined to a remarkable extent the advantages of arbitrary and consti- tutional governments. To the unity and decision of the former it added the solid and increasing resources of the latter. It was the will of an individual representing the spirit of a whole people. To those who scrutinized closely the home government of the queen, there might be apparent traces of internal weakness and vacillation; but to foreign countries the position of Elizabeth, and of England under her auspices, was definite and consistent. Abroad at least she stood forward as the advocate and protector of freedom of thought, that is to say (in those days), of Protestantism. However imperfectly free thought may have been recognised in the various systems into which Protestantism developed itself, it is quite certain that its theory pointed directly to that great principle, and that the natural tendency of any Protestant community was towards its complete realization. In Roman Catholicism, on the contrary, whatever may have been the feeling of individual Catholics, both theoreticaUy and prac. ticaUy, in its associations and daily acts, that principle waa distinctly denied. That EHzabeth would wiUingly have committed herself to an advocacy of freedom of thought is not for one moment to be supposed ; but circumstances placed her m a position which rendered any other course very difficult, and her high spirit and strong English feelingg stepped in and decided the question. Paul excommunicated her from the Vatican ; Spain threatened her with invincible armadas. Her course was promptly taken. She appealed to the support of her people as Protestants and as Englishmen ; she made herself the raQying point for all the scattered Protestantism of the Continent ; she repelled Philip from her shores, and she sent her sailors to carry back the chaQenge to his own coasts ; she stretched out an arm of protection and encouragement to the Huguenots of France, and their brave leaders, Coligny, Conde, and young Henry of Navarre ; she lent assistance, moral and material, to the struggling common- wealthof the FlemishProvinces, wisely decHning the sovereignty they proffered, while she secured their independence from the assaults of Spain ; and further than her arms could reach, or her policy be exercised, was felt the influence of the great Protestant queen. She might persecute the Puritan at home, but he felt that by her foreign policy she was securing the triumph of the great principle under which he would ultimately find shelter. Even the CathoHc, suspected and proscribed though he was, forgot the rehgious distinctions which had been forced into such undue importance, and remembered only that he was the fellow-countryman of Drake and of Raleigh. Such was the government of the greatest of the Tudors. We have now to speak of a royal family of a very different stamp — the House of Stuart. James the Sixth of Scotland and First of England, who suc- ceeded Elizabeth on the English throne, was the descendant of a line of kings whose ancestry has been traced to the great Anglo-Norman family of Fitz-Alan. The dignity of seneschal, or steward of the household of the Scotch monarchs, beco ' ming hereditary in the family, was converted into a surname D2 m FBOM TUDOR TO STUART. and the marriage of Walter, tlie sixth high-steward, with Maijory, daughter of Robert Bruce, opened to their son Robert, on the extinction of Bruce's male line, the succession to the crown of Scotland. The marriage of his descendant, James IV., with Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VII., gave birth to the claim of the House of Stuart to the English crown ; a claim favoured but never distinctly reco- gnised by Elizabeth, who was not disposed to place a rival prince, during her lifetime, in the attractive position of her acknowledged successor, and also saw the influence over the mind of the Scotch king which she would obtain by keeping his pretensions in ambiguous suspense. Cecil, however, doubtless interpreted her real intentions truly when he announced that the queen on her deathbed had assented to the succession of James VI. of Scotland. This Sixth James cannot be looked upon as a fair repre- sentative of the character of the Stuart family ; and all the Mngluh Stuarts necessarily difier in several points from theii* Scotch ancestors. There are, however, some features common to the character of both. James I. of Scotland, perhaps the greatest of the Stuarts, with great personal courage, and many other kingly and statesmanlike qualities and accom- plishments, combined an imprudently headstrong self-will, and a relentless and unforgi\ing temperament. These good and bad qualities descended in varying degrees to most of his successors. James II., resembling his father in many re- spects, though marked by less independent energy, has been charged with dissimidation and treachery on account of the murder of the Earl of Douglas by his own hand, in violation of the safe-conduct by which he was enticed into the castle of Stirling. If guilty, however, in this case, these evil qua- lities cannot be said to have constituted an habitual feature of the king's character. But in the reign of the next Stuart, a royal failing became very conspicuous, which unfortunately proved to be hereditary— addiction to favourites. This sprang in a great measure from the precarious position of the royal authority in Scotland. During the wars of the BaUols and Bruces, the great barons had necessarily enjoyed a nearly in- dependent authority, and had been too essential to both of the FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 37 royal competitors to be called by either to any rigid reckoning for their lawless outrages. The feebleness of the two first Stuart kings, and the dissensions and bitter hatreds within the royal family itself, followed by a regency in the case of a captive prince, rendered the baronial ascendency still more marked, and, if possible, more odious. James I., on his^ release from his English prison, brought back to his native country an indomitable resolution to break completely this aristocratic power, and to re-establish the royal authority. His strong will effected this in a great measure, though he ultimately goaded the nobles into his assassination by the unsparing use which he made of his advantages. Besides arbitrarily transferring the lands of one baron to another, and confiscating entirely the property of others, so as to weaken the hereditary territorial influence of the great families, James endeavoured to give to the commonalty a position in the state, thus converting the burghs into so many royal strong- holds in the midst of the landed nobles. The towns of Scot- land, however, were very poor and thinly peopled, and brought as yet to the side of the crown little of the power possessed by the prosperous boroughs of England. The king found that the greatest advantage which he could derive from the ^ third estate ' lay in attaching members of it to the personal service of the crown, and raising from the lower gentry and middle classes clever administrators or devoted partisans to the rank of state councillors and royal favourites. Distrusting the great nobles, and regarding those alone as trustworthy ser- vants of the crown whose interests were bound up with the depression of the aristocracy, he passed over the great his- torical names, and lavished wealth and honours on men whom the haughty barons regarded with a mixture of anger at their superior talents, and scorn at their humble origin and subser- viency to the king. Thus the commonalty, which in England was represented in the House of Commons, found in Scot- land, at this time, its representatives in the royal council- chamber. During the reigns of James I. and II. the good resulting from this policy out-balanced the evil. For, though the banishment from any share in the government of an interest of such great and established social importance as the m FKOM TUDOB TO STUABT. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 3d anstocratic, cannot be regarded in itself as satisfactory, or as consistent with the lasting prosperity of a nation, and though these kings probably pushed their exclusion of the nobility to an extreme, the state to which Scotland was previously reduced required a strong remedy ; and the choice of advisers ■And favourites made by the crown was at first judicious, and Jeneficial to the country at large. James III., however, and his successors, perverted this system of plebeian favouritism by throwing the power and wealth of the state into the hands of grasping, profligate men, whose only quahfications weate those of being ready ministers of the royal pleasures and crimes. With these sovereigns, even those tastes which were of a higher order, were often indulged in to an undue extent, money being lavished on the fine arts which belonged properly to, and was pressingly required by, the necessities ot the ordinary administration. There was no concurrent economy in other branches of the royal expenditure to jus- tly this great outlay in one direction, while the low moraUty of the court countenanced the idea that the object was not SO much to soften and refine the national character, as enervate that independent, though ill-regulated, spirit whicn was the most formidable obstacle to the estabHshment of the despotic authority of the crown. The female favourites of a ra^ of kings, aU more or less addicted to gaUantry, were an additional grievance to the nation. Much more injurious, however, to the stabiUty of the royal authority in Scotland, and (possibly) to the character of the Stuarts, was the marriage contracted by James V. with Mary of Gmse. The Reformation was then spreading through all the kingdoms of Europe, and Scotland was called upon to take her side in the great contest. The majority of the middle classes and common people leant to the new move- ment ; the majority of the nobles did the same, some from conviction, the larger part from hopes of participating in the spoils of the church. Henry VIII. was extremely desirous to enHst his royal nephew against the Papal See, and, cunously enough, is said to have offered him the hand of hi^ daughter Mary (the future Romish zealot), on condition of his abandoning the communion of Rome. James, however was not disposed to take this step. There was not sufficient depth, indeed, in his character to make it probable that his course was dictated by principle ; there are other much more probable causes. Henry VIII., through the extinction of the old nobility of England, had been enabled to appropriate to himself the church property, and convert it into a new source of strength to the crown. In Scotland the nobles, owing to the weakness of the last few sovereigns, were nearly as powerful as ever ; and the largest share of the spoils must have fallen into their hands, so rendering the position of the crown still more precarious. In England, the church was the only organized body whose position was at all indepen- dent of the crown, against which, as has been already said, she had been frequently allied with the great barons. In Scotland, the king and the clergy, in the face of a common danger from an overgrown aristocracy, looked to each other for support ; and the crown found not only the counsels of the clergy of great assistance in the administration, but also the revenues of the church considerably at its command in state emergencies. James, therefore, adhered to the Papal See, and thus broke the link of attachment which secured to the crown the rising power of the middle classes, who, in their turn, became associated, by the strong sympathies of a common faith, with their old opponents the aristocracy. In making his decision, James probably overlooked this con- sideration, or, very naturally, undervalued a power whose origin was so recent, and so much the work of the crown itself. This breach, nevertheless, might have been healed in the next generation, if James had consulted the feelings of the nation in his choice of a queen. By marrying one of a family identified throughout Europe with the ultra-papal cause, and with implacable animosity to Protestantism, the king sowed the seeds of future most dreadftd evils to his kingdom. Mary of Guise, who, on the premature death of her husband, became regent in the name of her infant daughter, had the Guise ability, with more moderation than the rest of her family. She had, however, unfortunately, the Guise family failing of deep dissimulation, which not im- possibly through her descended, a fatal inheritance, to the #0 FBOM TUBOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 41 English Stuarts. In her regency Scotclimen learnt to dis- trust the solemn promises of the crown, and the confidence thus lost was destined never to be regained. The young queen, Mary, meanwhile, was being educated at the court of Catherine de Medicis, where deceit, profligacy, and assassina- tion were regarded with complacent moral indiflerence, and when politically successful, with warm admiration— being looked upon, indeed, as powerful instruments of government, only to be deprecated in the hands of bunglers and incapa- bles. During the short reign of her feeble husband, Francis II., Mary found herself, under the auspices of her uncles the Guises, placed at the head of the ultra-papal party ; and on her return to Scotland, then agitated by the most violent dis- sensions on the subject, she naturally threw all her influence on the side of the unpopular church. The great nobles saw their advantage, and pushed it to the utmost, the crown, by its treachery and crimes, effectually aiding them in their purpose. But for the talents and strong will of Murray and Morton, when successively raised to the regency, the royal authority would have disappeared altogether. As it was, it passed in an extremely enfeebled state into the hands of a child, raised to the throne during the lifetime of his mother by the arms of her successful rebels. Every writer on history must feel the difficulty of apportioning to Mary Stuart her fair share of blame and praise. Estimated by the general course of her actions, nothing could be more repulsive than her character. To the savage severity of the most inexorable of men, we find added the most thoughtless frivolity of a weak woman. To crimes which belonged rather to a bar- barous age, she joined the Machiavellian craft of the six- teenth century. Neither her virtues nor her vices were com- plete. We might even admire the unchangeable determination displayed in some of her worst deeds, did we not find on other occasions the most feeble irresolution. We could pardon the ill-fated outbursts of wounded pride, did we not find that Mary could, whenever she chose, exercise the most complete mastery over her actions. We could forgive the immorality into which she seemed to be hurried by uncontrollable pas- sion, did not the result always prove the feeling to be as superficial and transient as it was for the time flagrantly and madly indulged in. We could regard with painful pity the sufferings of the queen under the consequences of her self- willed marriage with the weak grovelling Damley ; but it is difficult indeed to endure the spectacle of her treacherous blandishments to her wretched husband, when suffering and terror had revived in him some feeling of attachment, and even of confidence in her fidelity. We could respect a monarch struggling fearlessly for arbitrary power against an overbearing aristocracy, without any sure reliance but her own stout heart ; but the picture is marred by the reckless folly with which she destroyed all the fruits of her previous exertions, to indulge the selfish whim of the moment. Even her martyrdom for her religion becomes less admirable, when we perceive that it differed little from a superstitious pre- ference for that church which would grant the easiest licence of her passions in this world, and most authoritatively assure her against their consequences hereafter. Still, in the face of all these facts, it is impossible to regard Mary Stuart with feelings of unmixed abhorrence. Her beauty — the fascina- tion of her manners — her sparkling wit — her queenly bear- ing through good and ill — ^her unshaken physical courage — above all, her misfortunes and her death — will always appeal strongly to our feelings in her behalf, however reason may refuse to recognise the plea. Her portraits, particularly the earlier ones, certainly impress one with the idea of a cha- racter possessing the elements of great good as well as great evil, and over whose ultimate bent circumstances and early training would exercise a more than ordinary influence. However much the evil may have predominated, the capacity for good in Mary's original character seems not to have been always in abeyance ; and when the reaction took place, it appears to have been as vehement as short-lived. At times she seems to have been roused from her usual moral apathy, for the moment at least, into the intensest perception of good and evil, and the most poignant preference for the former. As might be expected, it is generally when in the very crisis of her worst actions, when seemingly furthest removed from good influences, thaj; some passionate outburst reveals to us n FBOM TUDOK TO STUART. I FEOM TUDOR TO STUAET. 43 i / a glimpse of better and nobler instincts. Surely those advo- cates of Mary Stuart who deny the genuineness of the Both- well letters^ really do great injury to her memory, by de- priving us of the evidence which they contain of strong feel- ings and conscience-stricken remorse, with difficulty concealed behind that iron mask of outward callousness which excites our astonishment and horror. It is some faint perception of this which invests the career of Mary, in the minds of the majority of readers, with a deeper interest than is commanded by the superior talents of her great rival. Had Elizabeth been less fortunate, or had her strong passions been less com- pletely controlled by her sagacious breadth of intellect, she would have gathered around her far more of the romantic devotion of later ages. Those who lived in the closer pre- sence of their respective lives, not only judged but felt differently. In both England and Scotland, Mary, except with interested partisans, was the object of deep detestation ; while Elizabeth commanded the respect of both kingdoms, and the warmest affection of one. James VI., who was destined to become the undisputed sovereign of that country in which, and at the demand of the great majority of the inhabitants of which, his mother had perished by the axe of the executioner, was placed during his early life in a position from which probably few princes could have escaped without serious moral detriment. The son of parents one of whom stood charged with procuring the death of the other, and himself in the circumstances of his birth connected with the terrible tragedy which led to this cata- strophe, he found himself, on attaining to years of reason, reigning as the usurper of his mother^s throne, opposed by all the most uncompromising supporters of royal authority, and sustained only by the league of nobles and burghers who had succeeded in subverting that authority. Under the tutelage of one great and ambitious noble after the other, the young king for some time served but to grace and legalize with the royal symbol of his name the triumph of rival factions. Compelled to employ, with reference to his mother, the formal language of anxious affection, while virtually proclaiming her guilt by lie grounds pf his tenure of her \ seat, he had to play the double part of the dutiM son im- ploring her release from her English prison, and of the rival claimant of the crown endeavouring by every politic device to prevent her return to Scotland. Of such a training favouritism and dissimulation were the natural fruits. As death — generally a violent one — ^removed one by one the great nobles who had been the principal agents in dethroning Mary, and crowning James, that prince succeeded gradually in regaining a portion of the royal authority, which he at once threw into the hands of unworthy favourites. Educated by great Protestant scholars in the cumbrous learning of the century, James soon added to the theological pedantry of a Protestant controversialist the affectation of a wise legislator and astute politician. He has been called a 'learned fool,' and his lucubrations on government and royal authority, when we consider the position in which he was practically placed, certainly entitle him to the epithet. Boyal despotism seems to have possessed for him all the attraction of forbidden fruit, and the mortifications which he was constantly compelled to undergo from insolent nobles and presuming preachers, appear to have had only the effect of impressing more strongly on his mind a sense of the theoretical irresponsibility of the crown. To England his eyes were continually turned as to the Land of Promise in which all these cherished dreams of royal autocracy were to be realized. This is strange enough ; and proves sufficiently the shallowness of the royal pedant's philosophy, if we consider that in England the sacred- ness of kings had just then received a greater shock in the trial and execution of Mary than in any proceedings relative to that sovereign which had taken place in Scotland; and when we remember, that although the practical extent of the royal prerogative exercised by Elizabeth might have misled any one who was not conversant with the minor workings of her government, it could scarcely reasonably have deceived James, who was in constant communication and intrigue with the leading statesmen of England, and who through them must have been made well acquainted with the real basis of the royal authority in this country, and with the rising power of the Commons with which the queen had to contend. The I u FKOM TUDOB TO STUART. FBOM TUDOR TO STUART. 45 I fact, however, seems to have been, that although, as in the case of Essex, the Scotch monarch availed himself of the English malcontents, he had so overweening an estimate of his own superior wisdom and sagacity, that he believed himself fully capable of dealing peremptorily with questions on which Elizabeth foimd it necessary to temporize, and thought he had only to exhibit himself in England in his natural character of a wise autocrat to be quietly recognised at once in this capacity by the whole English nation. The difference in the manners and social observances of the two kingdoms probably heightened this conceited folly, and gave it for the moment something like a solid foundation in fact. The courteous deference which was outwardly paid to the sovereign in England, and the inflated and adulatory language in which the crown was habitually approached by public bodies as well as by indiriduals, seemed to the shallow James so many proofs that the royal qualities which sparkled in his 'princely countenance' had abeady produced their desired effect on the minds of his subjects, and that he had only to command like Caesar to be obeyed implicitly. Elizabeth, and the Tudors generally, knew the unmeaningness of these flattering com- mon-places; and, as we have seen, lavished them with as little reserve on their side upon their faithful Commons. They never dreamt of acting upon the strength of these verbal acknowledgments of their perfection in wisdom. James, if he had possessed ordinary common-sense, must have fathomed the meaning of these flatteries also ; but he was so blinded by his infatuated self-conceit, and by his book-learning about divinely-appointed kings, that he appears to have been only conscious of the glorious 'sun' of his own presence, ' dispel- ling those supposed and surmised mists of darkness' which threatened to ' overshadow this land, upon the setting of that bright Occidental star, queen Elizabeth.' The joy felt in England at the quiet solution of the great problem of the succession, which had been for the last century agitating the minds of all men, gave even a warmer colouring than usual to the felicitations addressed to James on his accession ; and the discontent at the royal bearing, which manifested itself long before the new sovereign reached London, did not for /" some time awaken the king from his pleasing self-delusion. This is the explanation, though by no means the justifi- cation, of the enterprise on which James now entered, and which was continued, without the same plausible excuse, by his headstrong successor. This design was no other than to subvert the Constitution of England, and to establish in its place a despotic monarchy, such as that which existed wholly or approximately in the great foreign states. For such an undertaking the intellectual qualities of a RicheKeu were required ; and it need hardly be said, were entirely wanting in James. A dissembler by nature and by long habit, he dis- sembled badly, and only succeeded in destroying all confidence in his most solemn assurances. With all his boasted state- craft, he was never able to conceal his projects until a favourable moment for their execution ; and by the pompous language with which he heralded them called forth an opposi- tion which stifled them in the birth. He was a coward, both morally and physically ; and this fact exercised a material influence on the character of the contest during his life. His vanity led him continually to assume to himself in words a sovereign power entirely inconsistent with the Constitution, and accommodated to some theory of his own brain ; while the same love of seeming power induced him frequently to interfere with the privileges of the House of Commons, and when prompted by his necessities, to have recourse to various illegal means of raising money ; but when called to account for this language and these proceedings, he gave way, not as Elizabeth, but in a manner congenial with his own spirit ; and a great deal of bluster was always followed by an agony of terror and humiliation. In Elizabeth's reign the differences between the crown and the Lower House of Parliament, thanks to the general good feeling between them, were confined to hot words on both sides ; and after these had been freely indulged in, the quarrel invariably ended in an increase of attachment and respect, and a hearty desire in both to remove all traces of dis- agreement by a cordial recognition of each other's rights. The queen might satisfy her outraged feelings by a few biting allusions when the storm was hushed ; but she had always 46 FBOH TUDOR TO STUABT. FROM TUDOR TO STUART* 47 .-» secured an impunity for so doing, through her concessions on dl Bubstantial points; and she never retained her anger so long tliat the real benefit received was forgotten. With James, the reverse of all this was the case. * When he wishes to assume the language of a king,' observes the French ambassador Tillieres, 'his tone is that of a tyrant, and when he condescends, he is vulgar.' He had no general con- fidence and good feeling in the nation to fall back upon, for his personal character and conduct had soon very eflFectually demo- lished all the principal foundations of Elizabeth's popularity and power, while it undermined even the ordinary prerogative of the crown. He yielded as ungraciously as without the slightest regard to royal dignity, and exhibited not only an inclination to recant his concession at the first opportunity, but an unforgiving resentment against all who had been the instruments in obtaining it. He thus yielded even more than Elizabeth, without obtaiaing one tithe of the credit ; and left on the minds of his subjects only the remembrance of the injury successfully resented. He not only put forward sreat pre- tensions to extended authority, but he made a badL of the authority which he already possessed. Misgovemment ren- deied the idea of any increase in his power much more un- bearable, and provoked closer attention to every mfringement of the Constitution. He got into debt, and then endeavoured to act as independently as Elizabeth, who economized on her own resources. Not only was more money spent than by the late government, but it was squandered on personal gratifi- cations, or on objects quite at variance with the popular feel- ings. The king affected to despise his predecessor, and this, joined to his own inclinations, led him to adopt a wholly dif- ferent policy, both foreign and domestic. The narrow per- sonal selfishness, from which hardly one of the Stuarts had been exempt, became especially conspicuous in James. The Tudors were selfish, but they identified their selfishness with the interests of their kingdom. James and his successors looked only to their own personal aggrandizement and pleasure, and in the pursuit of these cared little what disaster or humiliation their country underwent. The Stuart king leaned incessantly on the bare theory of monarchy for sup- port, instead of entrenching himself in the impregnable stronghold of his own character and actions. Had the pre- rogative he pretended to been the most undoubted, so con- tinual a reference to its authority must ultimately have proved destructive of its credit. What human theory, indeed, could be expected to endure such continued and minute scrutiny ? The habits of the king deteriorated greatly with his advan- cing years ; but from the first he was addicted to the grosser pleasures of the table, and ultimately sank into the coarsest and most infamous debauchery, and an almost chronic state of drunkenness. The picture given of him in his ordinary life by the foreign ambassadors is one of the most frightftd in the page of history, and is corroborated by nearly every contem- porary testimony. As a natural consequence of this loss of all self-respect, there was a corresponding loss of royal dignity. While avoiding that publicity which formed one great element of Elizabeth's popularity, James encouraged in his court an amount of indecorous familiarity wholly at variance with his sovereign pretensions. ' A few days back,' writes the French ambassador, in the first years of the new king's reign, ' some one said to Cecil, he must find himself much relieved under this reign, in that he was no longer compelled to address his sovereign kneeling, as in the time of the deceased queen. He replied, however, 'Would to God that I yet spoke on my knees.' Many wise persons are struck with this expression, as indica- ting either that Cecil does not trust his fortune, or that he fears some general calamity of the kingdom at large, which I myself (to speak freely), for reasons only too nmnerous, hold to be unavoidable.' It is instructive to read soon after, ra the same despatches, that the king 'was yesterday a little dis- turbed by the populace, which ran together from all sides to see him. He fell into such anger upon this, that I was quite unable to appease him ; he cursed every one he met, and swore that if they would not let him follow the chase at his pleasure, he would leave England. Words of passion which meant no harm, but calculated to draw upon him great contempt and inextinguishable hate from the people.' — ' Consider,' writes the ambassador in the following year, ' for pity's sake, what must be the state and condition of a prince whom the <» 46 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART* 47 secured an impunity for so doing, tlirough her concessions on aU substantial points; and she never retained her anger so long that the real benefit received was forgotten. With James^ the reverse of all this was the case. ' When he wishes to assume the language of a king/ observes the French ambassador Tillieres, ^his tone is that of a tyrant, and when he condescends, he is vulgar.' He had no general con- fidence and good feeling in the nation to fall back upon, for his personal character and conduct had soon very effectually demo- lished all the principal foimdations of Elizabeth's popularity and power, while it undermined even the ordinary prerogative of the crown. He yielded as ungraciously as without the slightest regard to royal dignity, and exhibited not only an inclination to recant his concession at the first opportunity, but an unforgiving resentment against all who had been the instruments in obtaining it. He thus yielded even more than Elizabeth, without obtaining one tithe of the credit ; and left on the minds of his subjects only the remembrance of the injury successfully resented. He not only put forward great pre- tensions to extended authority, but he made a bad use of the authority which he ah-eady possessed. Misgovemment ren- dered the idea of any inc'^ in his powe/n.uch more nn- bearable, and provoked closer attention to every infringement of the Constitution. He got into debt, and then endeavoured to act as independently as Elizabeth, who economized on her own resources. Not only was more money spent than by the late government, but it was squandered on personal gratifi- cations, or on objects quite at variance with the popular feel- ings. The king affected to despise his predecessor, and this, joined to his own incHnations, led him to adopt a whoUy dif- ferent policy, both foreign and domestic. The narrow per- sonal selfishness, from which hardly one of the Stuarts had be^i exempt, became especially conspicuous in James. The Tudors were selfish, but they identified their selfishness with the interests of their kingdom. James and his successors looked only to their own personal aggrandizement and pleasure, and in the pursuit of these cared little what disaster or humiliation their coimtry imderwent. The Stuart king leaned incessantly on the bare theory of monarchy for sup- \ '," I port, instead of entrenching himself in the impregnable stronghold of his own character and actions. Had the pre- rogative he pretended to been the most undoubted, so con- tinual a reference to its authority must ultimately have proved destructive of its credit. What human theory, indeed, could be expected to endure such continued and minute scrutiny ? The habits of the king deteriorated greatly with his advan- cing years ; but from the first he was addicted to the grosser pleasures of the table, and ultimately sank into the coarsest and most infamous debauchery, and an almost chronic state of drunkenness. The picture given of him in his ordinary life by the foreign ambassadors is one of the most frightftd in the page of history, and is corroborated by nearly every contem- porary testimony. As a natural consequence of this loss of all self-respect, there was a corresponding loss of royal dignity. While avoiding that publicity which formed one great element of Elizabeth's popularity, James encouraged in his court an amount of indecorous familiarity wholly at variance with his sovereign pretensions. ' A few days back,' writes the French ambassador, in the first years of the new king's reign, ^ some one said to Cecil, he must find himself much relieved under this reign, in that he was no longer compelled to address his sovereign kneeling, as in the time of the deceased queen. He replied,however, 'Would to God that I yet spoke on my knees.' Many wise persons are struck with this expression, as indica- ting either that Cecil does not trust his fortune, or that he fears some general calamity of the kingdom at large, which I myself (to speak freely), for reasons only too numerous, hold to be unavoidable.' It is instructive to read soon after, in the same despatches, that the king ' was yesterday a little dis- turbed by the populace, which ran together from all sides to see him. He fell into such anger upon this, that I was quite unable to appease him ; he cursed every one he met, and swore that if they would not let him follow the chase at his pleasure, he would leave England. Words of passion which meant no harm, but calculated to draw upon him great contempt and inextinguishable hate from the people.' — ' Consider,' writes the ambassador in the following year, ' for pity's sake, what must be the state and condition of a prince whom the i %o PKOM TUDOB TO STUABT. FKOM TUDOR TO STUART. preachers publicly from the pulpit assail ; whom the comedians of the metropolis bring upon the stage ; whose wife attends these representations in order to enjoy the laugh against her husband ; whom the Parliament braves and despises ; and who is universally hated by the whole people.'—' I feel/ exclaims another French ambassador, 'as if the days of Henry III. were before my eyes. The people is overburthened, and no one is paid — ^but there are favourites here, as then.' At a later period, a third ambassador writes, ' audacious language, offensive pictures, calumnious pamphlets, Uese usual fore- runners of a civil war, are common here, and are symptoms doubly strong of the bitter temper of men's minds, because in this country men are in general better regulated, or, by the good administration of justice, are more kept within the sphere of their duties. Yet I doubt that any great action will come of it, inasmuch as the king will, in case of need, surely join the stronger party; or the spirits which have been weakened by a long peace will take no hearty and dangerous resolution.'—' I am, in truth,' writes the ambassador else- where, ' the most unlucky of all who have ever filled such posts as mine I They have facts to relate worthy of relation ; I such as appear unworthy of being committed to writing. My lot is fallen on a kingdom without order, sunken from its glory, and age-smitten by repose ; on a king devoted to his own nothingness, and whose principle it is only so far to strive for the good of his subjects as may give him facilities for plunging himself deeper into vice of every kind. He will not look around, he will not look before, but, nothing troubled as to object and aim, seeks only to gain time. Is it not a judgment of God on the king and his people, that he who rules so many millions, suffers himself to be ordered and reprimanded by a man without merit or virtue ? Must not such favourites, who sacrifice everything to their interests^ and loose every tie, bring on civil wars ?' Such was the condition to which England was reduced in less than twenty years fit>m the accession of the House of Stuart ; and such was the prince who thought himself capable of establishing in England a despotic monarchy on the ruins of the Constitution. 49 In his very first Parliament, the privileges of the House of Commons having become matter of discussion, in conse- quence of the election of Sir Francis Goodwin for Bucking- hamshire while he was an outlaw, the Speaker delivered a message from the king, in which he said that ' he had no purpose to impeach their privileges | hut since they derived all matters of privilege from him, and hy his grant, he expected they should not he turned against him, and that by the law the House ought not to meddle with returns, being all made into the Chancery, and to be corrected or reformed by that court only, into which they are returned.' This declaration, which of course strikes at the very root of parliamentary govern- ment, by allowing the crown to regulate at its wiU the choice of members of Parliament, having naturally excited the in- dignation of the Commons, the king was induced ultimately to admit the authority of the House as a court of record, and a judge of returns. The representatives of the nation' however, did not separate imtil they had drawn up ' an apo- logy to the king touching their privileges,' which has too im- portant a bearing on the general question between the House of Stuart and their Parliaments, to be passed over without especial notice. The House of Commons, on the jjoth of June, 1604, only fifteen months after the death of Elizabeth, declare that ' against the assertions contained in the king's message, and arising from misinformation, tending directly and apparently to the utter overthrow of the very funda- mental privileges of their House, and therein of the rights and liberties of the whole Commons of his realm of Eng- land, which they and their ancestors, from time immemorable, had undoubtedly enjoyed under his most noble progenitors' they, the knights, citizens, and burgesses of the House of Commons assembled in Parliament, and in the name of the whole Commons of the realm of England, with uniform con- sent for themselves and their posterity, did expressly protest, as being derogatory in the highest degree to the dignity, Hberty, and authority of his majesty's high court of ParHament, and consequently to the rights of aU his majesty's said subjects, and the whole body of that his majesty's kingdom ; and desired that this their protestation might be recorded to all posterity ! M FROM TUDOR TO STUART. And contrarywise/ tliey continue, ' witli all Humble and due respect to your majesty our sovereign lord and head, against those misinformations we most truly avouch,--fir8t, that our privileges and Hberties are our right and due inheritance, no less than our very lands and goods : secondly, that they cannot be withheld from us, denied or impaired, but with apparent wrong to the whole state of the realm : thirdly, and that our making of request, in the entrance of Parlia- ment, to enjoy our privilege, is an act only of manners, and doth weaken our right no more than our sueing to the king for our lands by petition ; which form, though new and more decent than the old by precipe, yet the subject's right is no less now than of old : fourthly, we avouch also, that our House is a court of record, and so ever esteemed : fifthly, that there is not the highest standing court in this land that ought to enter into competency, either for dignity or authority, with this high court of Parliament, which, with your ma- jesty's royal assent, gives laws to other courts, but from other courts receives neither laws nor orders : sixthly, and lastly, we avouch that the House of Commons is the sole proper judge of returns of aU such writs, and of the election of all such members as belong unto it, without which the freedom of election were not entire ; and that the Chancery, though a standing court under your majesty, be to send out these writs and receive the returns, and to preserve them ; yet the same is done only for the use of the Parliament, over which, neither the Chancery, nor any other court, ever had, or ought to have, any jurisdiction. 'From these misinformed positions, most gracious sovereign,^ continues this bold protest, ' the greatest part of our troubles, distrusts, and jealousies have risen, having apparently founds that in the first Parliament of the happy reign of your majesty, the privileges ofourEouse, and therein the liberties and stability afthe whole kingdom, have been more universally and dangerously impugned than {as we suppose) since the beginning of Parliaments. Besides that, in regard of her (Queen Elizabeth's) sex and age, which we had great cause to tender, and much more, upon care to avoid all trouble, which by wicked practice might have been drawn to impeach the quiet of your ma- FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 51 jesty's right in the succeesion, those actions were then passed over, which we hoped, in succeeding time of freer access to your highness of renowned grace and justice, to redress, re- store, and rectify ; whereas, contrarywise, in this Parliament, which your majesty, in great grace (as we nothing doubt) in- tended to be a precedent for all Parliamerits that should succeed, clean contrary to your majesty's so gracious desire, by reason of these misinformations, not privileges, but the whole freedom of the Parliament and realm have, from time to time, upon all occa- sions, been mainly hewed at. As, first, the freedom of persons in our election hath been impeached ; secondly, the freedom of our speech prejudiced by often reproof; thirdly, particular persons noted with taint and disgrace, who have spoken their consciences in matters proposed to the House, but with aU due respect and reverence to your majesty : whereby we have been in the end subject to so extreme contempt, as a gaoler durst to obstinately withstand the decrees of our House; some of the higher clergy to write a book against us, yea, to publish their protestations, tending to the impeachment of our most ancient and undoubted rights in treating of matters for the peace and good order of the church.' The last words of this remarkable declaration of rights which it is necessary to quote, may well serve as an epitome of the grounds on which during the seventeenth century the House of Com- mons contended against the pretensions of the Stuarts. ' What cause we, your poor Commons, have to watch over our privileges, is manifest in itself to all men. The prero- gatives OF PRINCES MAY EASILY, AND DO DAILY GROW. ThB PRIVILEGES OF THE SUBJECT ARE FOR THE MOST PART AT AN EVERLASTING STAND ! ThEY MAY BE, BY GOOD PROVIDENCE AND CARE, PRESERVED ; BUT BEING ONCE LOST, ARE NOT RECOVERED BUT WITH MUCH DISQUIET ! If good kings were immortal, as well as kingdoms, to strive so for privilege were but vanity, perhaps, and folly ; but seeing the same God, who in his great mercy hath given us a pious king and religious, doth also sometimes permit hypocrites and tyrants in his displea- sure, and for the sins of the people, from hence shall the desire of rights, liberties, and privileges, both for nobles and commons, have its just original, by which an harmonical and £2 52 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. stable state is framed, each member under the head enjoy- ing that right, and performing that duty which, for the honour of the head and happiness of the whole, is requisite I' Can it be contended, after this declaration of rights, in the second year of the reign of James, that the Stuart line of princes entered on the government of this kingdom with an imperfect knowledge of their position as the heads of a limited monarchy, or that the rights, thus solemnly declared to be an inheritance derived from their ancestors, were two years before utterly unrecognised by the Constitution of this country ? If the contrary of these propositions is the truth, how is it possible to deny that the subsequent proceedings of the Stuarts were parts of a deliberate attempt to subvert the Constitution of England,and that the resistance oflFered tothem by the English nation, and especially by the English Puritans, was a strictly conservative movement, based on the undoubted laws of England, and having for its single object the preser- vation of that spirit of liberty and life embodied in their out- ward forms ? Well might Beaumont write, when emphatic warnings such as the above were being given to the House of Stuart : * I recognise so many seeds of unsoundness in England, so much is brewing in silence, and so many events appear to be in- evitable, as to induce me to maintain that for a hundred years to come this kingdom will hardly misuse its prosperity to any other purpose than its own injury/ The low position to which England speedily sank in the scale of European nations fully justified the contemptuous disregard of her power exhibited in the preceding passage. The foreign policy of Elizabeth has been already described ; to this James pursued one diametrically opposite. He as- sumed to himself the character of a peace-maker, and when- ever the reproaches of his people sought to divert him from his inglorious course, he rang the changes upon the blessings of peace. He attempted to explain and vindicate by this plea those disgraceful concessions to Spain and Austria which were simply the result of personal sloth, cowardice, and despotic predilections. If the ideas attached to the word 'peace' in the mind of James and his imitators in other FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 53 times are to be considered as correct, the name of one of the greatest of Christian virtues will have been converted, for all practical purposes, into one of the most formidable barriers to the process of civilization and truth. The reign of James I. was coeval with one of those eras in European politics which occur now and then, with the interval of centuries between them. According to the conduct of those who at such times hold in their hands the reins of government in the leading nations, the destinies of the world are moulded, and the general course of events accurately defined. The responsibility, therefore, which rests on princes and statesmen on such occasions is one of the greatest that can possibly be conceived. We ourselves are now, in the middle of the nineteenth century, continually experiencing the fatal results of the cowardly and disgraceful policy of James. A glance at the state of Europe at the period of his accession will sufficiently demonstrate the truth of this assertion. Clement VIII., who had occupied the chair of St. Peter from the year 159:^, died in 1605, and was succeeded, first, by Leo XI., and then, in the same year, by Paul V. This last pontiff, who for sixteen years presided over the destinies of the church of Rome, was distinguished for ambition and for a strong desire to revive the claims of the Roman see to universal supremacy. Nor were the means requisite to this end wanting seemingly to his hands. Spain, the devoted child of the church, and the unscrupulous instrument of bigotry, still played an important part in European politics, though her power had been shaken and her reputation impaired by the judicious and unwavering hostility of Elizabeth. Besides the rich possessions of the new world, Portugal acknowledged the sway of the Spanish king, and Naples, Sicily, and Milan groaned under his heavy yoke. But a short time had elapsed since the fleet of Spain had earned the gratitude of Christian Europe by the splendid victory of Lepanto, which checked the advance of the Crescent, and secured the ascendency of the Cross in the Mediterranean. The memories of the Armada were still dreadful to Protestant minds -, and the days of the French League and the names of Alva and Parma were still fresh in their recollection. The 54i FROM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 55 W struggle of tlie United Provinces for independence continued, thanks to tlie co-operation of the English queen ; but the early victories of the House of Orange had been latterly clouded by defeat. The star of Philip was again in the ascendant, and Flanders or the Low Countries were practically once more reduced under the power of the Spanish viceroy. The efforts of Maurice of Orange were restricted nearly to the defence of the northern provinces ; and the fate of these depended greatly on the extent to which the undivided resources of Spain might be brought to bear on the contest. Nor was it only in itself that the monarchy of Spain was formidable to the liberties of Europe ; for by its alliances Spanish influence prevailed from the west to the extreme east of that continent. Another branch of the family of Charles V. held the imperial sceptre of Germany, and reigned over the states of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Styria, and Silesia. As the head of the Catholic interest, the House of Hapsburg also exercised an immense influence over the governments of the German principalities which professed that faith. Of these the most powerful was the duchy of Bavaria, which under the rule of Maximilian took an active part on the side of the church of Rome. Sigismund, king of Poland, espoused warmly the same interest. This kingdom was then by no means despicable as an ally, for its troops were among the best in Europe; and quite recently it had placed its nominee on the throne of Russia, and occupied with its ' pro- tecting' forces the Kremlin of Moscow. Sigismund was by birth a Swede, the grandson of Gustavus Vasa, and till 1604 possessed, at least in name, the crown of Sweden. He was a bigoted Catholic, and persecuted with all the fiiry of a renegade the imhappy Protestants of Poland. To this formidable league of popish princes, backed by the wealth of Rome, the Protestants of Europe opposed only a feebly organized resistance. There were the elements, it is true, of a powerfid confederacy; but jealousies and cowardice prevented their concentration in a Arm and united body. In Germany alone, had a proper spirit prevailed, there existed ample means for repressing the ambition of the Papal church. The Elector-palatine, the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, the Margrave of Baden, the Palatine of Deux-Ponts, the Dukes of Brunswick, Weimar, and Wurtemburg, -and the Palatine of Neuburg, with several minor princes, were pro- fessors of the Protestant faith, and formed a not unimportant array of names. But the grave differences between the Lutherans and Calvinists interposed to weaken the force of the alliance, and paralyse its effective operation. A diet held at Ratisbon, in 1608, under Ferdinand, Duke of Styria, as the representative of the emperor Matthias, led to the withdrawal of the Protestant princes, and to the temporary coaUtion of the Lutherans and Calvinists in the ' Protestant Union.' The imperial court, however, managed, by its artful professions of good-wiU, to prevent Christian II. of Saxony from joining the league. The director of the ' Union W3S the Elector-palatine, and the chief military command was placed in the hands of the Margrave of Brandenburg. A miHtary force was to be kept up for ten years, and an alli- ance to be formed with the Protestants of Austria. The alarm of the Protestants having produced the ' Protestant Union,' the fears of the Catholics, on the other hand, gave nse to the ^Catholic League,' which was constituted on the 10th of July, 1609, under the auspices of Maximilian of Bavana. In the middle of the struggle which ensued, Henry IV. of France perished by the hand of Ravaillac, a severe loss to the Protestant cause of Europe ; for, although Henry had professed the CathoUc religion, his position relatively to Spam, in the early years of his reign, and the natural interest of France in maintaining the balance of power on the Contment, had made him a powerful auxiUary to the Protestants agamst the House of Austria. A stiU more serious loss to the Protestant cause was the death, in 1610, of the Elector-palatine of the Rhine, Frederick IV., the soul of all the coaUtions which had been formed against Rome. He was succeeded by his son Frederick V., a prince of but feeble powers of mmd and frivolous pursuits. From this time the Protestant Umon became weaker and weaker. The emperor Matthias had abandoned the rule of Bohemia to his nephew Ferdinand ot Styria, who in 1616 was declared his heir to that kingdom, with the immediate title of king ; and in 1618 the same prmce 56 FKOM TUDOB TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUARt. 57 was elected king of Hungary, also in the lifetime of Matthias. Ferdinand was the pupil and friend of the Jesuits, and in 1600 is said to have made a vow at Loretto to restore the Romish church to its ancient glory and power on the ruins of Protestantism. The Jesuits, we are told, triumphed in their hopes of him, and the Pope, on his election, exhorted the Catholics to keep a day of jubUee, and to implore the aid of God for the churches high occasions. Affairs, however, came to a crisis in Bohemia more rapidly than was anticipated. Ferdinand, who had begun his perse- cutions while in Styria, continued them in his new govern- ment ; and at length the Bohemians rose in arms against him. On the 23rd of May, 1618, his advisers, the Counts Slowata and Martinitz, with their secretary Fabricius, were thrown out of the window of the council-chamber at Prague, by the enraged citizens. Although they escaped without injury, this act was the signal for a general war. The Count Thurn and the Estates of Bohemia established a pro\isional govern- ment, and raised forces under the command of the count. Their arms were victorious; the imperial armies under Generals Dampierre and Boucquay were routed, and Moravia and Silesia joined the conquerors. In the midst of this crisis, on the 20th of March, 1619, the emperor Matthias died. Hungary rose in revolt against Ferdinand, and Bethlen Gabor, the Protestant prince of Transylvania, a man of dis- tinguished military talents, headed the insurgents. The Count Thum, aided by the Protestant Estates of Upper and Lower Austria, marched to Vienna, and seizing on the person of Ferdinand, endeavoured to compel him to place himself at their head, and assent to their terms. But Ferdinand refused firmly, and was rescued by a party of horse despatched by Dampierre, under the command of Albert of Wallenstein. Thum and the Bohemians withdrew northwards, and Ferdi- nand hastened to Frankfort, passing through Munich, and securing the support of the Elector of Bavaria. On the 28th of August he was elected Emperor of Germany. On the following day the Estates of Bohemia declared that, in con- sequence of his religious persecutions and his conspiring with Spain against the liberties of Bohemia^ he had justly for- feited the crown. They then elected the Palatine of the Rhine, Frederick V., as King of Bohemia in his room. To this step they were led principally by the facts, that not only had the electors-palatine been the recognised heads of the Protestants in Germany, but the present elector had married the daughter of the Protestant King of England, James I. They therefore counted confidently on the support of Eng- land in the contest which must ensue ; and it was now that James was called upon to exhibit his peculiar views of foreign policy and national honour. From the commencement of his reign the king had shown very decidedly in what direction his predilections lay. Almost his first act, after assuming the government, was to open negotiations with Spain, which resulted in a peace that nearly shut out England from all interference in the general politics of Europe. Deserted by their old ally, the United Provinces of Holland were glad, in the year 1609, to conclude a twelve-years truce with their former sovereign. This ces- sation, which ultimately resulted in a peace and a tacit recog- nition of the independence of the revolted states, was strongly opposed by the House of Orange and Henry of France, but carried by the influence of Barneveldt and the Arminian and oligarchical party in the States, who were suspected of Spanish tendencies, and at any rate dreaded the ascendency which the continuance of the war gave to the Princes of Orange. Considered with respect to its possible consequences, this peace cannot be looked upon as honourable or desirable for the Dutch Provinces. It abandoned their brethren of the Low Countries to the mercies of Spain, and it enabled that power to devote its undistracted resources to the furtherance of the cause of despotism over the rest of Europe. The chances were great, that at the expiration of the twelve years Spain, having succeeded in its projects elsewhere, would resume the attempt to subjugate the Hollanders, and with the strongest prospect of success. No one could have anti- cipated the serious struggle in which the House of Austria became involved for the crown of Bohemia ; and much less the rise of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which checked the progress of the Catholic arms. Nor could the death of HkGr #9 FROM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 59 l> Henry of France, which undoubtedly would have been a strong reason for the conclusion of a treaty with Spain, have entered into the consideration of the Dutch in forming the conclusion to which they came. Henry was then still in the vigour of life, and it seemed likely that on him they might safely count as a most able and willing ally in the continuance of the contest. The real excuse for their conduct is the part played by James of England. During the life of Robert Cecil, the recollections of Elizabeth's policy still hampered the king in his foreign negotiations, and compelled him to assume a firmer tone than he would otherwise have wished to do. Thus during the dispute respecting the duchies of Cleves and Juliers, liis envoys took the Protestant side very openly; and it appeared to be his aim to have himself appointed arbi- trator, with the evident intention, in that case, of deciding in favour of the claim of the Elector of Brandenburg. But the death of Cecil removed the only check upon the Spanish tendencies of the king. Thenceforward, to use the expressive words of a letter- writer of those days, Hhat famous and immortal statesman, the Coimt of Gondomar,' the Spanish ambassador in England, 'fed King James his fancy, and rocked him asleep with the soft and sweet sound of peace, to keep up the Spanish treaty.' The pretences which cloaked this policy were of course specious in the extreme, and such as are not peculiar to that age. ' The wall of this island, the English navy, once the strongest of all Christendom, now lies at road imarmed, and fit for ruin ; Gondomar (as was the common voice) bearing the king in hand that the furnishing of it would breed suspicion in the king his master, and avert his mind from this alliance. Moreover, the town of Flushing, the castle of Eamakins in Zealand, and Brill in Holland, which were held by way of caution from the United Pro. finces, to ensure their dependency upon England, the king resolved to render up, as being merely cautionary, and none of his property. He rid his hands of these places to prevent requests and propositions from the King of Spain, who claimed the property in them ; and Gondomar put hard for them, being accounted the keys of the Low Countries. Such was the king's care and contrivance to keep faith with those confederates, and not offend Spain; and to render this a politic action, it was argued that the advantage of those holds was countervailed by the vast expense in keeping them. Howbeit, the power of the English interest in that state was by this means cut off and taken away ; and the aUenation between King James and the United Provinces, which appeared in latter times, is now increased by the discovery and observation of these late Spanish compliances.' Another writer observes, that < the Estates of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, those useful confederates to England, began to be despised by the English court, under a vain shadow, instead of a reason, that they were an ill example for a monarch to cherish.' Indeed, where the pretext of a love of peace failed the king, this latter notion, that the natural aUies of this country were the despotic powers of the Continent, stepped in and completed the degradation of England in the scale of nations. As early as May, 1604, the French ambas- sador writes to King Henry that ' the spirit of the EngUsh is buried in the grave of Elizabeth !' Had James possessed the least spark of zeal for that Pro- testant cause of which, in his own esteem, he was at once the head and the moderator, he might have opened to Europe an era of national advancement and true liberty, which in its moral effects would have rivalled the days of Luther and Calvin. Mere poUcy itself, and that kingcraft of which he was so fond, should have dictated to him the necessity of preserving the balance of power in Europe. Again, to prevent the destruction of Protestantism by putting a stop to the persecutions to which it was subjected on the Continent, was a matter of national honour, and this could only be effected by curbing the power of that family which was pledged to an unremitting hostility to the Protestant religion. Lastly, if private honour were to be of any value, and personal re- spect from the princes of Europe were a thing to be desired, how could these be secured or obtained except by a strenuous support to the husband of his daughter ? The Elector-palatine of the Rhine had committed no sin against international law by accepting the crown of Bohemia. However long con- nected with one family, it was strictly an independent crown, 60 FKOM TUDOR TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 6t i\ the bestowal of whieli rested with the Bohemians. In ac- cepting the dignity, Frederick had merely shown a wish not to desert, in such an emergency, the high post which his ancestors had held of the leaders of the continental Protes- tants, and he had only followed the wisest policy which could have been adopted by the Protestant states in endeavouring to untie that bundle of ill-assorted principalities which, by fair or foul means, had been collected under the Hapsburg rule. The vicissitudes of the struggle which ensued, proved that if England had played her proper part in the politics of Europe, despotism, spiritual and political, would have fallen before her emancipating arms. Nor was the king without honest councillors to tell him of his duty, and to point out the importance of the crisis. George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter to Sir Robert Manton, the king^s secretary, gives his monarch this noble advice : ' That God had set up this prince, his majesty's son-in-law, as a mark of honour throughout all Christendom, to propagate the Gospel, and to protect the oppressed. That for his own part he dares not but give advice to follow where God leads, apprehending the work of God in this and that of Hungary. That he was satisfied in conscience that the Bohemians had just cause to reject that proud and bloody man, who had taken a course to make that kingdom not elective, in taking it by the donation of another. Therefore let not a noble son be forsaken for their sakes who regard nothing but their own ends. Our striking-in will comfort the Bohemians, honour the palsgrave, strengthen the princes of the Union, draw on the United Provinces, stir up the King of Denmark, and the palatine's two uncles, the Prince of Orange and the Duke of Bouillon, together with Tre- mouille, a rich prince in France, to cast in their shares. Therefore let all our spirits be gathered up to animate this business, that the world may take notice that we aeb AWAKE WHEN GOD CALLS !' But this warning feU on unheeding ears. James was deaf to everything which seemed to oppose his darling project of a Spanish alliance for his eldest son ; and to this wretched phantom he sacrificed the interests of England, his own honour, and the liberties of Europe. Having to act on the spur of the moment, and in a matter which admitted of no delay, the elector-palatine did not await the answer of James before accepting the crown of Bohemia. This was pretext enough for his father-in-law. It is impossible to follow him through the tortuous paths of his degraded policy ; but the result is well known. After a severe struggle, the cause of the palatine and of freedom sank before the enormous re- sources of its enemies. On the 8th of November, 1620, was fought the battle of Prague, or of the White Mountain. Frederick's army was totally routed, and he fled to Breslau, where he was joined by his family. Bohemia lay at the mercy of the conquerors. The severities exercised in the conquered country were terrible. Even seven years after this battle, thirty thousand of the most industrious artisans, and two hundred of noble or knightly rank were driven forth to seek shelter in Prussia, Saxony, Holland, and Switzerland. Estates worth forty millions of florins fell into the hands of the emperor. In Silesia and Austria the same cruelty and bad faith were displayed towards the Protestants. After an inefiectual revolt of the peasantry in Upper Austria, an ordinance was issued that all the nobility who persevered in their refusal to conform to popery should quit the country. On the 12th of April, 1621, the Protestant German states bound themselves to a neutrality in the contest, and on the 24th of May following the ' Protestant Union' was dissolved. A few of the Protestant leaders still continued the struggle ; chiefly Count Mansfeld, Christian of Brunswick, and the margrave George of Baden. These gained some successes, and though they were once or twice defeated, Mansfeld con- trived, on the whole, to maintain the upper hand against Tilly. Then it was that James I. interfered— not to save, but to complete the ruin of his son-in-law. Stimulated by Spain, he persuaded Frederick it would be well for him to show a pacific disposition, and dismiss Mansfeld and Christian. He did so ; and the only two leaders who could have saved his principality retired into Holland. The storm then fell on the palatinate itself. Manheim and Heidelberg fell before Tilly, who sent the library at the former place as a 62 FBOM TUDOB TO STUART. FROM TUDOR TO STUART. 63 present to Pope Gregory XV., and ravaged the whole country without distinction. In January, 1623, at a meeting of electors at Ratisbon, Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, was in- vested with the title of elector during his lifetime, with a reservation for the sons and collateral heirs of Frederick. Against this deprivation of that unfortunate prince, the Duke of Neuburg, and the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony protested ; but when on the 30th June Maximilian took his seat on the electoral bench, all but the first gave in, and abandoned the cause of Frederick. Stripped of his dominions, the son-in-law of the King of England ultimately died in miserable exile, leaving his wife and children to the guardian care of the Prince of Orange. Throughout the rest of his reign James made inejflfectual eflPorts to obtain the restitution of the palatinate by the intercession of Spain. But though the wily monarchs of that country constantly held out hopes of this boon as a lure to their wretched dupe, their half-promises were never realized ; and it was not until the general peace in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War, that the eldest son of the palatine was restored to the electoral honours and a small portion of the dominions of his ancestors. A few miserably-equipped and ill-managed expeditions, half- countenanced and half-denounced by the king, were all the material aid that England lent to the cause of liberty and Protestantism during the reign of the first Stuart. Before quitting the subject of the foreign policy of James, another point must be noticed, in which his conduct differed for the worse from that of his predecessor, and which had also a most injurious influence on the subsequent history of Europe. The assistance afforded by Elizabeth to France against the power of Spain, had been the means of ensuring protection and toleration to the French Protestants. This was the price which Henry willingly paid for the English alliance. But when James abandoned the interests of Pro- testantism, and slighted the friendship of the House of Bourbon, the French court no longer felt itself constrained to persevere in this tolerant policy, and gradually the position of the Huguenots altered for the worse. At a somewhat later period the Stuarts did not content themselves with a desertion of their Protestant brethren, but also assisted in the reduction of their last strongholds. The decay of this party, the Puritans of France, had a fatal effect on the character of the French nation ; for liberty too, of which they had been the jealous guardians, disappeared with them ; and a despotic monarchy, which drank up all the spirit of the people, filled the annals of France, for nearly two hundred years, with the records of thoughtless debauchery in the nobles, and abject wretched- ness in their degraded dependents. An intelligent middle class nearly ceased to exist ; and when the hour of retribution arrived, it was found that the ordinary virtues of civilization had perished with the institutions with which they had been associated. Such was the foreign policy of the Stuarts.* • 1 have made some use, in this sketch of European politics, of the historical summary in the Encyclopedia Metropolitana, and of recent works on Hungary. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 6a II. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. IT i3 extremely difficult to define Puritanism without giving it a more dogmatic character than it really possessed. Perhaps we shall obtain the best definition by exhibiting in hbtorical order the varying features which successively it as- sumed. The history of Puritanism, down to the year 1628, resolves itself into three stages, which mark the various rela- tions from which its peculiarities sprang * The first termi- nates when the government of Elizabeth distinctly exhibited its determination to insist upon uniformity in all the rites and ceremonies which had been retained by the English Church in its secession from Rome. The second has its first definite manifestation about the year 1570, when Puri- tanism, being refused toleration in minor ceremonial differ- ences, underwent a change in its character, and appeared as the antagonist of the Anglicans on the question of church government. Again, the year 1618, in which the synod of Dort was held, marks the close of a period during which the Anglican authorities were generally in imison with the mass of the Puritans on doctrinal points. Almost immediately after this date, the rulers of the church, under the auspices of James I., abandoned their former tenets, and adopting Arminian principles, approximated on this and other points to the rule of faith at Rome. In speaking of these several periods, Puritanism may be regarded in contrast with Ro- • In this historical summary I have availed myself of the chapter on the * Puritans * in Mr. Hallam's Constitutional History qf England, and still more of a very valuahle and interesting volume, A Setrospect of the Religious Life t>f England, by the Rev. J. J. Tayler. In more than one instance I found that my own thoughts, ahready on paper, had been anticipated, in much happier language, by Mr. Tayler. manism, in its differences from Anglicanism, and in its varia- tions within itself. The leading principle of the Reformation was that the mind of man should be brought into communion with God in as direct and purely spiritual a manner as the perfections of the Creator and the imperfections of the creature would permit. Hence religion was regarded as a personal relation, which, by combination with other similar relations, might constitute the complex one called ^ the church of Clirist,^ but which possessed a power of individual action, where the joint operation was not expressly prescribed. In short, it was held, avowedly or tacitly, that the Christian church arose from the union of individual Christians ; and that any sanctity attaching to it in that character, sprang from the adherence of its individual members to the rules of Christian faith. The result of this principle was a tendency among reformers to regard with unequivocal dislike tenets or cere- monials which seemed to interpose between the Deity and his creatures any intermediate agency, material or human, or which supplied the place of individual communion by ma- terial forms. But the extent to which practically this feeling was carried varied considerably in different countries. In England the changes produced by it in the Established chm'cli were by no means inconsiderable. Public worship was simplified, and the laity admitted to a great extent to a share in its exercises ; the services were conducted in the English tongue, and a beautiful Liturgy gave full utterance to the devotion which had hitherto struggled vainly to ex- press itself in the comparatively feeble Latinity of the Middle Ages ; homilies or sermons in the native tongue became more frequent; images and pictures were removed from the churches ; the adoration of the Host ceased ; fasts and penances were allowed to sink into disuse ; auricular confes- sion was left to the same fate ; indulgences were rejected, and the existence of purgatory denied ; the independence of the English church of papal supremacy was asserted, and its existence and government were placed on the basis of par- liamentary authority. The Anglican doctrine restored the written word of God to its importance relatively to tradi- r 66 PUBITANISU: BELlGIOrS AND SOaAL. PUKITANISM: KELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 67 N tional observances, and in its English dress it was asserted to form the sole authoritative rule of faith and practice. Dur- ing the greater part of the long reign of Elizabeth the doc- trine of the distinct order and apostolical succession of the clergy met with little support from the ruling powers in the church. It was, indeed, so clearly opposed to the real in- terests of the crown, that we cannot wonder at the keen- sighted Elizabeth failing to lend it her countenance. Dis- pensations also were too dangerous to the queen personally not to be at once proscribed. The intercessory worship of the Virgin and saints was wholly rejected; monachism was suppressed ; and the marriage of the clergy tolerated, though discouraged by the royal displeasure, and still held under the terror of a statute of Mary. Such was the stage to which the Reformation in England had been carried by royal authority, on the re-establishment of Protestantism at the accession of Elizabeth. The angry discussion which had taken place at Frankfort among the Protestant exiles had been closely connected with the realiza- tion of the leading idea of the Reformation. Several cere- monies had been objected to by some as inconsistent with this principle, the retention of which had been with equal strenuousness advocated by others. Such were the use of the tippet and surplice, of the cross in baptism, and of a consecrated font ; kneeling at the communion, and bowing at the name of Jesus ; the employment of the ring in the mar- riage ceremony, and of organs in divine worship ; the erec- tion or retention of painted windows in churches ; and the observance of saints' days. The surplice, it was maintained, was the recognised symbol of the priestly character, and might have a tendency to recal the doctrine of a merely human intercessor standing between God and man. The cross in baptism, and the consecrated font might, they said, easily bring back with them the exorcism accompanying the rite of baptism in the Roman-catholic church. The obser- Tance of saints' days would suggest the adoration held to be due to those saints. Kneeling at the commimion had its tacit reference to the conversion of the consecrated wafer. Organs hud chanting in churches were held to savour of the substitution of material and artificial agencies for the wor- ship of the heart in which a whole congregation could unite. To retain such ceremonies (it was argued), even were they innocent in themselves, was extremely dangerous in the English church which had so recently emerged from Ro- manism. In answer to this, the necessary connexion be- tween these ceremonies and the doctrines of Rome was denied ; and it was maintained that they were so closely asso- ciated with the feelings and wants of many Protestants that, should they be laid aside, it was to be feared that the worship of the English church might become utterly distasteful to these persons, and that they would seek the freer expression of their religious aspirations in the ceremonial of Rome. However, the general current of Protestantism ran strongly the other way. Jewel, Grindal, Sandys, Nowell, and other eminent churchmen were decidedly in favour of their aboli- tion. In 1562 a proposition to abolish most of them was lost only by a single vote in the convocation of the clergy. The ceremonies were very frequently laid aside in particular parishes, and in London insults were heaped on those who continued to observe them. But the queen, as we have seen, was determined to enforce the rule of uniformity, and to re- tain the obnoxious observances. ' Everywhere the most earnest and praiseworthy ministers were deprived of their livings or prohibited from exercising their clerical duties,' on account of their nonconformity. ' Even Coverdale, who had been Bishop of Exeter during the reign of Edward VI., could not escape the wrath of the ecclesiastical inquisitors.' When the queen thus insisted on complete uniformity, Puri- tanism advanced a step ; and three years of persecution pro- duced the natural results of a more determined resistance and greater estrangement from the Anglican church. In 1570 the gauntlet of defiance was thrown down by Thomas Cartwright, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. We have already seen that the leading doctrine of the Reformation was the freedom of personal communion with God without the interposition of human authority. This broad principle manifested itself among other things in a rigid adherence to the text of Scripture as a divine record of F 2 f 68 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM; RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 69 % the commimications between God and his creatures, and as therefore affording the sole legitimate basis for their duties to Him and to one another. Unflinching ' Scripturalists' main- tained that Scripture proved its own truth without the neces- sity of ha\ing recourse to external evidence— they explained Scripture from and by itself. Tradition, as an earthly vessel, they treated with comparative contempt ; ,and human obser- vances in religion unprescribed by Scripture they held in increasing disMke. It has been customary to confound this Scripturalism with Protestantism itself; but it is properly but one manifestation of the spirit of that movement. Among the dignitaries of the English reformed church it had at first greater force than was afterwards the case. Antagonism produced its usual results ; but these were counteracted by the peculiar position of the Anglicans with reference to the state. This led to the admission of tradition to a certain rank in the Anglican system. Seizing upon the period when, as they imagined, Christianity made its first step into the errors of Komanism, they allowed the sufficiency of all tra- dition previous to this in explaining and developing the text of Scripture. Still, in the words of the sixth article of faith, they held that ' Holy Scripture containeth all things neces- sary to salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.' And while declaring (in the 2oth article) that ' the church hath power to decree rites or ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith,' they add, ' and yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain any- thing that is contrary to God's word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another.' At the same time, the jurisdiction over the ceremonies of the church exercised by the civil power, led to the adoption of What are called Erastian ^dews among a large part of the higher clergy. The government of the church came to be regarded less with reference to the Bible than as a branch of the civil government, to be regulated and modi- fied in a similar manner. There had always been a certain leaning towards scripturalism among the Puritans, from their partaking so strongly of the dislike to tradition ; but their views had been generally so Erastian, that no marked differ- ence between the Anglicans and themselves on this point had as yet arisen. Now, however, Cartwright added to the doc- trine of the complete sufficiency of Scripture as an exposition of the Divine will, the tenet that there was contained in the Bible a prescribed form of national chmxh government, and that this was in its character Presbyterian. The rise of this, which has been called ' High Presbyterian ism,' needs little explanation. The tyranny of the bishops led naturally to a question of their authority ; the exercise of the queen's prerogative to doubts as to its proper sphere. To the church government established by the queen Cartwright opposed the system which he held to be dictated by God. The divine right of presbytery was then first asserted. The supporters of this doctrine were greatly distracted by the choice to which the queen reduced them of conformity or untolerated separa- tion. Their theory demanded a national and not a sectarian church, and the achieval of the former seemed practically cut off. Holding the opinion of the right divine of the presbytery, they were led to insist on its independence of secular control. Anglicanism, which appeared to be founded merely on the will of the sovereign, might be with justice subjected to that sovereign's control ; but presbytery rested, they deemed, on higher grounds. The position, indeed, occupied by the High Presbyterians of the reign of Eliza- beth, resembles greatly the attitude recently assumed by the Free Chui'ch of Scotland. The result in Elizabeth's time was, that some seceded, though with much the same feelings towards the Established church as those of modern Methodists; others remained in the church, but sought concealment by becoming chaplains to laymen of Presbyterian opinions. But a strong though secret attachment to Presby terianism infected a considerable body of the clergy who yet retained their parochial functions ; and in the year 1590 this had so in- creased, that ' an open attempt was made by Cartwright and his party to set up a regular platform of government on that system, by synods and classes, or meetings of particular dis- tricts, the ministers composing them subscribing to the 70 PUBITANISM: EELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 71 (I Puritan Look of discipline. In several counties these associ- ations were actually formed ; nor was it until the terrors of the Ecclesiastical Commission and the Star-chamber had been called into requisition, that this dangerous movement was suppressed/ ^ In considering, however, the High Presbyterianism of Elizabeth^s time, we must not confound it or make it co- extensive with Puritanism itself. Although it was a stage in the progress of religious opinion among a large part of the Puritans, still other forms of development existed among a minority of those to whom this name was ordinarily given. LoUardism, the features of which were much less akin to any system of ecclesiastical discipline, still existed, its adherents at first bearing the name of ' Gospellers,* ' Known Men,' or * Just Fast-Men,' and being chiefly of humble origin. * In Mary's time they assembled secretly in London, often on board the vessels in the river, to the number of from forty to two hundred ; and towai'ds the end of her reign this congre- gation had increased greatly, and one of their ministers, Mr. Bentham, a learned man and a scholar of Oxford,' on con- forming to the church at the accession of Elizabeth, ' was • thought worthy of the bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry.* Hatred to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the intervention of the civil magistrate in matters of religion, were the charac- teristics of this party during the reign of Elizabeth ; and these feelings ' found a wild and turbulent utterance in the tracts of Martin Marprelate, and were the parents of those remarkable sects in the succeeding century which bore the names of Anabaptists, Fifth-Monarchy Men, and Quakers.' Upon them, as may be imagined, the wrath of queen and church was poured forth largely, and ' Penry, an enthusiastic and eloquent young Welshman,' suffered the extreme penalty of death for being concerned in some of theii libellous uracts. Occupying a middle position between the High Presby- terians and the Gospellers, there appeared towards the end of Elizabeth's reign another phase of Puritanism. The impossibility of obtaining any general government of the church which would admit of the introduction of popular feeling, turned the attention of stricter Puritans to the case of individual congregations. The difficulty of procuring uniformity was sought to be lessened by narrowing the sphere of authority. If the whole church could not bear the shackles of an immutable formulary of faith and discipline, might not this be applied to individual congregations, volun- tarily associated on fixed and definite grounds ? Thus, reject- ing alike the centralization of presbytery and the indivi- dualism of the Gospellers, they endeavoured to form into Independent groups the various manifestations of religious opinion which were spread over the country. Within each group they enforced rigorously the canons of its own ecclesi- astical discipline. Such was the original conception embodied in ' Brownism,' or ' Independency,' which, commencing under the auspices of Browne and Barrowe, both gentlemen of education and good connexions, spread, by the impolitic agency of persecution and exile, both in this country and Holland, and finally divided with Presbyterianism the sway in Puritan bosoms. There was nothing in Independency in- consistent with a connexion between church and state ; nor, as a body, can a desire of emancipation from state control be attributed to it : but Elizabeth regarded it with unqualified aversion, and perhaps thought its discipline the more dan- gerous because it might be the more easily carried out. At any rate, it was not likely that she would regard with favour the removal of the diocesan jurisdiction of the bishops, which, through them, afforded her so firm a hold on the government of the church. Therefore, from the commence- ment, the Independents were necessarily ^Separatists,' and their leaders pointed the finger of scorn at the bulk of the Presbyterians, who, notwithstanding their theory of the divine institution of presbytery, remained in the fold of a prelatic church. Upon the character of the Church of England these Puri- tan manifestations without and within produced a remarkable effect. Hitherto little stress had been laid by the authorities of the church on the Episcopalian system, and it had been regarded, in common with the ecclesiastical discipline gene- rally, as an arrangement which depended on the will of the 72 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. crown expressed througli the medium of Parliament. But these incessant attacks on the jurisdiction of the bishops, fixed attention more and more on their functions, and, by a natural change in public opinion, led to the advancement of a claim to di\dne institution for episcopacy and the Anglican system, similar to that which Cartwright had advanced in behalf of presbytery. Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign a new generation of churchmen was arising, who sought to engage with the scriptural Presbyterians, from the opposing ground of tradition. The degrading subserviency also of the bishops to the crown, during the first stage of the Reforma- tion, led to a strong desire, on the part of sincere and earnest churchmen, to place their authority on a more respectable and stable foundation than the caprices of the monarch. Many abuses which had been considered as peculiar to the civil authorities had, by undue contact, crept into the eccle- siastical oflSce, and the sacred ideas attached to the word 'church' seemed to be giving way fast to the coarser concep- tions of worldly policy. It is singular enough, that the spirit of ecclesiastical reform should have manifested itself at the same time in two such opposite directions, and that in one case it should have pointed to mental freedom, in the other to ecclesiastical authority. On the death of Elizabeth and accession of the House of Stuart, many were the speculations in his southern kingdom concerning the disposition of the new king on the great question of religion. Every one is aware, that most of the anticipations formed on this subject were signally disap- pointed, and yet, on consideration, they will not appear to us at all absurd. Who could have expected to meet with an advocate of high-church doctrines in a prince nursed up in the bosom of a Puritan church, and taught to consider reli- gion in the light of simple antagonism to Rome ? in one who, as late as the year 1590, ' standing uncovered, in the pre- sence of the General Assembly at Edinburgh, and with hands lifted up to heaven, exclaimed that 'He thanked the Al- mighty that he was bom in the time of the light of the Gospel, and such a place as to be king of such a church, the sincerest kirk in the world ? The church of Geneva,' con- tinued he, ' keep Pascha and Yule, what have they for them ? PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 73 They have no institution. As for our neighbour kirk of England, their service is an evil-said mass in English; they want nothing of the mass but the liftings. I charge you, my good ministers, elders, nobles, gentlemen, and barons, to stand to your purity y and to exhort the people to do the same; and I, forsooth, as long as I brook my life, shall maintain the same.' Who would have looked for a defender of high episcopacy in a prince who, even as late as the year 1598, spoke of ' impistical and Anglican bishops ' as evils he was far from wishing to introduce ; and within twelve months of Elizabeth's decease pledged himself to the General Assembly as determined to ^ stand by the church of which he was the sovereign, and to prove the advocate of its ministry ?'* The only and very simple solution of this lan- guage, so inconsistent with his conduct immediately after- wards, lies in the detestable hypocrisy of James ; a fault com- mon to all the English princes of his race, but in which he stands pre-eminent. How, then, could it be expected that Englishmen would arrive at such an interpretation of his speeches in Scotland, until they had learnt by bitter expe- rience the proper light in which to regard the words and pro- fessions of a Stuart king ? But, although James took at once, on his accession to the English throne, a decided position against the Puritan party, and in the conferences at Hampton-court showed clearly his intention to persevere in the intolerant course of policy which had been initiated by Elizabeth, still the influence of Cecil and some others of that queen's old councillors, joined to the imprudent machinations of the Roman-catholics, was sufficient to prevent him at first from manifesting any open sympathy with that party among the Anglicans which was approximating rapidly in its theory to the Romish standard. But as the spirit of Puritanism be- came more and more prevalent in the Houses of Parliament, the king took refuge more and more in doctrines which seemed to reconcile the pretensions of crown and church to a divine authority, and to exalt them equally at the expense of the free thought of the nation. It has been said, appa- * Vaughan's History of England from the Accession of the House of Stuart to the Revolution of 1689. 74 PURITANISM : RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PCJRITANISM : RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 75 rently with truth, that Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical FoUff/, imintentionally supplied the first step towards these high- church doctrines, by that abstract generalization in which he regarded all forms of government, both in church and state, as deriving their authority from an implied sanction from the Deity. Seizing hold of this abstract truth, which in Hooker was combined with a recognition ' of the free choice and judgment of man as links in the vast chain of supreme legislation, carrying with them, in their enduring results, the clear evidence of a divine sanction to the thoughtful mind,' they hardened it into ' a positive institution of authority direct from God, descending unbroken from age to age, in- dependent of human approval and beyond human control/* It was not strange that Elizabeth, who had resources pecu- liar to herself, should have discouraged the creation of an authority such as this, having superior claims to deference to royalty itself, and that she should have preferred a church which owned no basis but a royal creation; and, on the other hand, it was to be expected that James, desti- tute both of Elizabeth's talents and resources, should prefer an alliance with a kindred system to an administration of the church shared with the House of Commons. So it was evidently the interest of the high-church party to im- press upon the minds of men the same idea of a perpetual and infallible depository of government in civil affairs that they sought to establish in religion ; and as the latter soon asserted its natural position relatively to the secular power, the result was that, instead of the king's church, we had the church's king. How strongly the feelings of Puritans would be enlisted against this theory need hardly be pointed out. They sud- denly found a church of doctrines and offices interposed bf • tween the Deity and the worshipper, instead of that church of living members of which the worshipper, in his personal and separate religious existence, still might form a con- stituent part. Instead of the tenet that the Bible was the sole and self-interpreting exponent of doctrine and duty, they * Tayler's Retrosjpect ^'c. were startled by the rule of faith that Scripture, where it is plain, should guide the church ; but that it belonged to the church alone — such a church as I have described — to ex- pound Scripture, when there was any doubt or difficulty. And, to crown all, they foimd that a system so dangerous to their religious freedom was to be removed from all cog- nizance of the civil power, at least in Parliament, and that this concession on the part of the crown was to be rewarded by throwing the sanction of religion over a policy destructive of their civil liberties. As the ideas of civil and religious liberty were thus brought into nearer association, the Puritan controversy assumed more of a political character ; and it was the position of the House of Commons relatively to the crown, rather than the * divine origin ' of any particular sys- tem of church government, which occupied the attention of the Puritans during the earliest portion of the seventeenth centuiy. ^ But at the very time that Puritanism thus became identified with the principle of civil liberty, another change in its character as a religious movement exercised an important influence on the nature of the contest on which it had entered. Hitherto the differences between the Anglicans and the Puritans related simply to matter of church government and ceremonies. Henceforward, however, they also embraced doctrinal questions. This was the inevitable consequence of the rise of high-church principles. Whatever be our judgment respecting the truth of Calvinism, and whatever the forms which it may at times practically assume, it is an undoubted fact that its tkeori/ is consistent with a personal religion only. Whether the relations which it establishes between God and man are correct or not, they are essentially personal relations. The covenant respects the individual and not the church, the efficacy is in the mind of the worshipper, and not in the nature of the outward worship. Not only are works of supererogation rejected as impossible, but the com- plete fulfilment of the law gives no claim to heaven. It is the grace of God which has no depository on earth but the elect heart, that alone opens the gates of eternal happiness. And this is the reason why Calvinism was at first nearly 76 PUBITANISM : RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. co-extensive with Protestantism. Gradually its boundaries became narrowed. On the Continent the Lutherans, whose conceptions of church government had always leant more to the side of clerical authority, abandoned the tenets on which Luther had insisted so strongly, and sought for others, which might be distinguished from, while they approximated to, those of Rome. Instead of justification by faith, an attempt was made to erect a Protestant doctrine of good works. Hence arose Arminianism, which spread rapidly in the Dutch states, and thence passed over into England. The doctrine that all men might be saved, left it to each church to frame the rules by a compliance with which that end might be attained. There was nothing in this which pre- vented the interposition of church authority as an essential in the scheme of salvation — nothing which was inconsistent with the denial of the right of private judgment. It is not at all wonderfol, then, that we should find such a doctrine associ- ated with, and at last almost identified with, the high sacer- dotalism which was beginning to be the chai'acteristic of the Anglican church ; or that we should see a tenet which permitted the absence of personal freedom of thought, de- nounced as another name for arbitrary power and passive obedience. Arminianism had also an equivalent in the Roman- catholic church which was still more odious to the English Puritan. Calvin, by the extent to which he pushed the doctrines of Augustine, awakened the Papal see to a sense ot the danger which lurked in tenets to which it had hitherto given the sanction of its authority. We shaU not, therefore, be surprised to find in the Jesuits, who became the great champions of the Roman-catholic system against the Re- formers, the determined opposers also of Calrinism, and virtually the disciples of Arminius. While such were the associations of Arminianism, Puritanism of course became its antagonist, and as such, leant to Calvinism. And now the only thing wanting to confirm this alHance was supplied by the vacillation of King James. Arminianism, we have seen, was consistent with more than one scheme of salvation. Thus heresy, as well as sacerdotalism, became associated with its name. In this respect Calvinism, with its stern exclusiveness. PURITANISM': RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 7? presented a more gratifying aspect. Both king and Puritans shuddered at the Arian doctrines, with which, it was reported, the most eminent leaders of the Arminians in Holland were tainted. That King James should grasp the whole of a question was impossible; he saw only the heresy of the Arminian Vorstius, and accordingly his representatives at the synod of Dort, in the year 1618, were instructed to support the orthodox Calvinists. But when this dangerous phase of Arminianism was suppressed, there was no reason why the king should continue his aversion to its tenets. When asso- ciated with high church doctrines, they speedily recommended themselves to his favour. In a short time, Arminian became a synonym for orthodox or court doctrines. Calvinism, of course, became, in proportion, puritanical. A new class of Puritans arose, in the bosom of the church, who were dis- tinguished from the rest of the Anglicans, not by an opposition to episcopacy, but by an adherence to Calvinism ; and these received the name of Doctrinal Puritans. The accession of this body swelled greatly the immediate force of Puritanism in the House of Commons, at the same time that it rendered less definite its ultimate aim. It is important to observe that the differences of the Puritans, which produced in later years such remarkable results, originated in the very constitution of the party. We may also deduce that it was on the proper ground of Puritanism, the direct intercourse of the individual mind with God, that Calvinism became its distinguishing feature; and that if the other tenets of that faith were generally foimd to prevail among Puritans, this was the effect either of an intimate connexion between these tenets and the great principle of Puritanism, or of a spirit of antagonism to the high-church Arminianism of the Anglican authorities. This may explain why in Holland, where that antagonism was not called into existence, the leading characteristics of Puritanism were found conjoined with the faith of Arminius ; and why, in England, on the fall of the Anglican church, a section of the Puritans adopted openly Arminian views. It was, then, on the point of personal religion, and not of religious exclusiveness, that Puritanism assumed the features of Calvinism ; it was on the idea of the possibility of a human 78 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. depository of authority, and not of religious catholicity, that King James adopted Arminianism. Such is the history of Puritanism as a Religious Theory ; we may now examine it as a Social System. We have seen what Puritanism professed to he ; it has now to be described what Puritans reaUy were. It may easily be imagined that principles such as the above produced remarkable effects on the character and habits of those who embraced them. To realize to our minds a Puritan as he existed at the commence- ment of the reign of Charles I. is even more difl&cult than to gain just ideas of the general aspects of Puritanism. In every case, indeed, social life is the least easily disinterred in its reality and integrity of all the memorials of the past. We are ourselves, in our thoughts, so much the bondslaves of the existing forms of society, that it is one of the most difficult tasks to which the mind of man can be subjected to call back again before the eyes of the present age the every-day life of the by-gone centuries. So greatly do these, in their exterior, differ from the world around us, that, unless we exercise care and discrimination, we may be led to portray a state of society which could not be an expression of any of the motives of human action now recognised among us. Though the peculiar events of the age may have called forth and given a more luxuriant growth to certain principles of the human „.ind, we must St consider this excL in'one part as nega- tiving the existence of the others, or as constituting a generic difference in the mind itself. As it is with the individual, that if his peculiarities alone are considered, we might fritter away the general expression 'man' into ten thousand petty personal definitions, so is it with the differences in the ages. We may still recognise, in the forms of the Puritan mind, either standing forth in bolder relief, or escaping cursory observation, the familiar objects of our own experience. The rationale of the social features of Puritanism lies in the personal character of the religion which it inculcated. The relations between God and each human mind were imn\e- diate and most intimate ; the belief in an overruling and con- stantly supporting Providence was intense ; the efficacy of PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 79 prayer, not as a mere beneficial exercise for the human mind, but as the appointed means for communion with an ever closely present God, was universally acknowledged. The idea of a personal conflict with the author of evil was con- stantly and vividly realized. To the Puritan, ' God' was no mere convenient formula for expressing the balance of the powers of the universe ; * Satan' was no grotesque figure- piece of Middle-age mythology — no unexplained disturbing phenomenon in modern psychology. To the Puritan, God was really b^ the side as well as on the side of right in its conflicts with wrong. Satan was personally in the field, struggling, with no regulated reserves of strength, to destroy the souls of men. On the one side demons tempted in audible tones ; on the other, the ' still small voice' spoke in secret to the soul of the believer, or openly and manifestly to all but the wilfully deaf and blind, God proclaimed His approval or displeasure in a revelation of ' events.' Such a feeling as this, if alone, might have produced as fre- quently pious enthusiasts and high-souled mystics as soimd, practical Christians. Another influence, however, secured the Puritan in a great measure from the consequences of an overwrought spiritualism. Though with respect to theories of church government, ' scripturalism' may be said to have receded among the Puritans from the high ground it assumed in the reign of Elizabeth, on every other point it had be- come a still more prominent feature of Puritanism. The whole Bible, as the very words of God Himself, a written revelation in strict harmony with the hourly expressions of God's will to the human soid and in the world, was authorita- tive to every age, since God could not contradict Himself. If in its practical deductions this belief sometimes narrowed and distorted the Puritan view of duty, it gave definiteness and solidity to his religious conceptions. Drawn by the absorb- ing conviction of a Divine presence within its pages, the Puritan threw himself into all the events and argimients of the Bible in an eagerness of realization, to which his spiri- tual communings only lent additional strength. It has been observed that there is nothing which the whole Bible breathes forth more certainly than a true, because a high-toned. 80 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM : RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 81 I ill' common-sense. Those who read or are told of the entliu- siasm of the Puritans, often express wonder at the strong practical sagacity which formed so indisputable a feature of their character. They cannot understand how the man who could discourse for the hour together on Israel and Amalek, and seemed to regard English affairs through a cloud of Jewish national animosities — ^who prayed on strange and unconven- tional occasions, in language neither tempered nor ^rational' — who interposed in political discussions the embarrassing ques- tion, whether God had not delivered the ' man of blood' into their hands as a providential 'beckoning' to 'cleanse the earth of blood V — and who drew his similes in writing and speaking from the Old and New Testaments instead of the classics — could have performed the works of high practical statesman- ship achieved by the Puritan councillors and rulers of England. They forget that the Bible came to the Puritan of the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries with all the attractions of a newly-recovered and still-disputed treasure, and sank into his mind with the depth of personally realized convictions. Its phraseology had not then become superficially conventional among professing believers — a traditional dialect, of which the etymology had perished. It was used frequently because it seemed to be so frequently required, as the naturally sug- gested expression or illustration of human action. It was not ' cant' with the true Puritan, because it conveyed too real and definite an idea to his mind to be intruded on any but what he considered strictly appropriate occasions. Whatever may have been the conduct of some who bore the name, but travestied the spirit of Puritanism, the feeling of the real Puritan did not diflfer from that expressed by one of his own newspaper writers, that ' Scripture should be drawn out with all the grai-ity and reverence we can, and not made to lackey to every fancie we have, and to prove our own uncer- tainties and passions and revenges.'* It was because he felt a necessary and momentous connexion between the words of Scripture and his own situation, that the Puritan employed them 80 often. If he carried this habit to excess, he was not, perhaps. * Mercurius Britannieus, Feb. 19-36. 1644. on the whole, more tiresome than our modern conversational echoes of the popular writers of the day. Familiar with and realizing every part of the Bible, and drinking in its whole spirit, it is not strange that, with partial misapprehensions and occasional delusions from particular passages, the highest and noblest minds among the Puritans did imbibe not merely the great enthusiasms which it expresses and inculcates, but also the strong practical sagacity and broad right-mindedness of which it is the emphatic teacher. So, notwithstanding an excessive tendency to think and speak of Gideon and David, the Puritan actually managed to govern England better than the House of Stuart fresh from the worldly-wise school of Catherine de Medicis. These characteristics, more strictly applicable, of course, to the higher minds among the Puritans, apply also, in a much greater degree than is often the case, to the general mass of those who were designated by that name. The men who constituted the ^ ranks ' of the Roundhead armies differed in no essential point, if we except the inevitable influences of social position and education, from those among the higher classes who present the complete type of the character. Indeed, social and educational advantages did not preserve their usual relative importance in the face of the elevating and refining influence of the religious studies of all classes of Puritans. From the pages of the Bible, read in this earnest and life-like manner, the Puritan obtained a mental discipline of a more invigorating character than is often drawn from systematized instruction, and notions of true courtesy more consistent and firmly rooted than even the unconscious lessons of early association. Puritanism is generally looked upon as a synonym for rigid morality, and yet upon Puritans has been thrown the stigma of antinomianism. It has been allowed that the general tone of life of the Puritan was scrupulously free from exception, so far as breaches of the moral law are concerned ; and yet it has been alleged that Puritans placed the law of inorality in dangerous subordination to theliberty of conscious grace. It is impossible to deny that some of the language employed by Puritans does (when rigidly interpreted) sup- G PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 83 i port this accusation ; and, indeed, there are expressions in St. Paul's Epistles which, if fastened upon without reference to the general bearing of his argument, by the strongly rea- lizing mind of a Puritan, might lead to an injurious depre- ciation of ' mere morality,' and even to the licentious mysti- cism of such sects as the ' Children of Love.' But the general current of biblical doctrine would be too strong to be resisted by the great majority of these earnest scripturalists ; and accordingly we find the accusation applies rather to the danger to others from the employment of such language, than to any practical abuse of Christian liberty in the general body of the Puritans. Hypocrisy, the casuistical justifica- tion of dishonest means to a good end, and spiritual pride, have been with more confidence attributed to them generally. To a genuine Puritan, conscious hypocrisy would be abhor- rent. Self-delusion, and the exaggeration natural to one long- sustained state of mind, there may have been ; but the unreality of hypocrisy must have rendered it unendurable to the true Puritan. Of the second accusation there may have been more danger, owing to the subtlety of mind engendered by constant mental exercise ; and this more especially when political affairs became a prominent subject of discussion. But here, also, the habit of referring not merely the ends but the instruments of their daily pursuits to scriptural standards, must (except in some rare instances of miscon- ceived Bible precedents) have maintained a wholesome check on the licence of speculative reasonings. The charge of spiritual pride is probably to some extent founded in truth. It would have been nearly impossible for those who differed so greatly from the world around them in their appreciation of higher objects, not to be at times painfuUy, and at other times self-complacently, conscious of this superiority. The weaker among them would naturally be unable to refrain from a supercilious arrogance of demeanour calculated to provoke infinite ill-will. The deeper minds, however, would be too conscious of the sources of their clearer insight to feel any disposition to undue self-importance. There is one point of view in which insubordinate pride has been attributed to Puritans from mere misapprehension. It has been alleged that they were so uplifted by a sense of their own personal dignity, as to be unable to bear any superior, and to be thus, by the instincts of their character, enemies to the royal and ecclesias- tical authorities. But, most assuredly, there is no idea more essentially characteristic of Puritanism than that of one great authority for human action. That there is such a thing as truth and right, and that it has its authoritative expression upon earth, is a conception in itself suggestive of subordination and government, and which broadly distinguishes Puritanism from the chaotic theories of modem democracy. In this idea the Stuarts, had they been wise and upright rulers, would have perceived a valuable ally to their administration. What was implied, however, in this Puritan respect for authority WQ& ffood government — a righteous handling of the sceptre entrusted by God. They had no respect for government except as the earthly symbol of God's supreme authority, and no government could stand in that relation to them which did the work of the Lord negligently. They bent before the throne of God and His divinely constituted tribunals on earth; but they had no reverence for standards of authority which were warped from the divine pattern by the selfish passions and tyranny of princes. They ^feared God and honoured the king' in a higher sense than that in which the Cavalier devoted his life and fortunes to any inheritor of the royal title indiscriminately, however unworthy he might personally be. There is one feature of the Puritan about which there is no dispute — the virtues of the home circle. Here even his bitterest enemies allow to him not merely the conscientious discharge of his duties, but a relaxation from his sterner and less pleasing moods into the warmest and deepest domestic affections. If a morose fanatic, a bad subject, and a designing hypocrite in the world without, within his own doors he was (they acknowledged) true and warm-hearted as son, husband, and father. Strange as it may appear to some, the most peculiarly English of the virtues was also one of those most distinctive of the Puritan. Drawn immediately from his interpretation of the Divine will, these virtues of private g2 PUKITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. m t life became, in their turn, the school of robust states- manship* There is, however, an aspect of Pm-itanism, in its social relations, which cannot be approached by any modem writer without great self-distrust. The spell of a magician has been cast over this portion of our subject ; and he must have ex- traordinary confiddce in his own powers who (whatever the strength of his arguments) can hope to remove com- pletely the entrancing delusion. The Cavalier and Round- head of Sir Walter Scott's romances will probably always re- main too life-like and striking portraitures not to be received by the majority of readers as faithful reproductions of the originals. ' Sir Henry Lee' will outlive a thousand clear historical refutations, and ' Claverhouse' will survive even the pungent strictures of a Macaiday. You cannot destroy the impression left on the mind by the great novelist's deline- ation of these men ; and though you should produce from the archives of history the true Sir Henry Lees of the reign of Charles and the actual ' Dundee' of King James, they will be unable to displace from their pedestals these idols of the popular fancy. The family portraits which hang round the galleries of our country houses are enlisted in aid of the delusion. How many are there among those priestesses of * Perhaps the following extracts from a letter from a thorough Puritan to his little girl, may illustrate this. At any rate they form a literary curiosity. The writer. Colonel Alban Coxe, was at that time governor of Guernsey, having been appointed in place of Colonel Russell, October 22, 1649 : — * My sweet girl, — I received a little note by Tom Darnell, last night, con- cerning West .... I must now (my girl) claim this promise, that thou follow thy grammar hard, and also let mo entreat that some time be spent on thy catecise. Pray, at my request (which I know thou canst not deny), be very dutiful and observant to thy dear mother, that in my absence thou mayest be a comfort to her sad heart, and at my return I may have cause to bless God and thank thee. Forget not to be frequent in prayer, and when thou art before the throne of grace remember me. Commend me to thy uncle and aunt Smyth. The great God [of] both thee and me send us a safe meeting. — I rest, thy loving father, Albaji Coxb.* On a piece of paper attached are the following remarks : * Though we may have no communion with the wicked in their religious nor any other evil action against either table of God's law, yet in civil affairs we are taught of God to converse with them in peace ; as to eat and drink with them, buy and sell with them, Gen. xxiii. 3, 4, 16. Make covenants of peace. Gen. xiv. 13. Show kindness to them, 2 Sam. x. 2. Pity their estate, love them. Mat. v. 44. Relieve their wants.' — Additional M88. Brit. Mus, 11,315, p. 23. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 85 our family mysteries, the housekeepers of our great houses, who are conscientious enough, or think it consistent with their duties to the family, to own that an ancestor of their master fought against King Charles, instead of ' suffering in the royal cause,' as so many would seem to have done? The fact is, that the Puritans have been unfortunate enough to fall under the ill-favour of successive geiierations of English- men from causes natural enough in each case ; but, as it happens, not exactly similar. Why the Cavaliers of the seventeenth century and their followers hated and decried them we learn from the animated description of a Puritan lady, who had herself experienced the consequences of this stigma. ' The payment of civil obedience to the king and the laws of the land,' says Mrs. Hutchinson, 'satisfied not. If any durst dispute his impositions in the worship of God, he was presently reckoned among the seditious and disturbers of the public peace, and accordingly persecuted. If any were grieved at the dishonour of the kingdom, or the griping of the poor, or the unjust oppressions of the subject by a thousand ways invented to maintain the riots of the courtiers, and the swarms of needy Scots the king had brought in to devour like locusts the plenty of this land, he was a ' Puritan.' If any, out of mere morality and civil honesty, discountenanced the abomination of those days, he was a ' Puritan,' however he conformed to their superstitious worship. If any showed favour to any godly, honest persons, kept them company, relieved them in want, or protected them against violent or unjust oppression, he was a ' Puritan.' If any gentleman in his country maintained the good laws of the land, or stood up for any public interest, for good order or government, he was a ' Puritan.' In short, all that crossed the views of the needy courtiers, the proud encroaching priests, the thievish projectors, the lewd nobility and gentry ; whoever was zealous for God's glory or worship, could not endure blasphemous oaths, ribald conversation, profane scoffs, sabbath-breaking, derision of the Word of God, and the like ; whoever could endure a sermon, modest habits or conversation, or anything good, all these were 'Puritans;' and if 'Puritans,' then enemies to the king and his government, seditious, factious hypocrites. 1 'J I 86 PUKITANISM : RELIOIOUS AND SOCIAL PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS ANB SOCIAL. 87 il' ambitious disturbers of the public peace, and, finally, the pest of the kingdom. Such false logic did the children of dark- ness use to argue with against the hated children of Hght, whom they branded, besides, as an illiterate, morose, melan- choly, discontented, crazed sort of men, not fit for human conversation. As such they made them not only the sport of the pulpit, which was become but a more solemn sort of stage ; but every stage, and every table, and every puppet-play belched forth profane scoffs upon them : the drunkards made them their songs, and all fiddlers and mimes learned to abuse them, as finding it the most gainful way of fooling.' It is now pretty generally admitted that, whatever its merits in other respects, the Elizabethan age can lay little claim to any close adherence to the rule of Christian morality ; but under the degraded rule of James the court and nobility of England sank deeper and deeper into the slough of debauchery ; and every one who laid the slightest claim, by his actions or words, to the character of a moral or religious man, was classed at once among the Puritan fanatics, until at last Puritanism be- came almost a synonym for common decency. The French ambassador Tillieres was not likely to be over-nice in his notions of morality ; but he writes as foUows to his court on the a3rd of August, 1621 : 'They have no thoughts here of a war either in France or in Germany, nor of any occupation whatever, other than that of eating, drinking, and making merry. The house of the Duke of Buckingham is a chief resort for these pursuits ; but I have too much modesty to describe, in the terms of strict truth, things which one would rather suppress than commit in writing to ambassadorial despatches, destined for the perusal of distinguished persons. They are such as even friends touch upon only with reluctance in confidential letters. I have, nevertheless, sought out for the most decent expressions which I can make use of, to convey to you some of the particulars, but I have not suc- ceeded, whether because I am deficient in adroitness, or that it be actually impossible to lay these histories before chaste ears.' It was against these abominations that the Puritans protested as much by their lives as by words ; and ou this account they speedily obtained the character of morosQ fanatics, who clouded the fair horizon of life by their gloomy asceticism, and who, because they could not enjoy social pleasures themselves, sought to deter all others from a share in them. Modern society, ignorant of the real state of things covered by such general expressions as 'social pleasures,' has accepted the language of the Cavaliers, when speaking of their adversaries, as literally true in its own sense of the 'words; and coarse fanaticism and a boorish hatred of the courtesies of society have been set down as inseparable features of the Puritans of the time of the ' Great Rebellion.' The long-flowing love-locks, the peaked beard, and plumed hat of the Cavalier, his rich and picturesque dress, and his gay, dauntless bearing, as figured forth in the portraits of that generation, have attracted irresistibly the drawing-rooms of the nineteenth century ; and when the pen of the ' author of Waverley ' threw life and reality into this pictorial fancy, and brought down the Cavaliers from their dark oak frames into the closest social sympathies of the present day, the illusion was rendered complete, and every one would have been proud to welcome to his hearth and his festive board the living men whose existence had been so completely realized. ' He has doflf*d the silk doublet the breast-plate to bear. He has placed the steel cap o'er his long flowing hair ; From his belt to his stirrup his broadsword hangs down — Heaven shield the brave gallant that fights for the crown ! For the rights of fair England that broadsword he draws; Her king is his leader, her church is his cause. His watchword is honour, his pay is renown — God strike with the gallant that strikes for the crown !* A contemporary Royalist gives a somewhat different idea of the Cavalier army. Dr. Edward Symmons, ' a minister not of the late confused new, but of the ancient, orderly, and true church of England,' in a Vindication of King Charles y published in 1647, says : ' Never any good undertaking had so many unworthy attendants, such horrid blasphemers, and wicked wretches as ours hath had. I quake to think, much more to speak, what mine ears have heard from some of their lips ; but to discover them is not my present business : a day may come when the world may see that we who adhere to ! 88 PURITANISM: KELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 89 the king for conscience sake (whatever is said of ns to the contrary) have as truly hated the prophaneness and vUeness of our own men^ as we have done the disloyalty and rebellion of the enemy . . . We have those that seem to hate religion as much as the rebels do loyalty ; yea, that make religion a work of rebellion, even as they on the other side do make rebellion a work of religion/ Of course the licentiousness of the majority of the Cavaliers is not to be taken as negativing the decency of the minority. But there is evidence that with most of the latter also this decency was but comparative, as contrasted with the outrageous conduct of their associates ; and that though the outward face of the court of Charles was much reformed from his father's and compared with that, might be called moral and temperate, yet it fell far below our standard of ordinary decency and morality. Those indi- viduals among the Cavalier party who attained to something like our notions of a 'gentleman' found themselves sadly out of place among the courtiers of King Charles, and do not appear to have found in that king himself the diffusive centre of refinement and purity which the modern mind conceives him to have been. But not only would the manners and language of the average Cavalier of Charles I. have rendered him unendur- able in modern general society, but his tastes also would have made him an unseemly and unsuitable companion for the intercourse of daily life. Habits and tastes which have now descended to the lowest classes, were considered by the thorough Cavalier quite as much essential parts of the cha- racter of a gentleman, as loyalty and reverence for church authority. Not only those refinements which we should call more properly mental, but the ordinary outward characteristics of a gentleman of the present day, would have conveyed a clear title to the epithet of ' Puritan' in the days of King Charles. The few Falklands and Southamptons were ever looked upon with dislike and distrust in the royalist camp and court as leavened with the spirit of their opponents ; while decorous persons such as Hyde were just tolerated as men of business, and almost openly scoffed at by the gay courtiers of Henrietta-Maria. That weak, worthless, over- bearing royal beauty imparted to the court of her husband much of the empty heartlessness and unprincipled levity pre- valent in the circles of French society ; and nothing but the more frigid formality of the king himself prevented the court under her auspices from forestalling (in an approximate de- gree) the licentiousness of their son and successor. Incredible indeed as it may appear to some, it is not too much to say that (if we except a few honourable names among the Royalists— such, for instance, as the Earl of Derby) the Puri- tan gentleman alone would be appreciated and sympathized with by modern society. Of course it is not meant to affirm that peculiarities of manner and language would not occa- sionally raise a smile of wondering amusement at his expense 3 but the prevalent feeling would be one of sympathizing re- spect. He might be judged by some over-strict and scru- pulous ; but by them also the complete absence of coarse vul- garity in his manners would not be unappreciated. His ' preciseness' even would be in many respects less marked and offensive to the world at large than is the case with ' strict' people of the present day. It would be ' strictness' in com- parison with a much laxer state of general society, and would, therefore, in many of its once salient features, har- monize with the received canons of propriety of a more ad- vanced age. In referring to these and similar characteristics of the Puritan, it has been generally forgotten, that in the reign of Charles I. the great majority of the Puritans were not sepa- ratists from the communion of the church of England, but formed a party within the national church. Although, there- fore, their earnest opinions gave a certain peculiarity to their manners, there was not the broad social difference which (far more than any religious creed) severs the churchman and dissenter of the present day. The Puritan was not, as the modern dissenter, hardly to be found except in the middle and lower classes; and within these, still more restricted in his social intercourse by the special demarcations of his creed. His peculiarities of religious opinion did not with society at large imply the probable absence of higher social rank, and of the social influences connected with formal membership of 90 PUBITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PLTRITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 91 tlie Established church. Social disabilities of this kind (fer- tile sources of infidelity to conscience and silly assumption on one side, and querulous, self-sufficient rudeness on the other), which are the crying evil of our present religious divisions, did not attach necessarily to the Puritan then, and indeed scarcely existed at all. A considerable minority among the peers and landed gentry were socially as well as politically ' Puritans.' The wealthier merchants were gene- rally of that cast ; and a strong body of the beneficed clergy, who had their representatives in the national universities, were openly identified with that epithet. There was, therefore, little occasion for that gaucherie often and very na- turally residting from isolation in one small circle of associa- tions ; or for the feeling (sometimes unwarranted) of being, beyond the boundaries of that circle, a social ' pariah.' Nor, again, was there the residting tendency on the part of the ex- cluded to exaggerate their points of difference from the ex- clusives, and to assume an attitude of defiant want of sym- pathy with society on trifling points of ceremonial observance. Puritanism and ' Cavalierism ' (if I may coin such a word) were two rival principles, contending for the regulation of social habits as much as for political ascendency, and in both respects on something like equal terms. Puritanism, there- fore, was not in the former respect the enforced attitude of a sullen inferiority, any more than it was in the latter the mere reckless desperation of a defeated faction. But there is one imputed offence, on the part of the Puri- tan, against the taste of modem society, which perhaps it may not be possible entirely to remove, his alleged moroseness. In the usual sense of the term we may at once deny the charge, so far as concerns the great majority of the Puritans, and certainly nearly the whole of the Puritan gentry. We must plead guilty, however, if it is merely meant to imply the absence of that buoyant gaiety of demeanour which, with all his coarseness and frivolity, forms the undoubtedly attractive feature in the Cavalier. The habitual expression of the Puritan gentleman was grave and subdued ; and this w« the inevitable result of a mind constantly occupied with the deepest and most absorbmg questions. It would appear as if the spirit of the religious reformation, from the inti- mate connexion which it speedily formed with our political history, had penetrated so deeply into the mind of the Eng- lish nation, as to affect permanently the national character, and tinge it with a reserved gravity, which up to that time was not its marked characteristic. Washington Irving, in one of his delightful essays on English country-life, has treated this subject most happily, and his remarks supply the key to much of the Puritan ' melancholy.' After describing the lamentations of Squire Bracebridge over the decay of old English merriment, he goes on to say: — ' Such are a few of the authorities quoted by the squire by way of contrasting what he supposes to have been the former vivacity of the nation with its present monotonous character. ' John Bull,' he will say, ' was then a gay cavalier with a sword by his side, and a feather in his cap ; but he is now a plodding citizen, in snuff-coloured coat and gaiters.' ' By-the-bye, there really appears to have been some change in the national character since the days of which the squire is so fond of talking ; those days when this little island ac- quired its favourite old title of ' merry England.' This may be attributed in part to the growing hardships of the times, and the necessity of turning the whole attention to the means of subsistence ; but England's gayest customs prevailed at times when her common people enjoyed comparatively few of the comforts and conveniences that they do at present. It may be still more attributed to the universal spirit of gain, and the calculating habits that commerce has introduced ; but I am inclined to attribute it chiefly to the gradual increase of the liberty of the subject, and the growing freedom and activity of opinion* ' A free people are apt to be grave and thoughtful. They have high and important matters to occupy their minds. They feel that it is their right, their interest, and their duty to mingle in public concerns, and to watch over the general welfare. The continual exercise of the mind on political topics gives intenser habits of thinking, and a more serious and earnest demeanour. A nation becomes less gay, but more •12 PUKITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 93 , 1 ' . 1. intellectually active and vigorous. It evinces less play of the fancy, hut more power of the imagination; less taste and elegance, but more grandeur of mind; less animated vivacity, but deeper enthusiasm. It is when men are shut out of the regions of manly thought hy a despotic government — when every grave and lofty theme is rendered perilous to discussion and almost to reflection ; it is then that they turn to the safer occupations of taste and amusement ; trifles rise to import- ance, and occupy the craving activity of intellect. No being is more void of care and reflection than the slave — none dances more gaily in his intervals of labour ; but make him free, give him rights and interests to guard, and he becomes thoughtful and laborious.^* If this is the eflFect of simple political emancipation, how much more striking must have been the influence of those deep religious questions which, colouring every object and duty of life, kept the Puritan almost constantly under the subdued light of great and solemn feelings ? The state of mind thus produced was doubtless an overstrained one, which could only be sustained by the closer and more immediate presence of great events; but enough of it would seem to have survived the national reaction (or rather the reaction of the highest and lowest classes) to thoughtless licentiousness after the Restoration, to make ' English gravity ' a common topic of remark among foreign nations. Those, therefore, who deride the ' moroseness ' of the Puritan, should recollect that they are to some extent ridiculing that ' reserve ' upon which modem Englishmen are generally accustomed to pride them- selves. The Cavalier gaiety would be doubtless (if separated from its less pleasing accompaniments) socially welcome on many occasions ; but the general feeling of modem England would equally ' rebel ' against its frivolous heartlessness when applied to the more important concems of life. Place an Englishman of acknowledged high principle and good sense, and at the same time a social favourite of the present day, among the questions and feelings of the days of Charles I., * Bracehridge Hall (ed. 1822), vol. ii. pp. 32-4. See, also, the admirable essay, * Merry England,' in Hazlitt's Men and Manners, and would he, in any essential point, differ from the Eliots and Hampdens of the Puritan party ? Even now, the pre- sence of great and unwonted events exercises an extraordinary influence on the bearing and language of Englishmen of all classes ; and the religious expressions which appeared strange, if not hjrpocritical, in the mouths of the dead Puritans, have not sounded so unnatural and insincere when proceeding spontaneously from the camp-fires before Sebastopol. Milton has a passage in his Reason of Church Government, which seems still further to elucidate this point : ^ How happy were it for this frail and, as it may be called, mortal life of man, since all earthly things which have the name of good and convenient in our daily use, are withal so cumbersome and full of trouble, if knowledge, yet which is the best and lightsomest possession of the mind, were, as the common saying is, no burden ; and that which is wanted of being a load to any part of the body, it did not with a heavy advantage overlay upon the spirit ! For, not to speak of that knowledge that rests in the contemplation of natural causes and dimensions, which must needs be a lower wisdom, as the object is low, certain it is that he who hath obtained in more than the scantiest measure to know anything distinctly of God, and of his true worship, and what is infallibly good and happy in the state of man^s life, what in itself evil and miserable, though vulgarly not so esteemed ; he that hath obtained to know this, the only high valuable wisdom, indeed, remembering also that God, even to a strictness, requires the improvement of these his entrusted gifts, cannot but sustain a sorer burden of mind, and more pressing than any supportable toil or weight which the body can labour under, how and in what manner he shall dispose and employ those sums of knowledge and illumination which God hath sent him into this world to trade with.^ — ^ Needs must it sit heavily upon their spirits, that, being in God's prime intention and their own, selected heralds of peace, and dispensers of treasure inestimable, without price to them that have no peace, they find in the discharge of their commission that they are made the greatest variance and offence, a very sword and fire, both in house and city, over the whole earth. This is that which the sad prophet Jeremiah laments : ^ Woe ii PUEITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL, I f 'f is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me, a man of strife and contention !' And although Divine inspiration must certainly have been sweet to those ancient prophets, yet the irksomeness of that truth which they brought was so un- pleasant unto them, that everywhere they call it a burden. Yea, that mysterious book of revelation, which the great Evangelist was bid to eat, as it had been some eye-brightening electuary of knowledge and foresight, though it were sweet in his mouth, and in the learning, it was bitter in his belly, bitter in the devouring. Nor was this hid from the wise poet Sophocles, who in that place of his tragedy, where Tiresias is called to resolve King (Edipus in a matter which he knew would be grievous, brings him in bemoaning his lot, that he knew more than other men. For surely, to every good and peaceable man, it must in nature needs be a hateful thing to be the displeaser and molester of thousands ; much better would it like him, doubtless, to be the messenger of gladness and contentment, which is his chief intended busi- ness to all mankind, but that they resist and oppose their own true happiness. But when God commands to take the trumpet, and blow a dolorous or jarring blast, it lies not in man's will what he shall say, or what he shall conceal.'* If we bear in mind some of the above causes which explain the less genial characteristics of the Puritan, perhaps it will not be impossible to understand the feelings which dictated some of those social restrictions which are usually given as examples of his morose austerity. It must be remembered that in the great struggle to which the Puritan committed himself with such abandonment of all secondary considera- tions, one of the most dangerous (because one of the most insidious) of the instruments of national degradation was that demoralization which consists less in outward acts of gross immorality, than in the empty, thoughtless disregard of everything but the passing pleasures of the day. The May- day games, the Sunday sports ordered by royal authority from the pulpit, the masques and theatrical representations, the court feasts and balls, were at that time so many pleasant ♦ Works, by Fletcher (1843), pp. 41-2. PURITANISM: BELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 95 opiates to deaden the perceptions of the nation, and enervate their manlier qualities. The contemporary historian May, in his admirable sketch of this period, refers to the effects pro- duced by this royal policy. ' Many men,' he says, ' who had before been loose and careless, began upon that occasion to enter into a more serious consideration of it, and were ashamed to be incited by the authority of churchmen to that which themselves, at the best, could but have pardoned in themselves as a thing of infirmity. The example of the court, where plays were usually presented upon Sundays, did not so much draw the country to imitation, as reflect with disadvantage upon the court itself, and sour those other court pastimes and jollities, which would have relished better without that in the eyes of all the people, as things ever allotted to the delights of great princes. The comitenancing of looseness and irreligion was, no doubt, a good preparative to the introduction of another religion ; and the power of godliness being beaten down, popery might more easily by degrees enter.'* Independently of the grossness and immo- rality attending most of these pastimes, and tainting the theatre of that day, the more earnest looked with suspicion upon the motives and possible consequences of the excess of mere sensual enjoyment into which it was attempted to plunge the nation. The early habits and education of most of the Puritan leaders had familiarized them with those accomplish- ments and amusements which are usually set down as the special property of the Cavaliers ; and although there were considerable differences of opinion among Puritans as to their lawfulness, according to the standard of God's will, to which they referred every question, still not a few of them, espe- cially among the gentry, rested their objections on their abuse and undue intrusion, to the exclusion of more impor- tant and pressing occupations. They especially deprecated this absorption in festivities in the crisis of a great national con- vulsion, when the fate of England for centuries at least himg trembling in the balance. This feeling is set forth very dis- • May's IRstory of the Long Parliament : a masterly contemporary work, full of noble thought and just conception of character. 96 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 97 I tinctly in the first of tlie ordinances of parliament suppress- ing ' stage-plays/ ' On the eve of the actual commencement of hostilities, an order was made by the two Houses, that during the present period of calamity, ' when himiiliation and prayer better befitted the state of public affairs than lascivious mirth and le^-ity,^ all public stage-plays should cease and be forborne. It was not till the end of the year 1647, when Scotch Presbyterianism exercised a peculiar influence on the English Parliament, that the opinion of those among the Puritans who objected to such exhibitions on scriptural grounds, gained the ascendant, and ' a general interdict was established against them, as having been 'condemned by ancient heathens, and by no means to be tolerated among professors of the Christian religion.' '* This particular ground of objection, however, only applies to a portion of the Puritans, and does not express the feelings of many who were willing to forego what they looked upon as in themselves inno- cent pleasures, in consideration of the more solemn demands of the age. When the country assumed a more settled character under the Protector, Davenant was allowed by him to perform comedies in a private theatre; and undoubtedly the sentiments of Cromwell on this and similar points were shared by others of an equally decided Puritan stamp. Music and the fine arts were regarded with much the same mixed feelings. Some of the Puritans objected to both on reasons deduced from the Bible, some of which are fanciful and far-fetched enough to raise a smile ; while others, undoubtedly, are manifestations of idiosyncrasies in those who employ them, which render it impossible to take them as representations of the feelings of a class. There was, however, as in the case of theatrical representations, another current of feeling among the Puri- tans ; and by many individuals these disputed tastes were cherished, although still in decided subordination to what they considered more important pursuits. It would not be difficult to bring together from the notices, imperfect as they are, which we possess of the private life of the reigns of the earlier Stuarts, ample illustrations of what has just been stated ♦ Godwin's Mittory of the Commonwealth^ vol. i. p. 76. respecting the puritan rules of conduct on such points. Some passages, however, in the character of Colonel Hutchinson, drawn by his wife, will probably be sufficient to give an idea of the point of view from which some undoubted Puritans at least regarded these social questions. ' He was apt,' she says, ' for any bodily exercise ; and any that he did, became him : he could dance admirably well, but neither in youth nor riper years made any practice of it : he had skill in fencing, such as became a gentleman : he had a great love of music, and often diverted himself with a viol, on which he played masterly ; and he had an exact ear and judg- ment in other music : he shot excellently in bows and guns, and much used them for his exercise : he had great judgment in paintings, gravings, sculpture, and all liberal arts, and had many curiosities of value in all kinds : he took great delight in perspective glasses, and for his other rarities was not so much affected with the antiquity as the merit of the work : he took much pleasure in improvement of grounds, in plant- ing groves, and walks, and fruit-trees, in opening springs and making fish-ponds ; of country recreations he loved none but hawking, and in that was very eager and much deHghted for the time he used it, but soon left it off: he was wonderftdly neat, cleanly, and genteel in his habit, and had a very good fancy in it ; but he left off very early the wearing of anything that was costly, yet in his plainest negligent habit appeared very much a gentleman : he had more address than force of body, yet the courage of his soul so supplied his members that he never wanted strength when he found occasion to employ it : his conversation was very pleasant, for he was naturally cheerful ; had a ready wit and apprehension : he was eager in everything he did, earnest in dispute, but withal very rational, so that he was seldom overcome : everything that it was necessary for him to do he did with delight, free and unconstrained : he hated ceremonious compliment, but yet had a natural civility and complaisance to all people : he was not talkative, yet free of discourse : of a very spare diet, not given to sleep, and an early riser when in health : he never was at any time idle, and hated to see any one else 80 : in all his natural and ordinary inclinations and composure^ H II d8 PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. PURITANISM : RELiaiOUS AND SOCIAL. 99 ■|l there was something extraordinary and tending to virtue beyond what I can describe, or can be gathered from a bare, dead de- scription: there was a life of spirit and power in him that is not to be found in any copy drawn from him. ... I cannot say whether he were more truly magnanimous, or less proud : he never disdained the meanest person, nor flattered the greatest : he had a loving and sweet courtesy to the poorest, and would often employ many spare hours with the commonest soldiers and poorest labourers ; but still so ordering his familiarity as it never raised them to a contempt, but entertained still at the same time a reverence with love of him : he ever pre- served himself in his own rank ; neither being proud of it so as to despise any inferior, nor letting fall that just decorum which his honour obliged him to keep up. He was as far from envy of superiors as from contemning them that were under him : he was above the ambition of vain titles, and so well contented with the even ground of a gentleman , that no invita- tion could have prevailed upon him to advance one step that way ; he loved substantial, not airy honour. Never had any man a more contented and thankful heart for the estate that God had given, but it was a very compass for the exercise of his great heart. He loved hospitality as much as he hated riot: he could contentedly be without things beyond his reach, though he took very much pleasure in aU those noble delights that exceeded not his faculties. In those things that were of mere pleasure, he loved not to aim at that he could not attain : he would rather wear clothes absolutely plain, than pretend to gallantry ; and would rather choose to have none, than mean jewels or pictures, and such other things as were not of absolute necessity. He would rather give nothing than a base reward or present ; and upon that score he lived very much retired, though his nature was very sociable, and delighted in going into and receiving company ; because his fortune would not allow him to do it in such a noble manner as suited with his mind. His whole life was the rule of tem- perance in meat, drink, apparel, pleasure, and all those things that may be lawfully enjoyed ; and herein his tem- nerance was more excellent than in others in whom it is not Z much a virtue, but proceeds from want of appetite or gttst of pleasure ; in him it was a true, wise, and religious govern- ment of the desire and delight he took in the things he en- joyed. He had a certain activity of spirit which could never endure idleness either in himself or others, and that made him eager, for the time he indulged it, as well in pleasure as in business ; indeed, though in youth he exercised innocent sports a little while, yet afterwards his business was his plea- sure. But, how intent soever he were in anything, how much soever it delighted him, he could freely and easily cast it away when God called him to something else. He had as much modesty as could consist with a true, virtuous assur- ance, and hated an impudent person. He despised nothing of the female sex but their follies and vanities. Scurrilous discourse even among men"^ he abhorred; and though he some- times took pleasure in wit and mirth, yet that which was mixed with impurity he never would endure.* Making allowance for the very natural high-colouring of the above character, some idea may be gathered from it of the general tone of life and tastes of the more cultivated puritan gentlemen of the seventeenth century. The point of dress, to which brief allusion is there made, has been a fer- tile cause of popular derision against the Puritans, and, per- haps, lies at the bottom of a good deal of the ill-favour with which the name has been attended in modern society. Al- though, therefore, in itself comparatively unimportant, it may be well to say a few words on this subject. The puritan costume, though accommodated to his ideas of manly sim- plicity, and therefore, in comparison with the cavalier attire, plain and sombre, would be looked upon at present as offend- ing on the side of foppery rather than of Quakerism. In a large proportion of cases (judging from incidental notices and from the portraits which have come down to us), it would be considered, on the whole, extremely handsome and be- coming. The military costume, which inevitably became the prevalent dress of the time, would (in many instances) excite warm admiration even in those accustomed to the splendid uniforms of our household troops. General Harrison, the • This is a curious window into the social canons of that day. H 2 100 PURITANISM : RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. i I II regicide, is usually looked upon as a tliorougli Puritan, and as such is made tie subject of a most unwarranted caricature by Scott, in bis novel of JFooMock ; yet the following is a description of bis dress given by tbe royalist Sir Tbomas Herbert, in attendance on King Charles : ' Another troop of horse was in good order drawn up, by which his majesty passed. It was to bring up the rear. In the head of it was the captain, gallantly mounted and armed : a velvet monteir was on his head, a new buff-coat upon his back, and a crimson silk scarf about his waist, richly fringed ; who, as the king passed him by with an easie pace (as delighted to see men well hoTs'd and arm'd), the captain gave the king a bow with his head all a-soldade, which his majesty requited.'* The original dress of our present ' carabineers' (6th dragoon guards), who are said to have formed Cromwell's body-guard, has been allowed by modem military critics to warrant the praise here awarded to General Harrison and his soldiers. Of course there were many differences on the subject of dress among the Puritans, and we can only speak, as on all social points, of a certain proportion of those who went by the name. It would, doubtless, not be difficult to find illus- trations among them of the extreme of coarse homeliness of dress and manners, just as among the Cavaliers we might select examples of outrageous foppery. It is quite enough for our purpose to show that the puritan gentlemen were not necessarily (by virtue of their name and creed) so entirely open to modem ridicule in these respects as has been supposed. The same may be said of the alleged close crop- ping of the hair, which gave them the name of ' Round- heads' with their opponents. The exuberant locks of the Cavalier (however ornamental in pictures) would be now regarded in actual life as extremely effeminate, and far more ridiculous than the puritan fashion. Reactions, indeed, are always to extremes ; and Mrs. Hutchinson tells us that, in contemptuous derision of the length of the cavalier locks, the Parliamentarians at first wore their hair so short, that their army, when it took the field, looked ' as if they had • Memoirs of the Two Last Tears of the Reign of King Charles J. By Sir Thomas Herbert, Groom of the Chambers to his Majesty (ed. 1815), PP- 139-40. PURITANISM: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL. 101 been only sent out till their hair was grown.* But we must remember that this ' shortness^ she speaks of has reference to the usual length of the hair in those days, and would, pro- bably, be very similar to our own present fashion. Even this, however, was not maintained ; for the same author adds that, ^ two or three years after the commencement of the war, any stranger who had seen this very army would,' even with the notions of that time, ^ have inquired the reason of the name' of Roundhead. Some ministers, indeed, she speaks of, and others, ' who cut their hair close round their heads with so many little peaks, as was something ridiculous to behold / and there is a portrait of William Prynne, the learned ^ utter-barrister' of Lincoln's Inn, prefixed to some of his works, which gives a good idea of this extreme ^ Round- head ' fashion. On the other hand, the great majority of the portraits of Puritans of that day (and among them some of the leading ministers) bear ample testimony to the ground- lessness, according to modern ideas, of the charge of a general and ridiculous close-cropping. Such, then, were the distinctive characteristics of Puri- tanism and the Puritans. Puritanism was essentially spiritual in its conception, and only so far material in its religious agencies as seemed conformable with an entire subordination to the original idea. Resting on simple and immediate rela- tions between God and man, it was at once anxiously and entirely obedient to what it believed to be the revealed will of God, and self-reliant and critical so far as respected the mere authority of man. It was, therefore, at once conservative and uncompromising. If it tore down with no gentle hand the overgrowth of tyrannical and superstitious innovation, it did so under the paramount idea of the restitution of the pure temple of God upon earth. If occasionally austere, it was always manly. If sometimes narrow, it was always earnest. If not always clear-sighted in its objects, it never limited its vision to passing events, but looked out boldly into the wider future. If intolerant of some approved English tastes, it was so in the interests of a true English spirit j if it prohibited them for the time, it rendered them innocuous in all future time. If too grave for ordinary events, it harmonized in its temper with the extraordinary work to which it believed itself i.'i 102 PURITANISM: BELIOIOUS AND SOCIAL. divinely called. If it overtlirew a cliurch, it preserved the morality and spirit of Christianity among the nation. If it executed a king, it laid the foundation for a reconciliation between monarchy and liberty. If its errors were theoreti- cally and practically not a few, it at least dealt with questions which would task the genius and the conscience of the ablest and noblest. We have benefited by many of its successful solutions, and have rarely ourselves added to them. It carried the philosophy of the divine and the scholar into the work of practical statesmanship ; and the morality of the Bible into the court, the workshop, and the camp. It reconciled the duties of public and private life by placing them both under the dictation of one common authority. It perished in its outward structure from the convulsions which it provoked, but its spirit still lives in the institutions which it rescued from destruction, and in an undemoralized national character. The descendants of the English Cavaliers may with reason be proud of the gallant self-devotion of their ancestors who perilled their own lives and fortunes, equally with the welfare of their country, in the service of princes wholly unworthy of the sacrifice ; but they, on the other hand, have no reason to be ashamed who trace their descent from those puritan gen- tlemen who, unsupported by the strong impulses of royal favour and personal devotion, and with little permanent countenance from the shifting passions of a multitude, broke through every tie of individual comfort, and family and private considerations; cast aside for the time their own natural tastes and sympathies ; exposed themselves to imputations of disloyalty with men because they would not be disloyal to God ; and through disappointment and success, victory and treachery, high power and utter prostration, unwaveringly preserved the principles of their ' good old cause,'* leaving to succeeding generations, who have reaped the harvest which they sowed with their sorrows and their blood, to do justice to their motives, if they refuse to consecrate their names. ♦ As lie (Harrison) was going to suffer, one, in derision, called to him, and said, * Where is your good old cause V He, with a cheerful smile, dapt his hand on his breast, and said, * Here it is, and I am going to seal it with my blood.'--Trials of the Regicides : State Trials (fol. ed.), voL IL p. 403. III. ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. THE conduct of Charles I. in early life is so closely con- nected with the events of his reign, that it may be well, before making any remarks on the latter, to bring together a few of the notices of the former which are scattered through contemporary authorities. The part played by Charles in state affairs during the life of his father was from an early period far from inconsiderable ; though, until the last year or two of James's reign, the public in general were unaware of the influence which he secretly exercised over that sovereign's counsels. At his elder brother's death, in November, 161 2, he was stiU a mere boy, regarded by the popular feeling with little favour. A sickly constitution, a weakness in his limbs, and a natural stutter in his speech, no doubt fostered his disposition to a cold and awkward reserve, which contrasted very unfavourably with the affability and frank impetuosity of the deceased prince. We find, then, that for some time all that was said of his character in public was of the simply negative kind. The rise of the second great favourite of James, George VilHers, which began in the year 1615, was not at first gratifying to Charles ; who would even seem, from an allusion in one of the diplomatic despatches, to have shown some leaning to the Puritans. But the popularity with that party of his sister, the Electress-palatine, appears to have excited strongly the jealousy of the prince, and (as an ambassador"'^ tells us), to ♦ Von Raumer*s History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, trans- lated from the German, vol. ii. p. 246. This is my general authority for the ambassadorial reports. 104 ANTECEDENTS AND PlRST TEABS OP KING CHARLES. 105 I' tlie great pleasure of the king, produced an entire change in his feelings. In one of his letters Buckingham thanks James for having ' first planted me in your babie Charles' good opinion.* Clarendon states that it was, ' after a long time of declared jealousy and displeasure on the prince's part, and occasion enough administered on the other/ that this new and fatal friendship was entered upon. Before the death of Queen Anne we find Charles employing the interposition of Villiers in a matter in which he had excited liis father's displeasure ; and a curious letter has escaped the fire to which it was destined, and survives to show us, that as early as the year 1618, Buckingham was the confidant of the young prince. ' Steenie,' writes Charles, ' I have nothing now to write to you, but to give you thanks both for the good coimsel ye gave me and for the event of it. The king gave me a good sharp potion, but you took away the working of it by the well- relished comfits ye sent after it. I have met with the party that must not be named once already; and the colour of writing this letter shall make me meet with her on Saturday, although it is written the day being Thursday. So assuring you that the business goes safely on, I rest your constant, loving friend Charles.— I hope ye will not show the king this letter, but put it in safe custody of Mister Vulcan.'* Three years afterwards the French ambassador Tillieres, after describing a scene at the Duke of Buckingham's (which has been already referred to) in which Charles was one of the actors, adds that ' the Prince of Wales' actions are so little disposed to virtue, that he is despised and hated as much as his sister is honoured and beloved.' In May, i6%2, there is a passage in the same ambassador's despatches, which is curious on more than one account. ' My Lord Digby enjoys, as ambassador, so great a salary, that he does not expend the half of it. He takes himself, however, out of the way, prin- cipally on account of his enemies, at the head of which is Buckingham, who never will forgive Aim his attacks upo7i Spain; and the less so, that he has spoken disadvantageously of the marquis to the Prince of Wales, saying that he was the miner of England. The prince reported the whole to Buck- inghaMy who still enjoys the position of favourite ; a name comprising everytliing which can be expressed of evil, and conveying all the bad consequences which have ever flowed from it.' A few days later, speaking of the general suppressed indignation and disgust at the increasing vices of the old king, the ambassador continues ; ^ Many say, ' if even young persons die, it cannot possibly last long with an old man.' They place their hope upon the Prince of Wales. I, however, maintain, against the opinion of many, and especially of Mons. Domquester,* who holds him for a man of much under- standing and of his word, and ascribes his great endurance to wisdom, that, when he comes to the government, his subjects wiU soon be tired of him ; for he will exhibit all the vices of his father, but display none of the qualities which his friends attribute to him ; for how were it otherwise possible that a prince of his years should, as yet, have given no proof of anything good or generous ?' The historian May confirms this contemporary estimate. Speaking of the favourable expectations of Charles formed by the majority of the nation at his accession, he adds, that ^ some men suspended their hopes, as doubting what to find of a prince so much and so long reserved.' In January, 1623, Tillieres writes to his court : ^ Buckingham is daily more despised by every one, even by the Spaniards whom he has favoured. He has all the more succeeded in insinuating himself, with a view to the future, into the favour of the Prince of Wales. This new favour is very variously spoken of : many who do not see far into things believe that the prince dissembles; few know that passions for women have to do with it. Howsoever the affair may be, the prince is loudly blamed therefore, and the more he advances in age, the more he diminishes his repu- tation.' — ' In the beginning,' he says, in the February following, ^Buckingham showed moderation enough, for he feared lest the queen Anne should effect his downfall as she did that of Somerset. After her death he was still afraid of the Prince of Wales ; but since he has become secure of him also, by the means of procuring him gratifications of all kinds, his own disposition displays itself in a reckless manner. » HalUweU's Letters of Kings of England, vol. ii. p. 148. ♦ Lingua-Franca — possibly for * Doncaster.' 106 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS and he exhibits debauchery, effrontery, irreligion, and ra- pacity to the highest degree.' — ' I am assured,' he writes, on the 3rd of March of the same year, ' that the king is so disgusted with Buckingham and his presumption, and not less so with his son, by reason of the friendship sprung up between them, that he would rather endanger his state than put up with this any longer. Gondomar, before his departure, gave some assurances to the Prince of Wales respecting his marriage, in the event of his journeying to Spain. Don Balthazar de Zuniga, however, appears not to have sanctioned the plan. Since then the matter has been one while pushed forward, at another let drop, till, a few days since, a pretended merchant delivered letters to the prince in which a rupture of the marriage negotiations was indicated, if Charles did not make a journey to Spain. The latter is now disposed rather to encounter dangers than incur an un- successful termination of the affair ; and so much the more as his father for some time back has treated him with open and insupportable contempt. In order to avoid enduring this lesser evil, the prince, like a man without judgment, hurls himself head foremost into the greatest of follies; and Buckingham, whom the king only tolerates through fear and habit, wishes, by a dangerous and extravagant conduct, so to attach himself to the prince, that the latter must in every case either support him or share his ruin.' The Venetian envoy, Vallaresso, writing in September, 1622, says : ' Of the prince Charles as yet scarcely anything is to be said, except that he is, like his father, passionately addicted to the chase. Whether his obedience be the result of wise principle or natural disposition, it is hard to say ; but the coldness which he displays in all his dealings leads us to no very favourable conclusions in the case of a young man, unless on his accession to the sovereignty he display a different disposition.' Speaking of the rupture of the Spanish match, the French ambassador teUs us (May 14, 1624) 'all the presents and letters which were sent from hence for the Infanta are come back ; the latter untouched as they were forwarded : an insult which the prince has felt as acutely as his cold and reserved nature permits him.' OF KING CHARLES. 107 Such was the contemporary estimate of Charles down to the termination of the Spanish match. It is evident that the general public were reduced by his great reserve to very indefinite conjectures as to the probable character of their future king. The connexion with Buckingham was variously interpreted : by some, as an indication of sympathy with his vices ; by others, as a mere mark of deference to his father's feelings. The ambassadors, who saw more closely, were aware that Villiers had laid the foundations of his influence with the prince in less creditable transactions, and maintained it by flattering his other foibles. They were divided, how- ever, as to which of the prince's inclinations would take the lead in his future life. They agree as to his coldness and de- ficiency in generous impulses ; but they do not seem to have been aware at how early a period he took an active share in the government. This latter fact we gather from some letters of the prince himself. Writing to the duke on ' Friday, No- vember the 3rd, 162 1,' he says, ' Steenie, the Lower House this day has been a little unruly ; but I hope it will turn to the best, for before they rose they began to be ashamed of it. Yet I could wish that the king would send down a commission here, that {if need were) such seditious fellows might be made an examjple to others, by Monday next ; and till then I would let them alone. It will be seen whether they mean to do good, or to persist in their follies ; so that the king needs to be patient but a little while. I have spoken with so many of the coimcil as the king trusts most, and they are all of his mind, only the sending of authority to set seditious fellows fast is of my adding. I defy thee in being more mine than I am thy constant, loving friend Charles P.'* On the 28th of the same month he again writes to the duke in the following terms : ' Steenie, this day the Lower House has given the king a subsidy, and are likewise resolved to send a message, humbly to entreat him to end this session before Christmas. / confess that this they have done is not so great a matter, that the king need to be indulgent over them for it; yet, on the other side (for his reputation abroad at this time), I would not • Halliwell, voL ii. p. 157. ]08 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 109 I' wholly discontent them ; therefore, my opinion is, that the king should grant them a session at this time, but withal I should have him command them not to speak any more of Spain, whether it he of that war or of my marriage. This, in my opinion, does neither suffer them to encroach upon the king's authority, nor give them just cause of discontentment. I think ye will find that all those of the council that the king trusts most, are likewise of this mind .... So, praying you com- mend my humble service to the king, I rest yours more than can be expressed, and as much as can be thought, Charles P.'* King James followed the advice contained in the above, and addressed a letter to the Speaker to the effect there sug- gested, at the close of which ' he let the House know, that he thought himseK very free and able to punish any man's misdemeanours in Parliament ; as well during their sitting as after, which he meant not to spare thereafter upon any occa- sion of any man's insolent behaviour there, that should be ministered imto him.^ A spirited answer from the Com- mons drew from the king an assertion that their privileges were only matter of grace. The anger excited by this attack on their liberties was so great, that the ministers were obliged to excuse the obnoxious words as ^ a slip of the pen at the close of a long answer / and, notwithstanding a letter from James to Secretary Calvert, in a somewhat lower tone, the Commons, after a long and warm debate, entered on record in the Journals their famous protestation of December i8th, 162 1, in the following words : ' That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England, and that the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the king, state, and the defence of the realm, and of the church of England, and the making and maintenance of laws and redress of mischiefs and grievances which daily happen within this realm, are proper subjects and matter of counsel and debate in Parliament ; and that in the handling and proceeding of those businesses, every member of the * Halliwell, voL ii. p. 161. The date, not given there, is easily supplied from the letter itself. House hath, and of right ought to have, freedom of speech to propound, treat, reason, and bring to a conclusion the same ; that the Commons in Parliament have like liberty and freedom to treat of those matters in such order as in their judgments shall seem fittest ; and that every such member of the said House hath like freedom from all im- peachment, imprisonment, and molestation (other than by the censure of the House itself,) for or concerning any bill, speaking, reasoning, or declaring of any matter or matters touching the Parliament or parliament business ; and that if any of the said members be complained of, and questioned for anything said or done in parliament, the same is to be showed to the king, by the advice and consent of all the Com- mons assembled in Parliament, before the king give credence to any private information.'* On this the king dissolved Parliament, and with his own hand erased the protestation from the Journals. He then followed the advice contained in the first letter of Charles, and committed those who led the Commons in their spirited proceedings to separate imprison- ment in the Tower and elsewhere.f In this confinement they all, with one exception, remained until the meeting of the next Parliament, in which the instigator of their arrest him- self chose to counterfeit those opinions which he had punished others for sincerely entertaining. To understand this change in the policy of Charles, it is necessary to turn again to his friendship with Buckingham. Nothing excited * Hallam*s Constitutional History of England, 3rd. ed. vol. i. pp. goi-2. f It is worthy of remark that an opposition to the crown sprang up during this Parliament in the hitherto subservient House of Lords. It was headed by the Earls of Arundel, Oxford, Essex, and Southampton. After the dissolu- tion, several of the peers were called before the Privy Council, and one or two of them committed to the Tower. We also find it noticed, that * a debate arising (among the lords) in what manner to proceed against Sir Giles Mora- pcsson (a Member of Parliament, a projector, and a great dealer and patentee,* and at the same time a creature of Villiers), * whether by indictment in that House or otherwise, and there being some confusion among the speakers, the Prince of Wales, who constantly attended this business morning and afternoon, made a motion, * That by the ancient orders of the House no lord was to speak twice, though to explain himself, except some other lord mistake his meaning in any part of his speech.' This was commanded to be entered, and ordered to be observed.* The frequent attendance of Charles during the first Parliament in which the lords showed any of their old independent spirit, is remarkable, and, as has been observed, might have taught him a timely lesson. 110 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. Ill n more surprise at tlie time than the ascendency which Villiers, the favourite of James, contrived to obtain over the mind of Charles. The duke has often been spoken of as a weak man, of no talent ; but though it were easy to reconcile with such a character any amount of favour with the old king, he must have possessed other qualities to secure the attachment of the prince. George Villiers was the first and the last whom Charles admitted into his entire confidence ; and this marked preference (so significant in its bearing on the question of that prince's real character) must have had its origin in some powerful motives. Fear could not have been the actuating cause, for the whole tenor of Charles' conduct towards the favourite shows that the intimacy which the latter enjoyed sprang from a genuine feeling of affection. The bond be- tween them, created by a companionship in early de- baucheries, is not at all adequate as an explanation. What- ever his occasional excesses, Charles seems to have been in general nearly as indifferent to such indulgences as he was to the infamy with which they had covered the character of Villiers. He had neither the violent passions which suggest some excuse for these excesses, nor the lively moral sensibility which is deeply wounded by their association with the name of so intimate a friend. He had neither the taste for them, nor (as was apparent enough) any keen feeling of disgust at their occurrence in so gross a form. We must seek else- where for a solution of his conduct towards the duke. There was in the Stuarts no more strongly -marked characteristic than excessive self-appreciation, and a jealousy of anything which might seem to imply in others the absence of an equal appreciation of their superior understanding, and a want of due deference to their elevated rank. They only tolerated a man of superior talent under the condition that he never himself placed, or allowed others to place, his genius in favourable comparison with them. They were, as has been already seen in the case of James, more covetous of the out- ward appearance of authority than of actual though con- cealed power. Buckingham knew well how greatly Charles was affected by this feeling ; and when he found it necessary to gain the young prince, appears to have regulated his con- duct carefully by a consideration to it. This man, so over- bearing with others, and in his behaviour to the old king at length so rude and so tyrannical, was towards Charles familiar in his manner, but outwardly deferential to his judgment ; and gained power by the contrast. Showing him that he possessed the courage to be insolent, he made in favour of Charles a marked difference, which was in itself a tacit com- pliment to the superior character of the heir to the crown. To grasp apparently at the whole power of the state, and then to affect a deference to the wishes of the future king ; to stealthily insinuate into the mind of his unconscious pupil the ideas to which, when once adopted and brought forward by Charles, he would be prepared to give an implicit assent ; to affect a recklessness and extravagance in his public con- duct, so as to suggest the idea of a deficiency in judgment, and thus lead the prince to infer the perpetual need of his controlling caution ; to exhibit a willingness to encounter the wrath of the king, or the impeachments of the Com- mons, in obeying the wishes which he had himself created ; never to affect popularity at the expense, but always for the apparent advantage of the prince ; and to seem to owe honours and even life to the protection of Charles, while maintaining, in the face of an angry nation, the so-called interests of his master ; — ^in short, to appear to have no independent footing of his own, and no safety but in the continuance of the prince's favour j and to become essential to Charles by mak- ing it seem that Charles was essential to him ; — to do all this successfully, as George Villiers did, proves the existence in him of no mean talents. That they did not raise him to a higher position in the history of his country, is to be attri- buted partly to the extent to which they were weakened, and their effects counteracted, by fearful attendant vices, and partly to the necessities of his position, which, from the very nature of the tenure by which his favour with Charles was held, forbade the exhibition of any great or striking genius. It was the inevitable result of the Stuart character that no- thing but inferior talent could both serve them zealously and preserve their good- will. The Spanish-marriage expedition of the prince and 112 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 113 I '■! 14 Buckingham, thougli perhaps originally hinted at by Gon- domar, was the work of Villiers, who seems to have counted upon it as a sure means of confirming the exclusive intimacy between the heir-apparent and himself, and possibly regarded it as a convenient escape from the increasingly difficult part he had to play at court between his old and new masters. Clarendon has detailed at considerable length the purport of the previous interviews between the old king and his ' sweet boys and dear venturous knights, worthy to be put in a new romance ;^* deriving his information, probably, from Lord Cottington, whose opposition to the idea brought down on him the wrath of Buckingham. After the most violent agitation and alarm and the strongest demonstrations of dislike to the project, James yielded to the importunity of his son and favourite ; but. Clarendon assures us, ' never forgave the Duke of Buckingham, but retained as sharp a memory of it as his nature could contain.' With his usual dissimulation and cowardice, however, the king still affected the same feelings towards Villiers, and, while lending a more willing ear to the suggestions of the favourite's enemies in England, continued to follow his advice and that of his son in the whole matter of the marriage, and of the negotiations with the Pope which formed so important a part of it. The letters which passed between the king and prince, on this occasion, present so many illustrations of the character of Charles, that some extracts from them are essential to any estimate of his early disposition. In their first letter from Madrid the prince and Buckingham report as follows : ' We must hold you thus much longer to tell you, the Pope's nuncio works as maliciously and as actively as he can against us, but receives such rude answers that we hope he will be soon weary on't : we make this col- lection of it, that the Pope will be very loath to grant a dispensation, which, if he will not do, then we would gladly have your directions how far we may engage you in the acknow- ledgment of the Pope^s special power ; for we almost find, if you will be contented to acknowledge the Pope chief head under Christ, that the match will be made without him.'* James appears to have been rather staggered at this suggestion ; and writes in answer : ' I know not what you mean by my acknowledging the Pope's spiritual supremacy. I am sure you would not have me renounce my religion for all the world ; but all that I can guess at your meaning is, that it may [be] ye have an allusion to a passage in my book against Bellarmine, where I offer, if the Pope toould quit his godhead and tisurping over kings, to acknowledge him for the chief bishop, to which all appeals of churchmen ought to lie en dernier resort, the very words I send you here inclosed ; and that is the furthest my conscience will permit me to go upon this point, for I am not a Monsieur that can shift his religion as easily as he can shift his shirt when he cometh from tennis.'f The special reservation on the part of James to the Pope's authority is eminently character- istic, as is also (taken in connexion with it) his self-gratula- tion on a conscientious adherence to his religion. In a letter written a little earlier, James, in sending to his son two chap- lains, adds : ' I have fully instructed them, so as all their behaviour and service shall, I hope, prove decent and agree- able to the purity of the primitive church, and yet as near the Roman form as can lawfully be done, for it hath ever been my way to go with the Church of Rome usque ad aras.'X By a similar spirit all the letters between father and son are regulated. Thus the latter writes : ^ For our main and chief business we find them, by outward shews, as desirous of it as ourselves, yet are they hankering upon a conversion ; for they say there can be no friendship without union in religion, but put no question in bestowing their sister, and we put the other quite out of question, because neither our conscience nor time (!) serves for it, and because we will not implicitly rely upon them.' A postscript in Charles' own handwriting commences thus significantly : ^ I beseech your majesty advise as little with your coimcil in these businesses as you can.'§ This advice was, perhaps, prudent, as the prince, emulating the example of his father, who about the same time * Halliwell's Letters of Kings of England, vol. ii. p. i66. * Halliwell, vol. ii. p. 176. X lb. ii. 180. t lb. ii. 187-8. § lb. ii. 184-5. 114. ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES, 115 il< f Bill Ifl addressed two conciliatory letters to two successive popes, scrupled not to enter into personal correspondence with the Holy See, in hopes of inducing its occupier to grant the dis- pensation for the marriage. In his letter Charles protests : * The judgment which your holiness hath formed of my desire of contracting affinity and marriage with the house of a Catholic prince, is a test both of your charity and wisdom ; for never should I feel so earnest as I do to be joined to any one living in that close and indissoluble bond, whose religion I hated. Wherefore be your holiness persuaded that I am and ever shall be of such moderation as to keep aloof, as far as possible, from every undertaking which may testify any hatred towards the Roman-catholic religion ; nay, rather I will seize all opportunities, by a gentle and generous mode of conduct, to remove aU sinister suspicions entirely ; so that, as we aU confess one undivided Trinity and one Christ crucified, we may be banded together unanimously into one faith. That I may accomplish this, I will reckon as trifling all my labours and vigilance f and even the hazards of kingdoms and life itself J'^ In curious contrast with this, Charles, in a letter dated only three days later, informing the king of the conditions with which the dispensation was clogged, after saying very properly that their answer to the proposition that ^ no other oath be ministered to the Roman-catholic subjects than that which is given to the Infanta's servants, and that they may aU have free access to her church,' will be that ' the oath was made by act of Parliament, and that you cannot abrogate it without the whole consent of your people,' adds that this was ' no less than in covered words to ask liberty of conscience, which you have neither miud nor power to grant. 'f A demand was made by the prince, six days afterwards, for a ftdl power firom the king, couched in the following words : ' We do hereby promise, by the word of a king, that whatsoever you, our son, shall promise in our name, we shall punctually perform. 'J This power James at once sent, observing ' it were a strange trust that I would refuse to put upon my only son, and upon • Halliwell, vol. ii. p. 197. J lb. ii. 202. t lb. ii. 198-9. my best servant.'* Charles and Buckingham had the affair, therefore, completely in their own hands, and repeated were their injunctions to the king to complete secrecy. They next proceeded to solve a case of conscience for James. ^ We send you here the articles as they are to go, the oaths private and public, that you and your baby are to take, with the council's, wherein, if you scare at the least clause of your private oath (where you promise that the Parliament shall revoke all the penal laws against Papists within three years), we thought good to tell your majesty our opinions, which is, that if you think you may do it in that time (which we think you may), if you do your best, although it take not effect, you have not broken your word, for this promise is only as a security that you wiQ do your best.'f James stiU hesitated about signing the articles to which his son had pledged him, and which now included secret conditions that the children of the marriage should be under the care of their mother until they were ten years of age, and should not be excluded from the throne if they became Roman-catholics, and that James should give security for the fulfilment of these con- ditions. At length the king disclosed the matter to his council, who agreed that ^his highness' words and articles must be made good ; that the oath by the council must be taken ; that the prince must marry and bring his lady away with him that year' ; or else the prince should at once ' return without marriage or contract, leaving both those to be accomplished by the usual forms.' The oaths were accord- ingly taken ; but when James referred to the Lord-Keeper Williams a proposition of the Spanish ambassadors, that a proclamation should be at once issued forbidding aU persecu- tion of the Catholics, that dignitary refii&ed to authorize such a step. By this time, however, clouds were arising which obscured the prospect of the marriage altogether. James had acqui- esced in his son's casuistry with respect to the oath ; but the Spanish court, accustomed to deal in and with dissimulation, by this time began to suspect that the king and prince were * Halliwell, vol. ii. p. 205. i2 t lb. ii. 206-7. 11 116 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 117 I I' M |tt!l| only employing empty forms of words, and that wlien the Infanta was once in England, no further steps would be taken in the matter of catholic toleration. At first they seem to have believed in the sincerity of their guests, and to have been unable to conceive any reason why the match should be so eagerly pursued, and such a dangerous step have been taken by the prince, unless he and his father were reaUy Eoman-catholics at heart, and anxious to give open expression to their sentiments. The king and prince, while declining to entertain the idea of immediate conversion, did not scruple to foster, in all other respects, the notion that they were most favourably disposed towards Rome. The court of Madrid, however, and the Vatican, were not satisfied with these mere verbal professions ; and when they found the English court imable or unwilling to risk any decided open step towards the fulfilment of their pledge, they became stiU more precise and exacting in their stipulations, and dilatory on their side in hastening the preliminaries. But the match might, never- theless, have been accomplished, had it not been for a com- plete change in the feelings of Buckingham himself. He was disgusted at the Spanish stiff ceremonial, which assigned to him his proper position relatively to the prince ; and (in his overweening vanity) was jealous of the ascendency of Count Olivarez, even though it were merely with a foreign prince. On the other hand, he seems to have so thoroughly disgusted the Spanish king and favourite by his ' familiarity and want of respect towards the prince,' that Olivarez declared that ' if the Infanta did not, as soon as she was married, suppress that licence, she would herself quickly undergo the mischief of it /* while the king augured only misery to his sister, should she marry a prince whose intimate friend was so profligate and unprincipled. Buckingham, according to Clarendon, perceiv- ing this hatred to him, began to ' apprehend his own ruin in that union, and accordingly to use all his endeavours to break and prevent it ; and jfrom that time he took all occasions to quarrel with and reproach the Conde Duke.' Charles lent himself blindly to the fresh caprice of his favourite, and began to devise expedients to return to England. Fearful of being detained in Spain, should he openly break off the match, the prince had recourse to a system of dissimulation ; and affect- ing to consider the affair as virtually concluded, put forward the bad state of health of his father, and the necessity of preparing the English nation for the catholic toleration, as excuses for quitting Spain before the arrival of the dispensa- tion from Rome. He agreed, however, to leave a power of proxy with the Earl of Bristol, the English ambassador at the Spanish court, who was to deliver it to Philip ten days after the arrival of the dispensation, and to name the king or his brother as proxy in the espousals, which Philip engaged should take place before Christmas, at the latest. This agreement Charles and Philip took an oath, in the presence of the Patriarch of the Indies, to observe faithfully. Rich and valu- able presents were bestowed on the prince by King Philip, Olivarez, and the Spanish grandees; and Charles gave in return some presents (of which the Spaniards spoke with contempt), among which was a diamond anchor for the Infanta, as an emblem of his constancy. Charles parted from that princess as her future husband, and she entrusted him with a letter in her own handwriting to deliver to a celebrated nun of Carrion. At parting from the king. Clarendon tells us,* ' there were all possible demonstrations of mutual affection between them ; and the king caused a great pillar to be erected in the place where they last embraced each other, with inscriptions of great honour to the prince, there being then not the least suspicion or imagination that the marriage would not succeed. Insomuch that afterwards, upon the news from Rome that the dispensation was granted, the prince having left the des- ponsorios in the hands of the Earl of Bristol, the Infanta was treated as Princess of Wales ; the queen gave her place, and the English ambassador had frequent audiences, as with his mistress, in which he would not be covered. Yet the very day after the prince's departure from the king, Mr. Clark, one of the prince's bedchamber, who had formerly served the duke, was sent back to Madrid upon pretence that somewhat was forgotten there ; but in truth with orders to the Earl of Bristol. Mr. Clark was not to deliver his letter to the ♦ Clarendon. * Eehellion (ed. 1843), p. 15. 118 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEABS OF KING CHARLES. 119 l« 11 m Hi ambassador till he was sure tlie dispensation was come ; but be lodging in tbe ambassador's bouse, and falling sick of a calenture, wbich tbe physicians thought would prove mortal, be sent for the earl to come to his bedside, and delivered him tbe letter before the arrival of the dispensation, though long after it was known to be granted/ This letter was in the following terms : ' Bristol — You know that I told you I feared, when I came away, the Infanta might go to a monas- tery, after I was contracted by virtue of a dispensation granted from Rome, and so the marriage might be broken oflF, and the king my father and all the world might condemn me, and account me a rash-headed fool not to have prevented it. And, therefore, do not dispose of my proxy imtil you hear more from me, for such a monastery may pill me of my wife. So not doubting that you will observe particularly this, I leave you. — Charles.'* Whether the Infanta's letter to the nun suggested this device or not, Bristol felt the awkwardness of his position too strongly not to take immediate steps to inves- tigate the truth of Charles's alleged apprehension. We have seen, from a passage already quoted, that when Buckingham was hottest in favour of Spain, Bristol (then Lord Digby) incurred his resentment for speaking on the other side. The ambassador, however, now felt bis honour and that of his sovereign committed to the match, and seems to have been persuaded of the sincerity, as to the main point, of the Spanish comrt. He therefore sought an interview with Philip, who gave him solemn assurances that the Infanta should be sent to England at the time agreed upon ; the Infanta her- self being very merry at the idea of her becoming a nun, saying she never in all her life had any mind to be so, and hardly thought she should be one now, only to avoid the Prince of Wales. Bristol at once wrote off a despatch to James conveying this assurance j but received for answer that be might deliver his proxy at Christmas, because ' that holy and joyfiil time,' as it was hypocritically added, ' was best fitting so notable and blessed an action as the marriage.' Bristol replied that, as the powers in the proxy expired be/ore * Halliwellf voL u. p. 339. Christmas, it would be a most grievous insult to present it then ; and that the Pope having signed the dispensation, he should feel bound by the treaty to deliver the proxy when demanded, unless he received express orders to the contrary. Philip, meanwhile, had fixed the day for the delivery of the proxy, and every preparation was made to celebrate the act with the greatest pomp. But three days only before the appointed day, three English couriers arrived one after the other, charged with duplicates of a new commission to Bristol, countermanding the delivery of the proxy until full and absolute satisfaction should be given for the immediate sur- render of the palatinate, or war should be declared by the King of Spain for the obtaining of that surrender to the King of England's son-in-law. Philip was at first extremely indig- nant, and ordered the Infanta to drop the title of Princess of Wales; but afterwards entered into explanations with Bristol, which ended in a day or two in the Spanish king putting his signature to a formal promise, written in the form of a letter to King James ; but the only answer was the recall of Bristol, and preparations on both sides for a war. The first exclamation of Charles, on embarking for England, was that he had duped the Spaniards, and he and his coun- sellor Buckingham now proceeded to play the same game with the English nation — a far more dangerous undertaking. Their object was to persuade the people that they had been grossly ill-treated by the Spanish court. ViUiers was resolved that that court should be taught to estimate rightly his im- portance, and another time to tolerate insolence and excesses in him which they would in no other nobleman; and it was de- termined to employ the House of Commons as a tool to effect this purpose. The imprisoned members of the two Houses were released, and writs went out for a new Parliament. In this Charles and Buckingham no longer denied the right of the Commons to treat of such matters as his marriage and the Spanish alliance, but compelled the king to solicit their advice, and promise the ftdlest disclosures of the nature of the negotiations. It was an ill omen for the truthfulness of the forthcoming statement, that in this very speech the king was made to say, ' I never made public or private treaties but I 120 ANTECEDENTS AND FIBST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 121 m M had a direct reservation for the public weal and the cause of religion — for the glory of God, and the good of my subjects. I only thought good sometimes to wink and connive at the execution of some penal laws, and not to go on so rigorously as at other times ; but not to dispense with any, or to forbid or alter any that concern religion. I never promised or yielded; I never did think it with my heart, or spoke it with my mouth' The Earl of Bristol had been left in Spain without money for his homeward journey ; and when this was supplied by the bounty of Philip, who, however, vainly implored him to stay there, and not to expose himself to inevitable ruin at the hands of Charles and Buckingham, the earl received orders to travel by slow stages, and, on his arrival in England, was directed to go instantly to his house in the country, and there consider himself a prisoner. Having thus, as they thought, effectually gagged the principal witness against them, the prince and duke had a narrative prepared, which, evading all the real facts of the case, set forth prominently the evasions and bad faith of the court of Spain, and by a tissue of un- doubted falsehoods represented the protestant cause and the interests of religion as involved in this personal quarrel. It needed little to make the Commons believe any evil of a power so hated as the Spanish ; and when they saw the heir- apparent, himself a principal party in these transactions, standing by the side of Buckingham at a conference with the two Houses, and bearing his testimony to the truth of the facts stated in the narrative, who can wonder that the nation was for the time deceived ; that the old feelings of the days of Elizabeth came rushing back to the hearts of Englishmen ; and that the result was an outburst of popular resentment against the treatment received by Charles, which rendered useless all the pacific tendencies of James, and drove him, against his will, to break off that connexion, which it had been the labour of his life to cement ? Buckingham was called by Sir Edward Coke, in the House of Commons, the ' Saviour of the nation / and addresses were presented to the crown from both Houses expressive of the warmest admira- tion of the tone displayed in the duke's narrative. In some of these conferences, it appears from the reports extant, that Charles and Villiers both behaved with great rudeness to the king, interrupting him in his public statements, and contra- dicting him, with slight regard to truth, in his facts. Not satisfied with playing the game of popularity in the matter of the Spanish war, the confederates endeavoured to conciliate the House of Commons by all sorts of concessions wrung from the king, and by professions of eagerness to redress all grievances, and refer to the advice of the Commons on all occasions. In return for this, they contrived to employ the power of the Commons against those who had caballed during their absence to overthrow the power of Villiers. Of these the chiefs were the Lord- Keeper Williams, Bishop of Lin- coln, and Lionel Cranfield, Earl of Middlesex, the Lord Treasurer. Williams humbled himself in the dust, and speedily performed an important service to Buckingham, in discovering and countermining the efforts of the Spanish ambassadors to induce James to express openly his well- known aversion to the war, and his hatred to Buckingham. Cranfield, however, was less fortunate or less adroit ; and ac- cordingly, at the instigation of the prince and Buckingham, he was impeached by the Commons, and condemned for some of the numerous illegal acts to which he had been encouraged by the sanction and example of the favourite. This impeach- ment, so important to the Commons as a precedent of their powers, shows the extent to which Charles and Villiers were willing to sacrifice even their long-cherished plans of royal aggrandizement to the momentary gratification of private resentments. The irritation of the king at this conduct was, as may be imagined, great ; and justly so, since, as we have seen, those who now turned the popular power against his ministers, had been the advisers of the most unpopular measures during the preceding Parliament. In the bitterness of his heart, James is said to have exclaimed to the duke, ' By God, Steenie, you are a fool, and will shortly repent this folly, and will find that, in this fit of popularity, you are making a rod with which you will be scourged yourself/ and then, turning in some anger to the prince, told him that ' he would live to have his bellyful of Parliaments ; and that when he (James) should be dead, he would have too 122 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 123 V p 1:. Pli mucli cause to remember how mucli lie had contributed to the weakening of the crown by this precedent he was now so fond of/ In secret to the Spanish ambassador James de- clared, that when the prince ' went to Spain, he was as well affected to that nation as heart could desire, and as well dis- posed as any son in Europe ; but now he was strangely car- ried away with rash and youthful counsels, and followed the humour of Buckingham, who had he knew not how many devils within him since that journey/ Fear, however, pre- vented the king from taking any effective measures against his tyrant ; and his anger was confined to midnight cabals with the Spanish ambassador and his old favourite the Earl of Somerset, and transient fits of ill-humour with the duke himself. But Villiers, fortified by his influence with Charles, bade defiance to the indignation of his old master, and dragged him along in a course of policy wholly at variance with his strongest feelings and prejudices. ' The heat,' writes the French ambassador in March, 1624, 'which the prince and Buckingham introduce into public business, and the too rapid motion which they wish to impart to the Parliament, has injured them much, has frightened many members of the Parliament, and excited in the king the suspicion that they wish to take him also under guardianship. As he, however, is both cunning and timid, he will not attack them both at once, but endeavour to separate them, and then forthwith de- stroy the favourite. It is imcertain whether the party of the king or that of the prince will prevail. It is a grave matter to dissolve, without adequate reason, a Parliament supported by his son, who is in the vigour of life, and infinitely beloved hy all/ Again in May, 16^4, he writes, ' The prince gains daily reputation, glory, and goodwill from the Parliament, and also from the people. I know not whether this proceeds from sound reasons, or because he gives way much to their in- terests and their passions. On the other hand, the king is daQy more detested and despised ; he is without power or consideration, which occasions many of his servants to for- sake him.' — "The Parliament, which is aware of these dis- orders, and how the prince endeavours to oppose his father, and to bring about a war with Spain^ supports his schemes^ and demands at the same time much from him which he would disapprove, if he were king, as, for example, the per- secution of the unoffending Catholics. K, however, they could satisfy their passions, they would trouble themselves little about the rest.' At the close of May, another ambas- sador writes to the King of France, that ' the prince honours Buckingham not as a favourite, but as a man upon whom his entire fortune depends.' The cloud which threatened all this new-bom popularity was the possible revelation of the real facts of the Spanish negotiations. The Earl of Bristol refused to purchase a reconciliation with the prince and Buckingham at the price of endorsing their falsehoods, and demanded to be publicly heard in his own defence. Charles thereupon indited to Buckingham a letter which has, fortunately for the credit of Bristol, been preserved, and betrays throughout the conscious- ness of guilt on the part of the prince. ' Steenie,' he writes, ' I first must thank you for the token you sent me ; then that you employed so good a secretaire' (probably the Duchess of Buckingham) ' to answer my letter. Now I must crave your pardon to trouble you a little, and it is this : Bristo stands upon his justification, and will by no means accept of my ^coimsels ; the king does hate to have him come to his trial, and I am affeard that, if you be not with us to help to charge him, and to set the king right, he may escape with too slight a censure. Therefore I would have you send to the king to put off Bristoe's trial until you might wait on him ; but, for God's sake, do not venture to come sooner than ye may with the safety of your health ; and with that condition, the sooner the better. K ye will answer me, trouble not yourself, but do it by the secretaire ye used last. Take care of yourself for my sake, who is and ever shall be your true, loving, constant friend Charles P.'* Following these counsels, Buckingham and the prince contrived to stave off Bristol's disclosures until the old king's death, although enough leaked out before that time to raise suspicions of the truth of Buck- ingham's statement. While, however, the prince continued • HalliweU, vol. ii. pp. 230-1. 124 ANTECEDENTS AND FIKST YEAKS OF KING CHARLES. m ffillt to affect popular feelings, these rumours possessed little weight. It is only necessary to refer to one additional matter, in elu- cidation of the conduct of Charles as Prince of Wales. It might have been supposed that both he and the king had experienced too much trouble and danger in their recent Spanish negotiation on the Roman-catholic question, wil- lingly to renew any fresh discussions on this point. But James, bent on intermarrying his son with one of the great European sovereignties, and disappointed in Spain, now turned his attention to France, and sought the hand of the French king^s sister, the too celebrated Henrietta Maria, llichelieu stood out for similar conditions with those granted to Spain, and ultimately obtained the signature of James and Charles to even more favourable terms. It is a crowning proof of the perfidy of Charles during this portion of his life, that while he was thus entering into secret engagements with a foreign power, and in favour of the Catholics, wholly at variance with his position as a constitutional prince, he was affecting before the English people entirely opposite sentiments, and endeavouring to crush an innocent man by falsely accusing him of tendencies, to an imputation of which the prince him- self was at that very moment laying himself justly open. In the spring of the year 1625 ^^^ wretched old king, expired, under an accumulation of disorders, the result of a life of continued debauchery. Suspicions of poison ad- ministered by Buckingham were freely vented in the country, and gained a large amount of credit from the ill-judged pro- ceedings of Charles, who refused to allow any proper inves- tigation into the circumstances of his father's death. Possibly this originated in his fear that Buckingham w ould not (his short career of popularity being already at an end) experience fair play in such an inquisition. But more probably it sprang from the pride of a king who could not endure that any one whom he honoured with his confidence should be placed in the position of a suspected criminal. As to the fact itself, although there is nothing in the character of Villiers to make us hesitate in assigning to him such a crime, the age and worn-out frame of James would seem to need no such auxiliary as poison to lead to a fatal result. We have now traced the career of the pupil and friend of 125 Buckingham down to the period when he was called on to ascend the English throne ; and some idea will have been formed from the facts which have been detailed of his real character, and of the prospects of the English nation under his rule. The subsequent events of his reign show with what miserable results to his country and himself this character developed itself during four-and-twenty years of misgovem- ment and civil anarchy. The position of the House of Commons at the death of James I. is well described by Mr. Hallam in a summary of the parliamentary results of that reign. ^The Commons,' he observes, ' had now been engaged, for more than twenty years, in a struggle to restore and to fortify their own and their fellow-subjects' liberties. They had obtained in this period but one legislative measure of importance, the late declaratory act against monopolies. But they had rescued from disuse their ancient right of impeachment. They had placed on record a protestation of their claim to debate all matters of public concern. They had remonstrated against the usurped prerogatives of binding the subject by proclama- tion, and of levying customs at the out-ports. They had secured beyond controversy their exclusive privilege of de- termining contested elections of their members. They had maintained, and carried indeed to an unwarrantable extent, their power of judging and inflicting pimishment, even for offences not committed against their House. Of these ad- vantages some were evidently incomplete; and it would require the most vigorous exertions of future Parliaments to realize them. But such exertions the increased energy of the nation gave abundant cause to anticipate. A deep and lasting love of freedom had taken hold of every class except perhaps the clergy ; from which, when viewed together with the rash pride of the court and the uncertainty of consti- tutional principles and precedents collected through our long and various history, a calm bystander might presage that the ensuing reign would not pass without disturbance, nor perhaps end without confusion.'* What has been said of the conduct of Charles as Prince of * Constitutional Mistory, vol. i. pp. 509-10. 126 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 127 11 I Wales will sufficiently prove that he ascended the throne with a full knowledge of the increased power and of the deeply-rooted feelings of the Commons. Never was there a plea more completely unfounded in fact, than that which has been often advanced in behalf of this prince, that he only innocently employed the prerogatives which had been exer- cised without dispute by his predecessors. It has been seen that some years before, he was a leading adviser of the crown in its attempts to crush the freedom of debate in Parliament, and afterwards, to serve his own purposes, courted the popular power and turned it with irresistible force against the policy of the reigning sovereign. No attempt was ever made on the part of the Commons, during these vacillations of the prince, either to avert his anger or conciliate his goodwill by concessions. Their views and feelings were always dis- played openly and adhered to unswervingly. It was Charles who accommodated himself to their wishes, and by seeming to approve of their well-known opinions, both in church and state, secured their support to his side in his contest with his father. If, on his exchanging the position of Prince of Wales for that of king, he chose to ignore the whole of his previous conciliatory demeanour, and to assume the character of a prince dejure, who was entitled to demand liberal con- tributions from his subjects, without deigning for a moment to consider their alleged grievances, is blame to be cast on the House of Commons for refusing to acquiesce in this quiet repudiation of previous moral engagements, and for ascer- taining definitely, at the very commencement of his reign, the footing on which they were to stand with their new sovereign ? Charles was no inexperienced youth, fresh to the cares of state, towards whom the exercise of a generous for- bearance might be wise, though in no case imperative. He was one with whom the Commons had been brought recently into intimate connexion, on certain definite grounds of com- mon action, and by persevering in the policy thus sanctioned by his support, they only gave him credit in public for that sincerity of character which his advocates have somewhat hastily accused them of publicly denying to him at the outset of his reign. It is quite true that the favourable auguries of the future conduct of Charles were already superseded by in- cipient rumours through private channels of treachery in the Spanish affair, which Bristol's enforced silence was unable entirely to prevent. But these evil reports, if any credence were to be given to them, only rendered it the more expe- dient for the Commons to maintaiu definitely from the first the position they had occupied during the preceding reign, so as to enable the new king to justify himself by also pursuing a similar course. Although friendly relations with Spain had been broken off, war had not yet been declared; and it was still in the option of Charles to withdraw from that step, or by taking it, virtually to adopt, as the policy of his reign, what he had inaugurated as Prince of Wales. He did so, and thereby justified the Commons in calling upon him for a fulfilment of the moral pledges by which their sup- port to this foreign policy had been secured. It is curious to see that the doubt thrown upon the truth of Buckingham's version of the Spanish negotiations, had the effect not merely of shaking the reputation of the favourite, but also by a na- tural reaction in honourable minds, of suspending for the time much of the hostility to Spain and eagerness for the war which had animated the Commons in preceding years. Spain obtained for a short period credit for more sincerity than probably she merited ; and as the facts came out more distinctly, this feeling increased, so that Charles had a fair opportunity of avoiding a declaration of war, and had not even the excuse of being driven into it by the passions of his people. He, however, deliberately pushed the personal quarrel of Villiers to the issue of a national conflict, and thus necessarily placed himself in the position of a prince particularly dependent on the goodwill and generosity of his subjects. In his speech from the throne the new king recalled to the recollection of his hearers the obligations under which he assimied that they had laid themselves to him, by adopting the war-policy in the previous reign; and thus rendered continuous, as it were, the parUamentary life of this Parliament and its predecessor. ' My lords and gentlemen,' he said, ' I hope that you do remember that you were pleased to employ me to advise my father to break off those two 128 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS treaties tliat were now on foot ; so that I cannot say that I came hither a free^ unengaged man. It is true I came into this business willingly and freely, like a young man, and con- sequently rashly, hut it was by your interest, your engage- ments ; so that though it were done like a young man, yet I cannot repent me of it, and I think none can blame me for it, knowing the love and fidelity you have ever borne to your kings ; having myself ^ likewise, some little experience of your affections. I pray you remember, that this being my first ac- tion, and begun by your advice and entreaty, what a great dishonour it were both to you and me, if this action, so begun, should fail of that assistance you are able to give me/ There is something extremely mean in the attempt here made to represent Charles as the mere tool in the hands of the previous ParHament, employed by them to further their own views ; and it is difficult to conceive the effrontery with which this representation was put forward in the presence of so many who were well acquainted with the inflammatory appeals made by the prince and Buckingham to induce them to em- bark ill this undertaking. But while thus endeavouring to shift the responsibility of the war to other shoulders, we see that Charles does not hesitate to adopt and recommend it, employing it as a pretext to call for large supplies from his people. He also, according to every principle of common sense, by recalling the previous friendly relations between himself and Parliament, revives his moral engagements at that time to the policy of a redress of grievances. Towards the close of his speech he drops a hint that (on account of the plague) their session would be a short one, as an incentive to haste ; and ends by a declaration which seems intended to meet by tacit reference the growing rumours of concessions to Rome during the Spanish negotiations. ' Last of all, be- cause some malicious men may, and, as I hear, have given out, that I am not so true a keeper and maintainer of the true religion that I profess, I assure you, that I may with St. Paul say, that I have been trained up at Gamaliers feet ; and although I shall never be so arrogant as to assume unto myself the rest, I shall so far show the end of it, that all the world may see that no man hath been, nor ever shall be. OF KING CHARLES. 129 more desirous to maintain the religion I profess than I shall be.' This looks as if the king already anticipated the dis- closures which were imminent. The first speeches, however, delivered in the House of Commons during this reign, of which we have any record, are wisely though significantly conciliatory. Sir Benjamin Rudyard (one of the popular leaders), we are told, spoke to this eflPect : 'That the late distastes between the late king and parliament were the chief cause of all the miseries of the kingdom. The first turn of which towards a reconciliation was given by the new king, then prince; by which accrued more benefit to the subject than in any Parliament these many hundred years. What may loe then ex- pact from him, being king, and having power in his own hands ? His good natural disposition, his freedom from vice, his travels abroad. Us being bred in Parliaments— promised greatly. Therefore he moved to take such course now to sweeten all things between king and people that they may never after- wards disagree.' Sir Edward Coke accordingly moved, ' That there might be no committees for grievances or courts of justice; first, in respect of the plague ; next, because this was the very beginning of the new king's reign, in which there can be no grievances as yet; thirdly, because the petition against grievances, in the last parliament of the late king, was pre- ferred too late : only to petition for an answer to these. For though the prince is gone, the king liveth ; no interregnum.' In seeming recognition of the position thus assumed by the Commons, the solicitor-general, we are told, ' acquainted the House that the king had taken care of their grievances pre- ferred the last parliament ; and at any one day the House would assign, satisfaction would be given them therein.' Nothing, however, seems to have ensued from these amicable professions; and the plague continuing to increase, the Commons petitioned the king to grant them a recess. Charles replied 'that he had taken their safety, which he valued more than his own, into consideration ; and when he should hear the Commons were ready with their bills (for he would not hasten them in anything), he would put an end to this session.' Thus placed in a dilemma between danger to their own lives, should the session at Westminster be pro- 130 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 131 longed, and tlie loss of their hold upon the king in the matter of redress of grievances, should they give him very large supplies, the Commons voted a moderate grant of two subsidies (abont 140,000/.) and customs duties, or ' tonnage and poundage,^ for one year, instead of for life, as had been usual. They thus placed it in their power to increase the grant in both instances, should the king fidfil his pledges. The Lords threw out the tonnage and poundage bill on account of the limitation to one year, and Charles angrily accepted the subsidies, urging the House through his ministers for more money. But the prevalent sickness at length left him no option but to adjourn the Parliament. Before this took place, however, the king's protestantism and constitutional principles had been put to the test in another matter. A book published by Dr. Montague, one of the king's chaplains, and dedicated to King Charles, with the title of An Appeal to Cmar, having fallen under the censure of the Com* mons on account of its Romanizing and Arminian views, and covert insinuations against the House itself, the king interfered with a message that, the doctor being his servant and chap- lain-in-ordinary, he had taken the cause into his own hand ; wished they would enlarge him, and that he would take care to give the House satisfaction in it. On this, Montague, upon giving in bail of 2,000/., was discharged out of custody. He soon received a bishopric as a mark of royal favour ; a form of ' satisfaction' to the House which it was not very likely to appreciate. Indeed, from this and several other incidents, it soon became apparent that, although Charles had a great jealousy of papal supremacy and all those portions of the Bomish system which appeared to be irreconcileable with the royal supremacy as established at the Reformation, in other respects he looked upon the church of Rome as a much more desirable model for the Anglican church than the Puritan discipline which the majority of the nation desired to see established. It became evident that Charles, so far from carrying the Reformation beyond the stage which it had reached in the reign of his father and of Elizabeth, would seek by every means in his power to remove some of the obstacles which prevented English Roman-catholics from entering the Anglican communion, and would, consequently, adopt, and impress as much as possible on the minds of others, the high-church and sacerdotal doctrines. Great doubts had also arisen as to the sincerity of the new king in his professed desire of giving aid to his sister the Queen of Bohemia, in the attempted recovery of her rights. The cause of the Palatinate had been put in a very secondary place during the Spanish negotiations, as long as there was any desire of effecting that marriage ; and subsequent events proved that, though by no means wanting in natural affection towards the queen and her children, Charles considered the cause with which they were identified as scarcely a fit one to engage the active co-operation of a king of England. The lesson of king-deposing which the Bohemians had taught the world, and the anti-despotic and ultra-Protestant character which, under their auspices, and those of the Dutch, the whole contest for the Palatinate had assumed, made on the mind of the second English Stuart quite as deep an impression as they had upon the first. It could not have escaped his ears that during a period of great popular exasperation against James, whispers had been heard of a design on the part of the Puritans to depose that king and place on the throne the Protestant Electress. A certain degree of jealousy, indeed, probably on this account, always marked the conduct of Charles towards his sister and her family. The choice of a wife which James, at the desire of his son, had made for him from the Catholic House of Bourbon, in- creased the doubts as to the attachment of Charles to the Pro- testant religion. The sceptre of France was no longer wielded by the friend and ally of the Protestants, Henry of Navarre. The minority of Louis XIII. gave the supreme power first into the hands of his bigoted and unworthy mother, Mary de Medicis, and then, after the overthrow of her and her hated favourites, into the iron grasp of the Cardinal de Richelieu. The object of both these rulers was to establish firmly in France itself the arbitrary power of the crown, and a con- formity to the Roman-catholic church, as the church of the crown. In Europe they desired to place France in that posi- tion, as the chief Catholic power and the arbiter of Christen-' k2 132 ANTECEDENTS AND FIBST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 133 dom, whicli had been occupied hitherto by the Austro- Spanish empire. To accomplish these two (practically) somewhat conflicting objects, a double policy was pursued towards tho Huguenots of France, alternating between coercion and cajolement. Their repugnance to Spain was too great to make it at all likely that they would act in unison with that power against the government of their own country ; and this the court of France knew well, and therefore often persecuted where it would otherwise have conciliated them. Still the necessity of opposing an undivided kingdom to the power of Spain rendered at times the posi- tion of the French Protestants more tolerable. Their natural protector was beyond question England ; and hence to separate that country from the cause of the Huguenots became the policy of the court of France ; on the other hand, it was clearly the interest of England to keep alive the kindly feeling which existed towards her in one portion of a rival nation. Several strongholds had been assigned to the Huguenots as a guarantee for the preservation of the pact made with them under the auspices of Henry IV. The most important of these was the fortified town of Rochelle, which had ever been the sanctuary of distressed Protestantism in the worst days of the League. At the commencement of the reign of Charles this Protestant town was besieged by the forces of the French king. Situated on the coast, Rochelle naturally looked to English ships for a guard against blockade, and for a supply of provisions and materials of war. But, though it had suited the inclinations of Buckingham and his pupil to go to war with Spain, with the alleged view of advancing the cause of Protestantism, they were not disposed to act similarly in a quarter where that cause was evidently en- dangered. In compliance with the secret stipulations of the French marriage-treaty, an English fleet had been raised under the pretext of acting against the Spanish interest in Italy and the Valtoline, and placed at the disposal of the French government to act against the Prince de Soubise and the Huguenots of Rochelle. But the English captains and seamen revolted, on learning the service to which they were destined; and ultimately the whole expedition came to nothing, leaving, however, a weight of obloquy on Charles who had, under his own hand, ordered the admiral to proceed to ex- tremities with the revolted seamen if they refused to obey the obnoxious command. The French marriage brought with it another element of discord. The English Catholics had been always most unfortunate in the position into which events threw them relatively to the rest of the nation. Treated and patronized as martyrs by the Court of Rome and the ultra-Catholic powers of Europe, they became objects of suspicion and dislike to their own countrymen on all questions of foreign policy ; and thrown by the same circumstances into the circle of despotic sjnnpathies, they became similarly obnoxious in domestic afikirs as favourers of royal autocracy. The Stuarts employed them as a means of revenue, granting them re- missions of the penal laws on payment of sums of money to the crown. As the Catholics naturally enough accepted freedom from persecution on these terms, they provoked the anger of the Puritans, not merely as parties to a virtual viola- tion of the Constitution, but also as enabling the crown, by their illegal grants of money, to dispense with the lawful aid of Parliament. The Spanish and French marriage-treaties rendered matters still worse. However we may condemn the indiscriminate persecution of the Catholics in England, we need not be surprised at some indignation being felt that a violation of the Constitution, by a suspension of the penal laws, should be insisted upon by foreign powers as a condition of marriages which were neither of them at all desired by the nation. The arrival of the young queen in England added fresh difficulties to the question of toleration. However dis- posed the English Catholics might have been to content them- selves with simple toleration, the conduct of those by whom Henrietta Maria was accompanied, forced them into an aggres- sive attitude. A train of foreign priests and Jesuits was not a marriage-dowry likely to prove acceptable to the English nation. Not merely was the mass performed, under protec- tion of the marriage-treaty, in the queen's private chapel, but this was looked upon by the Catholic world generally as the centre whence the true religion was again to radiate through the whole land. Father BeruUe, writing to the French minister of state, Villeauxclercs, from Rome, on the %xA of 134 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 135 October, 1624, observes, 'The court of Rome, its conduct, its principles, are very different from the previous notion and judgment which one forms of them without experience. I own that on the spot I have learnt more in a few hours than from all former speeches and accounts. The reputation of their government, the application and exaltation of its power, are the leading points in its councils, and of greater weight than many theological grounds. The Pope demands that the conditions respecting the English Catholics should be as ample in their favour on the occasion of this marriage with a French princess as those promised for the Spanish match : he demands that the children of Charles and Henrietta should be bred up Catholics, the Puritans thrust to the wall, and the way opened to him for the gradual re-establishment of his power in England.' Acting in this spirit, the priests who came over with Henrietta, far from preserving a modest retirement, thrust themselves into the public sight, and seemed to assume an authoritative character on the strength of their connexion with the court. They were accused of insolent dictation to the young queen, and were reported to have compelled her to perform the most degrading penances; and such as committed her, in her character of Queen of England, to a reprobation of sentences against Catholic priests, which, justly or imjustly, had been pronounced by the voice of the law of England. Her alleged penance of walking on foot to the scene of the Catholic executions at Tyburn may have been a fable ; but there is no doubt that it accurately represents the spirit in which the queen's priests thought fit to conduct themselves. Alarmed at these manifestations of reviving strength on the part of their old antagonists, the Puritan portion of the nation became vehement for the due execution of the penal laws against the English Catholics ; and the latter, instead of finding their position improved by the mar- riage, were exposed to the fiiry of popular resentment, with only the protection of their usefulness to the king in his financial difficulties, and his strong personal dislike to their persecutors. The main body of the Puritans, there is, unfor- tunately, little reason to doubt, were so far carried away by i their fears and prejudices as to desire to proceed to extremi- ties against the Catholics. Some of their leaders, however, would have been quite satisfied if the sanction of Parliament had been obtained for any special remissions of sentences, so as to avoid the dangerous licence of mere royal dispensations ; and if the extreme penalties had been kept suspended over the heads of the Catholics, so as to put a stop to all co-opera- tion with the machinations of the papal court. Charles I. showed sufficiently, by his subsequent countenance of Laud's proceedings, that he was without any appreciation of the prin- ciple of religious liberty, but he had no dislike to the Catholic religion (except in its relation to the papal supremacy) suffi- cient to convert him, unless it suited his interests, into its active persecutor, and he was naturally disposed to shelter the Catholics from their and his opponents. On the other hand, there is reason to think that he would have been loath to convert these royal dispensations of the law into a Parlia- mentary repeal of the penal enactments. By taking the latter course (even if feasible) he would deprive himself of a valu- able source of irregular revenue, and would lose the flattering dependence of one body of his subjects on the crown alone for freedom, and even life. The House of Commons met again at Oxford, filled with ominous distrust and indignation at the Rochelle affair and the dispensations to the Catholics. The king demanded more money; but they, on the other hand, acting in the spirit of his own message, demanded priority of the question of grievances to any farther supply. After twelve days' unavail- ing struggle by both parties to obtain their several ends, the Parliament was angrily dissolved by the king, who then re- sorted to illegal means of raising money by privy-seals. With the money thus collected, an expedition against Cadiz was or- ganized by Buckingham, which ended in nothing but disgrace to England and triumph to Spain. To carry on the govern- ment of the country another Parliament became necessary ; but, notwithstanding the attempts of the court to exclude the leading patriots by pricking them as sheriffs, this second Par- liament was still more resolute than the first in insisting on a redress of grievances. The favourite was called in question 136 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. for the Spanish failure and alleged gross venality. Charles could not endure this attack in silence, but sent down a mes- sage to the House of Commons which contained these words : ' I must let you know that I will not allow any of my ser- vants to be questioned among you, much less such as are of eminent place and dear unto me. I see you especially aim at the Duke of Buckingham. I would you would hasten for my supply ; for if any evil happen, I think I shall be the last that shall feel it !' This intimation from the author of the parliamentary impeachment of Middlesex produced very angry eloquence among the Commons, which finally embodied itself in resolutions, ' that common fame was a good ground of accusation against Buckingham,' and notice was sent to him of these proceedings. This determined act was coupled with a vote of 'three subsidies and three fifteens;' the Commons thus exhibiting their desire to maintain the just dignity of the crown, while they exercised a rigorous censor- ship over the abuses with wliich it had been associated. A message from the king, containing a covert threat of dissolu- tion, only led to a resolution to persevere, arrived at in a sitting with closed doors, and the key in the hands of the Speaker. Every means was employed to stop the Commons in their course ; but in vain ; and the Duke of Buckingham was impeached at the bar of the House of Lords on twelve articles. Speeches were delivered by the managers of the impeachment, which by their allusions to the Sejanus of ancient Kome suggested unpleasing associations to the mind of the king, and provoked another attempt to ' set seditious fellows fast.' Two members of the Lower House were com- mitted to prison for their too daring allusions ; but the Commons refusing to go on with any public business till they were righted in this breach of their privileges, Charles was obliged to give way, and after eight days' imprisonment to release them. On re-entering the House, by a unanimous vote they were cleared from every imputation of disloyalty. On his side, the king, as if to provoke this spirit of resistance to the utmost, on a vacancy occurring at this time in the chancellorship of the University of Cambridge, sent down his royal mandate to the university to elect Buckingham. 137 Incensed at this mark of royal favour to one lying under a parliamentary impeachment, the popular party set up on the spur of the moment Lord Andover, eldest son of the Earl of Berkshire, as the duke's opponent ; and, notwithstanding the violent coercion over the members of the senate exercised by the court, Buckingham gained his election only by three votes. The House of Commons, taking up the matter, sent to crave an audience of the king ' about serious business, concerning all the Commons of the land.' Charles, who knew what this meant, replied that they should hear from him the next day, and dissolved the Parliament. This second Parliament had been as troubled in its pro- ceedings in the Upper as in the Lower House. In the first Parliament of Charles, we have seen that the Lords took the side of the crown on the question of the grant of tonnage and poundage. In this Parliament, however, Charles had provoked their anger by imprisoning in the Tower the Earl of Arundel for some personal offence to Buckingham. Arundel had been imprisoned in the previous reign for opposition to the court ; and although he appears not to have troubled himself much about constitutional questions, he possessed a good deal of the dignity and independence of the older barons, of whom he was one of the few representatives. The Peers took up his case warmly, and, as with the Commons, Charles was, after a short struggle, compelled to give way and release his prisoner. While the House of Lords was still in a state of opposition to the crown upon this question, the Earl of Bristol, who had been kept, first by fair words, and then by peremptory in- junctions, fi'om taking his seat, demanded his writ of summons. It was sent to him accompanied by a private letter forbidding him to attend. Bristol sent this letter to the Lords, and demanded to be allowed to appear in their House and accuse Buckingham. Charles retorted by send- ing down the attorney-general with an accusation of high treason against Bristol; but the Lords decided that this should not prejudice the earl's right, and Bristol with their sanction drove in triumph to the House, and there gave in articles against Buckingham. The gist of the counter- accusations was a mutual charge of popish tendencies in 138 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 139 the Spanish affair. Bristol boldly asserted the falsehood of the narrative with which Buckingham abused the cre- dulity of Parliament in the last reign. On this Charles interfered by a message stating that this was identical with an accusation against himself, seeing he had personally vouched for the truth of the duke's narrative. Bristol gravely deplored having to contend with a king and a king's favourite, but persevered in his statement, adding still fuller explanations, which completely satisfied the House, if not of Au innocence, at any rate of the falsehoods of Buckingham. The impeachment of the Commons, however, superseded these recriminating charges, and the dissolution of the Par- liament put an end to the matter. Left to himself, the king proceeded with an extension of those illegal means of raising money which Elizabeth had not attempted, and which James had signally failed in carry- ing out. Votes for subsidies had passed the Commons ; but the bill which would make their payment imperative on the people had not passed, owing to the premature dissolution. Charles and his agents now attempted to persuade the nation that the mere voting of the supplies was sufl&cient ground for their enforcement in the shape of taxes. So they were levied accordingly. The crown lands were improved — to the benefit of Charles — ^through a special commission. The Catholics now suffered fit)m the crown, which, in defiance of the mar- riage treaty, did not scruple to enforce, by a commission, enormous penalties against religious recusants. Privy-seals for money were sent out to gentlemen of large property, and an immediate advance of 120,000^. was demanded from the City of London. A levy of ships from, the outports com- pleted this first stage of the king's home government. Meanwhile, abroad the broken Protestant interest of Ger- many had sought refuge in the assistance of the Lutheran king of Denmark, Christian IV. Peace had been established in 1613 between Christian and the young King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus ; but a prepossession in favour of Den- mark as an ally existed throughout Protestant Germany, and it was not till the defeat of Christian in the bloody battle of Luttem^ that Europe learnt to whom she must look for the redemption of the sinking cause of religious and civil freedom. But this battle gave Charles an opportunity of levying, as he alleged, in aid of his distressed ally, a general forced loan by commissioners, armed with extreme inquisitorial powers. This attempt to generalize what had hitherto never been attempted in the worst times on more than a partial basis, was enforced by means as illegal as the loan itself. Court chaplains preached in favour of the divine authority of arbitrary power and the duty of passive obedience ; and when refusal met the illegal demand, the men who hesitated thus to undermine the liberties of their country, were committed to prison, or sent into the army or navy as common soldiers, or into the Palatinate, on some pretended mission. The judges decided in favour of the crown all cases which were brought before them ; and, to complete the misery into which the nation was plunged under this royal rule, the remains of the debauched soldiery who had tarnished the fair fame of their country in the expedition against Cadiz, were quartered upon the people, and with impunity carried the worst licence of the camp into the midst of the domestic circle. But relief was at hand. For the second time the caprices and overweening presumption of Buckingham wrought eminent services to the cause of free law. The rupture with Spain had led to the revival of the right of impeachment ; and now a rup- ture with France led to the assembly of a Parliament, which- left on the records of our legislature a still more important enunciation of rights. Villiers, of the beauty of whose person a grave antiquary has left a remarkable account, in an embassy to France, presimied upon the strength of this recommenda- tion to make love to the young queen — Anne of Austria. He is said to have been favourably received in his addresses ; but a formidable rival interposed in the person of the Cardinal Richelieu, at first the lover and then the bitter persecutor of the future regent of France. When Buckingham was de- sirous, afterwards, of repeating his visit to Paris, in order to carry on his love-project, the jealous cardinal interposed a stem veto on his presence ; and the disappointed favourite re- venged himself in his old way by stirring up the flames of war between the two countries. As before the recovery of 140 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS the Palatinate had been the popular measure under which lie sought to cover the gratification of private spite, so now the Huguenots of Rochelle offered a suitable means of effect- ing his end. Henrietta Maria's French servants were dis- missed at the duke's instigation ; but not before they had given ample cause for the measure, as appears by the king's own letter of dismissal. The queen herself was insidted by Buckingham, who sedulously promoted the ill-feeling which her caprice had created between her and her husband. Without any warning a number of French ships were seized, and their cargoes disposed of to the benefit of Buckingham and his friends ; while the unfortunate English merchants were left to meet the results of French retaliation, without either the time to escape from them or the compensation to which they were fairly entitled. An expedition was fitted out, imder the personal command of the duke, for the relief of Rochelle ; but the whole ended in an ill-judged disembarka- tion on the island of Rhe — a useless and exaggerated inter- change of courtesies with the enemy which wasted precious time — failure in the face of inferior forces, and decimation by disease much more than by the sword of the enemy. Leav- ing his sick and wounded to the mercies of the inhabitants of Rochelle, who nobly relieved them out of their own small stock of provisions, Buckingham returned to England with .the wreck of the expedition, having displayed, during the short campaign, only one virtue, that of personal bravery; and on his arrival was encountered by the gracious smiles of his forgiving master, and by the deep execrations of the English nation. Tliese had at last found a voice ; for the king, un- able longer to struggle with the financial difiiculties in which the expedition involved him, set at liberty the men he had illegally imprisoned, and issued writs for a new Parliament. The third Parliament of Charles has earned for itself a name in history in connexion with its great constitutional acliievement, the Petition of Rights. It is not intended on this occasion to follow the steps of this remarkable struggle. These may easily be traced in the pages of Cobbett's Far- Immentary Hislory, and (with the advantage of valuable illustrative comment) in the pages of Mr. Forster's States- OF KING CHARLES. 141 men of the CommomveaUh, The vicissitudes of the contest present — with a difference of degree only— the same general features with the earlier Parliaments of Charles. The kins IS equally rash, overbearing, pusillanimous, and treacherous ; the Commons are equally prudent and courteous, but in- creasingly resolute and self-reliant. The session begins with a blustering speech from the throne, and ends with a royal humiliation. The king resists long enough and with a tortuousness sufficient to exhibit his rooted animus, and his unscrupulous faithlessness. He yields too late for secur- ing any depth of gratitude, and in a manner to prevent even the ordinary manifestation of loyal enthusiasm. He con- trives to place distinctly on record that the crown has been worsted in the contest, and sends the representatives of the people home to their constituents with all the bitter feelings of a prolonged struggle unsoftened by a single touch of genial good feeling on the part of the sovereign; and with feelings of suspicion and jealousy for the future, aggravated by the proceeding which ought — had it been properly managed — to have set them finally at rest. A few notices of the more remarkable of these guardians of the public liberties, and some remarks on the position in which the crown stood relatively to the nation at the close of the first session of this Parliament, may be useful accompaniments to any minuter study of its proceedings. The leader of the popular party in the Parliament of 1628-9 was Sir John Eliot, one of the many great men contributed by the west of England to this period of the national history. With talents of the highest order, Eliot combined much simple dignity of manner. Warm feelings, under the control of a severely-trained judgment, were blended in him with an almost stern sincerity and earnestness of purpose, which in- spired his political associates with a deferential respect equal to their admiration and love. Himself disinterested in a high degree, he seemed to have, along with this quality, an instinc- tive perception of the existence of meaner and lower motives in others who passed with the world at large for disinterested patriots. A firm and unwavering friend, he was also without reproach in his domestic relations. He was not a mere poli- 142 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 143 I f 4l tician ; but liad enriclied his mind with the lore of antiquity, especially such as rose to the height of his own lofty ideas. Constitutional history, and the higher grades of literature, held equal sway in his tastes. He possessed the power of con- centrating the results of his reading upon any subject with great effect ; and this faculty renders his speeches richer in illustrative allusion than those of most of his contemporaries. In his religious opinions he must be classed among the Puri- tans ; and among that section of them who have been called Doctrinal Puritans. A strong opponent of Arminianism, he was Erastian in his ideas of church government, and was rather an enemy to the introduction of new doctrines and ceremonies than an advocate of a change in the constitution of the church of England. It only remains to be said that he was a complete master of the system of parliamentary tactics, and was second to no one in the management of the business of the House. In his public motives, as high-minded as Eliot, the character of John Pym, the son of a Somersetshire squire, presents, in some points, a striking contrast to that of his political asso- ciate. Eliot was naturally of an impetuous and fiery dispo- sition, and his speeches have all the warmth in accordance with such a temperament. Pym was, in general, of a more equable and cautious disposition ; and the kindliness of his demeanour, and his agreeable social qualities, attracted to the cause of which he was the advocate many who would have shrunk from the sterner appeals of Eliot. At the same time, on great public occasions, there was a grave dignity in his bearing, which seemed to his contemporaries to represent fitly the public body of which he was so distinguished a member. In power of application to the most onerous and distasteful tasks, Pym stands unrivalled ; and he surpasses all in the wonderful mastery which he obtained over a mass of seem- ingly disconnected details, and in the clear and vigorous manner in which he extracted the kernel of the matter from the dry husk of irrelevant circumstance in which it might be wrapped up. Equalling any antiquary in the minuteness and laboriousness of his examination of facts, he never sank under the weight of his own acquisitions ; but, clothing them in simple but striking language, raised them, in their application, into the higher regions of broad and general principles. His eloquence, inferior to Eliot's in richness of illustration, and wanting his fervour of expression, was superior in natural ease, and accommodation to the minds of a mixed audience. Of an essentially constructive mind, he never fell down and worshipped the idols of his own creation, and always kept the opinions and feelings of others before his eyes. Less severe than Eliot in his judgment on the follies of the world around him, he had less of his instinctive recognition of baser motives, but he had greater acquired knowledge of men. The conduct of Pym would appear to have been more subject to the in- fluence of worldly motives than that of Eliot ; but it would be difficult to find an instance in which such influences were less open to blame. Thus, in the course of his political career, Pym associated with men, and employed instruments, from an acquaintance with whom, and from the use of which Eliot's keen sensibilities would probably have shrunk ; but it has never yet been shown that in his intercourse with the one, or in his employment of the other, he outstepped the limits of moral principle. In his relations with his family Pym exhibits the same mixture of kind feelings with calm judgment and shrewd cautious foresight which marked his public conduct. The following unpublished letter is so characteristic, that no apology will be needed for inserting it in this connection. It is a model epistle from a kind but prudent father to a scrapegrace son : — To my Son Alexander Pym, one of the Gentlemen of Colonel Serheri^s Com- pany in the States' Army, Deliver these with speed. London, 23rd Nov., 1634. Alexander, — I lately writ to you by a messenger sent by Allen the post, and delivered him 10^. to be paid unto you by the same messenger. In that letter I gave you leave to go from the army if you would, and to live in what part you thought good, till you should receive further direction from me. Since that time I have spoken with Mr. Darley, and he hath given me a good report of you ; whereupon I have conceived some hope that I shall find you a changed man. Wlierefore I am very willing to call you home. But, because I have not yet compounded with your creditors, though I have set one awork to treaty with two of the greatest of them which I can find — that is Wroth and Robins; Peek I know not where to inquire for; the rest I know none but Mr. Darley and Mr. Knightley — that I may have the most time to compound with them, ii 144 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 145 I I would not have you here till tbe end of January ; and when yon shall land, I would not have you come to me till you hear from me, for if they ever take notice you are reconciled to me, I shall bring them to no reason. Therefore keep yourself private, and send to me before you come. I will then give you directions what to do. I have delivered Allen 5/. more, which he hath pro- mised that you shall receive with this letter, which I hope wiU be suflBcient to bring you home. Yet, lest you might have some extraordinary occasion, I have promised him to pay 5/. more, if you take up so much of his servant, which he saith shall furnish you, if there be need. Now let me see by your thrifty and discreet carriage in this small matter how I may trust you in greater, and assure yourself, as I am very apt to receive you, if you be truly a reformed man, go you will easily fall back into my displeasure, if you bring home your old faults and follies with you. Thus I pray God direct you in his fear, and commend you to his blessing. Resting your loving Father, Jo. Pttm. [Across the back.] I have appointed Allen to pay all charges for this and the former money. If you can send me a private note of your other debts, and where I may find Mr. Peek, to whom you owe 500/., I shall see better. Make all ready for your return, how soon I permit you to come, in a private manner, and to be here by the end of January.* It is satisfactory to know that Alexander Pym became a reformed character, a respectable member of society, and a colonel in the Puritan army. His enemies have thrown some imputation on the purity of Pym's morals ; but no evidence has ever been adduced of the truth of these accusations, and while we find them irrecon- cileable with much which is handed down to us of his actions and language, we can easily explain their origin from the mixed character of the company which he kept, and the genial manners which he carried into every society. In his principles a Puritan, he probably agreed at this time with Eliot in the form of Puritanism which he embraced, though subsequent events carried him onward to a further stage of religious opinion. Such was the man who, after Eliot, pos- sessed the greatest influence in the counsels of the Commons. We next come to the name of one associated with the pre- ceding in equality of talents, but fatally deficient in the high principle which in them so strongly excites our admiration. Sir Thomas Wentworth (as Mr. Forster has proved clearly in his able life of him) , never was, in the proper sense of the term, a patriot ; but from the first felt his natural leanings • Additional MSS. Brit. Mus. No. 11,692, pp. i, 2. to be to the service of a despotic prince. The shackles of parliamentary forms, and the restraints of constitutional law, were both oppressive to his haughty and ambitious genius. He acted with the popular party only because it was in this manner that he could best make his real talents known to the crown, and compel Charles to secure his services. His great aim was to enter the service of the king in no subordi- nate capacity, but as his chief minister and adviser, uncon- trolled in his actions by any but the monarch himself. As long as Buckingham lived this was an impossibility ; and the favourite seems to have been sufficiently sensible of the danger of admitting such a ^ rival near the throne,' to take some pains to disoblige and irritate the aspirant for power into factious opposition to the court. But he could not make Wentworth commit himself entirely to that course; for, while launching into occasional philippics against the king's advisers and their tyrannical counsels, he never failed to soften the attack by some piece of delicate flattery to the superior motives and character of the sovereign himself. Even if Wentworth had been disposed to choose the parlia- mentary and popular arena as the scene of his labours and triumphs, he found too many rivals on that stage to be able long to endure the divided empire. Eliot was the principal object of his jealousy and dislike. From the first there seems to have been a natural antipathy between these great men ; and it was observed that, even when they spoke on the same side of the question, there was something antagonistic to each other in the mode of handling it. Pym was at first on more friendly and intimate terms with Wentworth, and the con- sciousness of his having been misled as to the character of his former associate, no doubt lent additional force to the deter- mination with which he followed out Wentworth's own advice (as a patriot) against the person of the adviser himself.* It • Went worth's expressions in this session respecting any future infringe- ment of the liberties of the nation have been often quoted : * By one and the same thing hath the king and people been hurt, and by the same must they be cured. To vindicate — what ? New things ? No ! our ancient, lawful, and vital liberties ! by reinforcing of the ancient laws made by our ancestors ; 5y setting iuch a stamp upon them as no licentious spirit shall dare hereafter to enter tipon them,* 146 ANTECEDENTS AND FIKST YEARS is from hh subsequent career tliat we learn how great were WentwortVs talents, how untiring his energy, how powerful his oratory. What we might have mistaken in the former part of his life for a cowardly dread of ill-consequences to his own person, we find, from his subsequent conduct, to have been merely the caution of a man who was seeking for, but had not found, his appropriate sphere of action. Once launched forth upon this, no danger appalled him, no inferior selfish motive was allowed to interfere with his pursuit of the one great selfish end he had set before him. Proud and overbearing in his nature, he could assume great gentleness, and flatter the man he hated, and whom he might (but for policy) have crushed at once. 'Naturally exceedingly choleric, he kept strict watchftdness over himself concerning it; yet it could not be so prevented but sometimes upon sudden occasions it would break. He had sundry friends that often admonished him of it ; and he had the great pru- dence to take in good part such admonitions.' He himself says, 'it is not always anger, but the misapplying of it, that is the vice so blameable, and of disadvantage to those that let themselves loose thereunto.* This treatment of passion as an engine of policy is eminently characteristic of Wentworth, both intellectually and morally. In his private character he presents a double aspect. He was a kind husband and father, but he shared in the general laxity of morals of the court circles of that day ; and however unpre- possessing his features, he caused more than one scene of con- fusion and disgrace within other family circles. As might be supposed, with the Puritans he never had any feeling in common, though the stamp of his character, through all its vices, was so remarkable, that his clear-sighted worldliness often rose to a seeming level with their most lofty ideas. His abandonment of the popidar cause, during the recess between the two sessions of this Parliament, was not so great a loss to the popular party as it was to the king a great gain. Instead of the wayward abilities of Buckingham, and the pain- ful insignificance of a Secretary Coke, Charles had the splendid talents of one of the most powerftd minds of his own or any OF KING CHABLES. 14-7 age placed at his disposal, with a devotion and utter negation of all conflicting ideas of self, which the king, incredulous of real disinterestedness, and even of the politic self-sacrifice of such a man as Wentworth, was wholly unable to appre- ciate. It was this want of appreciation — this short-sighted distrust on the part of Charles, which really saved the Con- stitution of England. Had Wentworth been allowed to carry out his wide and well-organized schemes of royal ag- grandizement, I will not say with the assistance, but only without the interference of the king, we might tremble to reflect on the possible fate of liberty in this country. All that Wentworth asked was to be the chief minister of a sovereign who owed the acquisition of arbitrary power to hi% exertions. But Charles could not divest his mind of the idea —springing naturally from his own inferiority of intellect — that Wentworth would seek safety or aggrandizement for himself in some more immediately accessible sphere of au- thority, and would abandon his master in the attainment of their great common end. Besides, as soon as Wentworth had by his genius smoothed the way to some seemingly inac- cessible object, the very ease with which he had secured this for his royal master, dwarfed with Charles both the real difficulty of the attainment and the merit of the performer. Nor could the narrow-minded prince see that his only secu- rity, when he had once thrown away the protection of the laws, by passing out of their limits, was in the encouragement and cordial co-operation afforded to a genius such as Went- worth's. Instead of this, when he thought the latter had sufficiently involved himself in the infamy of despotic mea- sures, to prevent his return to the popular side, he treated coldly the man whom he thought at his mercy, and of whose talents he was jealous. With the inconsistency of a little mind, Charles both sought for greatness through the instru- mentality of others, and when he had acquired it, hated them for the necessity of their services, which implied his own dependence upon them. John Hampden was the eldest son of William Hampden, Esq., of Hampden, in the county of Buckingham. His mother was a daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell, of Hinchin- 148 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OF KING CHARLES. 149 I brook, in the county of Huntingdon ; and through her he was first-cousin to Oliver Cromwell.* The character of Hampden was very peculiar, and such as exposed him to peculiar misrepresentation with political op- ponents. A deep and careful thinker, and an accomplished student in many branches of literature, he was still more deeply read in the characters of men. His behaviour towards all men, to employ the language of Clarendon, was marked by ^ a flowing courtesy / but, at the same time, to those who were brought into any but the most intimate relations with him, there was a certain reserve apparent which was difl*erently construed by them, according to their several prepossessions towards him. It has been often a matter of wonder that, concerning one so prominent in the earlier scenes of this great revolution, so few personal facts should have been handed down. He lived in the midst of great events and great ac- tions, and, according to the universal judgment of contem- poraries, exercised the most important influence over them ; yet (if we except the ship-money case) no prominent man of that period is so little definitely connected with the details of events by positive accounts of the nature of his par- ticipation. That he wielded the minds of those around him, and moulded their actions in accordance with his own views, is apparent to any one conversant with the records of those days. Yet this was done almost imperceptibly, as to the particular means employed, by a quiet influence over those who were the prominent actors in any aff'air, rather than by a personal attitude such as that assumed by Eliot • He was educated in the free grammar-school of Thame, in Oxfordshire, and in 1609 entered as a commoner at Magdalen College, Oxford. On the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with the ill-fated Elector-palatine, John Hampden was chosen, with William Laud and others, to write the university Latin gratulatory verses. The last lines of this college * exercise ' have excited attention from the hope they express respecting the marriage : * Ut surgat inde proles f cui mtlla terra, nulla gens sit parem datura* — That thence a race may spring To which nor land nor lineage Shall e'er the equal bring. From the marriage respecting which this hope is indulged in, sprang the leader of the troops by whom John Hampden was slain, and the family which was destined to displace the Stuarts from the throne of England. and Pym. You have a measure of the influence which the latter exerted over the counsels of the nation in their speeches on all great occasions which have descended to us. Hampden seems to have spoken little, and to have avoided in every possible case coming into collision with the indi\idual prejudices of those with whom he had to act, by clothing the views which he wished to recommend in too personal a fashion. It was his natural instinct more than his deliberate policy to make every one work out the desired result through the medium of such person's own peculiar trains of thought, instead of forcing it upon him in the hard definite shape of a conception already crystallized in the mind of another. His intimate acquaintance with the characters and secret motives and impulses of others, rendered this to him not only an easy task, but an ine\itable one. Those who see with a clearness at all approaching to his into the dispositions and guiding ideas of others, cannot preserve in their intercourse with them the same independent mode, either of language or action, which they are able to do who have less personal in- sight. It is, perhaps, a just price wliich is paid by those to whom this peculiar power is given, that they themselves are reacted upon in a certain proportion to their influence over others; and in guiding these become themselves less independent. Such a character, however, inevitably exposes the possessor, on particular occasions, to imputations of indi- rectness, suppressio veriy and intriguing craftiness. The dis- proportion between the influence felt to be exercised and the part overtly taken will often strike those who have been un- favourably affected in their wishes by the result. Of course the danger of such a character lies in this direction ; but it is very far from being necessarily the case that the accusa- tions thus made are always true. In the instance of Hamp- den there is quite sufficient evidence of manly straightfor- wardness, and moral courage to refute the accusation. His conduct, not merely in the ship-money case, where he stood alone and unprotected in the breach of the Constitution against a court armed with all the powers of despotism, but on subsequent occasions, wherever the brief notices we obtain of it enable us to form any judgment^ attests his directness 150 ANTECEDENTS AND FIKST YEARS in identifying himself with distinct views of policy, however difficult it is to trace his individual share in carrying them out. Clarendon identifies him with 'the root-and-branch men' — ^those who never faltered when they had once decided on their course. The comparatively short-sighted and timid D'Ewes has no hesitation about what is the general tone of Ms policy, though he accuses him of subtlety in working it out. He always names him among ' the fiery spirits/ — a noble fraternity, including such men as Pym, Strode, and Vane. Charles had no hopes of conciliating him, and struck at him with no hesitating hand in the impeachment of the ^YQ members and the proclamations during the Civil War. If he was a silent influence in the House of Commons, he was an active partisan in the camp and on the battle-field. We have but few glimpses into his private life ; but these few must impress nearly every one with a feeling that his was not a mind which could work out its ends by imworthy means. Some letters which passed between him and Eliot, during the latter's imprisonment in the Tower, exhibit in a rare degree a masculine good sense in healthy union with the most deli- cate and refined perceptions. There is * a steady glow of genuine worth' in them, which cannot fail to cast its explana- tory light over the more obscure parts of his conduct. The morals of Hampden, in mature life, except on the point al- luded to, are unimpeached by any of his opponents. By his tenantry, his constituents, and all those who were brought into simHar relations with him by the vicissitudes of his life, he was idolized. As a Puritan, Hampden has been some- times classed among the Independents, or CongregationaHsts; and perhaps he approached more nearly to their views of church government than to those of any other class. Still, m the general features of his religious opinions, he resembled rather the Doctrinal Puritans. In estimating the talents and character of John Selden, it is probable that we shaU find reason to think that, rela^ tively to the other statesmen of his time, he has been placed, by the judgment of posterity, in too elevated a position! In profound knowledge of books, and in the power of arrang- mg and keeping at his disposal the information thus acquired. OF KING CHARLES. 151 he is allowed by every one to stand first of all the men of that age. A man more deeply read in the learning of ancient times, or more completely versed in the minutise of almost every known science or profession, has scarcely ever existed. As a constitutional lawyer, an enlightened theologian, an accurate antiquary, and a dispassionate philosopher, it would be difficult to point out his equal. But the powers of mind evinced by this various learning were not accompanied by equivalent qualities of the soul or heart. His familiarity with the history of the violent contentions concerning truth in former times, while they made him candid and impartial in his estimate of the opinions of others, had given him too little positive reliance on his own, and imparted a coldness to his advocacy of their merits. A vigorous and sarcastic de- nouncer of the bigotry of churchmen and the fanaticism of sectarians, he had none of that warm religious feeling of which both the errors he denounced were but the excess. He tole- rated error of thought, but he allowed no palliation for extra- vagance of conduct or language j since for the one he found an ample apology in the experience of his own mind, but for the other he had felt no corresponding emotions in his own heart to suggest an excuse. By this defect in Selden, no doubt, we must explain those weak compliances in the hour of trial by which he lowered his character in the estimation of his friends, and tarnished his fair fame in the eyes of pos- terity. To keep the high position which Eliot, Pym, and Hampden maintained, required something more than the powers of mind implied by even such vast learning as Selden's j and the self-respect in which the last so unhappily failed, is more closely connected with the emotions, and less with the intellect, than is sometimes supposed. No mental discipline, however severe, no calm judgment, however strong and unprejudiced, could supply in Selden the want of that deep religious feeling and conviction of the heart which imparted to the genius of those great men breadth and solidity. Clarendon gives us a casual insight into the eflect which this failing had upon Selden's character, when he tells us that on Charles I. expressing some intention of confemng the Great Seal upon Selden, those whom the king consulted 152 ANTECEDEXTS AKD FIRST YEARS OP KING CHARLES. 153 on the subject dissuaded Mm from doing so, saying ' they did not doubt of Mr. Selden^s affection to the king, but withal knew him so weU that they concluded he would abso- lutely refuse the place if it were offered to him. He was in years, and of a tender constitution ; he had for many yeara enjoyed his ease, which he loved; was rich, and would not have made a journey to York, or have lain out of his own bed, for any preferment, which he had never affected.^* And the same writer, in an account of his personal friends in early life, after passing a high eulogium on the learning and character of Selden, remarks that he. Clarendon, ' was very much troubled always when he heard him blamed, censured, and reproached for staying in London and in the Parliament after they were in rebeUion, and in the worst times, which his age obliged him to do ; and how wicked soever the actions were which were every day done, he (Clarendon) was confident he had never given his consent to them, but would have hindered them if he could with his own safety, to tvhich he was always enough indulgent, 'f The morals of Selden were irreproachable, and in the Tanous relations of life we find his conduct mentioned with warm praise. As to his manners in society, differiuff accounts exist. Clarendon says that his 'humanity, cour! t^y, and affabmty was such, that he would havj been thought to have been bred in the best courts ; but that his gooduature, charity, and deHght in doing good, and in com- mumcatmg all he knew, exceeded that breeding.^ Sir bimonds D^Ewes, on the other hand (a prejudiced man, how- ever, and one who may have been influenced by lealousv of a brother antiquary), writes thus in his autobiography : On Tuesday September 28, 1624, going, as I frequently nsed^ to visit Sir Robert Cotton, England's prime antiquary, I there met Mr. John Selden, of the Inner Temple, a man of deep knowledge, and almost incomparable learning, as his many pubhshed works do sufficiently witness, with whom Sir Eobert our joint friend, brought me acquainted, and we held ever atter a good outward correspondence ; but both of them ♦ Mehellion, p. 239. f Life, p. 923. leing more learned than pious, I never sought after, or ever attained unto any great entireness with them; yet I had much more familiarity with Sir Robert Cotton than with Mr. Selden, being a man exceedingly puffed up with the appre- hension of his own abilities/ Selden's Table Talk certainly gives us the impression of a man who could be quite as dis- agreeable as agreeable, according to his appreciation of those into whose company he might be thrown. It is some confir- mation of one part of D'Ewes' account that Sir Robert Cotton, whom, with Selden, he here speaks of as ^ more learned than pious,' after having been himself a leading patriot in preceding Parliaments, was, just before the meeting of the Parliament of 1628, ^tempted into concessions' to the king ^extremely unworthy of him,' in a paper wliich he gave in to the Lords of the Council, on being consulted as to the summoning of a Parliament. ' It is probable that a rumour of this, coupled with his silence on the affair of the loan, led to his defeat at the Westminster election.' ' Eliot,' however, ^ was warmly attached to him,' and ' it was at the meetings held at his house, where aU the eminent men of the day assembled, that Eliot's intimate friendship with Selden most probably com- menced.' That Selden was conscientious and right in aU his intentions, and that his occasional compliances were the ex- ceptions and not the rule of his conduct, this friendship is a sufficient evidence. As a statesman, Selden forms a connecting link between the men whose characters have been just delineated, and a class of patriots to whom I have now to aUude, and who may well re- ceive the general name of Constitutional Antiquaries. Such (besides Sir Robert Cotton) were Sir Edward Coke, WiUiam Noy, William HakewiU, Serjeant John Glanville, and Edward Littleton. These men had studied the records and charters upon which our Constitution is based, and the statutes and precedents by which its provisions, in theory and in practice, were deter* mined, until they virtually, in their own minds, made an end of the means, and valued every principle in legislation, and every social regulation, according to its consonance with the ^wisdom of our ancestors.' This dislike to any alteration in existing things which had not been sanctioned by the experience of 154 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS OP KING CHARLES. 155 I bygone ages, is in many cases a most valuable cbaracteristic of tbe Englishman. It guards against the crude and mutable legislation of other countries, and also against the encroach- ments of despotic power. This we found when the Stuarts com- menced their attempts to subvert the laws of England. The services of such men, in the early stage of that great contest, were invaluable; and as long as the struggle was strictly con- servative on the part of the Commons, they were for the most part among the leaders of the popular party. Some, indeed, proved untrue to their first principles ; but even then it was by the coimter-charm of the 'precedents' of tyranny that they were led astray. It is no surprise, therefore, to find some of the names which were most conspicuous during the former part of the struggle disappearing from the leadership when the course of events obliged the Commons, in their turn, to 'rear new customs,' and violate established usage. The other popular leaders, during the third Parliament of Charles, I can little more than name. Some reappear con- spicuously in a subsequent part of the Revolution. Such are Denzil Holies, second son of the Earl of Clare ; Sir Ben- jamin Rudyard, John Crewe, Benjamin Valentyne, Sir Walter Erie, Francis Rous, Sir Francis Seymour, Walter Long, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell's, Sir Thomas Barrington, Among those whose career was confined to the earlier stages of the drama, may be mentioned Sir Dudley Digges, the fellow-sufferer of Eliot in one of his imprisonments, and Christopher Wandesford, the friend and follower of Sir Thomas Wentworth, both of whom soon deserted the popular cause ; and as remaining faithful to the end of their political career. Sir Miles Hobart, Sir Robert Philips, Sir Miles Fleet- wood (father of tke Fleetwood of history), William Coryton, and Sir Peter Heyman. Such were leaders of the popular party in the great par- liamentary campaign of 1628. We may next consider what was the exact position in which Charles I. stood relatively to the English nation at the close of this memorable session. The English Constitution, originating, as we have seen, partly in the class privileges of the Saxon, partly in the rights and requirements of Norman feudalism, had been defined by traditionary charters, or feudal relations. Its maintenance was secured by the warlike and independent spirit of the nation, or by the weakness and crimes of the sovereign. Its infringements are landmarks of the depression of the people and the superior talents or fortuitous position of the king. New charters were granted, meeting particular cases of oppression as they rose, and incidentally and fre- quently without any intention laying down general principles, which included in their grasp many other possible abuses. As the crown or the nation gained the upper hand, these pre- cedents of liberty and oppression were produced, on either side, as warrants for their proceedings. When society, therefore, began to be less governed by temporary force, and more by settled and permanent law, it became necessary to determine on competent authority the comparative value of these con- flicting precedents. During the reigns of Elizabeth, James, and Charles a contest to secure such a decision prevailed to a greater or less extent. By degrees the opposing claims stood in more distinctly antagonistic attitudes. The crown widened its pretensions, so as to include every successful act of royal encroachment ; the Commons widened theirs, so as to deduce broad and general principles from the particular precedents of their freedom. There can be no doubt on whose side the right lay ; and we have just seen in whose favour the contest had apparently been decided. From the day when Charles I. assented to the Petition of Right, we are relieved, so far as the Stuarts are concerned, from any remote inquiries as to precedents for royal power or popular liberties. The inquiry has been made ; and the decision is contained in the act thus ratified by the sovereign. The Constitution was not really changed by this enactment ; it was simply cleared from arbitrary interpolations. Thus commenced a new era with the House of Stuart; and it is by their conduct, from this day forward, relatively to the Constitution, to a definite interpretation of which they had thus given their sanction, that the justice or injustice of the resistance afterwards offered to them in the senate and on the battle-field is rightly to be estimated. It appears to me that, after this era in his life, there never was another opportunity presented to Charles I. 156 ANTECEDENTS AND FIKST YEAKS OF KING CHARLES. 157 f *< *< of governing witli complete liononr to himself and real safety to the liberties of England. Had he signed the Petition of Right in good faith, and adhered to it without any attempt to evade or infringe it, he might have passed the rest of his life in the peaceftd enjoyment of a considerable share of power ; quite as much as had legally been possessed by any of his predecessors, much more than was ever again possessed by any English king. Afterwards, when securities became neces- sary against his dissimulation, and when many of his personal advisers became so involved in his misdeeds, that neither could he, on the one hand, abandon them with honour, nor the Parliament, on the other, pass over their offences with safety, all real chance of an honest agreement between the contending parties was at an end ; the Parliament was com- pelled to demand conditions inconsistent with the existence of a real limited monarchy, and to arrogate powers to itself inconsistent with the proper balance among constituted authorities ; the deposition of the king became a matter of course, his death on the scaffold proved a terrible necessity.^ The abrupt and tumultuous conclusion of the second session of the Parliament of 1628-9 is well known. The refusal of Speaker Finch to put to the vote the remonstrance against the levy of tonnage and poundage without consent of Parlia- ment, provoked a scene of unexampled confusion. The exact conduct of the Speaker was the subject of a report to the House of Commons in an ensuing Parliament,! and seems to have been as follows. He delivered his majesty's command to adjourn the House immediately for a week. This initiative was objected to as unconstitutional. Eliot then presented the re- monstrance to the Speaker to read aloud. The Speaker refused. EUot presented it to the clerk at the table, who also refused. Eliot then read it himself, and caUed on the Speaker to put It to the vote. Finch declined, saying that he was com- manded otherwise by the king. For this he was sternly rebuked by Selden. ' You are by his majesty, sitting in his • This point, the pi-oof of which extends over many years, is my deliberate judgment, after the most carefdl consideration. t Journal of Commons, April 20, 1640, from Mr. Lewknour's and Mr. Uage 8 notes. * , royal chair before both Houses, appointed our Speaker, and do you now re/use to be a Speaker ?' Finch replied, he had an express command from the king, so soon as he had deli- vered his majesty^ s message, to leave the chair presently, and to put no question, but to wait upon his majesty presently. Being pressed again to put the question, he answered he was commanded to put no question ; and thereupon he rose and left the chair. He was dragged to it again by DenzU Holies, Valentyne, and others. Sir Thomas Edmonds and other privy-councillors endeavoured to free the Speaker ; but Holies swore, ' God's wounds ! he should sU still till it pleased them to rise.' Then the Speaker, being again commanded to put the question, answered, with abundance of tears, ^ He was the servant of the House, and would sacrifice his life for the good of his country, but let not the reward of my services,' said he, ' be my ruin ! The reason why I left the chair was not to disobey you, but to obey his majesty. Being the king's servant doth not make me less yours. I will not say I will not put the question, but, I say, I dare not.' After fresh severe reproaches against the Speaker's conduct from Selden and others, Eliot, in the midst of the general confusion and excitement, presented a protestation against tonnage and poundage, and the other illegal proceedings and evil tendencies of the government, and gave it to Holies, who read it article by article, the House assenting to each with loud shouts. The door had been locked, lest the serjeant-at- arms should take away the mace. Admission was demanded and refused to the usher of the black rod. Then the king sent an armed force to break open the doors ; but the protes- tation had by this time been read, and the doors being thrown open, the representatives of the nation streamed forth in wild disorder, not to reassemble for deliberation until after an interval of eleven years. From the moment of the dissolution of his third Par- liament, the government of Charles became a despotism scarcely disguised by unsubstantial forms of law. He first wreaked his vengeance on the ^vipers,' as he called the leaders of the popular party in the House of Com- mons. The fate of Sir John Eliot is well known. Refusing I 158 ANTECEDENTS AND FIRST YEARS to give bail for 'good beliaviour' for the fdtnre, on the ground of its being an infringement of the privilege of Par- liament, he was kept a close prisoner in the Tower, until death, hastened by long confinement in a damp, unwholesome cell, want of firing in the winter, and, above all, a scanty supply of food, released him from his sufierings. When his sickness was gaining upon him he was persuaded to petition the king for a respite of fresh air. Charles answered that the petition 'was not humble enough/ Eliot sent a second petition by his son : ' Sir, I am heartily sorry I have displeased your majesty, and, having so said, do humbly beseech you once again to command your judges to set me at liberty, that when I have recovered my health, I may return back to my prison, there to undergo such punishment as Grod hath allotted unto me.* The lieutenant of the Tower tried to persuade his prisoner to 'acknowledge his fault' in a third petition, which he himself would willingly deliver, and made no doubt but he should obtain his liberty. But Sir John answered : ' I thank you, sir, for your friendly advice ; but my spirits are grown feeble and faint, which when it shall please God to restore unto their former vigour, I will take it further into my consideration.* He expired on the 27th of November, 163Z ; and his son thereupon petitioned the king that ' he would be pleased to permit his body to be carried into Cornwall, there to be buried. Whereto was answered at the foot of the pe- tition, ' Let Sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that palish where he died,' '* And so for the time Charles triumphed over his opponent — the dead body as well as the dying man. The fate of some of the other popular leaders will be best exemplified by the following (hitherto unpublished) report presented by one of them— Denzil Holies— to the Long Par- liament : — 'In obedience of the order of the House, I give you this account of what I have received by their gift, and the occa- sion of it — first. The House granted me a thousand marks, which I had formerly paid into the Exchequer, for a fine im- ♦ Harl M8S, 7000 (in Forster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth, v8, Saltrey- Judith, Cistercian abbey, Hunts (estimated at 141/. per annum) ? on May 20 1542, the site of the priory of Black Canons, close to Huntingdon, dedicated to St. Mary, and called the Austin Canons of Huntingdon; the priory orieinally stood in the town, but had been removed out of it eastwards ; its net receipts were esthnated at above 187/. per annum : at the same time the site of the monastery of St. Neot's, in the same county (Dugdale's Monasticon) with lands in various other places. By his will (dated June 25, 1545) Su- Richard left to his younger son, Francis, estates in Glamorganshire, part of which had probably descended to him from his father, and part had been given to him by the king. By this will (which was proved November 28, 1546), in which he styles EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 177 to present a curious picture of the sudden rise of a royal favourite, and the establishment of a great family. Sir Richard died in 1546, and his eldest son and successor, Henry Cromwell, continued to mount the ladder of fortune. In 1563 Elizabeth created him a knight, and on the i8th of August in the following year, on her return from the Uni- versity of Cambridge, she slept at Hinchinbrook, where Sir Henry had erected a house on the site of the nunnery. He sat in the House of Commons, in 1563, as one of the knights of the shire for Huntingdon, and was four times appointed sheriff of the county. His summer residence was at Ramsey, the manor house of which he either built or repaired ; and in the winter he removed to Hinchinbrook. From his liberality he gained the name of the Golden Knight ; and the report at Ramsey was, that whenever he came from Hinchinbrook to that place he threw considerable sums of money to the poor townsmen. This was the beginning of a prodigality which in the end dissipated the splendid fortune of Sir Richard. But it required two generations to accomplish this effectually, and before that time the name of Cromwell had been revived with far greater lustre, though in a manner widely different. Two Olivers were the agents in these changes. The one, the eldest son of the Golden Knight, had been himself knighted by Elizabeth, in the year 1598, in the lifetime of his father,^ and eventually succeeded to the family seats and principal property. The other Oliver, who retrieved the sinking for- tunes of the name, and whose early life will now occupy our himself Sir Richard Williams, otherwise called Sir Richard Cromwell, knight, &c., he devises to his eldest son, Henry, his estates in the counties of Cam- bridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, and Bedford ; and bequeaths him the sum of 500/. to purchase him necessary fiirniture when he shall come of age. This shows that Sir Henry succeeded to the estates when young. The following old lines are curious, as showing the characters home by Ramsey and Saltrey as monastic establishments — * Crowland, as courteous as courteous as may bee; Thorney, the bane of many a good tree j Ramsey the rich, and Peterburgh the proud j Saltrev, by the way, that poor abbey, gave more ahns than all they.* *' •' Noble, ib. i. 19. * See Noble's Cromwell, my general authority for these details. H 178 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. attention, was the grandson of Sir Henry, and the son of Sir Oliver's next brother, Robert. Thus, as far as family traditions could have any influence on the mind of our Oliver, the origin of his father's family seemed to point him out as a defender alike of the Reform- ation and the crown ; and during the days of the Tudors these were synonymous terms. Nor was the history of his mother's family less likely to contribute to this result. It is singular enough, that in one of the letters from Sir Richard Cromwell to Cromwell Earl of Essex, to which allusion has been before made, the zealous nephew reports : ' Your lord- ship, I think, shall shortly perceive the Prior of Ely to be of a froward sort, by evident tokens ; as, at our coming home, shall be at large related unto you.' This popish Prior of Ely, Robert Steward by name, who boasted of his descent from a common ancestor with the royal house of Scotland, contrary to Sir Richard's anticipations, saw the justice of the arguments which the king's vicar-general placed before him, became the first Protestant dean of Ely, farmed to advantage the tithes of that place, and, though neglecting, as it is said, his own comforts,* looked after the interests of his family, settling his brothers and nephews around him on grants of church lands. Nicholas Steward, the dean's elder brother, resided at Ely, where both he and his son William possessed a considerable landed estate, chiefly on long leases from the dean and chapter. He died in 1558, and was buried in the * 'Robert, the son of Nicholas Steward, when yonng, earnestly devoted Ms mind to study in the University of Cambridge, and afterwards assumed the monastic habit in the priory of Ely, After a time he was thought so highly of by all, that on the death of the prior, by general consent and choice he was elected to fill his place, and became the last prior of that monastery, and the first dean of the cathedral church. He filled the«e two posts for twenty years each, with great reputation. He was a man of very uncommon life, for he wore and macerated his body with frequent vigils and prayers ; altogether despising riches and honours, stinting himself to give in lavish pro- fusion to the poor. He was both mindful and grateful for favours received, and forgetful on the morrow of the injury received the preceding day. In short, you will hardly find his like. He died in the year of grace 1556, when he had nearly completed his 75th year, and was buried in the church of Ely, between two columns, opposite to Lord Bishop Goderich, towards the south.* -—(Addl, MSS. Brit. Mus. 15,664.) I. have given as close a representation as possible in English of the cramped Latin of the original. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 179 cathedral church.* William Steward was twice married. His first wife was Margery, the daughter of — Fulneby, Esq., of the county of Lincohi ; and by her he had three daughters (Anna, Mildred, and Barbara), and several other children who died young. His second wife was Katharine, daughter of Thomas Payne, Esq., of Castlearre, by whom he had a son Thomas, and three daughters who lived to maturity, Katharine, Mizabeth, and Helen (besides two, Frances and Winifred, who died early) .f Elizabeth Steward, who was bom in 1560, married William Lynne, Esq., of Bassing- boume in Cambridgeshire. He died July 27, 1589, aad, together with their only chHd, Katharine, was buried in Ely Cathedral. After a widowhood of about two years, Mrs. Lynne became the wife of Robert Cromwell, and eight years afterwards the mother of Oliver. Her father died in March, 1595, and the family estates were then enjoyed by her brother Thomas, who also resided at Ely, and whose name frequently occurs in its records, since he greatly interested himself in the affairs of the city, and was very popular there. Though married, he had no children, and his sister Elizabeth's son seems to have been regarded by him in the light of his heir. Such are the leading facts in the history of the rise of the two families of Cromwell and Steward. Oliver's birthplace was the town of Huntingdon ; now at least, whatever it may have been in the time of Elizabeth, a quiet, sleepy place, suggestive of anything rather than pubUc turmoils or convulsions of national interest. The river Ouse winds about it in a manner rather perplexing to topographers, and on its left bank, about half a mile above Huntingdon, and therefore westward of the town, ' still stands a stately, pleasant house, among its shady lawns and expanses.' J This is Hinchinbrook, once the seat of Sir Henry and Sir OUver • Addl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 15,664. The volume which contains this is a sketch of the family of Steward by one of the family who died m the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and before the birth of Oliver. It contains some ^^0"^ in- formation not elsewhere to be found, or hitherto known, and is usef ul m Ohver^s case particularly, as will be seen by the next statement, for which I quote its authority. ^ ^^^^ 3^^^^ ^^^^64. t Carlyle. n2 180 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. Cromwell, now that of tlie Montagues, Earls of Sandwich. ' It is rather kept good and defended against the inroads of time and accident than substantially altered/ and is ' a large, irregular building, partly of stone and partly of brick.' ' On a broken stone cornice, belonging to the small portion which remains of the ancient nunnery, is the date 1437 ; but the greater part of the present edifice was built by Sir Henry Cromwell. The common room of the nuns is now the kitchen ; and there exist about eight or nine of the nuns' cells, which are now used as lodging-rooms by the servants.'* The brook Hinchin (from which it takes its name) flows through the grounds, and then crosses the intervening meadows in an easterly direction to Robert Cromwell's house. We are indebted to Thomas Booker, the almanac astrologer, for the information that Oliver Cromwell was born at three o'clock in the morning of the 25th of April, i599.t This, if true, will accoimt for the a4th being by some writers erro- neously given as his birthday. ' The house inhabited by Robert Cromwell was built of stone, with gothic windows and project- ing attics, and must have been one of the most considerable in the borough. It had extensive back premises and a fine garden. Previously to 1810 the chamber in which Oliver was bom, and the room under it, remained as they were at the time when that event took place.' But ' the house has been now twice rebuilt.' The parish registers of St. John'sJ leave no doubt, that on the 29th of the same month of April a family group was assembled to witness the admission of the infant Oliver into the pale of the Church of England ; and we need no parchment records to assure us that Sir Oliver Cromwell stood as godfather to his brother's child : it may, therefore, be left to the imagination of the reader what wishes and prophecies were then and there uttered as to the resemblance • Brayley's Beauties of England and Wales^ vol. vii. f And see parish registers of St. John's, Huntingdon, in Noble's Protectoral House of Cromwell t vol. i. p. 92. X The churchyard of St. John's now alone remains, AU Saints serving as a church for the two parishes, and containing the parish records of St John's. The latter church is said to have been pulled down in 1652 by a townsman, whose family, as a just judgment, were soon reduced to poverty. Mr. Carlyle erroneously speaks of St. John's church as still standing. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 181 which the infant should or would exhibit in riper years to his ^""iTosi^tion in life occupied by Robert Cromwell at this period has been strangely misrepresented by royalist writers His son declared to a ParUament, many of whom must have known personally the truth or falsity of his statement, ' I was by birth a gentleman, living neither in any consider- able height nor yet in obscurity.' The means which he had at his disposal consisted of an estate in and near the town of Huntingdon, composed chiefly of possessions formerly belong- inff to the Austin Canons; and amounting (with the great tithes of Hartford, a village close to Huntingdon) to about .ool. per annum ; ' a tolerable fortune in those times ,^perhap8 somewhat Uke 1000^. now.^^ To this is to be added his We s smaU jointure of 60I a year, which must be estimated in like raiio, to convey an idea of its real value. His residence was one of the most considerable in Huntmgdon and he represented the borough in ParUament from February to Anril I'iQ^.t He was placed on the commission ot the '^:^:S\ilo..iy, and'at the period of OUver^ bi^h was one of the two bailiffs of the borough 3 J and this office he continued to hold, it would seem, during the foUomng year. § S his own relations and his wife's were o^ ^ist-c^^^^ fn the eastern counties; and the proximity of his fathers princely residence of Hinchinbrook must m itself h^ve given I certain standing in the neighbouring borough to his second son That the connexion between Robert CromweU and his family was kept up, the fact (resting on more than ^on^-^^^ that Sir Oliver was godfather to his child is sufficien proof^ These circumstances tend to throw very considerable doubt on he notorious story that Oliver's father or mother was "g ged in the lusiness of brewing. This rests ma^y on the supposition that their means were insufficient, without this as'sLance, to support them in X^^^^'^'^'^^^^^^^ society. This, we have seen, was not the case ; and it appears * Carlyle. t Browne WiUis* Notitia Parliamentana. t Griffith's Mecords of Huntingdon, § Noble— (inscription in the church). 182 EAKLT LITE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. a nearly insuperable objection to the story that, to engage in a trade, in the immediate vicinity of the seat of his family, would have been by them considered, in those times, so great a blot on their honour, as to have necessarily caused a rupture with Robert Cromwell, even if he himself had been utterly regardless of the degradation. But, surely, brought up as he had been, such an idea would not easily have entered his mind. The distinction between the man engaged in a business, such as brewing, and the landed gentleman, was then considerable. The story owes its origin merely to lampoons, retailed with the gravity of real history by the scurrilous chroniclers of the Restoration. James Heath, the author of a biography of Oliver which bears the ominous title of A Scourge, seems to feel the difficulty as to the inconsistency of this occupation with the birth and standing of Robert Cromwell, for he remarks, ' The brew- house was kept in his father's time, and managed by his mother and his father's servants withotU any concernment of ku father therein, the accounts being always given to the mistress, who, after her husband's death, did continue in the same employment and caUing of a brewer, and thought it no disparagement to sustain the estate and part of a younger brother, as Mr. Robert CromweUwas, by these lawful means, hotcev&r not so reputable as other gains and trades are accounted ' This bears all the marks of a variation in the story, invented lor the mere purpose of evading, though very unsuccessiuUy. a difficulty which Heath, who lived in those times, and is, therefore, a good witness as to the standard of respectability' mdently laboured under. So Sir William Dugdale mentions Xba.t, thongh he was, by the countenance of his elder brother, bir Oliver, made a justice of the peace in Huntingdonshire, Mr. Robert CromweU had but a slender estate, much of his »*mrt bemg a brewhouse in Huntingdon, chiefly managed by hismfe.' Dugdale evidently feels the difficulty, and goes part of the v:ay with Heath's attempted solution. But would a brewer in those days have been put into the commission of the peace for the county ? And what, in any case, are we to say to the family pride of the Stewards, if 'the mistress' was the brewer ! It may be added, that the daughters of the EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 183 laS^poons. The probable '^^^^"'l^l^ll^; Z^l^^-- lowing facts, the only ones which are cftaimy ^, •The brook of Hinchin, running through ^^^'* ^'r'^" ., premises, offered clear convenience for ^^^^^^ f J^'i^^^e rio appears that the house was occupied, before it came Sto his possession, by a Mr. Philip Clam ^l^^^^^ alone would giv^theh^se the ^^^^^^^^^ common parlance. lae esseiiu vicinity of +1,,+ nf manaitins those lands of his in tue vicim ^ was that ot man^ng ^^ brewed Huntingdon;' --^/"^^'y/^^^TawtV on his lands; 'in ''^ T. ' ^rL^SLtiSs STous management of the regard to which, andb. wile ^^^^_^^^ ^^^ ^^_ same, one ""^ J^'^l^ „f t^e brewing apparatus, may vemence of f^ « and « ^^ ^.^ neighbours also have induced him to f ^^J°^ ^^^^ arisen, while brewing for hnnself ; ^^^^ JiJ"''". f f Asts of his • Detection, &c., vol. u. p. 57 '• I^^^^' ^^94- EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 185 local business, he is described as ' in Ms nature of a difficult [reserved] disposition, and great spirit, and one that would have due distances observed towards him from all persons, which begat him reverence from the country people/* Of the mother of Oliver we have but few traces preserved ; but all these prove her to have been a woman of high moral character, and most affectionate and indulgent to her children. To Oliver, in particular, we find her, in every period of life, expressing the most unwavering devotion. ' There is a por- trait of her at Hinchinbrook, which, if that were possible, would increase the interest she inspires and the respect she claims. The mouth so smaQ and sweet, yet fiill and firm as the mouth of a hero, the large melancholy eyes, the light, pretty hair, the expression of quiet affectionateness suffused over the face, which is so modestly enveloped in a white satin hood, the simple beauty of the velvet cardinal she wears, and the richness of the small jewel that clasps it, seem to present before the gazer her living and breathing character. 'f The family of Robert Cromwell at the period of Oliver's birth consisted of three little girls, Joan, Elizabeth, and Katharine, then in their seventh, sixth, and third years respec tively. A son, Henry, intervened between the second and third daughters, but he died at an early age, since Oliver himself, in alegal document of the date of October 25, 1610, is styled the eldest son. Five more chHdren were bom subse- quently to Oliver; Margaret, his next sister, on the 22nd of February, i6oi ; another sister, Anna, on January 2nd, 1603 i and a third, Jane, on the 19th of January, 1606. A boy Egbert followed in order of birth ; but only survived from the i8th of January, 1609, to the April of the same year. The youngest child was also a daughter, Eobina; but the date of her birth is unknown.^ These, then, were the playmates of Oliver's childhood. Besides the home-circle, however, there were several branches of the fanuly with whom the boy would be naturaUy brought in contact. Brothers of his father Uved • Heath. t Forster. u^tz..TirE- ■*""'*■«■..- -i I. -™. ^ 1. . f at various places in the county, and several had families around them. Sir Oliver CromweU, who had been twice married, and had ten children, some older, some younger than Oliver, lived with his father at Hinchinbrook. Henry, the third son of the Golden Knight, also a married man, lived at Upwood, near Ramsey Mere, and sat in the House of Commons during the first Parliament of James.* There is reason to believe that Richard, the next brother, lived at Ramsey, where he died in 1628 ; but he represented Hunt- ingdon in Parliament, in the 39th year of Elizabeths reign,t and in 1607 bought some ground in that town. J [Sir] Philip, the fourth brother of Robert Cromwell, lived at a place called Biggin House, a mile from Huntingdon ; and his children also appear more or less conspicuously in the subsequent history of their country. But it is with the names of the sons of Oliver's aunts that we are most familiar. Elizabeth, the second daughter of Sir Henry, married William Hampden, Esq., of Great Hampden, and became (as has been already said) the mother of the celebrated John Hampden, who was five years the senior of Oliver Cromwell. Mrs. Hampden's eldest sister, Joan, became the wife of Francis Barrington, of Barrington Hall, Hertfordshire, who represented Essex in Parliament during the reigns of three sovereigns, and re- ceived a baronetcy on the institution of the order in 1611. Sons of his, and cousins of Oliver, afterwards appeared on the same arena of public life. Sir Henry Cromwell's youngest daughter, Frances, was married to Richard WhaUey, Esq., of Kerton, in Nottinghamshire; at one time a man of large possessions, and sheriff for the county, but afterwards, during the boyhood of Oliver, through negligence and extravagance, considerably reduced, and driven to borrow sums of money, among others from his brother-in-law Robert. Frances Cromwell was his second wife, and after her death he again married, but by her alone had he any children. Her two sons, Edward and Henry Whalley, played in their time im- portant parts. A sister of William Hampden had married /, * Browne Willis* Notit, Pari. t Addl, MSS. 15,665, § 2. X Noble. 186 EABLY LIFE OF OLIVER CEOMWELL. into the family of the Wallers, of Beaconsfield, in Bucking- hamshire; and her son Edmnnd* was the celebrated poet. Of the members of Mrs. Robert Cromwell's family we know little. She had, we have seen, sisters ; but beyond the names, we possess respecting them no information. Sir Simeon Steward, a descendant of another brother of the Dean of Ely, lived at Stuntney Priory, near that city ; and we have faint traces of other Stewards, relations either near or distant of Oliver's mother. Probably most of these would have occasional intercourse with the household at Huntingdon,t and visits from them and visits in return to their several seats must have constituted a considerable portion of the incidents in Oliver's boyhood. It may be remarked that the position in society occupied by Oliver was singularly favourable to the unconscious for- mation of broad and unprejudiced views. Belonging at the same time to the landed gentry through his family relations, and to the burgher class by his residence in the borough, he was, fortunately, guarded from the narrow prejudices which spring from a confinement to the sphere of one class in society alone. He passed from the circles which assembled at the various country seats, at which he would be a frequent guest, to the company of the townsmen, who would naturally be visitors at his father's house; for Robert Cromwell's time was occupied not merely with his private and agricultural avocations, but also with public duties, as a prominent person in the local business of the borough. In the discussions at his father's table on the petty concerns of his native borough that intellect received its earliest lessons in the science of • Edmund Waller was born in the year 1605, ^^ ^^ therefore Oliver's junior by six years. * Mr. Waller lived mostly at Beaconsfield, where his mother dwelt in her widowhood.* Waller's Life, prefixed to his Foems, Lond. 1722, i2mo, p. 4, where the intimacy between the families of Cromwell and Waller is mentioned. f Between Sir Philip's family and Robert Cromwell's there was certainly lome intimacy. To the entry of his son Robert's birth (June 19, 1613) Sir Philip subjoins the remark, * My brother Robert Cromwell, godfather ; niece Baker, godmother (Oliver's elder and married sister, Joan).— Noble's Protec ioral Mouse of Cromwell, vol. i. p. 357. Mr. Noble, it will be seen, ignores m hi* text the marriage of Joan CromwelL .ri EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELU 187 politics, which ^afterwards proved not unequal to sustain the sceptre of three powerful kingdoms.' The early life of great men resembles m more than one respect the early history of great nations. The obscunty which veUs the origin of the one, frequently hangs over the boyhood and youfh of the other. While the subsequent deeds and high position of the nation reflect a portion of Jheir splendo^ on the time when it was feeble and xnsi^. ficant, a similar process takes place with reference to the individual. In both, the borrowed light is mistaken for an inherent and natural lustre. It seemed impossible to the contemporaries of the Scipios and C^sars, that there co^d have be'en a time when Rome was but a cluster of wor- tant viUa^es, the inhabitants of which possessed only the ride Sfesandwild vices of uncivilizedlife. Tothewnters S tL^L of Charles II. of England, it in like manner ap. t^e^\Ze^Me that the CromweU, whom they had been accustomed to designate as an intriguer a rebel, and a hypo- crite, could ever have been simple and ingenuous as other ehilien, and loyal with as mi^icit ^l^f-XX^:e RPTit Preconceived prejudice has, thereiore, m u"f :^, be^me the JeJ of scenting facts. What ^^ ha.e been, has soon gained a posUxve ^^-J'T;-., "%^^2e ^f has been forgotten, and a place claimed for it by the siae oi J^doutted realities. The rights of such have been arrogat^ rtrand it has been admitted into trains of historic^ mv^- tisation While thus holding itself up as independent of the pSuSices in which it originated, it has never ceased ^o be S powerful auxiliary. Itself the child of rea^omngs, it ha« in its turn, given rise to or strengthened reasonings. If lit Ire'so^at eveninher infancy, none -^;^-f^ in attributing to her innate greatness. ^ CromweU were Sus in his chUdhood and youth, how can there be a doubt a« to^he principles which actuated his subsequent e^eer? Sencrtle'quesLn of the credibihty of these e:^y^U,nes assumes psychologically an interestmg and (to a certain ex- *^trt:r aSr if OUver during this penod of^his^ ^fe we have the evidence deducible from accounts of his dispo- I 188 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 189 ii Hi* i\ i IP sition in later years, and from tlie vague traditions moulded, and partly, if not wholly, created by the calumnious spirit of restored Royalism. From the first we ascertain that his body was ' well compact and strong,* his stature neither above nor below the average height, * his head so shaped, as you might see in it a storehouse and shop both of a vast treasury of natural parts. His temper exceeding fiery ; but the flame of it kept down for the most part, or soon allayed with those moral endowments he had. He was naturally compassionate towards objects in distress, even to an effeminate measure, though God had made him a heart wherein was left little room for any fear but what was due to himself, of which there was a large proportion, yet did he exceed in tenderness towards sufferers.'* Every part of this description is borne out by facts in his life, and proceeding from one who was in attendance on his person, and written as it was, privately to a friend, after the fall of Oliver's family from power, and on the eve of the Restoration, it is entitled to the greatest credit. In many respects there is no saying more true, than that ' the child is father to the man -/ and we may with perfect safety deduce from this account of maturer years, that Oliver in his boyhood was passionate, but easily appeased, impetuous, but warm-hearted, fearless, but subject to the controlling influences of a kind and compassionate heart. Such a boy would be easily led by kindness, but would instinctively rebel against any attempt to drive him by stem measures. The first, we are told, he met with from his mother,t and this there is other reason to believe. But it is • Maidston's letter to Winthrop, governor of Connecticut, Marcli 24, 1660, in Thurloe's Siate Papers^ pp. 763-8. f * From his infancy to his childhood he was of a cross and peevish disposi- tion, which being humoured by the fondness of his mother, made that rough and intractable temper more robust and outrageous in his juvenile years, and adult and masterless at man's estate.* — {Flagellum.) Of course the friendly biographers of Oliver make him as remarkable in his childhood for the opposite qualities to the above, and probably with just as much truth. The author of The Portraiiure of His Royal Highness Oliver , late Lord Protector, ^659, observes (pp. 7-8) * In his childhood he discovered many clear glimpses of those growing qualities and endowments which afterwards rendered him so couspi- euotts in the eyes of all the world ; as a quick and lively apprehension, a not necessary to credit the assertion, that from his father he met with only the latter. This rests on the authority of writers (of the date of the Restoration and later) who en- deavour to justify this conduct of Robert Cromwell by nar- rating the most absurd and irrelevant stories of the child^s early depravity. These, the offspring of the folly or evil passions of the narrators, when stripped of the exaggerating language in which they are couched, amount merely to stories of the frolics of any mischievous and audacious boy. That he was an ' apple-dragon,' and afterwards advanced to the higher accomplishment of ^pigeon-stealing,'^ was remembered and gravely recorded by scurrilous writers in the years fol- lowing 1660, and possesses just so much claim on our atten- tion as the character of the biographers, the interval of time which had elapsed, and the probability that such events would have made sufficient impression at the time to be re- membered after the stirring occurrences of the Revolution, lead us to bestow on it. It is of course likely enough (though it is not rendered more probable by the assertion of such writers) that Oliver's impetuous spirit, aided by a stout frame of body, carried him into many of those boyish adven- tures from which few children similarly constituted can refrain. But that these escapades were of a character to denote the existence in the boy of a bad disposition, or to be visited by his father with any but the ordinary degree of cor- rection, rests on no evidence worthy of a moment's consider- ation. I pass over several silly stories, f worthy of just as much attention, to come to one or two alleged occurrences during Oliver's childhood, which, although they have but slight claims on our belief, and are in themselves of not the piercing and sagacious wit, a solid judgment, (!) and a deep foresight into the probability of future events.* Imagine these qualities gravely attributed to a mere child ! * Flagellum. t There is a story of a curious figure of the devil being represented on the tapestry behind the door of the room in which Oliver was bom. (Quoted from Dr. Lort*s MSS. in Noble.) This is said to rest on the authority of a Non- juror who afterwards inhabited the house. Of course the deduction is plain — the child was bom under the shadow of that being to whose purposes his life was devoted. 190 EARLY UFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. slightest consequence, are at least free from that evident malignity on the part of the narrator by which the fore- going are tainted. Thus, on the authority of the Rev. Dr. Lort's MSS. (vague authority enough !) we learn that his grandfather, Sir Henry Cromwell, having sent for him to Hinchinbrook, when an infant in arms, a monkey took him from the cradle, and ran with him upon the lead that covered the roofing of the house. Alarmed at the danger Oliver was in, the family brought beds to catch him upon, fearing the creature's dropping him ; but the sagacious animal brought ' the fortune of England' down in safety.* Another story runs, that the boy Oliver was saved from drowning by the curate of Cunnington, a Mr. Johnson, and that, when Oliver called upon his preserver, in later times, on a march at the head of his troops through Huntingdon, and asked him if he recollected the service he had done, the curate answered, ' Yes, I do, but I wish I had put you in, rather than see you here in arms against your king.' This story, though perhaps suspicious in other respects, has at least the merit of suggesting a means by which the memory of it might be preserved to a later period. Among these floating and uncertain traditions, however, we come occasionally on what seems to be an historical fact. In the town of Huntingdon there had existed, it is said, from the days of Henry II., an institution called the Hospital of St. John the Baptist. Attached to the hospital, and sup- ported from its funds, was a free school, held in the chapel of the institution, and open to an unlimited number of scholars, sons of inhabitants of Huntingdon. Except in similar schools to this, it was impossible, in those days, for persons in the position of Oliver's father to obtain an educa- tion for their children. The advowson of the mastership had been, since about the year 1300, in the commonalty of Huntingdon ; and it is only consistent with the uniform tes- timony of all contemporary writers, and in itself most pro- bable, that to this school Oliver was sent. On Saturday, • Noble, vol. i. p. 93. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 191 the 2nd of April, 1604, we find* that ' Thomas Beard, clerk bachelor in divinity,' was ^presented by the discreet men and undoubted patrons of the hospital, the bailiffs of the borough for the time being, and canonicaUy and lawfully mstituted into and invested with aU the rights, members, and appurtenances of master or warden of the same.' That this Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Beard was Oliver's schoolmaster, the date of his appointment seems to render certain. Oliver would then have just completed his fifth year; and in a year or two from that time, we may weU suppose that he became a pupil at the free school under this Dr. Beard who was on intimate terms with the famUy of Eobert Crom- weU, and a leading person in the affairs of the borough. Here also, it seems probable, that he had the honour of bein^ the schoolfellow of the future mayor of Huntingdon! Ac- cording to some accounts, he had previously been under other tuition—either, as Heath says, ^ the sUghted governance of a mistress,' or, a« others wiU have it, under a certain ' Rev. Mr. Long,' a very mythical personage, unless, indeed he were the tutor to Sir Oliver's sons. Dr. Beard, OHver's new instructor, was a very learned and exceUent man, held in the highest estimation by the towns- men of Huntingdon—delivering religious lectures at the parish church of St. John's— writing books full of earnest exhortations against the dissoluteness of the times, and in confiitation of the papal Antichrist— and at the same time wntmg comedies cast in a severely classical mould,t very different from the plays and masques which encountered his bitter reprehension. He has the reputation, whether justly or unjustly, of having been a severe schoolmaster- in fact, an ideal of the old race of flogging Dominies. In proof of this excess of discipline, Mr. Forster refers us to 'the frontispiece to a well-known book of the time. The \ X. * ^ Sf ^^''^?^ of Ancient :Record^ relating to tlie Borough of Huntingdon 4^c. by Edwai-d Griffiths, F.S.A. (1727), p. 103. ^ ' w ^^^""f'"^* Comcedia olim Cantab, acta, in Coll. Trin. nunquam antehac typu evulgata: Lond. 1631. Grainger's Biographical History, vol ii d 196. The portrait of Dr. Beard is prefoced to this comedy. ^ ^' 192 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 193 I I Theatre of God's Judgments* whicli is said to be a portrait of this pain-inflicting pedagogue. It represents him with a rod in his hand^ two scholars standing behind, and as in prmsenti issuing from his mouth/ This gives us at least two facts, that Oliver learnt his Latin from the Eton Grammar, and was probably during his progress through its thorny paths not without some nearer acquaintance with this cele- brated rod, thus handed down to the terror of posterity ! At any rate, it afforded some consolation to the Royalists of 1660, that, although Oliver had escaped their oft-attempted vengeance, his sins had been punished by anticipation at the hands of his inflexible schoolmaster. It is amusing to observe the terms in which his idleness and perversity at school are held up to our reprobation. ^ Here,' says Heath, ^ his book began to persecute him, and learning to commence his great and irreconcileable enemy; for his master, honestly and severely observing that and other his faults (which like weeds sprang out of his rank and uncultivated nature), did by correction hope to better his manners, and with a diligent hand and careful eye to hinder the thick growth of those vices which were so predominant and visible in him. Yet, though herein he trespassed upon the respect and lenity due and usual to children of his birth and quality, he prevailed nothing against his obstinate and perverse inclination, the learning and civility which he had coming upon him like fits of enthusiasm ; now a hard student for a week or two, and then a truant or otioso for twice as many months — of no settled constancy,^ Which circumstance is much to be won- dered at, considering the mature age to which Oliver had attained ! This last statement is, however, a very probable guess, though it is not likely Heath knew whether such were really the case any better than ourselves. A more definite story is told, not only by this writer, but by others also who are more friendly to the character of Oliver. Authorities differ as to the time and place when and where the alleged event occurred. Heath's accoimt, which shall be first given, says : ^ Now, to confirm a royal humour the more in his ambitious and vain-glorious brain, it happened (as it was then generally the custom in all great free schools) that a play, called The Five Senses, was to be acted by the scholars of this school [Huntingdon] , and Oliver Cromwell, as a con- fident youth, was named to act the part of Tactus, the sense of feeling; in the personation of which, as he came out of the 'tiring-room upon the stage, his head encircled with a chaplet of laurel, he stumbled at a crown, piirposely laid there, which, stooping down, he took up, and crowned himself therewithal, adding, beyond his cue, some majestical mighty words ; and with this passage the events of his life held good analogy and proportion, when he changed the laurel of his victories (in the late unnatural war) to all the power, authority, and splendour that can be imagined within the compass of a crown.' Some readers may perhaps think that this passage holds rather too good an analogy and proportion to the sub- sequent events of his life to command much belief. Car- rington, a favourable biographer, makes the place at which this happened ' the University of Cambridge ; where, as it is rejwrted, a public representation being to be performed, he that was to represent the king's part falling sick, this our Cromwell was said to have taken the part upon himself, and so well employed the little time he had to get it by heart, as it seemed that it was infused into him, and whereby he repre- sented a king with so much grace and majesty, as if that estate had been natural unto him."**" In a marginal note he gives the name of the play Lingua, the Combat of the Senses. In a MS. book, called Symmond's Historical Notes, \ which contains many worthless anecdotes, it is told that, ' In the play at Cainbr,, called Lingua, he acted the part of Tactus, and stumbled at a crown, and took it up, and put it on, and 'twas fit, and asked if it did not become him.' I give in a note the part of the play alluded to, by which it will be seen that Oliver had merely to follow his cue in order to pronounce Tliis also proceeded from the pen of Br. Beard himself. • Zife and Death of Eh Most Serene IBgliness Oliver, late Lord Protector (dedicated to Richard Cromwell), p. 3. t Harl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 999, p. 22. Winstanley also makes it happen at Cambridge.— iiijM of the English Poets, p. 114. O IM EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. tliese 'majestical mighty words/* The title-page to the impression of this comedy in 1657, informs us that it was • Tactfs. — The blushing childhood of the cheerful morn Is almost grown a youth, and overclimbs Yonder gilt eastern hills, about which time Gustus most earnestly importuned me To meet him hereabouts ; what cause I know not. METn>ACio (behind and aside). — You shall do shortly, to your cost, I hope. Tact. — Sure by the sun, it should be nine o'clock ? "Metst, — TThat a star-gazer ! will you never look down ? Tact. — Clear is the sun, and blue the firmament. Methinks the heavens do smile — [Tactus sneezefh. Men. — At thy mishap, To look 80 high, and stumble in a trap ! [Tactus stumhleth at the robe and crown. Tact. — Sigh thoughts have slippery feet ; I had well nigh fallen. Men. — Well doth he fall that riseth with a fall. Tact.— What's this ? Men. — O ! are you taken ? 'tis in vain to strive. Tact. — How now ? Men. — ^You'll be so entangled straight— Tact. — A crown ! Men. — that it will be hard — Tact. — And a robe ! Men. — to loose yourself. Tact. — A crown and robe ! Men. — It had been fitter for you to have found a foors coat and bauble — hey ! hey ! Tact. — Jupiter ! Jupiter ! how came this here ? Men. — O ! Sir, Jupiter is making thunder, he hears you not — here's one knows better. Tact. — "Tis wondrous rich : ha ! but sure it is not so : ho ! Do I not sleep, and dream of this good luck, ha ! No, I am awake, and feel it now i Whose should it be ? [Se takes it up. Men. — Set up a si quis for it. Tact. — ^Mercury ! all's mine own j here's none to cry half s mine. Men. — When I am gone. [^Uxit, Tacttjs, alone, soliloquixeth. Tact.— Tactus, thy sneezing somewhat did portend. Was ever man so fortunate as I ? To break his shins at such a stumbling-block. Boses and bays pack hence ; thb crown and robe My brows and body circles and invests ! How gallantly it fits me ! Sure the slave Measured my head that wrought this coronet. They lye that say complexions cannot change ; My blood's ennobled, and I am transform'd Unto the sacred temper of a king. Methinks I hear my noble parasites Styling me Casar, or great Alexander; EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 195 first acted at Trinity College, Cambridge, and afterwards at this Huntingdon Free School!*' This may either be thought to reconcile the discrepancy of one writer representing Oliver^s personation of the character as having taken place at Hunting- don, and others at Cambridge ; or it may suggest an origin for the story from so well-known a play, containing such appropriate lines, having been acted at Huntingdon Free School and Cambridge, at both which places it was ascer- tained that Oliver had been educated. Should we put con- fidence in the former of these interpretations, the circum- stance of Oliver being called on unexpectedly to utter words such as these, would indeed be curious in the extreme. Heath presents us with another traditional story, which falls within this period of Oliver's life, and of which the following is his version ; ^ 'Twas at this time of his adoles- cency that he dreamed, or a familiar rather instructed him and put it into his head, that he should be King of England ; for it cannot be conceived, that now there should be any near resemblance of truth in dreams and divinations (besides, the confidence with which he repeated it, and the difl&culty to make him forget the arrogant conceit and opiniated pride he had of himself, seem to convince it was some impulse of a spirit), since they had ceased long ago. However the vision came, most certain it is, that his father was exceedingly troubled at it; and having angerly rebuked him for the vanity, idleness, and impudence thereof, and seeing him yet Licking my feet, and wondering where I got This precious ointment. How my pace is mended ! n.ow princely do I speak ! how sharp I threaten I Peasants, I'll curb your headstrong impudence. And make you tremble when the lion roars. Ye earth-bred worms ! Oh for a looking-glass ! JPoefs will write whole volumes of this change, Where's my attendants ? Come hither, sirrahs, quickly. Or by the wings of Hermes,' &c. — Quoted in Forster's Statesmen, vol. iv. p. 15. • Noble's Cromwell, vol. i. p. 252. The title is 'Lingua, or the Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority ; a pleasant Comedy, first acted at Trinity College, in Cambridge, after at the Free School at Huntingdon ;* Lond. 1657, 24mo. (Biogr. Britan. art. 'Cromwell'). The first edition appeared in 1607. The author was Anthony Brewer. o2 196 EAELT LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 197 II persist in tlie same presumption, caused Dr. Beard to whip Mm for it, whicli was done to no more purpose than the rest of his chastisements, his scholar growing insolent and incor- rigible from those results and suasions within him to which all Other dictates and instructions were useless and as a dead letter.' This seems to have been a current anecdote of those times, for in describing the indecision of Oliver at a later period, whether he should accept the title of king, Lord Clarendon reports, that ' they who were very near him said, that in this perplexity he revolved his former dream or ap- parition, that had first informed and promised him the high fortune to which he was akeady arrived, and which was generally spoken of even from the beginning of the troubles, and when he was not in a posture that promised such exalta- tion ; and that he then observed, it had only declared, ' that he should be the greatest man in England, and should be near to be king / which seemed to imply that he should be only near, and never actually attain the crown.'* Sir Philip Warwick also tells us, ' there went a story of him, that in the daytime, lying melancholy in his bed, he believed that a spirit appeared to him, and told him that he should be the greatest man (not mentioning the word king) in this kingdom. Which his uncle. Sir Thomas Steward, told him was trai- torous to relate.'t Dr. Bate, a physician of the period, who attended both Charles I. and Oliver, but a writer of little authority, and utterly unscrupulous as to keeping within the limits of truth, gives as his version of the story, that Oliver, 'from his earliest years, exhibited no obscure marks of enthusiasm. For (as I have heard on good authority) the boy afterwards told how there had appeared to him one in human form, who declared that he should be king ; of which, when his schoolmaster was informed, by authority of the boy's father, he flogged him.' J Others give us the additional * Mehellion^ pp. 839-40. t Memoirs, pp. 275-7. It has been suggested to me that * this is well in character with Sir Thomas Steward/ but such a speech might be made by any loyal old gentleman to bis presumptuous nephew, and these were the characters which a fabricator would wish to portray. J JElenchus Motuum Nuperorum (1663), pp 273-4. information, that ^ the curtains of his bed were slowly with- drawn by a gigantic figure, which bore the aspect of a woman, and which, gazing at him silently for a while,' uttered words similar to the above. Such are the accoimts of this celebrated storv which have come down to us ; but, even if they contain any particle of truth, what do they amount to, but that, with hundreds of others, the boy Oliver dreamed that he should one day be a very great man ! Such readers as are inclined to receive the story of his acting the part of Tactv^, will perhaps be inclined to place the date of this dream very soon after the scene from Lingnaj of which it is so exact a counterpart. But we may be tolerably certain, that at this time Oliver's head was ftdl enough of fancies of kings and great men, for immediately before his first half year at school, there had been grand visiters at Hinchinbrook. In the January of the year 1603, the Golden Knight, Sir Henry Cromwell, died — a loss which Oliver, then a child in his fourth year, would hardly be old enough to feel. On the 24th day of March, in the same year, however, an event took place which could not fail to make some impression on his mind. With great difficulty he woidd be made to comprehend that their great and glorious queen was dead — princes die so seldom ! Oliver's mother would teU him that she, too, was a Steward, and that the wife of the townsman of Huntingdon could with justice address the new King of England by the familiar name of ' cousin.' The boy would gain some very confused ideas on the subject, and would be sadly perplexed between the dignity which he associated in his mind with the position of king, and the notions of ' cousinship' which he had derived from intercourse with his playfellows at Hinchinbrook. But new wonders awaited him. Sir Oliver, second in no loyal feeling to his father, no sooner heard of the intended change of rulers, than, mindful of the old privilege of his house, he despatched an invitation to the new king to honour Hinchin- brook with a visit on his southward progress. The invitation was graciously accepted, and Sir Oliver exhausted invention to find means of giving adequate proof of his enthusiastic devotion to the royal stranger. 198 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 199 NotMng for weeks would be heard of at the Priory hut preparations for this great event * All the Cromwells — uncles, aunts, and cousins, relations distant and near — would he assembled to swell the reception of James, and gain a share in the royal smiles. On the 27th of April the first English Stuart arrived at Hinchinbrook, Lord Southampton carrying before him the sword which the mayor of Huntingdon had offered. Sir Oliver received the king at the gate of the great court, and conducted him up a walk that then immediately led to the principal entrance of the house. Here all the Cromwell family would have grouped themselves, and here Oliver would obtain his first impression of what a king was like. What would he see? A man 'of middle stature, more corpulent through his clothes than in his body, yet fat enough ; his clothes being ever made large and easy, the doublets quilted for stiletto proof; his breeches in great plaits and full stuffed : he was naturally of a timo- rous disposition, which was the greatest reason of his quilted doublets : his eye large, ever rolling after any stranger that came in his presence, insomuch that many for shame have left the room, as being out of countenance ; his beard very thin ; his tongue too large for his mouth, which ever made him speak full in the mouth, and made him drink very un- comely, as if eating his drink, which came out into the cup on each side of his mouth ; his skin as soft as tafta sarsnet, which felt so because he never washed his hands, only rubbed his fingers' ends slightly with the wet end of a napkin. His legs very weak, having had, as was thought, some foul play in his youth, or rather, before he was bom, that he was not able to stand at seven years of age, so that weakness made him ever leaning on other men's shoulders. His walk circular. His dress as green as the grass he trod on, with a feather in his cap, and a horn instead of a sword by his side !' What a surprise and disappointment for little Oliver, who must have • The large bay window of the great room which, according to Noble, was erected by Sir Oliver to grace this occasion, appears, from the date 1602 on the 8t»)ne-work of the outside, and the royal arms of Tudor over it, to have been built previously, in the reign of Ehzabeth.— Brayley's Beauties of England and JTa/e*, vol. vii. pp. 47i*.2». ( ■ { n been already told of the stately and dignified Elizabeth, with her eagle eye, under which the stoutest hearts quailed. What must Sir Oliver have thought when he contrasted the ridi- culous being before him with the great princess upon whom, in his father's life, he had waited on similar occasions, and before whom he had knelt to receive the chivalrous honour of knighthood ! But, whatever his private thoughts, Sir Oliver never for one moment deviated from his strict duties of loyal ob- servance. 'The king,' we are told, 'here met with a more magnificent reception than he had ever done since leaving his paternal kingdom. All strove to please, every one to see, the new sovereign, who was to unite two jarring and valiant kingdoms, and to be the common monarch of both. Sir Oliver gratified this desire to the full. His doors were thrown wide open to receive all that chose to pay their respects to the new king, or even to see him ; and each individual was welcomed with the choicest viands and most costly wines. Even the populace had free access to the cellars during the whole of his majesty's stay. Then there came the heads of the University of Cambridge, in their robes, to congratulate King James upon his accession, in a long Latin oration. The royal guest remained with Sir Oliver \mtil after break- fast on April 29th ; and on leaving Hinchinbrook, was pleased to express the obligation he had received from him and his lady. To the former he said, at parting, as he passed through the court, in his broad Scotch manner, ' Morry mon, thou hast treated me better than ony one since I left Edenburgh !" And indeed Sir Oliver bears the reputation of having given the greatest feast with which a king had ever been entertained by a subject. To carry this out to the fullest extent, 'he presented the king, on his departure, with many gifts of great value ; amongst others, a large elegant wrought standing cup of gold, goodly horses, deep-mouthed hounds, and divers hawks of excellent wing ; and distributed amongst the royal officers the sum of 50/.' ' So many and so great proofs of attachment, and in a manner peculiarly agreeable to the taste of the prince, gained his regard; which he took an early opportunity of expressing by creating him, with fifty- 200 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVEE CROMWELL. nine others, a Knight of the Bath, prior to the coronation. This ceremony was performed on Sunday, the 26th of July ; upon which day Sir Oliver, with the other gentlemen designed for that honour, rode in state from St. James' to the court, and so, with their esquires and pages, about the tilt-yard ; and from thence to St. James's Park, where, alighting from their horses, and going in a body to the presence-gallery, they received their knighthood from his majesty.'* All these splendours and honours at Hinchinhrook and St. James's were seen or heard of by yoimg Oliver in the days of his boy- hood. The memory of them woidd not soon die out in the circles which he frequented ; and if we may believe another celebrated tradition, the next year did not pass without his nearer acquaintance with a second member of the Stuart family. Noble tells it in the following words : ' They have a tra- dition at Huntingdon that when King Charles I., then Duke of York, in his journey from Scotland to London, in 1 604, called in his way at Hinchinhrook, the seat of Sir Oliver Cromwell, that knight, to divert the young prince, sent for his nephew Oliver, that he with his own sons might play with his royal highness. But they had not been long to- gether before Charles and Oliver disagreed ; and as the former was then as weakly as the latter was strong, it was no wonder that the royal visitant was worsted ; and Oliver, even at this age, so little regarded dignity, that he made the royal blood flow in copious streams from the prince's nose. T/iis was looked upon as a bad presage for that king when the civil wars commenced. (!) I give this only as the report of the place : this so far is certain^ that Hinchinhrook, as being near Huntingdon, was generally one of the resting-places when any of the royal family were going to or returning from the north of England, or into or from Scotland.' It is not likely that boys so young as the prince and his companions would have been left alone without the presence of attendants, who, we may be well assured, would have prevented any such EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 201 occurrence from taking place. Still it is not impossible that, in these early years of their lives, the sturdy son of the com- moner of Huntingdon was the playmate of the pale, taciturn boy, of feeble frame and imperfect utterance, whose cold, melancholy features still arrest our attention on the match- less canvas of Vandyck. But over any such meetings obli- vion has dropped her veil ; and it is not by foolish stories like the above that the darkness which surrounds them can be penetrated. Loyalty would reign paramount in Robert Cromwell's household this same year, 1604; for, among a number of gentlemen on whom James lavishly bestowed the honour of knighthood, we find the name of Thomas Steward of Ely. What stories of the splendours of London and the court would not Sir Thomas, on his return, pour into the eager ear of his favourite nephew ? Who can wonder if, with all these royal glories filling his brain, young Oliver, in his father's house at Huntingdon, had day-dreams and night- visions of kings and great men ! It would be vain to attempt a description of the effect which must have been produced on the mind of Oliver, either at once or from the subsequent narration of those around him, by the succession of events which, beginning with the Gunpowder Plot, occupied the attention of the people of England through the wretched reign of James. The birth of a sister in the January of 1606, and the marriage of another sister in the summer of 16 11, maybe more definitely assigned as events of special interest in the household at Huntingdon. In the register of St. John's parish we find this entry under June 2nd : ' Mrs. Joan Cromwell to Mr. William Baker.'* Noble assigns the death of this Joan Cromwell to the year i6co, though in his extracts from the register of deaths, on which he founds his text, the Joan who died then is called distinctly the daughter of Mr. [Sir] Oliver Cromwell.t The marriage of the eldest of the family, and the first marriage in the family, would be an event of no little importance, and a • These facts are collectecl in Forster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth, ToL iv. pp. 312-14. * Gentleman* s Magazine, vol. xxxvii. p. 575, and Noble, vol. i. p. 25 1, t Noble, vol. i. p. 88, compared with p. 349. 202 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 203 gala day to he rememl)ered for many years afterwards by young Oliver. Add to these occurrences his boyish games and exercises— swimming, riding, shooting at the target— and hours with Dr. Beard in the mazes of as in prasenti, and we have all that can be ascertained or guessed at in the years which Oliver spent at the free school of Huntingdon. How long he continued there we have no means of accurately ascertaining. AU that we know certainly is, that in the registers of Sidney-Sussex CoUege, Cambridge, we may still read, that ' on the 23rd day of April, 16 16, the fourteenth of James I., Oliver Cromwell, of Huntingdon, was admitted as a fellow-commoner, tutor Mr. Richard Howlet.'* This, it has been remarked by Mr. Carlyle, was the day of the death of William Shakespeare. There was a reason for the choice of a college made by Oliver's father. Sidney-Sussex College counted among its benefactors the landed family of Montagu in Huntingdon- shire, and members of several branches of that family entered there as students. The families of Montagu and Cromwell must have had frequent intercourse, being the two leading comity proprietors, and nothing was more natural than that young Oliver should join the college with which they were connected. On the 27th of January, i6i8,t another mem- ber of the Montagu family entered Sidney- Sussex. This was Edward Montagu Viscount Mandeville, eldest son of Henry, Earl of Manchester, of Kimbolton Castle, An attempt had been made to secure the services of a tutor at home for the young nobleman ; but the rigid divine to whom applica- tion was made, refused to accept the post on account of a reluctance to enter ' so dissolute a family.' It by no means follows that Lord Mandeville joined in the excesses around him ; indeed, we find him from an early period taking the opposite side in politics to his father, who was Lord Privy Seal, and it is not unlikely that the disposition which led to this difference manifested itself also in a superior moral • April 23, 16 1 6, 14 Jac. X. * Oliverus Cromwell, Huntingdoniensis.admissna ad commensam sociorum, tutore Magistro Ricardo ifowZe^.'— Quoted in Acker- mail's History of the Universittf of Cambridge, voL ii. p. 269. t Earl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 7038, p. 355. M character. However this may be, it is not a little curious to reflect that Oliver would be probably thrown at this early period into the society of one who was destined in future years to be his zealous coadjutor and temporary opponent.* But we are not left entirely to conjecture on this point j for we have evidence that the Montagues and this Lord Mandeville in particular were well acquainted and on intimate terms with Mr. Howlet, Oliver's tutor, and that other members of the family were placed under that gentleman's care. Mr. Howlet, who was a bachelor in divinity, and became a Fellow of the college, was afterwards raised to the dignity of Dean of Cashel, and married a relative of Archbishop Laud, at this time Archdeacon of Huntingdon.t Erom the latter's His^ tory of his Troubles and Trial we learn that, on the breaking out of the Rebellion in Ireland, the dean was turned by the rebels out of all he had, and forced, for safety of his life, to come with his wife and children into England. Laud tells us he was obliged to relieve them, or otherwise they might have begged. Several livings at this time fell vacant, and after intricate negotiations with the Earl of Warwick and the Marquis of Hertford, concerning the claims of their proteges, the archbishop (then in the Tower) resolved to give Lacking- don (a rich living in Essex) to Mr. Howlet, and Bocking to Dr. Gauden (afterwards celebrated in connexion with Eticwv jSafffXtKi]), Warwick's protege. But some delay occurring in the former appointment. Laud advised Mr. Howlet to get a certificate in his favour from Dr. Usher, Archbishop of Armagh, and to look up all the friends he could, and attend with it at the House of Lords. The business, continues Laud, stuck still ; but at last he met with the Lord Kim- bolton, J who presently made all weather fair for him; and upon his lordship's motion to the House of Lords, an order • This, however, cannot have been the case if OUver, as is usually supposed, left Cambridge in June, 16 17. m • ? t Laud, in his Diary, prefixed to the History of his Troubles and Trial, notes that, ' Dr. Neile, the Bishop of Lincoln, gave me the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, December i, 1615.* -e i v. X Lord Mandeville had been raised to the peerage in his father's lifetime, by the title of Baron Kimbolton. 204 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. passed (April 13, 1642) for Mr. Howlet to have Laekingdon * The motive of Kimbolton's interference, the archbishop goes on to observe, was this : the Lord Montagu to whose sons Mr. Howlet had been tutor, was the uncle to Lord Kim- bolton; at which time also the Lord Kimbolton himself was a student in the same college, and knew the person and worth of Mr, Howlet. This his lordship honourably now remembered, else it might have gone hard with Mr. Howlet's necessities. So upon the order thus obtained, he concludes, I collated Lackingdon upon him.f The Master of Sidney-Sussex CoUege, during the period of Oliver's residence there, was Dr. Samuel Ward, Fellow of Emanuel.t He was of a good family settled at Bishop's Middleham, in the county of Durham, ' where his father was a gentleman of more auncientry than estate.'§ In 1615 he was made Archdeacon of Taunton ; in 1621, Prebendary of York and Lady Margaret's Professor. In 16 18 he was ap- pointed one of King James's delegates to the SjTiod of Dort ; || and after the meeting of the Long Pariiament, was named to several honourable posts in the inquiries into Church govern- ment which then ensued. But he graduaUy withdrew from public employments, as the spirit of the times grew too rough and troubled for his peaceful and sensitive mind ; and though he continued Master untH the period of his death (September 7, 1643), ^^ even suffered a temporary impri- sonment for the passive resistance which he offered to the commands of the powers that were, and the assistance which he sanctioned the college in affording to the arms of the king.t * Lords Journals. t Laud's History of his Troubles and Trial, pp. 194-5, and Harl. MSS, 70371 PP- 416-21. ^ *^ X He became Master in 1609.— JTarf. MSS. 7037. § Ackerman, ub. sup. and Earl. MSS. 7038, p. 355. 11 Atwhich, however, he never attended.— Carter's JTw^ory 0/ ^A« Uniterm nty of Cambridge, p. 381. f According to an entry in the 'book entitled Acta Collegii Sidn.* (p. oq\ quoted in Marl. MSS. 7037, p. 422-' July 2. 1642, It was ordered by tlie Master, Mr. Garbut, Pendrett, Haine, Ward, being the major part then pre- sent, that 100/. should be taken out of the treasury for the king's use, and so EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 205 In those days we have some evidence to prove that the gratitude of his former pupils was of considerable advantage to him ;* and at his funeral, we also learn, that the Lord Mandeville, then Earl of Manchester, attended. He died, it is said, in reduced circumstances, his estate never having been large, and nearly all of it spent in maintaining his poor relatives and purchasing the books necessary for his pro- fession.f Perhaps, however, the fact which is the most remarkable in his history, and the one which connects him the most closely with Oliver, is that he was one of the translators, or rather revisers, of the Bible in King James's reign, J and associated therefore with that beautiful version, which, for pureness and elevation of language, defies all modem competition. Dr. Ward was not a man of great strength of character, but possessed a mind morbidly sensitive on the point of performing his duty to his college, § with which he much plate as hath been given to the Master and Fellows, for admission of fellow-commoners, should be set apart in lieu of it, till it be paid/ * Dr. Richard Holdsworth writes, on the 30th of March, 1643, ' To the Right Worshipftil his Reverend Friend, Mr. Doctor Warde, Master of Sydney College, in Cambridge : Rev. Sur, — Although I be both removed and retired, yet I casu- ally heard, both to my grief of your restraint, and to my rejoicing of your sudden enlargement, being well assured that the first would have cost me much anguish, if it had not been sweetened with the second.' — Tanner Papers (Bodleian), vol. Ixii. part i, pp. 23-4. t Fuller thus relates his death : * Now, as high winds bring some men sooner into sleep, so I conceive the storms and tempests of these distracted times in- vited this good old man the sooner to his long rest ;* and he gives the following epitome of his religious position : * He was coimted a Puritan before these times, and Popish in these times ; and yet, being always the same, was a true Protes- tant at all times.' — Quoted in Ackerman, ub. sup., and see Carter's History of the University of Cambridge, p. 381. Marl. MSS. 7038, p. 341* X Harl. MSS. 7033, p. 47, and Carter's History of the University of Cam- bridge, pp. 375-8. § The extreme and morbid conscientiousness of Dr. Ward is well ex- hibited in the following extract from his Adversaria, given in Harl, MSS. 7038, pp. 344-9: 'January 26, 1610, being Saturday. Remember the great agony and distre^ of thy mind for yielding to accept of Mr. Smith; how heavy, lumpish, and pensive thou wast ever since Tuesday at one of the clock, when thou did'st consent, upon his weeping and grief which he then uttered, and that thou did'st it only out of compassion, presently to comfort him who was in such anguish and distress. Consider thy great impo- tency and imbecility, that must presently yield, and could not say that thou would induce thyself and think of it, or defer a little to answer it. O ! what 206 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 207 completely identified himself. He left behind him, conse- quently, the reputation of having been a most excellent governor, and an exact disciplinarian in his office ; and the college flourished so much under him, that four new scholar- ships were founded in his time, new buildings erected, and the scholarships augmented. So strict was the discipline, and so sober were the manners of Sidney- Sussex during his mastership, that, in 1628, Laud, then Bishop of London, in his Considerations presented to the King for better settling the Church Government, complained of that college and Emanuel as being the nurseries of Furitanism,* a word which we have seen was then a synonym for remarkable purity of morals. In the face of these facts we have our attention drawn to alleged excesses of Oliver, which, if true, must inevitably, under so severe a discipline, have led to his ex- pulsion. Heath, of course, is among these veracious chroni- clers, and tells us, ' The relation of a father, and one so stem and strict an examiner of him, kept him in some awe and subjection ' (notwithstanding all his boyish wickedness !) ' till his translation to Cambridge, where he was placed in Sydney College, more to satisfy his father^s curiosity (!) and desire, than out of any hopes of completing him in his studies, which never reached any good knowledge in the Latin tongue. During his short residence here, where he was more famous for his exercises in the fields than in the schools (in which he never had the honour of, because no worth and merit to a degree), being one of the chief match-players and players of football, cudgels, or any other boisterous sport or game,' &c. Sir William Dugdale reports that, ' in his youth (Oliver) was for some time bred up in Cambridge, where he made no a gnef was it to thy conscience to yield against thy special persuasion thou had'st of G. his eminency, and to show thy infidfelity and instability, notwith- standing thou wast resolved not to choose. Good Lord, deliver me out of this anguish, and I will never be solicited to go against my special persuasion while I breathe. Rid me of this distress, and I will he more careful to see my scholars bring me better accounts of sermons than heretofore they have done, and will be more diligent in reading Scriptures, which (alas !) I have too too (sic) much neglected a long time. I know not what to do, but mine eyes are toward Thee V • Memoirs of the Protector , by 0. Cromwell, Esq., p. 215. proficiency in any kind of learning ; but then and afterwards sorting himself with drinking companions and the under- sort of people (being of rough and blustering disposition), he had the name of a royster amongst those that knew him.' Dr. Bate, in a work published in 1661, goes so far as to assert, that ' his debauched incivilities and sottish insobriety expelled him from the University of Cambridge.^^ Bate is, however, alone in this assertion, and does not repeat it him- self in the edition of his better-known work, published in 1663, where he merely remarks that Oliver ^ laid the founda- tions of his learning at Cambridge ; but these were imstable, he being quickly satiated with study, and taking more pleasure in horse and field exercise.'f Burnet tells us, that Oliver ^had no foreign language but the little Latin that stuck to him from his education, which he spoke very viciously and scantily.' In proceeding with the collection of these traditionary accounts, we find that a friendly biographer relates that, ' whilst Oliver was a student at Cambridge, there wanted not some presages of his future greatness ; neither was he then so much addicted to speculation as to action, as was observed by his tutor.' He adds that he left, ^ after a good pro- ficiency in the university,'! and Carrington speaks of his ' having finished his course of study at the university, where he had perfectly acquired unto himself the Latin tongue -, which language, as all men know, he made use of to treat with strangers ;' and he further informs us that Oliver ' ex- celled chiefly in the mathematics, as likewise he may be justly said to have yielded to no gentleman whatsoever in the know- ledge of the rest of the arts and sciences.' § A panegyrist of Cromwell, in later years, thus addresses him : ' You have gathered up the literary dust at Cambridge, without deepen- * Lives, Actions, and Executions of the prime Actors and principal Execu- tioners of that horrid Murder of our late pious and sacred Sovereign King Charles I., of ever-blessed Memory ; with some remarkable passages in the lives of others, their assistants, who died before they could be brought to justice, pp. 4.5. f Ehnchus Motuum, &c. pp. 273-4. I Perfect Politician, &c. § Life, &c. p. 4. 208 EAELY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWEI.L. 209 ing tlie tracks of learning ; you have garnished your under- standing with those arts which become a liberal nature ; you have rubbed off the rust of your mind ; you have sharpened the edge of your wit ; you have gained such a character, as not to be reckoned an ill scholar ; and fitted yourself, by the rudiments of the sciences, to manage the highest offices of the Commonwealth. You have given us, in fact, such a specimen of your capacity, that you may make it appear, if you were disposed to go on in the pursuit of learning, how very able you are to equal the greatest masters,' &c. The royalist author of the life of Waller prefixed to the first edition of his works, informs us that ' Cromwell loved, or affected to love, men of wit. Mr. Waller frequently waited on him, being his kinsman ; and, as he often declared to me, observed him to be very well read in the Greek and Eoman story.'* We find, besides, from the despatches of the foreign ministers, that Cromwell carried on fluently a conversation in Latin. Perhaps, however, the most satisfactory testimony to the manner in which he spent this period at college, may be gained from the general tenor of his subsequent speeches and letters, and particularly from one or two passages in the latter, which deserve to be extracted. Writing to the father of his son Richard's wife, he says, ' I have committed my son to you ; pray give him advice. I envy him not his contents ; but I fear he should be swallowed up in them. I would have him mind and understand business ; read a little history; study the mathematics and cosmography : these are good, with subordina- tion to the things of God. Better than idleness, or mere outward worldly contents. These fit for public services, for which a man is bom.'f And, in a letter to Richard himself, he more particularly says, * Take heed of an unactive, vain spirit I Recreate yourself with Sir Walter RaleigNs History : tf # m body of history, and will add much more to your under ^ standing than fragments of story J% The taste at least for such subjects as these, which he sub- sequently recommended to his son, Oliver must have formed at Huntingdon or Cambridge in his early years ; and they tally remarkably with Carrington's accoimt of his mathe- matical studies, and Waller's report of his proficiency in history.* Still there is reason to think that Oliver recalled his acquirements, in after years, in a very different spirit from that in which he first entered on them ; and we shall not be far from the truth, if we deduce from these varying accounts that he studied at Cambridge, as most men do, without any especial eye to the ultimate advantages to be derived from the knowledge so gained, but from a sense of duty ; and that his active and energetic constitution made him mix with his studies a large share of out-of-door exercises and enjoyments. By this means he acquired a greater knowledge of men and practical life ; though it is absurd to suppose that, at this early age, he played at cudgels for the sake of studying either the one or the other. But, whatever be our judgment on the details given above, this much is certain, that in the year 1617 Oliver's course of life at the university received at least a temporary check. In the Jime of that year Robert Cromwell died at Huntingdon, and was buried at the church of All Saints, on the 24th of the same month. Oliver must, of course, have returned home to attend the funeral. The death was rather sudden, if we may judge from the date of the will, which is as late as the 6th of this June, and from the still more striking date of the marriage of Oliver's younger sister, Margaret, which is entered thus in the register of St. John's : ' 20th June, 1617, Mrs. Margaret Cromwell married to Mr. Valentine Walton.' The marriage must have been precipitated by the approaching death of Robert Cromwell, which must have taken place almost contemporaneously ; and with an interval of only four days, Oliver, possibly, stood in the church of St. John's to give away his sister, and in All Saints to bury his father. It was a joyless wedding ; and with our knowledge * Waller's *Life/ prefixed to his Poeim, p. 30 : Lond. 1722, i2mo. t Carlyle's Letters, ^c, of Cromwell (1846), vol. ii. p. 45. X lb. p. 161. * We know also, on the authority of Dr. Manton, that Oliver in later years formed * a noble collection ' of books. — Zife of Dr. Manton, p. 20 : 8vo, Loud, 1725- 210 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELI^ of subsequent events, may seem tlie fit presage to Valentine Walton of a life chequered with severe domestic trials and extraordinary vicissitudes of fortune, and finished in an honourable, though obscure and melancholy, exile in a foreign land. As far, however, as human foresight could reach, the marriage was in all respects most satisfactory. The Waltons of Great Staughton were a family of some considerable stand- ing and importance in the county of Himtingdon ; and though in many points the mind of Valentine Walton had been formed in a different school fix)m that of his brother-in-law, ulti- mately they harmonized in being both of them deeply imbued with the spirit of Puritanism. By his will Robert Cromwell ' left to Elizabeth his wife two-thirds of his property (inclusive of her jointure) for the term of twenty-one years, to go towards maintaining his daughters ; and to the latter he also gave the 600^. which his brother-in-law Whalley owed him. The will is witnessed by John Cromwell (son of Sir Oliver), Thomas Beard (Oliver's old schoolmaster), Richard Cromwell (Oliver's uncle), and Paul Kent. The wiU was proved at London on the 21st of August following f and by an inquisi- tion taken at Huntingdon on the 9th of September, it appears that the testator died possessed of ' one capital messuage and lands, &c., called Le Augustine Fryers, in Huntingdon, held of the king in capUe for the twentieth part of a knight's fee, and the rectory of Hartford, held also of the king as of the manor of East Greenwich.' *The will which Robert Cromwell made was probably influenced by the known intention of Sir Thomas Steward to make his nephew his heir. The disposition, under these cir- cumstances, must be considered as rather favourable to the interests of Oliver, and as indicating in his father no distrust of his management of the property.' As to the course which the young head of the family, who had then just completed his eighteenth year, pursued under these circumstances, there exists considerable doubt. Ac- cording to several authorities (if their testimony is worthy • Prerog. Off. London, Weldon 78 pi^ Noble, vol. i. p. 84), and Earl. M88. 759, p. 206. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 211 such a name) he did not again return to Cambridge, but proceeded to London to enter on the study of the law. But these writers do not definitely state the year in which he quitted Huntingdon for the metropolis, and differ among themselves as to whether he did so immediately after his father's death, or after the lapse of some shorter or longer period spent at his mother's house. One of Oliver's later biographers remarks, ^Some writers say he continued at college one year, others two : upon the strictest search and inquiry at the college, no trace is to be found there of the time of his quitting ; and it is not likely that there should be any other authentic source of information, after the lapse of forty years to the Restoration. No ground, therefore, of belief is left that he quitted the college before the usual time of quitting.'* It is very possible, however, that Oliver left the university prematurely, in consequence of the different position which he was called upon to assume on his father's death ; and this may account for, and is confirmed by, the fact that his name does not appear among the graduates from that college. But, beyond this argument, there is not any worthy a moment's consideration, for the earlier biographers make no appeal to the testimony of living persons (such, for instance, as the Earl of Manchester) from whom they might possibly have obtained authentic details; but leave their statements to rest on the trust inspired by the remainder of their narratives, which can hardly be said to be great in any imprejudiced reader. And the same remark applies to their stories about Oliver's dissolute life at Cambridge, and the immediately subsequent period of his life, upon which we now enter. It will soon be seen that the dates assigned to the several delinquencies are in no slight degree confused and at variance with themselves and with ascertained facts. If the united testimony of friends and foes is to be allowed any weight, it appears tolerably certain that Oliver, after finishing his college career, visited London, and while there * Oliver Cromwell's Memoirs of the Protector, &c. p. 215. The author of The Portraiture of Eis Boyal Eighness Oliver, late Lord Protector, sayg (p. 8) * here [at Cambridge] he lived for some yea/rs* p 2 212 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. entered on tlie study of tlie law. Most of his early biogra- pliers make Mm to have entered at Lincoln's Inn ; hut the absence of his name from the hooks of that society seems a fatal objection to this assertion, and is a not unfair test of the general accuracy of these historians. The books of the other societies have been searched with equal want of success ; from which we may deduce, that if Oliver really did engage in any law studies, ' he entered himself merely in the chambers of some learned gentleman, with an eye to obtain some tinc- ture of law, for doing county magistracy, and the other duties of a gentleman citizen, in a reputable manner.'* It is, however, to be observed that Carrington, who is one of the most respectable of Oliver's biographers, and whose book is dedicated to Richard Cromwell, tells us that, ' having finished his course of study at the university, his parents designed him to the study of the civil law, which is the foundation of the politics ; it being very requisite that he who was ordained to give law to three kingdoms, and to the whole sea besides, should have a smack of the law, and chiefly of those which toere the most essential and universal; for he dived not over-deep into their study, but rather chose to run a course in all the rest of the sciences,' &c.t That Oliver should have come to London, in order to gain a general knowledge oi jurisprudence, seems a natural sequence to his classical studies ; and would, of course, by no means imply his having entered on the pro- fession of the law. Bishop Burnet, on the authority of Lieu- tenant-general Drummond (afterwards Lord Strathallan), assures us that, in Drummond's presence, Oliver, in an inter- view with some commissioners sent from Scotland, ' entered into a long discourse on the nature of the regal power ac- cording to the principles of Mariana and Buchanan;' and adds that ^ Drummond said Cromwell had plainly the better of them at their own weapon, and upon their own principles. 't Without laying too much stress on any hearsay story of Burnet, I may add, that other incidental proofs occur in his • Carlyle, vol. i. p. 6i. It is possible tbathe may have entered at one of the inns of Chancery. t Life, &c. p. 4. J Ststory of his Own ZVm«f. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 213 letters and speeches that Oliver had devoted some attention to the study of jurisprudence. His conduct, while in London, is thus described by Heath : ' It was not long after his father's death ere Oliver, weary of the Muses and that strict course of life^ — ^here Heath recollects himself and qualifies thus — ' though he gave latitude enough to it in his wild sallies and flyings out, abandoned the uni- versity, and returned home, saluted with the name of young Mr. Cromwell, now in the room and place of his father; which how he became, his uncontrolled debaucheries did publicly declare.' After renumerating these, with the details of which it is unnecessary to trouble the reader. Heath con- tinues : ' These pranks made his mother advise with herself and his friends what she should do with him, to remove the scandal which had been cast upon the family by his means : and therefore it was concluded to send him to one of the inns of court, under pretence of his studying the laws ; where, among the mass of people in London, and frequency of vices of all sorts, his might pass in the throng. Lincoln's Inn was the place pitched upon ; and thither Mr. Cromwell, in a suit- able garb to his fortunes, was sent ; where hut for a little he continued ; for the nature of the place, and the studies there, were so far regretful beyond all his tedious apprenticeship to the more facile academick sciences, that he had a kind of an- tipathy to his company and converse there, and so spent his time in an inward spite, which for that space superseded the enormous extravagancy of former vitiousness; his vices having a certain kind of intermission, succession, or trans- migration, like a complete revolution of wickedness into one another, so thai few of his feats were practised here. And it is some kind of good luck for that honourable society, that he hath left so small and so innocent a memorial of his member- ship therein.'* Another writer's version of this is, that 'he came to Lincoln's Inn, where he associated himself with those of the best rank and quality, and the most ingenuous persons ; • Floffellum, pp. 15-16. There is a tradition that the chambers over the gateway of Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery-lane, were those occupied or frequented by Oliver during this period. 214 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. for though he were of a nature not adverse to study and con- templation, yet he seemed rather addicted to conversation, and the reading of men and their several tempers, than to a continual poring upon authors/ &c * But it is not only on suhjects such as these that the thoughts of Oliver are engaged. Whatever doubt may exist as to his residence or studies in London, the registers of St. Giles' Church, Cripplegate, still bear indisputable testimony, that at least on the 2and day of August, 1620, he was present in that city. In these we read, in the list of marriages under that day, ' Oliver Cromwell to Elizabeth Bourcher.' This, as Mr. Carlyle has observed, gives us a clue as to the manner in which Oliver passed part of his time during his stay in London. Elizabeth Bourchier, whom some of the royalist lampoons have caricatured as a homely sloven, appears, from the portrait still at Hinchinbrook, to have possessed considerable beauty. Her features are regular and pleasing, and her whole countenance gives an impression of dignity and intelligence. The little we know of her, points to a character which adapted itself with ease and propriety to every position, which, during the variations of her singular fortunes, she was called upon to occupy. Some letters which, at a later period, passed between her and her husband, have, fortunately, been preserved; and these present a pleasing picture of the warm and constant affection and confidence which ever existed between them. From them we learn that, even when Oliver was at the height of his glory, she ventured to urge upon him, with mild earnestness, the course which she thought best adapted to sustain in others that high opinion of his character which she believed to be only his legitimate due. Her father. Sir James Bourchier, knight, ^of Tower-hill, London,' is said to have been one of a family of city merchants, and is well known to have possessed landed property near Felsted in Essex, where he usually resided. He was, also, connected with the Hampdens, under whose auspices the marriage was generally understood to have been arranged. Three days after its celebration (August 25th), as ' we discover from a deed still in existence, Oliver (described The FoHraitureof MU Mo^al Eighneu Oliver, late Lord FroUctor, 165^. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 215 in the document as Oliver Cromwell, alias Williams, of Hunt- ingdon, Esq.) entered into a defeasance of statute staple to Thomas Morley* (citizen and leather-seller of London) in 4000/., conditioned that he should, before the 20th of No- vember following, convey and assure unto Elizabeth his wife, for the term of her life, for her jointure, all that parsonage- house of Hartford, with aU the glebe lands and tythes, in the coimty of Huntingdon, ^t It was to the old house at Huntingdon, inhabited by his mother, that the young husband carried his wife shortly after their marriage ; and it was there that he took up his residence ; for on the 9th of January, in the succeeding year, we find his name afl&xed to the writ returning Sir Henry St. John, knight, and Sir Miles Sandes, knight and baronet, as members for the borough in ParUament-t The second name which is affixed to the writ, is that of his schoolmaster. Dr. Beard. Henceforward the life of Oliver resolves itself, for seven years, into that of any other sober head of a family in the seventeenth century, in comfortable but not wealthy circumstances. Royalist scandal has scarcely ventured to intrude upon the privacy of his domestic circle during these early years of his marriage. Any excesses which have been attributed to his youth end with the commencement of his married life ; except in a few writers, whose charges, however, seem only to amount to those of extravagance, and deficiency in attention to the business of life. But, before entering on this fresh period, it is necessary to observe that several of his biographers seem to have been unaware of the early date of his marriage, and present us with accounts of fresh excesses after his return to Huntingdon from London. After the ♦ Sir James Bourchier's mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of J. Mortet/, of London. His father's name was Thomas Bourchier. I ^'clVctn 0/ A^nt Becords relating to tke BorougW BunUr^d^r^ Ac* by Edward Griffith. F.S.A. (1727), P- I05- I *«»» however now somewliat doubtL as to this Oliver Cromwell l4ing the Protector, ^-^ ^^^^/^X^.^ '^^ Addl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 15,665, § 2, the indenture is between t^« «^^^^^^^^ one part, and the bailiffs, with Oliver Cromwell, kn^K Henry Crom^,«"'^^^- Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Beard, D.D., &«. of the other part. This differs in several respects from the copy supplied by Griffith. 216 EAKLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. DARLT LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELI* 217 specimens whicli have been already given of these HbeUous stones. It would be occupying space which should be filled by ascertained facts, to do more than allude to the general tenor, especially as the particulars belong rather to a subse- quent period. Then- sum is that, after recklessly running • through his own and his mother^s estate in dissoluteness and gross debauchery, and aHenating the affections of his uncle Sir Thomas Steward, OUver, when on the brink of ruin, con- templated emigration to New England, and before acting on this idea, changed his course, became a reformed man, and then, in appearance at least, a religious enthusiast ; regained his credit with his uncle, repaid all sums won at the gaming, table, and graduaUy reinstated himself in the good opinion of his relatives the Hampdens, through whose recommen- dation he became engaged to EHzabeth Bourchier. Of course these biographers are completely at variance with one another as to dates. Heath places Oliver's reckless proceedings and reformation before his marriage. Bate transfers his extra- vagance to a subsequent period, whHe he was at Huntingdon. Dugdale* places it at a still later epoch, when he had left that town. Heath teUs us that his reformation followed the loss of his patrimony. Bate makes his losses foUow his re- formation ; and asserts that, in consequence of these losses, he resolved to go to New England. Dugdale assures us that he determined to go to New England, and reformed with a view to that object. From Bate, a reconciliation with his uncle would seem to have been the cause. An anecdote in Dr Symmonds^ MS. notes seems to place his reformation after his uncle Steward^s death. According to these authorities, when perfectly destitute, he repays sums of money which he had gamed at the gaming-table. Heath ruins him, and then places 30/. m his hands in order to show his ridiculous Puri- i"^; .^^^' ^ '^^^ ^^'P^^^ *^^ ^1 *bese authorities, we find that m 1631 Oliver was in possession of the whole of his paternal estates at Huntingdon, and after selling them for i8oo/., was able to invest the money in another equaUy substantial form. And three years before this date he had been called on by the voice of his fellow-townsmen to fill a post which implied a certain amount both of character and wealth, that of their representative in the Commons House of Parliament. The colleague of the so-called bankrupt of Huntingdon was James Montagu, the third son of Henry Earl of Manchester, and formerly himself a student of Sidney- Sussex College.* Throwing aside, therefore, for the present, these alleged extravagances subsequent to his marriage, it wiU be well, before quitting this disagreeable subject, to make a few general observations on the misconduct attributed to Oliver prior to that event. It has been already seen with what eagerness his life has been pursued in order to found a charge of original special depravity against his character— how, when the child was unable to speak, the very hangings of his room have been scanned to furnish auguries of his future wickedness — how every conceivable misdemeanour has been careftdly brought together, exaggerated, in a spirit of genuine malignity, into the form of deliberate crime, and presented to us as the natural results of a bad heart ; — how this same malignity has followed the footsteps of the youth in his pro- gress in life, attributing to him ignorance in the centre of a seat of learning, and dissoluteness under a discipline distin- guished for producing the very opposite results ; — and then, again, when the facts were too well known to enable this moral delinquency to be attributed to him in another sphere of action, how his studies have been resolved into the reveries of an inward spite, and his orderly life into a mere revolution in his circle of vices. But happily these chroniclers are not satisfied with stating in general terms the recurrence of Oliver's ordinary habits of debauchery, but also descend to particulars of time and place, and so present the antidote to their own poison. What, then, is the length of time into which all these occurrences of his life must be crowded to satisfy their own chronology ? I^.&J.^"'' ^^°^'*' ^^ ^""^ *^ '^ ^""^ ^^*^^* •» ^"^^««'^' P- • Griffith's Records of Huntingdon, p. io6. Transcript of writ in AddL MSS. Brit. Mus. 15,663, § 2. :* i 218 EABLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 219 L* "Ik I Passing by Ms boyish freaks, we may commence at the penod when he entered coUege. He had then completed, with the exception of two days, his seventeenth year. Four months after the completion of his twenty-first year he be- came a married man. Thus, four years and the same number of months are all that we have left for his college career and his law studies in London ; and the time occupied by the latter must, according to Heath's own statement, be taken from the period of his aUeged debauchery. This must there- fore be confined to the time of his residence at Cambridge, and his visit to his native town of Huntingdon, at his father's death. That his dissolute habits should exhibit themselves immediately after that event would not be very Ukely in the case of any one, and is whoUy contrary to the recorded cha- racter of OHver. When we add to this the testimony of the Nonjuror who afterwards inhabited Oliver's house in that borough, and who assures us that they had no traces in that neighbourhood of his having led a dissolute life* (though the half-century of restored royalism had given ample opportu- mties for the remembrance of any such excesses), I think we shaU find ourselves reduced to the period of Oliver's college life as the only time when he could have committed the alleged enormities; and this is exactly when any such pro- ceedings would have been most likely to be attended with visibly untoward results. In a college where the numbers were so small, and under such a man as Dr. Ward, whose knowledge of and interest in every student was complete and deep. It is impossible to suppose that any ofibnces of the cha- racter attributed to Oliver could have failed to meet with their due; and yet of such a stigma, the malignity of his enemies has failed to preserve any record. Some readers may perhaps think that too great a space has been devoted to the question of OHver's conduct in early Me m proportion to the real importance of the subject. Inde- pendently, however, of what I have already said on the weight 9.Cl^LT^^^ ?>,^'"j;''"\^:- ^^'""^ ^*"'^^' ""^ Huntingdon, acquainted Wn^ W f r"; *^r.*^/^i^ "^ ^"^^ i° ^^^^ neighbourhood of Olivet having led a dissolute hfe.'— Noble, vol. i. p. 109 (note). which attaches to our decision as to the credibility of these stories, and of the plea which might be adduced from our natural desire to gain an accurate notion of every part of the history of a great man, and especially of that period of his life by which his mind would be so greatly aflFected in its formation, the minute investigation which has been made will be found of considerable importance in connexion with the solution of a doubt which will suggest itself to the minds of many reflecting readers. Though all these writers differ with one another in the details, it may be said, they all agree in attributing to Oliver gross debauchery and headlong ex- penditure in the early part of his life. Though it may be true that they quote no authority for their statements, and that these apparently rest merely on rumour, the common parent of them all, yet, it may be urged that this rumour would not have arisen without some foundation in fact. In answer to this, I allow that the rumour points to a change having taken place in Oliver's character at this period; but as to the nature of that change, it may be asserted that it is as inaccurate as such a source of information is usually found to be. The truth seems to be that it was in these years that Oliver Cromwell became a Puritan. Whether the commence- ment of this mental revolution preceded or followed his mar- riage we cannot ascertain ; but we possess some words of his written nearly nine years after his first entrance into public life, which prove that even then the struggle continued, and the rest had not been achieved ; that the black clouds which enveloped the past still threw their heavy shadows over his onward path, though the light of heaven pencilled upon their gloomy canvas the emblem of faith and hope. The record of such a moral crisis cannot expect to find a response in every reader, and is perhaps inevitably exposed to imputations from some of fanaticism or hypocrisy. Nor must we be surprised to find persons, with minds very differently constituted from that of the writer of the letter I refer to, in- terposing, as a measure of its self-condemning language, their own scale of moral excellence and human imperfections, and imagining that they see in it a confession of not having in early years paid the ordinary tribute of mint, anise, and cumin Zlo EARLY LIFE OF OLIYER CROMWELL. Passing hj his boyish freaks^ we may commence at the period when he entered college. He had then completed, with the exception of two days, his seventeenth year. Four months after the completion of his twenty-first year he be- came a married man. Thus, four years and the same number of months are all that we have left for his college career and his law studies in London ; and the time occupied by the latter must, according to Heath's own statement, be taken from the period of his alleged debauchery. This must there- fore be confined to the time of his residence at Cambridge, and his visit to his native town of Huntingdon, at his father's death. That his dissolute habits should exhibit themselves immediately after that event would not be very likely in the case of any one, and is wholly contrary to the recorded cha- racter of Oliver. When we add to this the testimony of the Nonjuror who afterwards inhabited Oliver's house in that borough, and who assures us that they had no traces in that neighbourhood of his having led a dissolute life* (though the half-century of restored royalism had given ample opportu- nities for the rememhrance of any such excesses), I think we shall find ourselves reduced to the period of Oliver's college life as the only time when he could have committed the alleged enormities ; and this is exactly when any such pro- ceedings would have been most likely to be attended with visibly imtoward results. In a college where the numbers were so small, and under such a man as Dr. Ward, whose knowledge of and interest in every student was complete and deep, it is impossible to suppose that any offences of the cha- racter attributed to Oliver could have failed to meet with their due ; and yet of such a stigma, the malignity of his enemies has failed to preserve any record. Some readers may perhaps think that too great a space has been devoted to the question of Oliver's conduct in early life in proportion to the real importance of the subject. Inde- pendently, however, of what I have already said on the weight • 'Tho worthy and curions Mr. Edward Farrar, of Huntingdon, acquainted Sir James Barrow that they had no traces in that neighbourhood of Oliver's having led a dissolute life.*— Noble, vol. i. p. 109 (note). EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 219 which attaches to our decision as to the credibility of these stories, and of the plea which might be adduced from our natural desire to gain an accurate notion of every part of the history of a great man, and especially of that period of his life by which his mind would be so greatly affected in its formation, the minute investigation which has been made will be found of considerable importance in connexion with the solution of a doubt which will suggest itself to the minds of many reflecting readers. Though all these writers differ with one another in the details, it may be said, they all agree in attributing to Oliver gross debauchery and headlong ex- penditure in the early part of his life. Though it may be true that they quote no authority for their statements, and that these apparently rest merely on rumour, the common parent of them aU, yet, it may be urged that this rumour would not have arisen without some foundation in fact. In answer to this, I allow that the rumour points to a change having taken place in Oliver's character at this period; but as to the nature of that change, it may be asserted that it is as inaccurate as such a source of information is usually found to be. The truth seems to be that it was in these years that Oliver Cromwell became a Puritan. Whether the commence- ment of this mental revolution preceded or followed his mar- riage we cannot ascertain ; but we possess some words of his written nearly nine years after his first entrance into public life, which prove that even then the struggle continued, and the rest had not been achieved ; that the black clouds which enveloped the past still threw their heavy shadows over his onward path, though the light of heaven penciUed upon their gloomy canvas the emblem of faith and hope. The record of such a moral crisis cannot expect to find a response in every reader, and is perhaps inevitably exposed to imputations from some of fanaticism or hypocrisy. Nor must we be surprised to find persons, with minds very differently constituted from that of the writer of the letter I refer to, in- terposing, as a measure of its self-condemning language, their own scale of moral excellence and human imperfections, and imagining that they see in it a confession of not having in early years paid the ordinary tribute of mint, anise, and cumin 220 EAELY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 221 I to the law of society. It may, however, to some appear more probable that these expressions have another and a deeper si^ification. The letter which contains them was written by Oliver to a cousin ;— perhaps a daughter of his nncle Henry CromweU of Upwood— at any rate, the wife of the celebrated Oliver St. John. It is a strictly private letter, and is liable to all the disadvantages of such communications when taken out of their proper sphere and used as public documents. Few can understand or sympathize with such but those whom chance has thrown into similar circumstances ; and even then, how much we must lose from not possessing a knowledge of those tacit references, understood only by the writer and receiver of the letter. And this (as some may feel) makes the publi- cation of such letters, even at so long a distance of time, a painful proceeding, possessing too much of the character of a violation of a private trust. But if with difficulty we should persuade ourselves to look into these secret confidences, they ought at least not to be subjected hastily to imputations of cant or nonsense. It is surely not too much to ask the reader to pause, before pronouncing, merely on the strength of his own experience, such a judicial condemnation of the feelings of others. ' Dear cousin,' the letter begins, ' I thankfully acknow- ledge your love in your kind remembrance of me upon this opportunity. Alas ! you do too highly prize my Hues and my company. I may be ashamed to own your expressions, considering how unprofitable I am, and the mean improve- ment of my talent. Yet, to honour my God by declaring what He hath done for my soul, in this I am confident, and I will be so. Truly, then, this I find, that He giveth springs in a dry, barren wilderness, where no water is. I live, you know where—in Meshec, which, they say, signifies prolonging —in Kedar, which signifies blachiesa ; yet the Lord forsaketh me not. Though He do prolong, yet He will, I trust, bring me to His tabernacle— to His resting-place. My soul is with the congregation of the First-bom, my body rests in hope ; and if here I may honour my God either by doing or by suffering, I shall be most glad. 'Truly no poor creature hath more cause to put himself forth in the cause of his God than I. I have had plentiful wages beforehand ; and I am sure I shall never earn the least mite. The Lord accept me in His Son, and give me to walk m the light, and give us to walk in the light, as He is the Light ! He it is that enUghtened our blackness— our darkness. I dare not say He hideth His face from me. He giveth me to see light in His light. One beam in a dark place hath ex- ceeding much refreshment in it : blessed be His name for shining upon so dark a heart as mine ! Yon know what my manner of life hath been. Oh, I lived in and loved darkness, and hated light ; I was a chief the chief of sinners. This is true ; I hated godliness, yet God had mercy on me. O the nches of His mercy ! Praise Him for me ; pray for me, that He who hath begun a good work would perfect it in the day of Christ.'* Those who are at all acquainted with the characteristics of Puritanism, or are familiar with the pecuHar phraseology which, surviving to so great a degree the spirit and circum- stances that gave it birth, is still habitually employed in certain circles in recording what are called religious ' ex- periences,' will, perhaps, hesitate to believe, with Noble and others of Cromweirs biographers, that the expressions found in the preceding letter clearly prove the truth of the rumours aUuded to, that he spent his youth in debauchery. Or leaving out of view any special considerations, and looking merely at the ordinary features of human character, may we not trace in this letter the recognition of another kind of ' darkness' from that which arises from overt breaches of the moral law, and consider that the terms ' moral apathy' and ' deadness' pr (if the word may be used without offence) ' worldliness of mind,' would more nearly express the real fact intended to be conveyed? The foUowing advice of OUver to a son in later years, may confirm and explain this view. 'Dick CromweU,' he writes, ' I take your letters kindly. I like ex- pressions when they come plainly from the heart, and are not strained nor affected. I am persuaded it's the Lord's • Carlyle's Letters, Sfc, of Cromwell (second edition), voL i. p. 127. and Tburloe's /S^a^e Paper* (1742). « EASLT UFE or OUVEB CROMWELL. EARLT UFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 223 "^ *1 ^iT ^"^ ^^"^ you are : I wish you may own it «»d bethankM, fWfilli^ aU relations to thJ glory of^ S^k the Lord and His face continually : let thfs bTthe W and ,» order (otA»f you cannot find nor behold the face of wWchThrs^f ^ *'"f " *'''"'" *° ''-^ ««^ - ^^^l which the Scripture makes to be the sum of aU even life eternal Because (Ae (rue hnmcledge U not literal or specula, twe hut^n^ard tranrforndng the nnnd to it. It's unitLto and parUcpattnff of, the Divine nature. (a Peter f I) How httle of this knowledge is among us ! My weak prayers shaU be for vou Taie Kp^H J . .• • HnAt ''* Tn !,« J r i "J "* v,naettve, vain mr*i / To his son's wife he writes : ' I desire vou both to make It «*<,.. all tMn.s your business to seek the LoS as for the pleasures of this life, and outward businesTTei that be upon the bye. Be aiove all these thingTb^h m Chnst; and (ten you shall have the true n*e !nd iS f then., and not otheru,Ue.' To her father, again, Z SZ- 'I havedehvered my son up to you, and I hope y^^ counsel him; he will need it. I wish he may be ^^W the times require it.' And, at another time : ' I haCrcX' nutted my son to you ; pray give him advice. I env, hi^Zt hu contents; but I fear he nJiMthl h^ a. n •» .^ ^ m^ . . .- ' ,: -^ . ^^ *^^^^ ^^ swallowed up in t/iem' &c 10 Ms wife Oliver writes ; ' I Draisp thp T ^^a t • , in strpTicrfTi in «,^ ^ ^ j ^ f ^^^^ ^ ^^ increased Mind Door B*.ttv n^;= a v^ -i*^ , ^^ corruptions. JMuna poor Betty [his daughter] of the Lord's great mercv Oh I desire her not only to seek the Lord in her necS* &rf « deed and in truth to turn to the Lord; anTtoleT^^' to Him; and to take heed of a departing heari nJ 7 1 cozened rrith ^<^Uly vanitiesLd Jm^otZt' y{ ''^^ sequent letter, Oliver, having heard thftZZhad ex::!^" lus aUowance and was in debt, observes to the latter'! S • These word* are underscored in the origiMl. I I < in-law: 'I desire to be understood that I grudge Mm not laudable recreations, nor an honourable carnage of himself L them But if pleasure and self-satufa^twn be made the business 'of a man's life, I scruple to feed this humour. I de- sire your faithfulness-to advise him to approve himself to the Lord in his course of life ; and to search his statutes for I^e to conscience, and to seek grace from Chnst to enab^ Mm to walk therein. This hath life ^n .< and wdl come to somewhat : what is a poor creature without tUs ? Thu mil not abridge of Uwful pUasures, but teach such a use of ^^^^ ^ ^l have the peace of a good conscience going along with it. Indeed I cannot think I do weU to feed a volupUwush^ur in my son if he should make pleasures the business of his life Such 1 knowledge as this, then, is that 'godliness' -hichOhv« sneaks of in his letter to his cousm. It was this which having then no idea of its real signification, he ' hated and derided. It is this persecution of what he afterwards Relieved to be the most important truth, which recalled to his mmd the expression of the repentant Paul : 'I was the chief of sinners ' But it by no means follows that, any more than St Paul he in those ' unconverted' days led an abandoned life a^coiding to the opinion of the world. So far from this being necessarily the case, he might have passed through bfe in tMs state of mind, and left behind him a much respected name I confess that the strong passions, which undoubtedly formed part of the constitution of Oliver's mind, would have led me ^ priori to consider it as very probable that m his early years they might have carried him into excesses ; but there exists really no evidence of this, and it seems almost impos- sible to fix upon any time when such could have been his conduct. Moreover, the letter quoted appears to me to point to the gradual rise of the mind from a state of indifference, rather than to the violent and sudden exchange of animal passion for religious enthusiasm. The extracts which I have subioined from his correspondence strongly confirm this view j at any rate, it is an important question whether th e change • Carljle'8 LOUri, ^c. of Cromaell, vol. ii. pp. 42, 4S. 46. J^O' 303. 3«3- •\ SSSSx EAKLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. \ in Oliver were outward and moral* or simply an inward and more strictly religious reformation ; and two extracts which follow certainly favour the latter supposition. It appears that Oliver's daughters in later years were not free from a disquietude of mind, which their father describes thus (writing to one of them) : ' Your friends at Ely are well ; your sister Claypole is, I trust in mercy, exercised with some per- plexed thoughts. She sees her own vanity and carnal mind; bewailing it : she seeks after (as I hope also) what will satisfy. And thus to be a seeker is to be of the best sect next to a finder ; and such an one shall every faithful, humble seeker be at the end. Happy seeker, happy finder ! Who ever tasted that the Lord is gracious without some sense of self, vanity, and badness ? Who ever tasted that graciousness of His, and could go less in desire — less than pressing {if ter full enjoyment ? Dear heart, press on ; let not husband, let not anything cool thy affections after Christ. I hope he will be an occasion to in- flame them. That which is best worthy of love in thy husband is that of the image of Christ he bears. Look on that, and love it best, and all the rest for that, I pray for thee and him ; do so for me.'t In the above there is a striking allusion to one cause of the strong terms of self-reprobation employed in Oliver's letter to his cousin. In proportion as the future became more bright and cloudless, the past assumed in contrast a darker and more hateful aspect 3 so that actions which, from the absence of positive sinfulness, might have been accounted meritorious, from the absence of high motives, sank in his estimation into the category of real offences. In the second extract to which I would direct attention, Oliver points out the manner in which such depressing retrospects should be * Those of my readers who, notwithstanding what has been said in the text, are inclined to think that the balance of probability leans to the side of an out- ward and moral reformation, will enter into the spirit of quaint old Fuller's remarks, in speaking of the early life of Sir John Popham: ' In his youthful days he was as stout and skilful a man at sword and buckler as any in that age, and wild enough in his recreations. But, oh ! if quicksilver could he really fixed, to what a treasure would it amount ! Such is tvild youth seriously reduced to gravity, as by this young man did appear.* — Worthies, vol. ii. p. 284. t Carlyle, vol. L p. 277. / EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 225 ( ( escaped from, and we shall not err greatly if we attribute this advice to his own experience during the days of this mental struggle. Writing to the husband of the daughter to whom the other letters were addressed, he says : ' Salute your dear wife from me. Bid her beware of a bondage spirit. (Rom. viu. 15.) Pear is the natural issue of such a spirit; the antidote is love. The voice of fear is: If I had done this, if I had avoided that, how well it had been with me ! 1 know this hath been her vain reasoning. Love argueth in this wise : What a Christ have I, what a Father in and through Him ! What a name hath my Father, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth ; for- giving iniquity, transgression, and sin. What a nature hath my Father : He is Love— free in it, unchangeable, infinite ! What a covenant between Him and Christ—for all the seed, for every one, wherein He undertakes all, and the poor soul nothing. The new covenant is grace— to or upon the soul, to which it is passive and receptive : Fll do away their sins; Fll write my law, &c. ; Fll put it in their hearts ; they shall never depart from me, &c. This commends the love of God ; it's Christ dying for men without strength, for men whilst sinners, whilst enemies. And shall we seek for the root of our comforts within us? What God hath done, what He is to us in Christ, is the root of our comfort : in this is stability ; in us is weakness. Acts of obedience are not perfect, and therefore yield not perfect grace. Faith, as an act, yields it not, but as it carries us into Him, who is our per- fect rest and peace ; in whom we are accounted of, and received by, the Father, even as Christ Himself ! This is our high calling. Best we here, and here only P* It is not surprising that the struggle going on in his mind should have seriously affected the physical health of Oliver. A respectable royalist memoir-writer. Sir Philip Warwick, tells us that, * after the rendition of Oxford, he, living some time with the Lady Beadle [his wife's sister] near Huntingdon, had occasion to converse with Mr. Cromwell's physician. Dr. Simcott, who assured Sir Philip that for many years \\ * Carlyle, vol. ii. pp. 377-8. 226 EAKLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. i I his patient was a most splenetic man, and liad fancies about tlie cross in that town ; and that he had been called up to him at midnight, and such unseasonable hours, very many times, upon a strong fancy, which made him believe he was then dying.'* This account is probably confirmed by an entry in the Ephemerides of Sir Theodore Mayeme, the cele- brated physician of King James, which is a journal of the cases he attended from the year 1603 to 1649. On the 15th of September, 1628, we find that he prescribed for ^ Mons'- Cromwell, valde melancAolicus.'f The probability is, that this ^Mons' Cromwell' was Oliver, then M.P. for Himtingdon, and in London ; and if so, the entry speaks for itself, and needs no illustration. It also affords us a date, and fixes at least one stage of this religious struggle upon the interval between the first and second sessions of the Par- liament in which Oliver entered on public Hfe. It was in the period of inaction that he felt most acutely the influence of his morbid depression of mind ; and this explains how, as his attention was engaged more on the active duties of poli- tical life, his character became more healthy, and he ceased to be ' the splenetic dreamer of Huntingdon.' Other influences were also growing up in the home circle which must have assisted materially in distracting his mind from this excessive self-analysis. Four sons and a daughter now filled the household at Huntingdon with other thoughts. The eldest child, who bore the name of his grandfather, Robert, was baptized in St. John's church on the 8th day of October, 1621. Until very recently this was aU that was known of him. A writer, however, in the Hdlnhurgh FevieivX (January, 1856) has communicated the interesting fact, that young Robert survived to his eighteenth year, and was buried at Felsted in Essex within seven months of the letter to Mrs. St. John. On the 6th of February, 1623, ^ second son received at the font of St. John's the name of Oliver. A daughter Bridget, whose baptism bears the date of the 5th of * Memoirs, p. 275. t Ephemerides (Stoane MSS. Brit. Mus. 2069, fols. 92-6), given in Ellis* Letters, second series, vol. iii. p. 248. I This writer has since (1858) heen stated to be Mr. Forster. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 227 August, 1624, followed in order of time; and was succeeded by two sons, Richard and Henry — the former bom the 4th of October, 1626, the latter baptized at All Saints' Church on the 20th January, 1628. Connected with the birth of Richard, the first of Oliver's sons, whose name belongs to English history, we have a note of invitation still existing in print — the original of which some collector, whose passion for autographs overpowered his respect for the command- ments,"^ has cut out and carried away from its repository in the Ashmole Museum at Oxford. It runs as follows : — To my approved good Friend, Mr. Henry Downhall, at his Chambers in 8t, John's College, Cambridge : These. Huntingdon, 14th October, 1626. Loving Sir, — Make me so much your servant by being godfather unto my child. I would myself have come over to have made a formal invitation, but my occasions would not permit me; and therefore hold me in that excused. The day of your trouble is Thursday next. Let me entreat your company on Wednesday. By this time it appears, I am more apt to encroach upon you for new fevours than to show my thankfulness for the love I have already found. But I know yoiu* patience and your goodness cannot be exhausted by — Your friend and servant Oliveb Ceomwell. While the household at Huntingdon, occupied with these simple domestic events, were leading a life of quiet retire- ment, the fortunes of the elder branch of the Cromwells were gradually sinking under the eflPect of the lavish expenditure and reckless generosity of Sir Oliver. At length a deed of sale, dated the 20th of June, 1627, transferred the possession of the knightly seat of Hinchinbrook from the family of the Cromwells to that of the Montagues, whose residence it has ever since remained. The purchase-money was 3000^. ; one half of which at once went into the hands of Sir Oliver's creditors. The purchaser was ' Sir Sidney Montagu, knight, of Barnwell, one of his Majesty's Masters of the Requests,' and a brother of Henry Earl of Manchester. The effect of this change was seen at the ensuing elections to Parliament. • T confess I strongly suspect Hearne to have been guilty of this pecula- tion. His character, in that respect, is not immaculate, and the letter first appears in print in one of his miscellaneous antiquarian gatherings, the lAber Niger Scaccarii, appendix. Q 2 228 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 229 i 4 Sir Oliver tad retired to Ramsey into comparative obscurity, and his name no longer appears as a representative for tlie county of Huntingdon ; while a younger son of the Earl of Manchester is returned as one of the members for the borough. To what are we to attribute the junction with him as a colleague of the nephew and godson of the fallen knight ? Probably a lingering feeling of regard to the family with which Huntingdon had been so long connected, entered into and formed no inconsiderable element in the motives of the townsmen. But another reason may be assigned, which would operate quite as strongly towards the same choice. It was not in vain that Dr. Beard had for so many years been a painstaking lecturer in the town of Himtingdon ; and his hearers would seek, as their representative, not merely the scion of an ancient family, but one who could carry to the Commons' House of Parliament a large share of their own religious convictions. It was as the representative of the Puritanism of Himtingdon that Oliver Cromwell, on the 33rd day of January, 1628, three days only after the baptism of his son Henry, was chosen to serve in Parliament for the borough; and probably on Monday, the 17th of March following, first* appeared as a member within the walls of St. Stephen's Chapel. • 'An impression/ in later times, 'has prevailed that Oliver sat in the 1625 Parliament. A friend, however, of one of his later biographers (Dr. Russel), supplies the following decisive note on this point : * A few years since there was a disputed election case in the borough, which was carried to a committee of the House ; and it became necessary that authenticated copies of the returns should be procured from the originals of the town. I examined these, and found that Cromwell sat only once for Huntingdon — namely, in the third Par- liament of Charles I., as stated above. In the first Parliament of that monarch, the former members, Sir Henry St. John, and Sir Henry Mainwaring, were returned.' — (Forster, vol. iv. p. 37, note.) This shows that Mr. Ciirlyle is right in his remarks on that point. The whole has originated in an error of Mr. Browne Willis {Notitia ParUamentaria), who puts Oliver Cromwell, Esq., as member for Huntingdonshire, instead of Oliver CromweU, knight, probably mis- taking this last word in the writ for knight of the shire. Mr. Oliver Cromwell, in his Memoirs of his ancestor (p. 203), says, that * it appears, from a search now jbade at the Crown OflBce, that Sir Oliver Cromwell sat for Huntingdonshire/ If this be correct, Mr. Ohver Cromwell was more fortunate in his researches than Mr. Carlyle, who reports the loss of the writs of that period.— (Vol. i. p. 72.) Some of the writs at least would seem to have escaped this fate, for we find some modem transcripts of them, evidently for some point concerning the corporation, 4c., of Huntingdon, in Addl. MSS, Brit. Mus. 15,665, § 2, Of one of his speeches in this Parliament we possess an imperfect but significant record. A sub-committee had been appointed to examine into the whole affair of the pardons granted to certain clergymen previously condemned by Par- liament, and to ascertain at whose instigation they were obtained. In the course of the inquiry to which this gave rise, Sir D. Norton informed the House that ^ one Dr. Moore, attending the Bishop of Winchester upon an occasion, the bishop told him that he had oftentimes preached before King James against popery, which was well liked of then, but now you must not do so.' On this Eliot remarked : ' In this Zand is contracted all the danger we fear ; for he that procured these pardons may be the author of these new opinions ; and I doubt not but that his majesty, being in- formed thereof, will leave him to the justice of this House.' Hitherto Oliver Cromwell's name does not appear on the Journals or in any of the reports of parliamentary proceedings, as taking a part in public affairs. Now, however, a matter had arisen on which he was able to give some information to the House; and accordingly, on the nth of February, 1629, we find the first mention of his name on the Journals of the Commons, and a brief record in the books of speeches of the heads of his first speech. At the Committee for Religion on that day Mr. Sherland reported, concerning the pardons, that they had examined Dr. Sibthorpe's and Cosin's pardons ; that Sibthorpe solicited his own pardon, and said he would give it to the Bishop of "Winchester to get the king^s hand to it. That it was evident the Bishop of Winchester got the king's hand to Sibthorpe's and Cosin's pardons ; and also Montagu's pardon was promised by him. That Dr. Main- waring solicited his own pardon ; and the Bishop of Win- chester got the king's hand to his pardon. It was likewise said that the pardons were all drawn by Mr. Attorney before there was any warrant. Hereupon Mr. Oliver Cromwell said : ' He had heard, by relation from one Dr. Beard, that (Dr. Beard said) Dr. Alablaster had preached flat popery at Paul's Cross ; and that the Bishop of Winchester (Dr. Neile) had commanded him, as he was his diocesan, he shoiJd preach nothing to the contrary.' He said that ' Mainwaring 230 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. — ^who, by censure of the last Faxliament for his sermons, was disabled from holding any ecclesiastical dignity in the church, and confessed the justice of that censure — was, nevertheless, by this same bishop's means, preferred to a rich living. If these be the steps to church preferment/ said he, ^what may we not expect?' A contemporary writer, unfavourably disposed towards Oliver, thus describes his style of speaking in Parliament ; and the passage gives us some idea of the effect likely to be produced by the speech of which the above is a meagre sketch : ^ When he delivered his mind in the House, it was with a Btrong and masculine eloquence, more able to persuade than to be persuaded. His expressions were hardy, opinions resolute, asseverations grave and vehement ; always intermixt (Andronicus like) with sentences of Scripture, to give them the greater weight, and the better to insinuate into the affections of the people. He expressed himself with some kind of passion ; but with such a commanding, wise deport- ment, that at his pleasure he governed and swayed the House, as he had most times the leading voice. Those who find no such wonders in his speeches, may find it in the effect of them.'* So in the present instance. Sir Robert Philips, following Oliver, observed that Dr. Marshall would relate as much said to him by the Bishop of Winchester as the bishop said to Dr. Alablaster ;' and Mr. Kirton there- upon moved, ' that Dr. Marshall and Dr. Beard might be sent for ;' and further said, ^ this bishop, though he hath leapt through many bishoprics, yet he hath left popery behind him 1' This motion was agreed to, and the same day we read in the Journals, that 'Mr. Pym reporteth, from the Grand Committee for Religion, further informations given against the Bishop of Winchester. That the committee desireth Dr. Marshall and Dr. Beard may be sent for to testify their knowledge therein. Upon question, ordered. Dr. Marshall of Hampshire, and Dr. Beard of Huntingdon, to be written to by the Speaker to come up and testify against the bishop: that to Dr. Beard to be delivered to Mr. Cromwell ; the other, to Dr. Marshall, to be delivered 231 Wmstanley*s Worthies, &c. pp. 528-9. h to Sir Jo. Jephson.' It was John Pym, sitting in the chair of the committee, whom OHver CromweU addressed in his maiden speech. Two days afterwards, in the same Committee for Religion, Su* Richard Grosvenor, in a long and able speech, adopted in several places OHver's very words respecting the preferment of Mamwaring ; thereby showing the impression which the speech of the member for Hujitingdon had made on his mind. For that offence of his,' he said, ' Mainwaring received ^Just, but moderate censure ; one particular was, (Aal he should he disabled for ever holding any ecclesiastical dignity in the church; and, although it he confessed that the doctor justly hrought upon himself the censure of Parliament, yet was this man also, im- mediately after our rising, released from his imprisonment, reported to have the honour to kiss the king's hand, obtained his pardon in folio [fuU], was preferred to a rich living, and (if some say true) cherisheth assured hopes of dignity in the church. If these he steps to church preferment, God be mercifrd to those churches which shaU faU under the government and feeding of such a clergy !' The premature termination of the ParHament prevented Dr. Beard from being actuaUy brought before the House of Commons; and the same event restored CromweU himself from the heated atmosphere of St. Stephen's to the fresh air of the country. In the October of the preceding year his uncle Richard Cromwell had died at Ramsey, and left the land he possessed at Huntingdon to Oliver. This consisted of a piece of land caUed the ^ Dovehouse croft,' in the town of Hunt- ingdon ; and nineteen acres of arable land in the parish of St. Bennet in Huntingdon, bearing the name of the ' Obiit- lands, ' with other premises. On the ^nd day of July following the close of his parliamentary labours, another child was baptized at St. John's church by the name of ^Elizabeth.' This was OUver's favourite daughter. We know that he still suffered from the mental struggle which has been described; and is it not possible that the birth of this child may have diverted his thoughts for the time from more painful reflections, such as had obliged him, in the preceding September, to consult Dr. Mayerne ; and that the pleasing impression thus created may never have been erased from {{ 232 / EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 233 Ms mind ? At any rate, the next child was not bom till the beginning of the year 1632, and lived only a day; and for seven years and a half Elizabeth Cromwell, her mother and grandmother's namesake, was the youngest child of the family. In the January of 1630 another of Oliver's imcles died, and was buried at Ramsey. This was Sir Philip Crom- well, of Biggin House. He left a large family to share his fortune ; so that the worldly position of Oliver was unaffected by this event. On the 15th of Jidy in the same year a new charter was granted to the town of Huntingdon, in which ' Thomas Beard, doctor of divinity, Robert Bernard, Esq"^-, and Oliver Cromwell, Esq™-, burgesses of the borough afore- said, are appointed, during their several lives, and the longer liver of them, justices to preserve and keep the peace of us, our heirs and successors, within the borough of Huntingdon.'* This, we might at once have conjectured, only marks the position which Oliver continued to hold in his father's old neighbourhood ; and has nothing whatever to do with political opinions, since we find persons the most opposed to the court frequently, as a matter of course, raised to such positions. A recent most interesting discovery, however, by Mr. John Bruce (communicated to the At/ienaum journal), places this point beyond all question, and elucidates the whole affair of the charter. I cannot do better than extract the important part of Mr. Bruce's letter. ' The circumstance to which I have now to direct attention has relation to the period in Cromwell's life between 1629 and 1 63 1, which has hitherto been so nearly a blank. ^The state of parties at that time was singular. The government was aggressive, and the popular or country party was consequently conservative. In the affairs of the church, under the direction of Bishops Neale and Laud, and with the sanction of the king, the clergy were everywhere re-introducing the principles and practices of the ante- Reformation period. In the affairs of the state, taxes im- sanctioned by parliamentary grant were levied without scruple, and an arbitrary judicial power, unknown to the Constitution, • Griffith's Records of Huntingdon, p. 119, Ac Addl, MSS. Brit. Mna. 15.665, pp. 154-5. :"i: was openly exercised at the council-table. In these measures the authorities were supported by all persons who acted on the principle of upholding the powers that be, and such persons were, consequently, officially termed ^ loyal:' they were opposed by all those who, under ordinary circumstances, were advocates of progress; but were now driven, by the peculiar conduct of the court, into the position of simply upholding the old Constitution — maintaining the Protestant character of the church, the illegality of taxes unsanctioned by Parliament, and the supremacy of the courts of West- minster Hall. ' In Huntingdon, as elsewhere, this battle — ^the battle of the age — ^was vigorously contested. Mr. Barnard was the leader on the one side, and Oliver Cromwell on the other. Cromwell's return to Parliament, in 1628, had been a triimiph of the one party — the obtaining of the new charter was a victory of the other. Up to the date of the new charter Huntingdon had been an ancient prescriptive corporation, governed by two bailiffs and a common council of twenty- four inhabitants, freely elected year by year {AddL MSS. Brit. Mus. ^^y66^j fols. 13 1 -155). Under such a constitution the government of the town was effectually in the hands of the people. The new charter changed the state of things entirely. On pretence of preventing ^ popular tumult, and to reduce the elections and other things, and the public business of the said borough, into certainty and constant order,' the old common council was dissolved, and the new charter ordained that the common council should thenceforth consist of a mayor, elected annually out of the aldermen, with a recorder, and twelve aldermen, all elected for life (ibid) . How such a municipal coup-d^etat was brought about does not appear. Probability seems to suggest that it had its origin in the influence of Mr. Robert Barnard and the CromweUs of Hinchinbrookp] — ^the latter always in strong opposition to their democratic relative. The government might, of course, be relied on to give its willing aid to effect such an anti- popular revolution, and also to cover with its authority any defect of legality in bringing it about. There may be docu- ments or entries in the municipal books at Huntingdon which may throw light upon this part of the subject. i 2U EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. ' The reception given to tKe new charter and its close cor- poration by the disfranchised inhabitants of Huntingdon may- be imagined. Of hard words there appear to have been plenty : it is creditable to the influence and management of Cromwell that the popular indignation did not find vent in hard blows. But hard words against persons in authority were looked upon in those days as a very serious oiFence. The dignity of Mr. Lionel Walden, the new mayor, was hurt by the free comments of Mr. Oliver Cromwell and his asso- ciates. Even from imder the trappings which outwardly adorned the chief mimicipal dignitary a wounded spirit made itself manifest. Mayor and aldermen felt themselves objects of contempt ; and the circumstance that Mr. Robert Barnard, their leader, and the principal resident gentleman within the jurisdiction of the new corporation, was a sharer with them in the contumely, did not reconcile them to their fate. 'The privy council was a body to whom the corporate functionaries might safely make an appeal. They did so. A petition was prepared, setting forth ' the disgraceftd and un- seemly speeches used unto them.* One of the first uses they made of the new corporate seal was to attach it to a docu- ment which evidenced how much the newly-constituted authorities were held in contempt. The persons complained against were ' Oliver Cromwell, esquire, and William Kilbome, gentleman.* The latter was probably a lawyer in Huntingdon. ' John KHbum' was one of the burgesses who signed Oliver Cromwell's return to Parliament in 1628, and ' Isaac Kilbome* was a party, in 1680, to the return to Parliament of, perhaps, a son of the very mayor who was now making his complaint. The Kilbumes were evidently a Huntingdon family, and notices of William may, no doubt, be found in the registers and muniments of the borough. ' The lords of the council gave ready ear to the petition of the mayor and aldermen, and, according to the usual custom, a council-messenger was despatched with a warrant, directing him to bring up to London the bodies of ' Oliver Cromwell, esquire, and Willyam Kilbome, gentleman.* ' The warrant was executed. The hand of the bailiff was laid upon the shoulder of the man in whose name within a few years aU warrants were to mn; and on the 26th of EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 235 November, 1630, the prisoners made their appearance before the privy council. It may be worth while to record the names of the councillors present : — At Whyteball, the 26th of Present : Lorde Keeper [Sir Thomas Coventry.] L. Tre" [Lord Weston.] L, Priuie Seale [Earl of Manchester.] Lo. Chamberl. [Earl of Pemhroke.] E. of Bridgw*" E. of Danby. £. of Kellie. Mr. Secretarie NoYember, 1630. Lorde Vise. Wunbledon. L. Vise. Dorchest" L. Vise. Falkland. L. Vise. Grandison. L. Bp. of London [Laud.] Mr. Tre'- [Sir Thomas Edmonds.] Mr. Vice Chamb. [Sir Henry May.] Coke. ^The order made upon the appearance of the culprits stands recorded in the register book of the privy council as follows : — 26 Nov'' 1630. This day Oliver Crumwell, Esq'- and Willyam Kilbome, gent., having bene formerly sent for by warrant from the board, tendered their appearances accord- ingly, w'^'' for their indempnities is entered in the register of coimsell causes. But they are to remain in the custody of the messenger untill they shalbe dis- missed by their Ipps. ^ Probably out of consideration for the mayor and aldermen of the good town of Huntingdon, who were no doubt in London ready to prosecute their petition, rather than out of any kindness towards the defendants, the hearing was fixed for the 1st of December. I will not attempt to delineate the scene which ensued. The ' presence' consisted of the chief of the king's advisers : their names are thus enumerated on the register : — At Whytehall, the first of December, 1630. Present i Lo. Keeper [Sir Thomas Coventry.] Lo. Trea'- [Lord Weston.] Lo. President. Lo. Privie Seale [Earl of Manchester.] Ea. Marshall [Earl of Arundel.] E. of Danby. £. of KeUey. Lo. Vise. Wimbledon. Lo. Vise. Falkland. Lo. Bp. of London [Laud.] Lo. Newburgh. Mr. Trea" [Sir Thomas Edmonds.] Mr. Vice Chamberlain [Sir Henry May.] Mr. Sec. Coke. 236 EABLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 237 ' Analysation of these names would show with how little wisdom England was then attempted to be governed. With the exception of two or three men of average official talent, how small the quantity of real intellect which was congre- gated here ! As a body, how utterly incompetent must such men have been for the task they undertook— to force back the current of the age, and restore the worn-out absolutism of a previous period ! ' If we may judge from the account in the privy council register, the hearing was a deliberate one ; and it is highly in favour of the propriety and discreetness of Cromwell's con- duct that he entirely escaped condemnation. With the re- collection of the uproar in the House of Commons on the day of dissolution still vivid in their minds, and paltry pro- ceedings in connexion with the members, who were subse- quently imprisoned, constantly going on — such questions, for example, as whether Selden should have a boy to wait upon him, or clothes and bedding should be sent to him from his chambers, or whether Sir John Eliot should be allowed to have his linen out of his trunks, and many others— it is not uncharitable to suppose that — if it could have been done on anything like a fair pretence— an opportunity would not have been lost of punishing so conspicuous a member of the oppo- sition as Oliver Cromwell had even then become. ' It may also be inferred that, on Cromwell's side, the case was well argued. It was not left to rest on the mere question of hard words raised by the corporation. The whole case respecting the charter was gone into. The result was a re- ference to arbitration, which is thus entered on the books of the privy council :— 1st Decf' 1630. Whereas a peticon was presented to the board by the major and aldermen of the towne of Huntingdon, complayning against Mr. Crumwell and William Kilborne, whereupon the parties complayned of were sent for by warrant from the board, And both sides having this day had a long hearing, there appeared much contrariety and difference in the allegacons on each side. Whereupon their Ipps. thought fitt and ordered, that the examinacon of the whole businesse should bee referred to the Lord Privie Seale, as well touching the charter of the said towne, as alsoe that his Idpp. should, in particular, consider what satisfaction were titt to be given to the said mayor and Mr. Bernard for the disgracefull and unseemly speeches used unto them, and should settle and end the differences amongst them, if it may bee, or otherwise to make report to the board how the state of these differences stands, together with his opinion touching the same, that such further course may be taken as shall bee fitt. And whereas there was a peticon read with divers complaints therein made against the said Kilbume and Brookes his man for much oppression to the country, and many great abuses to particular persons. It was likewise ordered that the Lord Privie Seale shall take examinacon thereof and make reporte to the board what he finds touching the same. ' The Lord Privy Seal, to whom the reference was made, was Henry Montagu, the first Earl of Manchester— a plausible, supple lawyer, who had raised himself to high dignities by obsequiousness and a skilful application of his wealth. He is best remembered as the father of Lord Kim- bolton — one of the first members whom Charles sought to arrest in the House of Commons, and the Earl of Manchester of the Civil War. ' The result of his arbitration does not appear. Any altera- tion of the charter was probably not attempted. Some slight apology from Kilbume would appease the civic magnates.'^ As Dr. Beard's name has come once more across us, it may be interesting to give a few additional particulars of his life and pursuits. We have seen that he is constantly associated with Oliver, as he had been with his father, in all the affairs of the borough. He is in communication with him during the absence of the new member in London, and, but for the abrupt dissolution, we should have had his name appearing on the Journals of the House as a witness to corroborate ' Mr. Cromwell's' statement. He has not been idle during the controversy which agitates England on religious questions, and in this respect his feelings would be in unison with those of his former pupil. In 1625 he was probably in London superintending the publication of a little work which appeared inthatyear under the title of 'Jwi5i-(7i^m^ tkeFope of Eome; or, the Tope of Eome is Anti-Christ , proved in two Treatises, &c. &c. ; by Tho""' Beard, doctor in divinity, and preacher of God's word in Huntingdon.' The copies of this book purport to be ' printed by Isaac Taggard for John Bellamie, and are to be sold at his shop at the Three Golden Lyons in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange.' The work is dedicated ' To the Right * AthencBum^ October 13, 1855. 236 EAllLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 237 ' Analysation of these names would show with how little wisdom England was then attempted to be governed. With the exception of two or three men of average ofl&eial talent, how small the quantity of real intellect which was congre- gated here ! As a body, how utterly incompetent must such men have been for the task they undertook— to force back the current of the age, and restore the worn-out absolutism of a previous period ! ' If we may judge from the account in the privy council register, the hearing was a deliberate one ; and it is highly in favour of the propriety and discreetness of Cromwell's con- duct that he entirely escaped condemnation. With the re- collection of the uproar in the House of Commons on the day of dissolution still vivid in their minds, and paltry pro- ceedings in connexion with the members, who were subse- quently imprisoned, constantly going on — such questions, for example, as whether Selden should have a boy to wait upon him, or clothes and bedding should be sent to him from his chambers, or whether Sir John Eliot should be allowed to have his linen out of his trunks, and many others— it is not uncharitable to suppose that — ^if it could have been done on anything like a fair pretence — an opportunity would not have been lost of punishing so conspicuous a member of the oppo- sition as Oliver Cromwell had even then become. * It may also be inferred that, on Cromwell's side, the case was well argued. It was not left to rest on the mere question of hard words raised by the corporation. The whole case respecting the charter was gone into. The result was a re- ference to arbitration, which is thus entered on the books of the privy council :- 1st Dec'* 163a Whereas a peticon was presented to the board by the major and aldermen of the towne of Huntmgdon, complayning against Mr. Crumwell and William Kilbome, whereupon the parties complayned of were sent for by warrant from the board. And both sides having this day had a long hearing, there appeared much contrariety and diflference in the allegacons on each side. Whereupon their Ipps. thought fitt and ordered, that the examinacon of the whole businesse should l>ee referred to the Lord Privie Scale, as well touching the charter of the said towne, as alsoe that his Idpp. should, in particular, consider what satisfaction were fitt to be given to the said mayor and Mr. Bernard for the disgracefull and imseemly speeches used unto them, and should settle and end the differences amongst them, if it may bee, or otherwise to make report to the board how ■«:, < \ III the state of these differences stands, together with his opinion touching the same, that such further course may be taken as shall bee fitt. And whereas there was a peticon read with divers complaints therein made against the said Kilbume and Brookes his man for much oppression to the country, and many great abuses to particular persons. It was likewise ordered that the Lord Privie Scale shall take examinacon thereof and make reporte to the board what he finds touching the same. ^The Lord Privy Seal, to whom the reference was made, was Henry Montagu, the first Earl of Manchester — a plausible, supple lawyer, who had raised himself to high dignities by obsequiousness and a skilful application of his wealth. He is best remembered as the father of Lord Kim- bolton — one of the first members whom Charles sought to arrest in the House of Commons, and the Earl of Manchester of the Civil War. ' The result of his arbitration does not appear. Any altera- tion of the charter was probably not attempted. Some slight apology from Kilbume would appease the civic magnates.'"^ As Dr. Beard's name has come once more across us, it may be interesting to give a few additional particulars of his life and pursuits. We have seen that he is constantly associated with Oliver, as he had been with his father, in all the affairs of the borough. He is in communication with him during the absence of the new member in London, and, but for the abrupt dissolution, we should have had his name appearing on the Journals of the House as a witness to corroborate ' Mr. Cromwell's' statement. He has not been idle during the controversy which agitates England on religious questions, and in this respect his feelings would be in unison with those of his former pupil. In 1625 he was probably in London superintending the publication of a little work which appeared in that year under the title oi' Anti-Christ thePope of Rome; or, the Pope of Rome is Anti-Christ, proved in two Treatises, &c. &c. ; by Tho™- Beard, doctor in divinity, and preacher of God's word in Huntingdon.' The copies of this book purport to be ' printed by Isaac Taggard for John Bellamie, and are to be sold at his shop at the Three Golden Lyons in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange.' The work is dedicated ' To the Eight * AtJiencBum, October 13, 1855. 238 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 239 Hon***' and Eiglit Eev. Father in God Jolin Lord Bisliop of Lincoln^ Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal of England, one of his Majesty^s most honourable Privy Conncil.^ John WiUiams, afterwards elevated to be Archbishop of York, is one of the most singular characters of that age. Utterly deficient in principle, and sometimes in tact, he possessed no little amount of talent ; and as his rivalry with Laud, who had been Archdeacon of Huntingdon, caused him to lean, as much as his selfishness would permit, towards the opposite party in the church, his protection was frequently sought by the oppressed Puritans. Oliver himself visited the bishop at his residence at Buckden, and gained from him the character of ' a common spokesman for sectaries,' and one who ' main- tained their part with stubbornness.^ It woidd seem the bishop was in some way related to the Cromwells and Hamp- dens. There is a letter addressed to him in later years by Oliver, in answer to an application of his, which concludes thus : ^ Your kinsman shall be very welcome to me ; I shall study to serve Yiimfor kindred* a sake ; amongst whom, let not be forgotten, my lord, your cousin and servant,' &c.* I should suppose this a mere jesting allusion to their common name of ' Williams;' but I find in a grave exculpatory letter of the archbishop's, when he was in disgrace, Hampden spoken of as Ms ' kinsman.' t To this prelate Br. Beard, who displays all the marks of an obedient son of the church, assigns two reasons for dedi- cating the work to him. 'One, that your lordship is a known and renowned protector of religion and learning j and a second, because you are my diocesan, and so it is your lordship's right by bond of duty.' Another book of the worthy doctor's was entitled, ^ The Theatre of God' s Judgments ; wherein is represented the admirable justice of God against * Carlyle, vol. i. p. 307. It is not quite correctly printed there. For ' does most conduce to the public good thereof/ read, * to mo$t public good/ &c. ; for « on the occasion of our troubles/ read * hy the/ Ac. * Your kinsman shall be very welcome/ add 'to me / and add, as a postscript, * the governor of Conway win not be forgotten, to prevent his abuse/ t *Now, my business with my kinsman, Mr. Hampden/ says the archbishop. '•^Fairfax Correspondence, vol. i. p. 341 (1848). i all notorious sinners, both great and small, but especially against the most eminent persons of the world, whose tran- scendent power breaketh thorow the bars of human justice, deduced by the order of the commandments. Collected out of sacred, ecclesiastical, and prophane histories.' This work, * revised and augmented by the first author thereof,' appeared in a third edition in 1631. It is dedicated to the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Huntingdon, and this dedication supplies us with an interesting fact. ' Whom to,' says the author, ' should I rather dedicate this book, than to you the principal members of this corporation, wherein I have lived thirty years complete, and have painfully preached the word of God unto you, and led my life without scandal. But, besides, there are divers causes that moved me to dedicate it imto you : first, to shew my thankfulness to all those that stood faithfully for me in the late business of the lecture, notwithstanding the opposition of some malignant spirits. Secondly, that I, being now old, and ready to lay down this earthly tabernacle, might leave some lively monument behind me, that might preach unto you when I am gone. That when ye read this book, you may say, ' Behold, Dr. Beard being dead, still preacheth unto us.' Thirdly, because these judgments related in the book much concern the sins of this town, which, being a thorough-fare, (as all others of that kind,) is subject to many disorders by the baser sort of people. Now, as we see mur- therers hung upon gibbets, to terrify others from committing the like facts, so here are thousands, as it were, hung upon gibbets, to terrify us from these sins and to bring us to re- pentance. My last reason why I dedicate it to you, Mr. Mayor, is because you were my scholar, and brought up in my house, which must needs create in me a greater love and affection towards you. Your loving pastor — Tho. Beard.' The principal point in this dedication which demands our notice is the attempted suppression of Dr. Beard's lecture- ship in Huntingdon. There has long been a floating story about a lectureship suppressed in that town, which may now be brought to its proper moorings. These lectureships origi- nated in the deficiency and insufficiency of preachers through- out England. This had been complained of at the Hampton- 240 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 241 ^' court Conference of 1603 by the Puritan ministers; but no redress being granted, a scheme was set on foot by Dr. Preston, their leader at this time, to raise a fond to buy in impropri- ations as they came into the market, and to support ministers by this means where they were wanted. The wealthy merchants and Puritans throughout the kingdom took up the scheme; and the consequence was, that the funds being vested in * feoffees,' a number of ' lecturers' were secured, generally in deacon's orders, who performed the duties which the regular clergy neglected or performed in a manner at variance with the feelings of the parish at large.* Great jealousy was perhaps not unnaturally felt by the ordinary occupiers of the cures which these ^ working' clergymen invaded ; and this was in- creased by the general t6ne of their preaching, which was Puritan, as under the circumstances might have been expected. They therefore called down the wrath of the higher clergy upon the new institution, and Dr. Laud exerted himself very strongly to suppress the lecturers altogether. Now Noble (in his Protectoral House of Cromwell) has extracted a passage from Heylin's Life of Laud, according to which the only com- plaint against the ecclesiastical condition of Huntingdonshire, which falls from the lips of Laud on his visitation of that county, is respecting a lectureship in the town of Huntingdon, which he desires the king may be disallowed, because the lecturer was removeable by lay persons. To this his Majesty assented. This was in 1633. There seems no reason to doubt that this lectureship was the one to which Dr. Beard refers in his dedication ;t and if so, it would seem that at first the * Carlyle, vol. i. pp. 69-70. t Since writing the above I have discovered among the Addl. MSS. in the Brit. Mus. an indenture made March 23rd, in the 22 James I., between the bailiffs and burgesses of the town of Huntingdon, patrons of the Hospital of St. John in Huntingdon, of the one part, and Thomas Beard, doctor in divinity, and master of the said hospital, and Robert Cooke of Huntingdon, gentleman, of the other part, the reciting part of which bears directly on the subject of the lectureship, and explains the clerical opposition to the appointment by lay persons. * Whereas there is four parish churches within the said town of Hun- tington, the living belonging to the same being so small as none of them are sufScient or convenient to maintain a learned bachelor ; by reason whereof all the said parishes and town of Huntington were for a long time before the said Thomas Beard became master of the said hospital, utterly destitute of a learned attempt of Laud had failed, owing to the determined resist- ance of the inhabitants, and Oliver was doubtless among the most strenuous of Dr. Beard's supporters on this occasion. In the beginning of the year i6^% Dr. Beard died; and his gravestone, according to Mr. Brayley, stiU remains in the nave of All Saints Church, Huntingdon, bearing evident signs of having been ^ a brass,' and having the inscription — ' Ego Thomas Beard, Sacrae Theologiae Professor : In Ec- clesia Omnium Sanctorum Huntingtoniae, Verbi Divini Prae- dicator olim : Jam sanus sum : Obiit Januarii 8°, an. 1631.'"^ After his death it would seem that Laud succeeded in taking away the lectureship; but another removal a little before that time must have powerfully contributed to this untoward result. On the 7th of May, 1631, Oliver disposed of most of his property at Huntingdon, his mother, wife, and imcle Sir Oliver joining in the deed of sale. It seems probable that his mother still continued to reside at Huntingdon, from the i preacher to teach and instruct them in the Word of God ; but sithence the said Thomas Beard became master of the said hospital, being admitted thereunto by the presentation of the said bailiffs and burgesses, the said Thomas Beard hath not only maintained a grammar school in the said town, according to the foun- dation of the said hospital, by himself, and a schoolmaster by him provided at his own charges, but hath also been continually resident in the said town, and painfully preached the Word of God in the said town of Huntington on the Sabbath-day duly, to the great comfort of the inhabitants of the said town ; and the said Thomas Beard, being careful and desirous that some learned preacher may succeed him in the said hospital who may be resident in the said town, and preach there so long as he shall hold the said place, in like manner as the said Thomas Beard hath done and intendeth to do, and maintain also the said school as he hath done, therefore, for the considerations, intents, and purposes aforesaid, and to the end that the said Thomas Beard may provide such a learned preacher to succeed him in the said hospital whenever he shall die or shall think fit to resign his said place and leave the said town for some better preferment, the said bailiff's and burgesses have by their deed, under their common seal, given, granted, and confirmed unto the said Thomas Beard, his executors and assigns, the next presentation to the said hospital when it shall next become void by any means whatsoever, &c. And forasmuch as the said Robert Cooke hath a son named Henry Cooke, who is a faithful and learned preacher and minister of Ood*s word, whom both the said Thomas Beard and all or the most part of the inhabitants of the said town do very much like and approve of,' &c. Robert Cooke covenants with the corporation that, if his son is appointed by Dr. Beard, he shall perform the duties in the same manner as the doctor has done, and Dr. Beard covenants to continue his preaching till such time. The first sig- nature in witness is * Robert Bernard.' — Addl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 15,665, p. 126. * Brayley's Beauties of England and Wales, vol. vii. p. 354. R 242 EAKLT LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 243 circumstance that the children, not only of Oliver but of other branches of her family, were still brought to Hunting- don to be baptized. The description of the property sold, given in the deed, is as follows : * All the capital messuage called the Augustine Fryers, alias Augustine Friers, within the borough or town of Huntingdon, and the messuages, &c., belonging to it ; and one close called the Dove-house close ; and idso all those three cottages or tenements, with a malU home, and a little close by estimation one acre, lying together in Huntingdon aforesaid, theretofore of Edm. Goodwyns; and also all those seven leas of pasture, containing by estima- tion two acres, called Toothill leas, lying in Huntingdon; and also all those two acres and three roods of meadow lyings and being in Brampton, in the said county of Huntingdon, in a meadow there called Portholme ; and also all those two acres of meadow in Godmanchester, in the said county of Hunting- don. All the above premises are called, either now, or late, in the possession of Elizabeth Cromwell, widow. And all other the lands and tenements of the said Elizabeth Cromwell, widow, Oliver Cromwell, Esq., or either of them, in Himting- don, Godmanchester, or Brampton aforesaid, or any of them. And also all the rectory and parsonage of Hartford, in the said county, and the tithes, both great and small, of the same ; with all and singular the rights, members, and appurtenances thereof to the late dissolved priory or monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Huntingdon aforesaid, heretofore belonging or appertaining, and being sometime parcel of the possessions thereof.'* The sale realized 1 800/. ; and with this sum/Oliver ' rented some grazing-lands at St. Ives, five miles down the river. The lands he rented are still recognisable to the tourist ; gross boggy lands — ^part of the Slepe Hall estate — fringed with wiDow-trees, at the east end of the small town of St. Ives, which is still noted as a cattle-market in those parts. 'f Here Oliver remained for the next five * It will be seen that the ' Obiit lands ' are not included in these parcels : as at a later time Oliver is described as ' of Huntingdon/ it is probable that he still retained these, and that his mother had the benefit of their produce during her residence in the borough. t Carlyle, voL i. p. 114, i years, quietly following the pursuits which had occupied his father before ; taking his share in the local business of St. Ives ; not indifferent to the public events which were crowding on one another in rapid succession ; but calmly waiting till the opportmiity arose when he might again do open service to the cause of religion and his country. There are no par- ticular accounts at all credible of the manner in which he passed his time during this period. Heath speaks of the family being called together every morning to prayer, before stirring out, and continuing so long at this religious exercise, that it was often nine o'clock before they began their work. He adds, that the hinds and ploughmen filled up the rest of the morning in games of cards, a pack of which they had concealed in their pockets ; and that after dinner, the best part of the afternoon was filled up by a repetition of some market lecture that had been preached the day before. That the little work that was done, was done so negligently and by halves, that scarce half a crop ever reared itself upon his grounds; so that he was (after five years' time) glad to abandon it, and get a friend of his to be the tenant for the remainder of his time. Heath is certainly one of the most circumstantial liars that ever rushed into print with ' a true and particular account.' It is needless to refute any statements resting solely on such authority as his. Oliver Cromwell C\ might, and probably did, assemble his family and labourers \J around him to morning prayer; but most assuredly there was no slackness in the after labours of the day where he was the master. We find no traces of any diminution of his property ; and we shall soon see there was a different reason for his leaving St. Ives. Another traditionary story is en- titled to more credit. The clerk of the parish of St. Ives, described as a very intelligent old man, and much superior to his station (having been bred an attorney), told Mr. Noble, ' that he had been informed by old persons who knew Mr. Cromwell when he resided at St. Ives, that he usually fre- quented divine service at church, and that he generally came with a piece of red flannel round his neck, as he was subject to an inflammation in his throat.' The appearance which Oliver's countenance presented in later years confirms^ in a b2 244 EAKLY LIFE OF OLIVEK CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 245 \ 1 J great degree, this account, and is to be attributed to tbe damp, unwholesome air of the Fen-country, which seriously affected his health, and was probably the origin of some serious illnesses with which he was afterwards visited. Oliver, of course, attended the church of St. Ives, for he be- longed at this time to the class of Doctrinal Puritans. The vicar of the place also was his old friend Mr. Henry Down- haD, to whom the invitation to Richard's christening had been addressed. But there was little sympathy of mind between them ; and here, as at Huntingdon, it was found necessary to establish a lectureship to supply the deficiencies of Mr. DownhalFs preaching. A letter of Oliver's still exists, addressed ' to my very loving friend Mr. Storie, at the sign of the ' Dog" in the Royal Exchange, London -/ which bears the date 'St. Ives, i ith January, 1636,' and runs thus:— Mr. Storie,— AmoDgst the catalogue of those good works which your fellow- dtizens and our countrymen have done, this will not he reckoned for the least, that they have provided for the feeding of souk. Building of hospitals pro- vides for men's bodies : to build material temples is judged a work of piety ; but they that procure spiritual food, they that build up spiritual temples, they are the men truly charitable, truly pious. Such a work as this was your erect- ing the lecture in our country ; in the which you placed Dr. Wells, a man of goodness and industry, and ability to do good every way, not short of any I know in England ; and I am persuaded that sithence his coming, the Lord hath by him wrought much good among us. It only remains now, that He who first moved you to this, put you forward in the continuance thereof. It was the Lord, and therefore to Him lift we up our hearts that He would perfect it ! And, surely, Mr. Storie, it were a piteous thing to see a lecture fall in the hands of so many able and godly men, as I am persuaded the founders of this are— m these times wherein we see they are suppressed with too much haste and violence fcy the enemies of Ood his truth. Far be it that so much guilt should -stick to your hands, who live in a city so renowned for the clear shining light of the Gospel. You know, Mr. Storie, to withdraw the pay is to let fall the lecture ; for * who goeth to warfare at his own cost ?' I beseech you, therefore, in the bowels of Jesus Christ, put it forward, and let the good man have his pay. The souls of God's children will bless you for it; and so shall I, and ever rest— Your loving friend in the Lord, Olivee Ceomwbll. Commend my hearty love to Mr. Busse, Mr. Beadly, and my other good friends. I would have written to Mr. Busse, but I was loath to trouble him with a long letter, and I feared I should not receive an answer from him. From you I expect one so soon as conveniently you may. — Vale .'* Of the ultimate fate of this lectureship we know nothing. » Carlyle, vol. i. pp. 116-7. 4 I Oliver's family remained the same as before ; a son, James, who was baptized on the 8th of January, 1632, dying the day after. Little more can be ascertained as to the events of his residence here, and probably little remains to be told of any importance, with the exception of some circumstances connected with a public question which will soon engage our attention. But it wiU be well to complete, first, the few memorials which remain of his private life during this country retirement. I have already spoken of Sir Thomas Steward, Oliver's maternal uncle, who resided at Ely. A story has come down to us connected with this Sir Thomas, which is alleged to cast a deep stain on the character of Oliver. Sir William Dugdale, who is the main authority for the accusa- tion, states the occurrence in the following words : ' By his exorbitances at last he so wasted his patrimony, that, having attempted his uncle Steward for a supply of his wants, and finding that, on a smooth way of application to him he could not prevail, he endeavoured by colour of law to lay hold of his estate, representing him as a person not able to govern it ; but therein he failed.' The story is supposed to be cor- roborated by a passage in Racket's Life of Archbishop Wil- liams, in which the latter is represented (in the year 1 645) as saying to King Charles, respecting Oliver, ^ Your majesty did him but justice in refusing his petition against Sir Thomas Steward of the Isle of Ely ; but he takes them all for his enemies that would not let him undo his best friend.' On the other hand, we have to explain, consistently with the above statements, the following extract from the will of Sir Thomas Steward, made immediately before his death in January, 1636 : 'He gives to his sister Elizabeth Cromwell, widow, an annuity of 30/., which he charges upon his manor of Bernes, or Barnes, and other his freehold messuages and lands in Elme and Emmett, within the Isle of Ely, and in the county of Norfolk. The manor of Barnes, subject to 10/. annuity, is devised in trust to pay debts and legacies, with remainder to his nephew Oliver Cromwell in fee : and also a variety of leases of lands, and the rectory of the Holy Trinity, and the Blessed Mary the Virgin, in the town of Ely, and the chapel 246 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 247 1 of Cheltisham, with all their rights, to Humphrey Steward, Msqr., in trust for payment of debts and legacies, and after- wards to his nephew, Oliver Cromwell, saving the remainder of their several terms. Among other legacies, he gives to the poor of Ely workhouse 2ol,, and to the eldest son of his nephew Oliver Cromwell, 5/. Sir Thomas also mentions that his father, William Steward, Esq., by his will entailed several messuages and lands in Ely, &c., with several remainders ; and it having pleased God to give him no male issue, he had neglected to cut oflP the entail, out of special affection to the persons in remainder, though, by such a conduct, he had omitted and lost such advantages as he might have had by the laws of the realm.' It seems from this document, that, whatever the circum- stances really were which attended Oliver's petition (if there ever was such a petition), his conduct had not been such as to alienate the good- will of Sir Thomas, for any length of time at least. Hence arises also the dilemma which has been well put by Mr. Carlyle : ' If Sir Thomas was imbecile, then Oliver was right ; and unless Sir Thomas was imbecile, Oliver was not wrong!' But, independently of considerations arising from the estimate we may form of Oliver's character from other less doubtful sources, the whole story is evidently based on the supposition of Oliver's having run through his paternal estate, which, from the deed of sale quoted just before, we see is utterly groundless. It is very probable, however, that the story is a perverted version of some real fact, though we are unable to discover what this was. I am inclined to connect it with the question of cutting off the entail alluded to in the last part of Sir Thomas' will. As it is, however, we must rest satisfied with the judgment which the only certain authority in the case. Sir Thomas' will, passes on the question. It is something that this speaks so decidedly in Oliver's favour.* Sir Thomas Steward died in the month of January, 1636, * ' There is a discrepancy in the story itself, for it is said to have occurred soon after Cromwell's return to Huntingdon, and Charles is made the king, who did not hecorae so until several years later.' — Westminster Review, O. 8* (1839-40) vol. xxxiii. p. T92. 1 i. surviving his wife only a few days. Noble makes the date of his will January 2()th, and of his burial in the cathedral church of Ely, (he folloioing day I Probably there is some error in copying from the registers, or some misprint. Oliver seems to have at once removed to Ely, and succeeded to his uncle's farming of the tithes. At least we have an acquittance, dated by him 'Ely, loth June, 1636.' Here the famUy re- mained tiU the year 1647, his mother, after a time, qmttmg Huntingdon, and joining the circle at Ely. His residence was the glebe house near St. Mary's churchyard, which from a later occupant took the name of Mr. Page's house, and still remains as an ale-house ; in what condition may be seen by the views of it given in the third edition of Mr. Carlyle's Letters of CromwelL ' Likely enough his grand- father may have Hved here, his mother having been bom here. She is now again resident here. The tomb of her first husband and child, Johannes Lynne, and poor little Catharina Lynne, is in the cathedral hard by !'* In Ely Oliver took, as at St. Ives, an active part in the concerns of the little city, fiUing his uncle's place in the charities and other institutions. In the records of one of these, then caUed the ' Ely Feoffees Fund,' now ' Parsons' Charity,' his name frequently occurs. It appears that the charity had been remodeUed by a new royal charter, shortly before OUver's arrival, and was to be, henceforth, more specially devoted to the poor of Ely ; and to be governed by twelve feoffees— namely, by three dignitaries of the cathedral, and by nine townsmen of the better sort, who are permanent, and fill up their own vacancies. Of this latter class Oliver was straightway made one. The only entry at aU worthy of remembrance in which his name occurs, is a short note from him to Mr. John Hand, one of the collectors of the revenues of the charity, dated September 13th, 1638, which is as follows : ' Mr. Hand, I doubt not but I shall be as good as my word for your money. I desire you to deliver forty shillings of the town money to this bearer, to pay for the physic for Benson's cure. If the gentlemen wiU not ♦ Carlyle. 248 EABLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. allow it at the time of account, keep this note, and I will pay it out of my own pnrse. So I rest, your loving friend, Oliver Cromwell/ Other entries occur in the books of pay- ments to Benson, who, it seems, was an old invalid. The note shows at least a kindly feeling, and so far is valuable. The Dean and Chapter of Ely, on October the 20th, 1636, renewed Oliver's lease for twenty-one years of the tithes of theparishesof Trinity and St. Mary; and the 27 th of October, in the year following, granted to him, jointly with the bishop of that see, William March, and others, feoffees, a lease of Denver's holt, near Stimtney. On the 29th of October, in the next year, he received from the dean and chapter two leases, one of Mullicourt manor, the other of Beele closes, each for twenty-one years. His family still increased around him. A daughter, Mary, was baptized at Huntingdon on the 9th of February, 1637. Another daughter, Frances, the youngest of his children, was baptized at Elif, December 6th, 1638. Between these two baptisms, then, we must probably date the removal of Oliver's mother to his Ely residence. Another of her daughters, Jane, was married to the celebrated John Disbrowe, or Desborough, Esq., on the 23rd of June, 1 636; and she probably felt lonely atHuntingdon. Three other daughters we know were already married; probably two more — Katharine (the next child before Oliver in order of birth) to Roger Whitstone, Esq., of Whittlesea mere, and Anna (who follows Margaret Walton in the family list) to John Sewster, Esq., of Wistow, in Huntingdonshire. There would, then, remain only two unmarried daughters— Elizabeth (the second child), who is supposed to have died unmarried at Ely in 1672 ; and Robina (the youngest of the family), who eventually married Dr. Peter French, and afterwards Dr. John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, and whose daughter by Dr. Wilkins was married to Archbishop Tillotson. Thenceforward Oliver's mother never separated from his family, watching with deep anxiety the vicissitudes of his fortunes, and extorting, even from his bitterest enemies, the meed of warm admiration and praise. Great public events, however, now occupied the attention of every Englishman ; and Oliver Cromwell could not have EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 249 been an uninterested spectator of the great ship-money case, in which his cousin John Hampden gained such an immortal reputation, and in which another rising statesman connected with him by marriage, Oliver St. John, distinguished himself as an advocate for the defendant. The date of the refusal of Hampden to pay the ship-money is the same with that of the letter addressed by Cromwell to Mr. Storie ; so that the two kinsmen were each engaged at the same time in appropriate acts of public importance. Oliver himself is also said to have refused to pay the same tax ; which statement (resting on hostile authority) is not at all unlikely, taking into con- sideration his character and his connexion with Hampden. Many, we know, refused to pay, and were distrained upon for the amount. When they would, like Hampden, have brought tjie point to a trial, they were not allowed to do so. But, however this may have been, not very long after the decision in the ship-money, Oliver was called upon to take a leading part against one of the royal acts of tyranny. As this trans- action has been much misrepresented, and a charge made against Cromwell of obtaining a factitious popularity at the expense of the public good, it will be necessary to enter somewhat minutely into the circumstances of the case. Sir Philip Warwick tells us : ' The Earl of Bedford and divers of the principal gentlemen whose habitations confined upon the Fens, and who in the heat of summer saw vast quantities of lands which the fresh waters overflowed in the winter, lie dry, or green, or drainable — whether it was public spirit or private advantage which led them thereunto, a stranger cannot determine— they make propositions unto the king to issue out commissions of sewers to drain those lands, and ofier a proportion freely to be given to the crown for its countenance and authority therein ; and as all these great and public works must necessarily concern multitudes of per- sons, who will never think they will have exact justice done to them for that small pretence of right they have unto some commons, so the commissioners, let them do what they can, could never satisfy such a body of men. And now the king is declared the principal undertaker for the draining ; and by this time the vulgar are grown clamorous against these first i( I 250 EABLT LIFE OF OLIVEK CKOMWELL. popular lords and undertakers who had joined with the Icing in the second undertaking, though they had much better provisions for them than their interest was ever before, and the commissioners must by multitudes and clamours be with- stood ; and as a head of this faction, Mr. Cromwell, in the year 1638, at Huntingdon, appears, which made his activity so well known unto his friend and kinsman Mr. Hampden, that he in this [the Long] Parliament gave a character of Cromwell of being an active person, and one that would sit weU at the mark !'* Having stated the accusation, what do we find to be the real facts of the case ? f ' The Great Level of the Fens, extending over parts of the counties of Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincoln, Norfolk, and Suffolk, includes nearly 400,000 acres. The chief part of this extensive tract appears, from the various phenomena noticed by different authors, to have been formerly a dry and cultivated land ; but either through injudicious embankments, which prevented the waters from the uplands issuing at their proper outfalls, or from sudden and violent convulsions of nature, it was reduced to the state of a morass ; where the waters stagnating, and becoming putrid, filled the air with noxious exhalations; and not only destroyed the health of the inhabitants, but likewise impeded their endeavours to obtain necessaries, the country being almost rendered im- passable even to boats, by the sedge, reeds, and slime with which it was covered. That this vast level was at first a firm, dry land, and not annoyed with any extraordinary inundation by the sea, or stagnation of fresh waters, though the surface was originaUy much lower than it is at present, is evident from the quantity of trees that have been found buried in different parts of the Fens, and also from a variety of other circumstances. The reign of Elizabeth may be properly fixed on as the period when the Great Level began to become imme- * Memoirs, &c., p. 277. t A writer in modem times (Brayley, Beauties of England and Wales) has given a summary of the events which led to this drainage dispute, from which I have quoted such portions as, on reference to the sources of his informa- tion, appear to be correct. The remainder of this version of facts which affects immediately the character of OUver Cromwell, I have derived from a careful examination and comparison of contemporary pamphlets. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 251 diately a public care. But though a commission was granted, and an act of Parliament granted to carry out the great object of draining them, nothing was done in her reign. In the beginning of the next. Sir John Popham, the chief justice, procured an act for draining the fens in the Isle of Ely and the lands in the adjacent counties ; but, though the work was com- menced with great spirit, it afterwards, on his death, dropped, owing to the opposition of some landowners. The next persons who attempted to proceed with this important undertaking, were the Earl of Arundel, Sir William AyloflP, Bart., and Anthony Thomas, Esq. ; but their proposals not being agree- able to those who acted as commissioners on behalf of the proprietors, ard much time having been lost by the meetings held to determine the contested points, the king himself resolved to become adventurer, and actually undertook the herculean labour of draining the Fens, on condition of re- ceiving 1 20,000 acres as a remuneration when the work was completed. This agreement was carried into a law ; and here the design terminated,^ as might be expected in any such undertaking on the part of King James ! ' In the sixth of Charles I. Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, a Hollander, in a contract with the Commissioners of Sewers, engaged to drain the Fens on condition that 90,000 acres of land, when drained, should be transferred to him. This agreement would probably have been executed ; but when Vermuyden had surveyed the level, and made drawings of the works that were necessary, he appears to have thought the reward insufficient, and de- manded an additional allotment of 5000 acres. This proposal was rejected ; more from the prejudices that prevailed against him as a foreigner, than from any supposition that his de- mands were extravagant.' The idea seems to have been that, as he was a Dutchman, he might avail himself of his know- ledge of the construction of the works to do some injiuy to the exposed eastern counties in case of a war with Holland. There would, however, appear to have been a strong desire among the landholders of the Fen district to have the under- taking carried out; for on the 13th of January, 163 1, the com- missioners, at a meeting held at Lynn, and, as it was under- stood (though this was afterwards disputed), with the consent 252 EAKLY UFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL, EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 253 ■'■'t of the parties whose property would be affected, entered into an engagement with Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford (who had large possessions in the Fens, through the grant to his ancestors of Thomey Abbey and its appurtenances), upon the same terms of 95,000 acres. Before the commencement of the work, to which the earl is said to have been strongly solicited, thirteen gentlemen, of high rank and respectability, oflPered to become joint adventurers with him ; and their pro- posals being accepted, on the 27th of February, 1632, the imdertaking was entered upon. In the year 1634 the king granted the adventurers a charter of incorporation, 1 2,000 acres being assigned to him as an equivalent. One of the share- holders in this ' corporation* was Oliver St. John, by assign- ment from Sir Miles Sandys. On the 13th of January, 1637, the commissioners at Peterborough adjudged that the Level was drained, and on October 12th in the same year, accompanied by the king^s surveyor, they attended at St. Ives to set out the allotments to the adventurers. A great part of the acres was actually divided, and some of the adventurers had pos- session of parts of their proportions ; but they had no con- veyances, and received but little rent. Up to this time the adventurers had disbursed upwards of 123,000/. Now, how- ever, the king's necessities being great, after the difficulty experienced in collecting ship-money. Sir Cornelius Vermuy- den, who was greatly dissatisfied at having the project taken out of his hands, gained access to Charles through Secretary Windebanke, and informed the king that above 100,000/., ex- pended by the earl and his colleagues, was misspent, the Fens being little or nothing the better ; and that the Great Level, being made winter grounds, would be worth 600,000/. per annum and upwards, and be a great and certain revenue to all the parties interested, Charles, being greatly encouraged by this account, appointed new commissioners, who were empowered to examine into the utility of the measures executed by the earl. As the acres assigned to the adventurers were to be taken from fenny districts, portions of which in their undrained state were within the estates of private individuals, and over the greater part of which commonage had been enjoyed by the neighbourhood^ it is not at all surprising that considerable discontent arose in various quarters, and that complaints of a monopoly and the loss of their rights of pasturage, fishing, &c., without any counterbalancing advantage, were frequent. The adherents of the court fanned these discon- tents ; and Sir John Maynard, at that time a courtier, after- wards a Presbyterian leader, took a conspicuous part in instigating the malcontents. The new commissioners called a 'Sewers Court' at Huntingdon on the i8th day of July, 1638, and there declared that the works were incomplete; and accepted the king's proposal to undertake the drainage of the Fens, for which he was to receive not only the 95,000 acres, but also 57,000 additional ! Of course the earl and his fellow-adventurers were highly indignant at this royal act of rapacity, and St. John and Holborne (names now well known as Hampden's two counsel in the ship-money argu- ment, and the former personally interested in this case) ap- peared before the commissioners on two several days, and took various exceptions to the proceedings, arguing at large against the conduct of the commission. Tlie commonalty were equally aggrieved; for by the new works they were shut out for another indefinite time, both from their rights of commonage and from any benefit from the drainage in the shape of recovered land. It appears that Oliver Cromwell came forward in their behalf, representing their case, and turning that current of popular opinion against the king's undertaking which had been created in order to facilitate his illegal proceedings ; so that the commissioners, afraid of meeting the opposition of the whole of the parties, made an order to permit the land- holders to take the profits of their lands, and to the gene- rality granted common of pasture over the whole of the acreage (except the 12,000 already given to the king) until the drainage should be adjudged to be completed. They were not, however, to pull down or deface any mounds, fences, or draining without due proof made, and a special order of the court in that behalf. At the same time, 40,000 acres, tax- free, were adjudged to be allowed to the original undertakers, as a recompence for their expenses. Both these concessions, without much doubt, were owing to the skilful opposition of 254 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 255 OUver. It is said tliat lie gained the name of ' tlie Lord of the Fens/ for the great benefit which he thus extorted from the royal commissioners ; hut it is probable that this name was given him at a somewhat later period, when, as we shaU see, he snccessfiilly protected the commoners of the Fen dis- trict from the attempts which persons acting under grants from the king made to infringe the rights of entry secured at this meeting at Huntingdon. Vermuyden, having succeeded in his first attempt, now persuaded the king to entrust him with the management of the works. He is accused of misspending at least 16,000^. out of 25,500^. placed at his disposal, and of having wasted hundreds of acres, ' skimming the top thereof to make counter- feit banks, without giving the owners thereof any satisfaction for them.' It was also said that ' Lynn and the town and university of Cambridge would sustain extreme disadvantage by the loss of their navigation, if the design he laid down were carried out. That, besides the loss of the navigation, the river Ouse, being filled with silt or sand from Salter's Load to Harrymer, would extremely hinder the passage of that clear stream which glideth through Cambridge town, commonly called Grant, so that it would not be kept in the ancient channel, but would overrun not only the meadows and low lands on either side the river (abready subject to inundation), but would certainly drown a great part of Cambridge town ; nay, some of the colleges would (in a froward winter) be subject to old Grant's displeasure.' There seems to have been great popular opposition to this plan; and little was effected when the king in 164 1 abandoned the undertaking. ' The whole affair was brought before the notice of the Long Parliament ; but nothing was done, owing to the unsettled state of the country, until 1649, when an act was passed restoring William, the then Earl of Bedford, to all the rights of his father. The works which had fallen to decay were repaired, and new channels made, with so much propriety, in the opinion of the commissioners, that on the 25th of March, in the year 1653, the level was adjudged to be fuUy drained, and the 95,000 acres awarded to the earl and hifi participants ; the latter of whom were nearly ruined by the expense of draining, which amounted to 400,000/. In the 15th of the reign of Charles II. the former act was con- firmed in its most essential clauses ; and a corporation, con- sisting of a governor, six bailiffs, twenty conservators, and commonalty was established, under the title of ^ Con- servators of the Great Level of the Fens,' for its better government. These commissioners were empowered to levy taxes on the 95,000 acres, to defray whatever expenses might arise in their preservation ; but only 83,000 acres were vested in the corporation, in trust for the Earl of Bedford and his asso- ciates. The remaining ia,ooo, having been allotted to Charles /., in pursuance of the agreement made in 1634, were now assigned to the king, with the exception of 2000 acres, which had been granted to the Earl of Portland.' The origin of the misrepresentation of the conduct of Cromwell will now be seen. He cannot justly be accused of opposing the drainage of the Fens, since that had been declared to be accomplished in 1637. If he had wished to gain a false popularity, he would have come forward in 1632 or 1634, or in the subsequent years during which the drainage was going on. The only part he took was in ameliorating the decree of the royal commissioners in 1638, so as to secure some advantages to the commonalty and the original adven- turers. His own loss by the appropriated allotments would only have amounted to thirty-five poles of a swamp near Ely, called ' Boatsgangs.' His father and his uncle Sir Oliver had petitioned for the drainage : his cousin Oliver St. John was one of the adventurers ; and if he had suffered the loss of his money through Oliver Cromwell's means in July, 1638, should we have had the friendly intercourse between them which is implied by the letter to St. John's wife in the October of the same year ? Besides, the Earl of Bedford was on intimate terms of friendship with Hampden and Pym ; and the former seems to have alluded to the conduct of Oliver in the affair with approbation. As to the alleged incon- sistency of his subsequent conduct, the act of 1649, which Lieutenant' General Cromicell supported, merely carried into effect the ends defeated by the royal commission of 1638, which Mr. Oliver Cromwell opposed ; and secured the repair 256 EiLKLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 257 of those dilapidations in the works which but for that royal interference would never have taken place. Another story which is told respecting Oliver during this period we are able completely to refute ; and as it bears on the question of his moral coiurage and perseverance, it is worthy of notice. It is said that, in despair at the state of public aflPairs, he contemplated abandoning his native land and seeking a home in the wilds of New England. It is also said that Hampden, Pym, and Sir Arthur Hesilrige were the intended companions of his voyage.— Hampden, in the midst of his ship-money renown !— Pym without having brought to account the apostate Wentworth ! This is in- credible enough; but we are told that they all actually, with many other Puritans, embarjied on the Thames, in eight vessels, and were only arrested in their intended voyage by an order of the council, which on the ist of May, 1638, laid an embargo on the ships. What are we to say to the ' Lord of the Fens' abandoning England in the midst of his struggle against royal rapacity? and how are we to reconcile his presence in May on the Thames, and the previous pre- parations for his voyage, with the great meeting at Hunting- don? Besides, as Mr. Forster has pointed out, on the * Humble petition of the merchants, passengers, and owners' of the detained ships, they were released from their restraint, and allowed to proceed on their voyage. Are we to suppose the eminent men above named so fickle and irresolute as to have abandoned the enterprise on the occurrence of the first obstacle ? Besides, we have seen that Oliver obtained the renewal of leases — one for twenty-one years — and the grant of a new one just before this supposed abandonment of his interest in England. The whole story is evidently the result of a lively imagination acting on the simple fact that some Puritan families did embark for New England in 1638, and were detained by the king's orders. WTiy might not some of the great leaders in the subsequent contest have been of the number of these passengers? And, if so, what judi- cial blindness on the part of Charles to have detained them ! Names are easily added, when the story gets to this stage. Oliver's eldest sons are said to have been educated at Felsted school, near the residence of their maternal grand- father Sir James Bourchier. At Otes, in the immediate vicinity, was the seat of Sir WiUiam Masham, baronet ; a name recalling that of John Locke, who was on the most intimate terms with the descendants of the family, and lies buried at the church of High Laver, close to the former site of the Mashams' manor-house. Sir William Masham was married to a cousin of Oliver Cromwell's— Elizabeth, fifth child of Sir Francis Barrington. She was the widow of Sir James Altham, of Markeshall in Essex. Sir William continued to the end of his life Cromwell's cordial friend, rising into some of the highest posts in the state. There is a reference in a letter from Oliver to kindness on the part of Sir William to one of his sons, which the recent discovery respecting young Robert renders doubly interesting. The letter in question is the one from which we have had already occasion to make a long extract, illustrating so remarkably the state of Cromwell's mind at this period. His correspon- dent is a cousin, the wife of Oliver St. John. But it is difficult to fix with certainty on the lady, as St. John married successively two cousins of Cromwell; first, Joanna, the daughter of Lady Masham by her first husband ; and, secondly, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Henry Cromwell, esquire, of Upwood (Oliver's uncle). As we have not the date of the second marriage, or of the death of Joanna St. John, we are left to conjecture as to which was the wife of Oliver St. John in 1638."*^ It would seem, from this letter, that between Oliver Crom- * Elizabeth Cromwell would not then have completed her twenty-second year, and the footing on which the correspondents evidently stand seems to imply a much older person. It would also appear probable that a daughter of Lady Masham*8 would be the visitor at Sir William's. On the other hand, we might, perhaps, in that case, expect a more direct allusion to the relationship ; and there is another little point to be noticed : Henry Cromwell died in October 1630, and having lost both his sons, he left Upwood to his nephew Henry, son of Sir Philip, on condition of the payment by him of certain sums to his daughters. This would leave Elizabeth Cromwell (then not quite fourteen years of age) without a home. Did she take up her residence with her cousin. Lady Masham ; and was it there that, on the death of his fii-st wife, Oliver St. John wooed and won her ? This may be the meaning of the expression, *that family, whereof you are yet a member.* S 258 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. weU and Ms cousin Mrs. St. Jolm there was a fr^q^f^^^^" terchange of the most private thoughts Between the two Olivers there appears to have remained, for some time at least, if not always, a good understanding ^^^^^^^^^^l' cumstances of their eventful lives. Philosophical historians may have travelled too far in their researches for a reason of the intimacy of two persons so different as CromweU and St John. Was not the high-minded cousin, into whose willing ear the former poured his mental struggles with the certainty of their being appreciated, a link strong enough to bind together two such intellects as theirs ? The concluding part of the letter to Mrs. St. John (dated from Ely, on the 13th of October, 1638) is as follows : ' Salute all my friends m that family whereof you are yet a member I am much bound unto them for their love. I bless the Lord for them, and that my son, h/ their procurement, is so well. Let him have your prayers, your counsel ; let me have them. Salute your husband and sister from me. He is not a man of his word ! He promised to write about Mr. Wroth of Eppmg but a« yet I receive no letters : put him in mind to do what with conveniency may be done for the poor cousin I did solicit him about. Once more, fareweU ! The Lord be with you ; so prayeth your truly loving cousin Oliver CROMWELL.-My wife's service and love presented to all her friends * The letter is addressed ^ To my beloved cousin Mrs. St. John, at Sir WiUiam Masham his house called Otes, m Lssex, present these.' , 1 . i ^^ i. Until the year 1856 the ' son' alluded to m this letter has been generally supposed to be either Oliver or Richard, bio-raphers of CromweU having adopted Noble's conclusion that, because nothing was known of Robert, the eldest son, beyond the date of his baptism, he died in infancy, \ Noble EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 25d • Given in Carlyle (vol. i. pp. 127-8), with the omission of the postsmpt. t fh^ my«e/seen that this inference was a hasty one, «>f^ ^-"^^"^y mc^fiedThe expression from ' infancy ' to ' yonth,' snggestmg at the same time STthe wo^ of Cromwell on his deathhed had reference to this Rohert I ™i^u^ however, to drop the latter supposition hy the no e supplied t« Z CaZe' r^^g the death of young Oliver just before Marston M(^r tells us, indeed, that there is no entry of his burial at Hunt- ingdon, and thus prepares us for the foUowing decisive evidence on the subject, which also aflPords remarkable testi- mony to the position which OUver CromweU had already acquired by his conduct in the Fens business. ' In the register of burials at the parish church of Felsted, under the year 1639, is the following entry: ' Robertus Cromwell filius honorandi viri M*- Oliveris CromweU et Elizabethae uxoris ejus sepultus fuit ^i"" die Maii. Et Ro- bertus fuit eximie pius juvenis Deum timens supra multos.^ Which remarkable addition to a simple mention of burial we need hardly point out as of the rarest occurrence on that most formal of aU the pages of history— a leaf of a parish register,— where to be born and to die is aU that can ever be conceded to either rich or poor. The friend who examined the original forms could find no other instance in the volume of a deviation from the strict rule. Among aU the fathers, sons, and brothers crowded into its records of birth and death, the only vir honorandus is the Puritan squire of Huntingdon. The name of the Vicar of Felsted in 1639 was Wharton; this entry is in his handwriting, and has his signature appended to it.'^ It was, then, to this remarkable youth, who died in the eighteenth year of his age,t that his father alluded just before his own death. ' At Hampton Court,' records Harvey, groom of his bedchamber, ' a few days after the death of the Lady Elizabeth,' his favourite daughter, ' which touched him nearly, being then himself under bodily distempers, forerunners of that sickness which was to death, and in his bedchamber, he caUed for his Bible, and desired an honourable and godly person there with others present, to read unto him that passage in Philippians fourth [11, 12, 13], ' Not that I speak in respect of want : for I have learned' in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know mg Colonel Cromwell again, just on the edge of Marston Moor, I thought he looked sad and wearied, for he had had a sad loss ; young Oliver got kiUed to death not long before, I heard. It was near Knaresborough : and thirtv more got killed.* J *"v*w * Edinburgh Semew, January, 1856. t Not ' nineteenth,* as the Edinburgh Beviewer says. s2 II 260 EABLT LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL, both how to be abased, and I know how to abonnd : every where, and in aU things, I am instructed, both to be lull and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 1 can do aU things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Which read, said he, to use his own words as near as 1 can remember them : ' This Scripture did once save my life when my eldest son died, which went as a dagger to my heart, tndeed it did,^ And then repeating the words of the text himself, and reading the tenth and eleventh verses of Paul's contentation and submission to the wiU of God in all conditions, said he : ' It's true, Paul, you have learned this, and attained to this measure of grace ; but what shaU I do ! Ah, poor creature, it is a hard lesson for me to take out ! I find it so !' But, reading on to the thirteenth verse, where Paul saith, ' I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me, then faith began to work, and his heart to find support and comfort, and he said thus to himself: < He that was Paul s Christ is my Christ too !' And so drew waters out of the weU of salvation/ It is to this dearly prized son also that Cromwell probably alludes, and not to young OUver, in the letter addressed by him to his brother-in-law Colonel Val- entine Walton, communicating to him the death of hu eldest son at the battle of Marston Moor. ' Dear Sir,' commences this truly noble letter,* ' it is our duty to sympathize in all mercies, and to praise the Lord together in chastisements or trials, that so we may sorrow together. Truly, England and the church of God hath had a great favour from the Lord, in this great victory given unto us, such as the like never was since this war began.' Having briefly touched on the special success of the ' godly party ' in the fight, and its main features, the writer exclaims: ' Give glory, all the glory, to God '—and then, with merciful abruptness, passes to the private sorrow : * Sir, God hath taken away your eldest son by a cannot-shot : it brake his leg. We were necessitated to have it cut off; whereof he died. Sir, you know my own trials this way, but the Lord sup- ported me 'with this, that the Lord took him into the happiness • Carlyle, vol. i. pp. 207-8. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 26t we all pant for and live for. There is your precious child full of glory, never to know sin or sorrow any more. He was a gallant young man, exceedingly gracious. God give you His comfort. Truly, he was exceedingly beloved in the army of all that knew him ; but few knew him, for he was a precious young man, fit for God. You have cause to bless the Lord. He is a glorious saint in heaven, wherein you ought exceedingly to rejoice. Let this drink up your sorrow, seeing these are not feigned words to comfort you, but the thing is so real and undoubted a truth. You may do all things by the strength of Christ, Seek that, and you shall easily bear your trial. Let this public mercy to the church of God make you to forget your private sorrow. The Lord be your strength, so prays your truly faithftd and loving brother.' From these last sentences we gather the reason of the priority given in the letter to the news of the battle over the death of young Walton. Cromwell was well-enough read in the human heart, and had learned enough from his own personal experience to be aware that, to possess its due counter- weight, when the first shock had passed away, the public success must be allowed to produce for the moment an undivided impression on the mind of the zealous Puritan. Had the narration of the private grief preceded, how coldly and mockingly would the subsequent words of public triumph have fallen on his ears, and with how much weakened force would they have recurred to his recollection. The death of his son Robert seems to have also suggested some expressions in a letter written by Cromwell, several years afterwards, to his friend Lord Wharton, on the birth of a son and heir, where he says : ^ My lord, I rejoice in your particular mercy ; I hope that it is so to you. If so, it shall not hurt you ; not make you plot or shift for the young baron to make him great. You will say, ' He is God's to dispose of, and guide for,' and there you will leave him,** • Carlyle, vol. i, pp. 388-9. It is the usual and proper thing here to ohserve on the probable fate of the house of Cromwell if the elder brother of Richard Cromwell had survived. It has also become a custom to say something on these occasions disrespectful of the said Richard. I prefer referring the reader to a letter of his, which lies entombed in Dr. Harris' volumes (ed. 18 14, Appendix S62 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. Public duties, however, once more summoned Cromwell from this private sorrow ; and lie probably gladly obeyed the caU. The parliamentary interregnum was at an end, and the writs had been issued by Charles for his fourth Parliament. The following entry in the common day-book of the corpo- ration of Cambridge shows the return which they made for that ancient borough : ' 25 March, 1640, Thomas French, gen., Maior. This day the greatest part of the burgesses of this town being present at the Guildhall, have chosen for burgesses, for the next ensuing Parliament, for this town, Thomas Meautys, Esq'-, and Oliver Cromwell, Esq'' Thomas Meautys was, perhaps, the son of that Sir Thomas Meautys who was secretary to Lord Bacon. He had sat in previous Parliaments for Cambridge ; and, from the dedication to a curious little volume published in 1627,* he seems to have been then, at any rate, ^ Clerk of his Majesty's Most Honor- able Privy CouncH.' The representation, therefore, of the town of Cambridge was probably in this Parliament divided between what we should now call a Ministerialist, and a member of the Opposition, or, in the language of that day, a ' Courtier ' and a * Puritan.* Various reasons have been assigned for Oliver's change of seat from Huntingdon to Cambridge. It is alleged by some that his uncle Sir Oliver's interest proved too strong for his re-election for his native town. But Sir Oliver's interest at Huntingdon must have greatly decayed with his declining fortunes ; and it is not likely that it was then sufficient to throw out of the representation one who had recently achieved such great popularity in the district. The change in the con- stitution of the corporation might have been a more probable cause ; but, as we find two Puritans returned for the borough, the opposition to Oliver would have been personal (from the mayor and his partisans) rather than political. The reason seems to have been that the Montagues, who had succeeded to Life of Charles II.), and which, if it had been the only memorial we possessed of Richard Cromwell, might have given rise to surmises respecting him similar to those indulged in with regard to his brothers. Whatever might have been the case with Robert, I do not believe that Henry Cromwell would have been Rble to m^tain himself at the head of the State. • The AUorme's Almanacke Provided and Desired : by Thos. Powell, EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. ^63 to the local influence of the Cromwell family, wished to return another member of their family as a representative, and Oliver would, in that case, probably retire, if he had any offer of election elsewhere. Such an offer appears to have been made him by the electors of the town of Cambridge ; to whom, it is not unlikely, that some opposition on his part to Sir Cornelius Vermuyden's plan for draioing the Fens, which, it has been seen, was considered dangerous to the prosperity of Cambridge, recommended him as a fit candidate. At any rate, he must have been well-known among them by his family connexions, which were scattered aU over the neigh- bouring country. There is a long and very circumstantial story in Heath about the manner in which he became known to the Cambridge townspeople ; but the composer of this valuable contribution to history has confounded the two Par- liaments which were called in 1640. During the short-lived Parliament of April we have no record of any special part taken by Cromwell. He with the rest was dismissed by the kiug on the 5th of May following. The interval of repose was, however, brief; for in a few months Charles found it necessary to send out fresh writs, which had the effect of calling together the memorable Long Parlia- ment. In the elections the struggle between the Court and Puritan parties all over the country was most severe, and the exertions of the leaders on both sides proportionably great. One instance of the conflict of the two interests is presented by the election for the town of Cambridge. In the common day-book of the corporation we find the following entry, under the 14th day of October, 1640, ^ This day a letter was read, that was sent from the Right Honourable John Lord Finch, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and High Steward of this town, the tenor whereof is as follows : — » To my very loving Friends Mr. Mayor of Cambridge, Aldermen his Brethren, and the rest of the Corporation. After my very hearty commendations unto you, I must, in the first place, give you many thanks for that expression of your love and respect unto me which I found at my being with you. And I shall pray you to rest assured that nothing in my power shall be wanting whereby I may give you assurance how ready I shall ever be to requite your love with my endeavours for the good of your corporation upon all occasions. It hath pleased his Majesty to summon a fU EABLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 265 It Parliament to be holden at Westminster the third of November, and I hope it wiU be a happy one. The last Parliament 1 recommended unto you my cousin and friend Mr. Thomas Meautys, in whom I always found ability and affection to ■erve you : him I shall, this time also, desire you (the rather for my sake) to make choice of again for one of the burgesses. If you choose with him any ■tranger, I build so much upon your loves, that I shall recommend unto you my brother Sir Nathaniel Finch, knight, his Majesty's sergeant-at-law, for whose care of you and affection to do you any service I will undertake. But my meaning is not that for choice of him yon should p*termit my cousin Meautys, or any of your corporation whom you should have a desire to elect, but only in ease that with my cousin Meautys you join a stranger. And in this, as in all things, I shall set this limit to my desires and requests unto you, that it be without any inconvenience to yourselves or your corporation. The bearer hereof brings with him the writ to the sheriff of Cambridgeshire, from whom the warrant is to come, both to the university and to you, of which I thought fit to give you timely notice. And so, with the remembrance of my hearty love unto you — I rest, your very loving and assured friend, Jo. Finch, S.* ¥ork» 2nd October, 1640. The Lord-Keeper seems to liave been very milucky in his election canvass, for from the following entry it appears that both his candidates were rejected: 'October 27*% 1640 — Magister Robson, Maior. This day the greatest part of the burgesses of this town being present in the hall, have chosen for burgesses of the next ensuing Parliament for this town Oliver Cromwell, Esq., and John Lowry, of the common conndl, or 24.' I will now give the story to which I alluded, concerning the manner in which Oliver procured his election for Cambridge, and the reader will at once estimate its credibihty. ' Whilst Oliver continued at Ely there were discourses of new writs issuing out for the Parliament in 1640 ; and about the same time, or a little before, it was the hap of one Richard Ti/ms, since alderman of Cambridge, and a man generally known through- out all the late times, having sat in all the juntoes thereof, to be at a conventicle (as he usually every Sunday rode to the Isle of Ely to that purpose, having a brother who enter- tained them in his course), where he heard this Oliver with such admiration that he thought there was not such a precious man in the nation, and took such a liking to him, that from • Given in Oliver CromwelPs Memoirs of his ancestor. * Lord-Keeper' Finch was the impracticable Speaker who brought about the abrupt termination of the Parliament of 1628-9. This fact su^ests what must have been one of the moat canvassed topics at this Cambridge election contest. ( that time he did nothing but ruminate and meditate of the man and his gifts. This Richard Tyms, before the writs were issued out (in which time he had opportunity of hearing Oliver once and again), began to hammer in his head a pro- ject of getting him chosen a burgess for Cambridge, himself being then but one of the 24 ; and with this device he presently repaired to one Mr. Wildbore, a draper, a kinsman of Cromwell's, and a Nonconformist likewise ; and after some commendatory language of Oliver, propounded to him the choosing of him burgess. To which Wildbore answered, that it was impossible, because he was no freeman of the town. This almost dashed the project ; notwithstanding, as he was returning home, his mind gave him to ask the advice of his neighbour Ibbot, a tallow-chandler, whom he found working in his frock, and who gave him the same answer ; and there- upon Tyms concluded to surcease the design, and departed. But, before he was far from the house, Ibbot, hankering after the business, had thought of an expedient, and caused him to be called back, when he told him that the mayor had power to make a freeman, and, saith he, you know Mr. Kitchinman the attorney (who was a Puritan likewise), he and the mayor have married two sisters. It is possible he may persuade his brother to confer his freedom upon Mr. Cromwell ; and to that purpose you and I and Mr. Wildbore will go to Mr. Kitchinman's presently and speak to him about the business; but the mayor must not know the reason and design of it, for he is a perfect Royalist. Accordingly they three went to Kitchinman's, laid open the worth of Cromwell, and easily engaged him in the plot. The same night he went to the mayor's, by name Alderman French, and finding him at supper, without more ado acquainted him with his business; told him that one Mr. Cromwell had a mind to come and dwell in the town, but first he would be made a freeman ; that he was a deserving gentleman, and that he would be an honour and support to the town, which was full of poor, and many more good-morrows. To which the mayor answered, that he was sorry he could not comply with his desires, for he had engaged his freedom already to the king's fisherman, and could not recede from his word. Whereto Kitchinman pre- 266 EABLT LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 1' EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROltWELL. 267 II sently replied : * Brother, do you give your freedom to Mr. Cromwell, I'll warrant and take upon me that the town shall give a freedom to the said fisherman ; and with some other words persuaded the unwary mayor to consent. All this while Cromwell was utterly ignorant what had been trans- acted at Cambridge ; but now Tyms sent him word, that in order to make him a burgess, he with his party had procured a freedom from the mayor ; that therefore he should not fail to be there the next court-day. This message Cromwell received with a like gladness and wonder ; and not to be wanting to the industry and zeal of the faction, came pri- vately to Cambridge the day before, and took up his lodging at one Almond's, a grocer. Next day the court being set, the mayor rose up, as the manner is, and declared that he had conferred his freedom upon a right worthy gentleman, Mr. Cromwell, using the same character of him which he had received from Kitchinman : and hereupon a mace was sent to bring Cromwell into the court, who came thither in a scarlet coat laid with a broad gold lace, and was there seated, then sworn and saluted by the mayor, aldermen, and the rest with ' Welcome, brother!' In the meantime Cromwell had caused a good quantity of wine to be brought into the town- house (with some confectionary-stuff), which was liberally filled out, and as liberally taken of, to the warming of most of their noddles; when Tyms and the other three spread themselves among the company and whispered into their ears, ' Would not this man make a brave burgess for the ensuing Parliament?' Which being stilled in with the merry juice, gratis and plentifully given them, could not but have a kind operation in the next occasion ; and a fortnight after another common-hall was called for the said election of burgesses, where was first named Mr. Lowry, who carried it by the general suffrage ; after him one Mr. Mutis, a counsellor, and he had the votes of a great many, all of them Royalists ; lastly, our Oliver was named, and the faction bawled as if they were mad, and by plurality of voices carried it clear from Mr. Mutis. When the mayor now perceived the jig, and how Kitchinman had fooled him, he could have pulled Ihe hair off his head; but the thing was remediless, he was legally chosen, for the faction had brought men thither that had left off their gowns for thirty years together.' With respect to this story of Heath's, it seems that he is correct in asserting that the mayor gave his freedom to Oliver, for in the common-place book of the Corporation we read, that ' On Tuesday, the 7th of January, 1639 [^. e, 1640], OHver Cromwell, of Huntingdon, in the county of Huntingdon, Esq., on the presentation of the mayor of the town, according to the ancient custom recognised in the said town, hath the freedom of the said town gratis, on payment of id, to the poor ; and is sworn in.' Here, however. Heath's story should have terminated, for it is equally certain that his account of the deception practised on the mayor is untrue. It will be seen that he has confoimded together the Parliaments of April and November, 1640, and this alone would throw a doubt on his story. But it is clear that the mayor (par- ticularly if a Royalist) must have been well acquainted with the name of Sir Oliver Cromwell of Hinchinbrook : for the Cambridge corporation and university went thither on more than one occasion to present addresses to James and Charles. The name of his nephew must at once have recalled to the mayor's mind that the candidate for the freedom of the town was the Puritan member for Huntingdon in the last Parlia- ment ; so that it is absurd to suppose that the mayor should know nothing about him. Nearly four months elapsed be- tween the conferral of the freedom and the election made to the Parliament of April ; so th^t the plan can hardly be said to have been a very feasible one, if the mayor were not ex- pected to remain with his eyes closed and ears shut to all that passed around him during that interval. On the 25th of March we find that ^ Thomas French, gentleman, was mayor ; but the burgesses returned to Parliament were Thomas Meautys, Esq., and Oliver Cromwell, Esq., so that the mayor's candidate was not thrown out. At the election to the Long Parliament, on October 27th, 1640, Oliver Cromwell, Esq., and John Lowry, of the common council, were returned; but the mayor was then a ' Mr. Robson,' and of course Alderman French could not then be deceived, as Cromwell had already represented Cambridge in one Parliament. 268 EARLY LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. M Another story quite at variance with the last, is told in a lAfe of John Cleaveland, the poet. It is said, ' He was at the time of Oliver's election tutor of St. John's College in Cain, bridge, and then of considerable influence, which he used in strenuously opposing Oliver's election, which was obtained b^ a single vote, Cleaveland seeing this, said with much patriotic zeal, ' That single vote had ruined church and kingdom !' ' This bears on the face of it all the marks of an invention of later years, and certainly does not agree with Heath's story, that Oliver's election was by a plurality of voices carried clear against Mr. Meautys. If it were not that they have been repeated so often, and arguments even founded upon them in modern biographies of Oliver, neither of these stories would merit a moment's attention. With his return to the Long Parliament the history of Oliver Cromwell's early life properly ends. Henceforward Ms career becomes identified with the great struggle in which he had already taken some share j until from the private gen- tleman of Huntingdon and Ely he rises into the Lord Pro- tector of the three sister kingdoms. V. CONSTITUTIONAL RETURNS TO THE LONG PARLIAMENT. THE following list of the returns to the Long Parliament under authority of the great seal (November, 1640— May, 1642), is based on the lists in Rushworth, Browne Willis (Notitia Parliamentaria), and the parliamentary histories. But, as these are all incorrect or imperfect in some respects, they have been frequently amended and completed from the Journals of the House of Commons, various lists, published by the clerks of the Parliament at diflPerent eras ot its existence, and other similar sources. No alterations, however, have been adopted without the strongest authority. The same may be said of the subsequent parliamentary lists in this volimie. The accounts are still defective ; and these defects have been carefully noted, so that the attention of future students may be at once directed to them. In this first general list the reader has before him the Parliament which met Charles I. in November, 1640, with the changes in the representation down to the month of May, 1642, when the flight of Lord-Keeper Littleton to the king with the great seal prevented anymore ^constitutional' writs issuing for the election of new members. In August, 1645, and thenceforward through the succeeding years. Par- liament sent out new writs in the king's name, but by virtue of its own authority. These were, of course, strictly speaking, ' imconstitutional' returns ; and stand on a different footing from those which were made under writs issued before the Lord-Keeper's flight. 270 THE LONG PARLIAMENT, ASSEMBLED NOTEMBEB, 164O. THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 271 (AH wlio liave not this mark * attached to their names, sat in the Parliament of April, 1640. K.w. New writ issued. Within [ ]. Title subsequent to their election.) BSDFOBDSHIBE (2). Sir Oliver Luke. Thomas Lord Wentworth. *^- Burgin. Tbree members returned ; on com- mittee Mr. Burgin unseated, x/eo. ^« Bee. 5. N.w. vice Lord Went- worth, created a peer. •Sir Boger Burgoyne, Bart. Bedfobd (3). Sir Beauchamp St. Jolm. Sir Samuel Liike. Bbbkshibb (2). Henry Marten. John Fettiplace. Abingdon (i). *Sir George Stonehouse, Bart. New Windsob (2). . •Sir Thomas Roe. ♦Thomas Waller. On petition both unseated Dec. 8. N.w. Dec. 12. ♦Cornelius Holland. ♦William Taylor. May 27, 1641, William Taylor expeUed. n.w. ♦Richard Winwood. Reading (2). Sir Francis Knowles. Sir Francis Knowles, jun. Wallingfobd (2). Edmund Dunch. ♦Anthony Barker. On petition both unseated, Feb. 15, 1641. N.w. Edmund Dunch. ♦Thomas Howard. BUCEINGHAMSHIBE (2). John Hampden. Arthur Groodwin. Amebsham (2). Sir William Drake. ♦William Cheyne. On death of Mr. Cheyne, N.w. April 30, 1 64 1. ♦Francis Drake. Atlesbuby (2). Sir Ralph Vemey. Sir John Packington, Bart. Buckingham (2). Sir Peter Temple, Bart. Sir Alexander Denton* Mablow (3). ♦Peregrine Hobby. ♦Gabriel Hippesley. ♦John Borlase. Three members returned. On petition election declared void. N.w. Nov. 19. ♦Bulstrode Whitelocke. ♦Peregrine Hobby. ♦John Borlase. Three members again returned. On petition, Jan. 5, 1641, Mr. Borlase unseated. Wendoveb (2). John Hampden. Sir Robert Crooke. On Mr. Hampden electing to sit for the county, N.w, Dec. 8. ♦ Thomas Fountaine. Wycombe (2). Thomas Lane. Sir Edmund Vemey, Knt- Marshal. f Cahbbidgeshibe (2). I st writ not properly issued. N.w. Nov. 6. Sir Dudley North, Bart. ♦Thomas Chichley. Cambbidge Univebsity (2). Henry Lucas. Thomas Eden, LL.D. Cambbidge (2). Oliver CromwelL ♦John Lowry. Cheshibe (2). Sir William Brereton, Bart. ♦Peter Venables. Chesteb (2). [Sir] Thomas Smith. ♦Francis Gamul. COBNWALL (2). Sir BevUl Grenville. ♦Sir Alexander Carew. Bodmin (2). Anthony NicoU. ♦John Arundell. Bossiney (2). ♦Sir Christopher Yelverton. ♦Sir John Clotworthy, Bart. ♦Sir Charles Herbert. Three members returned. In com- mittee of privileges election de- clared void, and N.w. Feb. 15, 1641. ♦Sir Christopber Yelverton. ♦Sir Ralph Sydenham. Camelford (2) Piers Edgecumbe. ♦William Glanville. East-Looe (2). Francis Buller. ♦Thomas Lower. FowEY (2). Sir Richard Buller. ♦Henry Rainsford. On petition election declared void, and N.w. Nov. 20. Sir Richard Buller. Jonathan Rashleigh. Gbampotjnd (2). ♦Sir John Trevor. ♦James Campbell. Hblstone (2). Sidney Godolphin. ♦Francis Godolphin. Kellington (2). Sir Arthur Ingram. ♦George Vane. Launceston (2). William Coryton. Ambrose Manaton. On petition Mr. Coryton unseated, N.w. August 18, 1 64 1. John Harris. Liskeaed (2). John Harris (of Ratford). ♦Joseph Jane. LOSTWITHIEL (2). John Trevanion. Richard Arundell. Newport (2). John Maynard. ♦Richard Edgecumbe. Mr. Maynard elected to sit for Totness, and n.w. Dec. 8 ; but no return made, and seat re- mained vacant till 1647. Penbyn (2). Sir Nicholas Slanning. ♦Sir John Bampfylde, Bart. St. Germans (2). ♦Benjamin Valentyne. ♦John Moyle, jun. St. Ives (2). Philip Sidney, Viscount Lisle. ♦Francis Godolphin. On Lord Lisle electing to sit for Yarmouth (I. of W.), N.w. Nov. 9. Edmund Waller. St. Mawes (2). George Parry, LL.D. ♦Richard Erisey. 272 THE LONG PAKLIAMENT. THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 273 St. Michaels (a). Robert Holbome, ♦John ArundelL On Mr. Anindell electing to sit for Bodmin, n.w. Nov. 9. ♦William ChadweU. Saitash (2). George Buller. Edward Hyde. Tbioony (2). Sir Richard Vyvyan. ♦John Polewhele. Tbfbo (2). John Rolle. Francis Rouse. West-Looe (2). ♦Henry Killegrew. ♦Thomas Arundell. CUMBEELAND (2). Sir George Dabton. Sir Patricius Curwen, Bart. Cablislb (2). Sir William Palston, Bart. ♦Richard Barwis. COCKEBMOTTTH (2). This borough restored to its old privilege of sending members, Feb. 15, 1 641. Sir John Fenwicke. ♦Sir John Hippesley. On Sir John Fenwicke electing to nit for Northumberland, n.w. Feb. 5, 1642. ♦Sir Thomas Stamford, or Sand- ford, Bart. Returned by sheriff contrary to the return made to him by the bailiff of the borough, of ♦Alderman Francis Allein, Who was declared duly elected Dec. 1645. Pebbyshibe (2). Sir John Curzon, Bart. ♦Sir John Coke. Debby (2). William Allestree, Recorder. Alderman Nathaniel Hallowes. Election declared void March 25, 1 64 1 J but on N.w. they were re-chosen. Devonshibe (2). Thomas Wise. Edward Seymour. On death of Mr. Wise, N.w. March 20, 1641. Sir Samuel Rolle. Ashbubton (2). This borough restored to its old privilege of sending members, Nov. 26. ♦Sir Edmond Fowell. ♦Sir John Northcote, Bart. Babnstaple (2). George Peard. ♦Richard Ferrers. On petition Mr. Ferrers unseated, August 6, 1641 ; but on n.w. re-chosen. Bebalstone (2). Sir Thomas Cheeke. William Strode. On Sir T. Cheeke electing to sit for Harwich, N.w. Nov. 9. ♦[Sir] Hugh Pollard. On Sir H. Pollard being expelled, N.w. Dec. 9, 1641. ♦Charles Pym. Clifton, Dabtmouth, and Habdness (2). ♦Samuel Browne. ♦Arthur Upton. On death of Mr. Upton, N.w. Oct. 20, 1641, ♦Roger Matthews. EXETEB (2). Simon Snow. Robert Walker. I HONITON (2). This borough restored to its old privilege of sending members, Nov. 26. ♦Sir William Pole. ♦Walter Young. Oeehampton (2). ♦Edward Thomas. ♦Lawrence Whitaker. Plymouth (2). Robert Trelawny. ♦Sir John Young. On Mr. Trelawny being disabled, N.w. March 9, 1642. John Whaddon. Plympton (2). Michael Oldesworth. Sir Nicholas Slanning. On Mr. Oldesworth electing to sit for Salisbury, n.w. Nov. 9. Hugh Potter. Sir N. Slanning elected to sit for Penryn ; but no N.w. issued till 1646. Tavistock (2). John Pym. William Lord Russell. On Lord Russell becoming Earl of Bedford, n.w. May 24, 1641. ♦John Russell. Tivebton (2). Peter St. Hill. ♦George Hartnoll. Totness (2). John Maynard. Oliver St. John. Dobsbtshibe (2). George Lord Digby. Richard Rogers. On Lord Digby being called up to House of Lords, n.w. June 10, 164T. ♦John Browne. Bbidpobt (2). Roger Hill. Giles Strangwayes. Cobfe-Castle (2). John Borlase.f Sir Francis Windebank. On flight and expulsion of Sir F. Windebank, n.w. Dec. 17. Giles Green.t Dobchesteb (2). Dennis Bond. Denzil Holies. Lyme-Reois (2). Edmund Prideaux. Richard Rose. Melcombe-Regis (2). Richard King. ♦[Sir] Gerard Napper. Poole (2). William Constantine. ♦John Pyne. Shaftesbuby (2). Samuel Turner, M.D. William Whitaker. Wabeham (2). Thomas Erie. John Trenchard. [Mr. Erie seems not to have been returned by mayor at first ; but on petition, Feb. i, 164T, was declared duly elected.] Weymouth (2). Sir Walter Erie. Sir John Strangwayes. Essex (2). ♦Sir Martin Lumley, Bart. ♦Robert Lord Rich. On Lord Rich being called up to House of Peers, n.w. Jan. 27, 1641. Sir William Masham, Bart. t Query, whether Mr. Borlase or Mr. Green was originally returned ? T ^1' * ^ 274 THE LONG PARLIAMENT. I t COLCHBSTEB (2). Sir Thomas Barrington, Bart. Harbottle Grimstone. Habwich (2). Sir Thomas Cheeke. Sir Harbottle Grimstone, Bart. Maldbn (2). Sir Henry Mildmay. •Sir John Ciotworthy. Gloucestebshibe (2). ♦John Button. ♦Nathaniel Stephens. ClBENCESTEB (2). John George. •Sir Theobald Gorges. Gloucbsteb (2). Henry Brett. •Alderman Thomas Pnry. Tbwkesbijby (2). Sir Edward Alford. Sir Eobert Cooke. •John Craven. •Edward Stephens. Four members returned ; in com- mittee election declared void ; N.w. August 6, 1 64 1. Sir Edward Alford. Sir Kobert Cooke. On petition Sir E. Alford unseated Dec. 25, 1643, and in his place declared duly elected •Edward Stephens. Hebefobdshibe (2). Sir Robert Harley, K.C.B. •Fitzwilliams Coningsby. On Mr. Coningsby being expelled as a monopolist, v.w. Oct. 30, 1641. •Humphrey Coningsby. Hebbfobd (2). B.ichard Seaboume. Bichard Weaver. On death of Mr, Weaver, h.w. May 23, 1642. •James Scudamore. Leominsteb (2). Walter Kirle. •Serjt. Sampson Eure or Ewers. Weoblt (2). William Tomkins. •Arthur Jones [Viscount Eane- lagh]. On death of Mr. W. Tomkins, N.w. Jan. 2, 1641. Thomas Tomkins. Hebtfobdshibb (2). Arthur Capel. Sir William Lytton. On Mr. Capel being created a Peer, n.w. August 7, 1641. •Sir Thomas Dacres. Hbbtfobd (2). Charles Cecil, Viscount Cran- boume. Sir Thomas Fanshawe, K.C.B. St. Alban's (2). Sir John Jenyns. •Edward Wingate. HUNTINGDONSHIBB (2). •Sir Sidney Montagu. •Valentine Walton. Huntingdon (2). •Edward Montagu. •George Montagu. Kent (2). Sir John Culpeper. •Sir Edward Deering, Bart. On Sir E. Deering being disabled, N.w. Feb. 2, 1642. •Augustine Skynner. Cantebbubt (2). Sir Edward Masters. John Nutt. Maidstone (2). Sir Francis Bamham. •Sir Humphrey Tufton, QUEENBOBOUOH (2). Sir Edward Hales, Bart. •William Harrison. THE LONG PARLLiMENT. 275 Eochesteb (2). Sir Thomas Walsingham. •Bichard Lee. Lancashibb (2). Roger Kirkby. •Sir Ealph Ashton, Bart. Clitheboe (2). Balph Ashton. Richard Shuttleworth, jun. Lancasteb (2). Sir John Harrison. •Sir Thomas Fanshawe. LiVEBPOOL (2). Sir Richard Wynn, Bart. •John More. Newton (2). •William Ashurst. •Peter Legh. On death of Mr. Legh, n.w. Feb. 4, 1642. •Sir Roger Palmer. Pbeston (2). Richard Shuttleworth. Thomas Standish. WiGAN (2). Orlando Bridgeman. Alexander Rigby. Leicestebshibe (2). Henry De Grey, Lord Grey De Ruthyn. Sir Arthur Hesilrige, Bart. Leicesteb (2). Thomas Coke. •Thomas Lord Grey of Groby. LiNCOLNSHIBE (2). Sir John Wray, Bart. •Sir Edward Ayscough. Boston (2). William EUis. Sir Anthony Lrby. Gbantham (2). Henry Pelham. •Sir William Armyne, Bart. Gbeat Gbimsby (2). 'Gervase Holies. Sir Christopher Wray. Lincoln (2). Thomas Grantham. •John Broxholme. Stamfobo (2). Thomas Hatcher. •Geoffrey Palmer. Middlesex (2). Sir John Frankly n. Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Bart. London (4). Matthew Cradock. Isaac Pennington. Sir Thomas Soame. Samuel Vassall. On death of Mr. Cradock, n.w. May 28, 1 64 1. •Captain John Venne. Westminstee (2). William Bell. John Glynne. MONMOUTHSHIBE (2). •William Herbert. •Sir Charles Williams. On death of Sir C. Williams, n.w. March 19, 1642. •Henry Herbert. Monmouth (2). •Thomas Trevor. •William Watkins. Mr. Watkins disabled as a mono- polist, Nov. 16, 1640. The election declared void, Nov. 29, 1644. Noefolk (2). Sir Edward Mountford. •[Sir] John Potts, [Bart.] Castle-Rising (2). Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Holland, Bart. On Sir C. Hatton electing to sit for Higham-Ferrers, n.w. Nov. 9. •Sir Robert Hatton. Lynn-Regis (2). •John Percival. •Thomas Toll. I t2 ril 276 THE LONG PABUAMENT. I II i Norwich (2). Thomas Tooley. •Bichard Catalyn. •Biobard Harman. Three members returned ; on com- mittee,Nov. 7, 1640, Mr. Tooley unseated. Thetfobd (2). Framlingham Gawdy. Sir Thomas Woodhouse, Bart. Yabmouth (2). Miles Corbett. Edward Owner. KOBTHAMPTONSHIBE (2). Sir Gilbert Pickering, Bart. •Sir John Bryden, Bart. Bbacklby (2). John Crewe. ♦Sir Martin Lyster. Hioham-Febbabs (i). Sir Christopher Hatton. NOBTHAMPTON (2). Bichard Knightley. Zonch Tate. Pbtebbobough (2). William Fitz-Williams. •Sir Bobert Napier, Bart. ♦George Vane. Three members returned ; on com- mittee, Feb. 4. 1641. Mr. Vane unseated. Kobthumbeblaitd (2). Henry Percy. [Sir] William Widdrington, [Bart.]. On Mr. Percy being expeUed, K.w. Bee. 9, 1641. Sir John Fcnwicke. Bbbwick (2). Sir Edward Osborne, Bart. Sir Thomas Widdrington. On petition, Sir E. Osborne un- seated, N.w. Dec. 7. ♦Bobert Scawen. MOBPETH (2). Sir William Camaby. ♦John Fenwicke. Nbwca8tle-on-Ttkb (2). ♦Sir Henry Anderwn. ♦Sir John Melton. On petition. Sir J. Melton (who had preTiously died) declared unduly elected, and in his place seated, Jan. 30, 1641,— John Blakiston. NoTTIKGHAMflHlBE (2). Sir Thomas Hutchinson. Bobert Sutton. East-Betfobd (2). Sir Gervase Clifton, Bart. ♦Charles Cavendish, Viscount Mansfield. Nottingham (2). ♦Gilbert Millington. ♦William Stanhope. OXFOBDSHIBE (2). James Fiennes. ♦Thomas Viscount Wenman. Banbubt (i). Nathaniel Fiennes. OXFOBD (2). Chas. Howard, Visct. Andover. ♦John Whistler. On Viscount Andover being sum- moned to the House of Peers, ».w. Nov. 18. I ♦John Smith. OXEOBD XTnIVEBSITY (2). ♦Sir Thomas Boe. ♦John Selden. Woodstock (2). WiLLM. Lenthall, Speakkb. ♦William Herbert. On Mr. Herbert electing to sit for Monmouthshire, N.W.Nov. 20. ♦Sir Bobert Pye. Butland (2). Baptist Noel. Sir Guy Palmes. Shbopshibe (2). ♦Sir Bichard Lee, Bart. ♦Sir Bichard Newport. THE LONG PABUAMENT. 277 Bishop Castle (2). Sur Bobert Howard, Z.C.B. Bichard Moor. Bbidoenobth (2). [Sir] Edward Acton. Sir Thomas Whitmore. Ludlow (2). Charles Baldwin. Balph Goodwin. Shbewsbuby (2). Francis Newport. ♦William Spurstow. Gbeat Wenlock (2). William Pierrepont. ♦Thomas Littleton. SoifEBSET (2). ♦Sir John Paulet. ♦Sir John Stawell, K.C.B. Bath (2). Alexander Popham. ♦William Basset. Bbidgewateb (2). Edmund Wyndham. ♦Sir Peter Wroth. On Mr. Wyndham being expelled as a monopolist, n.w. Jan. 21, 1641. Thomas Smith. Bbistol (2). Humphrey Hooke. ♦Bichard Long. On Mr. Hooke and Mr. Long being expelled as monopolists, N.w. May 12, 1642. Sebjeant John Glanvillb [Speakeb of the Parliament of April]. ♦William Taylor. Ilchesteb (2). Sir Henry Berkeley. ♦Bobert Hunt. On petition, both unseated, K.w. Feb. 15, 1641. Edward Philips. ♦Bobert Hunt. Milbobn-Pobt (2). George Lord Digby. ♦John Digby. On Lord Digby electing to sit for Dorsetshire, N.w. Nov. 9. Edward !Kirton. Mynehead (2). ♦Alexander Lutterel. ♦Sir Francis Popham. On death of Mr. Lutterel, N.w. ordered to be issued June 3, 1642 ; but this being after the Lord-Keeper's flight, no writ was issued, and the seat remained vacant till 1645. Taunton (2). Sir William Portman, Bart. ♦George Searle. Wells (2). Sir Balph Hopton, K:.C.B. Sir Edward Bodney. Southamptonshibb (2). Sir Henry Wallop. Bichard Whitehead. Andoveb (2). ♦Sir Henry Bainsford. ♦Henry Vernon. On petition. May 3, 1642, Mr. Ver- non unseated, and in his place declared duly elected, — ♦Sir WiUiam WaUer. [There- turn was amended May 12, 1642]. On death of Sir H.Bainsford, N.w. March 31, 1641. Bobert Wallop. Chbistchubch (2). Henry Tulse. ♦Matthew Davies. Lymington (2). ♦John Button. ♦Henry Campion. Newpobt, Isle of Wight (2). Lucius Carey, Viscount Falk- land. Sir Henry Worsley, Bart. m 278 THE LONG PARLIAMENT. Newton (2). Sir John Meux. •[Sir] Edward Nicholas. PSTEBSFIBLD (2). Sir William Lewis, Bart. Sir William Uvedale. POETSMOITTH (2). Henry Percy. ♦George Goring. On Mr. Percy electing to sit for Northumberland, N.w. Nov. ii. Nicholas Weston. Southampton (2). George Gallop. •Edward Exton. Stockbridob (2). William Heveningham. William Jephson. Whitchubch (2). Bichard Jervoise. Sir Thomas Jervoise. Winchesteb (2). John Lisle. Sir William Ogle. Yabmofth, Isle of Wight (2). Philip Sidney, Viscount Lisle. ♦Sir John Leigh. Staffobdshibe (2). Sir William Bowyer. Sir Edward Littleton, Bart. On death of Sir W. Bowyer, n.w. March 15, 1641. •Sir Harvey Bagot. Lichfield (2). Sir Walter Devereux. •Michael Noble. On death of Sir W. Devereux, N.w. July 26, 1641. •Sir B.ichard Cave. Newcastlb-undbe-Ltne (2). Sir John Meyrick. •Sir Eichard Leveson, K.C.B. Staffoed (2). Bjdph Sneyde, Jun. Bichard Weston. Tamwoeth (2). William Strode. ♦Henry Wilmot. On Mr. Strode electing to sit for Beralstone, n.w. Nov. 9. ♦Ferdinando Stanhope. On expulsion of Mr. Wilmot, n.w. Dec. 9, 1 64 1. •Sir Peter Wentworth, K.C.B. Suffolk (2). Sir Nathaniel Barnadiston. Sir PhiUp Parker. Aldbobough (2). Squire Bence. Capt. William Eainsborough. Ondeath of Captain Rainsborough, N.w. Feb. 14, 1642. •Alexander Bence. DUNWICH (2). Sir Anthony Bedingfield. Henry Coke. Eye (2). Sir Frederick Comwallis, Bart. Sir Eoger North. Ipswich (2). William Cage. John Gourdon. OXFOED (2). Sir Charles Le Gross. •Sir William Playters, Bart. St. Edmundsbttbt (2). Sir Thomas Jermyn. •Thomas Jermyn. SUDBUEY (2). Sir Eobert Crane, Bart. •Sir Sunonds D'Ewes, Bart. SUEEEY (2). Sir Ambrose Brown, Bart. Sir Eichard Onslow. Bletchinglby (2). Edward Bysshe, Jun. •[Sir] John Evelyn. THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 279 Gatton (2). [Sir] Samuel Owfeild. Edward Sanders. On petition Nov. 3, 1641, Mr. Sanders unseated, and in his place declared duly elected, — •Thomas Sandys. GUILDFOED (2). George Abbot. Sir Eobert Parkhurst. Haselmebe (2). John Goodwyn. ♦Sir Poynings More, Bart. Eeigate (2). Sir Thomas Bludworth. •William Viscount Monson. Southwaek (2). •Edward Bagshaw. •John White. Sussex (2). Sir Thomas Pelham, Bart. Anthony Stapley. Aeundel (2). Sir Edward Alford. Henry Garton. On death of Mr. Garton, n.w. Nov. 12, 164 1. •John Downes. • Harman. Two members returned j on peti- tion, Mr. Harman unseated. Bbambeb (2). •Sir Edward Bishop. •Arthur Onslow. On petition, election declared void, N.w. Dec. 16. Sir Thomas Bowyer, Bart. •Arthur Onslow. Chichesteb (2). Christopher Lewkenor. •Sur William Morley. East-Gbinstead (2). Eobert Goodwyn. •Eichard Sackville, Lord Buck- hurst. HOBSHAM (2). Thomas Middleton. Hall [or Paul] Eavenscrofb. Lewes (2). James Eivers, •Herbert Morley. On death of Mr. Eivers, n.w. June 9, 1641. •Henry Shelley. MlDHUBST (2). Thomas May. •Dr. Chaworth. On petition, Feb. 15, 1641, Dr. Chaworth declared unduly elect- ed, and in his place seated •William Cawley, Who was also returned at first, but not by the bailifi". The return amended Feb. 20. Shobeham (2). John Alford. William Marlot. Steyning (2). •Eichard Sackville, Lord Buck- hurst. •Thomas Leeds. On Lord Buckhurst electing to sit for East - Grinstead, n.w. Nov. 9. Sir Thomas Femfold. r Wabwickshibe (2). •Edward Combe. •James Lord Compton. On petition, election declared void, N.w. Dec. 29. •James Lord Compton. •Eichard Shuckburgh. COVENTEY (2). Alderman Simon Norton. •Alderman John Barker. On death of Alderman Norton, N.w. July 12, 1641. Alderman William Jesson. f» 280 THE LONG PABUAMENT. THE LONG PAMJAMENT. 281 Wabwick (2). Sir Thomaa Lucj. Willkm Porfoy, On deatli of Sir T. Lacy, K.w. Pec. 17. Godfrey BosseTile. Wbstmoseland (3). Sir Henry Bellingham, Bart. Sir Fliilip Musgrave, Bart. Applbby (3). Eichard Boyle, yiscoiint Bim- garron. *Sir John Brooke. Wiltshire (2). ♦Sir Henry Lndlowe. •SirJaiZThyBBe. Sir Eichard Harding. •Sir Walter Smith. Calbb (2). •George Low. ♦Hugh Eogers. Chippenham (2). Sir Edward Baynton. Sir Edw. Hungerford, K.C.B. Cbicklobb (2). Thomas Hodges. Eobert Jenner. Bbyizbs (2). Edward Baynton. •Serjeant Eobert Kichols. DOWNTON (2). Sir Edward Griffith. ♦SirAnthonyA8hley-Cooper,Bt. •Alexander Thistlethwaite. Three members returned; only the two latter returns disputed, but the election not decided till January 7, i66q, when Sir A. Ashley-Cooper was declared duly elected. Hbttbsbubt (a). Thomas Moor. •Edward Ashe. HiHDON (3). Sir Miles Fleetwood. •Bobert Beynolds. On death of Sir M. Fleetwood, v.w. April 8, 1 64 1. •Thomas Bennet. LVDGEBSHALL (2). [Col.] William Ashbumham. Sir John Evelyn. On expulsion of Col. Ashbumham, n.w. Dec. 9, 1641, •Walter Long. Malhesbfbt (2). Anthony Hungerford. Sir Nevil Poole. Mablbobouoh (2). Sir Francis Seymour. •John Franklin. On Sir F. Seymour being created a peer, n.w. Feb. 35, 1641. •PhiUp Smith. Old Sabum (2). Edward Herbert. •Eobert Cecil. On Mr. Herbert becoming Attor- ney-General, N.w. Jan. 29, 1641. Sir William Saville, Bart. Westbuby (2). John Ashe. •William Wheeler. Wilton (2). Sir Benjamin Eudyard. Sir Henry Vane. Wootton-Basset (3). •WiUiam Pleydall. •Edward Poole. Wobcestebshibb (2). Serjeant John Wylde. •Humphrey Salwey. Bbwdley (i). Sir Henry Herbert. Dboitwich (2). Samuel Sandys. •Endymion Porter. i Evesham (2). William Sandys. •John Coventry. •Serjeant Eichard CresweH. Three members returned ; in com- mittee, Mr. Coventry unseated. On Mr. Sandys being disabled as amonopolist, K.w. Jan.2i, 1641. •John Coventry. Wobcesteb (2). John Cowcher. John Nash. Tobeshibe (2). Henry Bellasis. Ferdinando Lord Fairfax. Aldbobough (2). Eichard Aldborough. [Sir] Eobert Strickland. Beveblet (2). Sir John Hotham, Bart. Michael Wharton. Boboughbbidob (2). [Sir] Philip Stapylton. •[Sir]Thos.Mauleverer, [Bart.] . Hetdon (2). John Alured. •Sir William Strickland. Kikgston-on-Hull (3), Sir John Lister. Sir Henry Vane, Jun. On death of Sir J. Lister, n.w. Bee. 29. •Peregrine Pelham. Knabesbobough (2). Henry Benson. Sir Henry Slingsby, Bart. On Mr. Benson being expelled, N.w. Nov. 2, 1 641. •Sir William Constable, Bart. •William Deerlove. Double return; in committee, March 19, 1642, Mr. Deerlove unseated. Malton (2). This borough restored to privilege of sending members, Dec. 11. •Thomas Heblethwaite. •John Wastell. NOBTH AlLEBTON (2). This borough restored to privilege of sending members, Dec. ii. Sir John Eamsden. Sir Henry Cholmeley. PONTEFBACT (2). Sir Geo. Wentworth of Went- worth-Woodhouse. •SirGeo.WentworthofWooley. ElCHMOND (2). Sir Wm. Pennyman, Bart. •Sir Thomas Danby. ElPON (2). William Mallory. •[Sir] John Mallory. SCABBOEOUGH (2). Sir Hugh Cholmeley. John Hotham. Thibse (2). John Bellasis. •Sir Thomas Ligram. YoBK (2). •Sir William AUanson. •Alderman Thomas Hoyle. CINQUE POETS. DovEB, Kent (2). Sir Edward Boys. Sir Peter Heyman. On death of Sir Peter Heyman, N.w. Feb. 10, 1641. •Benjamin Weston. Hastings, Sussex (2). •John Ashburnham. •[Sir] Thomaa Eversfield. Htthe, Kent (2). Sir Henry Heyman, Bart. •John Harvey. II I I 2o2 THE LONG PARLIAMENT. BoMKEY, Sussex (2). •Philip Warwick. ♦Thomas Webb. On Mr. Warwick electing to sit for Eadnor, n.w. Nov. 7. Sir Norton Knatchbnll, Bart. On Mr. Webb being disabled as a monopolist, n.w. Jan. ai, and March 8, 1641. ♦Eichard Browne. Eye, Sussex (2). Sir John Jacob. John White. On Sir J. Jacob being disabled as a monopolist, n.w. Jan. 21, 164 1. ♦William Hay. Sandwich, Kent (2). ♦Sir Edward Parteriche, Bart. ♦Sir Thomas Peyton, Bart. Sbaeobd, Sussex (2). ♦Francis Gerrard. ♦Sir Thomas Parker. WiNCHELSEA, SusSEX (2). Sir Nicholas Crispe. [Sir] John Finch. On Sir N. Crispe being disabled as a monopolist, n.w. Feb. 2, 164 1. ♦William Smith. WALES. Anolesea (i). John Bodville. Bbaumabis (i). ♦John Griffith. Bbeconshibb (i). William Morgan, Bbecon (i). Herbert Price. ♦Eobert Williams. Bonble return ; in committee Mr. Wniiams unseated. Cabdioanshibe (i). ♦Walter Lloyd. Cabdioan (i). John Vaughan. Cabmabthenshibe (i). Sir Henry Vaughan. Cabmabthen (i). Francis Lloyd. Cabnabvonshibe (i). The first writ not attended to by the high sheriff, n.w. Not. 10. ♦John Griffith, Jun. Cabnabvon (i). The first writ not attended to by the high sheriff. N.W. Nov. 10. ♦William Thomas. Denbighshibe (i). ♦Sir Thomas Middleton. Denbigh (i). ♦Simon Theloall, Jun. Flintshibe (i). John Mostyn. Flint (i). John Salisbury, Jun. Glamobganshibb (i). Philip Lord Herbert. Cabdiff (i). William Herbert. Mebionethshibb (i). ♦William Price. Montgomebyshibe (i). ♦Sir John Price, Bart. MONTGOMEBY (l). Sir Eichard Herbert. Pembbokeshiee (1). John Wogan. Havebfobdwest (i). Sir John Stepney, Bart. Pembboke (i). [Sir] Hugh Owen. Eadnobshibe (i). Charles Price. •Arthur Annesley. Double return; in committee, Mr. Annesley unseated. Eadnob (i). ♦Philip Warwick. THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 283 At the period of Lord-Keeper Littleton's flight from West- minster with the great seal there were four vacancies in the House of Commons. One was for Newport in Cornwall, in the place of John Maynard, who at the beginning of the Parliament made his election to sit for Totnes. A new writ was ordered to be issued as early as December 8, 1640 ; but from some cause no election, as far as I can discover, took place, and the seat seems to have remained vacant till the year 1647. ^ second vacancy was for Plympton in Devon- shire, in the place of Sir N. Slanning, who made his choice to sit for Penryn; but no writ was issued till 1646. There was a third vacancy for Mynehead, Somerset, in the room of Alexander Lutterel, deceased ; but the new writ was not ordered till after the Lord- Keeper's flight. In our present returns there is also an unfilled seat for Monmouth; the former M.P., Mr. Watkins, having been disabled as a mono- polist, November 16, 1640. There were also three disputed elections — for Downton (Wilts) ; Cockermouth (Cumber- land) ; and Monmouth. r , I I STRAFFORD AND PYM. 285 I VI. STRAFFORD AND PYM. THE elections had turned out very unfavourably for the interests of the court. Of the four hundred and ninety- three members who sat in the Parliament of April, about two hundred and ninety-four again took their seats at the commencement of the Parliament of November. In this number were included all the men of any eminence in the popuhur or Puritan party. The great proportion of the new members were actuated by similar principles, and the Court party constituted an insignificant section^ wholly unable to contend alone against the powerful phalanx of their oppo- nents. But it must not be for a moment supposed that the popidar party were sufficiently united to act together on every great question of policy. They represented, indeed, very accurately the grievances of the whole kingdom, and on the question of the necessity of these being redressed before any new supplies of money were granted, they were as one man. But, of course, as to what constituted the chief griev- ances, and what were the best means of redress, they diflfered widely among themselves. Many must be said to have been * popular ' men only on the subject of one or two grievances ; these redressed, they fell back into their natural position of supporters of the crown. Indeed, Charles had, during his eleven years of misrule, succeeded in driving into the ranks of his opponents nearly every man of talent or influence in the country, however much his views might differ from his new associates on general principles. Again, the Puritan party, properly so called, represented all the phases of Puri- tanism, from doctrinal Puritanism and Erastianism to thorough sectarianism. So, on civil questions, it included every shade of opinion, from the Elizabethan theory of government to speculative republicanism. In all cases, how- ever, the extremes were a minority, and the great mass of the Puritan party leant to a modified episcopacy in church matters, and a Constitutional Monarchy on the basis of the statute law, and especially the Petition of Right. Securities, indeed, for the enjoyment of this Constitution in church and state now inevitably entered into the policy of the great body of the popular party, and this constituted alike the chief difference between the Parliaments of 1628 and 1640, and the chief difficulty which was found to attend all the measures taken into consideration by the latter assembly. ' All former statutes, down to the Petition of Right, had been prostrated at the foot of the throne ; by what new compact were the present Parliament to give a sanctity more invio- lable to their own ?'* The first returns to this, the ^ Long Parliament' (as it is called in distinction), have just been given, and it remains for the descendants of men who have merited so well of their country and the world, to give us, from their family archives, some more frdl and correct particulars of the lives and characters of their ancestors than we can glean from county books, or Peerages and Baronetages of England, A glance at the names will inspire us with a hope that this may be gradually accomplished, for there are few among them which are not familiar to our ears at the present day. It would be well, however, to say a few words on the character of the House of Peers at the meeting of this Par- liament, and to mention the names of a few of the colleagues in that assembly of the Puritan leaders in the Lower House. In the month of November, 1 640, the House of Lords con- sisted of one hundred and twenty-three temporal peers, two archbishops, and twenty-four bishops ; of the temporal peers, two-thirds had been elevated to their present rank by the two first monarchs of that line, that is to say, within thirty-seven years. Thus it will be seen that the Upper House could not be expected to contain a majority of men disposed to place 1 1 * Hallam's Constitutional Histort^, voLii. p. 123. 286 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 287 themselves in tlie position of the old independent barons of the reigns of the Plantagenets. The new elevations had been principally bought by the payment of sums of money to the crown, or were the reward of unscrupulous assistance lent to royal projects. Still, however, a spirit more worthy of their age did exist in several of the peers, and this had displayed itself in a more or less sustained opposition to the projects of the court during the preceding reign and the early part of this. Two or three times had the king come into collision with this rising feehng of self-respect, and each time had been obliged to succumb to the formidable attitude which it assumed. Puritanism, too, counted among its most ardent supporters some of the most distinguished of the House of Lords. Their leader was Francis Russell, Eabl of Bed- ford, a man who is undoubtedly to be regarded as by far the greatest of the family of RusseU. He died not long after the meeting of the Long Parliament, but is, nevertheless, to be considered as the father of Puritan statesmanship. Of all the movements against the encroachments of the crown in the House of Lords, in preceding years, he had been the real leader, although the Earls of Arundel and Oxford, great historic names, but men of little ability, had for some time stood nominally at the head. Several of the great statesmen of the Lower House had been selected by his judgment and sagacity, and introduced into Parliament under his auspices. His public honour has never been impeached, and his private character is untarnished. From the hints which Clarendon gives us respecting his resolute disposition, the loss to the popular cause by his death, in the first stage of the Long Parliament, would seem to have been most serious. His memory was always cherished by the party with which he had been connected; and in the wildest scenes of the Revo- lution which followed, threw a protecting shield over all who could boast of a share in his blood. Next to him in political importance, but at a great distance in point of ability, was Robert Devereux, Earl or Essex, the son of Elizabeth's unfortunate favourite, and the husband of the infamous Countess of Somerset. The earl had appeared before the public in early life under such very distressing circumstances, ■;* that during most of the reign of James he had shut himself up in his country house, living in complete retirement. After a considerable time, however, he emerged into public life, and seconded the exertions of the Earl of Bedford. His father had been the popular idol, and Essex succeeded to a large share of this favour. His own undeserved domestic sufferings had increased the strong feeling existing in the mind of the people that the House of Devereux merited some great reparation at their hands. Elizabeth's earl had been generally considered as a patron of the Puritan party, and his son had espoused the same principles still more deci- dedly. In temperament he strongly resembled his father. With all that earl's popular qualities, he had the same jealous and impulsive disposition. A devout worshipper of honour, he was far too keenly sensible of the slightest apparent derogation from it ; and when his acute feelings were thus affected, in its vindication he often forgot the dignity essen- tial to its true preservation, and descended into petty personal altercations. There are instances of his wayward, self-tor- menting spirit in his commimications with the Parliament, which recall to our mind forcibly the quarrels and reconcili- ations of his father with Queen Elizabeth. As Pym was the chosen friend of the Earl of Bedford, Hampden obtained, and for a long time maintained, a great ascendency over Essex. Joined with the latter nobleman in the closest ties of relationship and friendship was William Seymour, Earl OF Hertford, who had married Essex's sister, but whose first wife was the unfortunate Lady Arabella Stuart. Like his brother-in-law's, Hertford's life had commenced in storms, which for some time obscured his fortunes. Gradually, how- ever, he regained the royal favour so far as to be admitted to high offices of state, though his independent spirit prevented his being disgraced by any close connexion with the corrupt court. Clarendon tells us that, though possessed of high courage, he was far too indolent to take a position corre- sponding to his abilities. He loved to retire into books, and disliked even the interruption of conversation. Although, therefore, he had a good judgment, and acted always with the best intentions, yet when called upon to decide on r 2B8 STRAFFORD AND PYM. same great question, it is evident he had too little eogni- lance of the train of attendant circumstances, and judged it fiir too much in itself, and without regard either to the past ©r the future, to be a safe guide in political conduct. He acted with the popular party when the proceedings of the crown were palpably vicious, but joined the court as soon as there was the least colour of justice or right on the surface of its acts. He was, however, for some time at least, looked upon by the popular party as a man with whom it was pos- sible to meet on common ground ; and had he possessed any real influence with Charles, his presence on that side would have been a great advantage to the cause of true liberty. But, except in the weaker points of his character, he was powerless in the court. KoBERT Rich, Earl of Warwick, was a man of a very different stamp. In him, undoubtedly, action predominated over study. His was an essentially manly character. Unlike Essex, he was utterly devoid of all jealousy of others, or hasty distrust of the judgment entertained by others of him- self. Not aspiring to any overpowering influence on the minds of those around him, he was satisfied with preserving his own self-respect, and consequently he retained quietly that unimpeachable character, of the loss of which Essex entertained so morbid a dread. He was of a social and kindly disposition, and is said by Clarendon to have lived freely. This may have been the case at one period of his life, but probably not in his later years. It is evident that he had then, at any rate, a strong and deep religious feeling ; and this gave him an earnestness of manner and an elevation of mind far above his actual talents. He was attached to the sea as a profession, and we may trace in him many of the better qualities which mark the seaman^s character. In strange contrast with the Earl of Warwick stands his brother, Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, of whom it will be sufficient to say that, with fair abilities, he had the mind of a courtier and the irresolution of a man entirely superficial. Having fallen into disgrace at court, he was now disposed to try the effect of a little popularity to regain his position, and accordingly enrolled himself under the banner of Pym and STRAFFORD AND PYM. 289 the other great Commoners, making his house a sort of ren- dezvous for their associates in both Houses. This was the 'Whig Holland House' of the seventeenth century. His rank and social influence gave him, until the autumn of 1643, ^-n im- portance in the popular party wholly disproportionate to his talents. William Fiennes, Viscount Saye and Sele, must be looked upon as the leader of the Puritans in the Upper House after the death of Francis Earl of Bedford. He has, therefore, been exposed to so many attacks from hostile pens, that it is very difficult to elicit the truth respecting him. Perhaps he would be best described as a politician — with the acquirements and faults of one who excels in that respect. That he did not let every one about him know all his thoughts and views, we shall probably not attribute to him as a fault ; and though he may have carried his statecraft to an extent which injured the frankness and geniality of his disposition, we must make great allowances for the difficult position in which he was placed, in a House the majority of which dis- sented so completely from his opinions. That he had very decided ideas on church matters, and expressed these boldly and ably, no one denies ; that his private life was pure, the absence of slander proves. That he was imperious and ill- fitted to act a subordinate part, may at once account for his leadership in the Lords, and his subsequent retirement from public life, when his person was eclipsed by the rise of greater men. He was the intimate friend of Hampden ; he was a man of great abilities; and his firm and dignified adherence to his principles in the worst of times, and through every vicissitude, must inevitably command our respect. In his principles he was understood to be opposed not only to the existing power, but to the office of bishops. He was from conviction a supporter of Constitutional Monarchy. Edward Montagu, Lord Kimbolton, eldest son of Henry Earl of Manchester, also known by his father's second title of Viscount Mandeville, has been already referred to, and will reappear frequently in the relation of the events which followed. Philip Wharton, Baron Wharton, was at once one of U \\ \ I ^r 290 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 291 I «i the most distinguished of the Puritan peers, and one of the most consistent and upright men of his age. No peer was more thoroughly devoted to the Puritan cause. More retiring and less acute than Lord Saye, he was his superior m the qualities c^ the heart. Politics with him were not pursued as an end, hut as a means, and his sensitive mmd shrank from the tasks which the earnestness of his convictions and his well-trained judgment forced upon him as a duty. Domestic life was the sphere from which he emerged with reluctance ; and a tranquil enjoyment of the fruits of real liherty was the object which he set before his eyes m all his actions. He was emphatically the English country gentle- man.* ^ ^ Robert Grevile, Lord Brooke, another of the great leaders of the Puritan party, stands in the highest rank in point of mental ability and energy of character. His, pro- bably, was the most determined and daring disposition of all the Puritans of the Upper House. Carefully educated by his cousin Fulke Grevile, the first peer, he added to a thorough acquaintance with the matter of the various ques- tions which arose, a fire and enthusiasm which gained him from his enemies the epithet of ' Fanatic,' and made him the life of the cause he espoused. He had the mind to reflect, the contagious eloquence to rouse to action, and the per- sonal courage and imtiring activity to carry out to a suc- cessful issue. He was as much hated, perhaps, by one side. • • Wharton for virtue and for truth renowned. Whose every action is with justice crowned } WTiose innocent and undesigning life Was ever free from faction and from strife,* ^AddUitmal M8S. Brit. Mus. 1 1,692. He continued, after the Kestoration, to keep up close relations with the Nonconformists, protecting and assisting the expelled clergy. In the Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) is a curious letter, of the date 1674, from Mr. Sa. Cradocke (prohably some relation of the Mr. Walter Cradocke, whose enthusiastic letter to Oliver Cromwell is preserved in the MiUon State Papers), in which the writer undertakes to Mr. Edward Terry (also a Nonconformist name) to hoard and educate Lord Wharton's son for 26/. per annum, which it seems is a high charge ; and the young gentleman is to bring a pair of sheets, two pillow-cases, a dozen napkins, half-a-dozen towels, and a silver spoon, and to pay 3*. 4*1. a quarter to an upholsterer for the hire of abed. and idolized by the other^ as any leader during the Civil War.* Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, is well known to posterity from the pages of his friend Clarendon, and therefore any modifications which should be made of that historian^s estimate will best appear under the particular circumstances by which they are suggested. Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was the son of that Earl Henry who spent a large part of his life in the Tower during the reign of James, as the leader of the Roman- catholics in England, and under the pretence that he was accessory to the Gunpowder-plot. Algernon Percy had left the faith of his father, and was now rather inclined to the Puritan party, with which he had formed close connexions. He had been educated under the direction of his father with great care, and was then sent on his travels with a paper of advice as to his conduct and the nature of his observations abroad, which displays great judgment. On his father's death the king exhibited a desire to conciliate him and attach him to the court by the bestowal of several honours, among others that of Lord High Admiral of England ; but though Charles, as he himself said, ' courted the earl as a mistress,' Northumberland was not of a disposition to play the courtier. With his old ancestral honours, 'the Percy' inherited the independent spirit and baronial dignity of past years. His conduct had been such as to secure him. Clarendon tells us, * the most esteemed and unblemished reputation in court and country of any person of his rank throughout the kingdom j' and this he sustained by a bearing courteous but reserved speaking but seldom, and then with propriety and to the point. He rarely displayed any violent passion, except when his honour and dignity as a gentleman were infringed.f • For illustrations of Lord Brooke's character, see Lord Nugent's interesting Memorials of Ham/pden. t In some MS. * Extracts from the Journals of the House of Lords, from December, 1643, ^ February, 1644 [5], by the Earl of Radnor [Lord Robartes or Roberts], with his notes' {Harl MSS. Brit. Mus. 2224), there occurs the following outpouring of the bitterness of his spirit by a disappointed man :— * The Earl of Northumberland, who was the great instrument of the New Model, and complied wholly with the Independent party about this time U2 2d2 STRAFFOED AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 293 Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, has suffered as mucli as any man of those times from the attacks of scnrrilous royalists. His character was exactly such as laid him open to reflections which a generous foe irould have eschewed. He was by no means deficient, either in mind or education, but naturally was not disposed to study or deep thought. When young he had been noted for Ids proficiency in field sports, and this, joined to a very hand- some person, recommended him to the notice of King James ; and he was a kind of favourite at court, until the nse of Carre, when he at once made way for him with a nonchalance which showed that ambition was by no means one of his pre- vailing passions. He was frank and generous, but had a violent and ungovernable temper, which constantly led him into the most undignified situations, and involved him in frequent serious quarrels with his friends and his wife. He even turned her once out of doors in a fit of uncontrolled passion. But he was as placable as passionate ; made the most earnest and complete excuses for his misconduct, even to inferiors, so that his condescension and the warmth of his apologies repaired the breaches in his reputation which had been made by his violence. His wife, it must be obser% ed, speaks of him with great affection in her Memoirs of her husbands. His attendance about the court did not prevent him from uttering boldly his opinions on church and state affairs, ' discoursing highly of justice and the Protestant (Oct. 4, 1644), and who very honourably (after the House of Peers was shut up with a padlock by the Republicans, and when the Lord Robartcs was sent fOT out of Cornwall by messengers from them, and by that power was confined to the county of Essex),— the said Earl of Northumberland did in open terms, at the Chancery bar, voluntarily come and take the Commonwealth engagement in the sight of all the people, viz., I will be true and faithful to the Commonwealth of England without a king and House of Lords; yet, upon the restitution of his majesty, this earl was made a privy councillor and the Lord-Lieutenant of the counties of Sussex and Northumberland; whether for those honourable achievements or for what other cause men may enquire/— (p. 32.) It is only fair to Northumberland, after this, to subjoin a passage from Ludlowe*s Memoirs. In the convention Parliament, at the Restoration, * the Earl of Northumberland was heard to say, that though he had no part in the death of the kmg, he was aiminst questioning those who had been concerned in that affair, that the example might be more useful to posterity, and profitable to future kings, by deterring them from the like exorbitandes.*— Fol. ed. 1751, p. 344. \ "^ ri I - religion, and inveighing bitterly against Popery,' and saying all kinds of distasteful things even to the king's face. His frankness and warmth of heart were the redeeming points of his character, and secured him a position in the popular party which his abilities would not have done. The other peers who at all distinguished themselves during subsequent years may be mentioned as their actions bring them severally on the scene. Enough has been said to give some idea of the amount of sympathy and support which the leaders in the Lower House could rely upon in case of need. Among the distinguished Commoners who had seats for the first time in the ' Short Parliament' of April, and were re-elected to the ' Long Parliament,' may be mentioned Oliver St. John ; Henry Marten, eldest son of the eminent civilian Sir Henry Marten ; Edward Hyde ; Sir Henry Vane, jun., son of the Treasurer of the Household; Arthur Capel; Sir John Culpeper; George Lord Digby, eldest son of the Earl of Bristol, of Spanish-marriage notoriety ; Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, son of a former Deputy of Ire- land ; Nathaniel Fiennes, second and favourite son of Lord Saye and Sele; Sidney Godolphin; Harbottle Grimstone; Sir Arthur Hesilrige ;* Sir Ralph Hopton ; Sir John Hotham ; Sir Samuel Luke (supposed to be the original of Butler's 'Hudibras'); John Maynard; Sir William Masham; Sir Henry Mildmay ; Anthony Nichols (a nephew of Pym) ; Isaac Pennington; William Pierrepont (second son of the Earl of Kingston), and his younger brother, Francis Pierre- pont; Alexander Rigby; Sir Henry Slingsby; Sir Philip Stapylton ; Anthony Stapley : Zouch Tate ; Edmund Waller (the poet) ; Sir Edmund Verney, and his son Sir Ralph (to whom we are indebted for some meagre but interesting notes of the proceedings); Robert Wallop; Sir Thomas Widdring- ton ; and John Wylde. The opening of the Parliament, on the 3rd of November, • This name is spelt so variously in modern histories that I have ventured to restore Sir Arthur's own uniform mode of spelling it, and that which is usual in the Journals of the Houses, and contemporary publications. I find, from Mr. Dod's Baronetage, that the ninth baronet *of Nosely' obtained royal license in 181 8 to alter the spellmg of his name from Hesilrige to Hazlerigg. I 294 STRAFFORD AND PYM. liad all the appearance of a proceeding forced upon the king, and from which he anticipated no good results. Charles did not ride with his accustomed equipage, nor in his usual majesty, to Westminster ; but went privately in his barge to the Parliament stairs, and afterwards to the church, as if it had been a prorogued or adjourned Parliament."^ In his speech the king observed, ' My lords and gentlemen, I leave it to your consideration what dishonour and mischief it might be, if, for want of money, my army be disbanded, before the rebels be put out of this kingdom; secondly, the securing against the calamities the northern people endure at this time, and so long as the treaty is on foot. And in this, I say, not only they, but all this kingdom, will suffer the harm ; therefore I leave this also to your consideration. For the ordering of these great affairs, whereof you are to treat at this time, I am so confident of your love to me, and that your care is for the honour and safety of the kingdom, that I shall freely and willingly leave it to you where to begin, ^ After this Lord Keeper Finch made a narration of the state of public affairs, and then the Commons retired to choose their Speaker. Here again the court were disappointed. They had confidently calculated on the election of Sir Thomas Gardiner, Recorder of London ; but he was defeated in the election for the City of London, and also in several other places for which he was put up as a candidate. As he was not returned to Parliament, Charles was obliged at the last moment to think of some other man, and he chose William Lenthall, a rising barrister, of whom, except his legal acquirements, little was known. He was accordingly elected by the Com- mons and approved by the king, on the 5th of November following. On the same day Charles addressed a speech to the Lords, in which he excused his expression respecting the Scots. ' I told you,' he said, ' the rebels must be put out of this kingdom \ it is true I must needs call them so, so long as they have an army that doth invade us, and although I am under treaty with them, and under my great seal do call them my subjects, for so they are too.' This would certainly • Clarendon, Bebellion, p. 68. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 295 have been better avoided, if the king had desired really to compose the differences between himself and his Scotch sub- jects ; but he was only biding his time. The Long Parliament has assembled. The Commons are ' sitting in St. Stephen's Chapel, a long narrow chamber of the fourteenth century, with a western entrance and a large eastern window, in advance of the middle of which, at the distance of some few feet, stands the Speaker's chair. The members are seated on rows of benches placed parallel to the walls of the chapel, and rising, as in an amphitheatre, from an open space in the centre of the floor. We pass into the house by an avenue between rows of benches, and under a members' gallery, ascent to which is by a ' ladder' placed at the southern or right-hand corner of the house as we enter. On the floor of the house, at some little distance in front of the Speaker's chair, stands the clerk's table, at which are seated, facing the entrance, Henry Elsyng, whose name shortly afterwards flew all over the three kingdoms as the authenticator of Parliamentary mandates, and who is ridiculed in Hudibras as Cler. Pari. Dom. Com. ; and on his left hand, John Rushworth, the compiler of the Historical Collections/ who had been recently admitted clerk-assistant.'* From the Journal of Sir Simonds D'Ewes we are able to discover in what part of the house many of the leading members usually sat. ^ At the upper end of the front bench, on the Speaker's right, sits the elder Vane, Treasurer of the King's Household, and on the same side of the house. Sir Edward Herbert, Solicitor-General, Sir Thomas Jermyn, Sir Benjamin Rudyard,' Sir John Evelyn of Wilts, ' Sir Henry Mildmay, William Strode, Alderman Isaac Penning- ton,' Walter Long, and Sir John Culpeper. On this side, and exactly opposite the north end of the clerk's table, sit Edward Hyde and Lord Falkland, and at the lower end a taker of notes, Framlingham Gawdy by name. On this side also sat Oliver Cromwell. ^ On the opposite benches,' on the * Edinburgh Review, July, 1846. T am indebted to this article for the position of some of the parliamentary notables; these names are included within inverted commas. 296 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 297 left of tlie Speaker, exactly facing Hyde, sits Sir Simonds lyEwes, to whom we are indebted for many valuable details of tbe proceedings of this Parliament.* Next to him is Mr. John More, member for Liverpool, also a taker of notes. Just imder D'Ewes sits the younger Vane, and near him is Oliver St. John; below D'Ewes are Denzil Holies and Sir William Lewis. Behind D'Ewes sit Henry Marten, Sir Thomas Barrington, and Sir Walter Erie. Pym sits on the same side, below D'Ewes, close to the bar of the house, and by him Sir John Hotham. Among the other members who sit on this (the left) side of the Speaker, are Arthur Goodwin, the colleague of Hampden, ' Miles Corbett, and Sir Thomas Bowyer.' Shortly after the commencement of the Parliament, 'Edmund Waller' also took his seat on these benches. John Maynard sits sometimes behind D'Ewes, sometimes opposite him. Under the gallery sits Selden ; in the gallery. Sir Arthur Hesilrige, and Robert Holbome, Hampden's counsel in the case of ship-money. As if by some strange fatality, among the few leading members whose places I cannot ascertain is Hampden. Such was the general aspect of the House of Commons on Friday, the 6th of November, 1640, the first day of business. A cheerful confidence marked the demeanour of the members of the popular party. ' There was observed,' says Clarendon, ' a marvellous elated countenance in most of the members of Parliament before they met together in the house. The same men who, six months before, were observed to be of very moderate tempers, and to wish that gentle remedies might be applied without opening the wound too wide, and exposing it to the air, and rather to cure what was amiss than too strictly to make inquisition into the causes and original of the malady, talked now in another dialect both of things and persons. Mr. Hyde (himself), who was returned to serve for a borough in Cornwall, met Mr. Pym in Westminster Hall some days ^ • Sir Simonds D'Ewes is thus described by Fuller : * His genius addicted him to the study of antiquity, preferring rust before brightness, and more con- forming his mind to the garb of the former than mode of the modem times. . . . He had plenty of precious medals, out of which a methodical architect might contrive a isui fabrick for the benefit of posterity.'— TFbr^Aic*, vol u. p. 350. I-N before the Parliament, and conferring together upon the state of afiairs, the other told him, Mr. Hyde, ^that they must now be of another temper than they were the last Par- liament; that they must not only sweep the House clean below, but must pull down all the cobwebs which hung in the top and corners, that they might not breed dust, and so make a foul House hereafter ; that they had now an oppor- tunity to make their country happy, by removing all grie- vances, and pulling up the causes of them by the roots, if all men would do their duties ;' and used much other sharp discourse to him to the same purpose, by which it was dis- cerned, that the warmest and boldest counsels and oveiimres would find a much better reception than those of a more temperate alloy, which fell out accordingly.'* The business of the Housef was opened by Sir Miles Fleet- wood, who moved for a fast, according to the precedent of former Parliaments. { A message was accordingly sent to the Lords. The next business was the appointment, according to ancient custom, of committees of the whole House, or grand committees as they were called. It was ordered that the House should go into committee at two o'clock every after- noon, on Mondays, on the subject of religion ; on Tuesdays, concerning trade; on Wednesdays, on grievances; on Fridays, for courts of justice and privileges. Pym then rose, and * Rebellion (ed. 1843), PP* 68-9. t My authority for these proceedings throughout, when not specified, is D'Ewes' MS. Journal of the Parliament \n the Harl. MSS. Brit. Mus. 162, &c. J As some misapprehension prevails respecting the motions in the Long Parliament for fasts, it may be well to give for once the form of address agreed upon. * My lords, — The knights, citizens, and burgesses of the House of Commons having taken into serious consideration the weighty occasions of this assembly of Parliament, concerning the true worship of Almighty God, the safety and welfare of the king and this whole realm, and well knowing the right way to obtain a blessed issue thereof is to implore the Divine assistance, the fountain of all wisdom and unity, to direct them in all their consultations, by one day's solemn humiliation in fasting and prayer, have commanded us, in confidence of your lordships' great piety, to deske you that you would be pleased to join with them to move his Majesty for his gracious allowance of so holy a preparation to the important affairs of both Houses of Parliament. Which being first begun and done here, as a great example, that he would be pleased to appoint another day for a general fast through the whole kingdom, in such seasonable time as shall seem to his wisdom most convenient.' fl in 298 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 299 moved, ' That in regard the complaints of the king's subjects in Ireland were many, who had undergone great oppressions in that kingdom by mal-govemment there, and had come to this Parliament for relief, they might be referred to a com- mittee of the whole House, to be appointed for that purpose only .^ AD the subjects of Ireland,' he obsen ed, ' have power to come here,' which was confirmed by Grimstone. The motion was seconded by Sir John Clotworthy, of Devonshire, who upon his election had come over from Ireland, where he chiefly resided. He bore testimony to the truth of many of the particulars of the complaints which had been mentioned, 'and spoke largely of the great abuse in the government there ; and though he was sparing in the naming the Lord- lieutenant, Strafibrd, yet he was so plain and home upon some of his actions, as not to leave it disputable against whom the point of his arrow was designed/f The friends and weU- wishers of the earl at once perceived ' that this motion was intended, by a side-wind, to accumulate complaints against him, in order to an accusation /J so they moved for a select committee, that the objects of the inquiry might be restricted to certain specific points, and the great general question of the government of Ireland might not come into discussion. The question being put, a long debate ensued, and at length the House di\dded, when it was seen that on personal ques- tions the popular party would be deserted by many of their friends. The numbers were (including tellers) : for a grand committee, 167 ; for a select committee, 154. So, by this narrow majority it was decided that the whole House should go into committee on Irish afiPairs. Thursday afternoons were fixed as the regular days for discussion of the subject ; but it was ordered that the House should enter on the dis- cussion the next day, Saturday. Thus ended the first great debate in the Long Parliament. The next morning (November 7th) Hampden rose, and presented the petition of one Alexander Jennins. The * Rush worth, vol, viii. folio edition, 1721, preface, f Nalson*s Collections, vol. i. p. 491, and D'Ewes {Rarl. 162). Nalson is not a work of any authority when it stands alone in any statement. "l, Rushworth, uh. sup. « -^ ^1 petitioner stated that, on a demand of ship-money being made to him, he answering, that the best way to gather it was by consent of Parliament, was committed to the Fleet by the Lords of the Council for scandalous speeches against his Majesty's government. And so, for not paying the ship- money, he was still kept in the Fleet, notwithstanding his motions in the King's Bench. He particularly complained against Sir John Bramston, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and the rest of the judges of that court ; and so he and his solicitor brought his action into the Exchequer, for which his solicitor was sent for, and kept in the messenger's hands. On Hampden resuming his seat, Pym rose, and pre- sented two petitions, of Mistress Burton and Mistress Bast- wick, in behalf of their husbands. The petitions being read, Pym moved that Mr. Burton and Dr. Bastwick might be sent for. This called up Sir Thomas Jermyn, Comptroller of the King's Household, who said that he would not meddle with the merits of the case, but desired that nothing might be done before the king was consulted with. He was seconded by Sir Henry Vane, the Treasurer of the Household, who also declined speaking to the merit of the case, though the petitions were in themselves heavy, and trenched much upon the state. But he must say, that Mr. Pym spake of the merits without knowing the real facts of the business. He denied remembering any sending of the two to their present confinement by orders of the council ; and desired that satis- faction might be given before they were sent for by the king's council. He desired the House not to use too much haste. Upon this Hampden rose again, and said he hoped that this sending for the prisoners would not turn away his Majesty's favour from the House. Nothing more was in- tended but to put these persons in a way to make their com- plaints. Mr. King said that his Majesty had been pleased to give the House full power and authority to search into the grievances of the kingdom, and therefore he was sorry to see his Majesty's name used to interrupt and hinder them from searching into those grievances ; and desired that it might be no more used for the time to come. Others spoke to the same matter; and then it was ordered that the said Mr. 300 STRAFFORD AND PYM. 301 STRAFFORD AND PYM. Burton and Dr. Bastwick should be sent for immediately, to prosecute their own causes in Parliament. Next, a petition from the county of Hertford was presented by their repre- sentative, Mr. Axthur Capel. This embodied all the leading grievances in the kingdom — innovations in religion, abuses of feodaries and escheators, by which there was no profit to the king, monopolies, ship-money. The petitioners desired to have Parliaments more often. They complained of the breaking up of the last Parliament ; of the canons lately made by the House of Convocation, which had sat on illegally after the dissolution of the Parliament of April ; the ineffi- cient state of the ministry ; the great abuse of ordinaries ; the want of sermons in the afternoon ; the oath ex-officio ; the unduly raising of military charges ; the pressing of men ; the patentee of saltpetre ; and the ignorance of the train-band in discipline. They desired laws might be made for military affairs, and an inquiry as to who were the promoters of the calamities of the kingdom, that they might be punished. Such was the first general petition on grievances presented in the Long Parliament, which became very memorable as such, and in connexion with the name of Arthur Capel. After this petition had been presented, Harbottle Grimstone rose, and went into a detail of the proceedings in the last Parlia- ment, showing the method which had then been pursued, and urging the House to give no supplies until grievances were redressed. He desired reparation against the Speaker of the Parliament of 1628, who violated the pri\ileges of the House. He alluded to the illegal treatment of members after the dissolution of the last Parliament ; called for a reformation in the Star-chamber, and then fell on the ' synod and the new oath.' 'Who,' said he, in conclusion, 'have had advancement but men superstitious and corrupt in their doc- trine, and vicious in their lives; who but those Arminian and popishly affected persons ? And what help have we had of aU L ^eyances, for all our petitions? Judges have overthrown the law, and bishops reujon ; and some of both have been the authors of all these miseries, and we hope we ahall have the like pimishment against them as against Tres- silian and their other predecessors !' Sir Benjamin Eudyard K followed, to a similar effect. Then Sir Francis Seymour, brother of the Earl of Hertford, delivered a long speech, the purport of which may be condensed into his opening sen- tence — ' We are groaning under great burdens ; if we shoidd suffer this, it were to betray our duty to the king, and our faith to the country !' Next, Pym rose, and moved for a reformation of abuses, and for finding out and punishing the authors of them. ' The distempers of the kingdom,' he said, ' are well known ; they need not repetition — for though we have good laws, yet they want their execution ; or if they are executed, it is in a wrong sense. I shall endeavour to apply a remedy to the breaches that are made, and to that end I shall first discover the quality of the disease. An actual declaration of offences needs no statute, and that is a step to reformation. There is a design to alter the kingdom both in religion and government. This is the highest of treasons ! This blows up by piecemeal, and almost goeth thorough their ends I This concerns the king as well as us ; and that I say with reverence and care of his majesty.' He then proceeded to enumerate many heads of grievances. ' First, the Papist party's attempt to alter our religion ; being obliged by a maxim in their doctrine not only to maintain their own reli- gion, but to extirpate all others. Their mode is by setting a difference between the king and his subjects. The second is the corrupt part of our clergy that make things for their own ends, and wish an union between us and Rome. The hierarchy cannot amount to the height they aim at without a breach of our law. To which their religion necessarily joins, that if the one stands, the other must necessarily fall. Thirdly, agents and pensioners to Spain and other foreign states, who see we cannot comply to them, if we maintain our religion established, which is contrary to theirs. Here they intend chiefly the Spanish white [and] gold works, which are of most effect. Fourthly, favourites, such as are for their own preferments, prize not conscience, and further all bad things, are worse than Papists. These are willing to run into Popery. Such are our judges, spiritual and temporal ; such are also some of our councillors of state. All these, though severed, yet in their contrivements they aim at one 302 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 303 end. They liave proceeded in their motion first softly, now with strides, and if they be not prevented, they are near their ends, to which their designs walk on four [? five] feet. The first foot is : First, ecclesiastical courts. Secondly, dis- countenancing preachers that are forward in our religion, and persecuting virtuous men under the law of purity. Thirdly, countenancing persons of contrary dispositions. They must be of their own party, or else no promotion. Fourthly, by negotiating agents fipom hence to Rome, and from Rome to this place, to extirpate our religion. Proof will appear. Fifthly, frequent preaching up the absolute monarchy of kings ; as Dr. Beale and others. The second foot — policy for the state and courts of justice : First, the council endeavouring to make differences between the king and people, by the political interpretation of the law to serve their turns, and thus to impose taxes against law, with a colour of law. The judges were chidden. A judge said, when a habeas-corpus was applied for, ' We granted a liabeas- corpus in the King's Bench, and we were well chidden for our labour.' Secondly, by keeping the king in constant necessity, that he may seek to their counsels for relief. To this purpose to keep the Parliaments in distaste, that their counsels may be taken. The king by them is brought to this, as a woman that used herself to poison could not live with good meat. Search the chronicles, and we see no king that ever used Parliaments was brought to this want. No im- putation is to be laid upon the king for any irregular actions, but upon them that be entrusted. Thirdly, arbitrary pro- ceedings in courts of justice. Law and precedents are nothing. We have all law left to the conscience of a single man. All courts are now courts of conscience, without con- science. All defence of the subject is now taken away, in order to the dissolution of the kingdom. Fourthly, plotters to enforce a war between Scotland and us, that when we had well wearied one another, we might be brought to what scorn they pleased. A sermon was preached in the north, before the king, to make an agreement between Popery and our rehgion. The partition wall must be broken down, which was the Puritans. The Scots have been the first authors of all. Fifthly, by misguiding the king's approbation. The { i il third foot: First, the discontent and sudden dissolving of Parliaments, and punishing of Parliament men, all to affright us from speaking what we think. I will not mention the breach of privileges of old, but state instances in new ; as Mr. Crewe's case, who was committed for not delivering up the petitions of the House. The clerk is bound not to deliver up any petitions, nor so any member. If there be no safety here, then nowhere ! Secondly, a declaration which slandered our proceedings, as full of lies as leaves, for which I desire reparation. The king took it upon the credit of others, he never saw it. Thirdly, engratiating of Papists, and saying they are the best subjects, for they contribute money to the war, which the Protestants will not do, so to bring the king in love with them. Fourthly, by moulding the Irish government into an illegal course, with intent to do so here. We ought to have interest with them. We are aU the same subjects, and this is no new thing. The fourth foot takes military steps. First, by putting places of importance into the hands of Papists or suspected persons ; as who were commanders in the last war but they? Secondly, power given to Papists to muster by commission. Thirdly, none more strong in arms than they, to whom their armour is delivered, contrary to the statute Fifthly, their endeavour is to bring in strange soldiers from beyond the sea to be billeted upon us. Endeavours have been, and haply are, but that means are wanted to do it. We have had no account of the Spanish navy coming here, which has caused great jealousies. Sixthly, now our fear is from Ireland, The Irish army is to bring us to a better order. We are not fully conquered. Lastly, the fifth foot : Papistical books that pro- ceed from many active men, who live here in London, and are agents ; by whose desires, also, many monasteries, nunneries, and colleges have been erected here in London ; for this foot has gone far. I move,' he concluded, ^ that there may be a settled committee to find out the danger the king and king- dom are in.'* * This meagre outline is all that remains to us of an evidently masterly speech. I have introduced it here, taking it from a comparison of two diflerent reports (D'Ewes and Nalson*8 Collections, vol. i. pp. 495-6, and Addl. M8S. Brit. Mus. 15,567, pp. 29, 30), because it has hitherto escaped the notice of S04 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 305 Tlie last speeches that moming were by Mr. Bagsliaw, the member for Southwark, and Mr. John Crewe, whose case had been referred to by Pym. Mr. Bagshaw ended thus : ' Let them be cut off in their wickedness that have framed mischief as a law — take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.' In the afternoon the House went into committee on Irish affairs, and a petition from Lord Mountnorris was presented and taken into consideration. ' If,' said Pym, indignantly, * we consider divers points of this petition and papers, a man would think we lived rather in Turkey than in Christendom.' On the Monday moming following the debate on griev- ances was resumed by Sir John Holland, member for Castle-Rising in Norfolk. After some other proceedings, Oliver Cromwell rose and ' delivered a petition from John Lilbume, who by sentence of the Star-chamber had been whipped from Westminster to the Fleet, receiving two hun- dred stripes. He was wounded by the warden of the Fleet's men. His cause was referred to a committee appointed for Dr. Leighton's case, and freedom was given him to follow his cause.'* Such is the only account given by D'Ewes ; but fortunately we have the relation of another eye-witness as to the effect produced on the House by the speech of the member for Cambridge. Sir Philip Warwick, a young royalist member, who had just entered parliamentary life as repre- sentative for the borough of Radnor, gives us his impressions of Oliver on this occasion : ' The first time I ever took notice of him,' says Warwick, ' was in the beginning of the Parlia- ment held in November, 1640, when I vainly thought myself a courtly young gentleman ; for we courtiers valued our- selves much upon our good clothes. I came into the house Iiistorians. Rushwortli has inserted in its place a mere outline of a great ipeech on grievances, delivered Ly Pym in the Parliament of Apr^ ; and the editors of the New Parlicmentary History have followed him in his error. Mr. Forster, detecting this mistake, was led to suppose that Pym (as we might infer from Clarendon) did not speak in the House until the i ith of November. But Clarendon is almost always wrong in matters of time, and the Journal of I D'Ewes proves that Pym took part in several debates previously, and among * others delivered the foregoing speech. • Earl. MSS. 162, p. 4. one morning, well clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking, whom I knew not, very ordinarily apparelled ; for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an ill country tailor ; his linen was plain, and not very clean, and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band, which was not much larger than his collar: his hat was without a hatband ; his stature was of a good size ; his sword stuck close to his side ; his countenance swollen and reddish ; his voice sharp and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervour— for the subject-matter would not bear much of reason, it being in behalf of a servant of Mr. Prynne's, who had dispersed libels against the queen for her dancing, and such like innocent and courtly sports ; and he aggravated the imprisonment of this man by the council-table imto that height that one would have believed the very government itself had been in great danger by it. I sincerely profess it lessened much my reverence unto that great council,/?/- he was very much hearkened unto; and yet I lived to see this very gentleman, whom, out of no ill-will to him, I thus describe, by multiplied good successes, and by real, but usurpt power (having had a better tailor, and more converse among good company), in my own eye, when for six weeks together I was a prisoner in his sergeant's hands, and daily waited at White- hall, appear of a great and majestick deportment, and comely presence ; of liim, therefore, I will say no more, but that verily I believe he was extraordinarily designed for those extraordinary things which one while most wickedly and facinorously he acted, and at another so successfully and greatly performed.'^ Cromwell was the same day appointed one of the committee to consider the cases of Leighton and Lilbume ; and several other similar cases of oppression were referred to this committee on subsequent days of the months of November and December. During that period he also sat on four other great committees, to which were referred a variety of petitions of aggrieved parties. The most remark- able of the cases included in these five committees were those of Mr. Peter Smart, Prebendary of Durham, who had been . * Memoirs, p. 247. A 306 STKAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 307 suspended by Laiid for his zeal against the archbishop^s innovations,* of Dr. John Cosins, Dean of Peterborough, and a prebendary and treasurer of Durham, who was accused of setting up various superstitions in the latter cathedral church; of Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely, against whom a similar charge was made ; and of Henry Burton, William Prynne, Dr. Bastwick, and Calvin Bruen, all relating to sufferings fix>m the Star-chamber or High Commission courts. It has been ascertained that within the first ten months of the Long Parliament, and before the recess, which began on the 9th of September, 1641, Cromwell was specially appointed to eighteen committees, exclusive of various appointments amongst the knights and burgesses generally of the eastern counties. The most important matters fell within the pro- vince of several of these committees, and some of them will come specially before our notice. But we are now on the threshold of a great parliamentary inquisition, which for several months occupied the largest share of public attention, and in which the fates of the Earl of Strafford and of the Parliament itself long hung in doubt- ful balance. This cannot be better introduced than in the words of the manuscript narrative to which I have already had occasion to refer. ' The usual parliamentary ceremonies being performed, the House of Commons daily received solemn accompts from all the shires of England of the several grievances and oppressions which they sustained; and these were remonstrated either by petitions from the counties themselves, or else entrusted to the faithful delivery of their knights and burgesses by word of mouth. Many days were employed in hearing speeches which were made by several members of the House, and every one endeavour- • (Bishop) Land writes to (the Lord Viscount) Wentworth, Lord-President »^«;>°° °f these atrocities, could hardly with decency complain rf.m the account for those misdeeds to which he was now c^ed he was judged simply by the strict letter of /.^«^ prcM^eed ngs Ind'thfs must'be remembered » --1^"^ . ^I'^t ^ ^1 Strafford's trial, or we shall commit that very mjustice to the memory of his accusers which we are seeking to avoid m his own cYse. A great nation should be above -J^ ^^ who boldly stand forward to discharge a public duty, througU a sentimental and unhealthy sympathy with *!»« '"^^used^ ^* much consideration is due to the prosecutor, and to the public interests which he is bound to vindicate as to tbe «ccusej however his talents may command admiration, and his pm ate sorrows excite our commiseration. The possession of those talents is the very strongest argument agamst their pervertea use; and the pity which we might be inclined to bestow on the father and husband would be much te"er tranrferred from him to the children and wife, whom he placed m this unhap^ position by the wanton gratification of an evil amb^bon Judged in a proper manner, and with a reference to the above considerations, the proceedings against Lord Strafford may chaUenge comparison, in point of equity and mercy, with the strictest rules of moral right. It is most unjust to c^ Pym unfeeling because he did not, in his position of leader of the House of Commons, sacrifice the interests committed to his charge to the personal feelings of the apostate Went- worth. On one occasion, indeed, he showed that the impres- sions of bygone days had not been eradicated from his mmd by subsequent alienation ; and it raises our admiration of him to a still greater height to see that he could subordinate such strong private sympathies to the interests of a public too little grateful for the self-sacrifice which he thus made. But he had also personal feelings of a counter tendency which must have aided him in preserving the right and honest path. i STRAFFORD AND PYM. 315 We may well suppose that the memory of Eliot, dying pre- maturely in a wretched prison cell, from the exercise of tyranny which the man before him had endeavoured to render permanent, would rush with overwhelming force upon his mind, and speedily obliterate from it any transient sympathy with the accused. I cannot enter on the details of the trial of Strafford ;* all that I shall be able to do, will be to give a general outline of the proceedings, and draw particular attention to one or two points as to which misconceptions prevail. Meanwhile, during the time occupied by the parliamentary leaders in drawing up their articles of impeachment, other events of the highest moment were hurrying on in such rapid succession, that it is as difficult to chronicle them in their due sequences, as it must have been to realize the won- derful changes which they produced. But a year before, Charles had seemed to enjoy an almost absolute power ; and now every branch of his usurped prerogative trembled in the grasp of ' these terrible reformers,' as Lord Clarendon calls them. A resolution, disabling monopolists and patentees from sitting in the House of Commons, had been carried on the 9th of November. On the following day the Lords com- mitted Sir William Beecher to the Fleet for having searched the studies and pockets of the Earl of Warwick and Lord Brooke, after the dissolution of the last Parliament. On the • The only trustworthy account of the trial in print is that of Rushworth, first published during that historian's lifetime (1686), and dedicated to the Earl of HaUfax, and which forms the eighth volume of the eight-folio-volume edition of 1721. Rushworth was present, and took verbatim notes of the trial, as may be seen by a comparison with the notes of D'Ewes and Sir Framling- ham Gawdy m the M SS. of the British Museum.— (^aW.3f-S'5. ub. sup. SLudAddL MSS. 14,827.) He himself says, in the preface to this volume: ' The author of the ensuing papers was purposely placed near the earl, to take in characters what- ever should be said, either against or for him ; and to the best of his skill he did impartially put in writing what was said in the case, pro and con ; he hath not wittingly or willingly omitted the least particle said in the prisoner's defence, either by himself or anybody in bis behalf; he hath not varied the form or manner of his expressions.' Rushworth's Historical Collections, of which only the frst volume was published in his lifetime, have been slightly interpolated by a Royalist editor. Whitelocke's Memorials is a bookseller's compilation, of very mixed authority, and, in the account of the trial, full of errors and &brications. it 316 STRAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 317 2otli of November a remonstrance from the Parliament of Ireland against the government of Strafford was reported to the Commons from the Irish Committee; on the 7th of December, ship-money, and the decision in Hampden's case, were nnanimously condemned by several resolutions of the Lower House. Three days afterwards it was resolved that two subsidies should be granted to the king, for the relief of his army and of the northern counties. On the nth of December a petition was presented by Alderman Isaac Pen- nington from the city of London, signed by 15,000 citizens, and attended to the doors of the House by some hundreds of people. The prayer of the petition was that, episcopal government having proved prejudicial and very dangerous to the church and commonwealth, and the bishops having now claimed to hold by divine right, instead of their former tenure by human authority, the said government, with all its dependencies, roots, and branches, might be abolished, all laws in their behalf made void, and the government accord- ing to God's Word rightly placed among them. To the peti- tion was annexed a paper of particular grievances. On the 14th of December the House of Commons entered into debate concerning the new canons made by the late convoca- tion of the clergj'. The convocation was called together in April, as usual, with the Parliament ; but they continued their session after the dissolution of the Parliament, contrary to aU custom and law. On the two following days resolutions were passed condemnatory of the canons, as not binding on the clergy, and as contrary to the prerogative, the laws, the rights of Parliaments, and the property and liberty of the subject. The Commons also declared that the contribution assessed upon the clergy by the convocation was illegal. A committee was appointed to inquire into the authors of these canons; whether the Archbishop of Canterbury were concerned in their framing, and how far he had been an actor in the great design of the subversion of the laws of the realm and of religion ; and to draw up a charge against him, or such others as should be found to be the offenders in this respect. On the 1 8th of December another committee was appointed to inquire into the breaches of parliamentary privileges after the Parliaments of 1628 and April, 1640; and to consider what reparations were fit to be granted to parties aggrieved. On the same day Denzil Holies went up to the bar of the Lords, and accused William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, of high treason. Laud was sequestered from his seat, and committed to custody. Secretary Windebanke, hearing that articles were preparing against him, fled the kingdom, and reached France in safety. Here he is said to have confirmed the worst suspicions of the Commons by turning Roman- catholic* On the 2 1st of December Lord-keeper Finch, who was also threatened with an impeachment, desired to be heard in his defence before the Commons ; and delivered a most ingenious and eloquent appeal to their candour and mercy. ' Had not this syren so sweet a tongue/ said Alexander Rigby, in answer, ' surely he could not have effected so much mischief to this kingdom !^ It was resolved, notwithstanding all Finch's pathetic eloquence, to accuse him of high treason ; but he anticipated his apprehension by a flight to the Continent. On the 31st of December Sir George Ratcliffe, Strafford's bosom friend, and principal in- strument, was impeached by the Commons, and shortly after- wards surrendered himself to safe custody. The charge against him at the bar of the House was delivered by Pym. On the 22nd six of the judges (Bramston, Davenport, Berkeley, Crawley, Trevor, and Weston) were compelled to give securities in large sums to abide the judgment of Par- liament. On the 24th an information was laid against Dr. Piers, Bishop of Bath and Wells ; and he was boimd in 10,000^. to answer the charge of the Commons against him. On the 15th of January, 1641, the king, at the request of the two houses, restored the old tenure in the judges' patents, ' quamdiu se bene gesserint,' instead of the ^ durante bene jplacito* of the days of Stuart misrule. On the 20th a bill passed the Commons to secure the calling of a Parliament once in every three years ; and on the same day the Lords joined in the votes of the Commons as to ship-money. On the 22nd * Forster*8 Statesmen of the Commonwealth, and Godwin's Commonwealth, This is not certain. / \ S!8 STRAFFOED AND PYM. it was voted in tlie Lower House that relief and assistance stould be given to the Scots towards the supply of their losses and necessities ; and on the 3rd of February following the sum to be granted was fixed at 300,000/. ; which the Lords agreeing to, the Scots Commissioners, a few days afterwards, returned hearty thanks for the same, and pledged Scotland to lasting gratitude. On the 23rd of January the king called both Houses before him at Whitehall, and complaining of their slow proceedings as to supplies, declared that he would never consent to the removal of bishops, or to the Trien* nial Bni in its present form. The Commons next joined with the Lords in a remonstrance against seminary priests ; and this touching on the queen, elicited a letter from ker to the Commons, in explanation and vindication of her procuring sums of money from the Catholics for the late war against Scotland. On the 10th of February the king announced an intended marriage between his eldest daughter, Mary, and the Prince of Orange, the news of which was joyfully re- ceived by the Parliament and by the whole nation. The next day Sir Robert Berkeley, the principal promoter of the ship- money, was accused of high treason. * He was publicly arrested in the King^s Bench Court, taken from ojff the bench where he sat, and carried away to prison ; which struck a great terror into the rest of his brethren then sitting in Westminster Hall, and into all his profession.' On the 16th of the same month the king gave his assent to the Triennial Bill, delivering a speech on the occasion, which showed how unwillingly he had given way to the proposition. At the same time a bill for four subsidies was presented to him for his assent — so admirably did the Commons proceed with even pace in the redress of grievances and the grant of sup- plies. Both Houses returned thanks to the king for the passing of this important bill ; and in the City, bells were rung and bonfires lighted, in honour of the event. It is so important to mark the gradual rise of a great statesman, that it may be well to pause in our summary of passing events, and turn for a moment to a scene recorded by D'Ewes under the date of February the 9th : ' After some short motions,' he writes, ' for our returning to the matter STEAFFORD AND PYM. 319 of religion. Alderman Pennington stood up and justified the London petition to have been warranted by the hands of men of worth and known integrity ; and if there were any mean men's hands to it, yet, if they are honest men, there was no reason but their hands should be received ; and for the delivery of it, himself was one of them who received it from persons of quality and worth. It was done without tumult, and then upon a word after, they that came with the petition, though many in number, departed quietly. There was no course used to rake up hands ; for, he said, he might boldly say, if that course had been taken, instead of 15,000, they might have had fifteen times 15,000. Some after this called to have the Gloster and Hertford petitions against Episcopacy read ; others to go on to the business of the day where we left yesternight, which at last prevailed : but then we fell into a new dispute what question should be put, and some would have the question of Episcopacy put. Sir John Strangways rose up and spake on their [the bishops'] behalf, saying, ^ if we made a parity in the Church, we must at last come to a parity in the Commonwealth, and that the bishops were one of the three estates of the kingdom, and had a voice in Parliament.' Mr. Cromwell stood up next and said, ' He knew no reason of those suppositions and inferences which the gentleman had made that last spoke.' Upon this divers interrupted him, and called him to the bar. Mr. Pym and Mr. Holies thereupon spake to the orders of the House, that if the gentleman had said anything, that he might explain himself in his place. I also spake to the orders of the House, and shewed that I had been often ready to speak against the frequent calling men to the bar in this house upon trivial occasions. For to call a member to the bar here is the highest and most supreme censure we can exercise within these walls — for it is a rending away a part from our body ; because, if once a member amongst us is placed at yonder bar (then I looked towards it), he ceaseth to be a member. I therefore moved, that if any man hereafter should without just cause call another to the bar, that he might be well fined. So, after I had spoken, Mr. Cromwell went on and said: ' He did not understand why the gentleman that last spake 320 STBAFFOKD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 321 ii' should make an inference of parity from the Church to the Commonwealth, nor that there was any necessity of the great revenues of bishops. He was more convinced touching the irregularity of bishops than even before, because, like the Eoman hierarchy, they would not endure to have their con- dition come to a trial/ Then, after some other motions of little moment, Sir Francis Seymour stood up, and desired to have it put to the question, whether we shoidd refer Episco- pacy or not to be considered of by the committee to which we intended to refer the London petition. The Lord Falk- land and Sir John Culpeper spake severally, that they desired that the business should be referred to a committee, but that the same committee might have no power to meddle with Episcopacy. When a debate was arising, the Speaker moved a form, which, with a slight addition, was adopted: ' To refer the petitions to the committee, the House reserving to itself the consideration of the main point of Episcopacy when it should think fit.' ' There are a few other notices of Oliver Cromwell during the months of November, December, January, and February, which are not of any importance. He appears, however, once in connection with the Triennial Bill. Under Wed- nesday, December 30th, 1640, D'Ewes has this entry : ' Mr. Cromwell moved that the bill touching the holding of a Parliament every year, whether the king sends out his writ or not, which Mr. Strode prefenred, might be read the second time ; and so it was. Divers spake for the furthering of the said bill, and that it might be committed,' &c. The intention of this bill was to revive the old law of Edward III^, by which a Parliament must be called every year. This meant something dijfferent from what we caU ' annual Par- liaments ;' for the intention was simply to secure the sitting of a Parliament during a part of every year, which is secured by our present usage. The question of the duration of any one Parliament had not been mooted, and it was objected by D'Ewes to the present bill, that in authorizing the free- holders to assemble and return members to Parliament every year, if the king's writs did not issue forth, it had not pro- vided for the case of prorogations of any one Parliament, which, as he observed, might extend to thirty years or more. D'Ewes also disliked the power given to the freeholders as an infringement on the royal prerogative. He volunteered his services in the drawing up of a new and unexceptionable bill, if this were withdrawn, and opposed the sending it into committee. It was, however, resolved to put Strode's bill into the hands of a select committee, who might consider the best mode of carrying out its intent. Of this committee Oliver Cromwell was named one ; and among his colleagues were Pym, Hampden, Strode, St. John, Holies, Stapylton, Culpeper, Selden, Lord Digby, Sir Francis Seymour, Prideaux, Valentyne, Sir Thomas Barrington, and an emi- nent lawyer, who had entered the House since the com- mencement of the session (as member for Great Marlow, in Bucks), Bulstrode Whitelocke. On the 19th of January fol- lowing the bill was reported from this committee by Mr. Prideaux. As amended, after a preamble, that by the laws and statutes of this realm a Parliament ought to be holden at least once every year for the redress of grievances, it enacted that the said laws and statutes should be thenceforth duly observed ; that if a Parliament should not be summoned and assembled before the yd of September in every third year, then a Parliament should assemble and be held on the second Monday in November ensuing ; in default of the chancellor issuing the writs, then the peers or any twelve of them, or in default of them the sheriffs, mayors, &c., were to issue the writs ; and in their default, the freeholders were to assemble and return the members themselves. It was also enacted that no Parliament thenceforth to be assembled should be dis- solved or prorogued within fifty days after the time appointed for their meeting, or adjourned within fifty days after their meeting, but by consent of either House respectively, who might appoint each their own speaker. We must return now to the trial of Strafford. Examina- tions of witnesses had been taken by the Lords, in the pre- sence of a select committee of the House of Commons, and finally twenty-eight articles had been drawn up and presented to the Lords by Pym, to which the Earl of Strafford returned his answers in writing. The 22nd day of March was fixed for Omm STBAFFORD AND PYM. STRAFFORD AND PYM. 323 }\ I \]\ the commencement of the trial, so that Straflford had upwards of four months for a review in his own mind of the circum- stances of his career as a minister ; and though the salient points on which he would he charged were weU known to him previously, he had three weeks given him after the delivery of the articles to prepare his specific answers. He asked for three mmtks! What might not happen in three months ? Delay was the earFs game, expedition his opponents' necessity. ' The usual places for administering justice and trials of offenders,' says Rushworth, who was present and took down in writing the whole proceedings, ' were thought too mean upon so great an occasion, and therefore scaffolds were erected in Westminster Hall fit to receive so great an assembly as were to attend his trial. His majesty had a closet provided for him, the queen, and prince near the place where the House of Peers sat, and was every day at the trial of the said earl, and might hear what was said, and see what wit- nesses were produced, and take a full view of the greatness of the assembly, and yet remain privately in his closet unseen. Seats were prepared for the Lord High Steward, and all the House of Lords, who sat as his judges : woolsacks were placed for all the justices or judges, to be their assistants. There were also seats provided for all the Commons in Parliament, though they came not with their Speaker and his mace as a House of Parliament, but as a committee of the whole House. Seats were likewise provided for the Commissioners of the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland, which made it an assembly of three kingdoms. At the lower end of the scaffolds a place was provided for thirteen members of the House of Commons, who were appointed for the earl's prosecutors, to manage the evidence against him ; near to them stood the prisoner, with a table before him, and a desk to write upon ; and a chair was set for him to rest himseK when he found it needful. The books of his life, from the time of his admission into the cabinet of his prince's council, were exposed to the world's view, and the most profound learning of the laws of our country, the sharpest wit, and the deepest wisdom of our kingdom were employed to examine and measure what he had done, not only by those rules of justice whereby all our ordinary courts of justice are wisely bound by our ancestors, to proceed in the trial of criminals, but by those fundamental rules and maxims of our English government which that Parliament asserted to be the safeguard both of the king and people, and to be so reserved in the custody of the supreme legislative power, that no criminals, by the violation of those first principles, which, they said, gave the being to our government, can be judged otherwise than in Parliament, the ordinary judges being obliged by that famous statute of the 25th Edward III. concerning treasons, to respite judgment in all such cases until the matter be declared in Parliament, and judgment there given, whether the offence whereof any shall be accused be treason or other felony. ^This trial being upon an impeachment for treason not specially named and declared in the statute of the 25th Edward III., occasioned more industrious and exquisite searches to be made into the most ancient records of the kingdom than had been for some hundreds of years, and also caused the most learned of the long robe to tumble over their law books, and to apply their minds to look into the bowels of our ancient laws, and the reason of them, from whence they had their being ; and doubtless the counsel on either side brought out of their most secret treasuries the quintessence of all their learning and studies ; besides the weight of the cause, every man's reputation pushed him to show his utmost skill before so great and so grave an assembly of such critical and excellent judges and auditors.'* The trial continued, with the interposition of intervals for deliberation and providing evidence, until the 12th day of April, 1 641 ; and an act for judgment in a bill of attainder passed against the Earl in the House of Commons the 21st of the same month, and in the House of Peers on the joth of May following. The first day of the trial (March 22) was spent in reading the articles of accusation, and the earl's answers. On the following day Pym rose and opened the case on the part of the Commons in a speech of the highest order. I cannot • Rushworth, vol. viii. Preface. Y 2 324. STRAFFORD AND PYM. enter into tlie details of tlie articles which were now pro- ceeded with ; but their general aim was to establish against Strafford an attempt to subvert the fundamental laws of the country. This, when established, they considered to consti- tute a treason of the highest kind ; and towards the establish- ment of it they reviewed the whole tenor of Strafford^s government, and deduced from the uniform testimony of his words and actions the existence of such a design. One or two of the articles, the managers of the impeachment con- tended, amounted to treason considered separately in thein- eelves ; while the whole formed links in one continuous chain of evidence demonstrating the same thing. Most of the articles were proved by ample evidence ; and the answers of the earl, though ingenious in the highest degree, are merely so, and not in the slightest degree satisfactory as a solid defence. The most important were the 15th, 19th, 20th, 2 1 St, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th articles, of which the last six were taken together on the 5th of April.* Of these, the principal point was contained in the last clause of the 23rd article, which ran as follows : ' The said Earl of Strafford, • Tbe tliorougb untrustworthiness of the book called * Whitelocke's Memo- riaU ' (wWch was first published after the death of the author under anonjinous editorship— some say of Arthur Annesley, Earl of Anglesea), is shown by comparing an alleged scene on Strafford's trial with the authentic account given by Rushworth. See Whitelocke's Memorials (ed. 1682), pp. 40, 41, as to Whitelocke declining to undertake the conduct of the 24th article (which, he says, was respecting the Irish army), and Sir Walter Erie undertaking it, breaking down, and being relieved by Lord Digby. There is not a trace of all this in Rushworth, or any other account of the trial that I have seen. It is the 2^rd article which relates to the design of bringing over the army from Ireland; but the 19th, 20th, 2 1st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th * were so nearly related to each other, that the counsel for the House of Commons, when they came to them, pleaded for liberty to handle them, not as they lay, but as they were related to one another. And after my Lord Strafford had long and vigorously opposed this, my Lord High Steward determined the case, and ordered that they should be handled promiscuously, and in cumulo, as the counsel for the Commons' House should think fit.'— (Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 514, and see pp. 521-2.) Whitelocke did conduct the case in this part : * Mr. Whitelocke then proceeded to the latter words of the 23rd article, which shew, in full and plain terms, what my Lord of Strafford's design was, and what he would have laboured and endeavoured his Majesty to entertain.*— (lb. p. 543.) The examination of the Earl of Northumberland was then read, and Sir Henry Vane was examined as to this J and (ib. p. 546) * here Mr. Whitelocke observed, that these words were spoken in England, on this occasion, of the king's trying his people, and which cannot be intended any other place than England, where the Parliament was broken, and where the king had tried his people.' And * so, Mr. White- STRAFFORD AND PYM. 325 with the help and assistance of the said archbishop, did pro- cure his Majesty to dissolve the said Parliament, upon the fifth day of May last ; and upon the same day the said Earl of Strafford did treacherously, falsely, and maliciously endea- vour to incense his Majesty against his loving and faithftd subjects, who had been members of the said House of Com- mons, ' by telling his Majesty they had denied to supply him ; and afterwards, upon the same day, did traitorously and wickedly counsel and advise his Majesty to this effect, viz., that having tried the affections of his people, he was loose and absolved from all rules of government, and that he was to do everything that power would admit; and that his Majesty had tried all ways, and was refused, and should be acquitted towards God and man ; and that he had an army in Ireland (meaning the army above-mentioned, consisting of Papists, his dependents, as is aforesaid), which he might employ to reduce this kingdom.' This article, as well as the foregoing, was founded on the examinations taken before the Lords, and is almost wholly in the words of the several wit- nesses. The evidence given on these articles was most con- elusive, and furnished a complete chain of proof that it had been the earPs design to have a Parliament called first ; and if they would not grant the subsidies required for the war against the Scots, then to have recourse to illegal measures of taxation ; and in case these were resisted by the people, and the English army were engaged in opposing the Scots, to bring the Irish army into England, and by its assistance forcibly to levy the money required. A great variety of in- dependent testimony went to prove the different parts of this design. It appeared to have been the current talk among the politicians of Dublin, that the Irish army was intended to act not against the Scots, but against England ; and this idea was created independently of any knowledge on their part of other circumstances, by the unaccountable delays locke said, they should conclude their evidence, conceiving the last words spoken to be very fully proved,* &c. Compare, also, p. 547 with the speech in Whitelocke, p. 42. Mr. Maynard managed the 2^th article. See a speech of Lord Digby^s, quite different from Whitelocke's version. — (Rushworth, vol. viii. p. 528.) The i^th article was laid aside^ and the committee proceeded to the 15 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 423 the anti-popular party, and more especially of the Roman- catholic priests, whose attendance on the queen had been guaranteed by the mischievous marriage-treaty. Hertford himself was not sufficiently in sympathy with these ultra- Royalists to accompany his young pupO on his expeditions ; and the Commons with some alarm saw the heir to the crown exposed without guard to the influence of those who were in every respect most obnoxious to the nation. On a motion froJthe'Lower House, couched in very moderate language, the Lords resolved to send the Marquis of Hertford and the Earl of Holland with a message to the queen, explaining the groimds of their distrust, and at the same time issued a strict order to the marquis himself to take care that the prince's ordinary residence and abode be at his own house, and that no such person as might give cause of distrust of meddling with him, either in any point against his religion, or against the security of his person, be admitted about him; and to this purpose that the marquis should diligently attend him in person, as he would answer it to the king and king- dom. Henrietta Maria, never at a loss for an answer, gave the Parliament thanks for their care of her son. The occasion why she sent for him, she alleged, was to celebrate the birth- day of one of his sisters, but he should be at once sent back to Richmond. With significant sarcasm, she added, that she 'made no doubt but at the king's return the Parliament would express the same care of his Majesty's honour and safety.' An event, however, now occurred, compared with which all these minor occasions of alarm and suspicion sank into insignificance. On the ist of November a committee of the House of Lords informed the Commons of the com- mencement of a great rebellion in Ireland, undertaken avowedly with the object of re-establishing the Roman- catholic faith in that kingdom. The body of 8000 Catholics whom Strafford had raised for his own purposes, had long been an object of distrust to the English Parliament ; and the king had been just as eager to keep them together under some pretence, or in some form or other. He had proposed lending a body of them to the King of Spain ; but the Par- ' liament had a plausible excuse for not agreeing to this, as it would be indirectly rendering assistance to the enemies of the Palatine ; they would not consent to anything but a simple disbanding. But during the discussion on this subject, Charles had sent secret instructions to the Earls of Ormond and Antrim, requiring not only that these men should be kept from disbanding, but that, if possible, 12,000 more should be raised. This evidently formed one branch of the general project to which allusion has been made. ' The answer which the king received at York, in his journey to Scotland, was, that these instructions came too late, as the army (which had been drawn to Carrickfergus) was now wholly dispersed. But this did not cool Charles' earnestness. He returned a pressing message that these forces should be got together again, and more levied ; that the Irish Parlia- ment, consisting for the most part of Catholics, should be prompted to declare for the king against the Parliament of England, and the whole kingdom set in motion for his service ; and that if the Lords Justices would not join in the work^ their persons should be secured, together with all those that should oppose the undertaking.'^ A committee of the Irish Parliament had come over to England to assist in the prose- cution of Strafford. With them the king held frequent conferences ; and while the general body of the committee left London for Dublin about the time when Charles set out on his journey to Scotland, one of them. Lord Dillon of Costelo, attended the king to Edinburgh, and thence pro- ceeded to Ireland in the beginning of October. These com- mittee-men were Roman-catholics, and were among the prin- cipal leaders in the subsequent rebellion. The state of Ireland at this period is thus described by a member of the old Irish Catholic party: ^In the year of grace 1641, and in the month of October, '41, the kingdom of Ireland, one of the best islands in Europe, stood in fairer terms of happiness and prosperity than ever it had done these 500 years past (being the time that the nation began to decline). She had en- joyed the sweet fruits of a long peace, full of people and • Godwin's History of the Commonwealth, vol. i. pp. 221-2. 424 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. ricliesj but commanded by foreigners, and the majesty of religion eclipsed.' In the Fragmentum Historicnm of Richard Bellings, secretary to the Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholics of Ireland, occurs the following passage : ' The council, likewise, considering the scarcity of coin in the, kingdom, and how the peace and plenty wherein the subjects lived for some years before, had not only furnished the houses of men of birth and quality with store of plate, but that those of mean condition, and some artisans, had laid up marks of the abundance of former times, gave orders for erecting a mint,' &c. So much for the material prosperity of Ireland. With respect to her grievances, the following is the statement in ' The Humble Remonstrance of the Northern Catholics of Ireland, now in arms, to the King's most excellent Majesty.' They begin by asserting the despotic power of the king in the very strongest manner against the reforms of the Long Parliament ; also the justice of Charles' accusation of Pym (to which I shall presently refer), asserting the aim of the English Parliament to be ' the total subversion of monarchy, and bringing in its place an oligarchy, or popular govern- ment, the common abortive issue and fruits of Puritanism.' They affect to deplore the removal of the bishops from Par- liament, and the impending fall of the Church of England ; and exclaim against the pamphlets published against the king^s using foreign help -, they resent the treatment of the queen in her religion ; assert the dependency of Ireland solely on the King of England ; condole the persecutions against the English and Scotch Catholics; attack the Covenant, which they interpret into an extirpation of the Catholics as well as of the Catholic religion ; assert the favourable recep- tion by the Lords Justices of a petition from several hundred Irish Puritans to the same effect ; stigmatize, as scandalous and seditious, pamphlets published in England which assert the disloyalty of Catholicism, and then proceed : ' Your Majesty may be pleased, for your better information, to be advertised, that though we, the Catholics of your kingdom of Ireland, are not in danger, by the laws of the realm, to be deprived of our goods and estates, yet, in all the reign of your Majesty, and of your late royal father King James^ we PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 425 have suffered much in our means and fortunes by reason of our religion, and we have been debarred in all that space, by colour of that our profession, of all countenance, advance- ment, and employment in the commonwealth, notwith- standing that we have given as many clear expressions of our desire and willingness to serve your Highness, and of our faith and loyalty to your Majesty and your crown, as any other of your best subjects ; and that we could not enjoy, during that time, that free exercise of our religion which we conceived our merit and truth did deserve.' As it is impor- tant to have their real demands before us, I will subjoin a summary of the ^ Heads of the Causes which moved the Northern Irish and Catholics of Ireland to take arms anno 1 641.' They embrace — First. The alleged persecution and threatened extirpation by the Puritans. Second. An alleged declaration of the State of Ireland to the same effect. Third. Denial of the benefit of the laws, especially the municipal. Fourth. Unjust ejections from, and uncertain tenure of, lands, at caprice of an arbitrary power, ^ for ihe^efortt/ years past.' Fifth. Debarral of the Catholic youth from the advantages of a university education, here or abroad. Sixth. Non-admission of Catholics to dignities and offices, and conferral of the same on unworthy persons. Seventh. Engrossal of the trading, shipping, and riches by non-resident Dutch, Scottish, and English, to the exclusion of the natives. Eighth. Monopolies and impositions against law. Ninth. Exportation of native productions in an unmanufactured state. Tenth. Delays in their suits and petitions. Eleventh. Denial of common jus- tice and privilege of Parliament, and cessation of Parliaments. Twelfth. Invasion of the king's prerogative by the English Puritans. Thirteenth. Government and nomination of officers, &c., usurped by the Parliament of England, and especially the House of Commons, leaving the king nothing but the bare name of a king. Fourteenth. Affronts to foreign ambassadors and their chaplains, &c., by the English House of Commons. Fifteenth. Injuries to the queen by the breach of her marriage articles. Sixteenth. Murders, pillages, &c., perpetrated of late by the Protestant armies here, by direction of the Irish government, upon the Pale 426 pahltamentary royalism. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 427 and others merely standing on their defence, against the king^s will. Seventeenth. Disarming of the natives, and arming of the Protestant planters in the English plantations, leading to the expulsion and ruin of the former. Eighteenth. Confiscation to the king of half the realm, illegally, and hy illegal means. Among the proclamations of the ' Supreme Council,' we find one ' granting all the privileges of a native, and exemption of a third part of all the public charges and levies, to any of the English, Welsh, and Scottish nation, being a Roman-catholic ^ that would reside amongst them.* We now see the alleged grievances, and the spirit of those who demanded their redress ; we may, therefore, form some idea of the difficulty of dealing with the case. The griev- ances may he divided into three classes : I. Those which arose from religious disabilities consequent on a Protestant and Puritan ascendency in the Irish government. II. Those which were connected with civil misgovernment, and sprang up to a great degree during the rule of Strafford. III. The changes in England effected by the measures of the English Parliament, and the question between Charles and the English Puritans. The first class of grievances are the only ones which deserved attention, and were not likely to receive it ; the second would have received it from the English Parlia- ment, as was ptoved by their conduct in the prosecution of Strafford ; the third by their insolent, yet slarish tone, effec- tually removed all chance of the first being at all attended to. How were the English Parliament to satisfy men who required the prostration of the newly recovered liberties of England at the feet of the king ? The exasperation caused by these demands, and the feeling that the sympathies of the Irish Catholics lay entirely with the enemies of liberty both abroad and at home, prevented that attention to their real re- ligious grievances which justice demanded. Certainly the Irish Catholics could not hope to obtain their wishes in the third class of grievances without an appeal to arms. Foreign officers, and Irish officers, trained in the service of Spain, had been on one pretext or another passing over into Ireland throughout the year 1641 ; and, from the documents which remain, there can be no doubt that a revolutionary movement was contemplated for some time previously. Charles wished to turn this feeling to his own purposes by causing an armed demonstration in Ireland against the English Parliament; while the Irish Catholics, acting under the auspices of Rome, hoped to be able to establish a separate Catholic state, under the protectorate of Spain. Tliey were of course willing to avail themselves of the king^s authority to rise ; but, when once organized, they fully intended to dictate their own terms. Whether or not Charles really en- trusted a commission to Lord Dillon, addressed to Sir Phelim O'Neill, the leader of the Irish Catholics of Ulster, must remain a doubtful point ; though no one has yet attempted a solution of the fact that the commission produced by Sir Phelim bears date at Edinburgh, the ist of October, 1641, and is sealed with the great seal of Scotlayid, It was only on the 22nd of October that the Lords Justices received precise information from one of the accomplices that everything was prepared for the surprise of the Castle of Dublin the next day. The Castle and Dublin were secured. But in the north Sir Phelim anticipated the day of rising, and on the 2 2nd, under the disguise of a visit of hospitality, seized on the Castle of Charlemont. In a week the entire province of Ulster, with the coimties of Longford in Leinster, and Leitrim in Connaught, had, with the exception of a very few strong places, fallen into the hands of the insurgents ; and O'Neill found himself at the head of 30,000 men. It was at first re- solved to expel the English ; to effect this, they disarmed the colonists, and drove them forth en masse, allowing them to take with them their portable valuables. But disputes con- cerning these soon arose ; religious bigotry, fomented by the priests (as their fellow-religionist the Marquis of Clanricarde repeatedly states in his letters), soon overcame all other feelings. The English were stripped of their valuables and of their clothes. When thus naked, cruelties of every kind suggested themselves to the wild and uncivilized peasantry. No attempt was made to check them at the commencement ; nay, it was proved that some of the earlier atrocities were perpetrated in the presence of Sir Phelim, if not by his ex- press orders ; and shortly a scene of unexampled bloodshed 428 PARLIAMENTAKY ROYALISM. and massacre spread over the land. It lias been alleged that the first atrocities were committed by some Scotch soldiers on the unarmed inhabitants of an island in the north. But, in the first place, the struggle here happened in the January of 1642, several months after the commence- ment of the massacres, and was a mere act of reprisal ; 2ndly, the inhabitants of the island were in arms, and it was in conflict, and not by a massacre that the Irish islanders fell ; 3rdly, the number said to have been ' massacred' here far exceeds the whole population of the island ; and 4thly, it could not have been in revenge for this ' massacre' that the subsequent cruelties were perpetrated, for in the earliest of them we find a distinction made in favour of Bcobchnen over Englishmen * The first massacres for which I can find a date took place on the 20th of November in county Wicklow, and in county Meath on the 30th of November. On the 20th of December, in the county of Kilkenny, the Protes- tants were stripped, and ropes of straw bound round their bodies, and then set on fire. In Queen's county the mas- sacres began on the 23rd of January, 1642. The greatest bloodshed occurred in county Armagh; in the next rank must be placed counties Tyrone, Donegal, Mayo, Galway, and Kilkenny; after them, counties Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Tipperary, Sligo, Roscommon, Longford, Queen's county, Dublin, and Carlow. Those in which the fewest atrocities were committed, were counties Clare, Leitrim, Westmeath, Wicklow, Meath, and Kildare. Of the number who fell it is impossible to gain any accurate idea ; men under such circumstances do not count very easily. It is sufficient to know that a few years later it was impossible to call together a jury of Protestants in several coimties, because they could not collect the required number. Of course the Protestants, when they obtained arms, retaliated, and many cruelties were committed on both sides ; indeed, the struggle assumed a horrible character, all the ordinary rules of civilized warfare being laid aside, and each party seeking * See the admirable summary by Mr. Lascelles, in the Introduction to the Irish Records Sejaort, PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 429 to extirpate the other like wild beasts. But when our at- tention is drawn to atrocities on the part of the English and Scotch colonists, we must remember that they were men who were infuriated by some of the worst cruelties, inflicted on their friends and families, which it is possible for the mind of man to conceive. We are told, indeed, that all the accounts of Catholic cruelties are Puritan fabrications, and that the whole was merely a defensive struggle ; and in proof of the nature of the evidence on which the fact of these atrocities partly rests, we have our attention drawn to the alleged appearance of the ghosts of the murdered people crying for vengeance from the water beneath the bridge of Portadown. Because the terrified witnesses deposed to having seen this, we are therefore to believe that no massacres took place ; as if the very fact of their imaginations being wrought up to fancying such sights were not the strongest proof that some horrible deed had really been perpetrated in their presence. Of the actual commission of these atrocities we have indis- putable evidence. The Marquis of Clanricarde, an Irish Roman-catholic himself, writes thus: 'Upon the 27th [of November, 1641] I went from Tuam to Shreull [Shrule], a fair strong castle of my own in the county of Mayo, but divided from the county by the river, upon the which is a fair stone bridge, made since most infamous by the horrid and bloody murder of about one hundred English and Scots, most of them mas- sacred by their own convoys, before they would [Anglice, could] attain into this county over the bridge. Out of this inhuman massacre very strangely escaped Maxwell, Lord Bishop of Killala, and his wife and children. He was stripped and dangerously wounded, and at last found and relieved by Mr. Ulrick Burke, of Castle Hacket, living within this county, upon those borders, and there was carefully attended until he was able to travel, and then I went to convoy to wait upon him.' And Colonel Henry McTully O'Neill, who served under Owen Roe O'Neill, one of the great Irish leaders, admits that, ' the Irish rabble did, by way of re- taliation, murder some British at Portadown, Clancan, Car- bridge, and Belturbet.' If massacres really took place here, why are they to be discredited in other parts? when the 430 PAKLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. accounts are so circumstantial (and the depositions lie in MSS., open to inspection, at Trinity College, Dublin^), and when Dublin, we are told, was daily crowded by fugitives in every stage of distress and suffering, who came directly from the scenes of violence, and testified to deeds done before their own eyes. The revolt of the north was followed by the defection of the Catholic Lords of the Pale, and the revolt of Munster in the middle of December. Such was the news which burst upon the ears of the English Parliament at the end of the year 1641. Charles, on receiving intelligence of what occurred, merely wrote to Nicholas, ' I hope this ill news of Ireland may hinder some of these follies in England I ' No sooner was the news of the rebellion reported to the House of Commons than Sir Benjamin Rudyard, ' after a little silence,^ moved for measures to suppress it ; and on the 4th of November Denzil Holies proposed that the Commons should express to the Lords their desire that the Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland (Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester) might go over to that country as speedily as possible. It is worthy of notice that Sir John Culpeper, who may be supposed to express the wishes of the court, opposed this motion, and moved instead, that the Lord Lieutenant be desired not to go over till he had forces to take with him. The presence of Leicester in Ireland at the present time would be obnoxious to the king, chiefly on account of the direct communication which would be thus established between the executive authority in the rebellious island and the English Parlia- ment ; as long as the divided authority of the Lords Justices and their assessors in the government continued, the inti- mations of the king^s wishes, indirectly conveyed, would have an important effect in determining the policy pursued by the Irish administration towards the rebels. Although we should acquit Charles of complicity in the outbreak of the rebellion, it must be admitted by every one that he was now chiefly desirous of turning the forces thus called into action against the English Parliament, and regarded with * The substance of them is printed in Husbands' Collections, PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 431 comparative indifference the atrocious deeds of several of the rebel chiefs. The royal proclamation by which they were declared traitors was withheld till the 2nd of January, and then only forty copies were ordered to be printed, with a special command from the king not to exceed that number, and that none of them should be published till his Majesty's pleasure were further signified.* Contrasted with the king's previous haste in dispersing proclamations against the Scotch Covenanters, and his in- junctions to have these latter read in all churches and chapels, the present delay and prohibition were ill calculated to remove the doubts which were otherwise entertained of his intentions, and, combined with the repeated asseverations of the Irish rebels themselves that they acted under the royal authority, paralysed the efforts which might otherwise have been made at an early period, with some chance of success, for the suppression of the rebellion. The Earl of Leicester, in fact, was never allowed to go over, being detained on one plea or another till the Civil War broke out. The king himself, however, did exhibit a desire to go over personally to Ireland ; but, as may be supposed, this proposition was not viewed in the most favourable light by the English Parliament. It had been determined to request the assistance of the Scotch nation towards the suppression of the Irish rebellion, and this (which had been strongly opposed by Sir John Hotham and some other of the North England members, as highly derogatory to the dignity of this country) led to a curious passage of arms between Pym and the new court partisan, Edmund Waller. On occasion of settling the in- structions to be given on the above point to the committee in Scotland, on the 5th of November, ' Mr. Pym stood up, and said that no man should be more ready and forward than himself to engage his estate, person, life, and all for the suppression of this rebellion in Ireland, or for the perform- ance of any other service for his Majesty's honour and safety ; but he feared that, as long as he [the king] gave ear to those evil counsellors about him, all that we did would prove » See the Royal Warrant m Husbands' Collections, p. 215. 432 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. in Tain ; and therefore he desired that we might add some declaration in the end of these instructions, that howsoever we had engaged ourselves for the assistance of Ireland, yet unless the king would remove his evil counsellors, and take such counsellors as might be approved by Parliament, we should account ourselves absolved from this engagement/ ' Divers,^ says D'Ewes, ' would have had it speedily assented unto ; but Mr. Hyde stood up, and first opposed it, and said, amongst other things, that by such an addition we should, as it were, menace the king/ Waller went a step further in this opposition, and said that, ' as the Earl of Strafford had advised the king that, because we did not relieve him, he was absolved from all rules of government, so, by this addition, on the contrary, we should pretend that, if the king did not remove his ill counsellors, we were absolved from our duty in assisting him in the recovery of Ireland/ On this Pym stood up, and, interrupting Waller, spoke to the orders of the House, and said that, ' if the motion he had made were of the same nature with the Earl of Strafford's, then he deserved the like punishment, and therefore he craved the justice of the House, either to censure him or to cause the gentleman who had last spoken to make him reparation. Divers,' D'Ewes continues, ' called on Mr. Waller to explain himself; which he not doing fully, he was commanded, after some debate, to withdraw, and went accordingly into the committee-chamber ; and after a short further debate, was called into the House again, and publicly asked pardon of the House and of Mr. Pym.'* On the 8th of November following Pym, yielding to the objections of some of his own party, such as St. John, to the wording of this clause, introduced it in an amended form, that if his Majesty would not be graciously pleased to grant the request, the House of Commons would continue in that obedience and loyalty to him which was due by the laws of God and this kingdom, yet they would taTce such a course for the iecurmg of Ireland as might likewise secure themselves, A long debate ensued, in which Orlando Bridgeman took the lead in opposition to Pym ; and, on a division, the amended clause • Marl. MSS, 162, p. 106 b. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 433 was carried by a majority of 151 to no ; Sir Anthony Irby and Sir Thomas Barrington being tellers for the ayes, and Mr. John Bellasis and Sir John Culpeper for the noes.^ At a conference the next day with the Lords, Pym, who managed for the Commons, ^ spoke near upon a quarter of an hour touching evil counsels and evil counsellors, who had brought all these late calamities upon the kingdom ; and that all the care and pains the Parliament either had taken or should take for the future would be in vain, unless they were removed and better provided and settled.' Sir William Lewis then read the instructions to the committee in Scotland, and the House of Lords ultimately acquiesced in them. The determined character of the above proceedings is ex- plained by the peculiar crisis at which matters had arrived. The Irish rebellion, by distracting the attention of the nation as well as the Parliament, had encouraged the more luke- warm of the popular party in a disposition to abandon their watchfulness over the home administration. It had also rendered necessary the raising of additional troops for the suppression of the rising, and it became a matter of great importance that these should not be diverted from their ostensible object, to the furtherance of the king's secret plans. By the remarkable clause which Pym proposed and added to the Scotch instructions, he brought these two dangers to which the popular cause was exposed into natural and striking connexion, and intimated to Charles that no pretext on the score of Ireland would be allowed to ^hinder' what the king called ' these follies ' in the guardians of the public interests in Parliament ; nor would the House of Commons be induced by any iugenious commonplaces about the courtesy and deference due to royalty, to forego their right of ascertaining that the armed force which was about to be raised was con- fined to its proper objects, and not turned against their own safety. In this case plain words were of the essence of the point at issue ; and unless they were employed at the right time, the opportunity might be lost for ever, and, instead of saving Ireland, the Parliament might end by complimenting ♦ Harl. MSS. 162, p. 112 B. F F 434 PARLIAMENTARY ROTALISM. Cliarles back again into a large part of his usurped prero- gative.* In indirect bearing on this point, a very significant entry appears in D'Ewes' Journal of the 6th of November, connect- ing a great historic name with a motion which has hitherto attracted little attention, where it appears on the Journals of the House. Another head of the proposed conference with the Lords was added, ' upon Mr. Cromwell's motion/ that they should desire the Lords that an ordinance of Parliament might pass to give the Earl of Essex poicer from both Houses to com- maud upon all occasions the trained bands on that side Trent for the defence of the kiwjdom, and that this power might continue until the Parliament should take further order A The Earl of Essex had already been appointed by the king to this command dunng his absence in Scotland; but the present order, it wiU be observed, continues this command during the pleasure, and places it under the authority, of the Parliament. This was the greatest home-thrust that the king's projects had yet received, and the point thus raised by Oliver CromweU ex- panded in the following year into the turning question of the struggle between Charfes and the Long Parliament— the command of the militia. Another subject, however, now occupied much of the time, and was the battle-field for the principal contests between the parties within the walls of the House of Commons. This was the ' Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom;' the purport of which cannot be better described than in the words of the • On December 3rd we find from D'Ewes that * Mr. Morley delivered in a letter sent to Mr. Alexander Rigby, a member of this House, being present, bearing date Kov. 26, 164T, sent to him out of Lancashire from one Mr. Hopton, lu which he informed him that one Mr. Edward Briers, son of Mr. John Briers, had lately given him information of divers particulars in Ireland, wherein him- self had remained some five or six days (Oct. 20— Nov. 4) a prisoner with the rebels • by which it appeared that Sir Phelim O^Neale had taken Armagh and divers'other places, and took the English in several places, and bound them hand and foot, and stripped them stark naked. That Sir Phelim O Neale shewed his solcOers a commission under the broad seal of England, by which he said that he was authorized by the king to restore the Roman religion in Ireland, and that they should have aid from foreign nations, and that he did nothing but what the state of England and Ireland was acquainted with. — Marl. MSS. 162, p. 208 a. , ^ t 7 t Harl, MSS. 162, p. 106 B, and Com. JoumaU, PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 435 preamble to it : ^ The Commons in this present Parliament assembled, having, with much earnestness and faithfulness of affection, and zeal to the publick good of this kingdom and his Majestic' s honour and service, for the space of twelve moneths, wrestled with the great dangers and fears, the pressing miseries and calamities, the various distempers and disorders, which had not only assaulted, but even overwhelmed and extinguisht the liberty, peace, and prosperity of this kingdom, the comfort and hopes of all his Majestie^s good subjects, and exceedingly weakened and undermined the foundation and strength of his own royal throne, do yet find an abounding malignity and opposition in those parties and factions who have been the cause of those evils, and do still labour to cast aspersions upon that which hath been done, and to raise many difficulties for the hindrance of that which remains yet undone, and to foment jealousies betwixt the king and the Parliament, that so they may deprive him and his people of the fruit of his own gracious intentions, and their humble desires of procuring the publick peace, safety, and happiness of this realm. For the preventing of those miserable effects which such malicious endeavours may duce, we have thought good to declare : i . The root and the growth of these mischievous designs. 2. The ma- turity and ripeness to which they have attained before the beginning of the Parliament. 3. The effectual means which hath been used for the extirpations of those dangerous evils, and the progress which hath therein been made by his Majestie's goodness and the wisdom of the Parliament. 4. The ways of obstruction and opposition by which that progress hath been in- terrupted. 5. The courses to be taken for the removing these obstacles, and for the accomplishing of our most dutiful and faithful intentions and endeavours, of restoring and esta- blishing the ancient honour, greatness, and security of this crown and nation.'* * Husbands' ' Exact Collections of all Bemonstrances, Declarations, kc, which were formerly published either by the King's Majesty's Command, or by Order from one or both Houses of Parliament.* London : 1642 [March, 1643], p. 3. FF 2 436 PARUAMENTARY ROYALISM. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 437 The poiUical objects of the ' Remonstrance' will be at once perceived from the above statement of its contents. The popular leaders, as we have already observed, had from an early period seen the disadvantage under which the Par- liament laboured, as an open and divided council, in com- parison with the king's secret cabinet united under one head. Their general intentions often presented themselves to the eyes of the public in a very imperfect and distorted foim, simply because they had to be gathered from a number of seemingly isolated acts, many of which, considered in themselves alone, afforded a plausible occasion for party misrepresentation; and, even where the particular object of the single measuie was accurately reported from the debates in Parliament, this would frequently represent very imperfectly the real design of the authors. To disclose this at the time would often either have exposed them to a charge of unreasonable and culpable distrust of the sovereign, or entirely defeated the object itself. Secrecy on some points was with them a necessity; but also, politically, a great disadvantage, since publicity would have been their best vindication. With the king, on the contrary, secrecy as to his real motives was, of course, a great advantage; and, even supposing the real object of the measure to have been publicly avowed by the popular leaders, and recognised as worthy by the nation, it was, we have seen, not at all difficult for the king to avail himself subsequently of the treacherous public memory, and his van- tage ground of royalty and fixed authority, and persuade the unreflecting portion of the nation into an entirely difl'erent interpretation of the measure. To counterbalance these royal advantages, and to supply the nation with an enduring memorial of the original intentions and past proceedings of the Parliament, it became necessary that a state paper should be drawn up embodying the spirit of the popular party, showing what they had actually done, and what yet required to be done, exhibiting the difficulties in the face of which so much had been accomplished, and showing to what extent these difficulties still existed, not only to check their progress in the path of reform, but also to menace the con- tinuance of what they had already achieved. n The ^ Kemonstrance' was therefore the manifesto of the party of Pyra, directed as much against Hyde and the new ' Royalist' party in the Houses as against the king himself. It was a bold measure, the immediate effect of which might be even injurious to the strength and influence of the popular party in the House of Commons, by scaring from their standard many of the waverers, and by affording the opposite party an opportunity for measuring their strength against them, under very favourable circumstances. It transferred, in fact, the plausible pretences by which the influence of Pym and his associates had been undermined out of doors, to the interior of the House itself. There they were repeated by Hyde, Falkland, and Culpeper, and there they were met face to face, and rebutted by Pym and Hampden, the latter of whom arrived in London at this critical moment from his northern mission ; and the arguments by which they were confuted were placed on record for permanent reference, and for the enlightenment of the whole nation. The points raised by the ' Remonstrance,' particularly on church questions, of course exposed the popular party to the risk of close divisions, or even of defeat ; and it required all the address and parliamentary experience of the popular leaders to hit the exact line between the humour of the House and the advisable points of the Remonstrance. On some occasions such entries as the following occur in D'Ewes' record : ' The Episcopal party were so strong in the House, that we were fain to lay aside this clause.' But, although compelled to yield on special points of detail, the Remonstrance was carried through triumphantly in its main features ; and, having been read for the first time on the 8th of November, passed the House on the 22nd by a majority of eleveti — 159 to 148 — Sir John Clotworthy and Arthur Goodwin, Hampden's colleague, being tellers for the ayes, and Sir Frederick Cornwallis and Mr. Strangwayes for the noes. The particulars of the debates, and of the extraordinary scenes in the House of Commons with which they closed, are given fully, and for the first time authentically, by D'Ewes in his Journal ; but, as Mr. Forster has recently (J858) made them the particular subject of a very valuable essay, drawn from the same source. 438 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. I will now content myself witli a reference to his volume, and merely observe that Clarendon^s account is proved to he entirely untrustworthy, and that the conduct of Hyde and Ms supporter, Mr. Geoffrey Palmer, in attempting to record their protests against the printing of the Remonstrance, in violation of the rules of the House, might have led to a scene of actual bloodshed within those walls, had not the presence of mind and calmness of Hampden interposed to prevent a catastrophe which had perhaps been anticipated by those of the king's advisers who (we now know) planned the riotous proceeding. The struggle had been a severe one, and the decisive divi- sion much closer than had been anticipated ; but when the Remonstrance had been actually carried, the effect on the re- lative position of the two parties mthin the House, and on the public mind without, was striking and immediate. The policy of the popular leaders had been deliberately adopted in its entirety by the House of Commons, and became the recog- nised creed of the more important branch of the legislature, as respected both the past and the future. The popular party, with a definite programme, became rapidly re-consolidated ; and with increased definiteness and imion in their objects, appealed with greater force and success to the sympathies of the nation. It was well known that the smallness of the final majority rather represented the timidity and irresolution of a portion of the House, and their distrust of an unusual pro- ceeding, than their conscientious dissent from the particular propositions embodied in it. These had been in general decisively afl&rmed, and the subsequent divisions showed that the effort of the ' Royalist ' party on the 22nd of November went far beyond the strength on which they could habi- tually count. From that evening the waverers began to rally again to the popular party, and the ' Royalists,' dis- heartened, and in their turn distracted, by the divisions and suspicions which attend a falling party, gradually dwindled down into a comparatively insignificant minority. Whether they might not again have rallied under more favourable auspices, is perhaps still doubtful ; but Charles himself re- turned fix)m Scotland in time to dissipate effectually by his \ PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 439 mad proceedings any remaining chances of the successful organization of a party attached to his interests within the Houses of Parliament. On the 25th of November the king arrived at Whitehall. He had attempted, before his departure from Scotland, to win over the Covenanters to a neutrality at least in the impending contest. On the 15th of this month he conferred on Loudon the title of earl, and appointed him Lord Chancellor ; Argyll he made a marquis ; and General Alexander Leslie he raised to the title of Earl of Leven. Montrose was released from his nominal restraint, and a seeming reconciliation was effected among other parties. Charles then hastened southwards, eager to carry into effect his long-cherished plans of ven- geance on the popular leaders in the two Houses. Although the City of London had, on the whole, supported the popular party, there were many citizens, particularly in the higher posts in the corporation, who were either lukewarm in their feelings, or even leant decidedly towards the king. There had not been time yet for the ' Remonstrance ' to make its influence felt, and the notions which I have already alluded to as so injurious to the popular cause in the nation at large, had spread considerably within the City. The Lord Mayor, there- fore. Sir Richard Gurney, whose sentiments were favourably disposed to the king, found no difficulty in organizing a grand entertainment to Charles on his safe return from the north ; and many acquiesced in this expression of loyalty who were little inclined to further the royal projects. Expressions at a festive occasion such as the above can never at any time be very safely relied upon as the deliberate judgment of the per- sons who give utterance to them. Loyal enthusiasm is also very contagious, and somewhat apt to assume exaggerated pro- portions. The partisans of the court availed themselves of both these facts to the utmost, and somewhat indiscreetly, and made no scruple of declaring that the City had ' pronounced' decidedly against the recent proceedings of the parliamentary leaders, and in favour of the king. It was rumoured in the City that ' the House of Commons were offended that the City of London gave the king such great entertainment, and that they had even sent to the City a request not to 440 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. entertain liim.' This calumny, which was brought before the notice of the House by Cromwell on the 27th of November/ may serve as an example of the use made by the court party of this unexpected political ' capital/ The king him- self seems to have jumped at the same hasty conclusion with his more ardent partisans, and fancying that the City had abandoned Pym and the parliamentary leaders, was emboldened to his next most dangerous and fatal proceedings. His first step was to make Sir John Culpeper his Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Falkland his Secretary of State, Sir Henry Vane the elder being dismissed. Hyde declined office for the present, on the ground that his services would be more useful without it, as an ostensibly independent supporter of the crown. The next proceeding of the king was a closer approach to his ultimate design. On the 26th of November, the day after Charles' arrival in London, the Lord Keeper informed the House of Lords that he had 'received a command from the king to tell them that his Majesty had heard both Houses had appointed guards to • Under Monday, December 6th, we read in D'Ewes, * Mr. Cromwell moved that the Earl of Arundel had written letters to the borough of Arundel, in Sussex, for the election of a new burgess there, and desired that tlie Speaker would write a letter to them to make a free election. Others desired an order to make such elections void. Others defended that Lords might write com- mendatory letters.* D*Ewes said he thought a member so chosen not fit to sit here Others spake after him; *and at last a committee was named, viz., Mr. Pym, Mr. Cromwell, and others, and they were appointed to draw an order tor the preventing of such elections for the future, and to meet the morrow morning at eight of the clock in the Inner Court of Wards.' The election was in the room of Mr. Henry Garton, deceased, and it resulted in a double return. Ultimately the candidate opposed by the earl, Mr. John Downes, was declared duly elected, and has obtained some celebrity as one of the members of the High Court of Justice which tried King Charles. It is a little ominous that at the very time when Charles was making his last irre- trievable step from law to physical force, such a man should be returned to Parliament, and his election secured against interference from without by Oliver Cromwell. On December loth ' Mr. Cromwell made rejwrt from the committee appointed to consider of the Earl of ArundePs letter written to the borough for the choice of Mr. Harman, his secretary, and brought in an order, which the committee had drawn, to prevent that election, and all others of the same kind ; which, after it had been a little altered, was allowed by the House, and ordered accordingly. And upon Sir Gilbert Gerrard's motion it was ordered, that the knights, citizens, barons, and burgesses of the House should send copies of this order to all the counties, cities. Cinque Ports, and boroughs in the realm.* ^ PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 441 attend them for their security, in his absence, which he pre- sumes they had reasons for ; but now, upon his return, he hopes his presence will be a protection to them, and therefore has ordered the said guards to be dissolved ; but if there be any occasion for it, he will take care there be sufficient guards to secure them.' The Houses on this petitioned the king for the continuance of the former guard : the king, in reply, stated ' that he did command the guards to be dismissed be- cause he knew no cause the Parliament had of fears, but he well perceived the molestation that the keeping of them would bring upon those subjects of his which were to perform that service, besides the general apprehensions and jealousies which thereby might disquiet all his people. He expressed a wish that when the Parliament should desire of him any extraor- dinary thing like this, and what appears of ill consequence, they should give him such particular reasons as might satisfy his judgment, if they did expect their desires to be granted. Yet he was so tender of the Parliament's safety, that, to secure them, not only from real, but even imaginary dangers, he had commanded the Earl of Dorset to appoint some of the trained bands to wait upon the Parliament for a few days ; in which time, if he should be satisfied that there is just reason, he would continue them, and likewise take such a course for the safety of his own person as should he fit, of which, he doubted not, they had as tender a care as of their own.' The king thus hoped not only to be able to place the com- mand of the Parliament's guard in the hands of his own nominee, but also to obtain a pretext for gathering an armed force around his own person, which might be employed for the approaching enterprise. The Houses meanwhile agreed on reasons, drawn up and presented by Pym, for the con- tinuance of the guards, which contained significant allusions to ' the jealousy conceived upon discovery of the design in Scotland for the surprising of the persons of divers nobility and members of the Parliament there, which had been spoken of here, some few days before it broke out, not without some whispering intimation that the like was intended against divers persons of both Houses ; which found the more credit, by reason of the former attempts of bringing up the army, to 442 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. disturb and enforce tliis Parliament/ They conclude by declaring tbat, for reasons wbicb tbey allege, they ' do conceive there is just came to apprehend thai there is some wicked and mischievous practice to interrvpt the peaceable proceediff^s of th£ Farliament still in hand; for preventing whereof, it is ft the guard should be continued under the same command, or such other as they should choose ; but to have it under the command of any other not chosen by themselves, they can by no means consent to ; and will rather rim any hazard than admit of a precedent so dangerous, both to this and future Parliaments/ On the very same day (November 30th) on which these reasons were presented, we read in D'Ewes that 'upon Mr. Pury's motion that one William Chillingworth, doctor of divinity, had said that some members of this House wereguUti/ of treason, and that they should be accused within a day or two, it was ordered that the Serjeant's deputy should bring him forthwith to the House, and if he should refuse to come, then to apprehend him as a delinquent, and bring him/* This alleged speech of the celebrated Chillingworth shows what rumours were cir- culating out of doors; and, like the vague intimations of danger which preceded the discovery of the two army plots, must have prepared Pym and his associates for some decisive step on the part of the king. At any rate, the reports created considerable uneasiness among the partisans of the Parlia- ment in the metropolis, who assembled in large numbers about the Houses of Parliament, and vehemently expressed to the various members, as they entered, their feelings on the subjects recently discussed in the House. They came at once into collision with the new guard, and on the same day on which the speech of Dr. Chillingworth was called in question. Sir Walter Erie announced that the guard ' had offered some injury to citizens last night, and had, at com- mand of the Earl of Dorset, offered to fire on them.* Hyde and others said that the citizens came down, armed with swords and staves, and surrounded Sir John Strangwayes, and insisted that he should give his vote against bishops. Sir John Strangwayes himself said, ' he had received informa- • Marl MS 8. 162, p. 199 b. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 443 tion of a plot against certain members of the House, to which other members of the House were privy.'* This attempt on the part of the courtiers to put the House on a wrong scent was not very successful ; for Strangwayes, on being called upon to prove his assertion, could only allege vague sayings among the mob, and gave no names of mem- bers. Mr. Kirton attempted to supply this last point by men- tioning Captain Venne, the newly elected member for Lon- don, as having sent for the people to prevent the well-affected party from being overborne with violence. Venne being present, wished to reply on the spot ; but the House refused to entertain at all an imputation resting on such vague statements, and Pym supplied an unexpected and unwelcome moral to the debate by asking whether, ' though the worthy member had failed to prove his charge of a conspiracy either contrived or consented to by members unnamed for the de- struction of other members more plainly referred to, he had yet not succeeded in proving very fully that there was a con- spiracy by some members of this House to accuse other members of the same of treason ? ' The ' Remonstrance' was presented to the king at Hampton Court on the ist of December by a deputation of the Com- mons, the spokesman of whom was Sir Ralph Hopton. It was accompanied by a petition to the king, which embodied the unpalatable allusion to evil counsellors in connexion with the suppression of the Irish rebellion, which had been pre- viously mooted by Pym. This had been the subject of warm debates in the House; for the substance of which, how- ever, I must now refer my readers to Mr. Forster's recently published Essays, The deputation included several members of the king's party, and Pym himself avoided being present, so that Charles received them graciously, and endeavoured to ascertain by private conversation with Hopton what were the further intentions of the popular leaders. But Hopton cautiously declined entering on any discussion. As they were leaving the palace a message was brought to them from the king, to be delivered to the House, that there might be * D'Ewes, Rarl, MSS. 162, pp. 199 b, 200. 4M PARLIAMENTAKY ROTALISM. 110 publishing of the declaration till the House had received his Majesty's answer. This request for delay, of course, was entirely contrary to the object of the Commons in making public at this crisis a vindication of their conduct, and was consequently not attended to by them. The sense of an impending crisis had its effect on the House of Commons in more ways than one. The popular leaders were not merely alive to the precarious position in which they stood, but bent on consolidating their means of resistance in every possible respect. The House of Lords for some time had yielded to the torrent of popular feeling, and acquiesced, with occasional exceptions, and reluctance more or less openly displayed, in the various measures which were brought up from the Lower House. One part of the plan of the king, however, contemplated gain- ing over some of the less resolute of the popular peers, and rousing the dormant spirit of the majority to an open resist- ance to Pym's measures. From the correspondence between Charles and Secretary Nicholas we gather that they both built much upon this resisting power in the Lords ; and ac- cordingly we find, that in the second session the leaning of the Upper House was much more marked than before, and this had gradually led to a complete obstruction in the legis- lation of the Parliament, especially on church matters. The popular leaders now felt that this state of things could not be allowed to continue without soon amounting to a com- plete paralysis of all their own efforts. They determined, therefore, to know definitely what part the Lords intended to take in the approaching conflict, and to throw upon them the open responsibility of abandoning the popular cause. On the 3rd of December, we learn from D'Ewes, that ' Mr. Vjm moved that a committee might be appointed to draw reasons to shew the Lords what good bills we have passed which have stopped with them, and what great dangers the kingdom is in, and to desire them to join with us in passing these bills ; and that if they shall refuse to pass the said bills, then to acquaint them ikai we, being the representative hod^ of the kingdom, shall join icith those lords who are more PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 44:5 careful of the safety of the Yingdom — they being but private persons, and having a liberty of protestation — shall join with them to represent the same to his Majesty, And thereupon a committee was named, of which Mr. Pym was the first named, and the motion was ordered.' Mr. Godolphin spoke against the order, and said that, if the majority of the House of Commons might go to the king with the minority of the Lords, the greater part of the Lords might go with the lesser part of the Commons. This suggestion, which brought upon the speaker the reprimand of the House, was afterwards, in its latter words, literally carried into effect. Three days later, Glynne reported from the committee that they thought fit that a narrative should be made to the Lords of what had been voted by both Houses against the late canons and new oath made by the bishops, and how we [the Commons] had preferred two impeachments against them in August last past, in which we, having charged them with matter of fact, did expressly desire that they might be put to answer in the presence of the Commons. That their lord- ships, contrary to all precedent, had given them till the loth day of November last past — being about three months' space — to put in their answer : that whereas our charges were made at the Lords' bar by word of mouth only, the Lords had now admitted these bishops after so long delay to put in a writing, which they called a plea and demurrer, and this without the knowledge or hearing of the Commons ; in which the said bishops had not only transgressed the ordinary rules of justice in our courts, where every man is bound to answer matter of fact directly without plea or demurrer, but [the Lords] have also suffered the said bishops wholly to mistake our charge, and to answer nothing to the purpose. For, whereas we in our last impeachment did charge the said bishops to have made the said canons, which were all and every one of them against the king's prerogative, against the liberty and pro- priety of the subject, and tending to sedition; they, in their pretended plea and demurrer, do require to know which of the said canons are against any of these particulars. None of which mistakes had ever happened, if the Commons, ac- 446 PARLIAMENTAKY ROYALTSM. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 447 cording to their demand, and according to former prece- dents, had been present at the putting in of the said bishops' answer. >^ The next day (December 7th) another motion of a very decided character was made in the House of Commons. Still more important than the co-operation of the two Houses, was the disposal of the power of the sword, by which alone, after the passing of the Continuance Act, the existence of the Par- liament could be affected. The first suggestion on this sub- ject proceeded, we have seen, from Cromwell ; and the measure which was now introduced was an attempt to systematize and extend the principle there laid down. This was a bill brought in by Sir Arthur Hesilrige, for settling the militia of the kingdom under a lord general and lord admiral. The pro- visions of the bill caused a great outcry from the partisans of the court ; and Waller, Culpeper, and others ' spoke to have it cast out.' The extensive powers given to the general and admiral were the great point of animadversion, and provoked opposition not only from the supporters of the royal prerogative, but also from some of the popular leaders, who considered that the bill infringed on the private liberty of the subject. Thus Sir Thomas Barrington, one of the chief speakers on the popular side at this time, moved to have it rejected and another unexceptionable measure brought in. Downright Strode, however, and others spoke in favour of the bill, and even D'Ewes, though thinking it ' too wide,' was generally in favour of its provisions, and thought they might be easily amended in committee. ' Some,' he remarks, ' used very violent expressions against it.' Mr. Thomas Coke, one of the members for Leicester, and a young and vehement member of the court party, misquoted a precedent against it, and was quickly corrected by learned D'Ewes, who had with- drawn for a short time to his ^ lodging in Goat's-alley, near the palace, and there searched out the precedent.' Coke was admonished by the Speaker ; and another member, Mr. Mal- lory, who had declared that the bill deserved to be burned in Palace-yard, and the gentleman questioned who brought it • Sari. MSS. 162, pp. 214 B, 215 A. in, only escaped the censure of the House by the friendly interposition and palliation of Strode. On a division the bill passed its first reading by a majority of 158 to 125, Sir John Culpeper and Sir Frederick Cornwallis being tellers for the noes, and Denzil Holies and Sir William Armyne for the ayes.* Whether or not the introduction of this bill provoked the king to another attempt to anticipate the Commons, and strike his blow before he was completely disarmed, he now took a new step, which brought the danger to which they were exposed still more clearly before the eyes of the House. On the 16th of December, D'Ewes records, that Sir Philip Stapylton interrupted a debate by annoimcing ^that there was a new guard set upon the House of 200 men with hal- berds, which occasioned great fear and bustle in the House, and caused us to leave the business we were about, though it concerned the relief and assistance of Ireland, and to look to our own present safety.' The House was greatly agitated ; one member, Mr. Newport, attempting to go out, ' there was a great cry, ' Shut the door, shut the door,' ' and he was brought back by Eushworth, the clerk-assistant, and ad- monished by Mr. Pym and others, ' that, besides the general sense of the House, expressed by so many calling out to have the door shut, the greatness and weight of the matter in agitation might persuade any man to forbear going out.' Sir Thomas Barrington said that it had never happened to any Parliament in his time that a guard was set without the House's consent. D'Ewes, with antiquarian zeal, added, that for 300 years past such a thing had been put in practice but twice, during the reigns of Richard II. and Henry VI. ; ^ and the consequences of it,' he observed significantly, ' were fatal and deadly, so as I forbear to name the times.' Sir Christo- pher Yelverton stated that ^ divers of the Lords were now come [about two o'clock in the afternoon, according to D'Ewes], and knew nothing at all of the placing of this new guard, but were startled at it as much as ourselves.' So the House ' awhile after' passed resolutions, that 'the setting of * Sari. MSS. 162, pp. 218-19. 448 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. any guards about this House, without the consent of this Hou^, is a breach of the pri;ilege of the House; and that therefore such guards ought to be discharged ; and that this guard shall he immediately discharged by the command of this House: The authority for raising the guard was traced home to a writ from the Lord Keeper, dated the 9th of December ; and Mr. George Long, the under-sheriff, who acted on it, was sent to the Tower.* Tlie pretext alleged was the intended presentation of a monster address from the City of London, thanking the House for the good care bestowed on the bills already passed, and adding that, as they understood that other good bills had been stopped in the Lords by the votes of the bishops and Popish lords, they besought the House of Commons to address the king to take away these votes, and to put the kingdom in a state of defence. They concluded by a declaration that, whereas it had been rumoured, upon the king's late entertainment in the City, that the City had deserted the Parliament, they abhorred the same, and would always be ready to spend their estates and lives for its safety. The petition was presented on December the nth, and was about three-quarters of a yard in breadth, and twenty -four yards in length, with some 15,000 signatures. Mr. Foulkes, ' a merchant dwelling in Mark-lane,^ who presented it ' in the names of the aldermen, common-councilmen, and freemen of London,^ stated that ' they could have got many thousand more names, but for obstructions from the Lord Mayor and others.' ' Their coming down with the petition this after- noon,' observes D'Ewes, ' happened by a strange providence of God ; for if they had come yesterday, as they had appointed, then had those armed persons brought down likewise not only justified their assembling, but perhaps also offered violence unto them ; neither could they then have come with so small a number, and in so orderly a manner as they did. They had yesterday ordered to come down on Monday next, but last night agreed that four only out of each ward should come down, so as to avoid coming down of multitudes.' f • Earl. MSS. 162, pp. 237 a, b, 230 B. t There are two significant entries in D'Ewes at this time which deserve mention. * Dec 13. — Mr. Pym moves that, in the absence of Sir W"»* Brereton, PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 449 The Corporation petition was followed on the 23rd by another from 30,000 ' young men of London,' praying, among other things ' that Episcopacy might be rooted out of the Church of England.' After the petition had been read, ' there was a general silence for awhile,' and then D'Ewes stood up, and ' desired the House to take notice in what an orderly and peaceable a way a few of them had come to pre- sent this petition, and that they might receive the approba- tion of the House for the same.' The court party, on the other hand, urged, though in vain, that the petition ' should be cast out of the House.'* Charles, meanwhile, had caused fresh irritation by inti- mating, during the progress through the House of Commons of a bill for raising soldiers by impressment, that he should pass it only with an express saving of his prerogative. A conference between the Houses followed, and a joint remon- strance to the king against this breach of privilege. On the 20th of December Charles explained that he merely wished ' to express a general dislike of any questions that should be raised, especially at this time, concerning his prerogative and the liberty of the subject,' protesting, in conclusion, ^that he had not the least thought of breaking the privileges of Par- liament, but should, by his royal authority, ever protect and uphold them, and that he expected that they would be as careful not to touch upon his just prerogative as he would not to infringe their just liberties and privileges, and then there would be little disagreement thereafter between them on that point.' The king's answer was ordered by the Lords to be taken into consideration on the 23rd of December ; but on that day information was received by the Commons, and communicated to the Upper House, that Sir WiUiam Balfour, Sir H. Vane the elder may be added to the select committee of 22 fop Irish affairs.' This marks the definite adhesion of old Vane to the popular party, the natural consequence of his dismissal from his secretaryship of state The next day, * Sir John Evelyn, of Surrey, moved that at least 200 members' were absent, of whom the greater number had not been since the beginning of the second session, and perhaps loo of them have not been here a month since the Parliament sate.' This gives us a measure of the number of waverers indifferent persons, and * waiters-on- Providence,* as they were called. ' * Harl. MSS. 162, pp. 271 B, 273 B. 6 G 450 PARLIAMENTARY BOYALISM. wliose fidelity to the Parliament had been tested in tlie affair of Strafford's attempted escape, had been removed by the king from the lieutenancy of the Tower, and in his place had been appointed Colonel Lunsford, ' a man given to drinking, swearing, and quarrelling, much in debt, and very des- perate/* A most unfit person, D'Ewes remarks, for the appointment, ' unless there were some dangerous design in hand against us/ The court party urged, on the other hand, ' that he was a man full of valour and of an ancient family/ Another important objection, however, was that, besides being of doubtful religion, he had been an officer in the king's army in the north, and thus open to suspicion of con- nexion with the two army-plots. The House of Commons, therefore, endeavoured to persuade the Lords to join them in petitioning the king to remove Lunsford, and put Sir John Conyers in his room. The Lords, however, ' after a long debate,' decUned, on the ground that ' they took the placing or displacing of the king's officers to be a branch of his pre- rogative, and therefore they would not meddle with it/ The Commons, therefore, passed a imanimous vote, that 'the House holds Colonel Lunsford unfit to be, or continue. Lieu- tenant of the Tower, as being a person whom the Commons of England camiot confide in/ They also presented, at another conference with the Lords, a declaration and pro- testation, the substance of which was, ' that there had long been a design of the Papists to ruin the true religion, and that the appointment of Colonel Lunsford shewed that the same design was now growing to a maturity ; that, there- fore, they protested and declared to all the world that they had done their utmost for the saving of the Church and kingdom from ruin, and from the plots of the cruel and bloody Papists,^ —as since the Irish massacres they were generally called; ' and though their lordships were hindered, especially by the bishops, from concurring with them in their desire, they hoped that such of their lordships as did with them appre- hend the further danger, would do what became men of honour for the public safety/ This protestation and appeal. * lyEwes, Earl, MSS, 162, p. 272 b. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 451 reported and probably drawn up by Pym in the spirit of his former advice, was read by him at the conference the same day, — December 24th. Awarm debate ensued in the Upper House; but the popular party there were again defeated, and it was resolved to adjourn the debate till Monday the 27th, follow- ing. On this the minority, acting on Pym's suggestion, drew up the following protest, which was entered on the Journals : ' In respect the conference brought up, and reported from the House of Commons, doth, as it is thereby declared, concern the insta7it good and safety of the king and kingdoms, we do protest against the deferring of the debate thereof until Monday, to the end to discharge ourselves of any ill consequence that may happen,' Twenty-two peers signed this protest, namely, the Earls of Northumberland (Lord Admiral), Essex (Lord Chamberlain), Pembroke, Bedford, Warwick, Boling- broke, Newport, Suffolk, Carlisle, Holland, Clare and Stam- ford ; Viscount Saye and Sele ; and the Lords Wharton, St. John, Spencer, North, Kimbolton, Brooke, Grey-de-Werk, Robartes, and Howard de Escricke/ These, then, represent the popular party at this period in the House of Lords. ' So, as now,' D'Ewes exclaims, 'all things hastened apace to confusion and calamity j from which I scarce saw any possi- bility in human reason for this poor Church and kingdom to be delivered. My hope only was in the goodness of that God who had several times during this Parliament been seen in the Mount, and delivered us, beyond the expectations of ourselves and of our enemies, from the jaws of destruction.'* Such was the Christmas-eve of the year 1641 ! On the motion of Denzil Holies, the committee who di-ew up the protestation of the Commons were reappointed to frame a petition to the king for the dismissal of Lunsford ; but they were anticipated by Charles himself. On the Sun- day, December 26th, the Lord Mayor, his own partisan, as has been seen, waited on him, and informed him that the apprentices intended to rise in arms and storm the Tower, if Lunsford were not removed. On this the king yielded, and that very evening removed his nominee. On the * Barl, MSS. 162, p. 278 B. GG2- 452 PAELIAMENTARY ROTALISM. Friday evening preceding, the House of Commons had sent Sir Thomas Barrington and Henry Marten to the Earl of Newport, requesting him, as Constable of the Tower, to repair thither and take up his residence there, and so supersede his lieutenant in the government of it. Newport was not to be found ; but on Sunday evening he called on Sir Thomas Barrington, and informed him that the king had dismissed him from being Constable. The same day (December 27th) on which this was reported by Barrington to the Commons, Newport himself brought under the notice of the House of Lords the rumours which had been circulated respecting the advice alleged to have been given by him at Kensington, to seize the queen and royal family as hostages. He had re- paired to the queen and denied solemnly the whole thing, and she appeared satisfied. But on Friday the king asked him whether he heard any debate at Kensington to that effect ; and when he denied it, his Majesty replied, ' that he was sorry for his lordship's ill memory.' This so committed the honour of the House of Lords, that all parties there were obliged to join with the Commons— several of whose members were involved in the charge— in petitioning the king for the reasons of the accusation and the name of the accuser. This last request Charles declined to accede to, and observed, ' I have asked Newport some questions concerning that business, but far from that way of expressing a belief of the thing, which Newport hath had the boldness and confidence to affirm, which I could easily make appear, but I think it beneath me to contest with any particidar persons.' On the same day on which Newport made his statement in the Lords, a letter was delivered to the Commons by Mr. John Bodville, member from Anglesea, from the mayor of Beaumaris, dated December 20th, which announced that he had apprehended the Lord Delvin, a young Irish lord, grandchild to the Earl of Westmeath, who was then one of the chief lords of the Pale in rebellion ; and that he had a pass, signed by his Majesty's hand, for himself and four others to go into Ireland, but no secretary's hand or clerk's of the signet to it.* This was an ominous announcement * D'Ewes. JTaH. MSS. 162, p. 286 a. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 453 at such a moment, and was never satisfactorily explained. Evil counsellors were again spoken of in the House, and Walter Long named as one the old Earl of Bristol, who, from being an object of royal resentment, had, strangely enough, become equally exposed to popular suspicion, on the old ground of his being a concealed ' Papist.' The ensuing day. Sir John Hotham re\dved this accusation. ' There followed a long silence ;' and then D'Ewes advised that the matter should be referred to a committee, and they should pass on to the consideration of the affairs of Ireland. After he had spoken, 'there ensued a silence again for awhile, till Mr. Cromwell moved that he conceived it fit for this House to desire the Lords to join with them in moving his Majesty that the said Earl of Bristol might be removed from his coimcil, who had thus persuaded his Majesty ; and the rather because, when the late design was of bringing up the army, he had persuaded his Majesty to put the said army into a posture which could have no ordinary meaning in it, because the said [army] was then in its due posture of lying still. Mr. Strode and others seconded him. Others spoke for the said Earl of Bristol. Mr. Solicitor [St. John] shewed, that his Majesty had commanded him to declare to the House, upon the first occasion that this matter should come in question, that the Earl of Bristow, when he advised him to put the English army into a posture, it was only spoken by him in relation to the Scottish army, which lay near.'^ The next day the subject was revived on a reference to the hin- drances and obstructions in the matter of supply for Ireland. ' Thereupon, some said, it must needs proceed from e\^l counsellors, and Mr. Strode and others named the Earl of Bristol, and Mr. Denzil Holies did vehemently press the same, and added further, that the Lord Digby his son, as he understood by common fame, had said openly at one time, m the Lords' House, that the House of Commons had trenched upon the privileges of the Lords' House, and upon the liberties of the subject ; and, at another time (viz. yester- night), that this was no free Parliament; both which he said were the most dangerous and pernicious speeches that ever • D^Ewes, HarL MSS. 162, p. 288 A, B. 454 PARLIAMENTAKY ROYALISM. were spoken hj a subject. And so lie desired that we might desire to have the said Earl of Bristow removed from the king's council and court, and that we might desire justice of the Lords against the said Lord Digby. Divers/ D^Ewes continues, ' who had spoken against the Earl of Bristow, had instanced his wicked counsel given to the king for- merly in Spain to turn Papist, as appeared by the copy of the king's letter read in the House yesterday; which drew Sir John Strangwayes, in the defence he made on the Earl of Bristow's behalf, to say, among other particulars, that he had been informed that his Majesty had disavowed it ; for which words the House questioned him, and, though he said that he was sorry he had given any offence by them, yet he was called upon to name the person ^lio had informed him thereof. But he protested that it was divers years since he had heard it, and could not name him. IFe were all agreed that a committee should be named to prepare heads for a conference with the Lords.'* At the same time that Oliver Cromwell was thus moving the House of Commons against popishly inclined counsellors of state, his cousin and old acquaintance John Williams, Arch- bishop of York, had committed himself and his brother prelates to a step which precipitated the downfall of Episcopacy in England, and moved the House of Lords from their dubious position into something like renewed harmony with the Lower House. Monday, the 27th of December— memorable, we have just seen, for several remarkable proceedings within the walls of the two Houses — was a stormy day out of doors in their immediate neighbourhood. The appointment of Lunsford had been revoked by the king the preceding evening; but the news did not spread soon enough to prevent the assemblage of excited crowds in Parliament-yard, who came, on various rumours of violent designs against the popular party in the two Houses, and to obtain an answer to the petitions they had presented to Parliament. Through this agitated mass of people the archbishop was endeavouring to make his way to the House of Lords, in company of the Earl of Dover, • Marl, MSS. 162, p. 29 1 a, b. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 455 when, irritated by the outcry against bishops which greeted him on all sides, he seized hold of a lad who seemed a ringleader, and attempted to drag him away in custody. Of course the mob turned upon the archbishop, and rescued his prisoner with loud shouts of ' No bishops !' The archbishop escaped without personal injury ; but a conflict was nearly occasioned by one David Hide, one of the disbanded northern soldiery enlisted for the war in Ireland, who drew his sword, and swore he would cut the throats of the RoUxNdheaded dogs that bawled against bishops. 'Which passionate expression,' says Rushworth, ' as far as I could ever learn, was the first minting of that term or compellation of Roundheads which afterwards grew so general.' Hide was disarmed by the citizens (without personal injury), and carried to the House of Commons, by whom he was committed to prison, and cashiered. Archbishop Williams returned to his own house, and in an evil hour for himself and his cause prepared a pro- testation, stating that he and his bretliren were prevented by violence from attending the House of Lords, and declaring all laws, votes, and resolutions that should pass during the period of their constrained absence to be null and void. Eleven other bishops signed this protestation, and it was submitted to and approved by the king, who ordered the Lord Keeper to present it to the Lords. In that House it excited great indignation, the uncertain tenure of the bishops adding to the displeasure against their conduct. The Protestation was communicated to the Commons, with a severe commentary, and the Lower House immediately impeached the twelve prelates of high treason, and they were committed to the Tower, with the exception of two, who, on account of their age, were subjected to the less severe restraint of the Usher of the Black Rod. This was on the 30th of December ; and thus Williams eflected at once that removal of the bishops from the House, which the Commons had been vainly attempting to obtain for so long a time, and removed at the same time one great cause of disunion between the two Houses. Monday, the 27th of December, which saw the rise of the epithet ' Roundhead/ was also marked by the first bloodshed 4.>6 PAELIAMENTARY ROYALISM. in the Civil War. Colonel Lunsford appearing in West- minster Hall with some thirty or forty friends at his back, came into angry collision with the excited people, drew his sword, and with his friends made an onslaught on the citizens, several of whom were woimded, and one. Sir Richard Wise- man, was killed. On December the 30th Sir Henry Anderson had just moved in the House of Commons ' concerning the dangers we were in, and desired that we might take some course, first to secure ourselves, and next the kingdom,^ when the message from the Lords arrived respecting the archbishop's Protesta- tion. It was hailed by the popular party, and even by many of the other side of the House, as a godsend ; ' most men,' says D'Ewes, ' expressing a great deal of alacrity of spirit from this indiscreet and unadvised act of the bishops/^ Pym then rose, and ' moved that the door of the House might be shut, and that no one might go out. Others moved that the outward room might be cleared, and that none might go into the committee-chamber.' This last D'Ewes opposed, and ^the Speaker decided that no one who went up into the committee- chamber should speak to any out of the windows, or throw out any writing unto them. ' I expected,' continues D'Ewes, ' some strange motion upon this secret and close restraining ourselves, which followed accordingly. For Mr. Pym moved that, there heinff a design to be executed upon the Home of Commons this day, we might send instantly to the City of London, that there was a plot for the destroying of the House of Commons this day, and therefore to desire them to come down with the train-bands for our assistance.' D'Ewes was ' much troubled ' at this, being fearful of so bold a step, and the majority of the House shared in his well-meaning but timid misgivings. Some members, he says, wished that we might adjourn ourselves to Guildhall in London. D'Ewes objected to Pym's idea, that the citizens might be divided among themselves, and that it would take too much time if it were successful. He was against adjourning to Guildhall as illegal. He threw out a doubt as to Pym's PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 457 grounds for asserting that there was such a design ; ' for if all the ground of suspicion be that some officers of the late army dined at Whitehall yesterday, or that the king hath a guard, I think it not sufficient ; if there be more certain causes of fear, I know no such present prevention as to adjourn our- selves till three of the clock, that so we may not be taken all together'"*^ A few days later D'Ewes must have thought very differently on this matter, and could scarcely have helped reproaching himself for the want of resolution and hypercriti- cism which exposed the lives of the members to such imminent peril. Although, however, Pym's bold proposal was not accepted by the House, it was resolved to renew their applica- tion to the king for a guard, and Glynne went up to the Lords with a message ' to take notice of their respect to this House in communicating the Protestation [of the bishops] with so much speed and so much affection, and for expressing their sense of that Protestation.' Notwithstanding this conciliatory message, the Lords declined to join in the petition for a guard ; so the Commons resolved to go up alone, and at the same time they ordered three of their own members. Sir Robert Pye, Mr. Glynne, and Mr. Wheeler, as justices of the peace for the city of Westminster, to take care that good watches, sufficiently armed, be set in such convenient places as shall be necessary for the safeguard of this House ; and that Mr. Wheeler do take care for the providing of twenty halberts for the service of this House.f If Charles had really fixed the 30th for his attempt, he postponed it at the last ; probably in consequence of the alarm which the House of Commons had taken, owing to the vigilance of Pym. His plan now was to lull the suspicions of the Lower House ; and when on the 31st Holies went up as the spokesman of a deputation of seven members, and representing the renewed danger to the House from ^a malignant party, daily gathering strength and confidence,' petitioned for a guard out of the city of London, commanded by the Earl of Essex, Charles told them that, if their petition were delivered to him in writing, he would consider of it ; and that, in the meantime, as they W ♦ Marl, M88. 162, p. 294 B. • Marl, MSS. 162, pp. 294 b, 295 A. f Commons Journals, 458 PABLTAMENTABT ROYALISBI. were called togetlier by Ms writ, so he would be as careful of tkmr safety as of his own children,'* This was Friday, and a debate arose wlietber tbe House should sit the next day or not. This time their fears carried the day, and it was deter- mined in the negative ; but it was thought fit that the select committee for the Irish affairs, and a committee to consider of the safety of the House and the kingdom, should sit at the Guildhall, and all that would come should have voices, and take into consideration the king's answer, if he should send any to the Speaker ; and if he did not, consider how the two Houses and the kingdom might be secured. The Speaker was to await the answer from the king, and send it to the committee at Guildhall. Thus, under a thin disguise of forms, the House virtually adjourned their sitting to the Guildhall, and there went into a committee of the whole House. They agreed, however, to meet again at Westminster at one o'clock on the next Monday afternoon, and the Lords followed their example. I have been thus minute in recording the alarms and pre- cautions of the House of Commons anterior to the attempt of January, because the fact of the design of Charles being long in meditation, and anticipated by the popular party during the whole of the second session of Parliament, has been overlooked by historians. It is true that Pym and his associates received for some time only partial credit for their apprehensions from the House of Commons and the nation at large ; but in the House, as well as out of doors, the rumours of some act of violence on the persons of the popular leaders had for some weeks obtained an increasing amoimt of regard. On the 3rd of January, 1642, the Houses reassembled, and the Commons received a report of the king's written answer to their last petition : ' We do engage imto you solemnly,' wrote Charles, ' on the word of a king, that the security of all and every one of you from riolence is and shall ever be as much our care as the preservation of us and our children. And if this general assurance shall not suffice to remove your apprehensions, we Tiill command such a guard • D'Ewes, Earl, MSS. 162, p. 302 A. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 459 to wait upon you as we will be responsible for to Him who hath charged us with the protection and safety of our sub- jects.' On the afternoon of the same day ' the whole House,' says D'Ewes, ^ or at least the most of us, were much amazed with Mr. Pym's information, who shewed us that his trunks, his study, and his chamber, as also the trunks, study, and chamber of Mr. Denzil Holies, were sealed up by some sent from his Majesty, and though private intimation was given to us that the king's Attorney had, in his Majesty's name, in the Lords' House, accused the said Mr. Pym, Mr. Holies, and some other members of our House of high treason, yet we accounted it a breach of our privileges that the trunks and papers of any member of this House should be sealed up before their crime and offence was made known to this House ; so we resolved it upon the question that this was a breach of our privilege, and then the House ordered that the Serjeant shoidd go presently to the lodgings of the said Mr. Pym and Mr. Holies, and break up the seals which were set upon their doors or trunks. And then it was moved by several members that we might have a conference with the Lords about this breach of privilege ; and Mr. Jephson was sent up to them to desire the same. Another subject of this conference was that his Majesty^ s having a guard at Whitehall was a breach of our ^privileges also' On the morning of that day Sir Edward Herbert, the attorney-general, appeared at the clerks' table of the House of Lords, and said, ' the king had commanded him to tell their lordships that great and treasonable designs and practices against him and the state had come to his Majesty's knowledge, for which the king had given him command to accuse, and he did accuse, the Lord Kimbolton, Mr. Pym, Mr. Hampden, Mr. Holies, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, and Mr. Strode of high treason.' The principal articles against these members were, that they had traitorously endeavoured to subvert the fundamental laws and govern- ment of the kingdom and deprive the king of his regal power, and place in the subjects an arbitrary and tyrannical power; and that they had traitorously invited and encouraged a foreign power to invade his Majesty's kingdom of England. Herbert then desired three things of their lordships ; the last 460 PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. of winch was, that they would take care for the securing of the persons, as in justice there should be cause/ Tlie course thus pursued by Charles was entirely illegal ; for the proper mode of proceeding was by a petty jury on a bill found by a grand jury. The sergeant-at-arms the same day appeared at the bar of the Commons, and required to have delivered to him the five accused members, whom then he was commanded to arrest, in his Majesty's name of high treason. The Com- mons sent a deputation to announce to the king that the members would be ready to answer any legal charge. Pym and Hampden came into the House at this time, and the Speaker, in the name of the House, requested them to attend the next morning with the other accused members. As con- temporary details are of great importance in such a subject, I must again have recourse to D'Ewes. ' January 4th, Tuesday,' he writes, ' upon Mr. Rigby's motion, a little after I came into the House, Sir William Killigrew was sent for as a delinquent for going to Gray's Inn and desiring the gentlemen there to be in a readiness this day to attend at Whitehall, and to be ready at an hour's warning to defend his Majesty's person ; and that he had brought them the articles of accusation against the Lord Mandeville and the five members of the House of Commons. The said Sir William Killigrew and Sir William Fleming had gone thither together. Mr. Smith related the like done at the Middle Temple, where they had come yesternight also to them upon the same message, and brought them a copy of the same articles ; and the like was related by other gentle- men to have been done at the other two inns of court. Mr. Pym delivered in the articles of treason preferred in the Lords' House against the Lord Mandeville, himself and four other members of this House. Himself and the rest present protested their innocency ; and then it was agreed that we should desire a conference with the Lords about the said articles as a scandalous paper against the members of either, and to desire their lordships to inquire who were the authors of it, and to shew them that the king's guard at Whitehall was a breach of our privileges ; also Mr. Browne of Lin- coln's Inn, Mr. Smith of the Middle Temple, Mr. Ellis of Gray's Inn, and Mr. Hill of the Inner Temple were ordered to PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 461 go to the Four Inns of Court, and to acquaint them that we understood how they had been solicited, and that we rested assured that they would do nothing against the Parliament. It was then generally declared that there was a great con- fluence of armed men about Whitehall, and that between thirty and forty cannoniers went yesternight into the Tower, at ten of the clock ; that the hamlet-men, who were to be the ordinary wardens there, had no arms given them ; that the bishop's men were well armed. Mr. Pym moved, that we might send notice of these several informations and dangers into the City to the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and common-council there assembled, and let them know in what danger the Parliament was. All which tvas ordered accordingly ; and Sir Thomas Soames, one of the aldermen of London, Alderman Pennington, and Captain Venne [three of the members for the City] were sent instantly away into the City with the same order ; and after they were gone out, Mr. Peard was sent after them to require them to let no man know their errand till they came into the City. Mr. Nathaniel Fiennes and others moved that some members of the House might be sent to observe what numbers of armed men were about Whitehall, and to know by what authority they were assembled there ; but this order was not fully agreed upon when we adjourned the House about twelve of the clock till one of the clock in the afternoon. The Speaker resumed his chair between one and two of the clock in the afternoon. Mr. Browne of Lincoln's Inn made report that he had done the message of the House to the gentlemen of that society, who had been and informed him in the morning : that their answer was, that they had at first gone to the court only upon relation of a report brought to them that the king's person was in danger; but yes- ternight they had received a message from his Majesty by Sir William Killigrew and Sir William Fleming that they should keep within this day, and be ready at an hour's warning, if his Majesty should have occasion to use them ; that they brought likewise a paper of articles to them; that they had only an intent to defend the king's person, and would likewise to their uttermost also defend the Par- liament, being not able to make any distinction between the 462 PABLUMENTARY ROYALISM. king and Parliament ; and tliat they would ever express true affection to the House of Commons in particular. Mr. Ellis of Gray's Inn, Mr. Hill of the Inner Temple, and Mr. Smith of the Middle Temple made the like relation from the gentlemen of those other three societies ; only the gen- tlemen of the Middle Temple sent their answer in writing by the said Mr. Smith, in which they shewed that their inten- tion to defend the king's person was no more than they were thereunto boimd by the oaths of allegiance and supremacy : with which several answers from the inns of court the House rested exceedingly well satisfied. Mr. Nathaniel Fiennes made relation that he had been at Whitehall, and had asked of one of the officers by what authority they were there assembled ; who answered, that they were commanded to obey one Sir William Fleming in aU things that he should enjoin them. ^ About three of the clock we had notice that his Majesty was coming from Whitehall to Westminster with a great company of armed men ; but it proved otherwise in the issue, that they were only some of the officers who served in his Majesty's late army, and some other loose persons to the number of about some 400. Mr. Pym and the other four members of our House who stood accused by his Majesty's Attorney of high treason, hearing that his Majesty was coming to the House of Commons, did withdraw out of it, the House leading it to their own liberty whether they would withdraw or stay within ; and it was a pretty while before Mr. Strode could be persuaded to it. His Majesty came into the House with Charles Prince Elector Palatine [his nephew] with him, a little after three of the clock in the afternoon, who all stood up and uncovered our heads, and the Speaker stood up just before his chair. His Majesty, as he came up along the House, came the most part of the way uncovered also, bowing to either side of the House ; and we all bowed again towards him, and so he went to the Speaker's chair, on the left hand of it, coming up close by the place where I sat, between the south end of the clerk's table and me [Oliver Cromwell's seat, it will be remembered, was on the opposite side]. He first spake to the Speaker, saying : PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 463 ' Mr. Speaker, I must for a time make bold with your chair.' The rest of what passage doth here foUow at large, as it was taken in characters by Mr. Rushworth, the clerk's assistant. The speech itself is the greatest part of it printed by his Majesty's command, out of the said Mr. Rushworth's notes ; but the king caused all that to be left out, viz., when he asked for Mr. Pym, whether he were present or not, and when there followed a general silence, that nobody would answer him, he then asked for Mr. Holies, whether he were present; and when nobody answered him, he pressed the Speaker to tell him, who, kneeling down, did very wisely desire his Majesty to pardon him, saying, that he could neither see nor speak but by command of the House. To which the king answered, 'Well, well, 'tis no matter. I think my eyes are as good as another's ;' and then he looked round about the House a pretty while, to see if he could espy any of them. All this is to come in about the bottom of the second page of the printed speech, where his Majesty first asked in general whether any of the said persons were present in the House or not. After he had ended his speech, he went out of the House in a more discontented and angry passion than he came in, going out again between myself and the south end of the clerk's table, and the Prince Elector after him. As soon as he was gone, and the doors were shut, the Speaker asked us if he should make report of his Majesty's speech. But Sir John Hotham said we had all heard it, and there needed no reports of it to be made ; and others cried to adjourn tiU to-morrow at one of the clock in the afternoon ; upon which, in the issue, we agreed, and so, the Speaker having adjourned the House to that hour, we rose about half an hour after three of the clock in the after- noon, little imagining, for the present, at least a greater jpart of us, the extreme danger we had escaped, through God's wonderful providence. For the design was to have taken out of our House by force and violence the said five members, if we had refused to have delivered them up peaceably and wil- lingly, which for the preservation of the privileges of our House we must have refused. And, in the taking of them away, they were to have set upon us all, if we had resisted 464 PARLIAMENTAKT ROYALISM. PARLIAMENTARY ROYALISM. 465 ill a hostile manner. It is very true that the plot was so con- trived as that the king should have withdrawn out of the House and passed through the lobby or little room next without it, before that massacre should have begun, upon a watchword by him to have been given upon his passing through them ; but 'tis most likely that those ruffians, being about eighty in number, [that] were gotten into the said lobby, being armed all of them with swords, and some of them with pistols ready charged, were so thirsty after innocent blood, as they woidd scarce have stayed their watchword, if those members had been there, but would have begun their violence as soon as they had understood of our denial, to the hazard of the persons of the king and the Prince Elector as well as of us. For one of them understanding, a little before the king came out, that those five gentlemen were absent, ^ Zounds ! ' said he, 'they are gone, and now we are never the better for our coming !' And the deliverance will appear to have been the more strange, if we consider how the plot, being revealed to one Mr. Langres, dwelling in the Covent-garden, after the king had taken his coach at Whitehall, and was coming towards us, [he] got through the multitude of those soldiers and ruffians, and coming to the House, acquainted Mr. Nathaniel Fiennes with the king's resolution; whereupon Mr. Denzil Holies, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, Mr. Hampden, and Mr. Pym, who had notice also formerly given them that there was such a design, did presently withdraw. But Mr. William Strode, the last of the five, being a young man, and unmarried, could not be persuaded by his friends for a pretty while to go out; but said that, knowing himself to be innocent, he would stay in the House, though he sealed his inno- cency with his blood at the door ; so as not being at last overcome by the importunate advices and entreaties of his friends, when the van or forefront of those ruffians marched into Westminster-hall, nay, when no persuasions could pre- vail with the said Mr. Strode, Sir Walter Erie, his entire friend, was fain to take him by the cloak, and pull him out of his place, and so got him out of the House. 'Tis very true, indeed, that the Lord Mandeville and these ^ye gentle- men had notice not only yesternight of this intended design. but were likewise sent to this day by the Earl of Essex, Lord Chamberlain of his Majesty's household, that the king in- tended to come to the House of Commons to seize upon them there, and that they should absent themselves ; yet had they no direct assurance that the said design should certainly be put in execution, till the said Mr. Langrish his coming to the said House.'* Such is the account given by D'Ewes of this remarkable scene, which decided the fate of Charles. From that day the most bitter but perfectly natm-al distrust of his most solemn protestations prevailed in the House of Commons, and effectually prevented any reconciliation between the king and his Parliament. The speech delivered by Charles on this occasion is given thus in Rushworth : ' Gentlemen, I am sorry for this occasion of coming unto you. Yesterday I sent a sergeant-at-arms, upon a very important occasion, to apprehend some that, by my command, were accused of high treason, whereunto I did expect obedience, and not a message. And I must declare \mto you here, that albeit no king that ever was in England shall be more careful of your privileges, to maintain them to the uttermost of his power, than I shall be, yet you must know that in cases of treason no person hath a privilege. And therefore I am come to know if any of these persons that were accused are here. For I must tell you, gentlemen, that so long as these persons that I have accused, for no slight crime, but for treason, are here, I cannot expect that this House will be in the right way that I do heartily wish it. Therefore I am come to tell you that I must have them wheresoever I find them. — Well, since I see all the birds are flown, I do expect from you that you will send them unto me as soon as they return hither. But I assure you, on the word of a king, I never did intend any force, but shall pro- ceed against them in a legal and fair way, for I never meant any other. And now, since I see I cannot do what I came for, I think this no unfit occasion to repeat what I have said formerly, that whatsoever I have done in favour, and to the good of my subjects [how much of the reforms effected would that * Earl, MSS, 162, pp. 302 b, 304 b, 305 b, 306 a, b. H H \ 466 PARLIAMENTAEY ROYALISM. include, in tlie opinion of Charles ?] I do mean to maintain it, I will trouble you no more, but tell you I do expect, as soon as tbey come to the House, you will send them to me ; otherwise I must take my own course to find them.' The five members had taken refuge in Coleman-street, in the City, and into the City the king proceeded next morning in search of them. But he found his hopes from the citizens all vain, for he was greeted with cries of ' Privileges of Par- liament,' ' Privileges of Parliament -/ and one Henry Walker, an ironmonger, and a busy pamphleteer in later years, threw into his carriage a paper with the words, ' To your tents. Oh Israel !' The City rose in arms, and watched day and night over the safety of the five members. All business was sus- pended. A committee of the Commons to investigate the outrage on their privileges sat in the Guildhall. The City companies vied in offering it their halls for its sittings. Four thousand yeomen of Buckinghamshire rode up with a petition to Charles in favour and vindication of Hampden ; a great body of the commonalty assembled to defend Pym, and drew up a similar petition in his behalf. The king's entrance was declared by the Commons a gross breach of privilege ; his pro- clamation of the five members as traitors, a false, scandalous, and illegal paper, and they were ordered to attend again in their places at Westminster on the i ith of January. The king now offered 'a free pardon,' expressed a desire to abandon the prosecution, completed his own humiliation, but effected nothing. The time for such a compromise had gone by. On the nth the members returned in triumph ; train- bands by land, and armed vessels and city barges by water, attended their progress. Pym, after entering the House, rose and thanked the citizens of London for their noble con- duct, the other members standing uncovered while he spoke ; the sheriffs were thanked, and a guard of the train-bands ordered to watch over the safety of the Houses night and day. On the night of the loth Charles, the queen, and their children left London for Hampton Court. YIII. THE EARL OF ESSEX. WITH the attempted seizure of the five members by the king, the Constitutional period of this great contest may be said to have terminated. From that day the ' Revo- lution' commenced; at first with gradual and hesitating steps, but soon with rapidly accelerating pace, until in the month of May the flight of Lord-Keeper Littleton to the king tore away the thin disguise of legal and constitutional forms by which the deadly struggle between the sovereign and the legislature had up to that time been cloaked, and reduced the Parliament to a simple choice between entire submission and the assumption of an independent executive authority. From that day the Earl of Essex, whose influ- ence and position had, as we have seen, become greater and more important every month, after his appointment to the military command of the south of England during the king's absence in Scotland, stood forward in name as well as in fact as the man of the hour, on whose skill and firmness the popular party placed their reliance, and on whose success the existence of the Parliament depended. In this honourable, though dangerous, elevation he remained nominally until the commencement of the year 1645; ^^*^ i^ reality, his career and his influence ended with the relief of Gloucester in the early autumn of 1643. During the winter which followed, the Parliament was busily engaged in organizing fresh armies, and placing in virtually independent commands new generals. The January of 1644 witnessed the embodiment of the army of the eastern counties under the command of Lord Mande- ville, then (by the death of his father) Earl of Manchester. The battle of Long-Marston Moor in the simimer of that HH2 1 4^68 THE EARL OF ESSEX. year pointed out on what army the Parliament might most safely rely ; and the surrender of Essex's army in the west in the autumn, while it left his honour untouched, gave the coup-de-ffrdce to his military reputation. The same campaign showed that Essex's rival, Sir William Waller, was unequal to the responsibilities of a supreme command ; and the second battle of Newbury put an end to the old-model armies, and led to the appointment of Sir Thomas Fairfax and the recognised ascendency of Oliver Cromwell. But these changes only confirmed the verdict which public opinion had already pronounced in the autumn of 1643 ; and with that epoch the first stage of the ' Revolution ' really ends. The entrance of the Scotch army into England, at the com- mencement of 1644, introduced the element of religious strife into the contests within the walls of the houses at Westminster ; and the old political parties were remodelled, with but slight difference in their constituent members, but on an entirely diflPerent basis. The Peace and War parties, which took their rise in the period on which I am now enter- ing, were gradually modified during the year 1644, and re- appeared at the commencement of 1645 under the designa- tions of Presbyterians and Independents. Ha\ing fixed these general landmarks, which may prevent the confusion to which any narrative of so prolonged and complicated a struggle is necessarily exposed, I must now glance rapidly at the salient points in the events of the first seven or eight months of the year 1642. We shall then have the Earl of Essex's army fairly in the field, and may give their due preponderance to military proceedings. As selection of details, however, is required by my present plan, I can attempt to do little more than draw attention to hitherto neglected features of this progress from Parliamen- tary debates to Civil War. For some time after the attempt of the king a spirit of panic pervaded the Houses of Parliament. A repetition of the act of violence was apprehended, and every slight rumour of open disturbance or secret machinations swelled their fears, and was food to their excited imaginations. Thus, on the 5th of January, Sir Ralph Hopton ' and some five or six THE EARL OF ESSEX. 469 more' members of the Commons attempted, in answer to the invectives of Harbottle Grimstone, to ' excuse his Ma- jesty's coming in so extraordinary a manner;' but the House nominated Glynne, and some few others, to draw up a decla- ration expressing its sense of the breach of privileges. On the Declaration being brought in, Hopton opposed its adoption, on the ground that ^ we had a number of our servants in the lobby armed with carbines and pistols in an unusual manner, and because the [king's] speech was full of grace and goodness.' This strange and feeble argument, of course, had no weight, and is chiefly important as a record of the straits to which the conduct of Charles had driven his supporters, and as an indication that henceforward, at any rate, we are to reckon among these Sir Ralph Hopton, who had once been pro- minent on the popular side, and became one of the most honourable of the king's commanders in the subsequent Civil War. Hopton also objected on legal grounds to the appoint- ment of a grand committee of the House to sit at Guildhall ; and the motion was modified to meet this objection in the same manner as formerly by the appointment of a select committee, with leave for all other members to attend who chose to do so. Some orders concerning Ireland were next passed, and then D'Ewes writes as follows in his Journal: ' All which were allowed and voted by the House, but in such haste as they would not permit the clerk to read them ; for we had new alarums given us of the coming down of armed persons upon us, and it was generally reported, also, that his Majesty had intended to come down to both Houses this afternoon again, attended with the desperate troop with which he came yesterday, and to have accused some other members both of our House and of the Lords' House of treason, and to have seized upon their persons; but that, going into the City of London this morning, he was there so roundly and plainly dealt withal by the people of all sorts, who called upon him to maintain the privilege of Parliament, to follow the advice of his great council in Parliament, with- out which they were all undone, and that their bloods would cry to Heaven for justice, and that they would with their lives and fortunes maintain the safety of his Majesty's person 470 THE EARL OF ESSEX. and tbe safety and prhilege of Parliament— some also throw- ing the printed Protestation of the House of Commons into his coach as he went along— as that he both returned late out of the City, and altered, it seems, his former resolution/* The very next day, D'Ewes records, that ' this night a gen- tleman coming to the watch at Ludgate, between nine and ten of the clock, and informing them that those soldiers and ruffians who came down to the House on Tuesday last had some design upon the City, to be executed this night, the City and the suburbs were almost wholly raised, so as within little more than an hour's space there were about 40,000 men in complete arms, and near upon 100,000 more that had halberts, swords, clubs, and the like. Yet the general cry of the City, ' Arm ! Arm ! ' was with so much vehemency, and knocking at men's doors with so much violence, as some women, being with child, were so affrighted therewith as they miscarried ; but after the Lord Mayor had sent to liMiite- hall and some other places, and found all' things quiet, the streets were all cleared within the matter of an hour's space, and every man retired to his house. The first occasion of this fear, as was thought, arose from some persons of a troop of horse raised by Mr. Baker, a gentleman dwelling in Essex, which were billeted at Bamet, [that] came up riding this evening within some few miles of London, which were reported by some, upon which [what] misinformation I know not, to be but the forerunners of 500 horse that were that night to come into the City of London.' t On the nth of January, the Houses being reassembled at Westminster, D'Ewes writes : 'After our rising, I went to w alk awhile in Westminster Hall, and there stood many of the citizens, of the train-bands of London, of the eight companies, which guarded us this day by land, being in all 2400 men, in their arms, besides companies of the city of Westminster. And I saw upon the top of the pikes of divers of the Londoners the Protestation, formerly framed, and taken by the members of the House of Commons, and afterwards by most of the citizens, hanging like a little square banner. Some had * Marl, MSS, 162, pp. 307 B, 308 B. t lb. p. 309 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 471 them also affixed, as I am informed, to their muskets ; one had it fastened upon his breast, and it was also wrapped upon one of the ensigns ; but these latter particulars I saw not myself. So as it appeareth,' concludes Sir Simonds, ' that we did not only at first prevent that dangerous design of the Earl of Strafford's escape from justice by it, but that now, and at several times since, it was a very special means under God to preserve us in safety.'^ A still more striking proof of the effect of the king's visit to the House is afforded by a passage in D'Ewes' Journal in the May following, in which he reports himself as saying : ^ Although some [in Yorkshire] spoke openly that it were well the Parliament men would [should] set their houses in order, because they would shortly lose their heads, for my part, I confess, I have not that work now to do, having ever since the \th day of January last past left my will with a third person in trust, of which,' he continues, ^ all the House took special notice, so as I was fain to stop awhile from further proceeding.'f These passages illustrate far better than any general remarks could do, the state of alarm and the enthusiasm for the Parliament called forth by the ill-judged attempt of the king. It is curious to observe what members of the House of Commons took the lead on the popular side during the short absence of the five accused members. We shall thus arrive at some notion who were among the rising men in that party on whom the country could rely, should Pym and Hampden be removed from the scene. We find them to have been Fiennes, Glynne, the younger Vane, Grimstone, Stapylton, and Wylde. Vane, whose appearances hitherto, with the exception of the Strafford business, had been chiefly confined to ecclesiastical matters, takes on this occasion a decided lead in the counsels of the Commons ; and the sound discretion with which he acted is well exhibited in a motion made by him at Guildhall, on the 6th of January, ' that we might make some short declaration that we did not intend to protect these five gentlemen, or any other member of our House in any crime ; but should be most ready to bring them • Earl. MSS. 162, p. 318 A. t lb. 163, p. 511 B. mm !*l 472 THE EARL OF ESSEX. to condign punishment, if tley should he proceeded against in a legal way,'* On the other hand. Sir Henry Ludlowe, father of the Lndlowe whose Memoirs are one of our re- cognised historical authorities for this period, making a proposition for a vote against Sir William Killigrew and Sir W. Fleming, in which ' there were too high expressions,* it was given to Glynne and others to amend. This shows the cautious and moderate spirit by which the Commons were still actuated. They did not, however, relax their vigilance. Sir John Byron had been appointed by the king Lieutenant of the Tower ; but, as he was well known to be connected with the court party, the Commons renewed their application for the appointment of Sir John Conyers. In this Charles ultimately acquiesced, though with unconcealed dislike. Colonel Lunsford and Lord Digby were assuming a very suspicious attitude at Kingston-on-Thames, where 500 horse were billeted. Two cartloads of ammunition had been transported thither, and Mr. Thomas Howard (second son of the Earl of Berkshire), after being in the House of Commons in the day-time, joined Lunsford^s troop during the night, and assumed a command there. Ultimately, after an offer from the gentlemen of Buckinghamshire (Hampden^s con- stituents, who h'ad come up with the petition to the king in his behalf) to march against Digby and Lunsford, the force at Kingston dispersed, and Digby, who lay under an impeachment from the Commons, fled abroad with a pass signed by the king^s hand. A question then arose whether Charles had granted this pass before, or in defiance of an order of Parliament for closing the ports. Letters from Digby to the queen were also intercepted and read, which were full of bitter invective and threats against the Par- liament ; and so much was said of the part which Henrietta was taking in public affairs, that a report spread that the Commons intended to impeach her of high treason. A depu- tation waited upon her to reassure her, and she professed never to have given the slightest credence to such an improbable rumour. The movements of the royal family, however. I I THE EARL OF ESSEX. 473 created considerable uneasiness. On the 12th of January Sir Robert Pye drew attention in the House of Commons to the circumstance that the king was going away to Windsor from Hampton Court, and that the court was in great distraction. Sir John Culpeper, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, confessed that the king was indeed removing to Windsor ; but that there was no armed force with him. Two days afterwards, some members moved that orders might be sent to the Marquis of Hertford, upon peril of his life to remove the Prince of Wales from court into his own custody. This was opposed by Sir John Northcote, who said that it would increase existing jealousies, ^ as it was already reported hy some that there loas an intention to croivn the prince and make him king' This raised such an outcry in the House, that Sir John had to give over speaking.^ Fresh suspicions respecting the prince were created by another movement of the court. The Dutch ambassadors made a formal demand for the com- pletion of the marriage between the Princess Mary and the young Prince William of Orange ; and the queen seized the occasion to quit the country, nominally as an escort to her daughter, but really to pawn the crown jewels and raise arms abroad for the impending conflict ; thus exposing her- self to the very charge respecting which she had just ex- pressed her incredulity. The king accompanied her on her way to Dover as far as Greenwich, and summoned the Prince of Wales to join him at the latter place. There was evidently an idea that the whole party were going to quit the kingdom ; and this was countenanced by the circumstance that the Marquis of Hertford, on plea of indisposition, did not accompany his royal pupil. The marquis, who disliked the queen^s courtiers, but had not nerve enough to refuse compliance with the order as respected the prince, pro- bably gave way to his natural inaction, and shifted out of the dilemma by a convenient illness. This dereliction of duty was the prelude to his subsequent betrayal of trust, when he removed the prince from the Parliament's jurisdiction. The House of Parliament complained of this ♦ Harl, MSS. 162, p. 309 B, * D'Ewes, Harl. MSS. 162, pp. 320 b, 327. vf 4 THE EARL OF ESSEX. risit to Greenwicli, and the king explained in rather haughty terms. The impeachment of the five members was gradually- dropped; and the Commons in their turn brought articles against the attorney-general, Sir Edward Herbert, as the ostensible agent in the matter. A more important question, however, now absorbed their attention — this was the settle- ment and disposition of the militia. On the 14th of January the House, on Pym's motion, went into committee on the state of the kingdom, and Oliver Cromwell rose and moved that a committee might be named to consider of means to put the kingdom in a posture of defence ; which, after two or three more had spoken, was ordered.* On the 20th letters arrived which showed the timeliness of Cromwell's motion. The Mayor of Hull wrote to the representative of that town, Mr. Peregrine Pelham, that he had received orders from the king, by the Earl of iNTewcastle, to admit train-bands, and also from the Parliament to admit Mr. John Hotham, and that he had done neither, but humbly desired the king and Parliament to join in appointing a garrison. To secure the magazine at Hull now became the primary object of both court and Parliament. On the same day Sir John Hotham delivered in a letter sent to him from his son, and dated the 1 8th instant ; ' which,' says D'Ewes, ' did almost startle us all, upon the reading thereof.' Young Hotham stated that the mayor, and several of the aldermen of Hull, whose names he mentioned, were the cause of the non-admission of the train-bands which he had brought, according to the order of both Houses ; but that the greater part of the townsmen were in favour of their admission; that Captain William Legge was now at Hull, being sent from his Majesty thither to take care of the magazine there ; that the Earl of New- castle was there also, being authorized under the king's sign- manual to take upon himself the government of that town, and to bring in what soldiers he pleased; that he came at first thither under the disguised name of Sir John Savage ; that if the Parliament did not take care to second their former • lyEwes, Barl, MSS, 162, p. 331 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 475 orders, they would render their authority and commands contemptible to all men ; and that, if he might receive further order to proceed on, '/all hack fall edge, he would put it to the hazard ! ' These words were remembered long afterwards when the Hothams played a very different and far less open game, and with very different success. The Hothams— father and son — were choleric, rough, overbearing men, whom desire of notoriety instigated to the first act of open defiance of the king, and whom subsequently disappointed ambition and jealousy of the superior position and rising influence of the Fairfaxes, led to acts of the most disgraceftd treachery to the Parliament. Both these features of their character peep forth in the debates at this period. On the 14th, just before Cromwell rose. Sir John had vehemently moved that, ' we might hunt the evil counsellors home;' and now, on Mr. Pelham's offer to go down to Hull himself — and that he hoped to accommodate matters, so that the town might obey the com- mands of Parliament — Sir John, jealous of another sharing the credit of the affair, opposed the offer on the ground that Pelham was a freeman of the town, and might be obliged by his oath not to admit any soldiery into it, and that the Lords ought to join in such an order. Hotham carried his point ; ' and so,' obser\ es D'Ewes, ^ this most seasonable offer of Mr. Pelham came to nothing ; at which I was much troubled.'^ On the heels of this alarm at Hull came a fresh contest between the popular party in the two Houses and the Court majority in the House of Lords. Fiennes having reported from a committee the terms of acknowledgment of a recent ^ gracious answer' from the king, with the expression of a desire that he would provide for their sitting in safety, Hampden, most unseasonably, as D'Ewes thinks, but with evident and natural reference to the news from Hull which had just been read, moved an addition to desire the king to put the Tower of London, and other parts of the kingdom, with the militia thereof, into such hands as they might con- fide in, that so they might sit in safety. This being reported • Earl. MSS. 162, pp. 338 B, 339 a. 476 THE EARL OF ESSEX. to the Lords, was, after a long debate, rejected ; tliirty-two peers entering their protest against the rejection, 'to dis- charge themselves from all the mischief and ill-consequences that may thereupon follow/* Numerous petitions now poured in from various counties in England for a farther reforma- tion in chm*ch and state ; and, among others, Sir George Chudleigh presented one from the county of Devon against Popish lords, and in favour of putting the kingdom into a pos- ture of defence. Sir George at a later period held a command for the Parliament in the west, and after some ambiguous con- duct, betrayed his trust, and went over to the Cavaliers. The city of London also petitioned, and the popular leaders seized the occasion to hold a conference with the Lords, at which the petitions were read; and then Pym, in a long and masterly speech, admonished the Peers of their falling off from the common cause, and the obstructions which the bills passed by the Commons met with in that House. ' Whatsoever mischief this obstruction shall produce,^ he observed, Uve are free from it ; we may have our part in the misery, we can have no part in the guilt or dishonour/ Each subject on which the Lords had thrown obstructions was passed under review — religion ; trade, the freedom of which ' being so necessary, the benefit so important, as that it gives life, strength, and beauty to the whole body of the commonwealth;' the relief of Ireland ; the prosecution of delinquents ; the recent attempts at violence, and ' subtle endeavours to raise parties in our House, and jealousies betwixt the two Houses;' lastly, the defence of the kingdom. Each head of his address he wound up with similar words to the preceding, absolving the Commons, and laying the responsibility of delay on the Lords. ' I am now come to a conclusion,' he at length said, ' and I have nothing to propound to your lordships by way of request or desire from the House of Commons. I doubt * The protestors were the Earls of Essex, Warwick, Pembroke, Holland, Stamford, Bedford, Leicester, Clare, Lincoln, Salisbury, Bolingbroke, Peter- borough, Tbanet, and Nottingham ; Viscounts Saye and Sele, and Conway ; and the Lords Paget, Kirabolton, Brooke^ Robartes, North, Wharton, St. John, Spencer, Newnham [eldest son of the Earl of Denbigh, and by courtesy Viscount Feilding], Willoughby [of Parham], Bruce [Earl of Elgin], Dacres, Howard de Escricke, Grey de Werk, Chandois, and Hunsdon [eldest son of the Earl of Dover, and by courtesy Viscount Rochfort], THE EARL OF ESSEX. 477 not but your judgments will tell you what is to be done ; your consciences, your honours, your interests, will call upon you for the doing of it. The Commons will be glad to have your concurrence and help in sa\ing of the kingdom ; but if they fail of it, it should not discourage them in doing their duty. And whether the kingdom be lost or saved (but I hope through God's blessing it will be saved), they shall be sorry that the story of this present Parliament should tell posterity, that in so great a danger and extremity , the House of Commons should he [were] enforced to save the kingdom alone, and that the House of Peers should have no part in the honour of the preservation of it, you having so great an interest in the good success of those endeavours in respect ot your great estates and high degrees of nobility.' For this speech Pym was thanked by the House of Commons; and his address was ordered to be taken down in writing and printed by their authority. This was on the 25th of January ; and the next day a report of the conference having been made to the House of Lords, a motion was made to join with the Commons in the petition respecting the militia. The House went into committee, and there was a long debate, during which some peers desiring an adjournment, James Stuart, Earl of March and Duke of Lennox in Scotland, who had been recently created Duke of Richmond — a fervent courtier — exclaimed, ^ Let us put the question, whether loe shall adjourn for six months,' For this dangerous suggestion, which hinted at an abdication of their authority on the part of the Parlia- ment, the duke was called to account ; but making a lame apology, ' that he did not speak these words positively, but meant that the House might be adjourned as well for six months as to a time not limited,' his own party moved that, on acknowledgment of his indiscretion, and asking pardon of the House, his explanation should be accepted. A division took place, and the courtiers again triumphed, twenty-four peers^ protesting against the punishment as insufficient for * The Earls of Northumberland, Bedford, Essex, Pembroke, Suffolk, Lincoln, Leicester, Warwick, Holland, Bolingbroke, and Stamford ; Viscount Conway ; and the Lords Wharton, Paget, Hunsdon, Chandois, St. John, Spencer, Kimbolton, Brooke, Grey de Werk, Robartes, Howard de Escricke, and Willoughby de Parham. 478 THE EARL OF ESSEX. ' words of such dangerous consequence.' The debate in the Lords on this point lasted, D'Ewes tells us, ^from about three in the afternoon till between eight and nine at night,' and ' forty at least' of the Lords were in favour of the duke. This gives us some idea of the crisis in the Upper House, and of the relative strength of the two parties. The Commons had now the opportunity they wished, of fixing upon some one of the ' king's evil counsellors,' and so intimidating the others. The popular leaders immediately moved to charge the duke with being a malignant and an evil coimsellor to the king. Mr. John Lisle (better known as one of the members of the High Court of Justice on King Charles, and the husband of the Alice Lisle who suflTered in the reign of James 11.) declared during this debate that the duke received a pension from the King of Spain, and had counselled the dissolution of the last Parlia- ment. Edmund Waller spoke in his favour. On a di\dsion, the impeachment of the duke was carried in the Commons by a majority of 223 to 123, Holies and Stapylton being tellers for the ayes, and Culpeper and Herbert Price for the noes. This division shows how the strength of the two parties had altered since the carrying of the Remonstrance and the king's attempt in January. At a conference on the 29th Glynne communicated this vote, and added a request that the Lords would join in an address to the king to prevent the access of the duke to the court, and to remove him from all places of trust. Glynne then reiterated Pym's admonition ; the House of Commons, he concluded, ' say they saw the stone that hit them, but could not discover the arm that threw it ; they say they wash their hands of the ill-conse- quences of these things, and lay it at your lordships' door.' Two days afterwards the Commons renewed their appeal to the Upper House. 'Mr. Denzil Holies,' records D'Ewes (who had himself voted with the majority against the duke), ' and the rest appointed to manage the conference, with the greater part of the House, went up to it; and he both spoke and read the petition [to the king] himself, and did very boldly represent to the Lords what danger we were in, if they did not speedily join with us for the securing of the i THE EARL OF ESSEX. 479 I commonwealth ; and that they alone should be guilty of all the miseries that should happen thereby.'* The same day Pierrepont read in the Commons a vote passed by the com- mittee ' touching the putting of the militia of the kingdom into a defence, which was to be made by an ordinance of both Houses* Sir Ralph Hopton spoke against it very pertinently, in D'Ewes' opinion, saying, that they could not do so but by an act of Parliament ; ' yet it passed the House upon the question.'* The majority of the House of Lords continued to exhibit the same spirit in refusing next day to join with the Commons in the petition against the Duke of Richmond ; but the same day the Lower House received an answer from the king to their own petition respecting the Tower and Militia, which, evidently encouraged by the majorities in the Lords, was drawn up in a very high strain, and in so many words told the Commons to mind their own business. The latter, in communicating this answer, desired the Peers to lay the thing to heart, and if they would not join with the Commons, ^ now that things are brought to the last pass,' entreated those Lords who were of their opinion ' to declare themselves, that they may be known from the rest.' They added, that the Lords must not expect them to come again to them on this business. On this the House of Lords gave way, the tone of Charles' answer evidently disappointing and irritating many who had hitherto taken his side in the Upper House, and the others being afraid of worse conse- quences if they persisted in opposition to the Lower House. So they resolved, first to join with the Commons in voting that whosoever advised the king to give this answer is of the MALIGNANT party and an enemy to the public peace and safety of the kingdom ; likewise to join with them in the petition as desired. These votes were received with great joy by the Commons, and Holies was thanked for his speech in the name of the House. Thus, on the ist of February the king by his indiscreet answer had destroyed the prospects of his party in the Upper House, as he had annihilated it in the Lower by the attempt in January, * Harl. MS 8. 162, p. 362 B. 480 THE EARL OF ESSEX. On tlie 5tli of February the Lords passed tlie biU taking away the temporal functions of the bishops and clergy, in- cluding the votes of the former in Parliament, which had been 80 long and fertile a source of dispute between the two Houses. Three bishops, Winchester, Rochester, and Worcester, alone dissented. The Commons, on this being communicated to them, expressed their joy 'in this clear concurrence and correspondency between both Houses,' and requested the Lords to join in an address to the king to give his assent to the bill as speedily as possible. The Upper House again assented, and sent two of their members to Charles. On the same day, the 7th of February, the resolutions respecting the militia were brought up from the Commons, and the next day the Lords assented to them. The king requested time to consider the bill against bishops ; and this led to the union of the two Houses in certain reasons for hastening his decision. On this occasion Harry Marten displayed his anti-monarchical tendencies, by saying in the House of Com- mons that he was against giving any reasons ; ' for he thought it sufficient to induce his Majesty to pass any bill when [that] the two Houses had assented to it ; that they were his great council, whose advice he was to take, and not to have a third House of Parliament to counsel him otherways ; that he con- ceived that the king^s vote was included in the Lords' votes, as the whole Commons of England were included in theirs ; and that his Majesty's predecessors and himself had used to deny passing of bills by the words Le Roy s'avisera, which custom he desired might be left oflF, and that the king might give his roval assent to such bills as were passed in both Houses.'* This view, however, found no favour as yet iu the House. In his last answer respecting the militia the kin? had requested to know the nLes of the persons in whom the Parliament had confidence, declaring that he would approve of them if there were no just objections. On the 10th of February accordingly the Commons proceeded to the nomination of lord-lieutenants of counties, and a violent debate arose on one or two names. The Lord Strange, eldest • D'Ewes, Earl. MSS. 162, p. 375 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 481 son of the Earl of Derby, and better known in later years by that title, was nominated for Cheshire ; and the nomination was carried, though opposed by Mr. Alexander Rigby, ^ a lawyer of Gray's Inn,' and a Lancashire man, who made ' a violent invective' against his lordship. There seems to have been a personal or county quarrel between Rigby and the Stanleys ; and he was afterwards active against them in the Civil War. D'Ewes, who supported Lord Strange, speaks of him as ' a great countenancer of religion, and a constant practiser of it in his own family for many years.'* Mr. Rigby, however, whatever his personal motives may have been, proved correct in his surmise respecting the leaning of Lord Strange. The same may be said of the nomination of the Marquis of Hertford for the county of Somerset, which was carried, notwithstanding the opposition of Arthur Good- win and Sir Arthur Hesilrige. D'Ewes counselling the ap- pointment as a matter of prudence. Sir Arthur replied, ^ that in this we were to use conscience and not prudence ! ' On the 14th the king gave his assent to the bill against bishops' votes in Parliament. This may seem strange after the stress which Charles had affected to lay on the presen-a- tion of the rights of the Church; but Clarendon tells us that the king acted imder the idea that, being under the influence of compulsion, his assent was invalid. Respecting the militia ordinance, however, his course was necessarily different ; the power of the sword could not be resigned, as by this he hoped to be able to recall his last concession. On the 28th he returned from Greenwich and proceeded to Theobalds, and thence forwarded an answer, which both Houses at once voted to be a denial, and those who advised him to it to be enemies to the commonwealth. The Com- mons had ordered a ^call' of their House on the ist of March,t and the next day it was resolved to put the kingdom * Harl. MSS. 163, p. 408 b. f The king having taken exception to some words in Pym's great speech respecting royal passes to Irish rebels, a committee, we find from the Commons Journals^ was appointed to consider the subject ; and on the ist of March Stapylton, Hampden, Fiennes, Cromwell, Pym himself, and Marten were added to this committee. 482 THE EARL OF ESSEX. into a posture of defence by the sole authority of the Houses of Parliament, and Ilarfen was sent up to request the con- currence of the Upper House. The Lords agreed, ' after a serious debate/ thirteen peers of the court party entering their protest.* 'The weather was very cold/ observes D^Ewes, 'and the debate^ in the Commons 'full of sadness and evil augury, all conceiving that, whether we sate still or did proceed to settle the militia by authority of both Houses, matters were now grown to a desperate pass.'t Gonng, m whom the Houses still relied, had been sent to secure Ports- mouth ; and the Tower was placed under the care of PMip Skippofi, who had already obtained some reputation as a practical soldier, and was known to be not only stanch to the Parliament, but very popular alike with soldiers and civilians. On the 4th of March a great debate arose in the Commons respecting a proposed declaration of Parliament, setting forth the causes of their fears and jealousies ; in the course of which Sir Ralph Hopton charged the committee that drew the declaration with taxing the king withapostacy to his religion. For this he was called to account. Sir John Evelyn, of Wiltshire, being in favour of expelling him altogether ; but he was only committed to the Tower, and released again on the 15th of March. This occasion is remarkable for the first decided indication on the part of D'Ewes of a disposi- tion to separate himself from Pym^s party. Terror of the king^s designs had hitherto driven him to concur most re- luctantly in defensive measures of doubtful legality; but the dread of an impending civil war from this time weighed more and more on his spirits, until at length he denounced as incendiaries all who did not suffer the fears of the less evil of an appeal to arms to overcome their conviction of the necessity of unfaltering action to preserve the recently con- structed bulwarks of the Constitution. He speaks, however, at first with reserve, of ' some violent spirits, whom otkerwm • The Earls of Lintlsey, Bath. Southampton, Northampton Monmoiith, aeveland. and Portland, and the Lords Mowbray. Willoughbyd Eresby, Grey Tof Ruthynl. Dunsmore, Seymour [late Sir Francis], and CapeL ^ t ^orl, MSS. 163, p. 409 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 483 I esteemed very Jionest men.' This is worth recording, as there can be little doubt that others shared his feelings, and that to this epoch we may trace the nucleus of that accession of parliamentary strength which gave a colour of right to the king's subsequent appeal to arms. On the 5th of March the declaration passed the Commons, and on the same day the Lords voted the militia ordinance, with the omission of the king's name and authority. To this seventeen peers entered their dissent.^ On the 7th the Lords assented to the declara- tion, fourteen peers entering their protest. f The king had moved northwards to Newmarket ; and there, on the 9th, a select committee from both Houses waited on him with the declaration. The scene which ensued was an exciting one. At one part of the declaration Charles inter- rupted the Earl of Holland in reading it, and said, ' That's false !^ When it was again touched upon, he exclaimed, * 'Tis a lie !' The next day he delivered his answer; and the Earl of Holland, having read it, vainly endeavoured to persuade him to return nearer the Parliament. The Earl of Pembroke again besought him to express what he would have. ^He would whip a boy in Westminster school that could not tell that by his answer,' was the king's reply. The Earl of Pem- broke asked whether the militia might not be granted, as was desired by the Parliament, for a time ; ' on which Charles swore, ' By God ! not for an hour : you have asked that of me in this which was never asked of a king, and with which I will not trust my wife and children.' ' Hot words were now uttered on both sides. In the House of Commons, on the 1st of April, Sir Peter Went worth, whose opinions agreed very much with Marten's, said plainly that the House could not confide in the king or trust him. Sir John Cul- peper was indignant that any one should dare to say so ; but the House, though disapproving of the words, passed by what D'Ewes calls ' his folly.' * Besides the last-mentioned thirteen, the Earl of Devonshire, and the Lords Rich, Howard de Charlton, and Savile. t Earls of Lindsey, Southampton, Northampton, Devonshire, and Cleveland ; and the Lords Mowbray, Willoughby d'Eresby, Grey, Rich, Howard de Charlton, Savile, Dunsmore, Seymour, and Capel. II 2 48l! TH£ EARL OF ESSEX. On the I9tli of March the king reached York, and forth- with gathered around him all those disaffected to the Parlia- ment. On the 9th of April he ordered the Earls of Essex wad Holland (lord chamberlain and groom of the stole) to attend him at York, or give up their offices. The two lords communicated this message to Parliament, who ordered them to remain at Westminster ; and the result was that they were deprived of their places by the king. He had already refused to acquiesce in the appointment of the Earl of Warwick as admiral of the fleet. He now made his suspicious offer to go in person to Ireland, which drew forth a declara- tion fix)m the Parliament to the contrary. On this occasion we have a remarkable instance, recorded by B'Ewes, of the wise moderation of Pym. D'Ewes had differed from him as to the wording of the declaration, and says that Pym spoke ' somewhat superficially.^ D'Ewes himself was much inter- rupted in his speech; but Mr. Peard reproved the noisy members, and ' Mr. Pym himself, who had himself made report of the said declaration, did/ says the elated D'Ewes, ' with much discretion and modesty, approve what I had spoken, and coming himself to the clerk's table, did amend the said declaration according to the advice I had given.** Only a few days before Hampden had paid the same compliment to D'Ewes' judgment ; and it is evident that the great popular leaders were making every effort to keep together their party at the sacrifice of minor points, and with a disregard of their own personal pretensions. It was this spii'it, no doubt, which dictated the introduction at this time of a bill to settle the militia. Marten, true to his antecedents, moved its rejection, on the ground that it cast doubts and discredit on the ordi' nance they had already passed ; but no one seconded him, and D'Ewes, while expressing an opinion in favour of the legality of the ordinance, pointed out that, in similar cases there had been generally a subsequent confirmation by act of Parliament, and he 'hoped these evil counsellors had seen their former errors, and that their advising his Majesty to assent to this act would be the beginning of their amendment.' It • Marl, M8S, 163, p. 467 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 485 is not likely that Pym and Hampden shared in this belief; but they were willing to conciliate those who did, when only a matter of form was in question ; and herein lies the differ- ence and superiority of their policy to that of men like Marten, who would resort to no compromise either in reality or in appearance. On the 8th of April the Houses agreed upon a declaration in favour of a synod of divines for the reformation of the Church ; and this was the foundation of a biU which passed the Lords on the 4th of June, by which the number of the members of the assembly was fixed at 114. This was only taking the first step in carrying out a resolution passed by the Commons on the 17th of May in the preceding year, approving of the affection of their brethren of Scotland, in their desire of conformity in church government between the two nations, and promising, as they had already taken eccle- siastical reform into consideration, to proceed in it in due time. This synod soon became one of the leading elements in the political history of the times. Both parties were now making every possible demonstra- tion of strength through the medium of petitions. One from the county and town of Cambridge was introduced to the notice of the House of Commons by Cromwell, on the 15th of March, and was presented by Sir Thomas Martyn. This was favourable to the Parliament ; but another from the county of Kent, which had been brought forward at the bench of justices on the assizes, was of a very different character, and contained such aspersions on the Parliament that Sir Edward Deering, who had been expelled from the House of Commons in the February preceding for printing and publishing his speeches, and who was an active promoter of the petition, was proceeded against in Parliament for high crimes and misdemeanours. In Yorkshire both parties mustered strongly, inspired by the presence of the king ; and counter-petitions were presented to Charles at York, which led to some con- fusion and tumult in the city and county. One of these, on the court side, expressed a desire that the king would take measures that the magazine might continue at Hull for his use, and the protection of the northern parts, ^ where your 486 THE EARL OF ESSEX. royal person dotli reside ; your person being the David, the light of Israel, and more worth than ten thousand of us/ This was delivered to the king by Sir Francis Wortley, Sir Wmiam Wentworth, Sir John Gibson, Sir Thomas Metham, Sir Kichard Hutton, Sir Paul Neal, Mr. Bryan Palmes, Mr. George Butler, Mr. Dawnay, Mr. Mountain, Captain Frank- land, and eight or ten more, who may be looked upon as representing the leading Royalist gentry of Yorkshire. On the 25th of April Lord Fairfax, whose family were prominent on the other side, drew attention to this petition in the House of Commons, and at the same time commimicated the start- ling intelligence that the Duke of York and the Elector Palatine had already set out for Hull on the 22nd, and that the king himself had left for the same place on Saturday morning, the 23rd. This led to a conference with the Lords, conducted by Stapylton, Hampden, and Sir Ettgh Cholmeleyy a name destined to rather disgraceful notoriety in connexion with the betrayal of his trust at Scarborough. The next day brought tidings of still more serious import ; the Civil War had actually begun. The king had attempted to enter Hull mth an armed force, and had been refused admission by the Hothams unless attended merely by his personal retinue. On the receipt of the news Glynne rose and moved that the House of Commons should take into consideration the matter of Hull. ' Whereupon Mr. Pym stood up and made relation that, though the post which Sir John Hotham had sent with letters had been stayed by the way, and his letters taken from him, yet one Mr. Barry, having received information from the said post, had come up, and had related the manner of his Majesty coming to Hull, and what had there happened.' Barry was then called in, and related, ' that on the Friday last past, the Duke of York and the Prince Elector Palatine came to Hull with a considerable train; that Sir John Hotham admitted them into the town ; that the next day the Mayor of Hull feasted them, and invited Sir John Hotham also to dinner, who came ; that word was brought him, being at dinner, of his Majesty's coming thither, whereupon he rose from dinner, and got his garrison in readiness ; that his Majesty being come with a great number THE EARL OF ESSEX. 487 of horsemen with him, Sir John Hotham kept the gate shut, and the bridge drawn up; that his Majesty demanded entrance ; that Sir John Hotham excused himself, that he could not admit his Majesty in saving to his tmst to the Parliament ; that it rained so during his Majesty being there, as he was fain to retire to a house; that afterwards the Duke of York and the Prince Elector Palatine came out to the king, and that Sir John Hotham was proclaimed traitor ; that his Majesty had caused the boats on the river Hull to be chained up, and that none should pass towards Lincoln- shire to give notice.' The sura of \ol, was voted to Mr. Matthias Barry for his timely information, and a request came from the House of Lords, for a conference to com- municate a message from the king from Beverley, demand- ing justice on Sir John Hotham; they also reported some votes which they had thereupon passed respecting Sir John-—' that he had done nothing but in obedience to the commands of both Houses ; that the declaring him a traitor, he being a member of the House of Commons, was a high breach of privilege of Parliament ; and that the doing so without due process of law was against the liberty of the subject and the law of the land.' This initiative on the part of the Lords is significant of a great change in the spirit of that House, the court party having nearly abandoned their attendance. It may be well supposed that the rebellion in Ireland had not been suppressed when the authorities in England were thus divided against each other. It is extraordinary that any places in that country were retained by the English government under such circumstances. The Parliament, however, did their utmost to raise money and troops for the reduction of that kingdom. An act had been passed by which it was enacted that such rights, titles, interests, &c., as the rebels had on the 23rd of October, 1641, when the rebellion broke out, or afterwards, should be forfeited to his Majesty, and should be deemed to be in the actual and real possession of the king ; and that for the reducing the rebels, and distributing their lands amongst such persons as should advance money and become ' adventurers ' in the reduction, 488 THE EABL OF ESSEX. two millions and a half of acres should be assigned and allotted^ in the following proportions : Each adventurer of 200^. was to have 1000 acres in Ulster; of 300/., the same in Connaught ; of 450^., the same in Munster ; and of 600^., the same in Leinster, according to English measure. The bogs, woods, loughs, and barren mountains were to be cast into these two millions and a half of acres, and so thrown into each man's division. Out of these acres there was to be a yearly quit-rent reserved to the crown ; viz., one penny in Ulster, three halfpence in Connaught, twopence farthing in Munster, and threepence in Leinster. Collections for the suppression of the rebellion were made throughout England, and the Houses of Parliament naturally took the lead. Walter Long headed the subscription in the Commons with 1200^.; and Sir Robert Pye, on the same day, oflPered 1000/. Nearly all the other members contributed according to their means or their zeal. William Lord Monson gave 2400^., and Arthur Goodwin 1800/. ; Marten and Hesilrige each gave 1200/. ; Hampden and Holies 1000^. each. On the 7th of February CromwelFs name appears among others on the Commom Journals for 300/. ; but in Husbands' Collections 'Master Oliver Cromwell' is set down under the 29th of March for 500^., Fiennes and Pym immediately following him for 600/. each. Rushworth's Collections assign the same sum to Cromwell imder the 9th of April, and it is probably an improved offer on his part. Sir William Masham, Oliver St. John, Whitelocke, and Crewe each give 600/., and the same is offered by Sir John Culpeper. Cromwell's peculiar interest in the affairs of Ireland is manifested in a remarkable manner by numerous entries in D'Ewes during these months. Thus on the ist of June we find that he delivered in a peti- tion from Colonel Steward and others on behalf of them- selves and about 3500 Scots, who had long maintained them- selves together against the rebels in the province of Ulster ; from which petition, when it was read, it appeared that they had done so without any supply of money, victuals, or arms from England, and, therefore, being in great want of arms and victuals, they now desired some supply. The petition having been read, Mr, Cromwell showed that they had all this time had but a thousand arms amongst them, and that there THE EARL OF ESSEX. 489 were certain merchants that did now offer to furnish the House with victuals and arms to relieve the said Scots, and to give six months' time for the payment of the same. Others spoke to it ; and in the end it was referred to the Com- missioners for Irish Affairs. The gentlemen of Buckingham- shire, among others, we find, offered to lend 6000I., and to pay in the same before the ist of May. D'Ewes distinguished himself on the 27 th of April by an offer to give yearly 50/. as long as the Irish war lasted, without expectation of any land j and Hampden carried a motion for the entry of the offer in the Journals, with the addition of some expressions of the House's acceptation thereof, as of a great public ser- vice. Mr. Peard, the active member for Barnstaple, imme- diately followed D'Ewes' example. Money, however, was now about to be required for another and still more important purpose. On the 28th of April the king refused his assent to the Militia Bill j and on the 30th this refusal was commu- nicated to the Commons at a conference between the two Houses. The Earl of Essex then stood up, and said that the Lords had commanded him to say further to the Commons that they conceived it fit that we should seize upon these evil counsellors that did advise his Majesty, wheresoever they were to be found in England.^ It was now, of course, determined to settle the militia forthwith by ordinance of the two Houses ; and on the 5th of May a declaration was published by them to that effect, which recapitulated the various steps in the matter of the militia, and drew attention to the fact that they had in their last bill limited the term to less than two years, and confined the authority of the lieutenants to three particulars, of rebellion, insurrection, and foreign invasion. On the loth there was the first muster of the train-bands of London, under the militia ordinance, in ' Finsbury Fields.' There were twelve thousand present, and most of the mem- bers of both Houses attended. On the 20th of May some remarkable resolutions were proposed in the House of Commons, which form the official announcement on their part of the commencement of civil war. The first ran thus : ' That it appears that the king intends to make war against * D'Ewes, Had. MSS. 163, p. 489 B, 490 THE EARL OF ESSEX. tlie Parliament, wlio, in all their consultations and actions, have proposed no other end unto themselves but the care of his kingdoms, and the performance of all duty and loyalty to his person/ D'Ewes opposed the resolution being put at pre- sent, but, he continues, * the hotter and more violent spirits prevailing in number, the question was carried affirmatively, although there were many negatives against it. Notwith- standing that, upon Mr. Pym's motion, seconded by myself, the words ' seduced hy tvkhed connsel/ were added after the word ' king.^ '* The constitutional bearing of this addition is evident ; and may be taken as a proof that, whatever his private conviction of the king^s intentions, the great i)opular leader was anxious to the last to keep up those forms which implied the existence of a constitutional monarchy. Two other resolutions were then proposed and carried, ' with little or no difficulty :' ' That whensoever the king maketh war upon the Parliament, it is a breach of the tmst reposed in him by his people, contrary to his oath, and tending to the dissolution of the government. That whosoever shall serve or assist him in such wars, are traitors by the fundamental laws of this kingdom ; and have been so adjudged by two acts of Parliament, and ought to suffer as traitors.' * The House of Lords at once joined in these votes. On the other hand, on the afternoon of the 23rd of May, the Lords were informed that Lord-Keeper Littleton, who had concurred with the majority in the militia vote, having the leave of the House to be a few days absent for his health, was gone to York, and had parted mth the great seal two days before. This was con- sidered at the time a very important step gained for the king, as no writs or other similar documents could issue legally without the affixture of this seal. The Parliament were thus deprived of the symbol of executive authority ; but they were not now disposed to turn back for forms such as this. Littleton himself, after some miserable shuffling about his vote on the militia question, fell into general contempt, even among those with whom he had cast his lot. We now find ^ Mr. Cromwell' exceedingly active in the House. On the 28th of May an order was made upon his • Sort, MSS, 1% p. 518 B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 491 motion respecting the wardens of the Company of Armourers, Gunsmiths, and Saddlers. On the ist of Jime he moved that the Lords might be desired to send two ships to guard the Tyne mouth, leading up to Newcastle ; to stay all ships that came out of Denmark or the Low Countries. Holies went up with this message. The same day Mr. Toll, ' one of the burgesses of Lynn in Norfolk,' moved for an order to command all mayors, customers, and searchers of the northern ports, to stay such ships as should bring arms or money out of Denmark or the Low Countries. Cromwell seconded this motion, and was sent up to the Lords with the message. On the 4th of June we find him delivering in a list of the names of the sea-captains and other officers who were to go with twelve ships to the sea-coasts of Ireland against the rebels, of which fleet Robert Lord Brooke was to be com- mander-in-chief; which names were all read and allowed. There are many other occasions on which he appears — always on some point of immediate practical importance, and almost invariably carrying his motions. In some sheets among the Tanner 3ISS. in the Bodleian Library, endorsed ' Book of the Names of the Members of the House of Co?nmons that advance Horse, Money, and Plate for Defence of the Parliament,' I find the following entry : ' Die Veneris, Junii v°, 1642. Mr. Crom- well will bring in five hundi'ed pounds. Mr. Lowry will find a horse ready furnished.'^ There is another entry, which is amusing from its (to us now evident) double entendre: ' Colonel Goring will (as soon as his month's pay, due to him as Governor of Portsmouth, comes in) express what he will do in this service, to which he hath so much affection.'f Goring had been suspected of false play some months before, but had contrived to lull all suspicion to rest. He reappeared in the House of Commons on the 28th of June, and ob- tained an order for money for the garrison of Portsmouth ; then went down again to that place, and the next news was that he had betrayed it to the king. On the 3rd of June the humble petition and advice of both Houses of Parliament, with nineteen propositions, was sent to his Majesty. The principal points in these propo- * Tanner MSS, (Bodleian) 6^, p. 57. t lb. p. 59. YtfSS THE EAKL OF ESSEX. sitions were, that the councillors and ministers of state should be approved by the Houses ; that the laws against Jesuits, priests, and Popish recusants should be strictly put in execu- tion, and the votes of the Popish lords taken away ; that such a reformation in church government be made as should be advised by the two Houses; that the militia should remain as at present constituted, until it was further settled by a bill ; that all privy councillors and judges should take an oath for the maintaining of the Petition of Eight and other statutes ; that the judges should hold their places gnamdiu se bene gesserint ; justice on delinquents ; the placing the forts and other strongholds of the kingdom in the hands of persons approved by the two Houses ; that the king's extraordinary guard at the present time should be dismissed, and his proclamations and ordinances recalled ; a stricter alliance with the United Provinces and the Protestant states, and the restoration of the Princess Palatine ; the clearing, by act of ParHament, Lord Kimbolton and the five members, and the passing of a bill to restrain peers made hereafter from sitting or voting in Parliament, unless they were admitted thereunto with the consent of both Houses of Parliament. On these propositions, which contain the grounds on which the Parliament was at this time willing to come to an accommodation with the king, I need not make any remarks. To the reader of the preceding pages they speak for themselves, and their necessity in some re- spects, and their faults in others, will readily be suggested to the mind by their mere recital. On the penal laws on the statute-book against the Roman-catholics I have already expressed my opinion, and have given some sort of explanation of the conduct of the Puritans in that respect. The other propositions must be judged of with reference to the character of Charles and the whole of the foregoing trans- actions; and then I think they will be pronounced by most persons to be reasonable in the extreme, and nothing but what the strictest necessity absolutely demanded. Of course they produced no effect. The desertion of the Lord Keeper was now every day being imitated by some members of the Upper or Lower THE EARL OF ESSEX. 493 House, who gathered around the king at York, and formed a sort of anti-Parliament in that city. On the a5th of May the House of Lords took an account of their members, present and absent, which was presented to the House under the following distinctions, which (Avith a few modifications) may serve as some guide to the distribution of the peers between the two parties during the first stage of the Civil War. I have affixed an asterisk [*] to those peers who, almost imme- diately afterwards, joined the other party. * Lords that have absented themselves from the Parliamentf and are now with his Majesty at York. The Lord Keeper [Littleton]. Duke of Ericlimond [Stuart]. Marquis of Hertford [Seymour], Earl of Cumberland [Clifford]. Earl of Bath [Bourchier]. Earl of Southampton [ Wriothes- ley]. Earl of Dorset [Sackville]. *Earl of Salisbury [Cecil]. Earl of Northampton [Compton]. ♦Earl of Carlisle [Hay], *Earl of Clare [Holies]. Earl of Westmoreland [Fane]. Earl of Lindsey [Bertie]. Earl of Newcastle [Cavendish]. Earl of Dover [Carey]. Earl of Carnarvon [Dormer]. Earl of Newport [Blount]. Earl of Thanet [Tufton]. Earl of Huntingdon [Hastings]. Lord Spencer. Lord Strange [Stanley]. Lord Willoughby d'Eresby [Bertie]. Lord Rich. Lord Fauconbridge [Bellasyse]. Lord Lovelace. Lord Paulet. Lord Coventry. Lord Savile. Lord Dunsmore [Leigh]. Lord Seymour. Lord Herbert of Cherbury. * Lords that have not absented themselves from the Business of the House. Earl of Northumberland [Percy]. Earl of Bedford [Russell]. Earl of Pembroke and Mont- gomery [Herbert]. Earl of Essex [Devereux]. Earl of Lincoln [Fynes]. Earl of Suffolk [Howard]. Earl of Leicester [Sidney]. Earl of Warwick [Rich]. Earl of Holland [Rich]. Earl of Bolingbroke [St. John]. Earl of Peterborough [Mor- daunt]. Earl of Stamford [Grey]. Earl of Manchester [Montagu]. Earl of Portland [Weston]. *Earl of Cleveland [Wentworth]. *Earl of Bristol [Digby]. *Earl of Monmouth [Cary]. *Earl of Devonshire [Cavendish]. Viscount Saye and Sele [Fiennes]. Lord Dacres [Lennard]. 494 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Lord Hastings. Lord Cromwell. ♦Lord Wentworth. *Lord Paget. Lord North. •Lord Chandois [Bruges]. Lord Willoughby of Parham. Lord Wharton. Lord Hunsdon [Carey]. ♦Lord Pierrepont [Viscount Newark]. Lord St. John, Lord Stanhope. ♦Lord Grey de Ruthyn [Longue- ville]. Lord Eobartes. Lord Kimbolton [Montagu]. Lord Howard of Escricke. Lord Brooke. Lord Newnham [Feilding]. ♦Lord Mowbray [Howard]. Lord Grey de Werk. ♦Lord Howard de Charlton [Vis- count Andover], ♦Lord Capel. * Lords not coming to Parliament^ hting either Minars, or disabled hy Old AgCt or for other Reasons and Infirmities, Puke of Buckingham. Earl of Derby. Earl of Danby. Earl of Mulgrave. Earl of Eutland. Earl of Bridgewater. Earl of Kent. Earl of Oxford. Earl of Sussex. Earl of Exeter. Earl of Nottingham.* Lord Harvey. Lord Powis.* The rest of the peers are not particularly distinguished^ but only, in general, said to be either abroad in foreign parts, absent with leave, or recusants."*^ Of course this list is only to be taken as an index to the House of Lords at the commencement of the Civil War. Many changes in political faith took place during its progress, and deaths and the consequent accession of new peers modi- fied to some extent the original demarcations \ but, on the whole, the bulk of the names here given represent the peers of the ^ Cavalier' and ' Roundhead ' parties respectively pretty- accurately. The absent lords were summoned to appear at Westminster by the 8th of June ; and thereupon nine of them, the Earls of Northampton, Devonshire, Monmouth, and Dover, and the Lords Rich, Grey de Ruthyn, and Coventry, with the Lords Capel and Howard of Charlton, who had now also seceded to * Cobbett's Farliamentar^ History, vol. ii. pp. 1296-7. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 495 York, returned an answer on tbe 7 th that they had gone to that city by the king's commands, and remained there by the same authority. This letter was communicated by the House of Lords to the Commons, and on the nth the matter was debated in that House. After many had spoken, the Speaker put the question that the said nine lords had offered an affront to the Parliament by going to York and not returning back when summoned, and that they might justly be sus- pected of furthering a Civil War in the kingdom. Many being against the putting of this question, the House divided on it, and named, says D'Ewes, ' Mr. Denzil Holies and Mr. Cromwell tellers for the ayes, who sat still, and were in number 109 ; I (D'Ewes) was one of them. The tellers for the noes were Mr. Waller and IMr. White (secretary to the Earl of Dorset), being in number 51.^ The militia ordinance was now being put in execution in the different counties of England, and was encountered every- where by the Commissions of Array which the king sent out in his name. The commissioners on each side exerted themselves to the utmost to paralyse the efforts of their opponents, and the result was no little confusion and dis- turbance in the quiet homesteads of England. One of the first who came forward for the king was Mr. Henry Hastings, younger son of Henry Earl of Huntingdon, who appeared in Leicestershire and published the Commission of Array in de- fiance of Sir Arthur Hesilrige and Lord Ruthyn, eldest son' of the Earl of Kent, who were the Parliament's commis- sioners. In Buckinghamshire the Parliamentarians encoun- tered an unexpected difficulty. On the 14th of June Hamp- den reported to the House that the Lord Paget, lord- lieutenant of that county, had withdrawn himself, and that a general muster was to be there on the Friday following ; and he therefore desired that either some new lord-lieutenant might be named, or that the deputy-lieutenants might have an order from both Houses to proceed with it. ' We all wondered,' says D'Ewes, ' at the Lord Paget's mean and unworthy spirit to go to York to the king, having already mustered the county. Mr. Hampden and others were ap- pointed to draw up an order.' Lord Paget was a man of very 496 THE EARL OF ESSEX. changeable views, and during the course of the Civil War deserted the king and made his peace with the Parliament. He had been, up to the epoch of his present desertion of the Parliament, a strenuous partisan of the popular cause ; and the step was therefore wholly unexpected by his political associates. The sardonic Earl of Radnor — the Lord Robartes of the Civil War — ^has in his MS. notes on the proceed- ings in the House of Lords a curious notice of Lord Paget, which, whether true or not, is at least amusing and characteristic. 'This Lord Paget,' he writes, 'in the be- ginning of this Parliament was very fiery against the court ; but afterwards ran away from the Parliament with the old Earl of Bristol, and remained a fiery courtier till the tide began to turn, and then warps off from the king as you saw. About 1 641, coming to the court, talking with the queen, he boasted much of the power of the country lords, and said, ' Madam, we are as strong as Sampson ! ' * My Lord,' re- plied the queen, 'I easily believe it, seeing you want not among you the jawbone of an ass !' Ever after he was nick- named ' Sampson / and so you may find him in the Marquis of Hertford's letter to the queen, where ' Sampson's' revolt to us is mentioned. This lord had a long lean face, not differing in length from that of an ass.'* Several debates took place in the House of Commons, during the course of the month of June, respecting the advisability of making ftirther attempts at accommodating mattei-s between the king and Parliament. In these dis- cussions Selden and Eudyard appeared as advocates of fresh negotiations, and the former expressed an unfavourable opinion as to the militia ordinance. The general feeling of the House, however, was in favour of decided measures to secure their present safety. This was urged strongly by Pym ; and on the 6th of July Henry Marten made report from the * Committee of Lords and Commons appointed to provide for the Safety of the Kingdom,' that they conceived that there was now no longer doubt whether the king intended to levy war against the Parliament or not ; for he had now besieged ♦ Earl. MSS. 2224, p. 82. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 497 the town of Kingston-upon-HuU with a considerable army of horse and foot, and had forbidden all men upon pain of death to carry in any provisions ; and had also cut away the river of fresh water, so as they had only well-water left ; that Sir John Hotham had let in the water about Hull, and drowned the ground near it, so as no approaches could be made against it ; that the Earl of Lindsey, with the Lord Willoughby of Eresby, his son, had passed into Lincolnshire with 200 horse ; that therefore the committee had agreed to two votes— first, that the Earl of Warwick, who had secured the fleet for the Parliament, should be requested to send two of the ships, or three, if he could spare them, to Hull for the defence thereof, and to observe the directions of Sir John Hotham ; and they had further voted that 2000 men should be sent down to Hull as soon as they could be raised for the further defence of the to^vn. On the 9th of July Henry Marten was chosen to perform another important function, in reporting from the Committee of Safety six votes, of which the first was that the Parlia- ment should raise an army of 10,000 men. This proposition was strongly opposed by the remains of the old Court party, headed by Sir John Strangwayes and Edmund Waller, and by those members who preferred running any risks in delay, rather than incur the responsibilities of ci\dl war. These were led by Selden and Rudyard ; and to these D'Ewes now definitely joined himself. On the other side Holies, Strode, Fiennes, Marten, and Sir John Evelyn of Wiltshire took the lead in the debate. On a division, the ayes were 125 and the noes 45. D'Ewes a few days later, in describing a violent scene in the House, which led to his being repri- manded by the Speaker, says that many of the majorfty were overawed ; but against the less independent members, some of whom may very possibly have been thus influenced, we may fairly set off those panic-stricken members whose sympathies were with the popular party, but who could not make up their minds to commit themselves to such decided measures as the majority of the House demanded, and therefore absented themselves from divisions, or voted mth the minority. On the 15th of June forty peers had signed an engage. K K 498 THE EARL OF ESSEX. ment at York not to obey tlie militia ordinance without tlie royal assent, and a declaration and profession of faith in the king^s intentions. On the other hand, nineteen peers at Westminster, on the loth of June, put down their names for ' money, plate, and horses, for the public use, as the only remedy to maintain the Protestant religion, the king's authority and his person in his royal dignity, the free course of justice, the laws of the land, the peace of the kingdom, and the privileges of Parliament/ The whole number of peers who now took their side openly for the parUament, may be estimated at not less than thirty; and at several epochs their number reached thirty-five, and even approached forty. The Royalist peers at their fuUest numbers approached sixty, but about forty-five was their average muster. It wiU be seen at once that, besides the waverers, who passed once or more from one side to the other, there were several neutrals, and others who declared themselves for the Parlia- ment, but abstained from taking a part in the contest. The Earl of Oxford seemed almost to belong to both parties, and the Earl of Arundel quitted England for Italy to coUect ' marbles,' keeping on good terms with both king and Par- liament. In the Lower House the members were varying so continually, that it is difficult to fix at aU definitely the relative proportions of the two parties. A 'caU' of the House of Commons had taken place on the i6th of June, and sixty-five members were then reported as absent from the House, and most of these were, no doubt, with the king at York, or engaged in executing his Commissions of Array, in the various counties of England. Probably we shaU not be far wrong in setting down the Royalist seceders from the Lower House, in the first stage of the Civil War, at about a hundred. Their numbers were afterwards greatly swollen by fresh defections, particularly during the disastrous year 1643 ; but during all the changes of the war they never reached two hundred, while the members who remained at Westminster exceeded three hundred. As the names of these leaders of the ' Cavalier' and ^ Roimdhead' parties belong to the history of the period, as much as any particular occurrence of the Civil War, I subjoin them in exterm ; but it must not THE EARL OF ESSEX. 499 ' be forgotten that the lists are not true of any one 6poch in the revolution, but merely supply a chronicle of those who never abandoned Westminster, and of all those who at any time took an open part (for however short a time) on the king's side. The dates which follow the names of most of the Royalist members are those of their expulsion from the House of Commons, and mark approximately the era of their secession to the king. CAVALIERS. Acton, Sir Edward (Bridgnorth). February 5, 1644. Aldborough, Richard ( Aldborough, [Yorkshire]). September 6, 1642, Alford, Sir Edward (Arundel). January 22, 1644. Allestree, Kecorder William (Derby). Anderson, Sir Henry (Newcastle- on-Tyne). September 4, 1643. Arundell, Jolm, jun. (Bodmin). January 22, 1644. Arundell, Colonel Eichard (Lost- withiel). January 22, 1644. Ashbumham, John (Hastings). February 5, 1644. Bagot, Sir Harvey (Staffordshire). November 24, 1642. Bagahaw, Edward (Southwark). January 22, 1644. Baldwin, Charles (Ludlow). February 5, 1644. Bellasis, Henry (Yorkshire). September 6, 1642. Bellasis, Colonel John (Thirsk). September 6, 1642. Bellingham, Sir Henry, Bart. /Westmoreland) . October 11, 1645. Blud worth, Sir Thomas (Beigate). E K Bodville, John (Anglesea). February 5, 1644. Borlase, John (Corfe Castle). March 4, 1644. Bowyer, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Bramber). November 23, 1642. Bridgeman, Orlando (Wigan). August 29, 1642. Brooke, Sir John (Appleby). March 15, 1643. Buckhurst,Richard SackviUe Lord (East Grinstead). February 5, 1644. Carnaby, Sir William (Morpeth). August 26, 1642. Catalyn, Eichard (Norwich). January 22, 1644. Cave, Sir Eichard (Lichfield). August 30, 1642. Chadwell, William (St. Michael). January 22, 1644. Chichley, Thomas (Cambridge- shire). September 16, 1642. Clifton, Sir Gervase, Bart. (East Eetford). Coke, Henry (Dunwich). September 7, 1642. Coke, Thomas (Leicester). January 22, 1644. Compton, James Lord (Warwick- shire). Coningsby, Humfrey (Hereford- shire). 2 500 THE EARL OF ESSEX. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 501 Gonstantine, William (Poole). September 4, 1643. Cornwallis, Sir Frederick, Bart. (Eye). September 23, 1642. Coventry, John (Evesham). August 12, 1642. Crooke, Sir Robert (Wendover). November 15, 1643. Culpeper, Sir John (Kent). January 22, 1644. Curwen,Sir Patricias, Bart. (Cum- berland). March 15, 1644. Dalstone, Sir George (Cumber- land). March 15, 1644. Dalstone, Sir William, Bart. (Car- lisle). January 22, 1644. Danby, Sir Thomas (Eichmond). September 6, 1642. Davies, Matthew (Christchurch). March 16, 1643. Bigby, John (Milbom Port). August 5, 1642. Dungarvon, Eichard Boyle, Vis- count (Appleby). [Earl of Cork, September, 1643.] November 10, 1643. Dutton, John (Gloucestershire). Edgcumbe, Piers (Camelford). January 22, 1644. Edgcumbe, Eichard (Newport). Eversfield, Sir Thomas (Hastings). February 5, 1644. Ewers [or Eure], Serjeant [Sir] Sampson (Leominster). January 22, 1644. Falkland, Lucius Carey, Viscount (Newport). September 2a, 1642. Fanshaw, Sir Thomas (Lancaster). September 7, 1642. Fanshaw, Sir Thomas, K.C.B. (Hertford). November 25, 1643. Fenwicke, Sir John* (Northum- berland). January 22, 1644. Fenwicke, John (Morpeth). January 22, 1644. Femefould, SirThos. (Steyning). Ferrers, Richard (Barnstaple). Gamul, Francis (Chester). January 22, 1644. Glanville, Serjeant John (Bristol). September 25, 1645. Godolphin, Francis (Helstone). January 22, 1644. Godolphin, Sidney (Helstone). Goodwin, Ralph (Ludlow), [Se- cretary to Prince Rupert]. February 5, 1644. Gorge8,Sir Theobald (Cirencester). January 22, 1644. Goring, Colonel George (Ports- mouth). August 16, 1642. Grenville, Sir Bevill (Cornwall). September 19, 1642. Griffith, Sir Edward (Downton). February 5, 1644. Harding, Sir Richard (Bedwin). February 5, 1644. Harrison, William (Queen- borough). June 24, 1643. Hartnoll, George (Tiverton). Hatton, Sir Christopher (Higham- Ferrers). September 7, 1642. Hatton, Sir Robert(Castle-Ri8ing) . September 7, 1642. Heblethwaite, Thomas (Malton). November 29, 1644. Herbert, Sir Henry (Bewdley). August 20, 1642. • Sir John Fenwicke returned to the Parliament and was readmitted. Herbert, Richard (Montgomery). September 12, 1642. Herbert, WiUiam (Cardiff). Herbert, William (Monmouth- shire). September 5, 1644. Holbome, [Sir] Robert (St. Michael's). August II, 1642. Holies, Gervase (Gt. Grimsby). August 22, 1642. Hopton, Sir Ralph, K:.C.B.(Well8). August 5, 1642. Howard, Sir Robert, K.C.B. (Bishop's-Castle). September 6, 1642. Howard, Thomas (Wallingford). June 22, 1644. Hungerford, Anthony (Malmes- bury). Hunt, Robert (Ilchester). February 5, 1644. Hyde, Edward (Saltash). August 11, 1642. Hyde, Serj. Robert (Salisbury). August 4, 1642. Ingram, Sir Thomas (Thirsk). September 6, 1642. Jane, Joseph (Liskeard). January 22, 1644. Jermyn, Sir Thomas (St. Ed- mundsbury). February 14, 1644. Jermyn, Thomas (St. Edmunds- bury). Killigrew, [Sir] Henry (Westlow). January 22, 1644. King, Richard (Mel combe-Regis). February 27, 1643. Kirkby, Roger (Lancashire). August 29, 1642. Kirton, Edward (Milborn-Port). August II, 1642. Lee, Sir Richard, Bart. (Salop). September 6, 1642. Leeds, Thomas (Steyning). November 23, 1642. Leveson, Sir Richard, K.C.B. (Newcastle-under-Lyne). November 24, 1642. Lewkenor, Christopher (Chiches- ter). September 2, 1642. Littleton, Thomas (Great Wen- lock). September 5, 1644. Lloyd, Francis (Carmarthen). February 5, 1644. Lloyd, Walter (Cardiganshire). February 5, 1644. Lowe, George (Calne). February 5, 1644. Lower, Thomas (Eastlow). January 22, 1644. Mallory, Sir John (Ripon). January 16, 1643. Mallory, William (Ripon). September 6, 1642. Manaton, Ambrose (Launceston). January 22, 1644. Mansfield, Charles Visct. (East Retford). January 22, 1644. Matthews, Roger (Dartmouth). February 5, 1644. May, Thomas (Midhurst). November 23, 1642. Meux, Sir John (Newton). February 5, 1644. Montagu, Sir Sidney (Hunting- donshire). December 3, 1642. Morgan, William (Breconshire). Morley, Sir William (Chichester). November 22, 1642. Mostyn, John (Flintshire). February 5, 1644. Musgrave, Sir Philip, Bart. (Westmoreland). March 15, 1643. Newport, Francis (Shrewsbury). January 22, 1644. Newport, Sir Richard (Shrop- shire). 502 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Nicholas, Sir Edward (Newton, [Hants]). Noel, Baptist (Eulland). Ogle, Sir William (Winchester). Jane 24, 1643. Packington, Sir John, Bart. (Aylesbury). August 20, 1642. Palmer, Geoffrey (Stamford). September 7, 1642. Palmer, Sir Roger (Newton, [Lan- cashire]). January 22, 1644. Palmes, Sir Guy (Eutland). September 28, 1643. Parry, George, D.C.L.(St. Mawes). January 22, 1644. Paulet, Sir John (Somersetshire). August 8, 1642. Pennyman, Sir William, Bart. (Bichmond). August II, 1642. Peyton, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Sand- wich). February 5, 1644. Philips, Edward (Ilchester). February 5, 1644. Pleydall, William (Wootton- Basset). February 5, 1644. Pole, Sir WiUiam (Honiton). June 24, 1643. Polewhele, John (Tregony). January 22, 1644. Porter, Endymion (Droitwich). March 10, 1643. Portman, Sir William, Bart. (Taunton). February 5, 1644. Potter, Hugh (Plympton). Price, Charles (Radnorshire). Price, Herbert (Brecon). Price, Sir John, Bart. (Montgo- meryshire). Price, William (Merionethshire). February 5, 1644. Bamsden, Sir John (AUerton). April, 1644. Eashleigh, Jonathan (Fowey). January 22, 1644. Bodney, Sir Edward (Wells). August 12, 1642. Boe, Sir Thomas (Oxford Univer- sity). Bogers, Bichard (Dorsetshire). September 12, 1642. Bussell, John (Tavistock). January 22, 1644. St. Hill, Peter (Tiverton). January 22, 1644. Salisbury, John, jun. (Flint). February 5, 1644. Sandys, Samuel (Droitwich). August 20, 1642. SaviUe, Sir WiUiam, Bart. (Old Sarum). September 6, 1642. Scudamore, James (Hereford). Seaboume, Richard (Hereford). Seymour, Edward (Devon- shire). January 16, 1644. Shuckburgh, Bichard (Warwick- shire). Slanning, Sir Nicholas (Penryn). August 9, 1642. Slingsby, Sir Henry, Bart. (Knaresborough) . September 6, 1642. Smith, John (Oxford). Smith, [Sir] Thomas (Chester). January 22, 1644. Smith, Thomas (Bridgewater). August 5, 1642. Smith, Sir Walter (Bedwin). February 5, 1644. Sneyde, Ralph, jun. (Stafford). May 20, 1643. Stanhope, Ferdinando (Tarn- worth). March 27, 1643. Stanhope, William (Nottingham). THE EARL OF ESSEX. 503 Stawell, Sir John, K.C.B. (Somerset). Auij^tS, 1642. Stepney, Sir John, Bart. (Haver- fordwest). Strangwayes, Giles (Bridport). January 22, 1644. Strangwayes, Sir John (Wey- mouth). September 6, 1642. Strickland, Sir Robert (Aid- borough, [Yorkshire]). January 21, 1643. Sutton, Robert(Nottinghamshire). Sydenham, Sir Ralph (Bossiney). September 29, 1642. Taylor, William (Bristol). September 25, 1645. Thomas, William (Carnarvon). February 5, 1644. Thynne, Sir James (Wilts). Tomkins, Thomas (Weobly). January 22, 1644. Trevanion, John (Lostwithiel). Turner, Samuel, M.D. (Shaftes- bury). January 22, 1644. Vane, George (Kellington). Vaughan, Sir Henry (Carmarthen- shire). Vaughan, John (Cardigan). September i, 1645. Venables, Peter (Cheshire). January 22, 1644. Verney, Sir Edmund, knight- marshal (Wycombe). Vyvyan, Sir Richard (Tregony). January 22, 1644. Walker, Robert (Exeter). March 6, 1643. Warwick, [Sir] Philip (Radnor). February 5, 1644. Watkins, William (Monmouth). Wentworth, Sir George [of Wooley] (Pontefract). September 6, 1642. Wentworth, Sir George [of Went worth- Woodhouse] (Pon- tefract). January 22, 1644. Weston, Nicholas (Portsmouth). August 16, 1642. Weston, Richard (Stafford). War ton, Michael (Beverley). January 22, 1644. White, John (Rye). February 5, 1644. Whistler, John (Oxford). Whitmore, Sir Thomas (Bridg- north). February 5, 1644. Widdrington, Sir William, Bart. (Northumberland) . August 26, 1642. The following Members, after talcing a decided 'part against the king, changed sides at a later period of the Civil War : — Basset, William (Bath). Brett, Henry (Gloucester). Carew, Sir Alexander (Cornwall). Cholmeley, Sir Hugh (Scar- borough). Denton, Sir Alexander (Bucking- ham). Fettiplace, John (Berkshire). George, John (Cirencester). Glanville, William (Camelford). Harris, John (Liskeard). Harrison, Sir John (Lancaster). Hotham, Sir John, Bart. (Be- verley). Hotham, John (Scarborough). Littleton, Sir Edward, Bart. (Staffordshire). Napper, Sir Gerard (Melcombe- Regis). Ranelagh, Arthur Jones, Lord. (Weobly). 504 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Smith, "William (Winchelsea). Stonehouse, Sir George, Bart. (Abingdon). Vemey, Sir Ralph (Aylesbury). WaUer, Edmund (St. Ives).* EOUNDHEADS. Abbot, George (Guildford). Alford, John (Shoreham). Allanson, Sir William (York). Allein, Alderman Francis (Cock- ermouth). Alured, John (Heydon). Armyne, Sir "William, Bart. (Grantham). Arundell, Thomas ("Westlow). Ashe, Edward (Heytesbury). Ashe, John ("Westbury). Ashton, Sir Ralph, Bart. (Lan- cashire). Ashton, Ralph (Clitheroe). Ashurst, "William (Newton). Ayscough, Sir Edward (Lincoln- shire). Bampfylde, Sir John, Bart. (Penryn). Barker, John (Coventry). Bamadiston, Sir Kathaniel (Suffolk). Bameham, Sir Erancis (Maid- stone). Barrington, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Colchester). Barwis, Richard (Carlisle). Baynton, Sir Edward (Chippen- ham). Baynton, Edward (Devizes). Bedingfield, Sir Anthony (Dun- wich). Bell, "William ("Westminster). Bence, Alexander (Aldborough). Bence, Squire (Aldborough). Bennet, Thomas (Hindon). Blakiston, John (Newcastle-on- Tyne). Bond, Dennis (Dorchester). Bossevile, Godfrey (Warwick). Boys, Sir Edward (Dover). Brereton, Sir "William, Bart. (Cheshire). Browne, Sir Ambrose, Bart. (Surrey). Browne, John (Dorsetshire). Browne, Richard (Romney). Browne, Samuel (Dartmouth, &c.). Brostholme, John (Lincoln). Buller, Francis (Eastlow). BuUer, George (Saltash). Buller, Sir Richard (Fowey). Burgoyne, Sir Roger, Bart. (Beds.) Button, John (Lymington). Bysshe, Edward, jun. (Bleching- ley). Cage, William (Ipswich). Campbell, James (Grampound). Campion, Henry (Lymington). Cawley, "William (Midhurst). Cecil, Robert (Old Sarum). Cheeke, Sir Thomas (Harwich). Cholmeley, Sir Henry (Allerton). Clotworthy, Sir John, Bart. (Maldon). Coke, Sir John (Derbyshire). Constable, Sir "William, Bart. (Knaresboro*). Cooke, Sir Robert (Tewkesbury). Corbet t, Miles (Yarmouth). Cowcher, John ("Worcester). Cranbome, Charles "Visct. (Hert- ford). Crane, Sir Robert, Bart. (Sud- bury). Cresswell, Serjeant Richard (Evesham). Crewe, John (Brackley). CromweU, Oliver (Cambridge). • Edmund Waller remained at Westminster, as a secret adherent of the king, tin 1643, when he was expelled for a plot, and went abroad. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 505 Curzon, Sir John, Bart. (Derby- shire). Dacres, Sir Thomas (Herts). D'Ewes, Sir Simonds, Bart. (Sud- bury). Downes, John (Arundel). Drake, Francis (Amersham). Drake, Sir "William (Amersham). Dryden, Sir John, Bart. (North- amptonshire). Dunch, Edmund fWallingford). Eden, Thomas, LL.D. (Cambridge University). Ellis, "William (Boston). Erisey, Richard (St. Mawes). Erie, Thomas ("Wareham). Erie, Sir "Walter (Weymouth). Evelyn, Sir John (Blechingley). Evelyn, Sir John, jun. (Ludger- shall). Exton, Edward (Southampton). Fairfax, Ferdinando Lord (York- shire). Fiennes, James (Oxfordshire). Fiennes, Nathaniel (Banbury). Finch, Sir John (Winchelsea). Fitz-"William, Wm. [afterwards "Viscount, January 6, 1644] (Peterboro'). Fountayne, Thomas (Wendover). Fowell, Sir Edmond (Ashburton). Franklyn, Sir John (Middlesex). Frankly n, John (Marlborough). Gallopp, George (Southampton). Gawdy, [Sir] Framlingham (Thetford). Gerrard, Francis (Seaford). Gerrard, Sir GQbert, Bart. (Mid- dlesex). Glynne, John (Westminster). Godolphin, Francis (St. Ives). Goodwin, Arthur (Bucks). Goodwin, John (Haselmere). Goodwin, Robert (EastGrinstead). Gourdon, John (Ipswich). Grantham, Thomas (Lincoln). Greene, Giles (Corfe-Castle). Grey of Groby, Thomas Grey, Lord (Leicester). Grey of Ruthyn, Henry de Grey, Lord (Leicestershire). ' Griffith, John, sen. (Beaumaris).* Grimstone, Sir Harbottle, Bart. (Harwich). Grimstone, Harbottle (Colchester). Hales, Sir Edward, Bart. (Queenboro'). Hallowes, Alderman Nathaniel (Derby). Hampden, John (Buckingham- shire). Harley, Sir Robert, K.C.B. (Herefordshire). Harman, Richard (Norwich). Harris, John (Launceston). Harvey, John (Hythe). Hatcher, Thomas (Stamford). Hay, "William (Rye). Herbert, Henry (Monmouthshire). Herbert, Philip Lord (Glamor- ganshire). Hesilrige, Sir Arthur, Bart. (Leicestershire). Heveningham, "William (Stock- bridge). Heyman, Sir Henry, Bart. (Hythe). Hill, Serjeant Roger (Bridport). Hippesley, Sir John (Cocker- mouth). Hobby, Peregrine (Gt. Marlow). Hodges, Thomas (Cricklade). Holland,Corneliu8(New "Windsor). Holland, Sir John, Bart. (Castle- Rising). Holies, Denzil (Dorchester). ♦ John Griffith, jun. (Carnarvonshire), was expelled August 10, 1642, for attempting to violate the Lady Sedley. 506 THE EARL OF ESSEX. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 607 li Hoyle, Aldennan Thomas (York). Hungerford, Sir Edward, K.C.B. (Chippenham). Hutchinson, Sir Thomas (Notts). Ingram, Sir Arthur (Kellington). Irby, Sir Anthony (Boston). Jenner, Bobert (Cricklade). Jenyns, Sir John (St. Albans). Jephson, William (Stockbridge). Jervoise, Eichard (Whitchurch). Jervoise, Sir Thomas (Whit- church). Jesson, Alderman William (Coventry). Ejiatchbull, Sir Norton, Bart. (Romney). Knightley, Richard (Northamp- ton). Xnowles, Sir Francisi sen. (Reading). Knowles, Sir Francis, jun. (Reading). Kyrle, Walter (Leominster). Lane, Thomas (Wycombe). Lee, Richard (Rochester). Le-Gro88, Sir Charles (Orford). Leigh, Sir John (Yarmouth, Isle of Wight). Lenthall, Right Hon. William (Woodstock), [Speakbb]. Lewis, Sir William, Bart. (Peters- field). Lisle, John (Winchester). Lisle, Philip Vi8count(Yarmouth, Isle of Wight). Long, Walter (Ludgershall). Lowry, John (Cambridge). Lucas, Henry (Cambridge Univer- sity). Ludlowe, Sir Henry (Wiltshire). Luke, Sir Oliver (Bedfordshire). Luke, Sir Samuel (Bedford). Lumley, Sir Martin, Bart. (Essex). Lyster, Sir Martin (Brackley). Lytton, Sir William (Herts). Marlot, William (Shoreham). Marten, Henry (Berkshire). Masham, Sir William, Bart. (Essex). Masters, Sir Edward (Canter- bury). Mauleverer, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Boroughbridge) . Maynard, John (Totness). Meyrick, Sir John (Newcastle- under-Lyne). Middleton, Sir Thomas (Denbigh- shire). Middleton, Tliomas (Horsham). MUdmay, Sir Henry (Maldon). Millington, Gilbert (Nottingham). Monson, William Viscount (Rei- gate). Montagu, Edward (Huntingdon). Montagu, George (Huntingdon). Moor, Richard (Bishop's-Castle). Moor, Thomas (Heytesbury). More, John (Liverpool). More, Sir Poynings, Bart. (Hasel- mere). Morley, Herbert (Lewes). Mountford, Sir Edward (Norfolk). Moyle, John, jun. (St. Germans). Napier, Sir Robert, Bart. (Peterboro'). Nash, John (Worcester). Nicholas, Serj. Robert (Devizes). NichoU, Anthony (Bodmin). Noble, Michael (Lichfield). North. Sir Dudley, Bart. (Cam- bridgeshire). North, Sir Roger (Eye). Northcote, Sir John, Bart. (Ash- burton). Nut, John (Canterbury). Oldesworth, Michael (Salisbury). Onslowe, Arthur (Bramber). Onslowe, Sir Richard (Surrey). Owen, Sir Hugh (Pembroke). Owfeild, Sir Samuel (Gatton). Owner, Edward (Yarmouth [Nor- folk]). Parker, Sir Philip (Suffolk). Parker, Sir Thomas (Seaford). Parkhurst, Sir Robert (Guildford). Parteriche, Sir Edward, Bart. (Sandwich). Peard, George (Barnstaple). Pelham, Henry (Grantham). Pelham, Peregrine (Kingston-on- HuU). Pelham, Sir Thomas, Bart. (Sussex). Pennington, Alderman Isaac (London.) Percival, John (Lynn-Regis). Pickering, Sir Gilbert, Bart. (Northamptonshire). Pierrepont, William (Great Wen- lock). Playters, Sir William, Bart. (Orford). Poole, Edward (Wootton-Basset). Poole, SirNevill (Malmesbury). Popham, Alexander (Bath). Popham, Sir Francis (Mynhead). Potts, Sir John, Bart. (Norfolk). Prideaux, Edmund (Lyme-Regis) . Purfoy, William (Warwick). Pury, Alderman Thomas (Glou- cester). Pye, Sir Robert (Woodstock). Pym, Charles (Beralstone). Pym, John (Tavistock). Pyne, John (Poole). Ravenscroft, Hall (Horsham). Reynolds, Robert (Hindon). Rigby, Alexander (Wigan). Rogers, Hugh (Calne). RoUe, John (Truro). RoUe, Sir Samuel (Devonshire). Rose, Richard (Lyme-Regis). Rouse, Francis (Truro). Rudyard, Sir Benjamin (Wilton). St. John, SirBeauchamp(Bedford). St. John, Oliver (Totness). Salwey, Humphrey (Worcester- shire). Sandys, Thomas (Gatton). Scawen, Robert (Berwick). Searle, George (Taunton). Selden, John (Oxford University). Shelley, Henry (Lewes). Shuttleworth, Richard (Preston). Shuttleworth, Richard, jun. (Clitheroe). Skynner, Augustine (Kent). Smith, Philip (Marlborough). Snowe, Symon (Exeter). Soame, Sir Thomas (London). Spurstowe, William (Shrews- bury). Standish, Thomas (Preston). Stapley, Anthony (Sussex). Stapylton, Sir Philip (Borough- bridge). Stephens, Edward (Tewkesbury). Stephens, Nathaniel (Gloucester- shire). Strickland, Sir William (Heydon). Strode, William (Beralstone). Tate, Zouch (Northampton). Temple, Sir Peter, Bart. (Buck- ingham). TheloaU, Simon, jun. (Denbigh). Thomas, Edward (Okehampton). Toll, Thomas (Lynn-Regis). Trenchard, John (Wareham). Trevor, Sir John (Grampound). Trevor, Thomas (Monmouth). Tufton, Sir Humphrey (Maid- stone). Tulse, Henry (Christchurch). Uvedale, Sir William (Petersfield). Valentyne, Benjamin (St. Ger- mans). Vane, Sir Henry (Wilton). Vane, Sir Henry, jun. (Kingston- on-Hull). Vassal, Samuel (London). Venne, John (London). Waller, Sir William (Andover). Wallop, Sir Henry (Hants). Wallop, Robert (Andover). 508 THE EARL OF ESSEX. WalBingham* Sir Thomas (Rochester). Walton, Valentine (Huntingdon- Hliire). Wastell, John (Malton). Wenman, Thomas Viscount (Ox- fordshire). Wentworth, Sir Peter, K.C.B. (Tamworth). Weston, Benjamin (Dover). Whaddon, John (Plymouth). Wheeler, William (Westbury). Whitaker, Lawrence (Oke- hampton). Whitaker, William (Shaftes- bury). White, John (Southwark). Whitelocke, Bulstrode (Great Marlow). Whithead, Eichard (Hants). Widdrington, Sir Thomas (Ber- wick). Wingate, Edward (St. Albans). Winwood, Richard (New Wind- sor). Wogan, John, sen. (Pembroke- shire). Woodhonse. Sir Thomas, Bart. (Thetford). Worsley, Sir Henry, Bart. (New- port, Isle of Wight). Wray, Sir Christopher (Great Grimsby). Wray, Sir John, Bart. (Lincoln- shire). Wroth, Sir Peter (Bridgwater). Wylde, Serjeant John (Worces- tershire). Wynne, Sir Eichard, Bart. (Liver- pool). Yelverton, Sir Christopher (Bos- siney). Young, Sir John (Plymouth). Young, Walter (Honiton). Proclamations and counter-proclamations, messages and replies were now bandied between the king and Parliament in rapid succession. Each side endeavoured to put as fair a face as possible on its proceedings, and to represent its opponents as wilful aggressors. But, after all, it was felt by the clear-sighted men on both sides that matters had passed beyond the possibility of immediate accommodation, and that the physical force of the two parties must be measured in the field before either could be expected to give way on any important points. Accordingly, while the king collected his adherents at York, and sent out his Commissions of Arrav. the decisive step was taken by the Parliament. On the 12th of July Denzil Holies brought up a message from the Com- mons to the Upper House, with some votes, which he said had passed their House with much joy, and in which they doubted not of the Lords' concurrence with the same cheer- fulness. The votes were these : ' Resolved— i. That an army be forthwith raised for the safety of the king's person, the defence of both Houses of Parliament, and of those who have THE EARL OF ESSEX. 509 obeyed their orders and commands, and for the preservation of the true religion, the laws, liberties, and peace of the kingdom. 2. That the Earl of Essex be named general thereof. 3. That a petition shall be forthwith prepared, to move the king to a good accord with the Parliament, and to prevent a civil war. 4. That this House doth declare, that in this case, for the safety of the king's person, and the defence of both Houses of Parliament, and of those who have obeyed their orders and commands, &c., they will live and die with the Earl of Essex, whom they have nominated general in this cause.' Along with these votes was a petition to the king for peace. Thus, while with one hand they drew the sword from the scabbard, with the other they held out the olive-branch. Was this course a justifiable one? Was civil war pre- ferable to such a state of things as must have ensued had a king like Charles been allowed to thwart all measures of reform, and to plot without let or hindrance against the liber- ties and Constitution of England? What but the sword could secm^e the nation against a prince who held as nothing, when his prerogative was concerned, either private pro- mises or acts of Parliament? If the mere question of safety is to be taken into consideration, what is there which can justify an answer in the negative ? The men who voted in favour of these resolutions were not insensible to the miseries or hazards of war. But they felt that there is something worse than these : the wounds of intestine con- flict may be healed by time ; if success crown their eflbrts, the glorious memory of what they have achieved will console the sui'^ivors for the loss of friends and property ; if defeat is their lot, they wiU have left to posterity a lasting memorial of having at least performed their duty. But the life of a nation does not perish by one comoilsive effort of tyranny ; this is the work of long years of degradation and oppression ; it is not on the battle-field, but during the long cessation of the active operation of the national mind, which some call 'peace' and 'order,' that a nation passes from liberty to bondage. Mr. Hallam, in his Constittdional History of England, has taken a view of the question of peace or war which appears to me to be scarcely marked by his usual soundness 510 THE EARL OP ESSEX. of judgment. He requires the concession of two postulates : one, that civil war is such a calamity as nothing but the most indispensable necessity can authorize any party to bring on ; the other, that the mixed government of England by King, Lords, and Commons is to be maintained in preference to any other form of polity. The former of these is, I agree, indisputable, and may at once be admitted; the latter is put in an objectionable manner, and thus gives a colour to the pseudo-constitutionalism to which Mr. Hallam has here lent his support. Undoubtedly, the preservation of those political principles which are embodied in the form of government by King, Lords, and Commons, with the relations to one another now generally accepted, may be considered as an object to be kept in view in the consideration of what should have been the conduct of the Parliament. That the regular government should have its powers distributed between a single person, a body of men with a hereditary position recognised by the state, and a body of men chosen by, and the representatives of, the general sentiments and particular confidence of the nation, — each with defined powers and well-balanced tendencies — may be conceded to be a most desirable object. The Lords are the representatives of the history of the Constitution up to the present time ; of the reforming spirit which produced and modified it, and of the years which matured and justified it. The Commons are the representatives of the Constitution in relation to the present age ; they appeal to the present, and bring its requirements to the modification of the past. The King represents, through Ms ancestral recollections, the past history : in himself, the present hopes; in his children, the future destinies of the kingdom. He is, therefore, the proper guardian and execu- tive of measures guided by the experience of the past, moulded by the wisdom of the present, and having a reference to the interests of the future. But to say that Englishmen should be bound down not to enter on any contest in which it might happen that one portion of this model government might for the time be overthrown or overbalanced by the ascendency of the others, in the more comprehensive attempt THE EARL OF ESSEX. 511 to preserve the spirit at least of all three, is to fall into the error of those persons who choose to identify Charles Stuart and his race with all monarchy, and the temporary and necessary ascendency of the Lower House with the subversion for ever of the spirit of the ancient government. If it were probable that, without a civil war, the king would destroy the power of the other two branches of the legislature, the latter postulate will be turned against Mr. Hallam ; for it is surely as desirable a thing to maintain the power of the other two as that of the king. Supposing the chances to be even, of the king obtaining despotic power in case of the success of his arms, or of the House of Commons gaining all the power, in case of their success, may not the question between them be decided by the consideration that the king avowedly sought what we must consider despotic power as a permanence? The House of Commons had ever put forward its desire for a mixed government, and therefore was not only bound by a moral obligation to maintain this as far as possible, but would probably desire to return to that form in its entirety at the first opportunity. The encroachments of the Commons were all simply the recoil of separate attempts to encroach upon or crush them ; they cannot, therefore, be taken as an evidence of their deliberate desire, when such provocations had been removed. Besides, the Commons were pledged to the establish- ment of a state of freedom ; and by neglecting to do so at the earliest possible opportunity, they would deprive themselves of their only ground of support from the nation, and would ensure their own destruction. The king, on the other hand, would be supported by a considerable party in any despotism; and this would be acquiesced in by those well-meaning but timid and short-sighted persons who form a numerous body at all periods. Mr. Hallam's argument as to the chances of defeat in the struggle by force seems to me not to the purpose. The only ground as to success which is tenable, is, I imagine, that a resort to arms is not justifiable, unless there be a fair, or somewhat equal, chance of success ; of course it being premised that there are no other means of preserving the liberties of the country. But that, unless / 512 THE EARL OF ESSEX. they were quite certain of success, the great pai'liamentary leaders should have refrained from a resort to arms, is what I cannot for a moment admit. Mr. Hallam obser\ es, that 'no one who has given anytime to the study of the history of that time will deny, that among those who fought in opposite battalions at Edgehill and New- bury, or voted in the opposite Parliaments of Westminster and Oxford, there were many who thought much alike on general theories of prerogative and privilege/ Whether these men were at all equal in discernment as to the best means of preser\dng the liberties of the country — whether they were equally watchful and earnest in their attention to this great point, are questions which, when answered, will, I think, quite remove the preceding objection. He adds, ' I am not yet cominced that the great body of the Royalists, the peers and gentry of England, were combating for the sake of tyranny.^ It is very probable that the great majority of them were not ; but the question is, whether they were not in reality doing the work of ' tyranny' through their short- sightedness and carelessness as to the future. Their conduct is easily explained ; and that the king merely used them to throw a decent veil over his proceedings, is clear from his conduct towards them, and his language respecting them, when he was at Oxford. Had Charles been successful, Mr, Hallam allows there was little chance of his 'constitu- tional men* moderating the victory. Their only chance was in a treaty, and a real treaty turned out to be impossible. Mr. Hallam himseK says that, if Charles had wished it, 'no appointment that he could have made from the patriotic bands of Parliament would have furnished a security against the intrigues of his bedchamber and the influence of the queen.* Are we then to be reduced to the fantastic loyalty of a Sir Edmund Verney for our decision on this important subject, and are we to accredit the king's selfish feud, because we cannot solve to our entire satisfaction some imaginary punctilio of honour ? Oliver Cromwell was one of the first in the field. On Friday, the 15th of Julv, we read in the Journals of the House of Commons: 'Whereas Mr. CromweU hath sent THE EARL OF ESSEX. 513 down arms into the county of Cambridge, for the defence of the county, it is this day ordered, that Sir Dudley North shall forthwith pay to Mr. Cromwell one hundred poimds, which he hath received from Mr. Crane, late high sheriff of the county of Cambridge; which said 100^. the said Mr. Crane had remaining in his hands for coat and conduct money.' On the same day, we read in D'Ewes, that ' Mr. Cromwell moved that we might make an order to allow the townsmen of Cambridge to raise two companies of volunteers of JOG men apiece, and to appoint captains over them, which was just upon ordering ; but I [D'Ewes] stood up, and moved* —tvhat does not appear, as there is a break in the MS. ; but the following entry appears in the Journals : ' Ordered, that Mr. Cromwell do move the lord lieutenant for the county of Cambridge to grant his deputation to some of the inhabi- tants of the town to train and exercise the inhabitants of that town.' Other gentlemen were active at the same time in the work of mustering forces, whose names appear con- spicuously in subsequent history. On Thursday, the 30th of June, we read in the Journals, ' Ordered, that Henry Ireton be nominated to be captain of the horse troop, and George White, captain of the foot company, of the forces of the town of Nottingham ; and on Monday, the ist of July, on a petition from the Mayor of Nottingham, Henry Ireton, and others, it is ordered, that Henry Ireton, of Addenborough, in the county of Nottingham, gentleman, shall have leave to send do\vn, or carry down to Nottingham, thirty head-pieces, thirty great saddles, twenty carabines, and twenty cases of pistols.' On the 19th of July we find Oliver Cromwell still in the House carrying up ' orders' to the Lords ; and on the following day we read in the Joimials, ' Resolved, upon the question, that directions be sent to the lords justices of Ireland, to require them to send a regiment of 1000 foot of the Leinster forces to the Lord Esmond, for the defence of Duncannon Fort ; and that Mr. Cromwell and Mr. Strode do prepare a letter to this purpose.' On the 21st the letter is read, and, upon the question, assented to, and ordered to be taken to the Lords by Mr. Cromwell. There is now a break in the par- liamentary notices of Cromwell ; which is accounted for by LL 514 THE EARL OF ESSEX. the next entries. ' August I2tli. Upon Mr. Walton's infor- mation [Valentine Walton, Oliver's brother-in-law, and member for Huntingdonshire] of the carriage of divers ill-affected persons in the county of Huntingdon, and of their endeavour to hinder any help to attend the execution of the order of the House in stopping the going of the plate from the University of Cambridge, to be employed against the Parliament, it was resolved, upon the question, that Sir Robert Osborne, Thomas Phillips, and Thomas Kingsteed shall be forthwith sent for as delinquents.' On August 15th Sir Philip Stapylton gives an account from the committee for the defence of the kingdom, ' that Mr. Cromwell, in Cambridgeshire, has seized the magazine in the castle at Cambridge, and hath hindered the carrying of the plate from the university ; which, as some report, was to the value of 30,oooL, or thereabouts.' And on the i8th we read, that a committee, consisting of Mr. Sergeant Wylde, Mr. Strode, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Robert Goodwyu, and Sir Henry Vane, junior, or any two of them, were appointed to prepare an order for the indemnity of Mr. Cromwell and Mr. Walton, and those that have or shall assist them in the stopping of the plate that was going from Cambridge to York ; and it was resolved, upon the question, ' That Sir Capell Bedall shall be forthwith sent for as a delinquent, for aiding and assisting to convey the Cambridge plate to York, contraiy to the order of this House ; and that Lewis Phillips, the under-sheriff of the county of Huntingdon, shall be forthwith sent for as a delinquent, for making proclamation, publishing, and endea- vouring to put in execution a warrant from his Majesty, declaring some members of this House to be felons ; and for assisting and aiding to convey the Cambridge plate to York.' Sir Capell succeeded Sir Oliver Cromwell as member for Huntingdonshire in the Parliament of 1628. It would appear that this plate was simply prevented from being removed from Cambridge ; but other plate was seized, and appropriated to the use of the Parliament. Sir Edward Moundeford writes, during this August, to a friend : 'The colleges have already sent to the king 6000/., and are now about to send their plate to make shiines for THE EARL OF ESSEX. 515 Diane's temple. Magdalene College plate, beginning the march, was seized on by Parliament authority, and is depo- sited in the mayor's custody. St. John's College conceived a better secresy by water, and that way conveyed their plate ; but ha\dng intelligence of discovery, they landed it in the night into a dung cart, and returned it to the college : it is said now they expect a convoy of horse. King's College refuse to send plate, the Master affirming that it is directly against their oath, binding them, in express words, not to alienate the plate of the college. If he be not deceived in his judgment, it will be a problem for the rest of the Masters.'"^ In accordance with the above, we read in the Journals of August 22nd, 'Ordered, that the plate belonging to Magdalene College in Cambridge, stayed as it was going to York to promote the war against the Parliament, shall be forthwith brought to London, and be laid up in the chamber of London, till this House take further order. On the after- noon of this day Mr. Covell and another, being called in, informed, that Mr. Walton, a member of this House, for preserving the peace of the county of Huntingdon, sent out his warrants to summon in some of the trained bands. Mr. Heyton, of that county, caused the chain to be chained up, and would not let them to go, to the great disservice of Par- liament; and said, he would not obey the Parliament, for he had received a warrant from the king. Whereupon it was resolved, that Heyton, the high-constable, be forthwith sent for as a delinquent. It was also declared that the House doth well approve of the diligence and discreet carriage of Mr. John Desborough (and others) in making stay of a messenger carrying letters and proclamations from York to certain persons. Commissioners of Array in Norfolk, and bringing the letters up by Mr. Desborough and another to this House.' Desborough, it will be remembered, had mar- ried another sister of Oliver's. It is evident enough, from the above extracts, that all the operations of the royal party in the east of England were stopped by the vigilance and boldness of Oliver and his relations. This secured compara-. * Tanner MSS, 63, p. 116. LL2 516 THE EARL OF ESSEX. tive peace and happiness to these eastern counties nearly throughout the war ; and May, in noticing this fact, observes, * that true it is that there was as much unanimity of opmion and affection in these counties, among the people in general, as was to be found in any part of England ; but it was espe- cially among the common people, for a great and consider- able number of the gentry, and those of highest rank among them, were disaffected to the Parliament, and were not sparing in their utmost endeavours to promote the king^s cause and assist his force against it, which might have thrown those counties (if not whoUy carried them to the other side) into as much distraction and sad calamity as any other part of the land had felt, if these gentlemen had not been curbed and suppressed by that timely care which the Parhament took, and more particularly by the successful services of one gentleman. Master Oliver Cromwell of Huntingdon, whose wisdom, valour, and vigilancy was no less available, in this important business, than remarkable afterwards in the highest services and greatest battles of the whole war/ By the 23rd of August Oliver had seemingly retuiiied to London ; for on that day it is ordered, that Mr. Cromwell give thanks from this House to Sir John Cutts, Sir Thomas Martyn, and other gentlemen of the county of Cambridge for their ready assistance of him in the service wherein he was employed in that county, by the commands of the Committee of the Lords and Commons for the Defence of the Kingdom. While Oliver Cromwell was engaged in these services the struggle spread itself over the whole face of England, and its results were a division of strength in somewhat the folloAving manner : For the king, the western counties generally, Der- byshire, Shropshire, and West Sussex, with the whole of Wales ; for the Parliament, the eastern counties, Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, East Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Wiltshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire. The rest were very evenly di\'ided between the two parties. Of the classes in society, a majority of the larger gentry, a considerable minority of the smaller gentry, the lower orders in the western counties, and in many parts of other counties, besides the higher beneficed clergy and THE EARL OF ESSEX. 517 the universities, stood for the king. For the Parliament ap- peared nearly the whole of the middle class in the cities and boroughs, a considerable minority among the higher gentry, a majority of the smaller gentry, and the great mass of the free-socage men, the yeomanry of England ; besides the less beneficed and Puritan clergy, and a majority of the lower orders in the cities and boroughs. The tenantry naturally enough followed to a great extent their landlords ; but this was more the case on the Parliament's side than on the other. An army had been raised, according to the resolutions of the Houses, under the command of the Earl of Essex. The Earl of Bedford was general of the horse. It would seem that Essex nominated the officers. Sir John Meyrick was serjeant-major-general (of the foot), and the Earl of Peterborough, general of the ordnance. Sir William Balfour was lieutenant-general (of the horse), and John Dalbier quarter-master-general. The lieutenant of artillery was Philibert Emanuel du Bois ; the treasurer-at-war was Sir Gilbert Gerrard ; the muster-master-general Lionel Copley ; and the advocate of the army. Dr. Isaac Dorislaus. These were the general officers of the army. There were twenty regiments of foot under as many colonels, including general officers, and seventy-five troops of horse under as many cap- tains. These last were formed into regiments containing as many troops as occasion required. The complement of the regiment of foot was probably 1000 men. Each troop of horse was to consist of sixty men ; but the numbers were never full, so that we should form a mistaken notion of the numbers of the whole army from any computation on such a basis. There were five troops of di^agoons, each of 100, besides officers, and a troop of 100 cuirassiers as a body- guard for the Earl of Essex. The two chaplains were Dr. Burgess and Mr. Stephen Marshall. Hampden was colonel of the 20th regiment of foot (with Richard Ingoldesby as his captain); Denzil Holies of the 13th; Lord Mandeville of the loth ; Lord Brooke of the 9th (with John Lilburne for his captain) ; and Lord Wharton of the 6th. Among the cap- tains of horse were (besides those who had also foot regi- ments), of the 67th troop, Oliver Cromwell (with John Des- 518 THE EARL OF ESSEX. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 519 boroBgli as his quarter-master) ; Valentine Walton, of the 73rd (witli his eldest son Valentine as his comet) ; of the 60th, John Fiennes (third son of Lord Saye, with Oliver's cousin, Edward Whalley, as his comet) ; of the 59th, Walter Long, the member of Parliament; of the 58th, Henry Ireton; of the 43rd, Sir Arthur Hesilrige ; of the 36th, Nathaniel Fiennes ; of the 37th, Edward Berry ; of the 30th, John Hotham ; of the 29th, Alexander Pym (Pym's reformed son) ; of the 15th, Sir William Waller ; of the 8th, Lord St. John (witk Oliver Cromwell, eldest surviving son of the member for Cambridge y as his cornet) ; and of the 6th, Lord Brooke (with Robert Lilbume as his cornet, and John Okey as his quarter- master). These are the ofl&cers whose names more especially concern us. On the other hand, the king, who had moved from York through the midland counties to Shrewsbury, erecting his standard at Nottingham on the 22nd of August, and making solemn protestations and addresses to the different public bodies of the places through which he passed, had by this means collected a considerable body of troops, which were under the command of Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, the cavalry being commanded by Prince Rupert, second son of Charles' sister the Electress Palatine. Rupert's character is sufficiently portrayed by the fact, that he first introduced to our language the word ' plunder,' which (happily for earlier times) is of foreign extraction. I find an entry in a newspaper (the Ferfect Diurnal) of as early a day as September 13th, 1642, that ^ a letter was shewed to the Commons, setting forth the late carriages of Prince Robert [Robber, he was soon called], with his troops, and his cruel outrages in all places where he comes, accusing him to be a loose and wild gentleman.' Rupert was, however, generous in his disposition, and not insensible to better feelings. As a soldier he was something more than a mere dashing cavalry officer, as he has been often called. His marches show considerable military skill, but his impetuous spirit constantly undid the success which his tactics had achieved. His private character is very accu- rately described in the newspaper extract. On the loth of September the Earl of Essex left London in great state; and on the 13th following, 'the committee appointed to settle the affairs of the kingdom, ordered that Captain Cromwell, Captain Austin, and Captain Draper should forthwith muster their troops of horse, and make themselves ready to go to his Excellence the Earl of Essex.' That Oliver readily obeyed the call little doubt can be enter- tained. Several engagements of more or less importance now occurred, as the different divisions of the two armies were gradually concentrating. Hampden appears conspicuous in all these early movements.* At Southam, in conjunction with Lord Brooke, he defeats the Earl of Northampton ; at Aylesbury, with Denzil Holies, he routs another body of the Royalists, and drives them into Oxford. A severe engage- ment had taken place at Worcester, the fortune of which rested, on the whole, with the Royalists, Colonel Edwin Sandys being mortally wounded ; but Rupert abandoned the city on the approach of Essex's main body. On Wednesday, the 19th of October, the earl received intelligence that the king's army had removed from Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, and was bending southwards. He immediately resolved to set out from Worcester in pursuit the same day, not even waiting for a large part of his artillery, which was by no means in a fit state for immediate service, owing to the negligence of M. du Bois. To guard this, he was therefore obliged to leave three regiments of foot (Colonel Hampden's being one), nine or ten troops of horse, and six companies of di^agoons. With the rest of his forces, at nine or ten o'clock on Saturday night, he reached Keynton [Kineton], a little market town, aliaost midway between Stratford-on-Avon and Banbury, and six miles from Warwick. Here the earl intended to rest his army during the Sunday, and await the arrival of his train with its convoy of horse and foot. In the morning, * Sir Robert Crane, writing August 9, 1642, says, * the Earl of Berkshire was surprised and taken in Oxfordsliire at Sir Robert Dormer's by Mr. Hampden, who had three troops of horse to attend him j and with the earl, three knights were committed to the Tower .... Mr. Hampden, without much ceremony, entered the house, apprehended the earl, who affirmed he was innocent, and had done nothing ; to whom Mr. Hampden replied, * he was therefore sent to prevent him.* At his entrance into London the troopers began to glory, and cry, « we have him! we have him, in a blue %ivm^V'— Tanner MSS. (Bodleian), 63, p. 125. 520 THE EARL OF ESSEX. "however, being the 23rd of October, the day dedicated to St. Ignatius Loyola, and the anniversary of the day fixed for the outbreak of the Irish rebellion, as the officers were about to attend divine service in the church, news arrived that the king was only two miles from them. On the preceding Saturday, Charles, whose army lay about Cropredy and Edgecot, some six or seven miles from Keynton, had given orders to summon the garrison in Banbury, which consisted of the foot regiment of the Earl of Peterborough, and in case of refusal to besiege the town ; but in the evening word was brought that the Earl of Essex had an intention to relieve the place. No change, however, was adopted in consequence, until at three o'clock on Sunday morning certain intelligence arrived of the earl having entered the town of Keynton, three miles from Edge- hill.* To this latter place, then, the king immediately ordered his army, horse and foot, to march with all expedi- tion, it being four miles distant from his nearest quarter. Thither his horse came between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, and the van of the foot within an hour after ; but the rear, with the artillery, two hours later still. As soon as the royal army came to the top of Edgehill— ' a high hill which overlooks Keynton '—they saw the earPs army drawing them- selves out and setting themselves in battalion. T^Tiereupon the king's horse went down the hill and formed in ' a spacious and fair meadow under it, called the Vale of the Red Horse.' By two in the afternoon the royal artillery had arrived, and the foot were ranged there also, ' a great broad company.' While these last were coming down the hill, Essex had drawn bis army out of the town of Keynton, about a mile and a half towards Edgehill. It was the opinion of some of the officers that the earl should have charged the Royalists during their • I have given the battle of Edgehill at some length and with some minute- ness, not only beciiuse it was the first great trial of strength between the Cavaliers and Roundheads in the open field, but because the accounts of it in vXL the contemporary histories are most confused and irreconcileable. My ver- sion is the result of a most careful examination and comparison of the various reports of those who were actually present in the battle, giving each man credit for superior accuracy as to the part of the field where he himself was situated. I am quite satisfied that in all its important features the account given in the text may be relied on as correct. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 521 descent, and that he might thereby have gained a great ad- vantage J but this was not done. In numbers the two armies were reckoned by their leaders at 14,000 on the Royalist and 10,000 on the Parliament side. The superiority in artillery, and the possession of the hill as a place of retreat, gave an additional advantage to the king's army. However, Clarendon allows that Essex, ^ with great dexterity, performed whatsoever could be expected from a wise general.' Between the hill and the town there was ' a fair campaign, save that near the town it was narrower,' and on one side there were some hedges and enclosures in which he placed musketeers. His army consisted of eleven regiments of foot, forty-two troops of horse, and about 700 dragoons. The main body of his horse were placed on the left wing on a rising ground, protected by companies of musketeers, and were twenty-four troops in number, under Commissary-general Sir James Ramsay, a Scotch commander. The rest of the horse were drawn up on the right wing in three regiments — the Lord-general's regiment, under Sir Philip Stapylton, and Sir William Balfour's regiment in front, and the Lord Feilding's in the rear as a reserve. Essex's regiment con- tained seven troops, among which were those of Lord Brooke and Captain Oliver Cromwell. Sir William Balfour's con- tained six troops, viz., besides his own, those of Serjeant- major Hurrey, the Lord Grey of Groby, Captain Nathaniel Fiennes, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, and Captain Walter Long. The Lord Feilding's comprised five troops. The horse were all under the nominal command of the Earl of Bed- ford. The foot, which occupied the centre, were drawn up in three brigades. On the right, in the van, was a bri- gade commanded by Sir John Meldrum, and composed of the regiments of the Lord Robartes and Sir William Con- stable; on the left was a brigade composed of the four regiments of the Lords Wharton and Mandeville, Sir Wil- liam Fairfax, and Sir Henry Cholmeley, and of, in the rear of these, the regiment of Colonel Charles Essex. In the rear, again, of these two brigades was a third, under the command of Colonel Ballard, and composed of his own and Colonel Holies' regiments on the left, and the foot regiments of the 522 THE EABL OF ESSEX. Lord-general and Lord Brooke (who himself was with the horse) on the right. The exact position of the dragoons I cannot discover ; probably it was on the left wing. The horse were slightly in advance of the foot on either wing. The Royalists were drawn up with almost all their horse on their right, opposed to Sir James Ramsay; here Rupert com- manded. On the left there were only ten troops of horse under Commissary-general Wilmot, and a few dragoons under Sir Arthur Aston— that wing being chiefly composed of a part of the royal foot, comprising the regiment of the Earl of Lindsey and the king's regiment of guards, called the Red Regiment, under the earl's son, the Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, in which was the king's standard carried by Sir Edmund Verney, knight-marshal. The Royalist centre was also composed of foot, drawn up in nine great bodies, making three brigades, under Sir Nicholas Byron, Colonel Hany Wentworth, and Colonel Richard Feilding. Sir Jacob Astley was major-general, and commanded the foot in chief. The Earl of Lindsey himself alighted at the head of his regiment. Sir John Byron, with his own regiment, acted as a reser\'e. The king's troop of mounted guards, commanded by the Lord Bernard Stuart, had obtained leave to be absent from the king's person that day, and to charge among the horse ; and Prince Rupeii; accordingly assigned them the first place on Ms wing. The wind was greatly to the advantage of the Royalists, and they endeavouring to increase this, the Earl of Essex was obliged, to prevent them, to draw out his left wing to a considerable extent, and so, before the battle was over, gained it wholly from them. It was three o'clock in the afternoon before the engage- ment began. At that time, after some playing with the cannon on both sides, as usual with little effect, the Royalists advanced to the charge all along their line with great gallantry. The four regiments which composed the left van of the Parliament foot, being young troops, scarcely waited to be charged, but turned and fled without striking a blow, and in the greatest confusion. The Lord Wharton, Sir William Constable, and the other commanders vainly en- deavoured to detain the fugitives, who hurried backward THE EARL OF ESSEX. 523 upon Colonel Essex's brigade, which participating in their panic, left their commander, with a few officers, to find his way as he best could to the right van, where he charged bravely, and fell mortally wounded in a gallant attempt to retrieve the honour of his regiment. Lord Wharton and his fellow commanders did all that remained in their power, by standing their own ground, and, with what men they could gather, joining the foot which were still unbroken. Sir James Ramsay's horse, on the left wing, behaved in no better manner than their neighbours ; but they had some excuse for their conduct. At the moment that Rupert dashed upon them with his fierce cavaby, two troops of their own men, one of which (by a singular misnomer) was commanded by Sir Faithful Fortescue, by previous concert with the prince, advanced out of the line, and discharging their pistols in the air, and riding off, joined the advancing Royalists, and charged in their ranks. It was some retribution on them, however, that, forgetting to take off their orange scarfs, they suffered severely from their new allies in the confusion of the battle. Bewildered at the desertion of their comrades, and doubtful of each other's good faith, Ramsay's remaining troops made no resistance, but, on the first charge of Rupert's, fired off their carbines at some distance, and wheeling about, aban- doned their musketeers, and came galloping down from the high groimd on which they had been placed, with the enemy's horse at their heels, pellmell right upon Denzil Holies' regiment. With the exception of three troops, whom Holies, placing himself in their way, persuaded to wheel a little about and rally, they broke through his foot, and galloped rapidly to Keynton, followed hotly by the Royalist horse, and carrying away their commander in the midst of them, for two miles, before he could extricate himself. After reaching Keynton, they w ere no longer pursued ; for the love oi plunder ^ excited by the waggons, carriages, and valuable baggage of the Par- liament leaders, broke forth in the Royalist horse, and diverted their thoughts from every other object. The victorious foot on the left imitated their example, and the fate of the day was left to be decided by the regiments, on both sides, which still remained in the field. 524) THE EABL OF ESSEX. Here a very different result had been attained ; but not with similar facility. On the Parliament's left wing the courage and gallantry had been all with the king's side ; on the right the courage was equally divided, and victory the result of a severe and doubtful contest. The musketeers on both sides were driven back, and the opposing forces then came to a closer conflict ; the Parliament's right wing being assisted by the right rear of their foot, and the whole weight of the king's masses of foot being brought to bear on this one point. Sir Philip Stapylton, with the Earl of Essex's regiment (in whose ranks it will be recollected was Oliver Cromwell with his troop of horse), despite a desperate resistance, broke through the line of pikes, and routing the Earl of Lindsey's regiment (the earl himself being mortally wounded and made prisoner), next charged the principal regiment of the Royalists, the Red Regiment. Sir William Balfour, meanwhile, was equally successful. Breaking a regiment of foot with green colours, his horsemen beat them to their cannon, where they threw down their arms and ran away. While his men put to the sword the cannoneers, who crouched for safety under their guns. Sir William laid his hand upon the cannon and called for nails to nail them up ; but not finding any, he cut the ropes belonging to them, and then pursued the fugitives half a mile with great execution ; after which he returned to the assistance of Sir Philip Stapylton. He now met with a slight mischance ; for as his troops rode past the king's guards, among whom was the standard, they mistook each other for friends, and even shook hands, so that Sir Philip's regiment, concei\dng them to be enemies, received them on their approach with a discharge of shot. But on recognising each other, they joined companies, and Sir William, with half of Sir Philip's regiment, led by the Earl of Essex himself, charging upon the Red Regiment, broke it wholly, and slew or took nearly every man of it. The Lord Willoughby was taken prisoner while hastening to the assistance of his father ; Sir Edmund Verney, the standard- bearer, was cut down by Lionel Copley, who did other good service that day. The standard itself was taken, but after- wards recovered to the king's party by stratagem. Holies^ THE EABL OF ESSEX. 525 I and Ballard's regiments, which their commanders had with difficulty rallied, now came on, and charged side by side with the Parliament's victorious right wing. Everywhere the Royalists gave way, and were cut down. Sir Arthur Hesil- rige's cuirassiers, called ^ lobsters,' and the Lord Grey's troop of horse, did great execution, wholly destroying the king's blue regiment of foot. At last, of the Royalist foot, only two regiments remained on the field ; and the king himself, the Prince of Wales, and Duke of York were in imminent danger of being made prisoners. What had become of the troops of horse and dragoons on the king's left wing we have no account. Either they had been swept off the field with the broken foot, or they had managed to cut their way through their opponents, and joined their victorious horse near Keynton. But, if so, their stay there was short ; for while they were plundering the Earl of Essex's coach, and mas- sacring the helpless women and boys, the regiments of Hampden and Grantham, proceeding by forced marches, had reached the field of action along with their artillery, and approaching Keynton, sheltered the fugitives, and encoun- tering the Royalists, received them with so sharp a discharge of shot, that Rupert thought it prudent to withdraw his troops, and rode back to the field of battle. Here he found all con- fusion ; and some of his own troops, being suddenly charged by Sir Philip Stapylton with Essex's cuirassiers (composed entirely of gentlemen), were put to flight in their turn. Other troops of Stapylton's regiment, Captain Cromwell's especially, having done their duty bravely against their more immediate opponents, employed themselves in drawing together the fugitives of the left wing on to a little eminence, and cutting off the Royalist stragglers. By this time night had fallen ; and as both armies were wearied with the contest, and doubt- ful of the exact result — the Royalists being scattered over the field in isolated bodies, and the Parliamentarians having ex- hausted all their ammunition — by tacit consent the fight ceased, and the Royalists retired in tolerable order to the top of Edgehill ; while the Earl of Essex kept the field of battle all night, and there welcomed Colonel Hampden, and awaited the arrival of the other regiments. Thus ended what 526 THE EARL OF ESSEX. a chaplain present bitterly calls 'a goodly Sabbath-day's work/* It is impossible to gain any accurate notion of the number slain. Each side diminished their own dead to about 300 ; and exaggerated the loss of their enemies to four times that number, and even to as much as 3000. Both parties had an opportunity of estimating their own loss, for the field was afterwards \isited by the Royalists while the naked bodies of those who had fallen on their side still remained un- buried on the plain, and some even of those left for dead, whose wounds had been closed by the cold, were recovered to life. Probably, more of the Royalists fell, from a dis- tinction honourable to them, that so many of their adver- saries found safety in flight. It is certain that a large number fell on both sides, in proportion to the armies en- gaged ; and we can well sympathize with the feelings which dictated the earnest prayer with which our chaplain con- cludes his account : ' 1 pray God to send peace amongst us, and that I may never see the like again.' Of the Royalist oflficers, the principal ones slain were the Earl of Lindsey, the Lord Aubigny (brother of the Duke of Richmond and Lennox), and Sir Edmund Verney. On the Parliament side fell the Lord St. John (eldest son of the Earl of Bolingbroke) and Colonel Charles Essex. Among the prisoners left in the hands of the Royalists was Oliver's brother-in-law. Captain Valentine Walton, who was carried to Oxford, and remained a prisoner there for some time, as the following passage in D'Ewes' Journal will show: 'July 8, Saturday, 1643. ^ came into the House between nine and ten of the clock in * My authorities for the preceding account of the battle are as follows : — Letter to the Speaker from Denzil Holies, Charles Pym, &c., in Rushworth ; Lord Wharton's Speech in the Guildhall (Cobbett's Pari. Hist. vol. ii. p. 1495, &c.); Nath. Fiennes* True and exact Relation to his Father {King*s Pamphlets, small 4to. Mus. Brit. 82, § 38) ; Official Relation of the Bnttaile lately fought leftreen Keynton and Edgehill, by his Majesty* s Army and that of the Rehells (ib. § 24); A more true and an exacter Relation^ hy T. C, one of the Chaplains in the Army (ib. 84, § 20) ; A full and true Relation, by Capt. Edward Keightley (ib. 82, § 13); the newsi>flpers generally, and Clarendon's Rebellion. Nath. Fieunes adds to his account, • These persons underwritten were all of the right wing, and never stirred from their troops, but they and their troops fought till the last mlnnte.' Among these we find Captain Cromwell. THE EAEL OF ESSEX. 527 the forenoon. The clerk was then reading a letter which had been sent from Captain WautoUj a member of the House (being one of the knights of the shire for the county of Huntingdon), being a prisoner at Oxford (for he was taken by the king's forces at the battle of Edgehill in October last past). It was dated July 5, 1643, but the name of the place was not expressed. The main thing in the letter was this, to let him know that, if the House of Commons will be now pleased to further his enlargement, there was now a fair opportunity offered, Sir Thomas Lunsford (commonly called Colonel Lunsford) he having attained so much of the Earl of Forth, his Majesty's general, that he, the said Cap- tain Wanton, might be set at liberty in exchange for him ; which, if the House should refuse, he must look to lay his bones in Oxford ; with some other particulars of less moment. The letter being read, divers spake to it ; and though no men were absolutely against the delivery of Captain Wanton, upon this exchange, yet some spake for the delivery also of Mr. John George and Mr. Franklin, two other members of the House, and one Colonel Stephens, of Gloucestershire, upon exchange also; so as the motion touching Captain Wanton was like to have died; some also thinking it too great a disproportion to exchange a colonel for a captain. Which made me stand up, and speak in effect following: ' That I was not against the taking of all possible care to deliver the other gentlemen ; but that now we were chiefly to con- sider Captain Wanton's case, wherein we were not so much to consider what titles men bore, as their infrifisic worth and value ; and, besides, you see that he doth plainly express in his letter that, if we shall refuse this offer, he doth look to lay his bones there, so as we would be very loath to bring the guilt of his blood upon ourselves, when it lies in our power now to save it ; and therefore I desire that the question may be put in the first place single for his exchange ;' which was done accordingly awhile after by the Speaker, and it was voted, and ordered accordingly, ^ That it should be recom- mended to the Lord- general to make a speedy exchange of Captain Wanton for Sir Thomas Lunsford.' It was after- wards voted, and ordered also, ' That it should be specially 528 THE EAEL OF ESSEX. recommended to the Lord-general, for the delivery of Colonel Stephens, Mr. John George, and Mr. Franklin, by exchange/^* Connected with this imprisonment there is a little incident pre- served honourable to Valentine Walton, which deserves to be noticed. Gough (in his edition of Camden's Britaimia) observes that ' Somersham was part of Queen Henrietta's jointure; but Valentine Walton, one of the king's judges, got it settled on him and his posterity for ever; and, though the church there belonged to the Margaret Professor at Oxford, he got the tithes of Colne, a little chapelry belonging to the parish, to be separated from it, and annexed to that chapel, by which means he made it a little rectory, and gave it to Dr. Laurence, Head of Baliol College, and Margaret Professor of Oxford, who had been very kind to Walton when prisoner at Oxford : was ejected for his loyalty, and moved to an Irish bishoprick by Charles IL some years before his death.'f On the morning after the battle of Edgehill, Hampden joined the Earl of Essex, and entreated him ' to push forward at once, force the king^s position, relieve Banbury, and throw himself on the contested line of road to the capital.' But Essex distrusted another decisive engagement, and preferred marching on Coventry; 'while the king taking Banbury, without resistance, marched leisurely to Oxford,' as if he had been the undoubted \dctor of the day. Essex, after much delay, marched upon Northampton, and thence to London, ' where he quartered his regiments in a very scattered manner in the different villages of the suburbs.' I must now turn for a short time to the proceedings in the House of Commons. On the 4th of July a Committee OF Safety had been appointed, in whom the executive was vested, comprising five peers, Essex, Northumberland, Pem- broke, Holland, and Saye ; and ten commoners, Pym, Hamp- den, Holies, Marten, Fiennes, Pierrepont, Glynne, Sir W. Wsdler, Stapylton, and Sir John Meyrick. These parlia- mentary leaders were now divided on a great question, which was forcing itself on the attention of the Houses. The peaiCe • Harl. MSS, 165, p. 1225 A. t Camden's Britannia^ by Gough, vol. iL p. 159. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 529 or war point had been once decided; it was now revived again in the shape of proposals of accommodation to be pre- sented to the king. The party which had opposed the resort to arms, comprising Edmund Waller (who had obtained the king's leave to stay at Westminster and serve him there), Selden, Rudyard, D'Ewes, and some others of inferior talent' was now reinforced by various members of the two Houses, who were terrified at the unwonted appearance of the country when the first clatter of war began. The earliest notice I find of any great struggle between the parties (the 'fiery spirits,' as D'Ewes calls them, and the 'moderate men') is on the 27th of August, when Sir John Culpeper came with a message for accommodation from his Majesty. There was considerable dispute as to whether he should be received at all ; and next as to whether he should deliver his message in his place as a member, or at the bar : and some of the ' fiery spirits' were so hot upon it, that they would scarce permit Mr. Pym himself to speak for Sir John Culpeper. Marten, Strode, and others fearing, as Sir Simonds thinks, lest this gracious message might bring some right understanding between his Majesty and the House, would have had the question put for expelling him out of the House at once ; but this being overruled, it was at last agreed that the Ser- jeant of the House, carrying his mace, should bring him in to the bar. D'Ewes thought he would never have come ; ' but whether he were surprised with fear or astonishment at the un- expectedness of his calling, I know not, he followed the Ser- jeant in almost as soon as he could possibly return back again ; and being come to the bar, and there standing bareheaded, he looked so dejectedly as if he had been a delinquent rather than a member of the House, or privy counsellor, or a mes- senger from his Majesty. The Speaker then, sitting in his chair, and keeping his hat on, spoke in efifect following : ' Sir John Culpeper (without styling him Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer), the House understands that you have a message to deliver to them from his Majesty; which they give you liberty to perform.' Whereupon he said only, that his Majesty had sent a message by him in writing, which he had ready to deliver to them, and so delivered it in ; and then the M M 530 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Speaker wished Mm to withdraw, whicli he did accordingly ; and then his Majesty's message was read in the House by the clerk. I did not believe/ continues D'Ewes, ' that the fiery spirits in the House would have so slighted this message as they did ; but they found a way utterly to make void all the good this message might have produced, by alleging that they could not receive it tiU his Majesty had laid down his standard set up against them, and recaUed his proclamation, by which he declared the Earl of Essex and all that did adhere to him traitors ; but Mr. Strode, not content with this, exercised his prophane and scurrilous wit to scoff at and vHify the king himself, as though the running away of the Earls of Newport and Northampton and some 1 200 horse more of Cavaliers and others near Coventry, had been a full defeat of the king's forces. And therefore, he said, that his Majesty had done well in proclaiming us traitors, that so we might be the fitter to treat with those about him, being all traitors ; and therefore he did not weU see, if the proclamation were recalled, how the king could name any about him with whom we could admit a treaty. And for putting down his royal standard, that, said he, 'tis very likely he will easily yield unto, because he can keep it up no longer ; just as it was done in the Spanish match, when they could continue it no longer, then they came to the Houses to dissolve it ; with some other such like irreverential expressions. The House then resolved to have a conference.'* At this conference an answer was agreed upon, to the effect that the king had put the Parliament out of a position to treat until he lowered his standard and recalled his proclamation. We have now to note another defection of some impor- tance from what D'Ewes calls ' Pym's party.' On September 2 1st he writes, 'I came in between ten and eleven, and Mr, Benzil Holies was speaking when I came in. The end of his motion was, that we should pitch upon some parti- cular delinquents, and desire his Majesty that they might be left to punishment, and pass by the rest, or at least pass them over with an easy punishment. I wondered a little to see him in the House, because at his late going thence into ♦ Earl. MSS. 163, p. 672 A, B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 531 Dorsetshire he said openly that he would bring up the Marquis of Hertford* alive or dead with him. The said marquis, the Lord Paulet, Sir John Paulet his son, and divers others were in Sherborne Castle when the said Mr. Holies went down, and there still remained, notwithstanding himself and the Earl of Bedford had besieged them with con- siderable forces. But I more wondered to hear such a violent and fiery spirit to make such a motion, whereas, in a late declaration, which we had set out to the king's second mes- sage touching peace, that we would not lay down arms till his Majesty had not only given us up to justice all such as we had declared to be delinquents, but all such also as we should declare to be delinquents — [Here there is a break, but it is evident that D'Ewes meant to say. Holies supported this]. Mr. Reynolds seconded Mr. Holies. 'f It must be observed that nearly all the old delinquents who had formerly fled from the * Hertford had proved untrue to the trust reposed in him by the Parliament, in appointing him Lord-Lieutenant of Somersetshire. He endeavoured to raise the county for the king, with varying success. His first attempt is referred to in a letter from the Parliamentary Committee in Somerset. I give the passage which records the commencement of the great struggle in the West, which ended with the exploits of Blake, Fairfax, and Cromwell : — * The country hearing how we were like to be surprised [by the Royalists under Hertford, at Shepton Mallet], came in, without warrants or any request of ours, with such diligence and affection, both horse and foot, that before noon we were above 2000 horse, though most unarmed, and about lOO foot. Our scouts bringing us word very frequently how thqy surprised the countrymen coming to us, laboured to increase their fears, beat and wounded his Majesty^s subjects, took away their powder, bullets, and other provision they brought to assist us, we thought it fit to draw into the field, and put in order our people the best we could, to preserve the peace of the country. Where we publicly made our instructions ; and Mr. Henry Sanford, eldest son to the high sheriff, having his father's authority (himself being weak and sickly), was come to us, and commanded, as posse comitatusy all that were present, and the whole county, to assist us for the service of the king and Parliament, and preserving the peace of the county, which the people with great acclamation protested to obey,* &c. The letter goes on to describe the discomfiture and flight of the Cavaliers, and is subscribed by * Your's and the kingdom's humble servants, .Tohn Horner, Alexander Pophara, John Pyne, Ro. Harbyn, Hugh Rogers, William Strode, Richard Coley, and John Ashe.* It is dated from * Shepton Mallet, the ist of August, 1642.* The tide soon turned against the Round- heads, and on the 8th of August Mr. John Pyne made his appearance in the House of Commons, having escaped from Somerset * in his doublet and hose, without coat or cloak.' The Earl of Bedford was then sent down, and restored matters a little at first. t Marl, MSS. 163, p. 756 b. MM 2 532 THE EARL OF ESSEX. justice of the Parliament at the commencement of the Long Parliament had been admitted by the king, since he had taken np arms, to posts of nearest trust around his person. As to the latter part of the declaration, it was essential, because otherwise, during the negotiations, any act might have been committed against the Parliament with impunity. The Earl of Essex had also twice sent to the king, humbly desiring a safe-conduct for some persons who were to present the petition of the Parliament for peace (voted at the same time with his appointment) ; but the king refused to give any such safe-conduct, or to receive this petition by any address from the Earl of Essex, saying that, if justice had been done, the gentleman which brought the second message could not expect his liberty. On the 27th of September there occurred a very amusing scene between the new convert to peace principles and the malicious Henry Marten. On that day, D'Ewes tells us, ' Mr. Holies stood up, and moved that some order might be taken for the slighting of the new fortifications about Sherborne Castle ; whereupon Mr. Henri/ Marten, that used to snarl at everi/hody, stood up, and said, that he did not only desire that those new fortifications should be demolished, but that there should not be left one stone upon another in the said castle itself, but that all might be laid level with the ground. Only he desired that this might not be done for the present, lest that the Earl of Bedford should be diverted from pursuing the Marquis of Hertford, and so suffer him to escape from Mine- head, as he had from Sherborne Castle. Whereupon the said Mr. Denzil Holies, being nearly touched at the reproach the said Marten had laid upon the Earl of Bedford, in which also himself was nearly concerned, said, in effect following, that he hoped the House would not suffer any aspersions to be laid upon that noble person, the Earl of Bedford, who had done as much as it was possible for a man to do, having neither money nor other necessaries sent him for the siege. That he was always ready and forward to hazard his own person, or to hearken to or follow any advice that was given him. Whereupon Mr. Marten, contrary to the orders of the House, made a replication, that the matter now in question THE EARL OF ESSEX. 533 was not touching the siege of Sherborne Castle, but touching the not pursuing of the Marquis of Hertford, which service he had left, and was come away from it. Ordered that the castle with the fortifications should be demolished.^* The king now left Oxford with his army, and marching towards London, reached Reading. Essex had no force on the spot which could immediately oppose him, and the result was, that the ' accommodation ' party prevailed in the two Houses, and on November the 3rd a petition for peace, addressed to the king, was agreed on, though not without strong opposition from Pym, Strode, and the other 'fiery spirits.^ An application for a safe-conduct for some mem- bers of both Houses was answered by Charles in a letter couched in very insolent terms, granting the request, so that they were not traitors, or excepted from pardon in any of his proclamations. Still the ' peace party ' prevailed so far as to send a letter containing the names of the commissioners. One of the names was that of Sir John Evelyn, of Wiltshire, and the king at once declined giving him a safe-conduct, as he was excepted in a proclamation. It turned out that this proclamation bore date November 2nd, and it was clear that the proclamation had been made to meet this very contin- gency. The peace party were now outvoted in both Houses, and it was voted that this exception was a denial to treat on the part of the king. Two members. Lord Brooke and Sir Henry Vane the younger, were appointed to deliver to the City, at the Guildhall, on the 8th of November, the reasons for this refusal to proceed with the treaty. But on the 9th of November the resolute men were in their turn outvoted, and the timid party carried a motion that a petition should be sent to the king, and that Sir John Evelyn should be left to his own liberty to go or not as he thought fit. It is remarkable that Pym, who, we find from D^Ewes, had opposed all pro- posals for a treaty at this conjuncture, nevertheless, when the motion was carried, accepted the vote, and endeavoured to reconcile the citizens to it, in a speech in the Guildhall, on November the loth, which displays very clearly the breadth • Earl. MSS. 163, p. 774 a. 5U THE EARL OF ESSEX. of his mind, and his superiority to mere private consider- ations. As we have been regarding his conduct and that of his political associates through the unfriendly and preju- diced medium of D'Ewes' reports, it is only fair to give one passage from this speech, which conveys the rationale of the policy of the so-called violent party : ' Though we desire peace very much, yet a peace to betray religion, and to betray our liberties, we shall always esteem worse than war ; there- fore we shall put it to a very quick issue, if the king receive the petition, to make such propositions, as you may see whether you shall be secured in your religion, — in your reli- gion with a hope of reformation — such a reformation as may maintain the power of religion, and the purity of religion, as well as the name of religion ; for we shall not be contented with the name, without a reformation that shall maintain the power of it. And we shall pursue the maintenance of our liberties : liberties that may not only be the laws and sta- tutes, but liberties that may be in practice and in execution ; and to take such course that you may have the effects of them in truth. For to have printed liberties, and not to have liberties in truth and realities, is but to mock the kingdom ; and I hope we shall take care for that in the second place.'* Of course Sir John Evelyn, 'in an excellent speech,* waived his right, and the commissioners set out to meet his Majesty. They delivered their petition to him at Colnbrook (whither he had advanced to quicken the treaty) on the nth of November, and received an answer that he was willing to receive propositions at Windsor Castle, if they would remove their forces thence. The commissioners returned with the message, and it was resolved to send Sir Peter Killigrew with a message to desire a cessation of arms during the treaty. But Sir Peter arriving at Brentford, on Saturday, the 13th, found the place in a state of the greatest confusion, and was unable to continue his journey. Prince Rupert think- ing, Clarendon tells us, that as the ^ king's party ' seemed so strong in the City, they would declare for him if the army marched up to them, started, and by a night march came * Etnff's Pamphlets, Brit. Mas. small 4to. 82, § 48. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 535 upon Brentford, where he surprised the London regiment of Holies called ' the Red-coats.' Essex was in the House of Lords when he heard the roar of cannon, and leaving his seat hastily, he galloped to the spot. The regiments of Hampden and Brooke had already hastened to the rescue; but they had to charge five times before they could extricate Holies* men. Rupert, finding the passage to London barred by these regiments, desisted from his attempt; but the effect of it was to stop for the time the negotiations for peace, as it was argued very justly that, had the king been sincere in his wishes for it, he would not have permitted such an unnecessary effusion of blood. Of course it was said that Rupert acted without orders, but it is not said that he acted against orders. The next morning reinforcements arrived at Brentford, not only from the other quarters of the army, but from the City itself, which had risen in arms and poured forth its train-bands the whole of Sunday. We are also told that the citizens, ' as soon as they were come from morning sermon, of their own voluntary and free accord took the greatest part of the victuals which they had provided for their own dinners, and sent it to Guildhall, to be sent to the army. It was a wonder to see how many cart-loads of bread, cheese, and meat baked, boiled, and roasted, of the best sort, with great store of pies piping hot, was on a sudden brought out of every street and parish to Guildhall : by certain relation there were near upon one hundred cart-loads of victuals that day sent to the army, and might have been abundance more, if it could have been told what to have done with it, or how to have sent it ; great quantities of beer was also sent, besides a hogshead or two of sack and three or four hogsheads of burnt claret.* On the 2ist of November, we read in D'Ewes, ^ there was much and vehement debate about another propo- sition to dissolve the two armies, and to punish delinquents. Mr, Denzil Holies, Mr, W/dtelocke, Mr. Pierrepo7it, and Mr, Glynne, amongst others who had formerly been very opposite against an accommodation (when I had persuaded the House to it, and foretold all those miseries of a civil war which we now groan under), did now speak earnestly for it. Mr. Holies was much cooled in his fierceness by 536 THE EAEL OF ESSEX. the great slaughter made in his regiment at Brentford, upon Saturday, the 13th day of this instant November last past ; Mr. Pierrepont^s elder brother, the Lord Newark, was on the king's part, and was in question to be ruined as a delinquent; Mr. Whitelocke's house had been lately plundered in Buckinghamshire ; and Mr. Glynne had, per- haps, laid down his hope of being Recorder of London.'* Such is D'Ewes' charitable interpretation of the motives of his new allies. There is little doubt but that the change in all these men was a conscientious one; but it is quite another thing whether they displayed much sound judgment in the course they pursued. Of all princes, Charles was one of the last to whose generosity, in the hour of his success, it would be wise to appeal. A proposal to the king was voted by the two Houses, that he should return to his Parliament, with his royal, not his martial, attendants ; which was, of course, nothing more than a mere proceeding of form, and led to no results. Hampden now proposed to Essex that a flank attack should be made on the king's forces, so as to cut off* their retreat to Oxford. His advice was accepted, and he himself started on the enterprise ; but he had scarcely proceeded a mile ere he was overtaken by counter-orders. The old professional ofl&cers about Essex had, it seems, persuaded him that it would be rash to bring things to such a thorough decision as a pitched battle. So the king retreated again to Oxford without molestation. Clarendon admits that, if Hampden's advice had been taken, Hhey had put the king's affairs into great confusion.' It was quite clear that something was wanting in the general, and it appears that the army was by no means in a commendable state, either of discipline or habits. As early as the 7th of September Hampden and others write to Essex, ' We are so perplexed with the insolence of the soldiers already com- mitted, and with the apprehension of greater if they be not prevented forthwith, that we thought it absolutely necessary to desire Sir Arthur Hesilrige to take this journey, that he might inform your Excellency of the particulars, which are fitter to be related by a friend than to be read by an enemy, * Marl. MSS. 164, p. 903 A, B. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 537 as they may be if they should be committed to paper. My lord, we have no more but to desire your Excellency's hastening to us, which we hope would be a means to appease these disorders, and would be a great satisfaction to the long- ing desires of your Excellency's most humble servants,' &c.^ We shall have further evidence that these disorders in- creased rather than otherwise after the early campaigns. That, in point of morals, the Royalist army was in a still worse state, we have already seen from Dr. Symmons' lament,t confirmed by Clarendon. But the Royalists had gallantry enough, whatever their other faults may have been ; and in this they had a decided advantage over the troops at first raised on the side of the Parliament. With the exception of some regiments of tenants and yeomen, and the London forces, the body of Essex's army was composed of a class inferior to the Royalists both in rank and courage. Oliver Cromwell perceived this, and traced it to its right cause. In a speech delivered many years afterwards, he thus alludes to his feel- ings on this occasion : ' I was a person,' he says, ' who, from my first employment, was suddenly preferred and lifted up from lesser trusts to greater, from my first being a captain of a troop of horse ; and did labour as well as I could to dis- charge my trust, and God blessed me as it pleased Him. And I did truly and plainly, and in a way of foolish simplicity, as it was judged by very great and wise men, and good men too, desire to make me instruments to help me in that work. And I will deal plainly with you. I had a very worthy friend then, and he was a very noble person, and I know his memory is very grateful to all — Mr. John Hampden. At my first going out into this engagement I saw our men were beaten at every hand. I did indeed ; and desired him that he would make some additions to my Lord Essex's army of some new regiments ; and I told him I would be serviceable to him in bringing such men in as I thought had a spirit that would do something in the work. This is very true that I tell you ; God knows I lie not. ' Your troops,' said I, ' are most of them old decayed serving-men, and tapsters, and such kind of fellows ; and,' said I, ' their troops are gentle- ♦ Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 63, p. 153. t Antea, pp. 87, 88. 538 THE EABL OF ESSEX. men's sons, younger sons and persons of quality; do you think that the spirits of such base and mean fellows will ever be able to encounter gentlemen, that have honour and courage and resolution in them ?' Truly I did represent to him in this manner conscientiously, and truly I did tell him : ' You must get men of a spirit, and take it not ill what I say — I know you will not — of a spirit that is likely to go on as far as gentlemen will go, or else you will be beaten still.' I told him so; I did truly. He was a wise and worthy person, and he did think that I talked a good notion, but an impracti- cable one. Truly I told him I could do somewhat in it. I did so ; and truly I must needs say this to you — impute it to what you please — I raised such men as had the fear of God before them, as made some conscience of what they did ; and from that day forward, I must say to you, they were never beaten ; and whenever they were engaged against the enemy, they beat them continually/ The troops thus raised have been known in modem times as ' the Ironsides ;' but, as far as I can ascertain, this seems to have been a name given at first to Oliver himself. Thus in a newspaper of the time we read, ' This brave commander, by reason of his resolution and gallantry in his charges, is called by the king's soldiers Ironsides.* So Winstanley, in his Worthies, says, ' One thing that made his brigade so invincible was his arming them so well, as whilest they assured themselves they could not be overcome, it assured them to overcome their enemies. He himself, as they called him Ironside, needed not to be ashamed of a nickname that so often saved his life.' Heath also calls Mm by that name, and not his troop. In the beginning of November, 1642, the regiment had reached the number of a thousand picked men. Whitelocke, in one of the passages in the Memorials, which is clearly genuine, thus describes them : ' He had a brave regiment of horse of his countrymen, most of them freeholders and free- holder^ sous, and who upon matter of conscience engaged in this quarrel, and under Cromwell. And thus, being well armed within by the satisfaction of their own consciences, and without by good iron arms, they would as one man charge firmly and fight desperately.' Baxter, who was by no THE EARL OF ESSEX. 539 means favourably disposed towards Oliver, says, ' at his first entrance into the wars, being but a captain of horse, he had a special care to get religious men into his troop. These men were of greater understanding than common soldiers, and therefore were more apprehensive of the importance and con- sequence of the war ; and making not money, but that which they took for the public felicity, to be their end, they were the more engaged to be valiant, ^ for he that maketh money his end, doth esteem his life above his pay,' &c. These things it's probable Cromwell understood; and that none would be such engaged valiant men as the religious. But yet I conjecture that, at his first choosing such men into his troop, it was the very esteem and love of religious men that principally moved him, and the avoiding of tHose dis- orders, mutinies, plunderings, and grievances of the country which debosht men in armies are commonly guilty of. By this means he sped better than he expected. Aires, Des- borough. Berry, Evanson, and the rest of that troop did prove so valiant, that, as far as I could learn, they never once ran away before an enemy. Hereupon he got a commission to take some care of the Associated Counties, where he brought this troop into a double regiment of fourteen full troops ; and all these as full of religious men as he could get. These having more than ordinary wit and resolution, had more than ordinary success.' Some months later, Oliver himself writes to the Suffolk committee-men, ' I beseech you be careful what captains of horse you choose, what men be mounted ; a few honest men are better than numbers. Some time they must have for exercise. If you choose godly honest men to be captains of horse, honest men wiU follow them ; and they will be careful to moimt such. If you be able to foil a force at the first coming of it, you will have reputation ; and that is of great advantage in our affairs. God hath given it to our handful ; let us endeavour to keep it. I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a ' gentle- man,' and is nothing else. I honour a gentleman that is so indeed ! I imderstand Mr. Margery hath honest men will follow him ; if so, be pleased to make use of him. It much 540 THE EARL OF ESSEX. concerns your good to have conscientious men/ A number of Huntingdon volunteers being desirous of forming them- selves into a foot company, Oliver writes, 'I approve of the business, only I desire to advise you that your ' foot company' may be turned into a troop of horse, which indeed will, by God's blessing, far more advantage the cause than two or three companies of foot ; especially if your men be honest godly men, which by all means I desire. Pray raise honest godly men, and I will have them of my regiment.' In May, 1643, * newspaper writer says, 'As for Colonel Cromwell, he hath 2000 more brave men well dis- ciplined. No man swears but he pays his twelve-pence ; if he be drunk, he is set in the stocks, or worse; if one calls the other Round-head, he is cashiered ; insomuch that the countries where they come leap for joy of them, and come in and join with them. How happy would it be if all the forces were thus disciplined.' With this gallant regiment Oliver performed a great variety of important services in the eastern coimties. Meanwhile, at Westminster, another attempt had been made to conclude a treaty with the king. Many petitions had been presented in favour of an accommodation, as the fortune of war seemed on the whole rather against the Par- liament. A few petitions were also presented for a secure peace and against treating. In the Lords the former petitions, and in the Commons the latter, were received with favour. But in February the ' peace party ' obtained the upper hand, and, with a few exceptions, kept it down to the latter part of March ; then Pym's party regained the ascendant. The prin- cipal ' moderates' were, besides Sir Simonds D'Ewes, Edmund Waller, Eudyard, Maynard, Grimstone, Glynne, Holies, Whitelocke, Pierrepont, and Sir John Evelyn of Surrey. The ' thorough' men were Pym, Hampden, St. John, Strode, Vane the younger, Stapylton, Walter Long, Marten, Hesilrige, House, Sir Walter Erie, Sir Robert Harley, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, and Mr. Alexander Rigby. On the i ith of February, D'Ewes speaks of ' Pym, Hampden, Strode, Marten, and other fiery spirits, who accounting their own condition desperate, did not care though they hazarded the whole kingdom to save THE EARL OF ESSEX. 541 themselves.'^ This lets out the secret purpose of some of the moderates : it was to secure themselves, and hand over to Charles, or at least not protect against his vengeance, those men who had made themselves most obnoxious to royalty by their peculiar services to the popular cause. Bearing this in mind, and remembering the bias of D'Ewes, we may read with interest the following passages in his Journal : ^ February 1 7th. — An addition was desired by Sir Philip Stapylton, to the question touching the treaty upon the propositions, which was, that the article touching the disbanding of both armies, and the article touching the restoration of the forts, ships, and magazines to his Majesty, should be first treated of and agreed upon, before there should be a proceeding to any other pro- positions. This was seconded by Mr. Hampden, and some other violent spirits ; and when they saw that we agreed to it, then did Mr. Hampden stand up again, and, like a subtle fox, would have diverted us from the question, after he saw that young Sir Henry Vane and Mr. Rigby disliked this addition, fearing that it would cause the whole question to pass with the less opposition ; but at last it was put to the question whether this addition should be made to the former question ; and the House being divided upon it, the ayes who went out carried it but by some three voices ; for all those fiery spirits almost who had first moved for the addition, stayed in the House with the negatives, and many gave their noes against it who were for peace, because they suspected some hidden poison to lie enclosed in it. March the 6th. — I went out of the House about two of the clock in the after- noon, full of sadness and ill-presages, because we had lost the opportunities of peace and of victory, and had deferred our treating of peace till a time wherein our ill-successes had occasioned those about his Majesty to propose such con- ditions, and to stand upon such terms, as formerly they would not have done. March 9th. — Sir Philip Stapylton informed the House, that he was sent to them from the Earl of Essex, Lord-general, of a message, which was to let them know that his lordship had newly received letters from Sir » Rarl. MSS. 164, p. 1095 ^* 542 THE EABL OF ESSEX. Kobert Cooke out of Gloucestershire, by which he was ascer- tained that the design of Prince Rupert and the great party he carried out with him (being about 6000 horse) was against Bristol ; and that on Monday last (being the 6th day of this instant) some part of his forces were come within four miles of the said city ; and that if the design should succeed, he would be master of all the western parts ; and that we saw hy thisy that there was like to he little fruit of our treaty of peace. Wherefore the Lord-general was resolved to move forward with the greatest part of his army, and made no doubt but to give a good account of his actions to this House, only he desired that this House would take care that he might in time be supplied with money and other necessaries, to follow after him, and that, in respect himself was resolved, however, to go forward, &c. Sir Philip Stapylton having finished his report, it was moved that we should send into the City to the Lord Mayor, to call a common-council this afternoon ; and in the issue, upon the motion of Mr. Ashe, that the City would do nothing till they were assured that the Earl of Essex was moved forward, and that therefore we should send to have the common-council to-morrow morning ; and so the question was put accordingly. Then Mr. Pym and some other violent spirits moved, that we might approve by vote the Lord- general's resolution to march, being more than he desired of us, which, though it were opposed by others, yet it was at length put to the question, and voted ; by which it might seem that he would have marched out sooner if we had not restrained ; whereas, the truth was, that he had lain stiU at Windsor, eating and drinking, for four or five months last past, and consumed a mass of treasure, without doing any- thing, to the dislike of all men ; and now that Mr. Hampden, and some other fiery spirits about him, saw that there was great probability of peace, if once we could but attain to a cessation, they did now rather rush upon this attempt to hinder the cessation than to let it proceed forward. March the 1 8th. — The passages of this day gave me the first hopes I had received for divers months past, that God, of his infinite mercy, would be pleased to vouchsafe a speedy peace to this almost half-ruined kingdom, that so we ourselves might not only avoid utter desolation, but that truth and peace might THE EARL OF ESSEX, 54!3 be preserved in Ireland also. For the articles propounded were so fall of justice and equilibrancy, that there was no probability to the contrary but that his Majesty would readily accept of them, in respect that we had made them more honourable and indifl*erent than the Lords had delivered them to us at the conference. I had occasion to speak several times, and to clear some particulars of moment ; for though there wanted not some who violently opposed almost every article, yet divers who had formerly been for war had part of their own estates destroyed, five or six millions of money spent with little or no advantage to us, the people intolerably oppressed, and depellated on both sides, and the sword, with its brother famine, threatening speedy and sudden destruction to us, were now of another mind : and I probably guessed that above three parts of the House there present were for peace ; so as though we almost differed upon every article, yet the plurality of voices was so evident and apparent, as we never divided the House : and this I conceive was one cause also that Sir Philip Stapylton, Sir Henry Vane the younger, Mr. Hampden and others did absent themselves, because they easily foresaw that it would not lie in their power to stop the said articles, in respect there was so great a change in the face of things in the Lords House ; for those great Earls of Northumberland, Rutland, Bedford, and Pembroke, with the Earl of Holland, and some barons, who had been drawn before earnestly to further the business of the war, did now decline it as the way to utter and speedy ruin.'* I have given these passages thus fully, because they open to us completely the relations in which the leading men of the Parliament stood to each other in the early part of the year 1643. ^* ^^ ^^^^ *^^* ^Y^j Hampden, Vane, and Strode were all agreed on the inexpediency of seeking a treaty when a cessation would only lead to an entire discourage- ment of their friends throughout the kingdom and the re- cruiting of the king's party. It was always a great advantage to the latter that it was easy to get up a cry against the ambition of particular members of Parliament, and to excite a feeling of sympathy for a prince struggling against adverse • Sari, MSS. 164, pp. iioo B, iioi a, 1117 A, B, 1133 a. 544 THE EARL OF ESSEX. circumstances. There was at all times a more than sufficient desire in all classes of society to reinstate the king in his royal power; and the moment it appeared likely that b. peace would be established which would place him in a position to punish his enemies and reward his friends, all the timid and waverers fell off at once to his side; and the consequence was that the Parliament was reduced to the utmost danger. Their only chance of support and eventual success lay in showing a firm determination not to shrink for an instant from the energetic pursuit of the war imtil they obtained such conditions of peace as would at once secure them the liberties for which they had taken up arms, and pro^ vide for the safety of those who had come forward to co- iterate with them. It has been seen that Stapylton, the bosom-friend of Essex, and that earl himself, agreed with Pym and Hampden in their line of policy, though Essex's movements were so dilatory as to tax severely the consider- ation of his friends. It will have been observed, also, that though Marten and Strode are the heads of an extreme party which scarcely conceal their dislike to monarchy, Pym and Hampden are seen in complete sympathy with \'ane and St. John. The relations indeed of Marten with the section headed by Pym and Hampden had been for some time of rather an unfriendly character. The entire absence of reserve in Marten's character not only exposed him to much animad- version where more prudent men who shared his opinions escaped notice, but caused him to feel and constantly to express the greatest aversion first to the smaller ' close committee,' and then to the ' Committee of Safety,' which had been appointed in the preceding July. Marten himself had been put on this committee; but this did not prevent him fit>m moving on every possible occasion for its dissolution, and employing rather unmeasured language respecting the conduct of the other members of it. Anything approaching mam^ement or compromue he could not tolerate; and the pre- vious arrangement of the business to be brought before the House, in which, as we have seen, Hampden took so im- portant a part, was a restraint on his spirit of independent and impulsive action against which he internally fretted. 1 THE EARL OP ESSEX. 545 There was no doubt some assumption of importance and aflectation of supenor knowledge on the part of a few of the members of the committee, which raised Marten's bile and provoked his inherent hatred of pomposity and clap-trap of every kmd. Some of the orders of the committee were necessarily open to doubt and cavil j and Marten, without lookmg to the importance of their other services, and the necessity of having such a secret and select executive council » laboured incessantly to bring obloquy on their proceedings and procure their dissolution. With everybody in authority MaHempso facto had an inchoate quarrel. He did not so much dishke the men— for personally he was far from being a great hater, and he quickly forgave personal injuries-as their official position, which he thought necessarily brought with It a tendency to arrogance and self-seeking.f He could not tolerate the delays of the Earl of Essex; and on the 5th of December, on news arriving that the active Royalist Sir Kalph Hopton had advanced from Cornwall into Devonshire with an increasing army, and was doing what he liked, and that Plymouth was in danger. Marten ' feU upon the Earl of Essex who was at Windsor, saying ' that aU these miseries proceeded from his slowness; that we saw it was summer m Devonshire and only winter at Windsor, and therefore moved that they might speedily send to the Lord-general to move forward.' Alderman Hoyle seconded him, but Sir Gilbert Gerrard and others excused Essex's conduct, and said that what he did was by advice of a council of war And so,' adds D'Ewes, ' the matter was laid aside for the present.'! A Jew months later Marten had an altercation with the Earl of Northumberland, who was one of the Commis sioners for the Parliament who went to Oxford in the early part of the year 1643 on some abortive negotiations with the „„*.?" ?" °™\1"" '"' "^'"^ ""' ' " P'"* PO* ~nld not hold a pottle of liauor ^sl ^64 p""?o 2 b" '"'^'''* "" °'™'' "' ""^ """'"'""' t» them."-!" w! I lb. p. 1042 A. 546 THE EARL OF ESSEX. king for a cessation of arms and an accommodation. Northum- berland bad lately, we have seen, joined the peace party. During the first half of this year his conduct was considered rather ambiguous, though his proud reserve rendered it diffi- cult to ascertain his exact views. But Marten had taken it into his head that Northumberland was making his private peace with Charles. To sifk this suspicion, he, as if to aflPord grounds for the attacks which he had himself made on the Committee of Safety, opened a letter addressed by the earl from Oxford to his countess, which passed through the hands of the committee. Northumberland, on his return to Lon- don, ' meeting Mr. Marten (on the i8th of April) at a con- ference in the Painted-chamber, took him aside and ques- tioned him upon it ; but Mr. Marten justifying what he had done, the earl caned him in the presence of several persons.'* Marten complained to the Commons, who resented it as a breach of pri\ilege on such an occasion; but the earl de- manded prior consideration of the breach of the privileges of the Lords by Marten in opening his letter ; and this being communicated to the Commons, the matter dropped. A more serious matter, however, than these personal disagreements between members of the Parliament, was the secret treachery to which they were exposed, and which forms Marten's best excuse for his breach of good manners. Acts of treason to the Parliament followed in rapid succession through the early months of 1643, and threw a shadow of suspicion over the actions of even the most decided of the popular party. Some of the discoveries made were of a very painful character in a personal and family point of view. On the 14th of January, after a letter had been read from Sir Edward Hungerford to Lord Saye, complaining of the misconduct of Sir Edward Baynton, a member of Par- liament, in Wiltshire, an information was given in against Sir James Thynne, who had married one of the daughters of the Earl of Holland. On this latter account, probably, Pym and others interfered in Sir James' behalf, and obtained a re- spite of the proceedings against him. But the most painful Cobbett*8 Parliamentary History, vol. iii. p. 109. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 547 discovery aflfected the character of Sir Robert Pye, an active member of the House, and closely connected by marriage with one of the greatest of the popular leaders. On the 26th of December Sir Robert had spoken with remarkable zeal against excepting too many Cavaliers from the indemnity to be included in the propositions to the king, and had provoked the vehement indignation of Walter Long, who placed a construction on Sir Robert's words which D'Ewes thought unfair, but which a few days completely justified. On the 1 8 th of January following the joui-nalist has to mention a treacherous letter of Pye's which had been intercepted. In this Sir Robert ' desired Sir Edward Nicholas to make his peace with the king, saying that, if the war should continue but a few months, he easily foresaw that destruction and famine must come upon the kingdom. He further showed that he had paid 3700/., due to Sir Nicholas Crispe for secret service done for his Majesty, and would take a course to convey his Majesty's revenue to him; that whereas his son (meaning young Sir Robert Pye, a more simple fellow than his father) had raised a troop of horse, and was in actual service against his Majesty, it was altogether against his knowledge, and without his consent, neither should he have any supplies of money from him. This letter being read,' continues D'Ewes, ' although divers members of the House had been put out of the House for less offences since the beginning of the Parliament, yet the fiery spirits, oul of their respect to their chief captain and ringleader Mr, Hampden (whose daughter the said young Sir Robert Pye had married), did pass no vote against the said Sir Robert Pye the father, neither at that time, nor at any time afterwards, and the moderate honest part of the House, who desired a safe and honourable peace with the continuance of the truce, were always inclinable to mercy and pity, and so pressed no ftirther proceedings upon the said letter, finding the said Sir Robert Pye to be a real well-wisher to the peace of the kingdom also. But it was demanded of him for what secret service the said sum of money was paid to Sir Nicholas Crispe ; which he earnestly protesting himself to be ignorant of, the House did immediately cause the said Sir Nicholas Crispe to be sent N N 2 548 THE EARL OF ESSEX. for, and lie said it was for money advanced to tlie king when lie went against the Scots ; which proved to be a manifest lie, hy his uncertain and almost confused answers : so all con- cluded that it was lent since the king's departure from London/ This he denied ; ' but awhile after he slipped away from the door of the House of Commons, and went to his IMajesty to Oxford/* A more striking proof than this of the great influence and popularity of Hampden with his party could scarcely be produced. In such a state of general suspicion it was difficult for vigilant officers to distinguish between guilt and inno- cence; and we find a cousin of CromwelVs, who became afterwards celebrated as Colonel Edward Whallky, in the capacity of custodian of the king's person at Hampton Court, and one of the judges at his trial, appearing at this time in the character of an over-zealous partisan. On March the 2 1 St, 1643, Captain Whalley was called into the House of Lords, ' being sent for to know why he seized the horses of the Earl of Carlisle, and spoke words that his lordship was a malignant. He said, ' Coming to Newmarket, he was told by a constable that the Earl of Carlisle was a malignant, and that he had horses there. Upon this he seized the horses of the Earl of Carlisle, which he acknowledged he was too hasty in, and craved their lordships' pardon for the same, and professed his good affection to the Parliament.' The Earl of Carlisle moved the House, that what concerns him their lordships would please to remit ; but desired that the constable that told him his lordship was a malignant, may be sent for, and the witnesses that heard him say so. Which the House ordered accordingly. The said Captain Whalley was called in, and told, in regard of his good service done to the Parliament, and upon the mediation of the Earl of Carlisle, this House is willing to pass by what he hath hastily done ; but do enjoin him to deliver in the name of the constable and the witnesses to this House.'t * Earl, MSS. 164, p. 1076 a, b. t Lord^ Journal*, It is some excuse for WTialley that Carlisle had actually prone to York ; but repenting, had returned, and been re-admitted to his seat on Bee. 24, 1642, on a promise not to depart from the House without leave. THE EAKL OF ESSEX. 549 On the 3rd of April a letter to the Commons from Sir John Hotham was read, intimating that Sir Hugh Cholmeley, governor of Scarborough Castle, had deserted the Parliament. But treason was not confined to one side; for in January the infamous Lord Savile, who had joined the king at York, had proposed to Hotham to betray the queen into his hands on her landing from the Continent, if he might by so doing make his peace with the Parliament. Sir John Hotham was at this very time wavering in his attachment to the popular side, and had sent up a petition to the House to come to some terms with the king. \Aliether he seized this opportunity to give a pledge of his disposition we do not know; but by some means Savile's proposal came to the ears of the Earl of Newcastle, who commanded for the king in those parts, and he immediately seized the traitor, and threw him into prison. A very short time afterwards, in the month of April, Hotham and his son followed Cholmeley's example, and entered into traitorous corre- spondence with Newcastle ; thus paralysing the efforts of the Fairfaxes in the north. To this I shall presently refer more in detail, but I must first notice another important subject. The rupture between the king and Parliament, following on the heels of the protestation of Archbishop Williams, had sealed the fate of Episcopacy. In the month of September, 1 642, the Houses of Parliament, in an answer to the declaration of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland respecting church-government, had proclaimed their opinion ' that the government by archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and commissaries, deans and chapters, archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical officers, is evil, and that they were resolved that the same should be taken away.' The assent of the king to a bill, with this purpose, was accordingly made one of the propositions for peace, which originated in the Lords, and passed through that House in the month of December. On the 30th such a bill was brought into the Commons, and passed the Upper House on the 26th of January, 1643.* The * Journals of Lords and Commons ; Godwin's Commonwealth^ vol. i. PP- 74-5- 550 THE EARL OF ESSEX. jurisdiction of the bisliops was to cease on the 5 th of November following. It is curious to find that, in debate on this bill, on the 20th of January, Maynard ' spoke very earnestly that we should not abolish the jurisdiction of bishops till we had replaced another government in the church, which he thought would not be very soon agreed upon, some being for a Pres- bytery, some for an Independent government, and others for he knew not what/* A chance shot had, on the and of March, deprived the Puritan cause of one of its stanchest friends, the Lord Brooke, who was struck in the eye, while superintending the assault of Lichfield Close. In the west of England the affairs of the Parliament had been for the moment retrieved by the Earl of Stamford, who had compelled Hopton to retreat into Cornwall, and had followed him thither. But on the i6th of May Hopton gave him a complete defeat at Stratton, and the prospects of the Parliament in that quarter were again overclouded. Meanwhile, in the north-east, Ferdinando Lord Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas Fairfax, had been struggling manfully, but with very varying success, against the Earl of Newcastle. The Fairfaxes came of a family originally seated at Towcester in Northumberland. As their name, ' the fair-haired,^ seems to indicate, they were of a good old Saxon stock. At an early period they removed into Lincolnshire, and thence into Yorkshire, where they finally settled towards the end of the twelftli or beginning of the thirteenth century. A Sir William Fairfax was high sheriff of York in the reign of Henry YIII., and by marriage obtained the manor of Denton, in Yorkshire. Sir William's eldest son died in his father's lifetime without issue ; and his second, Thomas, was dis- inherited of his paternal property for taking part in the sacking of Eome. Thomas Fairfax, however, inheiited his mother's estate of Denton, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1576. He was succeeded in the last-mentioned property by his son Thomas, who was knighted before Rouen, in Normandy, by the Earl of Essex, Elizabeth's favourite. This Sir Thomas was not above the paltry vanity of a title. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 551 * Sari. M8S. 164, p. 1078 a, b. and, accordingly, early in the reign of Charles, paid 1500/. for a Scotch barony, and became Lord Fairfax of Cameron."**" He died in 1640, and was succeeded in the title and estate by his son Ferdinando, who was one of the re- presentatives of the county of York in the Long Parliament. It was this nobleman, and his eldest son Sir Thomas Fairfax, who were the main props of the Parliament's cause in York- shire during the first years of the Civil War. The first Lord Fairfax had no opinion of the talents of his son Ferdi- nando, saying he was well fitted for the bench of justices, but had no enterprise for greater things. Experience, however, proved that the steady qualities which his father depreciated, were in the second Lord Fairfax combined with no little resolution and breadth of mind. He was still more distinguished by a strict sense of honour and a peculiarly amiable disposition. His son Thomas — who was knighted in 1640, during the Scotch war — was bom at Denton on the 17th of January, 16 J i, and was therefore between eleven and twelve years younger than Oliver Cromwell. He married, in 1637, Anne, daughter of Horace Lord Yere of Tilbury, a distinguished military commander, under whom he had served in the Low Countries while still a mere youth. These Veres were zealous Presbyterians; and this fact confirmed the bias which the opinions of Sir Thomas must have received from the influence of his father. He only resembled him. * There was also another Lord Fairfax at this time, a kinsman of Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and descended from a branch of the family which, in the thirteenth century, had settled at Walton in Yorkshire. This title originated with another Sir Thomas Fairfax, *of Walton and GiUing,' who, in 1629, was raised to the Irish peerage as Baron and Viscount Fairfax of Emely, in the county of Tipperary. Ferdinando Lord Fairfax of Cameron is spoken of as guardian to the young Viscount Fairfax, in a letter to the latter from his steward, in the year 1645 {Fairfax Correspondence, Civil Wars, vol. i. pp. 209-12), in which he states that * 200^. wiU not put your houses into good repair ; the leads of Gilling Castle are quite decayed, so that it raineth into the house at above forty places, which rotteth the timber.' The title of 'Fairfax of Emely' became extinct in 1741 ; but in a 'list of visitors' in the Scarborough Gazette (September, 1854) I have come across the name of a * C. Fairfax, Esq. of Gilling Castle ;* so that part of Viscount Fairfax's estate appears to be still in the hands of some branch of the family. The Lords Fairfax of Cameron have been for two or three generations settled in North America. 552 THE EARL OF ESSEX. however, in a marked modesty of demeanour and a deep sense of honour. Under a very silent and reserved bearing, in general social intercourse. Sir Thomas concealed a really eager and passionate disposition, and an almost morbid amount of pride. This last point was detected by his grand- father, who prophesied that it would prove ultimately the ruin of the family. In the council-chamber the younger Fairfax was very sparing of speech— which was attributed by some to a natural stammer— and expressed himself with great diffidence and courtesy. But when his opinion was once made up, it was utterly impossible for any one to change it. The defects in his character were fostered by the severe iUnes.es to which he was from a youth subject, and which gave his countenance a somewhat gloomy and saturnine expression. His person was taU and commanding, and he was an accomplished gentleman as well a§ a thorough soldier. Both his body and mind seemed to find relief and congenial employment in stirring and great actions. Grave to the extent of listlessness in ordinary life, he no sooner was summoned to meet a sudden crisis, or encounter a certain danger, than he shook oflP his gloomy resene and became animated, and even cheerful. In battle he was reckless of his own life, and brave even to fierceness. The two Fairfaxes took an active part from the first on the side of the Parliament. ^^Tien the king was at York endea- vouring to gather adherents and popularity, yomig Fairfax was chosen to present a petition to him from the gentry of the popular party in Yorkshire, m-ging him to abandon his warlike designs. When the king endeavoured to avoid the reception of this petition. Sir Thomas followed him 'on horseback to Heyworth Moor, and there presented the peti- tion on the pommel of his saddle, in the presence of nearly 100,000 people.' On the outbreak of hostiUties Lord Fairfax received a commission from the Parliament as general of the forces of the north, and Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed under him as general of the horse. In the early part of the year 1643 ^^e Fairfaxes had met with great successes, and Leeds, Doncaster, and Wakefield had one after the other fallen into their hands. The last success was on the 21st of May. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 553 On the other hand, they had been defeated just before at Bramham Moor and Seacroft Moor. These defeats can now be explained in a great degree by the proofs which we possess of the treachery of the two Hothams. The authority of Sir John Hotham as governor of Hull necessarily clashed in some degree with the command of Lord Fairfax in the north ; and the Hothams, father and son, lost no opportunities of disregarding the orders of Fairfax, and acting independently of his authority. Lord Fairfax made serious complaints to the Parliament on the subject ; but the Hothams had great influence there, and the Earl of Essex, who supported them, at the end of January nominated a council of war with whom Fairfax was to consult. He also sent a commission to young Hotham as lieutenant-general under Lord Fairfax, and wrote to the former ' to accept it from Fairfax, and go on with him in a hearty compliance for the futm^e.' In his new com- mand young Hotham was brought into relations with Crom- well, with whom he was speedily as much at variance as he had been with the Fairfaxes. The following letters, which are now first published from the Tanner MSS. in the Bodleian Library, show what sort of associates the Hothams were : — For the Might Bon, the Earl of Newcastle, My noble Lord, — Just as I was taken horse to attend you, our scouts brought in word that the Newarke forces were upon march to Gaynsborough, so that I was forced to stay my journey to look upon the enemy ; for if I should have come to Welbeck upon a treaty, and they in view, all the world would exclaim of me. I shall therefore desire your lordship will excuse my not coming upon 80 just an excuse, and as soon as this business is over I shall then not fail to attend you ; and in the meantime remain Your most humble affectionate servant Lincoln, April 20th, 1643. John Hotham. (Indorsed, Capt. Hotham to E. Newcastle.)* For Your Lordship. My noble Lord,—! am very glad you send Sir Marmaduke Langdale over, rather than that I should have waited upon you myself; for, although I little regard what people talk, yet something is to be yielded unto in that respect in these unhappy times. My lord, I make no doubt he comes instructed from you to treat in such a way as is fit for gentlemen that value their honour above anything, for he is a knave that desires to outlive it. I make no question but that well-stated, good fruit may come of his journey, for his Maf" honour Tanner MSS. (Bodl.) 62, part i. pp. 71-2. 554 THE EARL OF ESSEX. and your satisfaction. For what concerns myself, I thank God I have neither hopes nor fears that can remove me from what befits a gentleman and your obliged servant ; for it was the honourable opinion I had of your worth that ever moved me to put pen to paper on this subject, and if any unhappiness break this, I will come in with the generality, or let all go. And this is for the present the resolution of Your most humble affectionate servant Lincoln, AprO 26, 1643. John Hotham. (Indorsed, Mr. John Hotham to E. of Newcastle.)* JPor the Sari of Newcastle^ these. Right Honble., — I received yours of the 29th of April ; and this I shall and must profess, that in your particular no man shall ser\'e you in anything within my power with more faith and affection than myself, and if I do not, let this paper be a witness against me. I hope this will come safe to you, being, I suppose, this is a messenger of your own, therefore I shall write my mind the more fieely. If those of the very cabinet council had advised his Majesty to have offered reason to the Parliament, I shoald, with my life and fortunes, more willingly have served him than ever I did any action in my life. But I must ingenuously confess to you, whom I dare trust with my life, that this last message, wherein 'tis stood upon that ships, forts, magazines, militia, should be put into his hands, all ordinances of Parliament declared illegal, the Parhament adjourned twenty miles from London, and taking arms unlawful — these, I doubt, hath more disadvantaged his cause, as I conceive, than any action done since these troubles. I must confess at anotho> time, when so jutst causes of distrust were not, the first four of these it were not reason to deny him ; and I am persuaded, if peace were one year settled, would be cheerfully granted him. But certainly, if they should now be so, power might be put into those hands that would do their best to advise his Majesty to make wrong use of it. My lord, be not displeased with me to tell you, they (as I conceive) make not you nor any person of so much honour privy to some of their secret designs j they know yon are not for their purpose, and if you heard what is in every man's mouth here and at York, you would believe me. I dare write no more. I shall, God willing, with the very first opportunity, send your letters to my son, who, I make no question, will write suddenly to you. Some of your forces are come over, they say, to besiege Wressel Castle — I believe, as formerly you writ in case of Pomfret, to wash a Blackmoor. But those forces, if they remain in the East Rid., must make us here the more active, which else we desire not. My lord, 1 shall ever profess that I earnestly and really dei»ire to remain Your hon''» most faithful and humble servant Hull, 30th of April, 1643. John Hotham. (Indorsed, Sir John Hotham to E. Newcastle.)! For the Might ffonourahle the Earl of Newcastle , these present. My noble Lord, — I make no question but Sir Marmaduke Langdale acquainted you with what was spoken of here. I have acquahited my fatiier with the same, and find him inclinable to serve his Maty, and your lordship in any just and honourable way ; for this that was propounded he likes it well, only desiring to know what limitations it must have both in respect of persons and places, and in what measure of good services it shall be reckoned to tiiose that I t THE EARL OF ESSEX. 555 really perform it ; for ujjon your assurance herein order will be taken to prepare the business for it, and to hinder Colonel Cromwell's marching hither that is now far on his way, so that if necessity force not, you would be pleased not to advance too fast into the country, that things may be done in a handsomer way. I hope you will excuse me if these things run not so fast as could be wished, being it is to pass many hands, and every man must be pleased in his humour, and have his word about it. But a little delay may be borne with, when there is hope of working a real effect ; and violent hasting to a business not ripe doth put it into destruction. My lord, I hope you tliink that his Majesty's affairs may be more advanced by drawing to his service some number of men of quality, although it cost some time, than by coming single. My lord, your unwearied good opinion much emboldens to trouble you Your most affectionate real servant Lincoln, April 31, [_sic] 1643. John Hotham. (Indorsed, Capt. Cromwell [mistake for Hotham] to E. of Newcastle.)* The eye of an acute discerner of character was, however, now upon the traitors, and the result is recorded in the following passage in D'Ewes : ^June 27th, 1643. — There was also read another letter before my coming in, sent from Mr. John Hotham to the Speaker, bearing date at Lincoln, June 24, 1643, ^^ which he shewed that he was the first man whom the Parliament had entrusted with the matter of the raising of arms; and that he had preserved the town of Hull for them when the Earl of Newcastle and Captain Legge were sent thither to surprise it ; that since that time he had been continually in the Parliament's ser- vice, and scarce ever slept but with his sword by his side : all which services he confessed that he did owe to the public, and therefore, though he looked for no reward, yet he hoped that he should not have been paid with ingratitude. That he was called by his friends into Lincolnshire, and from thence came to Nottingham, where he was lately taken out of his bed violentl)^ at one o'clock at night by an order of the Close Committee, being in the service of the House ; and was there by musketeers spoiled of his clothes, money, pistols, and sword, and carried prisoner, like a notorious malefactor, to Nottingham Castle. That Colonel Cromwell had employed an Anabaptist to accuse him ; and that one Captain White had l)een employed against him, who was lately but a yeoman. That so much injustice had not been exercised upon any * Tanner MSS, 62, part i. pp. 83-4. t lb. pp. 88-9. * Tantier MS8. 62, part i. pp. 90- 1. 556 THE EABL OF ESSEX. gentleman in any age or time, when arbitrary power was at the height. That the valour of these men had only yet appeared in their defacing of churches. That they had pre- tended authority from the Lord-general for this their vio- lence towards him ; but shewed none. That he, understand- ing that those fellows intended to have removed him like a base fellow, without so much as allowing him to wear his sword, he had escaped out of Nottingham prison to Lincoln, where he now was, being ready to expect and obey the com- mands of the Lord- general and of the two Houses of Par- liament; and so did implore their justice against these fellows who had so wronged him. That they had called the captains and soldiers under his command cowards, and otherwise abused them : he added also some other particidars of less moment ; but in all, like himself, being a rash, young, heady, proud fellow, expressed much virulency and passion, which in the issue may prove very disadvantageous to him. The House fell not upon debate of the particulars in the letter, but ordered that a letter should be written to him to require his speedy coming up hither to the Parliament. He had for- merly committed many insolencies in Yorkshire, in affront- ing and opposing the Lord Ferdinando Fairfax, whom he ought to have obeyed, being Lord-general of the Parlia- ment's forces ; and he afterwards both in Lincolnshire took away the horses of such as had contributed to the Parlia- ment, and otherwise much oppressed them, by which he lost the Parliament many friends and well-wishers. There had been also particular oppositions and differences between him and the said Colonel Cromwell.'* From Lincoln young Hotham repaired to Hull, and ar- ranged with his father for the instant betrayal of the town to the Earl of Newcastle. But one Captain Meyer sending information to the mayor of this intention,t the alarm was given, and, as Pym writes to the Earl of Holland, 'the townsmen of Hull did rise upon Sir John Hotham and his son. They seized upon the young man. Sir John THE EARL OF ESSEX. 557 forsook the town, and fled towards Beverley, where he was apprehended by Colonel Boynton. They have written up to the Speaker, and desire direction from the House, and some speedy assistance. One of the letters saith that they inter- cepted a letter from the father to his son, wherein aU this design is discovered ; but what the particular was is not ex- pressed. My Lord Fairfax hath taken the field with looo horse and 6000 foot. Sir Hugh Cholmeley set upon Bever- ley, and is beaten off with loss.'* Among the letters found in Sir John Hotham's trunk was one written by him to his son, but not sent, in which, among other passages, he begged him to beware of that Anabaptist ; ' meaning, I believe,^ says D'Ewes, ' Colonel Cromwell,' and to come away to him to Hull for his better security. The Hothams were brought up to London, tried in the ensuing winter, and executed on Tower Hill, in January, I must now turn again to the Earl of Essex's proceedmgs. He had advanced in the beginning of April to Reading, and laid siege to that town. On the 24th he wrote a letter to the Speaker, which gives an account of the progress of the siege, and contains some eminently characteristic expressions. ' We doubt not,' said the earl, ' but that God, which hath showed us so many blessings hitherto, will protect us out of these storms which threaten us. We that serve you are in a hard con- dition, losing all our fortunes ; and those that are violentest against the Parliament have their estates protected,^ If the army be well paid, it is no matter ; if not, it must break, which I think, for the number, is the bravest army in Chris- tendom. I believe that the time is thought long that Reading holds yet out. I assure you it is a very strong fortified town, all pallisadoed, and strong in outworks. I am veiy loath to venture the soldiers upon such work, it being probable that many may be lost in storming ; and now, especially, it were our great hazard, the enemy being so near, and we must be in posture to fight. But I doubt not, by God's blessmg, I • Earl. MSS. 164, p. 1033 A, B. t Tbe Mayor's Letter to the Speaker : Tanner MSS. 62, part i. p. 154. * Tanner MSS. 62, part i. pp. 138-9- . . t The words in italics are underscored in the original. 558 THE EAKL OF ESSEX. shall give a good account of this great business. Sir William Waller doth not come to me according to my expectation and order, though Prince Maurice be come from him, and turned upon me ; so that now I have all the king's forces to deal with, both without and within the town, without the assistance which I had reastm to look for'^ This letter is remarkable as containing the first notice of those disagreements between Essex and Waller, which were destined to produce such evil results to the Parliament's cause in the years 1643 ^^^ i^44- Sir William Waller was 'of an ancient family [in Hampshire], and had preten- sions to the fief of Winchester Castle, and the office of here- ditary chief-butler of England. He had devoted his early years to the study of the art of war, and had sen ed with credit in the armies of the German princes confederated against the emperor. He was a member of the Committee of Safety, and had raised a troop of horse for the Parliament at the beginning of the war. The first separate employment he obtained had been merely to lead a detachment of the Earl of Essex^s army ; and before the end of the year 1642 he took Portsmouth/ Goring, who had betrayed it to the king, escap- ing to the Continent, and landing again a few weeks after- wards in the north of England. From Portsmouth Waller * proceeded again, with unabated success, against Winchester, Chichester, and Hereford ; and ha\ing, by a night march, in which he was equally dexterous and successful, reached the Severn, he crossed the river in certain flat-bottomed boats which he had appointed to meet him, and took prisoners or dispersed the whole of a little army which the Royalists had marched against Gloucester. By these exploits he gained great reputation, both with the Parliament and the City, and during that period was distinguished among his admirers by the nickname of William the Conqueror.^f He soon after- wards joined Essex at Reading, and the town was taken by storm on the 27th of April. Waller subsequently showed • To these last words in italics Essex draws attention by a line in the margin of his letter. The original is in the Tanner MSS. 62. It has been printed more than once, but without any notice of these peculiarities in the original, t Godwin's Commonwealth, vol. i. pp. 105-6. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 559 himself to be an active partisan leader, but wholly deficient in the higher qualities of a general. Essex wasted his army by inaction — Waller's slipped away from him in his undisci- plined and desultory marches. For the time, however, he was the popular favourite, and proportionably obnoxious to Essex. The latter was jealous of the least slight to his authority, and Waller seems to have thought insubordination to his superiors in command the essential mark of genius. After the fall of Reading, Essex, instead of advancing on Oxford, as Hampden urged him, relapsed into inactivity ; and his soldiers took to plundering the country, and levying con- tributions in Buckinghamshire. This being complained of by the House, the earl wrote an answer on the 24th of May, which D'Ewes describes as ' a very insolent letter.' White- locke animadverted on the tone employed, but the House found it necessary to endure Essex's conduct patiently for the present. Meanwhile the officers of his army renewed their efibrts to rouse the earl to more speedy action, in the following remarkable letter, which is now printed for the first time : — To his Excellency the Earl of Essex. May it please your Excellence, — The soldiers are grown so outrageous that they plunder every place. Even this morning five or six gentlemen's houses have been ransacked by them, of which we conceive one great cause to be the malignity of the country people, who instigate and direct the soldiers in what places they should exercise this insolency. We use all means possible to suppress it, sending out squadrons of horse, who do their duty very well. But the truth is that, unless we were able to execute some exemplary punishment upon the principal malefactors, we have no hope to redress this horrid enormity. We beseech your Excellence to take this into your present and serious consi- deration, for if this go on awhile, the army will grow as odious to the country as the Cavaliers. And although we take not upon us to advise the Parliament, yet we that are eye-witnesses of the state of this army, do verily believe that, without martial law (to extend to the soldiers only), it may prove a ruin as likely as a remedy to this distracted kingdom. My lord, we dispatched an express upon Saturday, to give notice that we had stayed my Lord of Newport here, who alleged that he was employed with my Lord Falkland and my Lord Spencer to carry his Majesty's message to Parliament ; but finding no testimony of this more than his own word, we held it fit to stay him here until the pleasure of the Houses were known. My lord thinks the time long that he is stayed here, but that is no warrant for us to discharge him. To-morrow my Lord Montague and divers other prisoners are upon their way for London. My lord, once more* let us beseech your lordship to put these unruly soldiers upon * These two words are underscored in the original. 560 THE EAKL OF ESSEX. present action, which heing commanded by your Excellency, shall with all ol)e- dience be performed by your Excellency's humble servants Aet. Hesilkioe, Nath. Fieknes, Jo. Hampden, James Sheffeild, ThO. BaLLABD, H.* CHOLMLET.f The attention of the Parliament was, however, at this time almost entirely absorbed by the discovery of the serious con- spiracy commonly called the ' Tomkins and Challoner Plot,^ in which Edmund Waller was implicated as a principal. A letter, D^Ewes tells us, had been intercepted from the Earl of Dover to his countess, telling her to leave London with all her family, except Lady Rochfort, her daughter by a former husband, who had married the Earl of Dover's eldest son, one of the peers who remained at Westminster. ' This letter being openly read at a committee of examination, and the substance of it afterwards published in the House, might have given Mr. Waller some warning to have desisted, as might also the late discovery of the conspiracy at Bnstol ' — referring to a recent plot to betray that city to Prince Rupert — ' being framed after much the same manner that this was, and some of the conspirators proceeded against with the extremest rigour of justice. And the said ruin of this gen- tleman,' continues D'Ewes, ^ did the more extremely aflect me, because he had admirable parts of nature, both of wit and elocution, and no small abilities in respect of learning and acquisited knowledge, having often heard him speak with great judgment and applause in the House. He lived also in great plenty and esteem with men of honour and place, and was highly valued, especially in the court. He had near upon 2000^. a year in possession, and 500/. a year more in reversion, after the death of his mother,' Hampden's aunt. ' But his misery was that, wanting true grace to season and sanctify all those blessings to him, he abused them to luxury and to the puffing up of his own heart, which made this sudden and vast calamity even unsupportable unto him. There is one particular very observable, that on Tuesday * On indorsement Hugh, but this must be a mistake for Henry, t Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 62, part i. pp. 115-6. Indorsed * June, 1643.* THE EARL OF ESSEX. 561 night. May the 30th last past, when Mr. Waller came late home to his house at the lower end of Holborn, near Hatton House, he being very cheerly, and, it seems, confident to accomplish his design, said to his brother-in-law, Mr. Tom- kins, being then in conference with him, ' By God ! if we can bring to pass this business, we will have anything ! ' and so going to bed with great security, was there seized upon, and all his papers searched, and himself imprisoned and drawn, after much tergiversation and shuffling, to confess his own guiltiness. This design had no other means or step to the first discovery thereof than by the before-mentioned letter sent by the Earl of Dover to his countess ; and the expression but a few days before Mr. Waller was seized upon, of one who had said that the City of London should be fired in ten days, and that he had heard the same from Mr. Hasell (a king's messenger), whose familiarity being known with Mr. Waller and Mr. Tomkins, gave the first suspicion of their being privy to the design. Whereupon, on Sunday the 28th of May last past, the Earl of Manchester [the former Lord Mandeville], the Viscount Saye and Sele, and some others, used such persuasions and promises on one Roe, who served the said Mr. Tomkins as his clerk, that he did not only con- fess unto them such former passages as he knew of, but had discovered likewise by the Tuesday night ensuing so many important secrets as easily conduced to the discovery of the rest that remained. Which the said Mr. Waller little dream- ing of that the time of his ruin was so near at hand, came into the House of Commons that very Tuesday before his apprehension, and spake there very confidently upon two or three occasions. He had also a fair warning divers months since, when his house had been searched for some great saddles which he had bought, and the saddles were seized.' D'Ewes adds, that he should have been warned by the seizure of Mr. Alexander Hampden, another cousin of the popular leader, who had been to consult him on the subject. He had told D'Ewes that ^ he never had been or never would be an intelligencer to the court !'* * Harl. MSS. 165, p. 12 16 B. O O 562 THE EARL OF ESSEX, The general character of the plot will have heen seen hy the foregoing account. The outposts of the City, and the strongholds and magazines were to be seized ; the persons of the Lords Saye and Wharton, Sir Philip Stapylton, Hampden, Pym, and Strode, and the new Lord Mayor, Isaac Pennington, were to be secured, and a part of the royal army admitted into the City. Hampden and the rest had divined rightly as to the intentions of the Lords who wished to pass from Oxford to London, on the alleged business of the king's proposals to Parliament; for it was with Lord Falkland that Waller and Tomkins were in regular communication, and the ordinary king's messenger, Hasell, was the go-between. The popular leaders seized the occasion to renew the pro- testation which had been taken at the time of the first army plot, and added to it a declaration of not having been con- cerned in the late conspiracy, or any similar one. This ' oath and covenant' was taken by the members of the two Houses of Parliament, and, among others, by some peers and commoners whose names were immediately afterwards compromised in some of the confessions of the conspirators. Among these were the Earls of Northumberland, Pembroke, and Portland, and Holies, Pierrepont, Maynard, and Sir John Holland. These names seem to indicate that the conspira- tors had reckoned in a vague though confident manner on all those who were strenuous on the side of an immediate pacification. It is most improbable that men such as several of these really gave their consent to such a wild and desperate enterprise. Northumberland was incriminated by Waller him- self, on the ground that he had been with the earl twice, and acquainted him with the plot ; that the first time he answered nothing, and the second time seemed to dislike the plot as not feasible or like to succeed; that Edward Viscount Conway and Sir Hugh Pollard (who had been engaged in the old army plot) had told him that Northumberland was ' right in the business ;' and that Lord Falkland wrote to the same effect to the Lady Sophia Murray, one of the daughters of the Earl of Arundel. That some communications had taken place with Northumberland, would seem from this to be in- disputable ; but the exact nature and extent of the infonnation THE EARL OF ESSEX. 563 they gave him, and the manner in which the affair was put to him, are important elements in deciding the question of his actual complicity in the plot. Sir Henry Vane at the time thought him guilty, and wished to have his person secured, drawing a curious distinction (which D'Ewes could not understand) between an inward and an outward protesta- tion ; which latter only he said the Lords had as yet taken. But Pym, seconded by Sir William Armyne, threw cold water on the idea, and it was referred, on his motion, to the Lords, to take means to clear their own members from the imputation. The affair dropped as respected Northumberland ; but another peer, Weston, Earl of Portland, was more seriously compromised, and suffered imprisonment for his acquiescence in the plot. With a view to procure his confession, Edmund Waller was employed ; and he addressed to him the following letter, which is also among the Tanner MSS. : — For the Right Sonbie. the Earl of Portland. My Lord, — Having obtained leave to write to your lordship, and having hut a very little time to perform it in, I shall not make any apology to satisfy you (as T might do) of the way I proceed in, which, if it were to be tried by the rules of necessity and honour (even in the common acceptations thereof), if you knew all circumstances, I doubt not but I should be justified therein. My lord, I beseech you know that this business was never meant for your know- ledge, either by the Lord Conway or Sir Hugh Pollard. The only reason I imparted it to your lordship was, that by you (in whom I had so great confi- dence both for your judgment and friendship towards me) I might be instructed how far that Lord Conway might be trusted, with whom Sir Hugh so often urged me to speak : this you might perceive by some strangeness towards you when we first met at Pollard's chamber, and often after, when that lord whispered to me apart, which for the most part he did when he mentioned the Earl of Northumberland ; so that but for me I think (nay, I am confident), you had never known anything of this business, which was by them prepared for another. And therefore I cannot imagine why you should wed it so far as to contract your own ruin by concealing it, and persisting unreasonably to hide that truth which, without you, already is, and will every day be made more manifest. Can you imagine yourself obliged in honour to keep that secret which is already revealed by another, or possible it should still be a secret which is known to one of the other sex (though for a time denied). No (my lord), be most assured that, if you still persist to be cruel to yourself, for others* sakes that deserve it not, it will nevertheless be made appear ere long (I fear) to your ruin. Sure, if I had the happiness to wait on you, I could move you to compassionate both yourself and me, who (desperate as my case is) am desirous to die with the honour of being known to have declared the truth, which God knoweth I have in every circumstance to the uttermost of my remembrance. And once more I beseech you, for God's sake (the Fountain of truth) to do the like. Much more I have to say (if I might be permitted to oo2 564 THE EARL OF ESSEX. confer Avitli your lordship about it), whereby I can demonstrate that you have no reason, in the considerations of honour, profit, or friendship, vainly to contend to hide what is already revealed, and shall at last be made most manifest, incousiderately to throw yourself away for the interest of others, and such to whom you are less obliged than you are aware of, and to them to make a sacrifice of your noble family and (;is much as in you lies) of the life and fortune of him that has ever been most unfeignedly (and never more shewed it than in the humble and hearty advice he now gives you) Y' Idpp.'s most humble and most faithful servant and kinsman Edm. Walleb. May God in time direct your heart to that which is most pleasing to Him, and the only way to preserve yourself before it be too late. (Indorsed, June, 1643).* The writer of this letter, in consequence probably of his general popularity and his full disclosures, escaped the penalty of death for his treachery, but was fined 10,000/., and after a year's imprisonment, allowed to retire to France. In the middle of May an important step was taken by the Commons towards the formal assumption by Parliament of an independent executive authority. On the T2th of May Glynne moved that a 'new broad seal' should be made in place of that which Lord-keeper Littleton had carried away to York. Maynard opposed this motion ; but, on a division in the Lower House on the 15th, it was adopted by a majority of eighty-six to seventy-four, and reported to the Lords on the 2Cth of the same month. The Peers, how- ever, declined to acquiesce, and the matter was dropped till the following July, when the Commons ordered a great seal to be made, which was accomplished by September. It was then ordered to be sealed up, and given into the custody of the Speaker, and not to be made any use of for the present. In October the Lords concurred in the step ; and on the 9th of November an ordinance of the two Houses to that effect was passed, and commissioners appointed for keeping the seal. These were the Earls of Bolingbroke and Kent, Oliver St. John, Serjeant Wylde, Samuel Browne, and Edmund Prideaux. At the same time Lenthall, the Speaker, was ap- pointed Master of the Rolls, Pym Lieutenant of the Ordnance, • Tanner MSS, 63, part i. pp. iii, 112. THE EARL OF ESSEX. 5G5 and Selden Keeper of the Records in the Tower. From the month of November, 1643, therefore, the Houses of Par- liament assumed formally an executive as well as a legislative authority, and in August, 1 645, they issued new writs for the election of members of Parliament, by virtue of it. Only a few days after the first vote of the Commons for a new great seal, the breach between the king and Parliament was widened by another proceeding. The queen, we have seen, had landed in the north in the beginning of 1643, bringing with her supplies of arms and money, and accom- panied by several soldiers of fortune and others who were desirous of availing themselves of the opening afforded by the civil war. She became immediately the centre of a great Roman-catholic movement, at which the Earl of Newcastle connived, by express orders from the king. A great ' Papist army,' as it was called by the Puritans, was thus raised, with which Newcastle, who was now elevated a step in the peerage, threatened to overwhelm the small forces of the Parliament under the two Fairfaxes. This aggression on the part of the queen was deeply resented by the Parliament ; and of course religious feelings — some of them of a rather narrow kind — increased their indignation. They resolved no longer to regard Henrietta Maria as merely the consort of the sove- reign, but, since she herself had thus opeidy made herself a party in the contest, to hold her responsible in that relation. That they would have proceeded to extremities against her is not at all probable; their real object was to frighten her back again into the simple domestic relations from which she had so unwisely, though very naturally, departed. The northern gentlemen, of course, felt most injured by the in- road of the Catholic army on their properties ; and one of them, Mr. Henry Darley, of Yorkshire, moved in the House of Commons, on the 23rd of May, the impeachment of the queen for high treason. Votes to that effect were carried without a division. The impeachment was taken up to the Lords by Pym ; and the next day, on the motion of Marten, a committee was appointed to prepare the articles. The king retorted on the 20th of June, by declaring the Houses at Westminster to be not a free Parliament. Only three days 566 THE EARL OF ESSEX. before, the House of Lords liad voted for fresh propositions of peace to be presented to him by the Earl of Essex ; but of course this declaration, which was equivalent to a refusal to treat with the Houses of Parliament any more, put an end to this new peace movement. The fortune of war was now turning very decidedly in favour of Charles, and the popular cause had received its severest blow hitherto in the death of Hampden. The Earl of Essex had at last moved from the neighbourhood of Beading to Thame, ten miles from Oxford. Here he dis- persed his forces, with very little regard to their communica- tions one part with the other, and with less watchfulness over the movements of the enemy. The enterprising Prince Rupert availed himself of this neglect to sally forth in the night of the 1 7th of June, with about 800 horse, intending, D'Ewes tells us, to capture a convoy, which was carrying many thousand pounds from London to Essex's army. He missed his prey, owing to ' the care and diligence of a poor country- man, who gave the convoy notice where the king's forces lay.' Unwilling to return without striking a blow, Rupert, on the morning of Sunday the i8th, fell suddenly on two of the earl's regiments quai-tered at Wycombe, and before assistance could be brought, cut to pieces or. made prisoners of them all. Essex, on learning what had happened, set out to intercept the prince on his return ; and the van of the pursuers, under Hampden and Colonel Gunter, 'a. very valiant commander of the Pailiament side,' encountered Rupert at Chalgrave. In the conflict which ensued, ' Colonel John Hampden was shot in the shoulder, of which hurt he died, in or near Thame, on the night of Saturday,' the 24th of June. Rupert made good his retreat to Oxford, before the tardy Essex aiTived on the field. D'Ewes, though no admirer of Hampden, gives vent to his indignation at the * fatal improvidence of the earl.' The long delays after the surrender of Reading had given time, he teDs us, for the king's forces to recruit their spirits and obtain new supplies of men, money, arms, and ammunition from the north; ' whereas, it is most certain, that immediately upon the surrender of Reading, about 14C0 of the king's foot ran THE EARL OF ESSEX. 567 away, and the greater part of his horse was ready to mutiny ; so that, as some of them have since acknowledged, if the Earl of Essex had but advanced forwards at that time, the king's army would certainly have disbanded before they came up to them. But it is probable that most of the com- manders in the said earl's army desired not an end of the war, but a continuance thereof, receiving great and continual pay thereby ; so as in the issue the commonwealth must of necessity be exhausted and destroyed by exactions, oppres- sions, and payments, besides the plundering and other vio- lences of the armies.'* We have seen that Hampden was not one of those who counselled delay, and that he was deeply sensible of the dis- orderly conduct of the army. His associates in the House of Commons were well aware of this, and deeply resented his untimely death, through the carelessness of Essex. Pym appears in the heat of the moment to have lost sight of his usual motives of prudence, and penned a hasty letter to the earl, which was adopted in the House, and sent in its name, in which he said that the people began now to think it more safe to be under the command of the king^s army than under his. The earl's spirit took fire at this reprimand, and he replied on the 28th of June, expressing great discontent at their so ill-interpreting his service, he having hazarded both his life and fortune for them; and that therefore he should be willing to give up his charge, and see another man at the head of the army, to com- mand the same in his place. ' The hot spirits themselves,' says D'Ewes, ' were much troubled at these expressions, and thereupon Mr. Pym and Mr. Strode were appointed to with- draw to prepare an answer, to be sent by the Speaker to the said earl, for his full satisfaction ; and it might weU move divers to smile that Mr. Pym, who had broken my Lord-general's head by his former indiscreet letter, was now employed to prepare a plaister for it.'t It was necessary to conciliate Essex, as they could not yet find another to take his place ; and his influence was great, not only in the House • MarL MSS. 164, pp. 1032 a, b. t lb. 165, p. 1 2 16 A. 568 TBE EARL OF ESSEX. of Lords, but in the army itself, where he was familiarly known among the soldiers by the name of ' Old Robin/ The letter drawn up by Pym and Strode expressed the sorrow of the House at his Excellency's being discontented at the letter formerly sent him ; that they acknowledged his great worth and fidelity, and how he had hazarded his life and fortune for the service of the Parliament ; and that the former letter had not been written with any intent to reflect upon his Excel- lency's homitr. That never Parliament had been more care- ful for the payment of an army than they had been for the payment of that which his Excellency commanded ; that they desired him that the late Covenant or Protestation might be taken by the army, because it would give great satisfaction to the kingdom ; and that they had taken care for money to be speedHy sent to his Excellency, for the payment of the army. The whole letter was written, as D'Ewes considered, in far too submissive a tone, the word ' Excellency ' occurring at least twelve times in it. But Pym knew his man, and considered it necessary to avail himself thus of the weak point of his character— jealousy of any appearance of dis- respect—and thought a little sacrifice of dignity worth making for the sake of the greater interests at stake. In this view the majority of the House acquiesced, notwithstanding the opposition of Marten, who, of course, opposed any compro- mise, and urged that they should not refer again to the Protestation, as Essex had vouchsafed no notice of their former reference to it. Of course Pym did not escape from blame for his former very excusable indiscretion ; but ' our case being at this time desperate,' D'Ewes admits, ' if we should dis- please his lord=jhip and the army, we were fain to let it [the letter] pass without altering one word.'* On the 30th of June Essex addressed a letter to the Speaker of the House of Lords, in which he spoke of ' the unseasonableness of the weather and other accidents having prevented many things which he purposed to have attempted^ had God seen it fit ;' and therefore desired that some members I I •*.fi] THE EARL OF ESSEX. 569 of the two Houses might be sent down, ' that we may debate things of great necessity to be considered of,' and that so they might ^ receive full satisfaction of our condition.' The Earl of Holland and Lord Grey of Werk were accordingly named, and actually set out ; but on reaching Aylesbury were warned by Essex that the king's forces ' were abroad that way,' and so returned to London. On the 5th of July dis- astrous news reached London from the north. In the letter of Pym to Lord Holland, communicating the news of the seizure of the two Hothams, reference is made to Lord Fairfax having drawn out his forces into the field. On the 30th of June a battle took place between him and Newcastle, on Atherton Moor, near Bradford, in which the Fairfaxes were entirely defeated, and compelled to take refuge in HuU. Lord Fairfax was immediately appointed governor of that town by the Parliament, in a nobly written letter, condoling with him on his recent disaster, but expressing their sense of his past services and their confidence in his continued fidelity. Everywhere things looked very desperate for the Parliament at this time. Waller had been despatched into the west, with Hesilrige as his second in command, to endeavour to check the advance of Hopton, and retrieve the defeat of the Earl of Stamford. On the 22nd of June they wrote to the Speaker from Bath — the letter is in Hesilrige's handwriting — stating that Hopton was at Wells, but that the country near that town was so unfit for horse that they could not attack him. ^ It grieves our souls,' continues Hesilrige, ' that we dare not attempt what we desire. We must not hazard your trust like fools. Neither can we stay here and starve. We have long and often supplicated you for money. Find us but a way to live without it, or else we humbly beg a present supply. If not, this horse will certainly disband, which thought makes our hearts to bleed.'* On the 5th of July Waller fought a drawn battle near Bath, and on the 13th he hazarded another near Devizes. In this last engagement he was as entirely defeated as the Fairfaxes had been at Atherton * Sorl, MSS. 165, p. 1216 B. • Tanner MSS. 62, part i. pp. 128-9. 570 THE EARL OF ESSEX. Moor ; and, Kke them, on his return to London, was mag- nanimously thanked by the House, for his sendees and fidelity, on the 27th of July following. Between the dates of these two battles of Waller's, Essex, no longer under the wise guidance of Hampden, disgusted with his own want of success, and conscious of the ill-favour with which he was beginning to be regarded by the Parlia- ment, took it into his head, on the 9th of July, to write a most extraordinary letter to the Houses. In this, after stating that, his ^army being neither recruited with horses nor saddles, he could not move but with his whole force, which must be by slow marches, and with infinite injury to the peaceable inhabitants,' he went on to express a desire that, ^ if it were thought fit, they would send to his Majesty to have peace, with the settling of religion, the laws, and the liberties of the subject, and bringing to just trial those chief delinquents who have caused all this mischief to the kingdom; and that, if this do not produce a treaty, his Majesty may he desired to absent himself frmn the scene of contention, and both armies may be drawn up near the one to the other, that if peace he not concluded, it might be ended by the sicord P The House of Lords did not relish this strange proposal; and on the i ith of July, the same day that Essex's letter was read to them, resolved, ' after a serious debate,' that the Parliament should not offer to the king propositions or a petition, till he recalled the proclamation in which he declared them to be no free Parliament. In the Commons, Essex's letter having been read in the House, ' after a little silence, Mr. Pym stood up, and spoke in effect following: 'That though the Earl of Essex had done very nobly in advising us to send propositions of peace to his Majesty, yet we could not safely entertain the motion, because we had seen that all our offers of peace had been rejected by his Majesty, and our safety been also endan- gered by them ;' referring of course to the Tomkins and Challoner plot, which was matured under cover of the negoti- ation with the king, ' and therefore that there could be no good issue expected by going that way, being a way full of hazard and full of danger.' Sir Philip Stapylton, Essex's chief confidant in the House, spoke next, but ' much more THE EARL OF ESSEX. 571 faintly, for the furtherance of a treaty of peace,' says D'Ewes, ' than was expected ; nay, he spoke against it.' The day before, D'Ewes continues, ^he had exprefsed much vehemency to that end and purpose to some friends in private ; but it was conceived that both himself and Colonel Arthur Goodwin had been taken off by the Lord Saye, Mr. Pym, and some others.' Vane, with bitter sarcasm, next observed ^ that seeing we had neglected, upon the several messages of the Lords, to entertain the consideration of sending propositions to his Majesty, the Lord-general had done well to stir us up to it, although our fatherly care of the kingdom should have preceded his lordship's care. He also observed that the pur- port of his lordship's letter was, that if we would send pro- positions of peace to his Majesty, and they did not take effect, that then he Vould do his duty !' This roused Stapylton, who stood up again, 'and questioned him for those words, saying that he had implied that the Lord-general would not do his duty but upon a condition, which was a great injury to his lordship, who had so well deserved of the public, and hazarded both his life and fortune for the defence of the kingdom.' On this Vane stood up again, and said, ' that he was very sorry to be so interrupted before he had finished what he intended to say, for he had no thought of laying any aspersion upon my Lord-general, or implying that he would not do his duty but on a condition.' This ' parliamentary expla- nation' did not satisfy Arthur Goodwin, who again took exception to Vane's words, though he abstained from speaking in favour of a treaty of peace. A ane was therefore com- pelled to make a further apology ; and that part of Essex's letter having been read again in the House, the personal matter was allowed to drop. The debate then continued on the question of a treaty, some speaking for and some against it. At last the House was preparing to draw up an answer to the earl to satisfy him why they could not send propositions, when D'Ewes made one more effort to persuade them to a contrary course. ' I wondered,' he says, ' after I had spoken, that neither IMr. Pierrepont, Sir John Evelyn, Mr. Holies, or any other did second me, especially Mr. Pierrepont, who had promised me to speak. But I under- 572 THE EARL OF ESSEX. stood afterwards that these men expected that the Lords, wh had another letter from the Lord-general of the same nature, would have voted theisending propositions to the king, and so reserved themselves to speak to the whole matter when that vote had come down. But I, going awhile after out of the House, understood from John Holies, Earl of Clare, that the Lords had voted it negatively (there being nine to seven) that no propositions should be sent.'* A rough draft of the answer to Essex, drawn up by Pym, by order of the House, is among the Tanner MSS., in his own handwriting, and, as far as I can decipher it, is as follows : — May it please your Excellency, — Your letter of the ninth of July hath been read and taken into serious consideration in the House of Commons ; and by their direction I am commanded to return you this answer : That they rest satisfied with the narrative of your Excellency's proceeding's at Buckingham [mentioned?] in your letter, and enlarged by the relation of Sir Philip Stapylton and Colonel G(X)dwin. They much commend your tenderness of the miseries of the people of tliis kingdom, which are so great as caimot but make strong impressions of sorrow and compassion in all true English hearts. Such is the nature of war, as to be full of troubles and burdens, even to those for whose good it is undertaken. For various and peremptory necessities of an army, prevailing against all usual respects by consuming the provisions and spoiling the accommodations of par- ticular persons and places, must needs produce bitter etfects, not only to enemies but even to friends. And if such effects be sharp and heavy when they are put on by a gentle and compassionate hand, how much more grievous will they be when they proceed from the malice and fury of an enemy that delights in cruelty, that spoils not only for necessity or gain, but of purpose to consume and to destroy ! How many persons have been murdered, and tor- mented after a manner more cruel than murdering, in cold blood, against the law of armies, yea, against all principles of humanity and the law of nature ! How many towns have been fired without any necessity or reason of war, without any advantage to the actors of it, but only to satisfy their own bar- barous humour and the pleasure which they take in doing mischief! These considerations do justly w^ork in your Excellency an earnest desire to put an end to these miseries ; wherein the House fully concurs with you, having nothing in their affections more present, in their counsels more serious, in their endea- vours more constant, than that they might see these destructive calamities happily ended in such a peace betwixt the king and his subjects as might secure God's true religion, the king's honour and sovereignty, and their own liberty and properties. But that this may be obtained by any further propositions to his Majesty at this time, seems very improbable in their judgment, considering the hopeless answer they received from the king in the late treaty ; the manifold scorns and reproaches put upon them even during that treaty, and since, the public dis- claiming them to be a true Parliament ; the inhuman cruelties exercised upon ♦ ffarl, MSS. 165, pp. 1328 B, 1 229 A, 1230 A. / THE EARL OF ESSEX. 573 the people ; the prevailing power with his Majesty of those whose actions and counsels fully express them to be haters of religion and of the English nation. Much less do they hold it fit to invite his Majesty to a battle, though they believe they should receive a denial of that as well as the other. They see that those that govern the king's affairs, and manage this war on his part, do rather seek to undermine the Parliament with treason, than to overcome them by valour; they shew themselves more active and forwards in plundering and robbing of the naked people than in resisting and opposing of armed men. They have more hope by their outrages and injuries to make the subject weary of the war than by any gallant and magnanimous action to obtain a victory. It is not doubted, if God give your Excellency a fair occasion of a battle, but both you and the army will, as [you have always ?], shew yourselves such as to prefer the honour of the nation and success of the cause before your own lives. In the meantime the House will take care so to supply you with all necessaries, especially of horse and provision belonging to them, that you may be enabled to follow and restrain the enemy in his predatory excursions, as now you are ready to join with him in any honourable encounter. And I am to desire your Excellency to believe they will never desert you with their [countenance ?] or authority, but intend to observe a full and con- stant concurrence with you in all those ways which may make the war most easy to the people, advantageous to the cause, honourable to the army, bene- ficial to the kingdom, in keeping off that [influx ?] of popery, superstition, and slavery which are worse than the worst miseries of war, though imp[ressed ?]* and aggravated by the ferocity and cruelty of never so malicious and insolent enemies, and for procuring such a peace as may crown your labours and dangers with glory and blessings to the whole nation. Wliich shall ever be the prayers of, &c. (Indorsed, July xiii. 1643.— Signed by Mr. Speaker, in answer to a Letter from his Excellency of the 9th of July.')t The Earl of Essex was not the man to sit down quietly under young Vane's sarcasms; and accordingly, on the 13th of July, another letter from him, dated from Brickhill (Bucks), the preceding day, was read in the House of Commons, in which, after some general expressions of his care and readi- ness to obey the commands of the House in all particulars, he went on to say : 'I shall advance, God willing, at farthest, on Friday. I have often desired that a committee of both Houses might be sent to be a witness of our integrity to the service of the state, and must acknowledge the great favour both Houses shewed this army in appointing a committee to come down ; but then both armies being afoot, I thought it dangerous for their passage ; and not knowing how the great affairs of the kingdom may dispense with many from the service of the Houses, if it may stand with the convenience • Or * impelled.* t Tanner MSS. 62, pp. 1 68-9. \\ SI% THE EARL OF ESSEX. \ of the House of Commons, I shall entreat the favour that Sir Henry Vane the younger may he an eye-witness of our acHons, he being an inti?nate friend of mine, and who by his constati ^ car- nage in the Parliament, which hath gotten him a good reputation in all places, may be a true testimony of our actions, it being of liuge advantage to keep a good correspondence betwixt the Parliament and their servants the army. He is, besides, a man I put so much trust in, as that, if he pleaseth, I shall go hand in hand with him to the walls of Oxford P* ' All men/ says D'Ewes, after giving the purport of what I have extracted from the original MS., ' easily saw this letter to be spoken in a scoffing way, in respect that the said Sir H. V. had on Tuesday last taken some exception at the Lord- general's letter, when he mentioned peace -, yet few did ap- prove my Lord-general therein, in respect that he did strike at the foundation of the liberty and privilege of Parliament, if men might not be suffered to speak their minds, freely there. The said young Sir H. V. was not in the House at the time of the reading of the letter ; but old Sir Henry V., his father, was, and looked very blank at the present, and was the main cause, awhile after, that the further consideration of the letter was laid aside when his son came into the House.H Certainly, contrasted >vith Pym, neither Essex nor Vane shows to advantage in giving way to such childish recrimina- tions when interests so serious were at stake. On the 26th of July the cause of the Parliament received another severe blow in the fall of Bristol. Nathaniel Eiennes, who was governor of that city, either losing his presence of mind, or, as his friends afterwards alleged, finding the place quite untenable, surrendered it to Prince Rupert after only three days' siege. For this he was brought to a court- martial, condemned, but pardoned by Essex, on resigning all his military appointments. Fiennes went abroad, and re- mained there for the next two years. At the same time affairs assumed an ugly appearance in the eastern counties. The Marquis of Newcastle, after defeating the Fairfaxes, \ \ THE EARL OF ESSEX. 575 • Tanmr MSS. 62, part i. pp. 166-7. t Sari. MS8. 165, pp. 1231 a, b. pushed southwards upon Gainsborough; and after a check given to his vanguard by Cromwell on the 30th of July, blocked up the town, Cromwell being obliged to retire to gather reinforcements for its relief. While he was on his march back again with these, he learnt that Lord Willoughby of Parham had already surrendered Gainsborough to the enemy, and had retired upon Lincoln. This latter town also was immediately afterwards abandoned by Lord Willoughby, and the only town of importance in Lincolnshire which was left to the Parliament was Boston. This ill news coming in rapid succession, produced its effects in Parliament and the City of London. On the 2nd of August the House of Lords voted new propositions of peace, and on the fifth these were sent down to the Commons for their concurrence. That evening a hot debate ensued in the Lower House on the question of entertaining them, which was now carried in the affirmative by a majority of 94 to 6k ; and a proposition for their being taken into i?n?nediate con- sideration was only lost by a majority of two. The next day, being Sunday, the popular party had recourse to the London pulpits to rouse the disheartened spirits of the citizens, and to point out the folly and danger of offering propositions to the king, when he was thus triumphant in the field, and whilst his proclamation against the free agency of the Par- liament remained unrecalled. The Lord Mayor, Isaac Pen- nington, also exerted himself to the utmost to persuade the citizens to present an unflinching front to the storm ; and on the following day a numerously-signed petition against making proposals of peace at this conjuncture was brought down to Westminster by Pennington, attended by a vast multitude of excited partisans. The peace party in the Upper House availed themselves of this demonstration to vote that the assembling of the crowds in this manner in the vicinity of their House was a breach of privilege ; and then adjourned to the next day, with an intimation that they would adjourn again if necessary. On the same day Pym's party regained their ascendency in the Lower House, and a vote was passed by a majority of 88 to 81 against joining with the Lords in their petition to the king. The Commons added a request 7 \ 576 THE EARL OF ESSEX. that the Lords would not desert the defence of the kingdom. D'Ewes complains bitterly of these last votes, which he attri- butes to intimidation from the crowds without. That this may have been the case to some extent is probable ; but it is certain that the alleged violent behaviour of the citizens was exaggerated to serve as an excuse for an armed demonstration, which had been preparing on the part of the leaders of the majority in the House of Lords. It has been seen that Essex not long before had taken the initiative for peace ; but the Lords had declined to acquiesce. The Earl of Holland went down to him at Kingston a few days before the presentation of the London petition, with the sanction of the Earls of Clare, Bedford, and Northumberland, to endeavour to per- suade him to march his army nearer London, and second their applications to the Commons by a demonstration of physical force. Pym, however, gained information of this design, and took immediate measures to defeat it. On the 2nd of August the House of Commons, on his suggestion, passed votes in commendation of the Earl of Essex's fidelity and services, and for the immediate supply of his army. On the 29th of July Sir William Waller had been nominated, on a report by Glynne from the Committee of Safety, as general of a new army to be raised immediately for service in the west. Availing himself of this vote, Pym obtained another on the 3rd of August, appointing St. John, Strode, and Crewe to go down as a committee from the Commons to Kingston, and arrange with Essex about granting Sir William Waller a commission ; Pym himself was added to the number, the real object being, as D'Ewes tells us, ^ to turn' the Earl ' off from the propositions of peace.'* In this they completely succeeded ; for when, immediately after- wards, the Earls of Northumberland and HoUand again re- paired to him ' to complain of the violency and insolency of the rude multitude offered unto them the last week, and desired him to draw up his army nearer to them for their protection, the earl proved so dull and insensible of the breach of the privilege of Parliament, as that he proved ( •14 jr •I; THE EARL OF ESSEX 577 • Barl. MSS. 165, pp. 1 339 B, 1340 A. no way inclinable to satisfy their desires.'* The design of HoUand and Northumberland was, Clarendon teUs us ' for as many members of both Houses as were of one mind to have gone to the Earl of Essex, and there, under the security ot the army, to have protested against the violence which was oflFered, and to have declared their want of freedom by means of which they made no doubt to have drawn both Houses to consent to an agreement, or to have entered upon a treaty themselves with the king.' The defeat of this attempt to renew negotiations at so un- toward a moment was the turning-point of the war. The Peace party,' as they were called, abandoned their hopes of immediate success. On the 9th of August Denzil HoUes obtained leave from the House of Commons to go abroad • but on the nth this leave was revoked on the motion of Pym. The Earls of Bedford, HoUand, and Clare stole away and went to Oxford ; the Earl of Northumberland retired to his seat at Petworth. On the i6th Harry Marten was expeUed from the House for some expressions respecting the king and royal family. This marks the depression in the House of the extreme party as weU as the timid section who shrank from encountering the crisis. The main body of the popular party, under the guidance of Pym and St. John, proceeded to take active measures. The king's in- tentions after the taking of Bristol were for some little time uncertain, and it was at first feared he would move down on London. That city had been accordingly put into a state of defence. But Charles preferred laying siege first to the im- portant city of Gloucester, and everything depended on the fate of that garrison. Essex's army was rapidly reorganized and recruited. Pym himself went down again to the earl and on the 19th reported in the House that Essex would march to the reUef of Gloucester on the 23rd. The RoyaUsts counted on fresh delays, and felt certain of capturing the town long before the arrival of relief. But Gloucester, under the firm direction of Colonel Massey, held out stubbornly • and Essex, aa if inspired by the spirit of Pym, moved west- • Sari. MSS. 165, p. 1355 a. P P 578 THE EAKL OF ESSEX. />! THE EARL OF ESSEX. 579 t ward witli steady and unhesitating march. The Cavaliers hovered around him, but did not venture on an attack. On the 3rd of September, 1643— a ^^V ^^ *^® month destined to be very remarkable in future years— the siege of Gloucester was raised ; and then Essex, marching back as steadily as he had advanced, encountered the royal army at Newbury on the 20th of September, and obtained a partial success, which enabled him to continue his march. At Reading he was met by St. John at the head of a congratulatory deputation from the Parliament ; and three days afterwards the earl having arrived in London, was waited upon by both Houses in a body with their Speakers at their head, and again thanked and congratulated on his important service. Elsewhere also the tide began to turn again. Newcastle, who, instead of advancing southwards, had laid siege to Hidl, was entirely routed by Lord Fairfax in a sally made by the latter from that town on the nth of October. On the same day the Cavaliers were defeated at Homcastle in Lincoln- shire by Cromwell, acting under the orders of the Earl of Manchester, who on the 10th of August had been appointed to the command of the Associated Eastern Counties. At the beginning of November the Earl of Holland, dis- gusted at the cold reception he met with at Oxford, returned, and threw himself on the mercy of the Parliament, who passed over his offence. His example was followed a month or two later by the Earls of Bedford and Clare ; and the Earl of Northumberland, abandoning his former political connexion, reappeared, in the autumn of the year 1644, as one of the most decided of the party which then began to obtain the name of ' IxNdependent.' Several other peers also seceded from Oxford during this winter; and some commoners, among others. Sir Edward Deering, and afterwards Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, pursued the same course. The avowed ground of this change of sentiment in so many per- sons was the Cessation of a year concluded with the Irish rebels on the 15th of September, by the Earl of Ormond, on behalf of Charles. The ' Popish party ' was considered to be hopelessly in the ascendant in the royal counsels, and the waverers turned again to Westminster. I The king lost another adherent during these months in a different manner. At the battle of Newbury Lord Falkland, who, disgusted with his associates at Oxford, and despairing of peace, gladly sought the dangers of the battle-field, found the death which he coveted. On the other hand, and more than counterbalancing all these favourable omens of the ultimate success of the Parliament's cause, on the 8th of December John Pym died at Derby House, worn out by constant anxiety and toil for the public safety. His last great project had just been carried success- fully into effect. On the 3rd of May he had made and carried a motion, in spite of the opposition of Marten, for an application to the Scotch nation for aid against their com- mon opponents. On the 20th of July young Vane left for Edinburgh with three associates, to arrange the terms of the alliance; and on September the 25th, 1643, the accepted pledge of union and co-operation, the Solemn League and Covenant, was taken by the two Houses of Parliament. On the 19th of January, 1644, a Scotch army crossed the Tweed to the assistance of their fellow Puritans in England. From this time the jealousies and excessive self-appreciation of the Earl of Essex (renewed during the autumn"'^) were of less im- portance; and when the armies went into winter quarters, the prospects of the Parliament, though still doubtful, had ceased to be nearly desperate. * On the 29tli of August, Essex writes to Anthony NichoU, speaking of the troops who will join him on his march to Gloucester : * I shall not have Colonel Cromwell. . . . There is also a troop belonging to Sir Walter Erie's son-in-law, who had likewise command to march to this army ; but the cornet hath since carried that troop to Sir William Waller,' — then follows, in his secretary's hand- writing, and crossed through by Essex himself; but still legible, — * toho is in such favour, that I forbear to disturb him: — {Tanner MSS. 62, part i. pp. 309-10.) On the 7th of October Essex desired leave of the two Houses to deUver up his commission, and to go beyond seas, in regard of the commission to Sir William Waller, which was inconsistent with his, and of the many discouragements he had received in his office of general. To pacify this spoilt child, the Houses voted the same day that Waller should on all occasions receive his orders through the Lord-general, and Waller, who was present, declared his readiness to give up the commission objected to, and place himself under Essex's command. With this concession a committee of both Houses contrived to appease tor the time the earl's jealous discontent. p p 2 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 581 IX. LONG-MARSTON MOOR. THE month of January, 1644, was memorable for three important proceedings : the entrance of the Scotch army into England, to assist the English Parliament at West- minster; the meeting of an anti-Parliament at Oxford,* called by the Puritans, derisively, the ' Antlck-Vaxlisimeiit/ and by Charles himself, ungratefully, when he found it would not wholly countenance his arbitrary notions, a ^ Mongrel- Parliament / and the appointment of the Earl of Manchester to the undivided command of the army of the Associated Eastern Counties. The two last proceedings took place on the same day, January the 32nd. On that day, D'Ewes writes in his Journal, * During my absence, Cromwell stood up, and desired that the Lord Willoughby of Parham, who had commanded in Lincolnshire as serjeant-major-general of the forces there, might be ordered to stay here, and to go no more thither ; and that the Earl of Manchester might be made serjeant-major-general of that county, as well as of the other associated counties. That the Lord Willoughby quitted Gainsborough, when he was not far off, with forces to relieve him. That he quitted the city of Lincoln, &c., and left powder, match, and arms there, and seven great pieces, mounted, with all the carriages, which the enemy made use of against the Parliament's forces. That he had very loose and profane commanders under him,' of the conduct of one of whom he gave an instance. ' Sir Christopher Wray' said he had ' much ado to have patience to hear this out to the end. To cast dirt,' &c. on one ' who had so well deserved !' &c. ' Sir Arthur Hesilrige' moved ' to have Wray explain,' &c. See Appendix (A). 'Sir H. Vane,' Wray's 'son-in-law,' &c. would have 'all' personal matters 'passed by, and to save [the] commonwealth. Awhile after I came in, and the debate still held, and Sir Christopher Wray declared that the Lord Willoughby was resolved to go thither no more ; and so, in the issue, the House voted'* that 'his Excellency the Lord-general be desired to grant a commission to the Earl of Manchester, according to the ordinance of both Houses for the Seven Associated Counties, to be major-general of the county of Lincoln, and to command all the forces there, as well as of the Six Associated Counties. Mr. Nicholl is to present this vote. Sir Christopher Wray and Sir Anthony Irby have leave from this House to go into the country, and be absent fof a fortnight or three weeks.' In accordance with this vote, we find it noticed in one of the newspapers, under the date of Wednesday, the 29th of February, 1644, that ' the noble Earl of Manchester is now at Cambridge, tendering the National Covenant to all who are so happy to receive it. We cannot doubt the success of those commanders who begin with religion. It is his first endeavour to purge the university,' of which he had been appointed chancellor, 'and afterwards the laity; that so in none of his associated counties there may be any found who are either too devout or too averse against the Par- liament. He hath ordained Colonel Cromwell to he his lieu^ tenant-general, and Colonel Crafford [a hrave gentleman, and near in blood to the Lord Crafford, but of another temper in religion) to he his major-general. They are now uniting all their forces into one body, which will consist of 10,000 foot and 30CO horse and 2000 dragoons : neither is his army so formidable in number as exact in discipline ; and that they might be all of one mind in religion, as of resolution in the field, with a severe eye he hath looked into the manners of all those who are his officers, and cashiered those whom he found to be in any way irregular in their lives or disaffected to the cause. This brave army is our violets and primroses, the first-fruits of the spring, which the Parliament sends forth this year for the growth of our religion, and the re-implanting and flourish- ♦ Harl, MS8. 165, p. 280 B. 1 582 LONG-MARSTON MOOR, (/ LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 583 ing of this kingdom in the garden of peace and tmth/* The officer who is here called ' Crafford ' is well known in history as the opponent and accuser of Cromwell, and the stirrer up of strife between him and the Earl of Manchester. I am enabled to trace his antecedents very distinctly, and I find that there has been some confusion between him and another Crawford. The following (unpublished) letter of recommendation from the Parliamentary Committee at Edinburgh to the Speaker of the House of Commons, introduces him into the service of the Parliament in England. Sir,— This noble gentleman. Colonel Crawfor(l,t lately arrived here out of Ireland, from whence he was constrained to withdraw himself in regard he was nnsatisfied with the late proceedings in that kingdom, — and more particularly an oath which is there pressed upon all such as come out of that kingdom, as well as those that stay in the country, binding them to oppose the forces raised by the Parliament, was offered unto him ;— and besides the testimony of his own actions, which have spoken largely for him, he is recommended unto us by persons of very eminent quality and worth in this kingdom, as a man very well deserving, and hath upon all occasions shewed himself forward for our cause and our religion, in which he hath many times adventured his life, and now suffered the loss of his goods, of which he was robbed and despoiled at his departure. We have made bold to recommend him unto you as one that may be veiy useful and serviceable to the Parliament at this time, nothing doubting of his faithfulness in whatsoever he shall be employed in. And so wc cesise your further trouble, and rest Your humble servants, W. Abmyite, Tho. Hatches, Hen. Daelet, Rob, Goodwin, Edinb. Decemb. i8th, 1643. J Ri. Babwis, Rob. Fenwicke. The newspapers now supply us with a continuation of Craw- ford's proceedings. Under Saturday, February 3rd, 1644, we read that, ' there was one Colonel Craford, lately come from Ireland, brought before the Commons, and had thanks given him for the good service he hath done in the Protestant cause in Ireland. The said colonel declaring at the Commons' bar that^ by reason of the late horrid Cessation with the * Weekly Account, Feb. 29— March 6, 1644. On the i6th of February Cromwell was appointed one of the Committee of both Kingdoms, which was then constituted the executive authority for the conduct of the war and a&irs generally. t He himself spells his name * Crauford.* X Tanner MSS. 62, part ii. p. 463. I f II rebels, and the bringing over of the Protestant forces mto this kingdom, to fight against the Parliament, which for his part he could no ways in conscience subscribe to, though much urged, he was compelled to desert that kingdom and fly hither for safety ; he further offering to make some dis- covery to the House of the miserable effects of that horrid Cessation, and how active some great ones are in that king- dom that bear sway in the managing of affairs for the Pro- testants, to bring that kingdom to desolation by discouraging the Protestants and encouraging the rebels ; whereupon the Commons, for the more punctual discovery of this business, appointed a committee to take his full examination.'* The effect of Crawford's appointment to the Earl of Man- chester's army was soon seen ; and is thus described by his fellow-countryman and advocate Principal Baillie, in a letter to a Mr. David Dickson : ' Manchester himself, a sweet meek man, permitted his lieutenant-general, Cromwell, to guide all the army at his pleasure. The man is a very wise and active head, universally well-beloved, as religious and stout. Being a known Independent, the most of the soldiers who loved new ways put themselves under his command. Our countryman Crawford was made major-general of that army. This man proving very stout and successful, got a great head with Manchester, and with all the army that were not for sects.'t The name of this Major-general Crawford has been hitherto supposed by modern historians to have been ' Skeldon' This, however, can be demonstrated to be a mistake, his name being really ' Laurence.' Anthony a Wood, in his Athence Oxonienses, gives a summary of the life of the major-general, which I cannot do better than extract. ' I find one Laurence Crafford, the sixth son of Hugh Crafford (of the same family. • A Perfect Diurnal of some Passages in Parliament, &c. Jan. 29 Feb. tj, 1644. t i.u /: • t There is a curious passage in a letter of Crawford's of March lOth, 1O44, in Sir Samuel Luke's Letter-Book, vol. i. p. 13 b. {Egerton MSS. Brit. Mus 78n), which illustrates well his ardent zeal for the Covenant : * ^oble bir,— 1 do humbly thank vou for your noble favours in putting of my desire in execu- tion, which was t^ know of your prisoners if they would take the Covenant, which hath much satisfied me.' 584. < • LOXG-MAKSTON MOOB. which is noble, of Kilboume), to have been born in his father's castle at Jordan-hill, near Gloscow, in Scotland, on the cal. of Nov. t6ii, and to have received some education in Gloscow. Afterwards, it appears that he went beyond the seas, and served in the wars for eleven years under Gus- tavus and Christianus, kings of Swedeland, in Germany ; and afterwards, for the space of three years, he was a protribune of horse under Charles Lewis, Elector-palatine. In 1641 he was sent into Ireland by the Parliament of England to ^ght against the rebels, where he served in the quality of a tribune for two years ; and in 1643 ^^ was sent for from thence by the Parliament of England, and made le^atns secundum under Edward Earl of Manchester, and afterwards in the Scotch expedition. At length, when the Scots besieged Hereford, he was killed by a bullet shot from the works on the 17th of August, 1645, aged 34 years; whereupon his body being carried off to the city of Gloucester, it was buried there in the large chapel at the east end of the choir called our Lady's chapel, within the cathedral there ; and soon after had a very fair monument set or fastened on the north wall near to his grave, containing the proportion of a man to the middle (or the bust of a man) in white marble, with a short staff in his right hand ; which monument continidng in its lustre till after the restoration of K. Ch. 2, it was then ordered to be plucked down by the bishop, dean, and prebends. This Laurence Cratford seems to be the same person with Colonel Crafford before-mentioned, who, I think, was governor of Aylesbury in Bucks for a time.'* I give in a note the inscrip- tion which existed on his tomb in Gloucester cathedral, from which Anthony h Wood seems to have drawn his account.f • Wood's AthencB Oxon. (ed. by Blisse), vol. i. pp. viii. k. t [In Gloucester Cathedral]. 'Laurentii Craffordii Gen.-Mag. Scoto-Brit. quod mortale fuit immortali- tatem redivivam hie expectat. Filius fuit Hugonis Craftbrdii JordanhilU (ex nobih famih& Kilbernia), nascendi ordine sextus; a prima pubertate causam Palatinatam amplexus annos xi. Gustavo & Xtian» Suecorum Regibus in Ger- mam4 militabat. Caroli Ludovici Elect. Palat. auspiciis, turmis aliquot equitum protribunus triennio imperavit. Anno 1641. adversus Rebelles Hybernenses missus biennio Tribunus res magnas gessit pari fortitudine et fide commendatus. Anno 1643 a ParUamenti AngHci ordiuibus evocatus primum in comitis Man- I !/ ■:(' LONG MARSTON MOOR. 585 Baillie, in another of his letters, speaks of the major- general as 'our countryman Crawford, JordanhilU s hrother ;' and the major-general himself, in his letter from which I have given a quotation, and some other signatures as one of the council of war, subscribes himself ' L. Crauford,' writing the C over the L. The mistake about his name has arisen from a passage in one of Baillie's letters, compared with another in Denzil Holies' Memoirs, In the former, the Scotch principal, referring with some bitterness to the accoimts of the battle of Marston Moor, which ascribed all the success to Cromwell, says, ' Skeldon Crawford, who had a regiment of dragoons in that [the left] wing, upon his oath assured me,' &c. ; and retails an accusation of cowardice against Cromwell. In Holies' Memoirs this story is told much more at length, on the authority and personal knowledge of the major-general. In Baillie's letter, however, the story is not told as by an eye- witness, but in a general manner. Major-general Laurence Crawford commanded Manchester's/(?(9^ in the battle ; but at the extreme point of the left wing was a body of Scotch dragoons ; and in the list of the Scotch army who entered England, I find among the ofiicers of dragoons a ' Lieutenant- cestriae deinde in Scotorum exercitu legatus 2du8 sen Generalis Major, biennio fere rebus maximis cum summa fide et virtute gestis gloriam meritus immortalem. 17 Aug. 1645, dum Herefordiam acrius oppugnat plumbea tnyectus occubuit Bonis nimirum desideratus. ^tat. Ann. 34. Natus est in arce paterna Jordanhilla prope Grascuum in Scotia. Nov. cal. 161 1. Quos tibi maturos mors invidisset honores Cui titulos tantos prima juventa dedit Pelides sic ante diem sic occidit Hector, Quamlibet ignavi ssecula lenta trahant. To vindicate rights human and divine^ The crown of Sweden and Palsgrave of the Rhine, And both the British senates having serv'd. With honour gained and faithfullness preserv*d, Thepublick interest pleading with his sword. He difed before the walls of Hereford.* [On a gravestone on the floor.] * Here lyeth interred the Hon. Maj.-Gen. Lau. Crawfijrd, first Major-general to the E. of Manch., next Maj. -general to the Scotts' army, who dec. i6 [17] Aug. at Hereford, and is now here interred this 5 of Sept. 1645.* — MS. Bowles, in Le Neve's Monumenta Anglicana, vol. i. pp. 2 20- 1. If h 586 LONG-MARSTON MOOB. colonel Crawford/ This is, no doubt, the ' Skeldon Crawford' of Baillie's letter, probably either a brother or some other relation of Laurence Crawford, and hence naturally enough deriving from him the story of Cromwell's misbehaviour. During the month of February Oliver Cromwell had been occupied convoying ammunition to Gloucester ; and on the 4th of March, in conjunction with Crawford, had taken several fortified houses, among others ' Hilsden House' in Buckinghamshire, in which they found Sir Alexander Denton, a deserter from the Parliament at Westminster * Already the discord between the second and third in command manifested itself; and we possess a copy of a letter of Cromwell's to Crawford, in the handwriting of the latter, for the use of Manchester in his subsequent accusation against Crom- well, in which the major-general is admonished for his intolerance. On the loth of March Oliver was again in Cambridge; on the 23rd the Earl of Manchester's army set out for Lincolnshire, and on the 6th of May took the town of Lincoln by storm. From their successes in these parts, however, they were now summoned to a gi-eater under- taking and a more serious conflict. In the west and south of England Waller had obtained some advantages over Hopton and the Royalists during the winter, and had taken and given up to plunder the town of Winchester; to which last proceeding he afterwards attri- buted, as a Divine judgment, his ill-fortune in the succeeding year. In January Sir Thomas Fairfax entirely routed, and nearly destroyed, at Nantwich, a large body of Irish troops who had been brought over under cover of the Cessation, and who under Lord Bjrron, governor of Chester for the king, were pushing hard Sir William Brereton, the commander for the Parliament in that quarter. Meanwhile the Marquis of New- castle had hastened northwards to defend the town of that name against the Scots ; but the latter, leaving a force to maintain the siege, pushed on to Sunderland, Newcastle's forces hanging on their march. The Fairfaxes took advan- tage of the marquis' absence to attack Colonel Bellasis, whom Newcastle had left behind in command in Yorkshire. On the See letter. Appendix (B). f I i m LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 587 nth of April the Royalists were routed at Selby, and Bellasis made prisoner with nearly the whole of his forces. On hearing this disastrous news, the marquis evacuated Durham, and fell back on York, pursued by the Scots. On the 20th of April the latter joined the army of the Fairfaxes at Tadcaster, and the city of York was invested by them on two sides. But the marquis having a large cavalry force, and possession of a bridge over the river Ouse, so that he could attack the Roundheads at advantage, if they divided their forces further, they resolved to send to the Earl of Manchester to assist in the leaguer. The earl obeyed the summons at once ; and leav- ing his cavalry to protect the country against Goring and Lucas, who with some of Newcastle's cavalry threatened the Association, he pushed on with his foot from Lincoln to Gainsborough ; and thence into the Isle of Axholm, and so to Thorn and Selby ; and on the 3rd of June quartered his men ^ before Bowden-bar, and that side towards Clifton.'* Manchester's horse soon rejoined him, and the city of York was more closely invested, but the north side still remained open. After an attempt to storm near St. Mary's church, which failed, Sir Thomas Fairfax tells us, through the self-suf- ficiency of Crawford, the siege was converted into a blockade. The city had been besieged for nearly three months, and its provisions were getting very scarce, when on Friday, the 28th of June, news arrived of the advance from the south- west of Prince Rupert with a numerous army. The leaders of the besieging armies remained for a day or two in their old positions, hoping to receive intelligence of the advance of auxiliary forces from the midland counties and Cheshire, under the Earl of Denbigh and Sir John Meldrum. Should these join them in sufficient time, they intended to continue the siege with a part of their forces, and with the rest give battle to the prince. But letters now arrived from the earl and Sir John that they could not be at Wakefield, twenty miles short of York, until Wednesday night ; and on Monday, • The same day Sir Francis Wortley was taken prisoner by the Roundheads in Walton House near Wakefield ; and that night Mr. Henry Darley, who signed Crawford's letter of recommendation, was surprised in his bed by a party of horse from Scarborough under the renegade Sir Hugh Cholmeley, and carried ^way prisoner to that town. 588 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. Kmuresio-raagh Ma^rsl^ .li^iy-ifort^it TVeiigriy Seate MAP TO ILLUSTBATE THE MOVEMEKTS BEFORE AWB Af TEB LOHG-MAB8TON BATTLE. the 1st of July, intelligence came that Rupert, with all his troops, was marching from Knaresborough towards the leaguer ; * whereupon, conceiving themselves unable to keep the siege and fight with him also, and supposing it the safest to fight with their whole strength united,' the Parliamentary generals drew off all their forces from before the city, and, on the same Monday morning, marched westward, and con- centrated them on the moor which extended from the Ouse river southwards for upwards of six miles, between Poppleton, Redhouse, Monckton, and Long-Marston, and was called, in its various parts, Ouse, Hessey, or Long-Marston Moor. ' You will easily believe,' says Mr. Simeon Ash, chaplain to the Earl of Manchester, ' that there was much joy and many manifestations thereof in the city, upon removing of the forces which had so long begirt it ; and truly many of our LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 589 hearts were oppressed with heaviness, looking upon this pro- vidence as speaking divine displeasure against us. In the afternoon of that day the armies were set in battalion, and the soldiers were again full of joy, expecting to have a battle with the enemy, being assured by their scouts that the prince with all his forces would pass towards York that way.' But Rupert, having heard of their intention to force him to an engagement before his junction with Newcastle, disappointed them by a masterly movement northwards, and, while a party of his horse faced them on the moor (having a bridge in their rear to secure their retreat), marched to Boroughbridge, and crossing over Thornton bridge, placed the Ouse between himself and his opponents. The Earl of Manchester, fore- seeing the possibility of some such movement, had ordered the construction of a bridge of boats at Poppleton, nearer to York, and had left a regiment of dragoons to guard it, in- tending to make use of it to pass his army over in case of the Royalists marching towards the city by the north side of the river. But, owing probably to the want of sufficient co-operation between the three generals, Manchester's men were left unsupported, and without information of the prince's near approach. Rupert, therefore, in his mai'ch along the northern bank of the Ouse, coming suddenly upon them, beat them away and seized upon the bridge. The generals were now unable to prevent his entrance into York, for the bridge they had built on the west side of the city was 80 weak, that they durst not venture to transport their armies upon it.* The prince quartered his foot and ordnance there- abouts, and in the forest of Galtre, about five miles from York, not suffering them to go to that city, but keeping it in his power to enter thither with his whole army when it should be to his advantage, and to give and receive supplies as there should be cause. He then approached the city himself with 2000 horse ; and the Marquis of Newcastle immediately sent some persons to attend his Highness and invite him into York, there to consult together, and gain so much time as to * I have given here and throughout the description of the operations as much as possible in the words of the original authorities. 590 LONG-MARSTON MOOK. open a port for the marquis to mareli forth with the foot and cannon that were in the city, to join with the prince's forces. Upon this sad and unexpected disappointment to the Par- liamentary soldiers, our hearts, says Mr. Ash, were filled with sorrow; and the night drawing on, the foot-soldiers marched into the village of Long-Marston,* about seven miles from York, where very few had the comfort of either convenient lodging or food. The soldiers drank the wells dry, and then were obliged to make use of puddle- water ; most of the horse quartered on the moor, and the generals and field-officers met in earnest debate. They were divided in opinion what to do, the English being for fighting, the Scots for retreating, to gain (as they alleged) both time and place of more advantage, the prince's army being now swollen to a considerable size. The latter counsel prevailing, early the next morning (July 2nd) the armies were set in motion. A party of the Royalist horse having again faced them awhile, and then wheeled back out of sight, it was conjectured that Rupert was attempting to engage their attention while with the main body he marched southwards, cutting ofl^ their provisions, and bursting into Lincolnshire and the Associated Counties. It was therefore resolved to march five or six miles in a southerly direction, towards Tadcaster and those parts, • The village answers literally to its name, consisting of one street of about a mile in length. The villagers would seem, if their own tradition is to be trusted, to have been previously in a blissful state of ignorance as to the nature of the great conflict going on in their native country. The story at Marston is, that a true son of the soil, pacing peacefully over his familiar sods, was accosted by a soldier, who, in the authoritative tone so alarming to civilians, demanded * Whom he was for, king or Parliament ? *—* Whaat ! has them two fallen out, then ?' is said to have been the naim reply of our Marstonian. Further tradition sayeth not ; but my informant was of opinion that, excepting a conviction of a battle having taken place there, few of the villagers of Marston in the present day had advanced beyond the knowledge of the Civil War possessed by the vil- lager of 1644. Although her own ancestor (of the name of Acomb) was con- stable of Marston at the time of the battle, and she herself had a very accurate traditionary knowledge of the localities of the struggle, all the special knowledge which had descended to her from that important functionary was that his oxen were pressed by one side or the other into the service of dnigging the ordnance ; that one of the cattle was killed by a shot while in the harness ; and that, when they wished to stop to extricate the dying animal, the order came ' Push for- ward!' Such are the incidents which live in memory, while the more im- portant facts of history are buried in hopeless oblivion. LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 591 whence they could not only safeguard the forces from Cheshire and the midland counties, but prevent the appre- hended incursion into the eastern counties ; and also, by a bridge of boats near Cawood, which would re-establish com- munications between the two sides of the river, stop the prince from furnishing York with provisions out of the East or West Ridings, and so in time necessitate him to draw out and fight. The Scots were in the van, followed by the English foot and all the artillery ; while Sir Thomas Fairfax, Cromwell, and David Leslie brought up the rear with 3000 horse and dragoons. But they had again mistaken the in- tentions of Rupert, for nothing was further from his wishes than to avoid a general engagement. That same morning the Marquis of Newcastle went to wait upon the prince, where, after some conferences, he declared his mind to the prince, desiring him not to attempt anything as yet upon the enemy, for he had intelligence that there was some discontent between them, and that they were resolved to divide them- selves, and so raise the siege without fighting ; besides, he expected, within two days. Colonel Clavering with about 3000 men out of the north, and 2000 drawn out of several garrisons. But the prince answered, that he had a letter from his Majesty with a positive and absolute command to fight the enemy, which, in obedience and according to his duty, he was bound to perform.* * It has been usually decided that Rupert was justified in his conduct by a positive command from Charles to fight the Parliamentarians. But this is hardly borne out by the contents of the letter. It is dated from Ticknell on the 14th of June, and after some remarks of no moment proceeds : * If York be losfy I shall esteem my crown little less, unless supported by your sudden march to me, and a miraculous conquest in the south, before the effects of the northern power can be found here ; but if York be relieved, and you beat the rebel armies of both kingdoms which are before it, then, but otherwise not, I may possibly make a shift (upon the defensive) to spin out time until you come to assist me : wherefore, I command and conjure you, by the duty and afiection which I know you bear me, that (all new enterprises laid aside) you immediately march (ac- cording to your first intention) with all your force to the relief of York; but if that be either lost, or have freed themselves from the besiegers, or that for want of powder you cannot undertake that work, you immediately march with your whole strength to Worcester, to assist me and my army ; without which, or your having relieved York by beating the Scots, all the succ^ses you can after- wards have, most infallibly, will be useless to me/ Now, although there is a slight ambigiiity in the terms of the letter, it is quite clear that the object aimed 592 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 'I This letter Rupert took care not to produce ; and its exist- ence was evidently not credited by the marquis, who replied, however, that he was ready and willing, for his part, to obey his Highness in all things, no otherwise than if his Majesty was there in person himself; and although several of his Mends advised him not to engage in the battle, because the command was taken from him, he replied that, happen what would, he would not shun to fight, for he had no other ambition but to live and die a loyal subject to his Majesty. Battle was therefore resolved upon; and after the recon- noissance made by the body of horse before mentioned, the prince, perceiving that the Parliamentary forces were retreat- ing from their positions, at about 9 o'clock of the morning drew over a great part of his troops by the bridge which he had surprised the night before, and by a ford near it, and marching after his enemy with about 5000 horse and dra- goons (his foot following more leisurely), entered on the moor near the village of Long-Marston, and came close up to the rear of their carriages. The Scots were already within a mile of Tadcaster, and the Earl of Manchester's foot were two or three miles beyond Marston, when there came a very hot alarum from Sir Thomas Fairfax that they must hasten back with all the speed they possibly could make ; for the prince's army, horse and foot, were upon their rear, and likely to throw them into some disorder; that he hoped, however, by the advantage of the ground he was on, to make it good till they came back. It would appear that Fairfax and the cavalry had quitted the moor and were on some fields of grain rising above it, and separated from it by a ditch ; for we meet with no account of a struggle for the possession of the moor, which would hardly have been yielded ftt by Charles waa the relief of York, and that beyond any engagement necessary to the accomplishment of that object, no other was enjoined upon the prince ; nay, rather there was the intimation of a desire that he should, in case of the relief of York being achieved, march southwards to join in the movements of the king himself. But Rupert caught eagerly at the mention in the letter of an engagement, and could not endure to have this anticipated honour dashed from his lips at the moment of possession. He therefore passed over in silence the conditions laid down in the letter, and eflfectually prevented any more correct interpretation of its contents by merely giving his own statement of its sub- stance to the marquis, without producing the letter itself for his inspection. LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 593 by Fairfax without such. The Parliamentary foot instantly began to return, their horse in the meantime facing the prince's foot, which were drawn up ' so close to their noses ^ that they were unable to re-occupy any part of the moor. ' Hope of a battle,' says Mr. Ash, ' moved our soldiers to return merrily, which also administered comfort unto all who belonged to the army.' But before the foot could get back, the prince's army had come up in such numbers as to secure themselves in the entire possession of the moor,^ so that the Parliament's generals had abandoned to their oppo- nents a most advantageous ground, and exposed themselves to all the risks of an unequal engagement while their army was in line of march. As the Parliamentary horse and foot came up they were formed in battalia along the south side of the moor, on the rising ground covered with fields of grain, called, from the village near them, ' Marston fields.' The height of the corn, together with some showers of rain which then fell, proved no small inconvenience to the soldiers, as did the narrowness of the fields ; though these inconveniences were partly compensated by their having the advantage of the sun and wind and being on the higher ground. In the meantime the prince and the Marquis of Newcastle con- ferred with several of their officers about the drawing up of their forces, and there were many disputes concerning the advantages their enemies had ; and discovering that near a * * Marston Moor,* says a newspaper of the time, * is within four miles of Bramham Moor, where Mother Shipton prophesied a great Jaattle would be fought ;' — a very creditable approximation to true prophecy on the part of that ancient woman. The reader who wishes to visit the locality of the battle should start from York by the railway from that city to Knaresborough, and get out at the Marston station. He will then be between two and three miles to the north of Long-Marston village, and on a portion of Ouse Moor. Turning south- wards (to the left if he come from York) from the station, he will enter on a road which will conduct him to the village in nearly a direct line. This lane is skirted by patches of moorland, and runs between fields which seem nearly equally loth to abandon their old character. To the left he ^ill see a road leading to Hessey, which gave its name to the contiguous part of the moor ; on his right he will, after a short walk, see before him the part called Marston Moor. This was en- closed in fields some seventy or eighty years ago, and most of it is now covered with grain. A small patch, however, still preserves its natural aspect, and forms the termination of a lane called * Moor-Lane,* of which I shall have to speak presently. QQ 594 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. rye hilF in front of the moor, which was occupied by the Parliament's cavalry, there was a place of great advantage where they would have both the sun and wind of the latter, they advanced thither a regiment of Red-coats and a party of horse 3 but these were repulsed and the place covered by the Parliament's wing. The morning and afternoon of the and of July were spent in drawing up the two armies. A deep ditch and hedge ran along in front of the king's forces, and were Hned with four brigades of their musketeers. The Eoyal army spread themselves along the moor in a great many small bodies, extending, as it was calculated, for about two miles in length ; Rupert's forces forming on the right, and the Marquis of Newcastle's on the left. Their left wing, which 'rested on some broken ground covered with gorse,' consisted of 4000 horse (with reserves), com- manded by our old acquaintance George Goring, general of Newcastle's cavalry, and under him Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Lucas and Sir John Hurrey, who had already changed sides twice during the war. The right was under the command of Rupert himself,t and consisted of about » * Now marked by some clumps of trees.' — ( Warbnrton's Rupert and the Cavaliers, vol. ii. p. 454.) One tree alone now remains (Sept. 1852) ; part of the hill is still a * great rye-field.' t Tlie late Mr. Warburton, in his Memoirs of Rupert and the Cavaliers, places Rui^ert on the left wmg of the Royalist army ; and in a note quotes, as his authority for so doing, Whitelocke, Fairfax's Memorials, ' and the event.* Throwing aside the last as hardly partaking of the nature of a legitimate argu- ment, I cannot see any reason for departing from the evidence of nearly every narrative of the battle except Whitelocke's ; for Fairfax does not say any such thing, entering into no such particulars ; and elsewhere in a MS. note to the account of the battle in Fuller's Worthies he says definitely that he was opposed to Goring. Whitelocke's Memorials is no authority on such a point. Scoutmaster Watson, who was one of Cromwell's officers in the letl wing, distinctly states, in two letters to friends (given in the newspapers and D'Ewes' Journal), that Rupert in person was opposed to Cromwell j and his account of the battle has been adopted by Rushworth in his Collections, thus receiving the sanction of one who was afterwards Fairfax's secretary, and who must have been in constant intercourse with the men of Marston Moor, and possessed every opportunity of ascertaining the truth. Ludlow states the same, and Mr. Warburton himself complains of a letter of Lord Bigby to Gk)ring (which he inserts), in which the former writes, * Noble general, a^i we owe yoti all the good of the day in the northern battle,' &c.—(J2«joer/ and the CaraW.?, vol.ii.p.475.) The notes to Rupert's Biary, by his chaplain (quoted by Mr. Warburton, vol. ii. p. 468), would naturally lead to the same conclusion. The Duchess of Newca^stle, in her Memoirs of her husband, written under his eye, says positively, * the left wmg, in the meantime. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF LONG-MARSTON MOOR. f ROYAL ARMY. »^- Ordnance. t t t t t t (Beaerve.) Irish Foot Tinder Tillier and Bellasia. RIGHT WING (5000 Horse), under Pbinob Rupert. Horse Regiment under Lord Grandison. Newark Horse, Irish Horse, Rupert's Life- Guards, under Lord Byron. under Sir R. Crane. Ordnance. t t t t t t {Reserve.) Blue Regiment. MAIN BATTLE (Foot), under General King. Rupert's Reg*' (O'Neil.) Porter's Div. Newcastle's (Col. J. Russell.) White-Coats. Ordnance. t t t t t t {Reserve.) LEFT WING (4000 Horse), under General Goring. S __ "" "" g Lucas' Horse, g* The 'King's old Horse,* g* under Hurrey. — — — i" — — . — ^ PARLIAMENT'S ARMY. LEFT WING (Earl op Manchester's Armt), UNDER Lieut. -Gen. Cromwell. Scotch Dragoons, 5000 English Horse. Three Brigades Colonel FrizealL (Lieu*-Gen»- Eastern Counties Cromwell.) Foot. (Maj^'-Gen^' — — — — Crawford.) Three Regiments of Scotch Horse, under Gen*- David Leslie. Ordnance. 4- + + + + + MAIN BATTLE (Scotch Foot), under Lieut.-Gen. Baillib. Earl of Cassilis' Reg** Kelhead's Reg*- Earl of Lindsay's Reg*- Lord Maitland's Reg*- Regiments of E''-of Dunfermline. Earl of Loudon. Earl of Buccleugh. Edinburgh. Gen** Hamilton. Lord Cowper. A Brigade of Manchester's Foot. (Earls of Manchester and Leven, and Lord Furfax.) {Reserve.) Ordnance. 4. + 4. + + + RIGHT WING (Lord Fairfax's Armt). Fairfax's Foot. Fairfax's Horse (80 Troops), _r under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Colonel Lambert. Scotch Lancers under Earl of Earl of Lord Dalhousie. Eglintoun. Balgonie. Two Brigades of Scotch Foot. {Reserve.) Ordnance. 4- 4- -I- -I- 4- -I- ( To face page 595 . ) PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF LONG-MAESTON MOOR. Ordnance. t t t t t t {Reserve.) Irish Foot under Tillier and Bellasia. RIGHT WING (5000 Horse), under Pbinoi Rdpebt. Horse Regiment under Lord Grandison. ^1 Newark Horse, Irish Horse, Rupert's Life-Gusrds, vr* under Lord Byron. under Sir R. Crane. \ LEFT WING (Earl of Manchester's Armt), UNDER Lieut. -Gen. Cromwell. Scotch Dragoons, 5000 English Horse. Three Brigades Colonel Frizeall. (Lieu»-Gen»- Eastern Counties CromweU . ) Foot. (Maj'-Gen'- mmm ^ MM •— Crawford.) Three Regiments of Scotch Horse, under Gen*- David Leslie. Ordnance. 4- + + 4. 4- + LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 595 5000 picked horse, drawn up in twelve divisions containing a hundred troops. They were made up by the Newark horse and Irish Catholics, under Lord Byron, and ' Rupert's own brigade of cavalry (including his troop of life-guards, under Sir Richard Crane, who formed the van to the prince's own regiment in every charge^), backed by a horse regiment, under the Lord Grandison : a body of Irish foot, led by Major-general Tillier and Colonel Bellasis, acted as a reserve behind this wing. The centre, composed of foot, were under the command of Lieutenant-general James King, a Scotch commander, of very doubtful military reputation, and who had been lately raised by Charles to the title of Lord Eythyn or Itham. The right of this body was composed of Rupert's regiment of foot under O'Neil ; the left, of ' the Marquis of Newcastle's gallant brigade of his own tenantry,' styled ' Whitecoats.' Between these was a di\ision of infantry, commanded by Major-general George Porter. The reserves were a body of foot, called the Blue Regiment. The army was supported by twenty-five pieces of artillery ranged along the whole line, and particularly on either wing. On the Parliament's side, the Earl of Leven and the other two generals hastened from place to place to put their forces in battle array, their pioneers endeavouring to get groimd to commanded by those two valiant persons, the Lord Goring and Sir Charles Lucas [her own brother], having the better of the enemies' right wing, which they beat back most valiantly three times, and made tlieir general retreat, insomuch that they sounded victory.* The royal newspaper, Mercurius AulicuSy also states * the horse on both sides were outdone by the foot, except his Highness' left wing of horse, commanded by General Goring, Sir Charles Lucas, and Major-general Porter, which .ibsolutely routed the enemies' riffhi wing both of horse and foot.' — (Kinfs Pamphlets, small 4to. p. 167.) The Scotch account of the battle, by Captain Stewart (ibid, small 4to. p. 164), also makes Lucas and Goring the commanders of the victorious left wing, and places Rupert opposite to Cromwell. So Mrs. Hutchinson, in her life of her husband, agrees in this position of Rupert. Sir Henry Shngsby, also, a Royalist who was present, says, * The prince's horse had the ri^ht wing, my Lord Goring the left. Cromwell having the left wing, came to charge our horse, and upon their first charge routed them ; yet our left wing pressed as hard upon their ri^ht wing, and pursued them over the hill.' — {Diary, pp. 112-13.) 'ITiis amount of testimony is, I think, overwhelming; and I should have passed the matter over in silence, were it not that Mr. Warburton's general correctness, and the great ability which he displayed in his interesting volumes, rendered some notice of this error necessary. qq2 596 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. extend the wings of the anny to a convenient distance, which it was very difficult to attain. The right wing was placed just by the village of Long-Marston, the village being on their right hand, and the army fronting towards the east. The utmost point of their left wing extended to Tockwith (a vil- lage to the north, west of Marston) ; so that the whole army fronted Long-Marston Moor from Marston to Tockwith, a distance of a mHe and a half. The wings of the king's forces, drawn up just under them, extended rather further on both sides than the line of their opponents ; but the flanks of the latter were protected by the hedges and a party of Scotch dragoons under Colonel Frizeall. The Parliament's troops, when at length drawn up, spread themselves along the rising ground in the following order. Close to the village of Long- Marston lay their right, consisting of Lord Fairfax's army. The extreme point on the right was composed of soine 5000 cavalry, drawn up in eighty troops, and commanded in chief by Sir Thomas Fairfax. This comprised his EngHsh horse under Colonel Lambert, backed by three regiments of Scotch horse under the Earls of Dalhousie and Eglinton and the Lord Balgonie (Leven's eldest son). Next came Fairfax's English foot— the men of Yorkshire and the northern conn- ties— with two brigades of Scotch foot as a reserve. The middle centre was occupied by the Earl of Leven's Scotch foot under his lieutenant-general, John Baillie; the van being composed of the Earl of Lindsay and Lord Maitland's regiments on the right, and those of the Earl of Cassilis and Douglas of Kelhead on the left. In the rear of these was a reserve, consisting of the regiments of the Earls of Dunferm- line, Loudon, and Buccleuch; the Lord Cowper and Sir Alexander HamHton (general of the artillery, and then better known by the name of ' Deare Sandie'), the Edinburgh regi- ment, and a brigade of the Earl of Manchester's English foot. On the left was drawn up the Earl of Manchester's army, from the Associated Counties, under the general com- mand of Lieutenant-general Cromwell, consisting of three brigades of foot, commanded severally by Colonels Montagu, RusseU, and Pickering, and under the general command of Major-general Crawford ; and to the left of them about 5000 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 597 horse, drawn up in five bodies and seventy troops, under Cromwell's immediate command, comprehending Manchester's cavalry, backed by three troops of Scotch horse under Major- general David Leslie. Beyond these, on the extreme left, and close upon Tockwith, were Colonel Frizeall and the dragoons, with whom was Colonel Skeldon Crawford. By about two o'clock of the afternoon the two armies were drawn up in complete battle array, the Royalists having been engaged till then in bringing over a part of their foot from the other side of the Ouse. The numbers on both sides were nearly equal, the prince having some 23,000 or 24,000 men, and the Parliamentarians ' somewhat more.' The great ord- nance then began to play, but (as usual in that century) with but small effect. ^ The first shot killed a son of Sir Gilbert Haughton, that was a captain in the prince's army ; but this,' says the Royalist Sir Henry SKngsby, ^ was only a shewing their teeth ; for after four shots made, they gave over, and in Marston corn-fields fell to singing psalms.' About five o'clock there was a general silence, each expect- ing who should begin the charge, as the ditch and hedge- bank must be crossed by the Roundheads, if they would attack the Cavaliers on the moor ; or by the latter, if tlley would charge their opponents in the great rye-field and closes ; so that a great disadvantage would result to those that began the charge, seeing the ditch must somewhat dis- turb their order, and the others would be ready on good ground and in good order to charge them before they could recover it. ^ How goodly a sight,' exclaims Mr. Ash, ^ was this to behold, when two mighty armies, each of which con- sisted of above 20,000 horse and foot, did, with flying colours prepared for the battle, look each other in the face.' ^ You cannot imagine,' says another eye-witness, ^the courage, spirit, and resolution that was taken up on both sides j for we looked and, no doubt they also, upon this fight as the losing or gaining the garland. And, sir, consider the height of diflerence of spirits ; in their army, the cream of all the Papists in England, and in ours, a collection out of all the corners of England and Scotland, of such as had the greatest antipathy to Popery and tyranny ; these equally thirsting the 598 LONO-MARSTON MOOR. LOXG-MARSTON MOOR. 599 extirpation of eacli other. And now the sword must deter- mine that which a hundred years' policy and dispute could not do.' It may have heen during this interval of inaction that Prince Rupert himself examined a prisoner as to who were the leaders of the opposing army. The man answered, ' General Leven, my Lord Fairfax, and Sir Thomas Fair- fax ' ' Is Cromwell there?' exclaimed the prince, inter- rupting him, and being answered that he was, ' Will they light?' said he; 'if they will, they shall have fighting enough ! ' The soldier was then released, and, returning to his own army, told the generals what had passed, and Crom- well, that the prince had asked for him in pai^icular, and said they should have fighting enough. ' And,' exclaimed Crom- well, 'if it please God, so shall he 1' But it seemed as if the wishes of neither of these com- manders were on this occasion to be gratified, for seven o'clock arrived, and the armies still remained gazing silently on each other. 'And surely,' says Scout-master Watson, ' had two such armies, drawn up so close one to the other, being, on both wings, within musket-shot, departed without fighting, I think it would have been as great a wonder as hath been seen in England !' That this would be the case, at least for that night, was the opinion of both sides, and on the Marquis of Newcastle asking the prince what service he would be pleased to command him, the latter answered, that he would begin no action upon the enemy till early the next morning, desiring the marquis to repose himself till then ; which he did, and went to rest in his own coach, that was close by in the field, until the time appointed."^ But his rest was destined to be short ; for Prince Rupert having erected a battery on the moor, opposite to the left wing of the Parliament's forces, Cromwell ordered two field-pieces to be brought forward from the hill on which they had been planted, appointing two regiments of foot to guard them. These, marching for that purpose, were attacked by the musketeers of the Royalist right wing, who fired thickly • * A summer's evening is a winter's day,* says old Fuller, in describing tlie battle. — Warihies, vol. ii. p. 535. upon them from the ditch. This in a moment brought on a general engagement, at about half-past seven in the evening. The Royalist signal was to be without bands and scarfs, and their word, ' God and the king :' their opponents' signal was a white paper or handkerchief in their hats, and their word, ' God with us.' The sign being given, the left of the Round- heads marched down to the charge {' Cromwell with his horse coming off the coney-warren by Bilton-bream') .^ ^And now you might have seen the bravest sight in the world, for they moved down the hill like so many thick clouds.' Tliey were divided into brigades of foot of 800, 1000, 1200, and 1500 men each, and each brigade of horse consisting of three or four troops. ' We came down the hill,' says Watson, who was with Cromwell's horse, ^ in the bravest order, and with the greatest resolution that was ever seen. The Earl of Manchester's foot began the charge against some of the bravest of Newcastle and Rupert's foot. Colonel Frizeall and his dragoons acting their parts admirably, and driving before them the musketeers in the ditch j' and the Royalists, daunted and amazed at this sudden attack, after a short firing on both sides, retreated from the ditch, leaving four ' drakes' behind them. Lord Byron, unable at this sight to restrain himself till his opponents had crossed, dashed impetuously over the ditch, throwing his men into considerable disorder, and being immediately driven back. ' In a moment,' con- tinues Watson, ' we were passed the ditch on to the moor, upon equal terms with the enemy, our men going in a running march. Our front divisions of horse charged their front, Cromwell's own division of 300 horse, in which himself was in person, charging the first division of Prince Rupert's, in which himself was in person, and in which were all their gallant men, they being resolved, if they could scatter Cromwell, all were their own. The rest of our horse,' he continues, ' backed by Leslie's three troops, charged other divisions of theirs, and with such admirable valour, as to astonish all the old soldiers of the army. Cromwell's own division had a hard struggle, for they were charged by ' Slingsby. 600 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. Rupert^s men both in front and flank/ The troopers on both sides first discharged their pistols^ then flinging them at each other's heads^ they fell to it with their swords. A shot grazed the neck of Cromwell, and cansed some fear in his men, lest he was severely hnrt, but, cheerfully exclaiming ' A miss is as good as a mile,' he pressed onwards. * For awhile they stood at the sword's point, hacking one another,' and the result was doubtful ; ^ but at last Cromwell broke through, scattering them before him like a little dust.' At the same instant the rest of the horse of that wing had wholly broken all Prince Rupert's horse on their right wing, and ' they fly along by Wilstrop-wood-side as fast and as thick as could be.'* Cromwell and Leslie sending a party in pursuit, proceeded onward with the main bodies ; ' Man- chester's foot,' says Watson, 'charging by our side, dis- persing the enemies' foot almost as fast as they charged them, still going by our side, cutting them down ; so that we carried the whole field before us, thinking the victory ours, and nothing to be done but to kill and take prisoners.' In this struggle the brigades of Colonels Montagu, Russell, and Pickering especially distinguished themselves, ' standing, when charged, like a wall of brass, and letting fly small-shot like hail' upon the Royalists ; and yet, as an old account assures us, not a man of their brigades was slain. Meanwhile the Marquis of Newcastle had not been long in his coach when he heard ' a great noise and thunder of shooting, which gave him notice of the armies being en- gaged. Whereupon he immediately put on his arms, and was no sooner got on horseback but he beheld a dismal sight,' all the horse and foot of the king's right wing in full flight; and although he made them stand once, yet they immediately betook themselves to their heels again, and killed even those of their own party that endeavoured to stop them. But in every other part of the field the result was very different. Between the right wing of the Parliament and the Royalists ' there was no passage across the ditch, except Slingsby. LOKG-MARSTON MOOR. 601 at a narrow lane,* where they could not march above three or four in front, and upon the one side of the lane was a ditch, and on the other a hedge, both of which were lined with Royalist musketeers.' Before Sir Thomas Fairfax's horse could get to their enemy, they were thrown into great dis- order by the furzes and bushes they had to pass over. Fair- fax, however, drew up a body of four thousand horse, and charged the left wing of the Royalists, whose intervals of horse were lined with musketeers, who did great execution with their shot. Sir Thomas charged with great gallantry ; and for a long time the struggle was most severe, the Royalists keeping themselves in a body, and receiving his troops by threes and fours as they marched out of the lane. In the heat of the fight Fairfax was heard calling out to his officers and soldiers to be merciful to the common men, for they, ala^ ! were seduced, and knew not what they did ; but to spare neither Irish nor buflP- coats and feathers, for they were the instruments of their miseries ! At last Sir Thomas broke through the part of the Royalist wing which he had charged, and routing them, pursued them a good way towards York. He himself hastened back to lead on the rest of his men ; but before he could reach the scene of action, the battle was lost on that side, for the part of the Royalist wing which remained on the field, perceiving the disorder of Fairfax's men, charged them with great spirit, and crying out, ' They run in the rear ! ' the newly-le\ied regiments, which were in * This lane, called * Moor-lane/ still remains, branching off at right-angles fi-om the road from Marstou to Tockwith, and leading directly to the moor. It passes tlirough fields of grain, and is still separated from them by a hedge on each side. About half-way down you reach a gate ; and either here, or still further down the lane, turning to the left, where four lanes meet, and so emerging on a large field still called, par excellence, ' Marston Moor/ Fairfax's troops entered on the moor. There are traces of ditches and old hedges in both spots, and while tlje latter corresponds best to the account in other respects, it seems much too far from Marston, and too much to the left. Some half-century ago a dyke near the latter spot, called the * White Syke,* was cleared out and deepened, and then a large number of old-fashioned horses* shoes, cannon-balls, the blade of a sword lying by the side of its hilt, and other relics of the struggle were dug up, and dis- tributed among the inhabitants. The Moor-lane itself got a bad name in conse- quence of the bloodshed of which it was the scene, and I am told that in the last century the rustics were afraid of venturing there by night, as they encountered headless horsemen. 602 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. the van, wheeled about, and fled back on their own foot in inextricable confusion, hotly pursued by the Royalists * ' I must ever remember with thankfulness,' says Sir Thomas Fairfax, 'the goodness of God to me this day; for, on returning back, I got in among the enemy, who stood up and down the field in several bodies of horse. So, taking the signal out of my hat, I passed through them for one of their own com- manders, and got to my Lord of Manchester's horse in the other wing, only with a cut in my cheek, w Inch was given me in the first charge, and a shot which my horse received. In this charge many of my officers and soldiers were hurt and slain, as many as in the whole army besides, and there was scarce any officer but received a hurt. Colonel Lambert, who shoidd have seconded me, but could not get up to me, charged in another place, and had his horse killed under him. Major Fairfax (the major of his regiment) received at least thirty wounds, of which he afterwards died at York ; and my brother (Sir Charles Fairfax), being deserted of his men, was sore wounded, of which, in three or four days, he also died, in the 23rd year of his age, and was buried in Marston.' The two squadrons of Balgonie's regiment, being divided each from the other, one of them, being lancers, charged a regiment of the Royalist foot, and cutting a pas- sage through them, made their way with what remained of * The following is a marginal note of Sir Tliomas rairfiix*s on Fuller's account of the battle, at the part which relates the defeat of his wing by- Goring, without naming him : ' I envy none, yt. honor they deservedly gott in this battaile, nor am ambitiously desirous of a branch of their laurell. But see no reason to be excluded the lists in which I underwent equal hazards with any others that day. But beinge my lot to be cast upon many disadvantages (having command of the left wing)/ This is a slip of Fairfax's, following Fuller's error in the text : * With much difficulty I could get but five troopes in order (with which 1 charged the enemye's right winge), when the busyness was hottly disputed a longe time att sword's poynt. We broke through, and had the chase of many of them. But indeed the rest of the horse I could not draw up to charge with me, were soon rooted with that part of the enemy were left behinde. But to shew that some did their parts (havinge rooted some of the enemy, and taken Gowring's major-generall prisoner), few of us came off without dangerous w ounds, and many mortall j which shews the left winge did not wholly leave the field, as the author of that booke relates.* * This,* says the gentleman who communicated the above to the Antiquarian Mepertoryt *my Lord Fairfax entered as a marginal note writ by himself in that part of Mr. Fuller's book.' — Antiquarian Be^erioryy by Grose and Astle (1808), vol. iii. p. 31. LONG-MARSTOX MOOR. 603 their soldiers to the Parliament's left wing ; the other squadron in the end managed to rally and join them also. The Earl of Eglinton's regiment for some time maintained their ground (most of the Royalist horse going in pursuit of the rest of the wing), but with great loss, including the earPs son, who was mortally wounded, until at length they also were swept away in the general flight of the Parliament's right wing. Nor had the Fairfaxes' foot better success; for, after beating off the Royalists from the hedge before them, and driving them from their cannon (two drakes and a demi-culvering), they were met by the Marquis of Newcastle's gallant regi- ment of Whitecoats, who furiously assaulted them, and drove them back in complete disorder. At this moment the broken troops of Sir Thomas Fairfax were hurled back upon them by the victorious Royalist cavalry, breaking them wholly, and trampling most of them and the Scotch reserve imder foot. Part of the Royalist horse charged through the broken masses to the top of the hill, where the carriages and ordnance of the Parliament were placed; and the waggoners and carters, terrified at their approach, quitting their charge in hasty retreat, they fell to plundering, without regard to the fate of the day, which they considered to be already decided. General Goring and Sir Charles Lucas, with the rest of the Royal horse, having dispersed the right wing of their opponents, assaulted the main body of Scotch foot upon their flank. The struggle here had been very fierce, and until then without any result. On the Earl of Leven giving the signal to advance, the middle centre was led on by Hamilton and Baillie, the reserve being committed to the trust of Major- general Lumsdaine. The van assaulted the musketeers in the ditch with great spirit, and drove them from their ground ; and Manchester's foot, under Laurence Crawford, having in their victorious advance on the left overwinged the Royalist foot in the centre, set upon their flank, and thus gave occa- sion to the Scotch foot to cross the ditch. ' The Scotch gave fire so expertly, that it seemed as if the element itself had been on fire.' It was while the struggle was undecided in this quarter, and the confusion was at its height, that the Marquis of Newcastle appeared on the field, and, accompanied by his 604 LONO-MARSTON MOOR brotlier Sir Charles Cavendish and three others, hastened to see in what posture his own regiment of Whitecoats was. On his way he met with a troop of gentlemen volunteers who formerly had chosen him for their captain ; to whom he called out, ' Gentlemen, you have done me the honour to choose me your captain, and now is the fittest time that I may do you service ; wherefore, if you'll follow me, I shall lead you on the best I can, and shew you the way to your own honour/ They, being as glad of this proffer as he of their readiness, went on with the greatest courage ; and passing through two bodies of foot, engaged with each other at less than forty yards' distance, received not the least hurt (as the marquis assures us), although these bodies fired quickly upon each other. They then marched towards a Scotch regiment of foot, which they charged and routed ; in which encounter, we are assured, the marquis killed three men with his page's half-leaden sword, having no other left him. After dashing through this regiment of foot, the whole troop was brought to a stand by a resolute pikeman, who, though charged by Newcastle two or three times, stood his ground until, over- powered by numbers, he was cut down and despatched. In aD these encounters the marquis received no hurt, though several of his men fell around him. The left wing of the Royalists now came thundering on the flank of the Scotch centre, while Newcastle and King pressed upon their van. They resisted bravely, and having interlined their musketeers with pikemen, twice made their enemies give ground. Baillie and Lumsdaine, perceiving the weight of the battle to lie sore on the Earl of Lindsay and Lord Maitland's regiments on the right van, against which Newcastle's victorious Whitecoats and Goring's vic- torious horse directed their utmost efforts, sent up a re- serve for their assistance ; but the Royalist horse charging a third time, the Scotch broke in every direction, Lumsdaine, the Earl of Lindsay, and Lieutenant-colonel Pitscottie (the colonel of Maitland's regiment) alone standing their groimd with a few men of their regiments. The Earl of Leven in vain hastened from one part of the line to the other, en- deavouring by words and blows to keep the soldiers in the field, exclaiming, ^ Though you run from your enemies, yet LONG-MARSTON MOOE. 605 leave not your general ; though you fly from them, yet for- sake not me !' The Earl of Manchester, who this day exer- cised rather a general control as a field-officer than any particular command, with great exertions rallied five himdred of the fugitives, and brought them back to the battle. But these efforts to turn the fate of the day in this quarter were fruitless, and at length the three generals of the Par- liament were compelled to seek safety in flight. Leven him- self, conceiving the battle utterly lost, in which he was confirmed by the opinion of others then on the place near him, seeing they were fleeing upon all hands towards Tadcaster and Cawood, was persuaded by his attendants to retire, and wait his better fortune. He did so, and never drew bridle till he came to Leeds, nearly forty miles dis- tant, having ridden all that night with a cloak of drap-de- herrie about him belonging to the gentleman from whom we derive the information, then in his retinue, with many other officers of good quality.* Manchester and Fairfax, carried away in the flight, soon returned to the field, but the centre and right wing of their army were utterly broken. ^ It was a sad sight,' exclaims Mr. Ash, ' to behold many thousands posting away, amazed with panic fears !' Many fled without striking a blow, and multitudes of people that were spec- tators ran away in such fear as daunted the soldiers still more, some of the horse never looking back till they got as far as Lincoln, some others towards Hull, and others to Halifax and Wakefield, pursued by the enemy's horse for nearly two miles from the field. Wherever they came the fugitives carried the news of the utter rout of the Parliament's army ; and the intelligence, spreading through Yorkshire, reached the ears of the Royalist governor of Tickhill Castle (about five miles south of Doncaster), by whom it was trans- mitted to Newark, and from thence to Oxford, by an express messenger ; and on the Friday there were ringing of bells • History of the Souse of Somerville, Sir James Turner (the original of Scott's Dugald Balgetty), in his Memoirs (p. 38), says : * Leven fled farthest, for he did not draw bridle till he was at Wedderbie [Wetherby], four-and- twenty miles from the place of battle. There was reason he should take the start of the other two, because he had furthest home !* See also Spalding's Mi*tory of the Troubles in Scotland and England, vol. ii. p. 224, &c. 606 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. and bonfires at Oxford and Newark for the great victory God had given Prince Rupert over the forces of three generals before York ; that he had taken one of them, slain another, and utterly routed their armies, and taken all their ordnance and ammunition. At Banbury and other places there were like rejoicings ; and the news going westward, gladdened the heart of King Charles in a campaign he was undertaking, and caused violent disputes between the governor of Exeter (Sir John Berkeley) and the Earl of Essex as to its accuracy. The extraordinary appearance of the battle-field at this time is graphically described by a Mr. Trevor, in a letter to the Marquis of Ormonde : ' I could not,' he says, ' meet the prince until after the battle was joined ; and in fire, smoke, and confusion of the day I knew not for my soul whither to incline. The runaways on both sides were so many, so breathless, so speechless, so full of fears, that I should not have taken them for men but by their motion, which stiU served them very well, not a man of them being able to give me the least hope where the prince was to be found, both armies being mingled, both horse and foot, no side keeping their own posts. In this terrible distraction did I scour the country; here meeting with a shoal of Scots crying out, ' Wae^s us ! We're a' undone V and so full of lamentation and mourning, as if their day of doom had overtaken them, and from which they knew not whither to fly. And anon I met with a ragged troop, reduced to four and the cornet; by and bye, a little foot-officer, without a hat, band, or indeed anything but feet, and so much tongue as would serve to inquire the way to the next garrisons, which, to say truth, were well filled with stragglers on both sides within a few hours, though they lay distant from the place of fight twenty or thirty miles.' It was at this crisis of the fight that the left of the Parliament's forces, under Cromwell, having cleared the field on their side, and taken all the prince's artillery and ammu- nition, came sweeping round to the part of the moor for- merly occupied by the Royalist left, hoping that their own right had done as good service as themselves. But the rem- nant under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Lambert having informed LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 607 them of the fate of battle in the other quarters, neither wearied by their former hot service, nor discouraged by the sight of that strength which the Royalists had still unshaken and entire, they came on in excellent order to a second charge. ' And here,' says Watson, ' came the business of the day (nay, almost of the kingdom) to be disputed ; for the enemy seeing us to come in such a gallant posture to charge them, left all thoughts of pursuit, and began to think that they must fight again for that victory which they thought had been already got, they marching down the hill upon us from our carriages, so that they fought upon the same ground and with the same front that our right wing had before stood to receive their charge, and we stood upon the same ground and with the same front which they had when they began the charge. Our three brigades of foot of the Earl of Man- chester being on our right hand, on we went, with great reso- lution, charging them home, one while their horse, and then again their foot, and our foot and horse seconding each other with such valour, with such sound charges, that away they fled, not being able to endure the sight of us, so that it was hard to say which did the better, our horse or foot. Major- general Leslie, seeing us thus pluck a victory out of the enemies' hands, could not too much commend us, and pro- fessed Europe had no better soldiers !' Cromwell and Leslie carried everything before them till they came to the Mar- quis of Newcastle's foot battalion of Whitecoats, who first peppering them soundly with their shot, when they came to charge, stoutly drove them back with their pikes. Here the Parliament's horse of that wing received their greatest loss, and a stop for some time was put to their hoped-for victory, until at length the Scotch regiment of dragoons, commanded by Colonel Frizeall, with two others, being brought to bear upon their flank, and their ammunition being spent, an open- ing was made in their Hue, and thirty being made prisoners, the rest refusing quarter, every man of them fell in the same order and rank in which he had fought.^ CromweU and Leslie then charged a brigade of Greencoats, and cutting * Her Grace of Newcastle bears her testimony that ' the Whitecoats showed such extraordinary valour and courage in this action, that they were killed in rank and file.* 608 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. down a great number, put the rest to the rout ; and charging the rest of the Royal horse with like success (Sir Charles Lucas being unhorsed and taken prisoner), by about nine o'clock had cleared the field of all enemies, recovered their own ordnance and carriages, and taken all those of the Royalists. 'We followed the chase of them/ says Watson, Ho within a mile of York, cutting them down, so that their dead bodies lay three miles in length ;' ' the moon with her light,' according to others, ' helping something the darkness of the season.' An opening in a hedge separating some fields which lie between Marston village and the rye-hill, is still pointed out as indicating the spot where the vengeful sword of Cromwell's soldiers overtook the flying Royalists. From this tradition it bears the name of ' Cromwell's Gap,' and the story used to be that the grass would not grow on the ground stained with so much loyal blood. The Marquis of Newcastle was the last in the field ; and seeing that all was lost, and that every one of the king's party made his escape in the best manner he could, ' he being, moreover, inquired after by several of his friends, who had all a great love and respect for him,' es- caped towards York, late at night, accompanied only by his brother and one or two servants ; and coming near the city, in firont of which General King had drawn up such of the fugi- tives as had reached the shelter of its walls, met the general and Prince Rupert, the latter of whom had with great diffi- culty escaped from the moor, ha\dng lost his horse and hat, and been obliged (as it was said) to conceal himself for a time in a bean-field. Rupert eagerly inquired how the business went ? to whom the marquis answered, that ' all was lost and gone on their side.' On this Rupert is said to have exclaimed, ' I am sure my men fought well, and know no reason of our rout but this, because the devil did help his servants !' What followed shall be given in the words of Rupert's chaplain. Says General King, ' What will you do ?' Says the prince, 'I will rally my men.' Says General King, ' Now you — what will Lord Newcastle do ?' Says Lord Newcastle, ' I will go into Holland,' looking upon all as lost. The prince woidd have him endeavour to recruit his forces ; ' No,' says he, ' I wOl not endure the laughter of the court ;' and King said he would go with him. LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 609 Meanwhile the Parliament's soldiers were availing them- selves of the fruits of their victory. ' The Prince of Plunder- land,'* says an old account, ' he that had by daylight plun- dered others, had his rich sumpter plundered by moonlight; for till twelve at night our soldiers had the slaughter of the enemy in woods and lanes and fields. This hamper or sumpter was found in the wood, with a guard to defend it. Our soldiers do not love to tell you what was in it ; only they say some papers with C. R., that he should fight, whatever came of it.' Manchester's army, we learn from a Royalist authority, satisfied with having achieved the victory, left to others (whose motives were less lofty, even as their courage was less sustained) the plunder of those enemies who had yielded to their arms alone. Mr. Ash gives us a peep into Manchester's camp after the day was won. The Royalists being beaten out of the field, the Earl of Man- chester, he tells us, about eleven o'clock that night, did ride about to the soldiers, both horse and foot, giving them many thanks for the exceeding good service which they had done for the kingdom ; and he often earnestly exhoi-ted them to give the honour of their victory to God alone. He also further told them that, although he could not possibly that night make provisions for them according to their deserts and necessities, yet he would without fail endeavour their satisfaction in that kind in the morning. The soldiers unanimously gave God the glory of their great deliverance and victory, and told his lordship with much cheerfidness, that though they had long fasted and were faint, yet they would willingly want three days longer rather than give ofP the service or leave him. Such were the soldiers of Crom- well ! And this was no mere talk ; for having drained the wells to the mud, they were obliged to drink water out of ditches and places puddled with the horses' feet ; and very few of the common soldiers, Mr. Ash assures us, eat above the quantity of a penny loaf from Tuesday to Saturday morning, nor had they any beer at all. That night they kept the field, and the bodies of the dead were stripped. In the • Rupert had been created * Duke of Cumberlandj January 24, 1644. R R 610 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. monung, says the same authority, there was a mortifying object to behold, when the naked bodies of thousands lay upon the ground, and many not altogether dead. The white smooth skins of numbers gave reason to think that they were gentlemen, and that they might have more honourable burial than the rest, if their friends pleased. Sir Charles Lucas was desired to go along to view the corpses and choose whom he would ; which he did, but would not say he knew any one of them (not wishing, it would seem, that the great loss the king had sustained should be known), except one gentleman, who had a bracelet of hair about his wrist. Sir Charles desired the bracelet might be taken off, and said that an honourable lady should give thanks for that. As he passed along he said, in the presence of many, ' Alas for King Charles ! unhappy King Charles ! ' And indeed the loss to that monarch was terrible. His northern armies were de- stroyed, and his power in that quarter paralysed. The whole of the ordnance, ammunition, and baggage had been taken, and about a hundred colours and ten thousand arms. Fifteen hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the Parliament; amongst whom were above a hundred officers, including Sir Charies Lucas and Major-generals Porter and TiUier. The countrymen {who were commanded to bury the corpses) reported the nimiber slain to be four thousand one hundred and fifty ; and, of these, it was calculated that nearly three thousand were of the Royal army, and two-thirds of gentle birth. Among the Royalists of station who fell on this fatal field were the Lord Evers, or Eure (who was succeeded in his title by his cousin, a determined supporter of the Parlia- ment's cause) ; ' the hopeful Lord Cary [Lionel Lord Cary], eldest son of the Earl of Monmouth ;' Sir Charles Slingsby, and Colonel John Fenwicke, one of the Cavalier members who had deserted from Westminster. Another name which we find in the lists of the officers killed on the king's side, is ' Master Towneley of Towneley, a Lancashire Papist ;' and, connected with this death, a family tradition has been handed down, seemingly on good authority, which deserves recital. ' Mary, daughter of Sir Francis Trappes, married Charles Towneley of Towneley in Lancashire, esquire, who was killed LONG-MARSTON MOOR, 611 ;' at the battle of Marston Moor. During the engagement she was with her father at Knaresborough, where she heard of her husband's fate, and came upon the field the next morn- ing in order to search for his body, while the attendants of the camp were stripping and burying the dead. Here she was accosted by a general officer, to whom she told her melancholy story. He heard her with great tenderness, but earnestly desired her to leave a place where, besides the distress of witnessing such a scene, she might probably be insulted. She complied, and he called a trooper, who took her en-croup. On her way to Knaresborough she inquired of the man the name of the officer to whose civility she had been indebted, and learned that it was Lieutenant-general Cromwell.'* It was nearly twelve o'clock the next day before news of the result of the battle reached the Earl of Leven. At length, says the gentleman to whom we are indebted for an account of the earl's flight, there arrives an express, sent by David Leslie, to acquaint the general they had obtained a most glorious victory, and that the prince with his broken troops was fled from York. This intelligence was somewhat amazing to those gentlemen that had been eye-witnesses to the disorder of the army before their retiring, and had accompanied the general in his flight. The earl himself, being much wearied, the evening of the battle, with ordering his army, and now quite spent with his long journey in the night, had cast him- self down upon a bed to rest, when, our informant coming quietly into his chamber, he awoke, and hastily cries out, ' Lieutenant-colonel, what news ?' — ^ All is safe, may it please your Excellence ; the Parliament's army has obtained a great victory ! ' and then he delivers the letter. The general, upon hearing this, knocked upon his breast, and says, ^ I would to * * She survived a widow till 1690, died at Towneley, and was interred in the family chapel at Burnley, aged 91.* This anecdote was told Dr. Whitaker, the editor of Sir George Radcliffe's Correspondence, * hy the then representa- tive of the family, aged 78, to whom it was related hy his ancestress Ursula Towneley, a Fermor of Tusmore, and aunt to Pope's Belinda, who had it from the lady herself.* — Life and Correspondence of Sir George Radcliffey hy Df • VHiitaker, note p, 165, quoted in Gent. Mag. for 18 10. BR 2 \ 612 LONG-MARSTON MOOR. LONG-MARSTON MOOR. 613 God I had died upon the place ! * and then opens the letter, which in a few lines gave an account of the victory, and in the close pressed his speedy return to the army ; and he accordingly returned the next day. Leven, says Mr. Spalding, 'was evill thought of be the English for this dayis service; and sum thocht thay waz now begining to lichtlie oure Scottis, tending to ane nationall querrell.' We learn from Mr. Ash that the runaway soldiers of both nations were by their ministers and others so sharply reproved, and their fault in such sort aggravated, that there is hope they will regain their credit by good service upon the next occasion. The news of the Parliament's victory was as unexpected an event to others as to the Earl of Leven. Even so late as the morning of the loth of July, Captain W. H., one of Manchester's officers, ' passing Hull-ward, for relief of his wearisomeness, found all places possessed with the noise of the total overthrow of the Parliament's forces. But nothing so, God be thanked!' The first intelligence of the true result of the battle reached Hull on Wednesday, the 3rd, while the people were assembled in the church to keep a day of humiliation for the success of their army ; and in time of humiliation the preacher read to them from the pulpit a letter from Lord Fairfax to the Mayor of Hull, which ran in these words : ' Mr. Mayor ; after a dark cloud, it hath pleased God to shew the sunshine of His glory in victory over his enemies, who are driven into the walls of York, many of their chief officers slain, and all their ordnance and ammunition taken, with small loss (I praise God) on our side. This is all I can now write ; resting your assured Fer- BiNANDO Fairfax.' The letter bore the date of the 2nd of July (a proof that Lord Fairfax had returned to the engage- ment the same evening), ' and it caused such tears for joy as is not to be believed, if I should express it.' The mayor immediately transmitted a copy of this letter to the Com- mittee of both Kingdoms at London, where it arrived on the following Friday. But the Royalists (especially in the prisons) swore it was a forged thing. On Saturday, however, came a letter from the Earl of Manchester (dated from Marston on the 3rd) Ho a great personage,' confirming most of the particulars. But the Royalists still refnsed to give credence to the news. Meanwhile at Aberdeen, on Sunday, the 7th of July, a fast was kept ; and on the follow- ing Thursday, in the indignant words of Spalding, ' the kmg and his posteritie prayit for, the quein prayit for; but no prayer to confound the armyes raisit against him, bot rather prayit for thair good succes. Strange to sie sic fastis and prayeris!' 'Upon the bak of this humiliation,' he con- tinues, 'and about the 12th of July, thair com word to Abirdene, that upon Tuysday, the 2 of July, that day, bat- tell was foughten, as ye have. The victorie, with gryte blood, inclynit to the Parliamentis syde, and Pnnce Robart teir- fullie routit, as wes publictlie declairit, out of our pulpit, be Mr. WiUiame Strathauchin, saying, the Lord prevenit oure fasting by giving [that] oure army, the same day of oure fast, wes giving thankis to God for thair victory.' The Earl of Manchester's letter states that, ' divers we have wounded, among whom it much troubleth me to tell you of my cousin Sidney, second son to the Earl of Leicester, but yet he is very hearty.' This was the celebrated Algernon Sidney, who received several wounds, but none dangerous ; 'these wounds cured, will be scars of honour.' Oliver in this engagement lost his nephew. Captain Valentine Walton, whose leg was obliged to be amputated, 'whereof he died.' ' The poor wounded youth would have to lie on the field at Marston while the battle was fought.' It was then that Cromwell addressed to Colonel Walton the letter from which I have already made one quotation. The following are the terms in which Oliver speaks of the success of his troops in the battle : ' Truly England and the Church of God hath had a great favour from the Lord, m this great victory given unto us, such as the like never was since this war began. It had all the evidences of an absolute victory obtained by the Lord's blessing upon the godly party prm- cipaUy We never charged but we routed the enemy. lUe left wing, which I commanded, being our own horse, saving a few Scots in our rear, beat all the prince's horse God made them as stubble to our swords. We charged their regiments of foot with our horse, and routed aU we charged. 614 LONQ-MARSTON MOOR. The particulars I cannot relate now ; but I believe, of twenty thousand, the prince hath not four thousand left. Give glory, all the glory to God/ Of course York surrendered almost immediately afterwards to the Parliament's armies, which then separated again, Manchester, Cromwell, and Crawford returning to Lincolnshire. Great disputes arose as to the comparative merits of the several armies in the battle ; and the Scots met with an unfair share of obloquy for the flight of their centre. We have seen, from the above sketch of the real events of the battle, that the fault of the misadventure of the Roimdheads, on the right and in the centre, lies with the army of the Fairfaxes, and not with the Scots, who struggled most gallantly against the odds to which they were exposed. The success of the Cavaliers in this part of the field is attributable, partly, to the diflaculties of the ground, but still more to Newcastle's brave Whitecoats, the heroes of the day on the Royalist side. David Leslie, we have seen, with his troops of horse backed CromwelFs charges with spirit and resolution, though his numbers were too smaU for him to be looked upon as a prin- cipal in the success of the Roundheads on that side. Crom- well's party got the start in the account of the news in London, 'Major Harrison,' the celebrated major-general of later years, coming up with Manchester's despatches before any other tidings arrived. The next who came was Captain Stewart, who brought up some of the captured colours, and gave the version of the Scotch. I have endeavoured to weigh fairly each against the other, giving credit to each narrator as to the locality of his own division, and the enemy with whom his division was immediately engaged ; but distrusting Mm, unless when confirmed by other accounts, on the ques- tion of the success or defeat of either side in that quarter. All accounts of those who were engaged in the battle agree in praising Oliver Cromwell, though of course in different degrees, according to their religious and political bearings ; it is only the Crawfords who whispered 'a story of his cowardice in the willing ears of Holies, which they dared not repeat openly during all the recriminations between the major-general and Cromwell in the ensuing months. This 1 LONGMARSTON MOOR. 615 alone, if any proof were needed on such a point, would be Buf&cient to discredit the story. v=„;^n^ dav On Thursday, the i8th of July, a solemn thanksgiving-day was Jpt by order of the Parliament. ' The acknowledg- rnt oblaJTon, and due thanks to God ^r hxs mercy^nd goodness to us,' say the old newspapers ' was m every pansh church and chapel within the jurisdiction and VO^^^/^J^ Parliament humbly offered; the minister o^^-^ ^^J^^^f that day serving the cure relating f ^-/^''f ^ J! ^^Sel encouragement and stirring up our devotions) of the v^^doubted victory.' Mr. Alexander Henderson, the cel^^'^^t^^.^^'l^^f preSr. in particular, in his sermon before the Parbamen^^ Srged o,; their attention the wonderfd P--f-- ^JJ^^ that which they had thought ^o be the greatest misfo^^ the relieving of York by Prince ^-Pert's army had torned out the greatest blessing, by emptying that <^^^y^J^^ *^^ forces of the enemy, and enabling them to crush them ^t^ne blow in the open field. ' The mommg divine service being p^ from every fort about the cities of London and West- Ster was heYrd the big voice of the cannon echoing m the air; the beUs kept their time and tune as Partnei. m "^ joy ; and upon Paul's steeple was seen one of the clours jon and brought from the enemy, bravely displayed. The night « L the pleasure of bonfires builded by the cost^and aff-ection of the lovers of religion and goodness. Th^ to the utter disheartening (I hope) of all the^M^abgnanU^rew, w^ measured out our time and joy with the truth ot tne conquest.'* . My cV.ef authorities for the foregoing "^^fef S^ M^^h^'" the Committee of the two Kingdoms/ s.g.ed Lev-^arfax _^^^_ from the leaguer hefore York, July 6, 1644. '^'^''^iZnt Prince, William July icthT'i,/. of tke thrice •^^'f-Jt'^^J^^.^T^ichy ihe thrice cJendish, Duke. Marquis, and Hart ^f^k^X'Jj Newcastle, his noble, illustrious, and exceUent FVm«7gMar^^et, Ducbe^ ^^^^,^ ^^^ wife.' 4to.Lond. 1673; Dmrg, Ik. by Sir ^^^ ,^ jjf/^, „f Ormond; the MekoriaU, pubUshed in the Somers Tj"^ ■^''^.l^^^J .ni. among the various letters and 'j^'^^'^^f^Z'^^.vZ J Journal (for one of Ki,^. Pamphlets ^^ ^^^.^^f^ ^^^and the Cavaliers, for the . rr^nge- Watson's letters)! »»« Warhurton s ^upe« «» Cromwell, for the letter to ment of the RoyaUst forces , Carlyl« s ie««-. of Crom .^^^^ ^^^^, Walton, and the reference to the passage m Modern accounts are worthless. CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. 617 \i J^9 CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS : A. D. 1645. THE surrender of Essex's army to the king, on the ist of September, 1644, threw nearly the whole of the West of England into the hands of the Cavaliers. Plymouth, Taunton, Weymouth, and one or two smaller places, alone stood out for the Parliament ; and these were all besieged or threatened by the Royalists. Robert Blake, who had distinguished him- self in the preceding June by his defence of Lyme, was now the mainstay of Taunton ; but the place, which was almost an open town, was in the greatest danger.* In December it had been temporarily relieved by a force under Major-general John Holborne and Colonel Vandruske, but was now blocked up again ; first, by Colonel Wyndham, the former governor for the king (whose house was in the immediate vicinity), and afterwards by George Goring, now known as Lord Goring, and Sir Richard Gren\ille. A council of war under the young Prince of Wales, comprising Culpeper (now also made a lord), Hyde (Chancellor of the Exchequer), and Capel, sat at Bristol, and was in constant communication with Goring. The Parlia- ment, on the 27 th of February, 1645, ordered Oliver Crom- well to join Sir William Waller, and march with him, as second in command, to the relief of Taimton and Melcombe- Regis. The latter place relieved itself, and Taunton was saved from immediate destruction by this expedition ; but it resulted in little else, owing to the smallness of the forces of Waller and Cromwell. The following letters explain themselves : — [lb the Speaker of the House of Commons.'] Sir, — ^Tliese Knes are to certify you that, upon intelligence that Colonel Long lay with his regiment about the Lavingtons, I marched from Andover, on Monday last, to Amesbury, and there refreshing my troops till midnight, I » See Mr. Hepworth Dijton*8 Mobert Blake, advanced from thence in three parties : the first, commanded by General Crom- well, fell in between those quarters and the Devizes ; the second, commanded by Sir Hardress Waller, fell in at Trowbridge, to cut off their retreat towards Bath and those parts ; with the third I fell in at Lavington. It was my fortune to find an empty form, the enemy being drawn off to Westbury and Steeple Ashton; but the rest had better fortune, and in the end I had my share too. Cromwell lighted upon two troops at Poterne, Sir Hardr. Waller upon the rest of the regiment at Westbury and Steeple Ashton ; who beat the enemy in upon my quarter, where my regiment lighted upon them. Of 400 horse there escaped not 30. The colonel and most of the officers, with 300 soldiers, taken prisoners, with about 340 horses and good store of arms. Blessed be the Lord for this success, which I hope will be the earnest of a further mercy. I was inforced to refresh our horse here, after this toilsome march and service in the worst ways and basest weather that ever I saw. I am this day marching towards Hol- borne to join with him, so soon as possibly I can. I have no more to add but that I am, &c., William Wallbb. West Lavington, 13 March, l644[5].* Sir William Waller, in his Recollections, speaking of this beating up of Colonel Long^s quarters, as he terms it, in which Cromwell's horse did such good service, says, ' and here I cannot but mention the wonder which I have oft times had to see this eagle in his eirey; he [Cromwell] at this time had never shewn extraordinary parts [of course this is a simply absurd statement] ; nor do I think that he did himself believe that he had them ; for, although he was blunt, he did not hear himself with pride or disdain. As an officer he was obedient, and did never dispute my orders, nor argue upon them.-\ He did indeed seem to have great cunning; and whilst he was cautious of his own words (not putting forth too many, lest they should betray his thoughts), he made others talk, until he had, as it were, sifted them, and known their most intimate designs. A notable instance was his discovering in one short conversation with one Captain Giles (a great favourite with the Lord-general, and whom he most confided in) that, although his words were full of zeal, and his actions seemingly brave, that his heart was not with the cause; and, in fine, this man did shortly after join the enemy at Oxford, with three-and-twenty stout fellows. One other instance I will here set down, being of the same sort as to his cimning. ' When I took the Lord Piercy [the Henry Percy of the * The Weekly Account, March 12—19, 1645. t The reasons given by Waller for Cromwell's unconsciousness of his genius afford us a curious window into his own character. 618 CAVALIEE AND BOUNDHEAD LETTERS. CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. 619 army plot] at Andover [on this westward march], having at that time an inconvenient distemper, I desired Colonel CromweU to entertain him with some civility; who did afterwards tell me, that amongst those whom we took with him (being about thirty) there was a youth of so fair a countenance that he doubted of his condition ; and, to con- firm himself, willed him to sing, which he did with such a daintiness, that Cromwell scrupled not to say to Lord Piercy that, being a warrior, he did wisely to be accompanied by Amazons. On which that lord, in some confusion, did acknowledge that she was a damsel.'* For my ffon^*- Friend William Lenthall, Esquire, Speaker of the Souse of Commons^ humbly present this. Sir, — I have not been wanting to advertise the Comniee of the two king- doms from time to time of my proceedings ; and now, upon my return hither, I think it my duty to let you (with all humbleness) know in what condition I am. Our duty and marches have been extreme, so that we are here a tired company, and necessitated to make some stay for our refreshing. Lieutenant-general Cromwell, I presume, is this day joined with Major-general Holbome, for he was last night at Birport [Bridport]. I hope General Goring's drawing down after me towards Mere, and leaving Grenfield [Grenville] with his and Barklye's forces at and about Chard, may afford our forces some good opportunity. I have sent an ex- press with all speed after Lieutenant-general Cromwell, to know where and how I may jom with him, and I shall apprehend the first opportunity to do it. I cannot but advertise you, that since my coming hither 1 have observed a great smoke of discontent rising among the officers. I pray God no flame break out — [Three lines carefully blotted out]. The ground of all is, the extremity of want that is among them, indeed, in an insupportable measure. I humbly tender the consoa hereof to you, and rest, sir, your most humble servant William Walleb. Ringwood, 27 March, 1645.! CuLPEPEE writes to Goring from Bristol (27th March, 1645, ' 4 after diner') : — This day T received your lordship's from Shafton by Sir Thos. Hooper, of the 26th of this month, wherein yr. lordship expresseth yr. resolution to join with the enemy to decide the business of the West, if he rest within a day and • Eecollections, by General Sir William Waller, p. 1 24 j quoted m Seward's Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, &c. 6th ed. 1 798, vol. i. pp. 357-8. The editor speaks of these Recollections as printed at the end of the Foetry of Anna Matilda, i2mo, 1788J but I have been quite unable to meet with the work, and should be very grateful to any one who can assist me in the search. It must be carefully distingmshed from Waller's Vindication, a very dull, and not very valuable book. f Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part 5- pp. 15-16. ( i \t \ a half of you, wch. his Highness fully consenteth to ; and that yr. Idship. iutendeth to go on in the course agreed upon concerning Taunton, if the oppor- tunity of the former shd. not prevent you. Concerning the fittest place to quarter the horse wch. are to stay behind, and the fittest place to tig^t in ^^ case Waller shall march towards you, before yr. quarters shall be settled betore Taunton, it is wholly referred to yr. lordship's judgment upon the place. The chancellor [Hyde] grumbles that he receiveth no cypher, and sa.yQt\i you have much more leisure than he Aa^A— believe him as you please.* For the Lord Goring at Shagsbury [Shaftesbury]. For the Lord Goring. Bast, hast, post-hast, two in the afternoon. For his Majesty's especial service. John Culpeper, My Lord —By this enclosed extract (the effect whof. we hope S" L. B. hath despatched to yr. Idp. the last night) yr. Idp. will conclude that the business of the West is like to come to a quick issue, and, if accidents be prevented, we cannot but hope a good one. The dangers which we apprehend by those accidents are, that S" Richard Grenvile may be oppressed before yr. Idsp.'s approach to his succour, or that he retiring tow"- Exeter, the garrisons at Lamport [LangportJ, Borough [Bridgwater?], and Ilchester may be in danger by the enemy on their backs The means to prevent both is conceived to be yr. Idshp.'s very speedy march to the West, with all yr. forces, whereby probably you on the one side, and S" Richard Grenvile on the other, or both joined, may take the advantage to finish the work with CromweU and Vandrosse [Vandruske], before Waller's foot he hopeth for can be joined with him and advanced to them. The business of Taunton we conceive is not to be further thought upon until the decision of a battle shall eive it you without a siege ; only when yr. army shall be about Ilchester, it fe • Ric. Grenvile shaU be safe m a proper post, and Cromwell and the Taunton forces w»»" the new landed men continue about Dorsetshire, there may be an oppor- tunity offered to surprise and bum the town in yr. way to join with Grenvile or with a party. Tliese particulars are only named to yr. Idp., to whom his Highness referreth the sole judgment, with great assurance in yr Idp. s wisdom and conduct. This use will be made of the proposition for Taimton, that thereby the victuals provided by the Comee at Bridgwater and Lamport will be very seasonable for the supply of your army when you shall come near those parts, and we shall most earnestly press them to use all possible diligence in mcreasmg the stores of provisions to be sent from the east of Somerset to those maga- zines. This is all I have in charge to offer to yr. Idp.. to wch. I shaU o^y add mv zeal for yr. lordship's glorious victory over these bold rebels, wch. it it J.aUs .,r. iV win thereb, pat .us Maty.. aftUi. in the W^t .ut«^an excel- lent condition, &c. Bristol, 28th of March, 1645. rP S 1 Mv lord, if the forces of Taunton, Cromwell, and the Weymouth men ^hall march tow«»- Wmbome to join with Waller, they will thereby give Sir Ric Grenvile liberty to bum Taunton without resistance, and afds. with all ^^wettem forces may Lrch after them tow- Evil [Yeovil] and Wine^aun^^ [Wmcanton], where the worst that can happen will be a fair field with them n such ground as you wiU chuse-the advantage of provisions m Somei^etshne being yrs., and they having nothing but hard eaten quarters left them.t • Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part i. pp. 19-20. f lb. pp. 27-8. 620 CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERa CAVAUER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. 621 Extracifrom a Letter of the 27M Marc%, 16 ak, from Sib Lewis Dttes to the LoBD CuLPEPEB,/ro»i Sherboume, My Lord,— I came tMs morning from Chard from Sir Ric. Grenvile, who hath all this night been in arms, and is drawn away this morning towards Exeter npon this occasion. Tlie enemy upon Tuesday last drew out all their horse and foot to the number of near 2000 men out of Taunton, leaving behind them not above two or three hundred men at the most in the castle, and marched in the night to Axminster, near Lime, where Cromwell is joined with them with 14 or 1500 horse more, stealing down by great marches by the sea-side. And to these forces a new recruit is added of 15CX) foot wch. landed yesterday at Weymouth, whereof I have very certain intelligence. So that S" Ric. Grenvile is likely to be in a very hard condition, and the West much endangered, unless iome speedy assistance be given him by my Lord Goring. The condition of our affairs is much altered by the unexpected uniting of their forces, and it will therefore necessarily require a change of the former resolutions.* For the Lord Qorin^. Mast, hast, post-hast, two in the afternoon. For hk Majesty^t special service. John Culpeper. My Lord, — Just as this other letter was ready to be closed yr. Idp.'s of the 27th from Shafton came to us, w**» the enclosed copies of the letters intercepted by Sir W""- Ogle (by wch. we are awakened w**'* apprehensions of designs upon this place, whereof we were not over secure before), and the sad news of yr. ldp.*9 indisposition in health. Truly, my lord, we are extremely troubled at it, yet hope this intelligence (wch. will occasion sudden action) will be the best cordial for yr. recovery, and then we are sure there will be no need of the presence of any from hence in the army, «&c. &c. John Culpepeb. Bristol, the 28th of March, 1645. There is order taken for a ton of match to be at Lamport ready for yr. Idp. upon Sunday night. We made hard shift to get it up, and hope within a week a ton more will be ready, to be sent from hence as yr. Idp. shall order.f For the Bt. Honble. the Lord Goring, Gent, of his Mate's Horse. Haste, post-haste. For his Maty.'s especial affairs, George Bigbye. Oxf. March 29, 1645. Dear General, — I have often writ to you since 1 heard from you, and we live here in gt. ignorance of what you are doing. If you can settle those coun- ties in any convenient time, so as that the forces of those parts may march tow*'* the enemy's quarters one way, at the same time that Pr. Rupert's army will be ready to do it another, we are likely to have a comfortable campaign of it; for the king will be ready within a fortnight at furthest to take the field with an army of at least ten thousand horse and foot, Pr. Rupert writing the cheerfullest, and with the most confidence of the goodness of his men that I have known him do at any time. The rebels* distractions are great, and their levies for their new army very slow. And the king's affairs do prosper so in Scotland, J as we have rather reason to hope for friends than to fear more enemies from thence. And from beyond sea we grow now pretty certain of considerable supports. Dear general, I have nothing to add but to conjure you to beware of de- bauches ; there fly hither reports of the liberty you give yourself, much to your disadvantage : and you have enemies who are apt to make use of it. I am your most faithftd humble servant George Digbte. I have sent for my horses and servants to Sherborne, wch. must specially be here by such a day as I have appointed them, or I shall not know how to wait upon the king. If they shall need it, pray afford them a convoy.' For the ML Honble. the Lord Gonng. Haste, haste, post-haste. For his MatyJs especial service. Mv Lord,-We are very glad of yr. Idp.'s success upon Cromwell's horse,! but not without trouble for the failure [?] at your rendezvous, wch. hindered yr. Idp. of so fiill and happy a victory as otherwise the design was capable of, &c. John t/UiiPEPEB. Bristol, 31st March, 1645, 5 of the clock. "i rP S 1 My lord, if you give the rebels a good bang. Til be content to lose a Month's pay to you at piquett. Yr. most ^^f^^^^f^^^^^ ^ To the Bt. Honble. the Lord Goring, Sfc. 5 in the afternoon, Sfc. John Culpeper. Mv Lord,— This morning, immediately before the receipt of F- l^p-'s from Newton, we were advertised by S- Charles Berkeley from Bruton that Waller was quartered the last night at Shaftesbury, and Cromwell at Stu^ister, and gome of then- horse at Wine-Caunton. So that, comparing this intelligence with the advice menf^ in yr. Idp.'s two last letters touching the Sussex foot come up to Waller, their strength in Dorchester, when yr. Idp. was near them, and their force since landed, we look upon the enemy as joined in a body, containing Waller's horse and dragoons, CromweU's horse, the Sussex and new landed foot, and the horse and foot from Taunton. Thus joined, their design nrobablv will be together to march tow"*- the east of Somersetshire, and there to take their advantage upon Bath or this city, upon the hopes of a party within it, or to fall upon yr. Idp.'s. quarters, before S- Richard Grenvile can be ioined to you (for we believe they cannot long subsist in the quarters where they are) In either of those cases, we leave it to yr. Idp.'s consideration, whether Sir Richard Grenvile may safely engage before Taunton by way of approach, wch is like to take up ten days' time to finish the work; whereas, if Sir R G. only look upon it in his passage towds. yr. Idsp., and govern himself as he shall find cause near the place, without any such formal engagement, we shall not despair that either by composition or force he may be master of the town; and shall be well satisfied that he may be so early with or near yr Idp. as may prevent both the other mischiefs; and yr Idp. having thus joined Grenvile to vou. we conceive it to be wished that the enemy wd. engage before any place of strength in these parts, or adventure amongst the fastnesses of Somersetshire so far from their retreats, &c. &c. ^^^ CirLPEPEB.§ Bristol, 1 of April, 1645. Tanner M8S. (Bodleian) 60, part i. p. 25. t lb. pp. 29-3O. J Montrose was now in full career of success. * Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part i. pp. 35-6. + The reference in the letter is to a surprise of Cromwell's quarters at * Chiloxford' in the night. Cromwell had only a third of the force of the Royalists, but offered battle, which was declined CromweU then retreated m perfect order to Ringwood. c tv. \, ,. X Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part 1. pp. 38-9. § lb. pp. 42-3- 622 CAVALIEB AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERa CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. 623 JW jfr. Ldthip, Bristol, 2nd April, I3 of the clock. My Lord, — Your Idp. will give me leave to congratulate yr. good success near Wincaanton, with this opinion that this and the former impression on the rebels near Dorchester will prove much more advantageous to you than the business itself at the first sight may seem to import. My Id., it will not only give life to yr. own men, and discourage their's, hut soe scatter their lamely-pieced up hody, that many of them will find an occasion (though yr. Idp.'s activity upon them he the true one) to scatter and visit their friends in the east, especially when the &tigue of the duty (wch. this example will put them to) and tliuir short commons shall he theur hourly remembrancers. Upon dis ourse with Mr. Goring we find that the enemy is not by much so strong in a body as yr. former intelligence (men«» in yr. ld.*8 letters) gave him to be. Therefore yr. lordship will think fit to consider of the parlars offered to you from thence yesterday, as superstructures upon that foundation. All that was thereby pointed at was such an united strength with yr. Idp. as might be sulf* to chase Waller out of these parts (with the loss of some of his gay feathers), except his courage w** adventure upon the second part of Roundway-Downs.* If yr. Idp. upon the whole matter find the forces suflSciently strong for the work, it w** be pity to disorder yr. other design. But if an addition w** make it a sure game, perhaps yr. Idp. wiU rather choose to defer the storm (I mean by way of approach), than lose an happy opportunity over the only army the rebels have on foot in the south, Ac. Ac. John CuLPEPEE.t ITo the M^' Bon. the Lord Chring.'] My Lord, — The prince hath this day written to Sir Richard Grenvile to use all possible diligence in the business of Taunton accor^ng to yr. ldp.*s orders sent him, and to give his Highness frequent advertisements of his progress in that service, the wch. as we shall receive them shall be speedily conveyed to yr. Idp. By this enclosed copy yr. Idp. will see where S'* Richard Grenvile was upon Wedn^^ last, so that we conceive he is now about his work near the town ; and yr. Idp. having taken so good care for the safety of his rear, we cannot but hope for good success in that important business. Waller's retreat, ment** in yr. Idp.'s second letter, received the last night, is not beyond our expectation, neither w** it be strange to us to hear that after two such handsome brushes yr. Idp- hath lately given him, a great part of his men should scatter and struggle homewards. It is very hard for us at this distance to make any useful con- jectures how Waller will dispose of himself, and yr. Idship. only can judge upon the place, upon yr. intelligence, how to take yr. best advantage over his dis- tractions, Ac. John Culpepee.J Bristol, 4th April, 1645, 4 of the clock. To the St, Hon. the Lord Ooringy Sfc. John Culpeper. My Lord, — ^We now are all confirmed that yr. Idp. is a very cniel man. What, to be upon my poor countrjTnan*s back§ so fiercely every day ! How can yr. Idp. answer it to yr. good nature ? Certainly you will break the poor man's heart, and then you will have no more fine epistles from him. Seriously the jollity, upon the good news from your army, hath spoiled our devotion here this * An allusion to Waller's disastrous defeat in 1643. t Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part, i., pp. 49-50. | lb. p. 57. § i. e. Waller's : referring to scnne night surprises, which were modi exag- gerated. d dav for wch. and yr. profanation of Good-Friday, your Idp. mnst one day answer. iS the nr^e^I L commanded by the prince t» teU you that, rf you^n fird time to-mo^^ to start hither from Wells (where we hear you are), h.s H«hn«s !^ thank Z for yr. late night work. Prince Bnpert, hkew«., desired me to addTkind invitation from him. So that I hope I may «>»e>°de that we lT^:.. the " - - j?» -rriimZtt:: ^^ r '"'• amongst many other of yr. Idp. s servants, mm ^^ ]AMv.'i J- C. Apr. 6, 1645, Bristol, Easter-day, 5 of the clock. The former intendeth not hy this invitation of kindness, to enjoy yr. company ex^pt ?rfiL" that you ma/for one night he spared from yr army without ^r^uto to it. or an/design you may have before you m view.* Tory a'^- Coll. Edward WhaUey, at his quaHert, haste these. Sir -I desire you to be with aU my troopes and Collonell Fflnes histroop.« I ad 'IT WUton ^at a rendevous by break of day to-morrow mommg. for « e ^' We the enemy has a design upon our quarters to-momw mommg. •' gf 1 am y" cozen & servant Olivee Ceomwell. Sarum, Wednesday night at 12 a clock.f [April 9th, 1645] After liis return from his western expedition with WaUer, Cromwell was appointed to several special services in the neighbourhood of Oxford and Abingdon. To the Hon^' W^ Lenthall, :Es(fy SpeaJcer of the E. of C. o- in.o y,nr«P that went towards Bedfordshire are returned to Oxford, ?''''T J r Pnl rl^mw^'s advance, who, with Col. Vermuden, gave Sirs-, s-sr«-345^Hr*'*'^ Windsor, April 23, 12 at night.X A fragment in the newspapers contains CromweU's reiK.rt of the Ws leaving left Oxford on the march which ended with the hattle of Naseby. Sal«rias May loth. Letters this day from Ue.l.-a^ral Crom^eU directed ^ ^'tfie Speaker of the House of Commons to tUs effeet .- Sir.-Upon information that his Majesty was marched out of Oxford, myself * Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part i. pp. 62-3. lanner jtLKj^. y ^..\ ;« Xeale*s Seats, Ac., 2nd series, ^?''^^1r:l'![tS'd^Tat ,^«1 t'Sei^rnight from CromweU to itZ in C«lyle'a i:«m of Cromwell (edit. 1846). vol . pp^«o-i. Fairtax m v.a y ^^^^^ ^^^ (Bodleian) 60, part .. pp. 113-4- 4\ \ 624 CAYALIEB AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERa 625 and Major-general Browne drew towards Hinton, and are resolved to follow them, for (it's thought) they will advance to Worcester, and so for the relief of Chester. We desire some money for the better encouragement of the soldiers, and a proportionable measure of ammunition for our pursuing after the enemy, &c. [Subscribed] May the 9th, 1645. Oliyeb Cromwell.* Tor the Lord Gorinff, ihese present, <^c. John Culpeper. My Lord, — I came yesterday from Bridgwater to this town ; the day before from the trenches be/ore (I might say within) Taunton. The condition 1 left the king's forces in was this : Upon Thursday night (before I came thither) they made a general assault at 7 of the clock, won .the lines in one place within less than a quarter of an hour ; but, notwithstanding, could not form their barracadocs within the lines that night. The next day (Friday, 12 of the clock) they at- tempted another part of the lines, and carried that likewise ; but afterwards lost it again, and regained it again before 5 of the clock. One-third part of the town is burnt; yet the enemy (when the Lord Capel and I came from the army 7 of the clock at night) continued the possession of the castle, &c. The resolution taken by the Loi*d Hopton and S'* John Berkeley at our parting was to burn what they could more that night, and to draw off the next morning ; the intelli- gence that morning from divers being that Fairfax with 1 600 horse and 2000 foot (the rest of his army, about 2000 foot and as many horse, being sent by him eastwards) lay upon Thursday night at Piddle [Piddlestown] near Dorchester. But yesterday they sent a dispatch to us (web. came before we came from Bridg- water) that upon new certain intelligence sent on Friday night from Sherborne that Fairfax was marched back eastwards, they were resolved to finish the work of the town of Taunton ; and for that purpose they sent for their cannon (their g*- pieces), wch. they sent the day before to Bridgwater. The horse in the army before Taunton are full 2000 (half whereof are good) ; the foot, before they fell on, they accounted above 4000 (one hundred were killed and lost in the two assaults). Fairfax marched from Piddle upon Friday (but eastwards), his men being much tired and lessened. By y'- lordship's (wch. I received this instant) I now understand the reason of Fairfax his recoiling, y" 1«*P' being so far advanced. As soon as the prince shall be stirring I will shew his High- ness y'* letter to me, &c. Bristol, in bed, Simday morning, 5 of the dock, John Culpefeb. May II, 1645. Y'* lord^P' will please to send presently to S'* John Berkeley advertisement and such orders as you shall think fit, for they know nothing of your Idp."' being in these parts.f For my noble Friend S'- John Potts. Leave this at the Oeorge-yard in Lombard-street with Mr, Cory. To be sent as above. Sir, — I have received yrs. of the 28th instant. For that you mention of French forces, the king and queen's letters taken at the last fight J are full of it. Our foreign letters report most earnest endeavours in the queen for the Duke of Lorraine's forces, wch. are called 8 or 9000, and for what other forces she can procure. Other partlu^ and where to land, from what parts to come, I yet know not. llie intercepted letters are to be imparted at a common hall on Thursday * The Weekly Account , May 7 — 14, 1 645. f Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part i. pp. 150-1. | Naseby. \ I next, and are to be printed, wch. makes me omit their further contents, ye heads of them I assure myself, being already communicated to you. We hear Massey was at Blandford on Thursday last, with 3000 horse and dragooners ; that he will this night be at Lyme. We have not heard from Taunton of a week. We have sent several persons to them to satisfy them of succours coming. Sir Thos. Fairfax is with his whole array marching thither. We suppose he will be this night about Salis- bury. The king is still about Hereford, pressing soldiers, but the whole he yet hath we cannot hear to be above 3000 horse. Gerard with his men is returned into Pembrokeshire. The Houses of Pari*- and the Comee. of both Kingdoms have writ several letters to the Earl of Leven for the speedy advance of the Scotch army into Worcestershire. We hourly expect an answer. Your most assured humble servant 30th June, 1645. W. PlEEEEPONT.* The victorious campaign of Fairfax and Cromwell in the summer and autumn of 1645 is well known. The following most remarkable letter from Cromwell to one of his personal and political associates at Westminster^ describes his defeat of Goring's army at Langport. The letter was^ it appears, published at the time, under the title which is here prefixed to it j but it has never been reprinted or seemingly known in modern times. The Copy of Lieutenant-genl. CromwelVs Letter to a worthy Member of the Souse of Commons, Dear Sir, — T have now a double advantage upon you, through the goodness of God, who still appears with us ; and as for us, we have seen great things in this last mercy. It is not inferior to any we have had, as followeth : — We were advanced to Long Sutton, near a very strong place of the enemie's, called Lamport, far from our own garrisons, without much ammunition, in a place extremely wanting in provisions, the Malignant clubmen interposing, who are ready to take all advantages against our parties, and would undoubtedly take them against our army, if they had opportunity. Goring stood upon the ad- vantage of strong passes, staying until the rest of his retreats came up to his army, with a resolution not to engage until Greenvill and Prince Charles his men were come up to him. We could not well have necessitated him to an engagement, nor have stayed one day longer with** retreating to our ammu- nition and to conveniency of victual. In the morning word was brought us that the enemy drew out. He did so, with a resolution to send most of his cannon and baggage to Bridgewater, wch. he efiected; but with a resolution not to fight, but trusting to his ground, thinking he could march away at pleasure. The pass was strait between him and us. He brought two cannons to secure his, and laid his musketeers strongly in the hedges. We beat oflfhis cannon ; fell down upon his musketeers, beat them off" from their strength, and where our horse could scarcely pass two abreast I commanded Major Bethel to charge * Tanner MSS. (Bodleian) 60, part i. pp. 178-9. S S 626 CAVALIER ANiD ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. tbem witli two troops of about 120 torse, which he performed with the greatest gallantry imaginable ; beat back two bodies of the enemie's horse, being Goring's own brigade ; brake them at sword's point. The enemy charged him with near 400 fresh horse. He set them all going until, oppressed with multitudes, he brake through them with the los* not of above 3 or 4 men. Major Desborough seconded him with some other of those troops, which were about three. Bethel faced about, and they both routed at sword's point a great body of the ene- mie's horse ; which gave such an unexpected terror to the enemie's army, that set them all a running. Our foot in the meantime coming on bravely, and beating the enemy from their strength, we presently had the chase to Lamport ftnd Bridgwater. We took and killed about 2000; brake all his foot. We have taken very many horse, and considerable prisoners; what were slain we know not. We have the lieutenant-general of the ordnance. Col. Preston, Colonel Heveningham, Colonel Slingsby we know of: besides very many other officers of quality. All Major-general Massie's party was with him, 7 or 8 miles from us, and about 1200 of our foot and 3 regts. of our horse; so that we had but 7 regiments with us. Thus you see what the Lord hath wrought for us. Can any creature ascribe anything to itself? Now can we give all the glory to God, and desire all may do so; for it is all due unto Him. Thus you have Lonff Sutton mercy added to Nasehy mercy. And to see this, is it not to see the face of God ? You have heard of Naseby ; it was a happy victory. As in this, so in that, God was pleased to use his servants ; and if men will be malicious and swell with envy, we know who hath said, * If they will not see, yet they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at his people.* I can say this of Naseby, that when I saw the enemy draw up, and march in gallant order towards us, and we a company of poor ignorant men, to seek how to order our battle, the general having commanded me to order all the horse, I could not (riding alone about my business) but smile out to God in praises, in assurance of victory, because God would, by things that are not, bring to nought things that are, of which I had great assurance, and God did it. Oh that men would therefore prwse the Lord, and declare the wonders that He doth for the children of men ! I cannot write more particulars now. I am going to the rendeavous of all our horse, 3 miles from Bridge water ; we march that way. It is a seasonable mercy. I cannot better tell you than write that God will go on. We have taken two guns, three carriages of ammunition, in the chase. The enemy quitted Lamport ; when they ran out at one end of the town, we entered the other. They fired that at which we should chase, which hindered our pursuit, but we overtook many of them. I believe we got near fifteen hundred horse. Sir, I beg your prayers. Believe and you shall be established. I rest Your servant, [Langport, July the loth, 1645]. [Oliveb Cbomwell.] Published by authority, in London, 1645.* The following letter from a soldier engaged in the battle may further illustrate the preceding : — Yesterday we advanced to Sutton, drawing out that part of our army which we had into Sutton field, the rest, being four thousand five hundred horse and dragoons (at the least), under the command of Major-general Massey, were on the other side of the river, and those 8 regiments of foot which we had at Naseby field, the[y] were also quartered at Martock too. Massey advanced .fl 'At A CAVALIEE AND EOTTNDHEAD LETTEKS. m * Pamphlets in Lincoln College Library, Oxford, vol. x. Battles and Sieges* with his horse & dragoons, having foot to back them, to Northcurry, bemg ordered to streighten the enemies' quarters, and to hinder them from any plun- dering exercise It seems 500 of them being upon a design out, & havmg no intellFgence of his being in motion, was surprised, being in a careless posture, [when Massey] fell on them; [his booty] bemg (as I take it) 9 colours, 200 prisoners, & about 250 horse, [and he] slew about 30. - ^ «^ f ^^\. We in the meantime were drawn up withm a mile of Langport, with those horse & foot the general had with him, not knowing of his en^ge- ment, and there being three rivers between him and us and the way almost twelve miles' march. The last night we quartered at Sutton, and this morn- imr by three of the clock drew out into Sutton field, having with us but se^en regiments of horse, viz., the general's (formerly called ^le^t^^ant^g^^eral CromweU's) Whalley's, Vermuyden's, Graves', Rich's, Fleetwood s, and Butler s, which were not h: all 2000 horse: of foot we had all but the musketeers of three regiments, having sent for them the last night from Martock. Early m the morning the enemy appeared in the field, and about seven o'clock they had made themselves masters of a pass which lay in the midst, between our body and theh-s ; had lined the hedges between us and them with at least 2000 nius- keteers, so that the passage to them was extreme dangerous, bemg so streight that four horse could hardly pass abreast, and that up to the belly ^^ wa^er, they lyimr so in flanks and fronts to receive us. In that posture they stood till nigh eleven of the clock, having in the interim sent away most of their tram and bag-age, led horse and other liunber to Bridgwater, being resolved to make go^ their retreat thither, which they conceived they could, having such an advantageous pass thither. We understanding their intentions by «)me scouts and other countrymen, resolved to charge them ; and ac«)rdingly ^ew down a commanded party of musketeers to beat them from the hedges, which was done with gallant resolution, advancing the same time with two regi- ments of horse into the lane. AU that we could draw up m the front was but a single troop, and that commanded by Bethel, the enemy stan^g readv with two bodies of horse, of about 1000, to charge him. He with a smgle troop charged and broke two of their divisions, of about 400; received the charge of the third division both in front and flank; was somewhat overborne at last, and forced to retire to the general's regiment, which waa about 100 yards behind. Desborough, with the general's troop, sheltered him by his flank to rally, and charged up hunself with about 200 horse of the generi's regiment; dispersed the enemy, and set them al a-running; gained freedom bv it for all our horse and foot to draw into bodies ; sent the enemy running, not being able to endure another charge. The general, lieutenant- Zeraf and some other officers upon the hill, beholding the gallant charges, commended it for the most excellent piece of service that ever was m England. We had them in chase almost to Bridgwater, having put them to the clean rout that ever any enemy were put to. What the number of the slain be I (»nnot teU you, being scarce come from the chase. The prisoners come m ah-e^y are 000 and I conceive there will come in as many as will make 2000, and 1200 horse at the least ; for colours, I am uncertam-I daie say at least 40 ; the arms at least 4000; 2 pieces of ordnance I saw, and divers carriages of ammumtion; and to make it a complete victory, he pm-sued the enemy through Langport having g^ned the garrison; and though they fired the town just at the Se, to iSder the chase, yet we foUowed the victory through the fire^ The success of this victory must be ascribed (next unto God) to the good conduct of the general, and Cromwell's following the chase through Langport where he himself passed through the fire flaming on both sides of him. The enemy cried out, they are now utterly undone, and that the king must now 628 CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. go into Ireland. This victory was opportune, in regard, had they stayed but three days longer. Goring would have had a reinforcement of six thousand horse and foot from Greenfield and the king, they being transporting their forces as fast as can be to Mamhead, Watchhead, and Uphill, there being 1500 that landed at Uphill, came to Bridgwater yesterday. Sir, this is all at present from your affectionate and humble servant, &c. Langport, July 10, 7 at night.* During the year 1645, John Lilbume, on whose behalf Oliver Cromwell had presented a petition at the commence- ment of the Long Parliament, had involved himself in a controversy on toleration with his former master and asso- ciate William Prynne, and had suflPered imprisonment in consequence for an alleged libel, besides finding it impossible to get his petition for arrears of pay, &c., attended to in the House. What followed shall be told in his own words : — 'Andnow of late I have followed them above these six moneths, to the expense of about 100/. to get a petition read, that I might have justice, and something of that which is mine owne, to pay my debts, and buy me and mine bread, and have made all the friends I could in the House ; but, as I conceive, I have been denied justice and right: and two several times have I been with the Speaker himself at his own house, humbly to crave his assistance. But so lofty and high was he, that he would not so much as look upon me, or speak with me, though I waited upon him to his very coach, and within two or three days after I had been with him, finding no compassion at all, printed my petition, and at the House of Commons door delivered above 150 copies thereof to the members as they went in ; and yet for all that could not get it read in the House. Whereupon, as one of my last hopes, I went down to the army upon Monday was a month (of purpose to my honoured friend Lieutenant-general Crom- well, who formerly had taken compassion on me in my bonds, and under God was the principal instrument to get me my liberty from my long captivity by the bishops) ; I say, I went down to him to get his letter to some of the members here, to desire them to help forward my business ; which I accordingly procured, and have delivered the original and * Kin^s Famphlets, British Museum. CAVALIER AND ROUNDHEAD LETTERS. 629 copies of it to divers members of the House, a true copy whereof I have sent you here enclosed ; and I profess, the getting of this letter was the end of my going down to the army ; and my journey, going, staying, and continuing, cost me above loL, divers of my friends of good quality there desiring me to stay till they had some engagement, that so I might be the joyful messenger of good tidings to the Par- liament, they conceiving thereby that that would be a prin- cipal means to help forward my business that I was nego- tiating in the House.' The following is Cromwell's letter in favour of Lilbume, who was purposely selected by him to carry the despatches of the battle. It is a circular letter of recommendation to the friends of Cromwell among the members at Westminster : — [Langport], July the loth, 1645. Gentlemen, — Being at this distance from Lon[don], I am forced to trouble you in a business which I would have done myself, had I been there. It is for Lieu-Col. Lilbume who hath done both you and the kingdom good service, otherwise T should not have made use of such friends as you are. He hath a long time attended the House of Com[mons] with a petition, that he might have reparation, according to their votes, for his former sufferings and losses, and some satisfaction for his arrears for his service of the state, which hath been a long time due unto him. To this day he cannot get his petition read : his attendance hath proved very expensive, and hath kept him from other employ- ment; and 1 believe that his former losses and late services (which have been very chargeable) considered, he doth find it a hard thing, in these times, for himself and his family to subsist. Truly, it is a grief to see men ruin them- selves through their affection and faithfulness to the public, and so few lay it to heart. It would be an honour to the Parl[iament], and an encouragement to those that faithfully serve them, if provisions were made for the comfortable subsistence of those who have lost all for them. And, I can assure you, that this neglect of those that sincerely serve you hath made some already quit their commands in this army, who have observed oftentimes their wives and children have begged, who have lost their Uves and limbs in the kingdom's service. I wish it were looked to betimes. That which I have to request of you is, that you give him your best assistance to get his petition read in the House, and that you will do him aU lawful favour and justice in it. I know he will not be unthankful, but adven- ture himself as freely in the service of the kingdom as hitherto he hath done. Hereby you shall lay a special obligation upon your servant Olivee Ceomwell.* Lilbume ultimately gained (not unjustly) the reputation of being of so quarrelsome a disposition, that it was said, if ♦ Lilbume's Letter to a Friend, King*s Pamphlets, small 4to. 220 § 5 (July 35. 1645). Part of this has been pubUshed in Godwin's Commonwealth. 630 CAVALIEK AND KOUNDHEAD LETTERS. there were only ' Jolin Lilbume' in tlie world, ' John' would quarrel with 'Lilbume/ and ^LUbume' with 'John/ He was, however, as honest and well-meaning as was possible with such a perverse disposition. His subsequent relations with Cromwell present a curious alternation of abuse and praise of his benefactor. APPENDIX (A). LORDS PRESENT AT WESTMINSTER— Janttiey 22, 1644. On the day appointed by Charles for the meeting of the anti-Par- liament at Oxford, there was a *cair of both Houses at Westminster, and the following names appear in the Lords' Journals of that day. They will form a convenient supplement to the list given before of the Puritan peers at the commencement of the Civil War. I have added the Christian and family names. FBESENT. William Grey, Lord Grey de Werk, SPEA.ZEB. Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumber- land. Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. Pbilip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. John Manners, Earl of Rutland. Henry de Grey, Earl of Kent. Theophilus Fynes, Earl of Lincoln. Oliver St. John, Earl of Bolingbroke. Henry Grey, Earl of Stamford. Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester. William Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. ABSEIfT- William Craven, Lord Craven, extra regnum, John Robartes, Lord Robartes. Charles Stanhope, Lord Stanhope. Francis Lennard, Lord Dacres. John Villiers, Viscount Purbecke. Edmund Sheflfeild, Earl of Mulgrave. Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham. Bazil Feilding, Earl of Denbigh. James Howard, Earl of Suffolk. William Fiennes, Viscount Saye and Sele. Edward Howard, Lord Howard of Escricke. Thomas Bruce, Lord Bruce [Earl of Elgin]. Francis Willoughby, LordWilloughby of Parham. Dudley North, Lord North. Philip Wharton, Lord Wharton. John Carey, Lord Hunsdon [Viscount RochfortJ. EXCUSED. Francis Browne, Viscount Montagu, extra regnum. Henry Rich, Earl of Holland. Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester. William Russell, Earl of Bedford. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Smrey, extra regnum. On the 24th of May, 1644, the House was again called, and I find the additional name of ' George Berkeley, Lord Berkeley,' among those present. There were several additions in the follow- ing years, but these names belong to the history of the struggle between the Presbyterians and Independents, on which I do not now enter. APPENDIX (B). TAKING OF HILSDEN HOUSE. The following letter from Sir Samuel Luke, the original of Hudihras, to the Earl of Essex, gives a full account of this exploit of Oliver Cromwell and Laurence CraMrford : — For his Excellencif the Earl of Essex, these. May it please your Excellency, — The last night after the arrival of the forces at Padham, Col. Cromwell sent out a party to give an alarum at Hilsden House, which was performed, & wrought the desired effect. This morning, l>etween 5 and six of the clock, they all arrived before Hilsden House, and while L*. Gen^ Cromwell and Major Gen'* Crawford was putting the forces in order, the house sounded a parley, which was granted to them ; and L*. Gen** Crom- well sent to them and promised to them a safe conduct to any man that they would send to treat. Thereupon their brave general Col. Smith sent out to them his L** Col. Flnher [?], a Dutchman, who demanded of us a safe conduct with bag and baggage to Oxford. The Qu'* Master Gen'* Vermudeu was ordered by L** Gen'* to treat with him, w*ho assured him all they must expect was quarter j whereupon the brave L** Col. returned, & in disdain prepared for our coming. We also prepared for an assault : the Major Gen'* ordered the foot to fall on in four parts, which was done with that brave resolution that I never saw anything bettor performed. In less than a quarter of an hour's time they made themselves masters of the works and house, with the loss of not above 6 men, besides what were hurt on our side, & above 30 of theirs. In the house we took Sir Alexander Denton, Col, Smith, with many other oflScers & soldiers, the number whereof is yet unknown to us; we also took 13 barrels of powder with match & ball proportionable — the cellars full of good beer, the stables fall of horses, and yards full of oxen and beasts. This hath the Lord done for us this day ; His name for ever have the honour & glory of it. We had no officer killed or hurt save only CoL Pickering, & that only a little struck under the chin with a musket ball. But, thai.ks be to God, he was dressed before 1 came away, & was very merry & cheerful. The L** Gen'* left 200 of Newport foot, &c. under Major Bradbury, in the house, till he shall liave further directions, and the rest are all returned to their old quarters this night from whence they came, to wit, Winslow, Padbury, & other places thereabouts. The enemies' horse being abroad, took some of ours & we some of theirs, and one of Capt"* Walton's (as I hear) was killed, &c Sam. Luke. Newport, 4 March, l643[4], 8 at night. Col. Smith assured us they expected relief, & therefore fired the houses thii morning, as if they intended to make a Burgim [Bergen] leaguer of it.* * Tanner MSS. 62, part ii. pp. 59I-3* THl HfB. '.?r 1,. ^' ,> ^j.,^ ^^Q week? f^^*^ 1-^^* "• ' ♦amped 1 i 94^,064 SantQYcL 3^2. OG^ Sa5 o-a- S JAN 'o» iB33