'. . . The only history worth reading is that written at the time of which it
treats, the history of what was done and seen heard out of the mouths of men
who did and saw. One fresh draught of such history is worth more than a
thousand volumes of abstracts, and reasonings, and suppositions, and theories ;
and I believe that as we get wiser we shall take little trouble about the history
of nations who have left no distinct records of themselves, but spend our time
only in the examination of the faithful documents which, in any period of the
world, have been left, either in the form of art or literature, portraying the scenes
or recording the events, which in those days were actually passing before the eye
of men' — Ruskin

CONTENTS

OP
THE SECOND VOLUME.
PAGB
The Gunpowdbk Plot ... . . 1
A Pbkishbd Kernel .  42
The Massacre of Ambotna  73
The Gathering of the Storm  104
The Lancashire Witches ... . 184
The Great Fire of London  213
A National Scare .... . . . 232

STORIES from the
STATE PAPERS.
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.
Almighty God, who hast in all ages shewed thy Power and Mercy in
the miraculous and gracious deliverances of thy Church, and in the protec
tion of righteous and religious Kings and States professing thy holy and
eternal truth, from the wiclied conspiracies, and malicious practises of all
the enemies thereof : We yield thee cur unfeigned thanlts and praise, for
the wonderful and mighty deliverance of our gracious Sovereign King
James the First, the Queen, the Prince, and all the Eoyal Branches, with
the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons of England, then assembled in Parlia
ment, by Popish treachery appointed as sheep to the slaughter, in a most
barbarous and savage manner, beyond the examples of former ages. From
this unnatural conspiracy, not our merit, but thy mercy ; not our foresight,
but thy providence delivered us : And therefore not unto us, 0 Lord, not
unto us, but unto thy Name be ascribed all honour and glory, in all
Churches of the saints, from generation to generation ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen. — Prayer for ihff happy deliverance of King James
the First and the Three Estates of England.
At the accession of James I. the condition of the
Eoman Catholics in England was one of galling restric
tions, spiteful intolerance, and constant persecution. Under
Mary the Protestants were the martyrs of the State ; under
Elizabeth the reaction set in, and the Papists had to reap the
whirlwind they had sown during the preceding reign. The
VOL. II. B
6

2 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
crop was an evil one, and as the unhappy son of an oppressed
faith had to eat its bitter food, he had every reason to admit
that his lines had not fallen in pleasant places. On all sides
the Papist was the object of State inspection and irritating
control. He dared not confess to his priest or bend the knee
to the Host in his own temples ; whilst if he failed to attend
a Protestant place of worship on the Sabbath, he was liable
to a fine of twenty pounds for every month during which he
had absented himself. If he were a priest and attempted to
say mass, he could be punished by a forfeiture of two hundred
marks and a year's imprisonment. Indeed, such a man had
no right at all to enjoy English hospitality. By a statute
passed in 1585 it was enacted that ' all Jesuits, seminary
and other priests ordained since the beginning of the Queen's
reign should depart out of the realm within forty days after
that session of Parliament ; and that all such prie.sts or other
religious persons ordained since the said time should not come
into England or remain there under the pain of suffering
death, as in case of treason ; ' it was also declared that ' all
persons receiving or assisting such priest should be guilty of
capital felony.' The Papist who refused to bow down in the
house of Rimmon — or, in other words, attend the Sunday
services in a Protestant church — was branded as a ' recusant,'
and on persisting in his refusal was forced to quit the kingdom ;
if he dared to return without leave, he laid himself open to
execution as a felon, without benefit of clergy. It is true
that these harsh laws were not always put into operation,
yet no Papist ever felt himself safe from becoming one day

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

their victim. It was a matter of lenity that he escaped, not
of right. As the health of Elizabeth began visibly to decline, the
English Catholics looked forward with hope to the arrival of
her successor. It was known that James was the son of
Catholic parents • that he had been baptized by a Catholic
archbishop, and that he had on more than one occasion openly
avowed that he was not a heretic, and that he had not
severed himself from the Church. Even if his faith had been
doubtful, was it to be expected, it was asked, that he would
regard with favour the party which had been the chief agent
in hunting his mother to her death ? In addition to these
surmises, James had given positive proof of the toleration he
intended to display. Whilst Elizabeth was lying ill, one
Thomas Percy, a kinsman of the Earl of Northumberland,
and subsequently one of the Powder Plot conspirators, had
been sent on a mission to Scotland, and had returned with
the answer that James, on his accession, would deal well
with the English Catholics. At the same time the King of
Scotland wrote with his own hand a letter to the Earl of
Northumberland, stating that when his Majesty should'cross
the Tweed to wear the crown, the Catholic religion would be
tolerated.' Buoyed up with these hopes, the Catholics of
England warmly supported the cause of James, and were
amonc the most loyal of those who rallied round the throne
during the first months of the new monarch's reign.
1 State Papers, Domestic, edited by Mrs. Green, November 23, 1605 ;
also The Gunpowder Plot, by Daniel Jardine: a most careful work, now out
of print. B 2

4 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
For a time it appeared as if the reign of persecution had
come to an end. The English Catholics were exempt from
attendance upon Protestant churches, they were exonerated
from the fines for recusancy, and they were appointed to
lucrative posts under the Crown. They were informed that
this happy state of things would continue ' so long as they
kept themselves upright and civil in all true carriage towards
the King and State without contempt.' But the wily James
had only used the policy of toleration for his own ends. No
sooner did he find himself firmly settled upon the English
throne, and felt conscious that the national feeling was warmly
hostile to the Papacy, than he resolved to be independent of
Catholic support, and to withdraw from the pledge he had
solemnly given. He denied that he had ever returned a favour
able answer bo Percy's mission. He had always been a true
son of the English Church, and rather than change his
religion he would lose his crown or his life. He summoned
his Council, and assured them that he had never entertained
any intention of granting toleration to the English Catholics,
and that if he thought his sons would condescend to any such
course, he would wish the kingdom translated to his daughter.
To prove the truth of his words, he issued a proclamation,
ordering all Jesuits and priests to quit the kingdom, under
pain of being left to the rigour of the laws.
And now, to the dismay and indignation of the duped
Catholics, a return to the persecuting policy of Elizabeth
was openly adopted. The recusancy fines were enforced. All
the laws of Elizabeth against Jesuits and priests were ordered

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

to be put in execution. A bill was passed, declaring that
all persons who had been educated in Catholic colleges on
the continent should be incapable of holding lands or goods
within the King's dominions. At the same time, any one
keeping a schoolmaster who refused to attend a Protestant
Chui-ch, or who was not licensed by the bishop of the diocese,
was liable to forfeit forty shillings for every day he was
retained. Thus, practically. Catholic children were to grow
up untaught. Their parents declined to entrust them to
a Protestant tutor ; whilst, if they sent them abroad, they
would lose their rights as English subjects. Well might Sir
Everard Digby thus write to Lord Salisbury, when he saw
promises shamelessly broken and hopes raised only to be
cruelly crushed : ' If your Lordship and the State,' he says,'
' think it fit to deal severely with the Catholics, within brief
there will be massacres, rebellions, and desperate attempts
against the King and State. For it is a general received
reason amongst Catholics, that there is not that expecting
and suffering course now to be run that was in the Queen's
time, who was the last of her line and last in expectance
to run violent courses against Catholics; for then it was
hoped that the King that now is would have been at least
free from persecuting, as his promise was before his coming
into this realm, and as divers his promises have been since
his coming. All these promises every man sees broken.'
When men are subject to persecution for the sake of their
religion, the course they pursue is suggested by the tempera-
' State Pavers, Domestic, December, 1605.

6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
ment each possesses. The timid shuffle and conceal, the
bold defy the law or seek the overthrow of their oppressors.
Such was now to be the conduct of the English Catholics.
The weak, though sincere, pandered to the policy of the
Court ; they worshipped in secret, they attended every
Sunday a Protestant Church, and they sent their children
to Protestant schools. The more bold refused to dismiss the
priests hidden in the secret chambers of their halls and
manor-houses, or to follow their religion as if ashamed of it,
and were content when discovered to pay the penalty. But
there were men amongst the number who openly advocated the
Catholic faith, who scorned to accept any compromise, who
so fully believed in the truth and purity of their religion,
that they not only professed it, but resolved to brave all
dangers to see it freed from persecution and once more
reinstated as the faith of England. It was this last class
which, now that all hopes of relief from the King had to be
abandoned, determined to gain its ends by other means and
from other agents. In religion, when harassed by persecu
tion, there is little patriotism ; the interests of the creed
dominate over those of the country. The Huguenots
looked towards England for aid, so now the Catholics
looked towards Spain. Negotiations were reopened with
the King of Spain for money and assistance. His Majesty
was informed that the condition of the English Catholics
was hopeless without his help, and he was invited to land an
army at Milford Haven, when the western counties would
rise in his favour, and every Catholic in England would

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

rally round his standard. In the reign of Elizabeth such
appeals were familiar at the Court of Madrid ; but now the
Most Catholic King took very little interest in England,
and was far more anxious to conclude an advantageous
peace with James than to convert him into a dangerous
enemy. He declined to tempt fortune by the creation of
another Armada.
Thus foiled in all their attempts to ameliorate their
condition, the English Catholics were ready to give ear to
the most dangerous counsels. And now it was that the idea
of destroying at one fatal blow King, Lords, and Commons,
through the agency of gunpowder, began to assume a defi
nite shape in the minds of some of the more desperate of the
party. At this time Robert Catesby, who was the repre
sentative of one of the oldest families in England, and who,
during the former reign, had entered warmly into the Earl
of Essex's insurrection, John Wright, a scion of the Wrights
of Plowland in Holderness, and Thomas Winter, who came
of a line that had held estates in Worcestershire since the
wars of the Roses, were frequently in the habit of meeting
together at Lambeth, to discuss the fortunes and future of
their Church. On one of these occasions Catesby took
Winter aside and told him that ' he had bethought him of
a way at one instant to deliver them from all their bonds,
and without any foreign help to replant again the Catholic
religion.' On being pressed to explain his meaning, he
answered that ' his plan was to blow up the Parliament House
with gunpowder; for,' added he, 'in that place they have

STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

done us all the mischief, and perchance God hath designed
that place for their punishment.' Winter, taken aback at
the suggestion of so terrible a deed, made objections. ' True
it was,' he said, 'that this struck at the root, and would
breed a confusion fit to beget new alterations; but if it
should not take effect, the scandal would be so great which
the Catholic religion might thereby sustain, as not only
their enemies but their friends also would, with good reason,
condemn them.' Catesby shortly replied that ' the nature of
the disease required so sharp a remedy.' Then he bluntly
asked if Winter would consent to join with him. At once
Winter answered that, 'in this or what else soever, if
Catesby resolved upon it, he would venture his life.'
It was however now agreed that, if possible, the ends of
the conspirators should be attained by all peaceful means.
Accordingly, Calsesby recommended Winter to cross over to
Flanders, and there see Velasco, the Constable of Castile,
then on his way to England to conclude a peace between
James and the King of Spain, and to beg the Constable to
use his efforts with the King of England to have the penal
laws against Catholics repealed. This suggestion was at
once adopted, and Winter hastUy proceeded to Bergen, where
he had an interview with Velasco. The discreet Constable
received bim courteously, but dismissed him with platitudes.
The King of Spain, he said, entertained the most friendly
feelings towards the Catholics of England ; he himself per
sonally much regretted the painful position in which they
were placed, but he coidd not definitely promise that in the

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

treaty about to be signed he could specially stipulate for the
redress of their grievances ; he would however see what
could be done. This answer was not satisfactory to Winter,
and finding from the English Catholics then in Flanders
that Spain had no intention of actively interesting herself
on behalf of the Catholic cause in England, he returned
home accompanied by one Guide Fawkes, who had been re
commended to him by the Flemish priests as a 'fit and
resolute man for the execution of the enterprise.' '
Guide Fawkes, whose name history will ever hand down
as the chief mover in the plot, was sprung from a respectable
Yorkshire family. In his examination ^ he admits that he
was born in the city of York, and that his father was one
Edward Fawkes, a notary, who has now been identified with
the Edward Fawkes who held the office of ' registrar and
advocate of the Consistory Court of the Cathedral Church of
York,' and who was buried in the Cathedral Church, January
17, 1578. His parents being Protestants, Guidowas brought
up in the faith of the Church of England and educated in a
free school near York. On the death of Edward Fawkes
the widow married a very devoted Catholic, and we may
therefore conclude that the future conspirator was made a
convert to his step-father's religion. Sir William Waad, the
Lieutenant of the Tower, writes to Lord Salisbury, after
1 State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Thomas Winter, January,
1606. The Papers relating to the Plot, though calendared by Mrs. Green
have been separated from the Domestic Series of State Papers, and are now
bound up in two volumes.
2 Ibid. November 7, 1605.

STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

the discovery of the plot,' that 'Fawkes' mother is still
alive, and married to Foster, an obstinate recusant, and he
hath a brother in one of the Inns of Court. John and
Christopher Wright were schoolfellows of Fawkes and neigh
bours' children. Tesmond the Jesuit was at that time
schoolfellow also with them; so as this crew have been
brought up together.' After having spent the * small living '
left him by his father. Guide enlisted in the Spanish army
in Flanders, and was present at the capture of Calais by the
Archduke Albert in 1598. His devotion to the Catholic
cause, his high courage, and in an age of dissoluteness his
purity of life, soon caused him to be looked upon as one of
the pillars of the party. He had been sent on more than
one mission to Spain to obtain help for his brethren in
England, and those who knew him felt assured that the in
terests of their Church could not be entrusted to safer hands.
He is described by Father Green way as ' a man of great piety,
of exemplary temperance, of mild and cheerful demeanour,
an enemy of broils and disputes, a faithful friend, and re
markable for his punctual attendance upon reUgious observ
ances.' When in Flanders, we are told that his society was
' sought by all the most distinguished in the Archduke's
camp for nobility and virtue.' Such was the dangerous
enthusiast who was now to play a prominent part in the
conspiracy then being matured in the unscrupulous brain
of Catesby. Vice and fanaticism often tread the same path
to reach their goal.
1 State Papers, Domestic, December 8, 1605.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

On arriving in London, Winter, accompanied by Fawkes,
went to see Catesby at his lodgings. There he met Percy and
Wright. It was evident to the little band that, deceived by
James and deserted by Spain, the English Catholics, if they
wished to free themselves from the galling restrictions by
which they were surrounded, would have solely to rely upon
their own energies and resources. They discussed their
position and the future before them. ' Are we always to
talk,' said Percy angrily, ' and never to do anything % '
Catesby took him aside and whispered in his ear that he
knew what should be done, but before he divulged his views
it was necessary that every one should be bound by a solemn
oath of secresy. Percy readily agreed, and on the meeting
breaking up it was arranged that they should all assemble in
a few days at a house in the fields beyond St. Clement's Inn.
At the time appointed the conspirators came together ; the
only addition to their number being' Father Gerard, a Jesuit
priest. The moment they had assembled, and without any
conversation taking place. Father Gerard stood in their
midst and administered the oath to each, beginning with
Catesby and ending with Fawkes. ' You shall swear,' he
said, ' by the Blessed Trinity, and by the Sacrament you now
propose to receive, never to disclose directly or indirectly, by
word or circumstance, the matter that shall be proposed to
you to keep secret, nor desist from the execution thereof
until the rest shall give you leave.' The oath taken, all
' kneeling down upon their knees with their hands laid
upon a primer,' Catesby requested Gerard to quit the room

STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

whilst he made his project known. He then stated that he
proposed, when the King went in state to the House of
Lords, to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder.
The scheme met with the approval of his hearers, and after
a brief discussion as to the course that was to be pursued
they adjourned to an upper room, where they heard mass
and received the Sacrament from the Jesuit father.'
The plan of the plot, once adopted, was quickly put
into execution. A house adjoining the Parliament House
which happened to be vacant was taken by Percy, and there
the conspirators daily met. It was proposed that a mine
should be constructed from the cellar of this house through
the wall of the Parliament House, and that a quantity of
gunpowder and combustibles should be stored in the vault
of the House of Lords. At the same time a house was
rented in Lambeth where wood and timber could be de
posited, to be ferried across the river to Westminster in
small quantities so as not to excite suspicion. Fawkes,
' That Gerard was ignorant of the plot, see Examination of Fawkes,
November 9, 1605 : ' Gerard, the Jesuit, gave them the Sacrament, to con
firm their oath of secresy, hit knew not their purpose ; ' also Examination of
Winter, January 9, 1606, Gerard, alias Lee ; ' The priest gave them the
Sacrament afterwards, but knew n^t of the plot.'' The Jesuits at this time
were in the habit of assuming several pseudonymes. The following occur
amongst the State Papers : —
Henry Garnet alias Walley, Darcy, Farmer, and Meaze.
Edward Oldcome „ Hall, Vincent, Parker.
Nicholas Owen „ Andrews, Littlejohn, Draper.
Oswald Greenway „ Greenwell, Tesmond.
John Gerard „ Brook, Staunton, Lee.
Thomas Strange „ Anderson.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 13
being unknown in London, kept the keys and acted as
Percy's servant, under the name of Johnson. The frequent
prorogation of Parliament allowed the conspirators ample
time to mature their schemes and to proceed with their
mining operations. These latter were more arduous than
had been expected. The wall which separated the house
from the Parliament Chamber was a stout piece of masonry
three yards in thickness, and required all the efforts of the
plotters to make any impression upon it. All day they
worked with their pickaxes, and at night removed the
rubbish into the garden behind the house, strewing it about
and then covering it with turf. With the exception, of
Fawkes, who wore a porter's dress over his clothes, and
passed for a servant taking care of a house in the absence of
its master, none of the conspirators were ever seen at the
windows, but lived in strict seclusion in the basement. It
was with no little pride that Guide Fawkes remembered
that those who were then spending their days in arduous
toil and depressing isolation were men of ancient race work
ing like the lowest for the sake of Holy Mother Church.
' All,' he afterwards avowed,' ' were gentlemen of name and
blood, and not any was employed in or about this action —
no not so much as in digging and mining — that was not a
gentleman. And while the others wrought, I stood as
sentinel to descry any man that came near ; and when any
man came near to the place, upon warning given by me
1 State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Guy Fawkes, November 8,
1605.

.14 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
they eased until they had again notice from me to proceed ;
and we lay in the house and had shot and powder, and we
all resolved to die in that place before we yielded or were
taken.' An accidental circumstance, which seemed as if fortune
at first was propitious to the plot, was now to relieve the
conspirators from much of this toil. One morning, whilst
at work as usual upon the wall, a loud grating noise was
suddenly heard above their heads. The men suspended their
labours and kept dead silence, fearing that at last all had
been discovered. The noise continued, and Fawkes was
sent upstairs to ascertain, if he could, the cause. To his
delight he found that a cellar immediately below the House
of Lords was being emptied of coals, and that the sound
which had so startled them was owing to this circumstance.
,In the character of Percy's servant Fawkes approached the
coal-merchant, whose name was Bright, and asked him if he
was disposed to let the cellar, as his master was in want of
one to store his own coals and wood. Bright replied that
the cellar would shortly be vacant, and that he had no
objection to Mr. Percy renting it from him. Such an
arrangement was of the greatest service to the conspirators.
There was now no necessity to continue boring through the
wall which separated them from the Parliament House, for
the cellar they were about to hii-e was a large vault, dry and
dark, directly below the House of Lords, and exactly suited
to the fell purpose they had in view. Terms were soon
settled between Percy and Bright, and within a month the

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 15
vault was filled with barrels of powder hidden in hampers,
iron bars and tools to ' make the breach the greater,' and
the whole covered with faggots and billets of wood. The
better to conceal the purpose for which the cellar was used,
a quantity of lumber was thrown carelessly about. It was
now May, and Parliament did not meet till the first week
of October. The preparations complete, the conspirators
agreed to part company during the months that intervened,
so as not to excite suspicion by being seen together. It was
considered advisable that Fawkes should make London his
head-quarters, and we now learn that he lodged at a Mrs.
Woodhouse, ' at the back of St. Clement's Church.' His
landlady does not appear to have been impressed in his
favour. ' She disliked him,' she said, ' suspecting him to be
a priest ; he was tall, with brown hair, auburn beard, and
had plenty of money.' Here he carried on an active
correspondence with Catesby, Percy, Winter, and the two
Wrights.' When men meet together to carry out some terrible deed,
it is seldom that the secret is only confined to the originators
of the scheme. As the plot thickens, and success becomes
more and more probable, other agencies have to be intro
duced, and the band of conspirators has to increase its
numbers. This was now the case with the designers of the
Powder Plot. One by one the original five had to admit
others into their confidence, until the heads of many were
compromised in the matter. First, it had been necessary to
1 State Papers, Domestic, November 7, 1605.

1 6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
obtain further assistance for the mining of the party- wall, and
Robert Keyes, the son of the vicar of Stavely in Derbyshire,
and Christopher, the brother of John Wright, had the oath
administered to them and were duly enrolled members of the
dangerous fratei'nity. Then John Grant, of Norbrook, near
Warwick; Robert, the eldest brother of Thomas Winter;
and Thomas Bates, a servant of Catesby, were sworn as
confederates. As money was an important element in the
undertaking to bring it to a successful issue, Catesby and
Percy were of opinion that the secret should be divulged to
some of the wealthy English Catholics, who should be asked
to contribute funds towards the object in view. Accordingly,
Sir Everard Digby, of Tilton and Drystoke, in Rutlandshire ;
Ambrose Rookwood, of Coldham Hall, in Suffolk; and
Francis Tresham, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Tresham, and
a relative of Catesby's — all zealous Catholics and men of
large estate — took the oath and became adherents to the
cause. Thus the ranks of the conspirators had been swelled
from five to thirteen, not including certain persons who had
been sent on foreign missions, who were supposed to be, if
not entirely, at least partly, in the secret.
As the dread day for the meeting of ParKament ap
proached, the plans of future operations were discussed and
finally arranged. The King and the Prince of Wales, it was
concluded, would perish in the explosion. The Duke of
York, afterwards Charles the First, it was supposed, would
not accompany his father, and to Percy, therefore, was
entrusted the task of securing the lad and carrying him off

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 17
in safety to be subsequently proclaimed King. Should the
Duke not be found, then the Princess Elizabeth, who was
under the care of Lord Harrington at Coventry, was to be
surprised and taken off instead of her brother. Warwick
shire was to be the place of general rendezvous. Arms and
ammunition were stored up in the houses of various con
spirators in the midland counties, while Catesby, under
pretence of uniting with the levies then being collected in
England for service in Flanders, had raised a troop of three
hundred horse to meet any resistance which might be offered
by the Government after the execution of the plot.' Thus,
as matters had been arranged, the Parliament House was to
be wrecked; the King, the heir apparent, and a large portion
of the aristocracy were to be suddenly sent into eternity ; a
new sovereign was to be elected ; the Protestants were to be
demolished, and all Catholic grievances consequently re
dressed. The mine had been laid, it was only necessary now
to fire it.
Parliament had been prorogued from the third of October
to the fifth of November. As the day came nearer and
nearer for the perpetration of the awful act, a natural feeling
of humanity impressed itself upon the members in the secret
of the conspiracy. Every man amongst them knew that
within a few days a terrible slaughter was about to be
effected, that in the chamber above the murderous vault,
with its powder and its faggots, there would assemble those
1 State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Guy Fawkes, November 8,
1605 ; also examination of Thomas Winter, January 17, 1606.
VOL. II. C

1 8 S7VRIES PROM THE STATE PAPERS.
favourable to the Catholic cause as well as those hostile to it;
yet in the havoc of the explosion no distinction could be
made, and both friend and foe would have to suffer the
doom of sudden death. There was not one of the conspirators
but had some friend he was anxious to save, and the question
had often been debated amongst them how they could impart
intelligence to those in whom they were interested without
sacrificing the success of the plot. How could they give warn
ing without divulging their secret ? Tresham was ' exceeding
earnest ' to advise Lords Stourton and Mounteagle, who had
married his sisters, to absent themselves from the opening of
Parliament ; Keyes was anxious to save his friend and
patron. Lord Mordaunt ; Fawkes himself was interested in
the fate of Lord Montague ; whilst Percy strongly interceded
on behalf of the Earl of Northumberland and of the young
Lord Arundel. But the stern, hard Catesby turned a deaf
ear to all entreaties, and refused to be moved.
' Rather than the project should not take effect,' he cried,
' if they were as dear unto me as mine own son, they must also
be blown up.' He, however, assured his colleagues that
most of the Catholic peers would not attend the meeting of
Parliament, and that ' tricks should be put upon them to
that end.' ' Assure yourself,' he said to Digby, ' that such
of the nobility as are worth saving shall be preserved and yet
know not of the matter.' His advice was accepted, for all
feared that any other course was too dangerous to be adopted.
' We durst not forewarn them,' said Fawkes afterwards, ' for
fear we should be discovered ; we meant principally to have

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

19

respected our own safety, and would have prayed for them .
It was, however, agreed that if anyone amongst them saw his
way to warn a friend on ' general grounds ' to absent himself
on the occasion, he would be justified in so doing.'
This permission was to be fully availed of. William
Parker, Lord Mounteagle, was one of the few Catholics who
then enjoyed the full favour of the Court. During the last
reign he had become intimate with Catesby and Winter, and
had been engaged in the rebellion of the Earl of Essex, for
which he had been fined and imprisoned. He had also been one
of tho!3e who had invited the King pf Spain to invade England
for the preservation of Catholic interests. On the accession
of James, Mounteagle forsook his plotting courses, posed as
a loyal adherent of the King, and became one of the most
prominent of those ' tame ducks ' used by the Court to 'decoy
the wild ones.' He was regarded by the English Catholics
as the man above all others who could obtain redress for
their grievances, if redress were possible.^ One evening — it
was on Saturday, October 26 — whilst Lord Mounteagle was
at supper at his house at Hoxton, a letter was brought in to
I State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Digby, December 2 ; of
Keyes, November 30 ; and of Fawkes, November 16, 1605.
2 Ibid. Examination of Thomas Winter, November 25, and of Francis
Tresham, November 29, 1605. In these originals great care has been taken
to conceal the name of Mounteagle. In the examination of Winter the
name of Mounteagle is half scratched out and half pasted over with paper.
In the examination of Tresham his name is hidden by a slip of paper being
pasted over it. These are the only two examinations amongst the State
Papers in which the name of Mounteagle appears.
c2

20 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
him. It had been handed to one of the pages by a man
whose face was closely muffled up, with instructions to deliver
the paper at once to his master, as it contained matters of
importance. The letter ran as follows : — •
' My lord out of the love i beare to some of youer friends
i have a caer of youer preservacion therefore i would advyse
yowe as yowe tender youer lyf to devyse some excuse to shift
of youer attendance at this parleament for god and man
bathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme and
thinke not slightlye of this advertisment but retyere youre
self into youre countri wheare yowe maye expect the event in
safti for thowghe theare be no apparence of anni stir yet i
saye they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament and
yet they shall not seie who hurts them this councel is not to
be contemned because it maye do yowe good and can do yowe
no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as you have burnt
the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak
good use of it to whose holy proteccion i commend yowe.' '
Who wrote this letter ? It has been attributed to Mrs.
Abington, the sister of Lord Mounteagle, and wife of Thomas
Abington, of Henlip, Worcestershire, one of the most zealous
of the English Catholics. But the evidence we possess on
the subject distinctly states that neither Mr. Abington nor
his wife were acquainted with the plot until informed of its
failure by Garnet, when they refused to join the rising of
' This letter is amongst the Gunpowder Plot Papers. It is written in
Koman hand, without capital letters or punctuation. It is addressed  ' To
the right honourable the lord mowteagle.'

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

the Catholics.' The authorship of this letter has also been
ascribed to Anne Vaux, the daughter of Lord Vaux, and
devoted friend (Protestant scandal hints at a closer relation
ship) of Father Garnet ; but such a statement is unsupported
by any testimony worthy of credence. There can be little
doubt, however, that the sender, if not the writer, of the
letter was Francis Tresham. Everything points him out as
the agent. He was known to be treacherous and unprin
cipled ; he had always been a lukewarm adherent of the plot,
and consequently regarded with suspicion by his colleagues ;
he had expressed himself most anxious to save the life of
Mounteagle ; latterly he had been absent from the proceed
ings of the conspirators ; and on the failure of the plot he was
treated with suspicious leniency by the Government. At
the same time, it is hardly to be credited that this letter was
the first intimation either Mounteagle or the Council obtained
of the existence of such a conspiracy. No one not in the
secret could guess from its contents what was about to occur ;
it was, as Lord Salisbury expressed it, ' too loose an advertise
ment for any wise man to take alarm at, and absent himself
from Parliament.' There can be little doubt but that the
Government were well acquainted throughout with the
movements of the conspirators, and that they made use of
Tresham's disclosure simply, as Father Greenway suggests,
to hide the true source from which their information had
been derived.
1 State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Edward Oldeome, alias Hall,
March 6, 1606.

22 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
The probable solution of the discovery is as follows : The
English Jesuits at Rome were well aware of the existence of
the plot ; the French spies at Rome heard of it, and com mi *
nicated it to their government ; then France, fearful lest the
fate of James and the success of the conspirators should place
England in the power of Spain, secretly informed the Council
of what was in store for them. In the Memoirs of the Duke
of Sully there are frequent allusions to the sudden blow which
the Catholics are preparing against England. A recent dis
covery also confirms this view. Among the Cecil Papers,
lately examined at Hatfield, there is this letter, which lacks
both signature and address : ' —
' Who so evar finds this box of letars let him carry it to
the King's Majesty ; my Master litel thinks I know of this,
but in rydinge with him that browt the letar to my Master
to a Katholyk gentleman's hows anward of his way into
Lincolnshire he told me all his purpose and what he ment
to do; and he being a priest absolved me and made me
swear never to reveal it to any man. I confess myself a
Katholyk and do hate the Protestant religion with my
hart and yet I detest to consent either to murder or treason.
I have blottyd out sartyn names in the letars because I
wold not have either my Master or ane of his friends trobyl
aboute this ; for by his means I was made a good Katholyk ;
and I wold to God the King war a good Katholyk that' is
all the harm I wish hym ; and let him take heed what peti
tions or supplications he taks of ane man ; and I hop this
will be found by som that will give it to the King, it may
' Third Repoi^ Hist. MSS. Commission, vol. iv. p. 148. m

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 23
do him good one day. I mean not to come to my Master
any more, but will return unto my country from whens I
came. As for my name and country I counsel that; and
God make the King a good Katholyk ; and let Sir Robert
CeoU and My Lord Chief Justice look to themselves.'
The events which immediately followed upon the des
patch of the letter to Mounteagle are the common facts of his
tory, and the State Papers fail to reveal much that is new.
The vaults below the Parliament House were examiaed by
the Lord Chamberlain, who purposely deferred the inspec
tion till the day before the meeting of the Chambers. The
coals and faggots stored up in the vault were observed, and
at the same time Fawkes was seen, standing in a dark
corner, guarding his treasures. So vast a supply of fuel for
a house seldom occupied seemed somewhat suspicious, and
on the Lord Chamberlain making his report to the King it
was resolved that a further examination should take place.
Not to create alarm, the inspection was entrusted to Sir
Thomas Knevet, a magistrate of Westminster, under pretence
of making a general search in the houses and cellars in the
neighbourhood for certain stuffs belonging to the King's ward
robe. At midnight, on the eve of the now memorable fifth
of November, Sir Thomas with his assistants made a sudden
descent upon the house. Fawkes, having finished his day's
work, was in the act of shutting the door. He was detained
whilst the magistrate visited the cellar. Here the barrels
of powder hidden by the faggots, the bars of iron, and the
coals at once revealed the nature of the plot. Fawkes was

24 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
arrested, pinioned, and searched ; slow matches and touch
wood were found upon his person. In a corner of the
cellar was a dark lantern, the light still burning in it. Now
that he had been caught red-handed, and all evasion was
fruitless, the boldness of the man came out. Without hesi
tation, Fawkes avowed to Sir Thomas the ends he had in
view, and declared that ' if he had happened to be within
the house when he took him, he would not have failed to
have blown him up, house, himself, and all.'
Under a strong guard the prisoner was marched off at once
to Whitehall, there to be examined personally by the King.
The Royal bedchamber was fiUed with members of the
Council, and in the middle of the room, seated on a chair,
was James. Calm, and with a lofty dignity, the conspirator
faced his judges. In his own eyes he had done what was
right, and he was bold with the courage of the man whose
conscience completely acquits him. Question after question
was put to him, often hurriedly and passionately, yet he
never permitted his temper to be ruffled out of its quiet,
haughty composure. His name, he answered, was John
Johnson, and he was a servant of Thomas Percy. It was
quite true that whilst the Upper House was sitting he
meant to have fired the mine below, and escape before the
powder had been ignited. Had he not been seized, he would
have blown up King, lords, bishops, and aU who had been
in the chamber.
' Why would you have killed me ? ' asked the King.
' Because you are excommunicated by the Pope.'

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 25
' How so % ' said James.
' Maunday Thursday the Pope excommunicates all
heretics who are not of the Church of Rome. You are
within the same excommunication.'
He was then asked who were privy to the conspiracy,
but refused to accuse any of his friends. After further
questions had been put to him, several of which he declined
to answer, he was sent with a guard to the Tower.
It had been arranged that the conspirators, after the
explosion, should hasten to Dunchurch, where Sir Everard
Digby, under cover of a meet on Dunsmore Heath, was to
assemble a large party friendly to the Catholic cause.
Catesby and John Wright were on their way thither the
afternoon of the day on which Fawkes had been appre
hended. At Brickhill they were joined by Keyes, Rook
wood, Percy, and Christopher Wright, who now informed
them of the arrest of Fawkes, when they rode for dear life
into Warwickshire. At Dunchurch they met the rest of
then- number, but after a brief stay it was considered advis
able to ride through the counties of Warwick, Worcester,
and Stafford, into Wales, exciting the Catholic gentry to
join them as they went along. Their efforts were, however,
useless. The Catholics hounded them from their doors, and
reproached them for having dragged their cause through the
mire by their infamous enterprise. 'Not one man,' says
Sir Everard in his examination,' 'came to take our part,
though we had expected so many.' At Holbeach, in
1 State Papers, Domestic, December 2, 1605.

26 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Staffordshire, the dejected band had to defend themselves
against the county, which had been raised from all quarters,
and armed by the sherifif. Surrounded by the enemy, the
conspirators saw that escape was out of the question, and pre
pared to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Yet even this
consolation was denied them. Some powder, which Catesby
and Rookwood were drying upon a platter over a fire, blew
up with a tremendous explosion. Several of the party were
severely burned, and Catesby fell down as dead. Disabled
and discouraged, the conspirators were powerless to resist
their pursuers. They were summoned to lay down their
arms and surrender. They scornfully refused. An assault
was now made upon the gates of the courtyard of the house
in which they had assembled. Two shots from a cross-bow
mortally wounded both the Wrights. Catesby and Percy,
standing back to back, were shot through the body, and
shortly afterwards died of their wounds. Winter was dis
abled by an arrow penetrating his arm. Rookwood was
senseless from a thrust from a pike. At last their assailants
burst into the courtyard, beat down all resistance, and
made the rest of the party prisoners. They were conveyed
to London, and committed to the custody of Sir William
Waad, the Governor of the Tower. Within a week of the dis
covery of the plot, all the chief conspirators, excepting those
who had perished at Holbeach, were in safe confinement.
The examination of the prisoners was at once proceeded
with. Fawkes, as chief culprit, had to undergo repeated
examinations, not only before the Commissioners named by

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 27
the King from the Privy Council, but before Lord Chief
Justice Popham, Sir Edward Coke, and Sir William Waad.'
At first he refused to give his real name, but a letter directed
to him being found in his clothes, he owned that he had
assumed the name of John Johnson for purposes of conceal
ment, and that he was called Guide Fawkes. He now
candidly admitted his regret at having been concerned in the
plot, ' for he perceived that God did not concur with it ; ' still
he had acted for the best, for ever since ' he undertook that
action, he did every day pray to God he might perform that
which might be for the advancement of the Catholic faith and
the saving of his own soul.' As close confinement began to
soften his feelings, he became more amenable to the wishes
of his examiners. He furnished a full account of the history
of the plot, how it had been revealed to him eighteen months
ago by an Englishman in the Low Countries ; how he had
prepared the vault ; how they had resolved to surprise the
Princess Elizabeth and make her Queen in the absence of
Prince Charles ; how they had prepared a proclamation in
her name against the union of the two kingdoms, and in
justification of their act ; how they would have taken the
Princess Mary, but knew not how ; and how they had sent
arms and ammunition into Warwickshire.^
Yet no threats nor persuasion could induce him to disclose
a single name which had been connected with the plot. ' He
' His examinations and declarations amongst the State Papers are
November 5, 6 (two), 7, 8, 9, and 16, 1605 ; January 9, 20, and 26, 1606.
'^ State Papers, Domestic, November 8, 1605.

28 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
confineth all things of himself,' writes Lord Salisbury, ' and
denieth not to have some partners in this particular practice,
yet could no threatening of torture draw from him any other
language than this — ^that he is ready to die, and rather wishetb
ten thousand deaths than willingly to accuse his master
or any other.' When pressed by Sir William Waad that it
was useless for him to conceal the names of his coUeagues,
since their flight had already revealed them, Fawkes quietly
replied, ' If that be so, it will be superfluous for me to
declare them, seeing by that circumstance they have named
themselves.' Such obstinacy was not to be permitted, for we
must remember that at this time the fugitive conspirators
were still at large, and therefore, since persuasion had failed,
it was necessary to have recourse to severity. On the ap
pointment of the Commissioners, and with special reference to
Guy Fawkes, the King had written to them in his own hand,
' The gentler tortours are to be first usid unto him et sic per
gradus ad ima tenditur, and so God speede youre goode
worke.' ' There can be no doubt but that torture was now
applied to the unhappy man, and that the rack was the means
of obtaining disclosures which otherwise would not have been
revealed. On November 9, Fawkes made a declaration, in
which he gave the names of all the sworn conspirators with
out reserve. This document is amongst the pages of the
' Gunpowder Plot Book,' and is entitled ' The Declaration of
'Guido Fawkes, taken the 9th day of November, and sub
scribed by him on the 10th day, acknowledged before the
' State Papers, Domestic, November 6, 1605.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 29
Lords Commissioners.' It is subscribed in a tremulous hand
' Guido,' as if the conspirator had put pen to paper imme
diately after being released from torture, and had fainted
before completing his signature. The agonies of the rack
were no doubt unbearable, but Fawkes now heard for the
first time of the fate of his friends at Holbeach, and he may
have thought it useless to suffer for the concealment of facts
which were no longer secret.'
On the morning of January 26, 1606, there entered a
barge moored at the steps of the Tower, Guy Fawkes, the
brothers Winter, Ambrose Rookwood, John Grant, Robert
Keyes,^and Thomas Bates. From the Tower the barge pro
ceeded to Westminster. The vast hall was crowded with
spectators, for this was to be the first day of the trial of the
notorious prisoners. Hidden by a screen from the audience
were the King, the Queen, and the Prince of Wales. Seated
on the bench were the Lords Commissioners, the Earls of
Nottingham, Suffolk, Worcester, Devonshire, Northampton,
and Salisbury ; the Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir John
Popham ; the Lord Chief Baron, Sir Thomas Fleming ; and
Sir Thomas Walmisley, and Sir Peter Warburton, Justices of
the Court of Common Pleas. Confronting their judges, on a
scaffold, stood the prisoners. To the usual question of the
I That F.awkes was racked ia certain. Amongst the State Papers is a
document dated Febraary 25, 1606, in which these words occur : ' Johnson
has been on the rack for three hours, whereas Fawkes confessed after beinp
racked for half an hour.' Again, Thomas Philippes, writing, December,
1605, to Hugh Owen, saya : ' Fawkes confessed nothing the first racking,
but did so when told he must come to it again and again from day to day
till he should have delivered his whole knowledge.'

30 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Clerk of Arraigns, in spite of the confessions wrung from them
in the Tower, each conspirator as he was asked pleaded not
guilty. The Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, now rose up
on behalf of the Crown, to accuse the prisoners of high
treason. He had been insiructed by Lord Salisbury what to
say. He was to show that the practices of the conspirators
' began on the Queen's death and before the severe laws
against the Catholics.' He was to disclaim that any of the
accused wrote the letter which was the first ground of dis
covery. Thirdly, he was to praise the conduct of Mounteagle,
and show ' how sincerely he dealt and how fortunately it
proved that he was the instrument of so great a blessing as
this was.' Acting upon these instructions, the Attorney-
General, after having enlarged upon the enormity of ' this
treason,' proceeded to relate the previous conspiracies into
which several of the prisoners had entered, declaring that all
of them had been ' planted and watered ' by the Jesuits and
the English Catholics. He contrasted the mildness of the
laws passed against the Catholics with the severity of the
proceedings against the Protestants under Mary. He praised
the lenity of James, who had been willing to grant complete
toleration until compelled to change his policy by the treason
able conduct of the Catholics, and especially of the priests.
He then sketched the history of the plot, and concluded that
men guilty of so monstrous a conspiracy were undeserving of
mercy, and justly merited the severest punishment the law
allowed. The confessions of the prisoners were now read,

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 31
and after a brief summing up from the Lord Chief Justice, a
verdict was brought in finding all the conspirators guilty.
Sir Everard Digby was separately arraigned. He pleaded
guilty ; he had been actuated, he said, by a desire to restore
the Catholic religion, but he confessed that he deserved the
severest punishment and the vilest death. The Commissioners
gravely lectured him upon his conduct, declined to listen to
his petition on behalf of his estate, wife and children, and he,
with the rest, was adjudged guilty of high treason. Sentence
of death was now passed upon the eight condemned men, and
they were then rowed back to the Tower.
Three days after the trial the gates of the Tower again
opened, and there appeared Digby, Robert Winter, John Grant,
and Thomas Bates. They were pinioned and bound to hurdles
which were placed on sledges. A scaffold had been erected at
the western end of St. Paul's churchyard, and thither, amid
the execrations of the mob, the unhappy men were drawn.
All met their fate with courage, admitting the justice of
their sentence, and declaring that they died true sons of the
Catholic Church. This was on the Thursday ; the day
following, Guy Fawkes, Thomas Winter, Ambrose Rookwood,
and Robert Keyes, were drawn from the Tower to the old
Palace at Westminster. The last to suffer was Fawkes. He
was so enfeebled by sickness and torture, that he had to be
helped up the ladder. He spoke only a few words to the
crowd ; he expressed his regret for the crime of which he had
been guilty, and begged the King and his country to forgive

32 STORIES FROM THE S'lATE PAPERS.
him his bloody intent. Then he placed himself in the hands
of the executioner and was launched into eternity.
The Judas of the band was spared the gallows. Though
his colleagues had been arrested, Tresham was permitted to
remain at large until several days after the discovery of the
plot. This partial leniency certainly favours the conjecture
that the Government were under obligations to him. On his
arrest he made a clean breast of his connection with the
plotters and their work. He stated that Catesby had informed
him of the conspiracy, that he had strongly discouraged it,
but finding that all opposition was in vain, he had begged
that the execution of the plot should be deferred to the end
of the session of Parliament, and that all engaged in it should
obtain safety in the Low Countries. His companions once out
of the country, he had intended, he said, to reveal the plot to the
/Government.' He also stated that Mounteagle and Catesby,
as well as Fathers Greenway and Garnet, were privy to
Winter's mission to the. King of Spain. Shortly after this
confession Tresham was attacked by a dangerous malady, and
his life was despaired of. A few hours before his death he dic
tated a declaration in which he retracted in the most solemn
manner that part of his statement implicating Father Garnet
in the mission of Winter to Spain. This declaration he signed,
and begged his wife to ' deliver it with her own hands to
the Earl of Salisbury.' ^ He died December 23, 1605.
' State Papers, Domestic. Examinations of Francis Tresham. Novem
ber 13 and 29, 1605.
3 Ibid. December 22, 1605. See also Sir E. Coke to Salisbury, March
24, 1606.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 33
We now come to the question which has long been a
subject of dispute between Protestants and Catholics— how
far the Jesuit priests, Greenway and Gerard, and Garnet,
the provincial of the Jesuits in England, were cognisant of
the plot. All the chief conspirators in their different
examinations before the Commissioners strongly denied that
the priests were in their confidence.' The only one who
accused them was Bates. And who was Bates % He was an
old servant of Catesby, who, from being employed by his
master about the house at Westminster, had obtained some
inkling of the plot. It was therefore thought more prudent
by the conspirators to let him into the secret and bind him
by the oath, than to allow him to remain a free agent, and
perhaps imperil the undertaking by the disclosures he might
be tempted to reveal. According to Father Greenway, Bates
' was a man of mean station who had been much persecuted
on account of religion.' Once, in the presence of the Com
missioners, the late servant of Catesby made the most
damaging disclosures. He said that after having taken the
oath he confessed to Father Greenway the nature of the
conspiracy in which Catesby and others were engaged ; that
Greenway then bade him be ' secret in that which his master
had imparted to him, because it was for a good cause, and
that he was to tell no other priest of it ; saying moreover
that it was not dangerous to him, nor any offence to conceal
it.' Absolution was then given him, and he received the
1 See Examinations of Fawkes and Thomas Winter, November 9, 1605.
VOL. II. D

34 STORIES FROM THE STATE. PAPERS.
Sacrament in the presence of Catesby and Thomas Winter.'
This assertion Greenway solemnly denied. Upon his
salvation he declared that Bates never spoke one word to
him as to the plot, either in or out of confession. Six weeks
later, further revelations were disclosed. Bates appeared
before the Commissioners, and as in his first examination he
had compromised the character of Greenway, so now, in his
second examination, his evidence was most prejudicial to the
character of Garnet. He declared that after the flight of the
conspirators he had been sent to Garnet with a letter from
Sir Everard Digby, asking advice from the priest; that
Garnet read the letter aloud in the presence of Bates, and
Greenway coming into the room, he cried, ' They would
have blown up the Parliament House, and were discovered,
and we are utterly undone ; ' that Greenway then said,
' There was no tarrying for himself and Garnet ; ' and that
they conferred together, meditating flight. ^
These confessions obtained every credence from the
Council, and a proclamation was issued for the apprehension
of Greenway and Garnet, with other Jesuit priests, whilst a
sweeping bill of attainder was introduced into Parliament
confiscating the property of various suspected Catholics.
Greenway and Gerard managed to effect their escape to the
continent, but Garnet, who was in hiding at Handlip Hall,
the seat of Mr. Abington, failed to drfeat the strict search
1 State Papers, Domestic. Examination of Thomas Bates, December 4,
1605. 3 Ibid. January IB, 1606.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 35
made by Sir Henry Bromley throughout the mansion, and
was captured in a cell, having been for days half-starved,
and looking, as he said, more like a ghost than a man. He
was conveyed to London, lodged in the Gatehouse, and in a
few days was brought before the Privy Council. His ex
amination was more searching and more frequent than that
of any of the other conspirators.' At first Garnet declared
that he had no knowledge of the plot, and refused to inculpate
any of his colleagues ; but as he saw the evidence against
him becoming more and more difficult to rebut, he ended by
imparting to his judges the true nature of his position.
Briefly, the substance of his examinations was that he had
derived his knowledge of the plot from Catesby and Green
way, under the seal of sacramental confession, so that in
religion and conscience his lips were entirely closed. He
was brought to trial March 28, 1606, and charged with
' compassing the death of the King and the heir apparent,
and with a design to subvert the government and the true
worship of God established in England, to excite rebellion
against the King, to procure foreigners to invade the realm,
and to levy war against the King.' He defended himself
with courage and abiUty, but the jury, after a brief delibera
tion of a quarter of an hour, returned a verdict of guilty, and
the accused was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
' His examinations and declarations among the State Papers are
February 13 ; March 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 23, 26, 29 ; April 1, 4, 25, and 28,
1606. The report of his conversations with Hall, which were overheard,
February 23 and 26, and March 2, 1606 ; and as to his letters which were
intercepted, March 3 and 4, and April 2, 3, and 21, 1606.
D 2

36 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
During the interval that was now to elapse between the
sentence and the execution, the condemned* man occupied
himself in justifying the theory of equivocation, and in
admitting the heinous character of the crime for which he was
about to suffer. ' I have written a detestation of that action
for the King to see,' he says in one of his intercepted letters
to his devoted friend Anne Vaux,* ' and I acknowledge
myself not to die a victorious martyr, but a penitent thief,
as I hope I shall do ; and so will I say at the execution,
whatever others have said or held before.' The following
day he sent to the Council, for the perusal of the King, his
' detestation of that action.' ^ In this document he freely
protested that he held ' the late intention of the powder
action to have been altogether unlawful and most horrible ; '
he acknowledged that he was bound to reveal all knowledge
that he had of this or any other treason out of the sacrament
of confession ; ' and whereas, partly upon hope of prevention,
partly for that I would not betray my friend, I did not
reveal the general knowledge of Mr. Catesby's intention
which I had by him, I do acknowledge myself highly guilty
to have offended God, the King's Majesty and estate, and
humbly ask of all forgiveness.' He concluded by exhorting
all Catholics not to follow his example, and trusted that the
King would not visit upon them the burden of his crimes. He

1 State Papers, Domestic, April 3, 1606. Indorsed by Sir William
Waad, ' Garnet lo Mrs. Vaulx, to be published after his death by her and
the Jesuytes.'
2 Ibid. April 4, 1606.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 37
was executed May 3, 1606, on a gibbet erected in St. Paul's
Churchyard.' The defence of Garnet has given rise to much con
troversy. It has been said by those learned in the lore of
the Roman Church, that even from his own point of view
he was not justified in keeping secret a disclosure of a
criminal nature, in spite of his knowledge of it having been
obtained under the seal of confession. Martin Delrius, a
learned Jesuit, in his Disquisitiones Magicm, writes : ' The
priest may strongly admonish the persons confessing to abstain
from their criminal enterprise, and, if this produce no effect,
may suggest to the bishop or the civil magistrate to look
carefully for the wolf among their flock, and to guard
narrowly the State, or give such other hints as may prevent
mischief without revealing the particular confession. . . .
For instance, a criminal confesses that he or some other
person has placed gunpowder or other combustible matter
under a certain house, and that unless this is removed the
house wiU inevitably be blown up, the sovereign killed, and
as many as go into or out of the city be destroyed or brought
into great danger — in such a case, almost all the learned
doctors, with few exceptions, assert that the confessor may
reveal it, if he take due care that neither directly nor indi
rectly he draws into suspicion the particular offence of the
person confessing : ' whilst Bellarmine himself, one of the
greatest of the authorities of the Roman Church, expressly
1 For an account of his execution, see narrative of an eye witness,
State Papers, Domestic, May 3, 1606.

38 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
lays down the doctrine that 'it is lawful for a priest to
break the seal of confession, in order to avert a great
calamity.' '
But be this as it may, can it be really credited that
Garnet derived his knowledge of the Gunpowder Plot
solely from revelations in the confessional ? His own
evidence contradicts such a belief. In his letter to the
King of April 4 he admits that he had offended God as
well as the King, ' in not having revealed the general know
ledge of Catesby's intention which he had by him.' He there
fore owns to a general knowledge of the plot. There can be
little doubt but that Garnet was throughout familiar with
the proceedings of the conspirators, and constantly advised
them as to the course they should follow. He was the
bosom friend of Catesby, he was his companion in the
different haunts he frequented, and he had been his asso
ciate in two previous treasonable actions, one immediately
before and the other immediately after the death of Eliza
beth. Why, if Catesby had trusted the priest on two
former occasions, should he now have withheld his entire
confidence on the third ? Why do we find Garnet so
interested in the mission of Fawkes and others to the con
tinent to obtain foreign aid ? Why is he, at the time the
explosion should take place, praying specially for the success
of the Catholic cause and all prepared for action at the
rendezvous in Warwickshire ? Why, in his secret conversa
tions with his fellow-prisoner Hall, which were overheard
1 I am indebted to Mr. Jardine's excellent work for these quotations.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 39
and duly reported, does he never make a statement to the
effect that he was ignorant of the details of the plot, and
unjustly accused ? On the contrary, everything he disclosed
on those occasions proves him to have been an active agent
in the measures of the conspirators. Looking at the con
duct of Garnet throughout, it seems impossible to dispute
the verdict of Lord Salisbury : ' All his defence,' said his
Lordship, ' was but simple negation ; whereas his privity
and activity laid together proved him manifestly guilty.'
It may well be that at the very commencement of the plot,
when all the plans were in embryo and success was doubtful,
the Superior of the English Jesuits was not admitted into
the full confidence of the conspirators ; but that, as the
conspiracy developed and the end it had in view seemed
assured, he should have been constantly in the company of
its chief promoters without being cognisant of all that was
going on, and only, when everything had been completed,
let into the secret by means of the confessional, is to insult
common sense. ' It is impossible,' writes the acute Mr.
Jardine, ' to point out a single ascertained fact either de
clared by him in his examinations to the Commissioners or
to the jury on his trial, or revealed by him afterwards, or
urged by his apologists since his death, which is inconsistent
with his criminal implication in the plot. On the other
hand, aU the established and undisputed facts of the trans
action are consistent with his being a wUling, consenting,
and approving confederate, and many of them are wholly
unaccounted for by any other supposition. Indeed, this

40 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
conclusion appears to be so inevitable, upon a deliberate
review of the details of the conspiracy and of the power and
influence of the Jesuits at that period, that the doubt and
discussion which have occasionally prevailed during two
centuries respecting it can only have arisen from the im
perfect publication of the facts, and, above all, from the
circumstance that the subject has usually been treated in
the spirit of political or religious controversy, and not as a
question of mere historical criticism.'
Converts have always been remarkable for the venom of
their opposition to the creed they have deserted, and for
their often unscrupulous ardour in support of their new
faith. The history of the Gunpowder Plot is a curious in
stance of such conduct. With the exception of a few, every
man engaged in the conspiracy was not only, as Fawkes
proudly boasted, ' a gentleman of name and blood,' but had
once been a Protestant. Catesby, though the son of a con
vert to the Catholic Church, had been brought up as a Pro
testant, and had married into a Protestant family. John
Wright and his brother were converts from the A.nglican
communion. Guy Fawkes came of a Protestant stock, and
in his youth had been a Protestant. Thomas Percy was a
convert from Protestantism ; so was Sir Everard Digby ; so
was Robert Keyes, who was the son of an Anglican vicar ;
Henry Garnet himself did not forsake Protestantism until
he had been converted as an undergraduate at Oxford. The
Old Catholic element amongst the conspirators was in a
minority, and only represented by the brothers Winter,

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 41
John Grant of Norbrook, and Ambrose Rookwood. We
have no evidence that the mass of the English Catholics
approved of the plot ; on the contrary, such testimony as we
possess proves their repugnance of it, and their horror that
such a deed should have been considered as authorised by
the teaching of their Church. The advocates of the con
spiracy were the Jesuits — Fawkes and his colleagues were
aU members of this Order — and between the Jesuits and the
secular party at that time there was so bitter a feeling, that
it amounted almost to a schism. The majority should not
be made to suffer for the crimes of an unscrupulous minority.
In accusing the Roman Catholic Church of the guilt of this
plot, we should, in all fairness, bear in mind that the
conspirators belonged to a body then hostile to the Church,
that the Pope knew nothing of the deed that was to be
perpetrated, and that we have no evidence of any of
the Catholics of the secular party being accomplices in the
Gunpowder Treason.

42 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

A PERISHED KERNEL.
I think it be true that writers say, that there is no pomegranate so
fair or so sound, but may have a perished kernel. — Sir Francis Bacon
on the Trial of Lady Somerset.
Towards the autumn of the year 1609 there arrived in
London a young Scotchman who, after a few years of daz
zling prosperity, was to be cast down to the lowest depths of
shame and reproach. Upon our happily limited list of royal
favourites the name of Robert Carr occupies a prominent
position. Endowed with all the advantages of youth, a
handsome figure, a face, if somewhat effeminate, yet full of
charm, and possessed of the most winning manners, the lad
had quitted his native town of Edinburgh to seek his for
tunes at the Court. He was sprung from a good old stock,
and his father, we now learn, had been actively engaged in
supporting the cause of the unfortunate Mary Queen of
Scots ; for amongst the State Papers there is a petition
addressed to Carr, when he was supreme in the favour of his
sovereign, from one James Maitland, soliciting permission to
sue in the Scottish courts for revocation of the attainder passed
upon William Maitland, of Lethington, for services to the
King's mother, and the petitioner apologises for his intrusion

A PERISHED KERNEL. 43
upon the favourite on the ground that ' our fathers were
friends, and involved in the same cause and overthrow.' '
Protected by his kinsman. Lord Hay, young Carr,
shortly after his arrival in London, was introduced to the
gay company which then daily crowded the galleries and
antechambers of Whitehall. It was known that James,
who piqued himself upon being indifferent to the fair sex,
was strangely susceptible to handsome looks and a graceful
figure in young men. Lord Hay, as he took the young
adventurer by the hand, and examined his well-knit limbs,
his delicate features, his large expressive eyes, and the bril
liant complexion, which had a frequent trick of blushing,
felt sure that his protege had only to be seen by the King to
be at once ingratiated in the royal graces. An opportunity
soon offered itself. At a tilting match Lord Hay ordered
Carr, according to ancient custom, to carry his shield and
device to the King. James was on horseback, and as Carr
advanced to perform the duties entrusted to him, he was by
a sudden movement of his charger thrown from his saddle,
and fell heavily to the ground, breaking his leg. The acci
dent was turned to excellent advantage. James at once dis
mounted, bent over the lad, and was struck with admiration
at the girlish beauty of his features. He gave orders for the
young sufferer to be removed to apartments in Whitehall,
and to be attended upon by the Court physician. The
King, who made friends as quickly as he dropped them, was
soon on the most intimate terms with the fascinating Carr,
1 State Papers, Domestic, edited by Mrs. Green, July 17, 1613.

44 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

He visited him daily, and spent hours in close conversation
with him in his chamber. He introduced the Queen to him.
He brought him fruit and gifts calculated to cheer the mono
tony of a sick bed. Finding him indifferently educated, the
King, who was never so happy as when instructing others,
began to teach him Latin and other subjects, the better to
fit him for the honours to which it was intended he should
be advanced. A ribald ballad of the time alludes to these
attentions : —
Let any poor lad that is handsome and young.
With parle mus France and a voice for a song.
But once get a horse and seek out good James,
He'll soon find the house, 'tis great near the Thames.
It was built by a priest, a butcher by calling,
But neither priesthood nor trade could keep him from falling.
As soon as you ken the pitiful loon.
Fall down from your nag as if in a swoon ;
If he doth nothing more, he'll open his purse ;
If he likes you ('tis known he's a very good nurse)
Your fortune is made, he'll dress you in satin.
And if you're unlearn'd he'll teach you dog Latin.
On good pious James male beauty prevaileth,
And other men's fortune on auch he entaileth.'
On recovering from his accident, Carr became the con
stant companion of the King and his chief adviser in all
affairs of State and pleasure. ' The favourite,' writes Lord
Thomas Howard, 'is straight-limbed, well-favoured, strong
shouldered, and smooth-faced, with some sort of show of
modesty. He is so particular in his dress to please the
King that he has changed his tailors and tire-men many
1 Sen Jonson, by W. R. Chetwood, 1756.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 4-3
times. And he is so decidedly the Court favourite that the
King will lean on his arm, pinch his cheek, smooth his
ruffled garment, and when directing discourse to others
nevertheless still wUl keep gazing on him.' Honours and
dignities were showered on the fortunate youth in quick
succession. He was appointed keeper of Westminster Palace
for life, Treasurer of Scotland, Lord Privy Seal, Warden of
the Cinque Ports, and Lord Chamberlain.' He wore the
riband of the Garter ; he was created Viscount Rochester ;
the Barony of Brancepeth, bishopric of Durham, was con
ferred on him ; and on his marriage he was raised to the
Earldom of Somerset.^ He became the owner of Rochester
Castle ; the lands, forfeited by Lord Darcy in Essex, were
granted to him ; while the ' manor of Sherborne, and all
the manors and lands in Dorsetshire, whereof Sir Walter
Raleigh was possessed,' fell also into his hands.' In vain
the unhappy widow of the great sailor-historian pleaded that
her husband's estates might be restored to her children. ' I
mun have it for Carr,' was the harsh reply of the sovereign.
James was infatuated with his idol, and placed him in
boundless authority. Next the throne stood the favourite,
and in the opinion of many he could not have been more
supreme had he been seated upon it. We have only to scan
the volumes of the State Papers relating to this period which
' State Papers, Domestic, June 12, 1611 ; October 27, 1613 ; June 30,
1614; July 13,1614.
2 Ibid. May 1, 1611 ; March 25, 1611 ; November 3, 1613; November
11, 1613.
3 Ibid. July 2, 1611 ; November, 1612 ; November 25, 1613.

46 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
have been published, to see how powerful and extensive was
the control which the recently-created peer then exercised.
Did a divine solicit promotion in the Church, he begged the
favourite to mention his name to the King, and to use his
good offices to further his suit. Was it considered advisable
for some curious foreign correspondence to be placed before
the royal eyes, the Secretary of State forwarded it to Carr
for the purpose. Did the Archbishop of Canterbury wish a
volume against the Papists to be read by James, he enclosed
it to my Lord of Somerset with the necessary instructions.
The Merchant Adventurers, anxious for trading privileges,
sent their petitions in the first instance to the favourite for
his approval. Old place-hunters seeking after the reversion
of a pension besought the omnipotent Carr to be their friend.
The auditors of the revenue took their instructions from him.
He who was desii'bus of farming the imposts on French
and Rhenish wines made his application to" Rochester. If
the Court physician found James a refractory patient — and,
like many men who dabble in medicine, he was the most
trying and self-willed of invalids — he begged the favourite to
come to his aid. ' The King is threatened,' writes Dr. de
May erne to Carr,' ' with a multiplication of his fits of gravely
cholic, unless he will listen to advice and adopt the necessary
remedies. I have written a long discourse on the subject,
but I fear he will throw it aside unread. I beg your lord
ship to read it to his Majesty and urge on him the necessity
of attending to it.'
' State Papers, Domestic, August 22, 1613.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 47
The Company of East India Merchants, anxious for
future favours, presented Carr with a piece of gold plate
valued at six hundred pounds. The town of Rochester,
heai-ing that the King intended to call a Parliament, wrote
to the favourite offering him the nomination of one of
their two burgesses.' Whilst the famous College of Christ
Church, at Oxford, forwarded him a petition desiring him
'to become their patron and a member of their college,
which boasts a regal foundation, and has the Duke of Lennox,
Lord Aubigny, the Sackvilles, CUffords, and Sydneys as
members.' Yet this homage and recognition of absolute
power do not appear to have turned the young man's head.
He was courteous, urbane, and not too difficult of access.
' Many people,' writes Lord Northampton to him,^ ' noting
your lordship's skill in answering letters, and your urbanity,
wish to see you Secretary.' Nor did the favourite place a
price upon the service he was called upon to render. It w.as
"his boast, as he wrote to Northampton, that he was a cour
tier whose hand never took bribes. In one of his despatches
to Madrid, the Spanish Ambassador, after giviag a few
particulars of the English Court — that the King grows too
fat to hunt comfortably, and eats and drinks so recklessly
that it is thought he wiU not be long lived ; that the Queen
leads a quiet life, not meddling with business, and is on
good terms with the King ; that the Prince Henry is a fine
youth, of sweet disposition, and, under good masters, might
1 State Papers, Domestic, February 13, 1614.
2 Ibid. August 12, 1612.

48 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
easily be trained to the religion his predecessors lived in ;
that the Council is composed of men of little knowledge,
some Catholics, but most schismatics or atheists ; and the
like ; — winds up by saying : ' The King resolves on all busi
ness with Viscount Rochester alone. His chief favourites
are Scotchmen, and especially Viscount Rochester.' '
The young man was now at the very meridian of his
splendour ; as a subject it was almost impossible for him to
attain to higher honours. We have now to trace the causes
which ushered in his overthrow. Among the beauties of
the Court was Frances, Countess of Essex, a daughter of the
family of Howard — a, house then noted for the unscrupulous
ambition of its men and for the open frailties of its women.
Poets raved about her wealthy auburn locks, her dazzling
complexion, her small ripe mouth, her perfectly chiselled
features ; whilst her wondrous hazel eyes were scarcely
felicitously described as ' wombs of stars.' The married life
of this ' beauty of the first magnitude in the horizon of the
Court ' had not been a happy one. At the age of thirteen
she had been wedded to the Earl of Essex, who was then
but a mere boy. On account of their tender years, the young
couple for a time were separated ; but, if we are to believe
the evidence before us, when their union was permitted,
their relationship still continued on its former footing. The
Countess, after a trying interval, prayed for a divorce on
the ground of nullity of marriage. She declared she was a
virgin-wife, and satisfied a jury of her own sex of the truth
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 22, 1613.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 49-
of her assertion ; but as her ladyship, during this Platonic
alliance with her husband, had amply avenged herself for
aU marital shortcomings, the gossip of history declares that,
to prevent any unpleasant disclosures, ' another young gentle
woman (the Countess was closely veiled during the investi
gation) was fobbed in her place.'
The trial was the great topic of the hour. The Court
was divided in opinion ; some of the judges, like the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, declaring that those whom God had
joined together could not be divided, whilst others held the
views on the subject which at the present day prevail. The
King, however, was the warm friend of the petitioner, and
used all his authority to obtain a verdict in her favour. He
browbeat the judges who differed from him, he laid down
the law with his usual travesty of wisdom and erudition„and
declared that none should entertain opinions which were
opposed to those of their sovereign. ' If a judge,' he writes
to the Archbishop of Canterbury, ' should have a prejudice
in respect of persons, it should become you rather to have a
faith implicit in my judgment, as well in respect of some
skill I have in divinity, as also that I hope no honest man
doubts of the uprightness of my conscience. And the best
thankfulness that you, that are so far " my creature," can
use towards me is to reverence and follow my judgment,
and not to contradict it, except where you may demonstrate
unto me that I am mistaken or wrong informed.' The royal
wishes carried the day. Save a few dissentient voices, the
VOL. II. B

50 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Court declared the marriage between Robert Earl of Essex
and the Lady Frances Howard void and of none effect, ' and
that the Lady Frances was, and is, and so ought to be free
and at liberty from any bond of such pretended marriage
de facto contracted and solemnised. And we do pronounce
that she ought to be divorced, and so we do free and divorce
her, leaving them as touching other marriages to their
consciences in the Lord.'
The Lady Frances was not slow to avail herself of the
freedom granted her. Ever since the handsome face of
Robert Carr had been seen in the galleries of Whitehall, the
young Countess had been smitten with the favourite. At
balls and masques she had crossed his path, and her words and
looks had revealed the feelings that had been awakened within
her. She had also visited a noted astrologer in Lambeth, and
had begged him to give her potions which would cause the
obj ect of her attachment to respond to her passion. Yet there
had been no need for philters and magic arts. Young Carr
was neither cold nor obdurate ; at first the amorous Countess
was the one who loved, whilst her gallant was the other who
allowed himself to be loved ; but soon the sprightly gaiety
and beauty of his mistress brought the favourite to her feet,
and he vowed that life unshared by her was robbed of all its
sweetness. And now it was that Lady Essex brooded over
the thought of divorce. The King, who but re-echoed the
wishes of Carr, cordially approved of her resolve, and, as we
have seen, strongly prejudiced the Court in the interests of
the young wife. ' The divorce between the Earl and Coun-

A PERISHED KERNEL. 51
tess of Essex,' writes Chamberlain to Carleton,' ' is soon to
be decided, and is as important as opening a gap which
would not soon be stopped. It is said that Rochester is in
love with her.'
The report was fully justified. A few weeks after the
divorce had been pronounced. Lady Essex was led a second
time to the altar, to be united now to no mere boy, but to a
powerful peer, the fondly cherished friend of his sovereign,
and one of the handsomest men of his day. The ceremony
was attended with every sign of homage and rejoicing. The
King, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the bench of bishops,
and all the leading peers of the realm were present at the
marriage. The bridegroom, in order that there should be no
disparity between him and the late husband, was created
Earl of Somerset. The young Countess, as she walked up
the aisle of the Chapel Royal on the arm of the King, allowed
her hair to fall unfettered to her waist as a proof of the
innocent character of her former union, for to be ' married
in their hair ' was a privilege only accorded to maidens.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells performed the ceremony, and
his Majesty was graciously pleased to pay all expenses. In
the evening, ' a gallant masque of lords ' took place in honour
of the occasion. Every attention that servility and respect
could inspire was lavished upon the newly-wedded Earl and
Countess. They were the recipients of the most magnificent
presents. They were lavishly entertained by the Lord Mayor
and aldermen at a splendid banquet in the City, their carriage
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 23, 1613.
E 2

52 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
was escorted through Cheapside by torchlight, amid the cheers
of the mob, and their healths were drunk with vociferous
applause. The members of Gray's Inn, disguised as hyacinths,
jonquils, daffodils, and other flowers, performed a masque,
especially written in their honour by the great Lord Bacon,
before the King and a brilliant company. Masques, plays,
and ' wassailes,' in commemoration of the event, followed
each other in quick succession. Indeed, the national rejoic
ings could scarcely have been more marked had the heir-
apparent to the throne taken unto himself a princess. Shortly
after the honeymoon the Earl of Somerset settled himself in
London, taking Sir Baptist Hicks' house in Kensington,
which he sumptuously furnished.'
But a cloud was slowly springing up, which was to cast
its black shadows over all this prosperity, and turn the
future into hopeless gloom. Among the eminent men who
then adorned the Court of James, the name of Sir Thomas
Overbury takes high rank. Though eclipsed by the fame of
his more splendid contemporaries, his works were much
read and admired ; and even at the present day his poem of
the ' Wife ' and his ' Characters ' will repay perusal by the
curious. But apart from his literary fame, Overbury exer
cised considerable influence in the circles of the Court
from the soundness of his judgment, his knowledge of men
and affairs, and his decision of character. He had, shortly
after Carr's introduction into the society at Whitehall, struck
1 State Papers, Domestic, November and December, 1613 ; January
1614.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 53
up a warm friendship with the favourite. He was the
young man's adviser-in-chief, his father-confessor, and the
instigator of most of his actions. It was said that, indirectly,
the knight was the sovereign of the country : for though
Rochester ruled the King, it was Overbury who ruled
Rochester. To the intrigue with the Countess of Essex,
Overbury had raised no obstacle. Nay, he had even facili
tated matters by helping the untutored Rochester to indite
the love-letters he sent to his mistress. But in the eyes of
Overbury, there was a wide distinction between an intrigue
with a divorced woman and a passion which would be
satisfied with nothing less than honourable marriage.
The keen man of the world was no stranger to the ante
cedents of Frances, Countess of Essex, and he felt assured
that his friend would bitterly rue the day he made so fickle a
dame his wife. Accordingly, he essayed all his efforts to dis
suade the infatuated youth from his purpose, but in vain.
Rochester was enslaved by the charms of the fascinating
Countess, and swore that nothing in her past history should
be regarded by him as an obstacle to marriage. High words
broke out between the two friends. ' Well, my lord,' cried
Overbury at the close of a discussion, ' if you do marry that
filthy base woman, you will utterly ruin your honour and
yourself. You shall never do it by my advice or consent.'
Hot with rage, Rochester replied, ' My own legs are straight
and strong enough to bear me up, but in faith I will be even
with you for this,' and he indignantly turned upon his heel.
The conversation took place in one of the galleries at White-

54 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
hall, and was overheard by two persons in an adjoining
chamber, whose evidence became afterwards of importance.
On quitting his mentor, Rochester went straight to the
King and begged that Overbury might be appointed to the
vacant embassy at St. Petersburg. We now learn that
James, whether from jealousy of the influence exercised by
the knight over Rochester, or from jealousy of the reputation
that the author of the ' Characters ' enjoyed, or from what
ever other cause, cordially disliked Overbuiy, and had long
wanted to get rid of him at Court.' He had refrained, how
ever, from giving expression to this dislike, in order not to
pain his cherished Carr, who he saw was devoted to the
knight. But when he heard that it was the favourite him
self who was suggesting the absence of Overbury from the
country, he gladly acceded to the request, and at once made
out the appointment. The treacherous Rochester, playing a
double part, now resumed his intimacy with his former
friend, pretended that he had forgotten the words that had
passed between them, and when the offer of the diplomatic
post was mentioned, strongly advised Overbury not to
accept it. ' If you be blamed or committed for it,' said he,
' care not, I will quickly free thee.' Accordingly, the knight,
who at first had been willing to go abroad, declared that ' he
could not, and would not accept a foreign employment.' ^
The King, worked upon by Rochester, vowed that such
disobedience should meet with its deserts, and committed
Overbury to the Tower. Here the unhappy man languished
1 State Papers, Domestic, May 19, 1613. 2 Ibid.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 55
for months. He ardently begged for liberty ; he implored the
promised aid of the favourite. ' Sir,' he wrote to Somerset,
' I wonder you have not yet found means to effect my
delivery ; but I remember you said you would be even with
me, and so indeed you are. But assure yourself, my lord, if
you do not release me, but suffer me thus to die, my blood
will be required at your hands.' All prayers and remon
strances were, however, useless. The health of the prisoner
gave way ; he was seized with frequent vomitings, and, after
a conflnement which lasted from May to the following
October, he passed away in agonies. No one was permitted
to view the corpse. A pit was dug within the precincts of
the Tower, and into it the body, with the burial of a dog,
was hastily thrown. ' Nobody pities him,' writes Chamber
lain, of the dead man, who was noted for his arrogant and
imperious demeanour to all with whom he came in contact,
' and his own friends do not speak well of him.' '
We pass over an interval of two years. The Earl and
Countess of Somerset had been made man and wife, and
were spending their time in the amusements of the hour, in
frequent sojourns at their country seat of Chesterford Park,
whither the King sometimes went, and in buying paintings
of the old masters for their town house at Kensington. My
lord of Somei-set was still the special favourite of his sove
reign, though there were signs that his power was on the
wane. Success and prosperity had made him insolent, and
his enemies were longing for his downfall. His former
¦ Slate Papers, Domestic, October 14, 1613,

56 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
vivacity had deserted him, his face looked worn, and those
charms and graces which had been so specially attractive to
James were now on the decline. He became dull, morose,
and imperious. A handsome Leicestershire lad had lately
been appointed cup-bearer to the monarch, and the courtiers
recognised in the new arrival the successor to the favourite.
And now dark rumours began to be circulated of foul play
in the Tower. It was said that Overbury had not met with
his death honestly ; that one of the accomplices had confessed
that the knight had for months been systematically poisoned,
and that certain noble persons, deep in the intimacies of the
throne, were gravely implicated in the matter. It was
impossible that the affair could be hushed up. The King
issued instructions to inquire into the case, the law officers
of the Crown set to work with their investigations, and
soon every detail touching the terrible deed was laid bare.
It now transpired that the Countess of Somerset, infuriated
against Overbury for the manner in which he had spoken of
her, and, above all, for his having attempted to prevent the
marriage between herself and her lover, had resolved to
surround him when in the Tower with her creatures, and
put him to death by poison. Her agents were examined,
denied the charge, then fully confessed, and suffered penitently
the extreme penalty of the law. Four persons ' were pre
eminently implicated — Richard Weston, Anne Turner, Sir
Gervais Helwys, and James FrankUn. Franklin was the
apothecary who sold the poisons; Helwys was the Lieu
tenant of the Tower, who was privy to the proceedings;

A PERISHED KERNEL. 57
Mrs. Turner — the introducer of starch into England — was
the confidante of the countess, who procured the poisons from
Franklin; whilst Weston, as the gaoler of the unhappy
Overbury, was the agent appointed to administer the drugs
to the prisoner.
As none of these persons had any cause of resentment
against Overbury, it was evident that they were only the
instruments of others. Warrants were now issued for the
arrest of the Earl and Countess of Somerset. Lady Somerset
was at her town house, and at once was taken to the
Tower, where she implored her keepers not to confine her
in the same cell as that in which Overbury had breathed
his last. The King was at that time at Royston on a royal
progress, and accompanied by Somerset. As the messenger
arrived with the warrant, his Majesty, according to his
custom, was lolhng upon the favourite's neck and kissing
him. ' When shall I see thee again 1 On my soul, I shall
neither eat nor sleep until you come again,' he asked Somer
set, who, unconscious of the writ issued against him, was on
the point of quitting Royston for London. The favourite
replied that he would return in a few days. The King then
lolled about his neck and kissed him repeatedly. At this
moment Somerset was arrested by the warrant of the Lord
Chief Justice Coke. He started back indignantly, exclaim
ing that never was such an afiront offered to a peer of
England in the presence of his sovereign. ' Nay, man,' said
the King, ' if Coke were to send for me I should have to go.'
Then, as Somerset quitted the royal presence, the crafty

58 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
James, who had been mainly instrumental in obtaining the
warrant for the arrest of the favourite, and who now, wearied.
with the intimacy, was only too glad of an opportunity of
effectually breaking it off, said aloud, ' Now, the devil go
with thee, for I will never see thy face any more ! ' Shortly
after the departure of Somerset, the Lord Chief Justice
arrived at Royston. The King took him on one side and
told him that he was acquainted with the most wicked
murder by Somerset and his wife that was ever committed ;
that they had made him their agent to carry on their amours
and murderous designs, and therefore he charged the Chief
Justice with all the scrutiny possible to search into the
bottom of the conspiracy, and to spare no man, however
great, who was implicated in the affair. ' God's curse,' he
cried passionately, ' be upon you and yours if you spare any
of them ! And God's curse be upon me and mine if I
pardon any one of them ! ' '
The trial created the greatest sensation. All places of
public business and amusement were deserted during the
proceedings. Westminster Hall was crowded in every part
from floor to roof. Seats were sold at enormous prices.
Three hundred pounds of our money were given for a corner
which would scarcely contain a dozen persons. Sixty
poimds for the two days during which the trial lasted was
no unusual sum to be paid for the accommodation doled out
to a small family party. No seat could be obtained for less
than three pounds. The Court opened at nine, but by six
¦ Court and Character of King James, by Sir A. Weldon, 1651.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 59
o'clock in the morning the doors in front of Westminster
Hall were thronged by eager competitors for unreserved
places. Beneath a cloth of estate at the upper end of the
hall sat Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, as the Lord High
Steward. Close to him stood Garter King-at-Arms, ¦ the
Seal-bearer and Black Rod, supported by the Sergeant-at-
Arms. On either side of the High Steward sat the peers
who constituted the Court. The judges, clad in their scar
let robes, were coUeoted in a row somewhat lower than the
peers, the Lord Chief Justice occupying the most conspicuous
position on the bench. At the lower end of the Hall were
the King's Counsel, with Sir Francis Bacon, who then held
office as Attorney-General, at their head. Separated from
the counsel by a bar was a small platform on which the
prisoners were to stand. In front of it stood a gentleman
porter with an axe, who, when sentence of death was pro
nounced against a peer or peeress, turned its edge full upon
the condemned.
Lady Somerset was the first to be put upon her trial.
She was dressed ' in black tammel, a cypress chaperon, a cob
web lawn ruff and cuffs.' She was deadly pale, but her terror
only the more enhanced her bewitching beauty, which made
a great impression upon the Court. As she took her place
she made three reverences to her judges. The Lord High
Steward then explained the object of the proceedings, and it
was noticed that during the reading of the indictment, when
mention was made of the name of Weston and of the part
that he had played in the crime, the prisoner put her fan

6o STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
before her face, nor did she remove it until the reading of
the indictment was ended. This preliminaiy over, the
Clerk of the Crown, amidst the most painful silence asked : —
' Frances, Countess of Somerset, art thou guilty of the
felony and murder, or not guilty \ '
In a low voice, ' but wonderful fearful,' the Countess,
bowing to her judges, answered, ' Guilty.'
The Attorney-General now rose up and addressed the
Court in a few words. He congratulated the^prisoner upon
freely acknowledging her guilt ; he eulogised the conduct of
the King in seeking only the ends of justice ; and he held out
hopes of pardon to the Countess by quoting the words,
' mercy and truth be met together.' The King's instruc
tions for the investigation of the murder of Sir Thomas
Overbury were then read, the Lord Chief Justice declaring
that they were so masterly that they ' deserved to be written
in a sunbeam.' Again the Clerk of the Crown put a ques
tion to the prisoner : —
'Frances, Countess of Somerset, hold up thine hand.
Whereas thou hast been indicted, arraigned, and pleaded
guilty as accessory before the fact of the wilful poisoning
and murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, what canst thou now
say for thyself why judgment of death should not be pro
nounced against thee ? '
' I can much aggravate, but nothing extenuate my fault,'
was the reply, in such low tones as scarcely to reach the ears
of the High Steward ' I desire mercy, and that the lords
will intercede for me to the King.'

A PERISHED KERNEL. 6i
There was a pause whilst the white staff was delivered
to the presiding judge.
' Frances, Countess of Somerset,' said the Lord High
Steward solemnly, ' whereas thou hast been indicted,
arraigned, pleaded guilty, and that thou hast nothing to
say for thyself, it is now my part to pronounce judgment ;
only thus much before, since my lords have heard with what
humility and grief you have confessed the fact, I do not
doubt they will signify so much to the King and mediate
for his grace towards you ; but in the meantime, according
to the law, the sentence must be this : " That thou shalt be
carried from hence to the Tower of London, and from
thence to the place of execution, where you are to be hanged
by the neck till you be dead, and the Lord have mercy on
your soul." ' The Countess was then removed to her quarters
in Raleigh's house in the garden of the Tower.
The proceedings had been very rapid. The Court had
opened at nine, and by eleven the prisoner had been con
demned.' On the whole, the impression made by the
Countess had been favourable. ' Her carriage hath much
commended her,' writes one to Sir Dudley Carleton, the
English Ambassador at the Hague,^ ' for before and after
her condemnation she behaved so nobly and worthily as did
express to the world she was well taught and had better
learned her lesson.' Chamberlain also writes to Sir Dudley :
' She won pity by her sober demeanour, which in my opinion
was more curious and confident than was fit for a lady in such
1 State Papers, Domestic, May 25, 1616. 2 Ibid.

62 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
distress, and yet she shed or made show of some tears divers
times. She was used with more respect than is usual,
nothing being aggravated against her by any circumstance,
nor any invective used but only touching the main offence
of murder ; as likewise it was said to-day to be the King's
pleasure that no odious or uncivil speeches should be given.
The general opinion is that she shall not die, and many
good words were given to put her in hope of the King's
mercy.' ' One Pallavicino, with the enthusiasm of his
nation, comments upon the trial in quite an excited strain.
' The first Friday wherein the lady was tried,' he writes to
our Ambassador at the Hague,^ ' imagine you see one of the
fairest, respective {sic), honorable, gracefullest proceedings
for judgment, reverence, humbleness, discretion that ever
yet presented itself to public view ; the prisoner's behaviour
truly noble, fashioned to act a tragedy with so much sweet
ness, grace and good form, as if all the Graces had heaped
their whole powers to render her that day the most beloved,
the most commiserated spectacle, and the best wished unto
that ever presented itself before a scene of death. The
modesty of confession in her shortened all legal openings of
the cause; wrought the most courteous language from the
attorney Sir Francis Bacon that his eloquence, favour,
modesty and judgment might afford ; all consequently exact
ing from the Lord High Steward a judgment and sentence
(harsh truly according to the law), but so sweetened by
1 State Papers, Domestic, May 25, 1616. " Ibid. May 29, 1616.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 63
the deliverer that it is certainly affirmed death felt not her
sting nor she knew at her departure to have been of the
condemned.' Still, no little disappointment had been created by the course
pursued by the fair culprit. It had not been expected that
she would at once criminate herself by pleading guilty, and
the Attorney-General, on the presumption that she would
avow her innocence, had prepared an elaborate speech,
which can be read in his works, eloquently inveighing
against her sinful conduct. The proceedings, instead of
being eminently sensational, had been dull and commonplace
in the extreme. From the testimony of the accomplices who
had recently expiated their crimes upon the gibbet, the
public were well aware that the case presented features full
of excitement. It was anticipated that the whole past life
of the Countess would be laid bare — how she had flirted
with Prince Henry; how, before her divorce, she had ar
ranged stolen interviews with her lover in Paternoster Row ;
how she had availed herself of the philters and potions, the
charms and immodest emblems of the fashionable astrologer
to attain her ends ; how she had intrigued to surround Over
bury in the Tower by her paid creatures ; how she had sent
him poisoned tarts and jellies : in short, it was expected that
every detail in this drama of love and murder would be dis
closed. And yet nothing fresh had been divulged ; the vast
audience had been gratified by a sight of the notoriou.s
criminal, but no highly-spiced incident, as had been fondly
hoped, had been brought forward for their horror or amuse-

64 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
ment. Those who had paid large sums for their seats did
not consider they had received their money's worth.
Matters, however, looked more promising with the hus
band. On his imprisonment in the Bloody Tower, the Earl
of Somerset assumed a threatening attitude. He declined
to acknowledge the jurisdiction of his peers. He swore that
he would not plead before the Court. He had been advised
to follow the example of his wife, to confess his guilt, to
bow to the verdict, and to trust to the King for pardon,
These he sternly refused to do ; nay, he threatened that if he
were brought face to face with his peers he would disclose
matters which would prove most injurious to his Majesty.
For a whole week frequent were the negotiations that were
entered into between Somerset and the Crown, the King
imploring the favourite to admit his crime, and to have no
fear of the consequences ; but still the prisoner maintained
his morose and defiant air. At last, by a trick of the Lieu
tenant of the Tower, Somerset was induced to appear before
his judges. He was told that if he only would present him
self at Westminster Hall he would be permitted to return
instantly again ' without any further proceedings, only you
shall know your enemies and their malice, though they shall
have no power over you.' By this shallow device he al
lowed himself to be entrapped, and on finding that he had
been overreached, ' recollected a better temper, and went on
calmly in his trial, where he held the company until seven
at night.' He was dressed in deep mourning, as if the sen
tence of the Court had already plunged him into the grief of

A PERISHED KERNEL. 65
a widower. He wore ' a plain black satin suit, laid with two
satin laces in a seam; a gown of uncut velvet, lined with
unshorn, all the sleeves laid with satin lace ; a pair of gloves
with satin tops ; his George about his neck, his hair curled,
his visage pale, his beard long, his eyes sunk in his head.'
On being called he pleaded not guilty. It was feared that in
his temper he would divulge matters which might gravely
compromise the King. Two servants were accordingly
placed on either side of him, with cloaks on their arms, and
the prisoner was warned that if he uttered but a word
against his Majesty these men had orders to muffle him in
stantly, drag him down, and hasten him off to the Tower. He
would then be sentenced in his absence, and at once be put to
death. Into the details of the trial we shall not enter ; never
was the machinery of the law more flagrantly put in motion
to bring in a verdict against a prisoner. Stripped of all
technicalities, Somerset was accused of having incited the
keeper of Sir Thomas Overbury to administer poison to his
prisoner. The administering of the drugs was thus stated :
'Rose-acre, May 9, 1615 ; white arsenic, June 1 ; mercury
sublimate in tarts, July 16 ; and mercury sublimate in a
clyster, Sept. 14, all in the same year.' The Lord Chief
Justice, with a partiality not often exhibited on the Bench,
employed his talents to prejudice the jury against the ac
cused. Testimony that would have been of service to the
prisoner was rejected. Hearsay evidence of the loosest cha
racter was freely admitted. The most important witnesses
VOL. II. F

66 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
against Somerset were men who had been hanged for their
crimes, and whom he could not cross-examine. After a
whole day thus passed in burlesquing justice a verdict of
guilty was brought in, and the quondam favourite was sen
tenced to death.
Contemporary opinion was strongly opposed to the finding
of the Court. ' The least country gentleman in England,'
writes the French Ambassador atthe Court of London, ' would
not have suffered for what the Earl of Somerset was con
demned, and that if his enemies had not been powerful he
would not have been found guilty, for there was no convincing
proof against him.' ' Some that were then at Somerset's trial,'
says another, ' and not partial, conceived in conscience, and as
himself says to the King, that he fell rather by want of well
defending than by force of proofs.' He was prosecuted, writes
a third, because ' King James was weary of him, and Buck
ingham had supplied his place.' The most probable view of
this cause cUebre is that Somerset was perfectly innocent of
any attempt at poisoning Overbury. He had been instru
mental in confining his former friend in the Tower, and it had
been his intention that the knight should be kept prisoner for
some time ; but we have no evidence that Somerset knew
anything of the terrible vengeance which Lady Essex (for she
was not then his wife) was wreaking upon the prisoner ; on
the contrary, what trustworthy evidence we possess is in his
favour, for we find him giving orders that physicians were
to see Overbury and look after his health. Had he been
cognisant of the plot to poison the prisoner, he would

A PERISHED KERNEL. 6;
scarcely have despatched those who, on investigation, might
have detected the conspiracy. ' Many believed,' writes
Weldon,' ' the Earl of Somerset guilty of Overbury's death,
but the most thought him guilty only of the breach of friend
ship (and that in a high point) by suffering his imprisonment,
which was the highway to his murder; and this conjecture
I take to be of the soundest opinion.'
It is unfortunate that the reports we possess of this famous
trial are open to question. In the version in Howell's State
Trials we are referred to no authorities, nor have we any
evidence to the contrary that we are not studying a garbled
account, furnished by those interested in condemning the
prisoner. The reports of our earlier State trials were often
prepared under the inspection of the law officers of the
Crown, and sometimes were even revised by the sovereign
himself; hence they give only a partial and one-sided view
of what took place. ' The course of proceeding in ancient
times,' writes Amos, who has made the legal aspect of this
trial a special study,^ 'for crushing an individual who had
excited fears or kindled hatred in the breast of a sovereign,
was somewhat after the following manner : Written examin
ations were taken in secret, and often wrung from prisoners
by the agonies of the rack. Such parts of these documents,
and such parts only, as were criminative, were read before a
judge removable at the will of the Crown, and a jury packed
1 Court and Character of King James.
2 The Great Oyer of Poisoning, by Andrew Amos. A most curious and
able work. F 2

68 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
for the occasion, who gave their verdict under terror of fine
and imprisonment. Speedily the Government published what ¦
ever account of the trials suited their purposes. Subser
vient divines were next appointed to "press the consciences,"
as it was called, of the condemned, in their cells and on the
scaffold ; and the transaction terminated with another
Government hrochure, full of dying contrition, and eulogy by
the criminal on all who had been instrumental in bringing
him to the gallows. In the mean while the Star Chamber,
with its pillories, its S. L.s branded on the cheeks with a hot
iron, its mutilations of ears, and ruinous fines, prohibited the
unauthorised publication of trials, and all free discussion upon
them, as amounting to an arraignment of the King's justice.'
Such compulsory testimony certainly does not inspire con
fidence. Among the State Papers of this period is an account of this
famous trial, which differs in many respects from the report
to be found in the pages of Howell. In the manuscript we
read nothing of that dispute between Somerset and Overbury
in the galleries at Whitehall, relative to Lady Essex, which
is so circumstantially related in Howell. From the manu
script we learn that Somerset relied greatly in his defence
upon a letter written to him by Overbury, to the effect that
' a powder which he had received from the Earl had agreed
with him, but that, nevertheless, he did not intend to take
any more powders of the same kind.' In Howell there is no
mention of this letter. According to the manuscript, the
apothecary in his examination is made to state that Somerset
ordered him to write to the King's physician touching physic

A PERISHED KERNEL.

to be given to Overbury. This is a circumstance favourable
to Somerset, but is not to be found in Howell. The speech
of the prisoner in his defence is given variously in the two
accounts. In the manuscript Somerset attacks the credit of
the witnesses hostile to him, and desires that ' his own pro
testations on his oath, his honour, and his conscience should
be weighed against the lewd information ' of such miscreants.
In Howell we have no trace of these observations. ' It is
obvious,' writes Amos, ' that such passages would be the most
likely to be struck out, by persons desirous of publishing a
version of the proceedings which might diffuse an opinion
among the public that one of the wickedest of men had been
condemned after one of the fairest of trials, and by one of the
justest of prosecutions.'
We have now to deal with the strange conduct of the
King throughout this affair*. What was the nature of the
secret he feared Somerset might reveal ? Why should orders
have been given by the Lieutenant of the Tower to silence
the prisoner and drag him away did he say a word against
the King ? We learn that James was so nervous and rest
less throughout the day on which the favourite was tried,
that he sent to every boat he saw landing at the bridge, and
cursed all who came without tidings.' He refused all food.
What was the occasion of this anxiety ? One reason has
been given which appears to answer the question more conclu
sively than other guesses. It has been suggested that the King
himself had a share in the murder of Overbury. We know
' State Papers, Domestic, May 31,. 1616.

70 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
that James had a ' rooted hatred ' towards the knight ; that
he had been a co-operating party in the persecution ; that he
had enjoined the Privy Council to send Overbury to the
Tower, and that he had turned a deaf ear to all petitions
from the prisoner for release. He may have been cognisant
of the plot of the Countess to poison Overbury, though un
known to her, and may have employed her guilt to screen
his own purposes. We know that his own physician had
attended upon Overbury during the latter part of his con
finement, that this doctor was never called as a witness, and
that the prescriptions he made out for the prisoner were
never producpd. We know that when foul work had been
suspected, the King was among the busiest, the better to con
ceal his own agents, in prosecuting those accused of poisoning
Overbury. We know that the proceedings against the Countess
of Somerset were far from harsh, and that, in spite of the royal
oath to the contrary, she received a full pardon. We know that
the King used all his arguments to force the Earl of Somerset
to plead guilty and to throw himself upon the mercy of the
Crown, when he would have nothing more to fear. If Lord
and Lady Somerset were guilty, and the King not implicated
in the matter, what is the meaning of those communications
between James and Carr when the latter was in the Tower ?
What is the meaning, in the face of the solemn promise to
Coke, of a full pardon being granted to the guilty couple 1
But if the King had given instructions, independently
of and unknown to Lady Somerset, to make an end of
Overbury, nothing is more probable than that the favourite.

A PERISHED KERNEL. 71
at that time the bosom friend of the Crown, would
have been informed of the design. Acquainted with this
plot within a plot, Somerset on the day of his trial might
have disclosed matters which would have caused a far bolder
man than James to tremble. It is not surprising, therefore,
if the surmise be correct, that the King was terribly nervous
throughout the hours the favourite was before the Court.
Nor is there anything in the Ufe of James to render this sus
picion unjustifiable. The first Stuart on the English throne
was a true son of the vicious beauty, his mother. He was a
hard, cruel, weak, degraded creature. In the opinion of
several of his sober contemporaries, he was addicted to
heathenish practices. There were dark stories about his
having poisoned his own son, the popular Prince Henry.
He immured Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower, under the
harshest restrictions. He proved himself utterly destitute
of feeling in his conduct towards his kinswoman, the ill-fated
Arabella Stuart. A career thus sullied is capable of any
crime ; and when suspicion points the finger, and raises its
accusing voice, saying, ' Thou art the man,' posterity cannot
be considered hasty or vindictive in giving credence to the
charge. After an imprisonment of some years in the Tower, a full
pardon was granted to the Earl and Countess of Somerset.'
The guilty beauty and the exiled favourite passed the re
mainder of their Ufe in seclusion, and it is said in mutual
1 State Papers, Domestic, January 17, 1622.

72 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
estrangement. One daughter was bom to them, the Lady
Anne, who afterwards became the mother of that Lord
William Russell who, endowed with virtues his grandparents
never possessed, met the fate from which they had been
spared.

73

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA.
With an ill-grace the Dutch their mischief do ;
They've both iU-nature and ill-manners too.
Well may they boast themselves an ancient nation ;
For they were bred ere manners were in fashion :
And their new commonwealth has set them free
Only from honour and civility. — Dbyden's Amboyna.
The rise and development of the East India Company are
among the most romantic passages of history. That a small
body of English merchants should have settled themselves in
a strange and distant land, should have overcome all opposi
tion, and by their courage and firmness should have gradually
extended their operations until they had compelled the
fiercest princes to do them homage, are events so full of
incident and plot that they never fail to excite our interest
even when our sympa,thies are repelled. Thrice told as has
been the story, the State Papers of our colonies yet shed a
new light upon the subject, and illuminate the narrative with
details not visible in the printed works of the chroniclers and
historians of our Indian Empire.' Thanks to their chatty
letters and business-like minutes we read how our East
1 State Papers, East Indies, edited by W. Noel Sainsbury, 1513-1624,
3 vols.

74 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
India Company originated, the prosperity it achieved, and
the animosities it excited. We are taken behind the scenes
of Eastern courts, and watch the intrigues of rival trading
associations for special support and patronage. We are
introduced to that mysterious personage of the seventeenth
century, the Great Mogul, and are made acquainted with his
tastes and habits. We see the bitter jealousy of Spain and
Portugal at the success of our factors. We learn how false
was the amity of the Dutch, and how terrible was the
tragedy which was the end of their treacherous friendship.
Indeed, there is little connected with the rise and progress
of our commercial relations with the East which will not be
found in the collection of documents relating to our colonies
narrated vrith a breadth and fulness which leave nothing to be
desired. The defeat of the Spanish Armada had not only estab
lished the maritime supremacy of England, but had aroused
the cupidity of our trading classes to take part in the enter
prises which had resulted in the realisation of such wealth to
the Iberian peninsula. Within a few months of the destruc
tion of the proud fleet which was to have made the Spaniard
the master of our shores, a body of English merchants peti
tioned the Virgin Queen for permission to send ships to
India. In their memorial they alluded to the prosperity
which had attended upon the establishment of the Spanish
and Portuguese settlements, and drew attention to the many
ports in the countries bordering on the India and China seas,
which might be visited with advantage by English ships.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 75
' where sales might be made of English cloths and other
staple and manufactured articles, and the produce of those
countries purchased ; such a trade would by degrees add to
the shipping, seamen, and naval force of the kingdom, in the
same manner as it has increased the Portuguese fleets.'
Elizabeth, always willing to lend the weight of her authority
to the furtherance of any scheme calculated to add to the
power of England, provided it did not lead to severe encroach
ments upon the Royal Treasury, readily granted the desired
permission, and accordingly, in 1591, three ships, under the
command of Captain Raymond, sailed for the East.
An account of this voyage is printed in Hakluy t ; the ships
were separated from each other by a severe storm, Raymond
was wrecked and never heard of again, and the only vessel,
after ' many grievous misfortunes,' that accomplished the
voyage was the ' Rear- Admiral,' commanded by Master James
Lancaster. It has been generally supposed that this was
the first English expedition despatched to the Bast Indies,
but both in the volumes of Purchas and of Hakluyt accounts
of two previous voyages will be found, one in 1579 by Stevens,
and the other in 1583 by Fitch, ' wherein the strange rites,
manners, and customs of those people, and the exceeding lich
trade and commodities of those countries, are faithfully set
down and diligently described.' Other detached expeditions
followed in the wake of that of Raymond, and the reports
that were brought home of the treasures obtained by the
Portuguese and the Dutch in those regions led certain
English merchants, in 1599, to form themselves into a

76 - STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS,
company, with the special object of trading with the East
Indies. A sum of over thirty thousand pounds was sub
scribed for ; a petition was presented to the Council praying
for incorporation as a company, ' for that the trade of the
Indies, being so far remote from hence, cannot be traded but
in a joint and united stock.' Both the Queen and her
Council cordially approved of the enterprise, and no opposi
tion was raised in any quarter.
The ' Charter of Incorporation of the East India Company,
by the name of the Governor and Company of Merchants of
London trading into the East Indies,' was granted December
31, 1600. It was to remain in force fifteen years. George,
Earl of Cumberland, and 215 knights, aldermen, and mer
chants were the original members of the company. Lancaster
was appointed admiral of the fleet, with John Davis, the North-
West navigator, as second in command. In order that the ex
pedition should be stamped with the impress of the royal
approval. Queen Elizabeth had herself issued a circular letter
to ' the Kings of Sumatra and other places in the East Indies,'
desiring them to encourage her subjects in their attempt to
open up a commerce between the two countries, whereby her
amity and friendship would be maintained and greater benefits
be derived by the Indies from intercourse with England than
from intercourse either with Spain or Portugal.' The wishes
of her Majesty were obeyed. The voyage was eminently
successful. Factories were settled at Acheen and Bantam
by Lancaster. The King of Sumatra gave permission
' State Papers, East Indies, January [?], 1601.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 77
to English merchants, under the most favoiu-able terms,
to trade within his territories, whilst, in reply to the
letter of the Queen, he handed Lancaster a despatch full of
the warmest feelings of friendship towards England and her
sovereign, accompanied by ' a ring beautified with a ruby, two
vestures woven and embroidered with gold, and placed within
a purple box of china,' which he requested should be presented
to Elizabeth.' The customs on the goods brought home from
this first voyage amounted, it is said, to nearly one thousand
pounds. So good a beginning was not permitted to come to
nought through apathy or negligence. Voyage succeeded
voyage, and in spite of the hostility of the Spaniards and the
Portuguese, and of the treacherous friendship of the Dutch
England, at the end of a few years, had succeeded in firmly
establishing a lucrative and increasing trade in the Bast
Indies. ' To almost every place,' writes Mr. Sainsbury, ' where
there was the least likelihood of obtaining a communication
with the natives, English vessels resorted, in most instances
with success ; and where this was not so, the cause was
rather attributable to the conduct of the Dutch than to the
Company's neglect of the necessary precautions, the English
being almost invariably received with courtesy, and even kind
ness, wherever they went. The Company never lost sight of the
danger of attack from Spaniards and Portuguese. Care was
always taken, before trading or settling in a new country, to
ascertain the feeling of the natives, and in most cases leave
1 State Papers, East Indies, October, 1602.

78 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
or " licence " was granted for the English to do as they
liked.' Shortly after the accession of James the charter of the Com
pany was renewed, but with most important additions. In
stead of their privileges being limited to fifteen years, ' the
whole, entire, and only trade and traffic to the East Indies '
were granted to the Company for ever. The result of this
monopoly was the speedy establishment of factories at Surat,
Agra, and Masulipatam ; at the chief ports of Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo ; and at many of the towns in the
kingdoms of Malacca, Camboja, Pegu, Siam, and Cochin-
China. Shares in the voyages were often 'sold by the
candle,' and commanded exorbitant prices, the object being
that the Company ' may better know the worth of their
adventures.' We read of adventures of 60^. being knocked
down at 130Z., and of those of 100^. realising nearly 200Z.
It is not, therefore, surprising that shares in the Company
were eagerly sought after, and that as much intrigue and
competition were required to obtain the post of director as
were necessary for high office at Court.
At the outset of their proceedings the Company were
fortunate in securing the support and protection of the Great
Mogul. This terrible personage, whom both rumour and
fable had succeeded in raising to the position of the one
potentate of the East, whose frown was death, but whose
friendship was omnipotent, had been appeased by courteous
letters from James, and, what had appealed more closely to
his Oriental mind, by numerous presents from the English

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 79
merchants. The papers calendared by Mr. Sainsbury afford
us some interesting particulars in connexion with the life
and character of this powerful prince. We are told that ' he
takes himself to be the greatest monarch in the world,' is
' extremely proud and covetous,' a drunkard, ' and so given
to vice that the chief captains care not for him, and willingly
would never come near him.' Music, it appears, ' had a
great charm for him ; ' playing upon the virginals, however,
was ' not esteemed,' but with the cornet and the harp he
was so ' exceedingly deUghted ' that he offered to make any
of his subjects who could leam these instruments ' a great
man.' His rapacity for presents was unbounded. ' Some
thing or other, thongh not worth two shillings, must be pre
sented every eight days,' writes the chief factor at Ajmere.
' Nothing is to, be expected,' says another, 'from the King
without continual gifts.' Like all savages, he was delighted
with strange things, no matter how intrinsically valueless they
might prove. Rich gloves, embroidered caps, purses, look
ing-glasses, drinking-cups, pictures, knives, striking clocks,
coloured beaver hats or silk stockings for his women, were
recommended by the factors abroad to the officers of the
Company as presents to be brought out. ' Indeed,' writes one,
' if you have a jack to roast meat on, I think he would like
it, or any toy of new invention.'
The importance which the Great Mogul attached to gifts
was not overlooked by the authorities at home. One Edwardes
was sent over as ' lieger,' with ' great presents.' Among his
stock-in-trade, which was to propitiate the barbarous monarch.

8o STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

were suits of armour, swords, mastiffs, greyhounds, little dogs,
pictures of King James and his Queen, and a coach and horse,
together with ' a coachman who had been in the service of
the Bishop of Lichfield, to drive the coach.' The portraits
of the King and Queen of England struck the Great Mogul
with admiration. 'He esteemed it so well for the workman
ship,' writes Edwardes, ' that the day after he sent for all his
painters in public to see the same, who did admire it, and
confessed that none of them could anything near imitate the
same, which makes him prize it above all the rest, and
esteem it for a jewel.' He was almost as much delighted
with one of the English mastiffs that had been brought out.
With the instinct of the savage, he at once wished to witness
the prowess of the animal in an unequal battle. The
mastiff was first pitted against a tiger and then with a bear,
both of which it killed, ' whereby the King was exceedingly
pleased.' Pictures, mastiffs, Irish greyhounds, and well-fed
water-spaniels, seem to have been the gifts most approved of by
his Majesty. But, though the Great Mogul was a glutton
touching the things he expected to be given him, we are
informed that he was no mean purchaser of the Company's
goods. ' Pearls, rubies, and emeralds will be bought by the
King in infinite quantities,' writes a factor from Agra, ' as
also rich velvets, cloth of gold, rich tapestry, satins,
damasks,' &c. ; and he significantly adds, ' the King is the
best paymaster in the country.' '
' State Papers, East Indies, September 7, 1613 ; November, 1614 ; March,
1615 ; January 25, 1616 ; November 26, 1616.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 8i
The authority of the Great Mogul was soon to be of
service to English interests. At none of the settlements
had the Company's servants been more subject to opposition
and annoyance than at Surat. At this port the influence of
the Portguese was dominant, and as Portugal, at the very
outset of the Company's proceedings, had warmly objected
to the establishment of English factories within the
dominions to which she was trading, she exercised her
power to crush the ascendency of her rivals. The Governor
of Surat, Mocrob Khan, ' whose disposition savoured more
of child than man,' pursued a policy very disadvantageous to
the English. Though he feared the enmity of the Portuguese,
he mistrusted the friendship of the Company, and argued,
with characteristic indecision, that if he ' broke ' with the
former he should be sure of the friendship of neither.
Influenced by the suggestions of ihe Jesuits, who were
rapidly becoming a power in the country, under the ardent
generalship of Xavier, the governor, ' this malicious wretch '
allowed himself to become a complete tool in the hands of
the Portuguese. In all disputes between the two nations
he at once decided in favour of the Lisbon adventurers.
He seized the goods of the English factors, and did what he
pleased with them. To j^revent all opposition he com
pelled the English to yield up to him their arms of defence.
He used his authority to delay the unlading of English
goods, and hampered the merchants on all sides in their
purchase of commodities. ' Numerous are the injuries he
inflicts upon us,' writes one of the factors, ' discovering the
VOL. II. a

82 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
secret rancour of his poisoned stomach and the hidden
malice which he beareth unto our nation.'
So baneful was the conduct of Mocrob Khan to the es
tablishment of English commerce in ' the Oriental Indies,'
that the authorities at home gave orders for a fleet to sail for
the redress of the Company's complaints, and despatched Sir
Thomas Roe, ' he being a gentleman of pregnant understand
ing, well-spoken, learned, industrious, of a comely personage,
and one of whom there are great hopes that he may work
much good for the Company,' as spfecial envoy to the Governor
of Surat. At this juncture of affairs, and fortunately for the
interests of our merchants in the East, a quarrel broke out
between the Great Mogul and the Portuguese, who had made
themselves odious by capturing ' a great ship, of eleven hun
dred or twelve hundred tons, in Swally Road, worth from one
hundred to one hundred and thirty thousand pounds,' in
which the mother of the Great Mogul was a considerable
adventurer. The indignation of the son was aroused, and
he flercely resolved to avenge the insult that had been
passed upon himself and the losses his parent had sustained.
Uniting his forces with the troops of the King of Deccan,
he fell upon the Portuguese at Surat, drove them out of the
city, and laid siege to the fort that they had raised between
that place and Goa. In vain the Portuguese offered amends
and sued for peace. The Great Mogul declined to listen,
, forewarning all men any more to solicit their cause,' and
sternly vowing that ' he would not leave the Portugals
until he had expelled them their countries.' Orders were

THE MASSACRE OP AMBOYNA. 83
given to arrest all Portuguese and to seize their goods ; the
doors of the Portuguese churches were sealed up, the exer
cise of the Roman Catholic religion forbidden, and Xavier,
whom before the Mogul had much liked, was imprisoned.
The Portuguese city of Damaun was also closely environed
by the troops of the King of Deccan, and its surrender
imminent. A third enemy now appeared upon the scene.
Captain Downton had anchored his fleet in the roads of
Surat, and it struck him that a fitting opportunity had
arrived to avenge the humiliations the English had suffered
at the hands of the Portuguese. Accordingly he bore down
upon the Portuguese fleet, which consisted of nine ships, two
galleys, and fifty-eight frigates, and after a brief engagement
utterly defeated the enemy ; ' many of the gallants of Portu
gal were killed, besides above 300 men carried in the frigates
to Damaun to be buried.' With this victory the Mogul
was highly pleased. ' The King,' writes the factor at Ajmere,
' much applauded our people's resolution, saying his country
was before them to do therein whatsoever ourselves desired,
and spoke very despitefully and reproachfully of the Portu
gals.' '
Upon this arrived Sir Thomas Roe. The English
ambassador was evidently a man of bold and vigorous con
duct, who brooked no opposition to his demands, and who
was not to be defeated by the delays and empty promises
of a shuffling poUcy. In spite of the victories of the English
1 State Papers, East Indies, November 9, 1613 ; August 19, 1614 ;
January 1, 1615; March, 1615. G 2

84 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
and the disgrace into which the ' Portugals ' had fallen, the
Governor of Surat still continued his irritating course of
wounding and humiliating the Company's servants within
his jurisdiction. On his arrival at Surat, Roe at once made
his ' demands and complaints ' to the Governor. ' I come
hither,' he said proudly, 'not to beg, nor do nor suffer
injury, for I serve a King who is able to revenge whatsoever
is dared to be done against his subjects.' He then detailed
the injuries complained of, how chests had been ransacked,
presents sent to the King taken by violence, servants of
merchants cruelly whipped, and every obstacle placed in the
way of the development of English commerce. He de
manded instant redress, under threat of appealing to the
Great Mogul, and concluded by saying that 'I am better
resolved to die upon an enemy than to flatter him, and for
such I give you notice to take me.' ' His remonstrance prov
ing ineffectual, the envoy now demanded an interview with
the Mogul, when his vigorous disapproval of the conduct
of Mocrob Khan carried the day, and the objectionable
Governor was removed. The next step of Roe was to pen
a severe despatch to the Viceroy of Goa,^ complaining of the
course pursued by the Portuguese towards the English in
the Bast Indies, and informing him, in the plainest terms,
of what would be the result unless such a policy was at once
abandoned. 'I am commanded,' he wrote, 'to admonish you to
1 State Papers, East Indies, October 19, 1615.
2 Ibid. October 20, 1615.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBO\NA. 85
desist from doing what can only bring forth war, revenge,
and bloodshed, and to inform you that the English intend
nothing but free trade open by the law of nations to all
men. It is not the purpose of the English to root out or
to hinder your trade, or to impeach the receipt of your re
venues, and it is strange you should dare to infringe upon
the free commerce between their masters and subjects. Let
me advise your barbarous miscellaneous people to use more
reverent terms of the majesty of a Christian king. I give
you further notice that his Majesty is resolved to maintain
his subjects in their honest endeavours in spite of any enemy,
and to that purpose has sent me to conclude a league with
the Great Mogul for ever, in which I am commanded to
offer you comprisure, and will wait your answer at Ajmere
forty days. In case of your refusal or silence, letters of
reprisal will be granted to make war upon you in all parts
of the Indies.' He concludes, ' Your friend or enemy at your
own choice.'
No reply was received to this ultimatum, and Roe pro
nounced ' open war against the Portugals in the East Indies
with fire and ,sword, in the name of the King of England.'
The Enghsh ambassador soon proved himself the most fitting
agent that could have been sent out to uphold the interests
of the Company. He became the confidential friend of the
Great Mogul, and was the means of cementing a cordial alli
ance between England and 'the Mogores country.' He
had all the proclamations forbidding the factories at Surat
and Ahmedabad to trade rescinded. He procured firmans

86 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
encouraging English commerce throughout the country. He
recovered all the extortions which had been exacted from
the Company's servants by sundiy unjust governors, and in
order to leave ' all matters in a good, settled, and peaceful
course,' he drew up twenty-one articles, regulating the con
duct of English trade in the East, most of which he
succeeded in having confirmed by the Mogul. In the
following letter, now for the first time brought to light
through the labours of Mr. Sainsbury, we have a plain
proof of the feelings entertained by the monarch of the
Mogores towards England, and of his appreciation of the
conduct of Sir Thomas Roe. We have modernised the
spelling of the ambassador's translation from the Arabic'
' The Great Mogul to King James I.
' When your Majesty shall open your letter, let your
royal heart be as fresh as a sweet garden. Let all people
make reverence at your gate ; let your throne be advanced
high and amongst the greatest of the kings of the prophet
Jesus ; let your Majesty be the greatest, and all monarchs
derive their counsel and wisdom from thy breast as from
a fountain, that the love of the majesty of Jesus may
revive and flourish under thy protection.
' The letter of love and friendship which you sent me,
and the presents, token of your good affection toward me, I
have received by the hand of your ambassador. Sir Thomas
1 State Papers, East Indies, No. 525, 1618 [?].

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 87
Roe (who well deserves to be your trusty servant), delivered
to me in an acceptable and happy hour, upon which my
eyes were so fixed that I could not easily remove them to
any other object, and have accepted them with great joy and
delight, upon which assurance of your royal love I have
given my general command to all the kingdoms and posts of
my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English
nation as the subjects of my friend, that in what place
soever they choose to live in they may have reception and
residence to their own contents and safety ; and what
goods soever they desire to sell or buy they may have full
liberty without restraint; and at what port soever they
shall arrive, that neither Spaniard, Portugal, nor any other
shall dare to molest their quiet ; and in what city soever
they shall have residence I have commanded my governors
and captains to give them freedoms answerable to their own
desires to sell, buy, or to transport into their country at
their pleasures. For confirmation of our love and friend
ship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to
bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit
for my palaces ; and that you be pleased to send youi- royal
letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your
health and prosperous affairs, and that our friendship may
be interchangeable and eternal. Your Majesty is learned
and quick-sighted as a prophet, and can conceive much by
few words that I need not to write more. The great God
of heaven give us increase of honour ! '
It was natural that the success which had attended upon

88 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the operations of the English Company in opening com
mercial relations with every country of importance in the
East should have excited the hostile jealousy of those
European nations which now found themselves confronted
within their own special province by a most formidable rival.
With the enmity of Spain and Portugal England was
perfectly prepared to cope ; on the numerous occasions when
English interests in the East were affected by Spanish or
Portuguese intrigues, the despatches of the Company were
powerfully seconded by the guns of our fleet, stationed in
Indian waters, and the machinations of the enemy were
speedily brought to nought. The treacherous amity of
Holland was, however, an obstacle of a far more serious
character in the path of the Company's progress. In the
second volume of Mr. Sainsbury's interesting work, the
majority of the letters that he has calendared refer to the
inimical conduct of the Dutch and to their persistent efforts
to displace the English from all their most profitable settle
ments in the East Indies. Much of the wealth of Holland
was derived from her prosperous factories on the coast of
India and in the islands around the peninsula, and though
peace reigned between the two countries the Dutch had no
idea of seeing themselves ousted from a lucrative trade by
the energy and diplomacy of England. Accordingly Hol
land used all her arts to poison the minds of the natives
against the English settlers, to interfere with the dealings of
English trade, and, where she safely dared, to oppose the
Company's servants by actual force. Indeed, so grave

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 89
became her animosity, that at last, in the autumn of 1618,
the East India Company drew up two formal declarations of
complaints, one of which was presented to the King, the
other to the Privy Council.
In these documents the Company complained of ' the
efforts of the Hollanders to dispossess them by force ' of many
places in the East Indies ; ' of their most outrageous beha
viour, as any mortal enemies could do,' in seizing certain of
the Company's vessels, imprisoning the crews, ' and showing
our chained men to the people of the isle of Neira, the mother
of the isles of Banda, saying, " Lo 1 these are the men whom
ye made your gods, in whom ye put your trust, but we have
made them our slaves ; " ' of ' their threatening mortal war
against any English who dare trade to the Moluccas ; ' of their
robbing the Chinese under English colours ' to bring us into
hatred and contempt ; ' and of their endeavours to disgrace
the English nation by openly going about boasting that ' one
HoUand ship would take ten English, that they care not for
our King, for St. George was now turned chQd.' These
declarations were, by the King's command, sent to the
BnglLsh ambassador at the Hague, who was required to
present them to the States-General, and ' to demand their
answers how far they will allow these insolencies of their
subjects, or how they will punish them and make reparation;
and to insist particularly that they send commissioners arti
culately instructed to give satisfaction at the treaty to be
instantly held between us and them.'
Into the negotiations that ensued, which lasted more than

90 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
seven months, it is needless for us to enter; a clear and
succinct account of all the proceedings that took place will be
found fully calendared in the second volume of Mr. Sainsbury's
work.' From the numerous despatches of the English am
bassador at the Hague, and from the constant instructions
that were sent out to him from Whitehall, we see the exact
working of the King's mind at this contentious period ;
whilst the valuable court minutes of the Bast India Company
admit us into the very confidence of the governing body of
the English Company, and lay before us every detail con
nected with these proceedings. After numerous delays a
' treaty between the English and the Dutch concerning trade
in the East Indies ' was concluded June 2, 1619.
The Company had now been established some eighteen
years ; and, in looking back upon their past efforts, the direc
tors had every reason to congratulate themselves upon
their good fortune. Thanks to the protection of the Great
Mogul, the factors of the East India Company were the
most active in the peninsula of India. In Siam and the
islands of the Celebes Sea the prosperity of the English had
aroused the fiercest animosity of the Dutch, who until then
had enjoyed a monopoly of the trade in those regions. From
Japan, in spite of the hatred of its Emperor towards Chris
tians, silver, copper, and ir-on were being freely obtained.
Permission had been given by exclusive China to the English
to send annually two ships to Foochow for the purpose
of trading with the Celestials. With Persia the Company
1 State Papers, East Indies, 1617-1621.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 91
transacted a large business by exchanging cloth, tin, brass,
and sword-blades for sUks, damasks, spices, velvets, satins,
and fruits. Not a State of importance east of the Red Sea
excluded the English from her ports, or, when native
prejudice had been removed, objected to the development of
commercial relations with the ' white infidels.' The foes of
the Company were among the civilised powers of the West,
not among the barbarians of the East.
An alliance was, however, now to be effected with one
former opponent. Negotiations had for some time been on
foot between Russia and England with regard to the opening
of the Volga to English merchandise destined for Persia.
The ' Duke of Russia,' though he had always opposed the pro
ceedings of our Company, was anxious to stand well with
England, for he was burdened with debts, and he knew that
in no capital could he so easily be furnished with a loan as
in London. He despatched an ambassador with an imposing
retinue to James, and the papers before us offer an interesting
account of the reception of the northern envoy.' Sunday
afternoon was appointed for the interview. The King and
Queen, accompanied by a large suite, were seated in the ban
queting house at Whitehall. The ambassador was driven from
Crosby House, Bishopsgate Street, where he lodged, in one
of the state coaches, but his retinue refused to enter the
carriages appointed for them, ' alleging servants ought to be
known from their lords, and that it was fit they should go
afoot.' On entering the hall the ambassador, with four of
1 State Papers, Domestic, March 26, 1618.

92 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
his chief followers, bowed low to the ground, kissing it, and
then approached the royal circle and kissed hands. We are
informed that, whilst in the performance of this act of
homage, the envoy and his retinue ' looked up no higher than
the hand they were to kiss, which so soon as kissed, presently
ran back with all the speed they could. In going forwards
they put their left hand on their breech behind, and used
gesture and fashion very strange and unusual in these parts.'
The envoy was treated with every distinction. Ban
quets were given in his honour, crowds cheered his coach
as it passed through the City to Whitehall, and every
thing connected with himself and his retinue was listened
to with avidity. The presents he brought from the north
were much admired, ' the very furs being estimated by
those that are skilful at better than 6,000 pounds.' These
were received very graciously by the King, who expressed
himself as much pleased with them, ' and the more when
he understood Queen Elizabeth never had such a present
thence.' Yet the mission ended in a diplomatic triumph
for Russia. A treaty of amity and peace was entered into
between the two countries ; a sum of 60,000 marks was ad
vanced to the Duke of Russia, ' towards the maintenance of
his wars against the Poles ; ' but the one great request of
the East India Company was refused. Russia, from the
facilities offered her by her geographical situation, carried on
a large trade with Persia, and she had always watched with
jealousy the progress of the Company's dealings with Abbas
Mii'za. Accordingly she now refused to grant to the English

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 93
' the free passage for the silks of Persia up the Volga.' Still,
not wishing to appear ungrateful, she agreed, short of per
mitting Persian goods to pass through her territories for the
benefit of English commerce and to the detriment of her own
merchants, not to interfere with the proceedings of the Com
pany, and to remove the obstacles as to ' the trade in cordage
and other real commodities,' which she had formerly been
active in preventing.
Disappointed in their object, the Company now ' con
tracted with the King of Persia to bring their silks by the
Persian Gulf, paying one-third in money and two-thirds in
commodities.' From these volumes we see how profitable was
the trade with the East. Commodities from the East Indies
were brought to England at a quarter of the price hitherto
paid in Turkey and Lisbon. Pepper alone to the value of
200,000Z. was imported into England in 1623, nine-tenths of
which was exported within twelve months. It was estimated
that the commerce of the Company with the East would
maintain 10,000 tons of shipping, and employ 2,500 mariners
and as many artisans. In 1622 the trade to the East Indies
brought in a revenue to the King of 40,000?., which in 1624
increased to 50,000Z. When we read that the goods which
had been bought in India for 356,288?. produced in England
no less a sum than 1,914,600?., we are not surprised at the
large dividends paid by the Company, and the eagerness of
the proudest peers of the realm to be enrolled — like Lord
Bacon — as shareholders.
This dazzling prosperity was soon to be overshadowed by

94 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
one of the foulest massacres which a high-spirited nation has
ever permitted to remain unavenged. The treaty between
England and Holland with regard to the trade in the East
Indies turned out, as had been foreseen, practically useless.
Within a couple of years of its ratification, the old jealousies
were again at work, the old disputes again broke out, and it
again became necessary to attempt to settle the differences
by fresh negotiations. Both sides complained of 'the in
sufferable wrongs ' they had to endure, and each was loud in
the protestations of its own innocence. According to the
East India Company, the Dutch had flagrantly broken the
treaty of 1619 ; they had not restored the goods they had
taken from the English, but had imported them instead to
the Netherlands ; they had ' imprisoned, imposed fines, in
flicted corporal punishment in the market-place, and kept in
irons the English ; ' they would not suffer the English to buy
merchandise until the Dutch had been first served ; they
imposed ' great taxes and tolls upon English goods, and
levied great fines for non-payment ; ' they prevented the
English from trading in the Moluccas, Banda, and Amboyna ;
they pressed the English ' to pay their proportion in money
towards maintaining the forts and garrisons in thoise islands,
notwithstanding they have no trade there ; ' and they
required the English to furnish a ship to remain in the
Moluccas for a whole year, contrary to the article,=i of the
treaty. In reply the Dutch complained that the English
Company had neglected to maintain the ships of defence as
had been agreed upon, that the English interfered unlaw-

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 95
fully with the trade of the Dutch in the Spice Islands, and
that, as for the specific charges brought forward by the Com
pany, they were ' so obscure, confused, and ill-prepared,' that
it was impossible to return a satisfactory answer.
England, however, determined at first to tolerate no
shuffling in the matter. Our ambassador at the Hague was
informed that unless commissioners were sent from the States
to London, to redress the grievances complained of, and enter
into a new treaty, the English would have ' letters of reprisal
against Dutch ships, for that his Majesty had sworn his sub
jects would not let him rest until he had granted them.'
The prospect of this alternative roused Holland from her
apathy, and on November 28, 1621, ambassadors from the
States arrived in London, and negotiations were at once
opened with certain lords of the Privy Council, who were
appointed by the King lords commissioners for the treaty.
The proceedings were most tedious and protracted. Confer
ences were held and then suddenly broke up, owing to the
' wayward proceedings ' of the Dutch commissioners. Com
mittees sat, but so futile and barren of result were the pro
posals to be discussed that the chairman, the Lord Treasurer,
tore up the minutes in a passion, and ' cut off all further
negotiations, saying that he knew how to spend his time
better.' ' Scandalous words,' too, we are informed, passed
between the merchants on both sides, and on one occasion
the papers laid before the Lords Commissioners were so very
personal in their nature, that they were ordered to be de
stroyed. At length, after numerous delays and hot disputes.

96 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
a treaty was signed January 30, 1623. It consisted of four
teen articles, the chief of which were that neither of the rival
companies was to grant letters of marque against each other,
that there was to be perfect freedom of traffic between the
two, that the natives were not to be supplied by either com
pany with arms or other munition of war, that the expenses
of the Council of Defence were to be borne equally by both
companies, and that all the articles of the treaty of 1619
were to be observed. 'Such,' writes John Chamberlain,
with a sneer at the conditions to be observed, ' is the hard
knot which it has taken from thirteen to fourteen months to
tie. Our East India Company will never be the better for
it." Whilst these matters were being settled, ' bloudy newes
from the East Indies ' reached our shores. It was said that
the English at Amboyna had been cruelly put to death by
the Dutch, on the pretence of being guilty of treasonable
proceedings. The story in circulation throughout London
was as follows. ^ A Japanese soldier in the service of the
Dutch was observed in conversation with a sentinel then on
guard by the castle walls at Amboyna, as to the strength
of the castle and the character of the people who crarrisoned
it. He was arrested upon suspicion of treason and put to
the torture, when he confessed that he and others of his
countrymen were to have contrived the taking of the castle.
The Japanese in Amboyna were seized and at once tortured •
1 Staie Papers, East Indies, 1622-1624.
2 Ibid. Carleton to Sec. Conway, May 28, 1624.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 97
these, unable to bear their sufferings, and at the instigation
of their tormentors, now asserted that in their attempt to
capture the castle they were to have been assisted by the
English residing there. Upon this suggested confession.
Captain Towerson and all the English in Amboyna were sent
for by the governor, and after being accused of a conspiracy
to surprise the castle, were informed that they would be
kept prisoners for further examination. The next day the
English factors in the neighbourhood were arrested and
brought in irons to Amboyna.
It appears that there was confined in the castle a dissolute
Englishman, one Abel Price, a surgeon, who had been im
prisoned for attempting, in a drunken fit, to set fire to the
house of a Dutchman. This man was now threatened by the
authorities with the same tortures as had been applied tothe
Japanese, unless he swore to corroborate all the statements
that had been made against the English. For a short time
Price manfully held out against the terrors of the torture-
chamber, but, on pain overcoming his scruples, he confessed
what was desired of him. The English factors were then
separately confronted with Price and accused of treachery.
They one and all indignantly denied the charges brought
against them, and loudly protested their innocence. Upon
their persistent refusal to convict themselves they were led to
the cells below and put to the torture. From the State Papers
before us we are made acquainted with the sufferings they
had on these occasions to endure.' On entering the torture-
1 State Papers, East Indies, 'Narration of the bloody proceedings at
Amboyna,' July 10; 1624.
VOL II. H

98 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

chamber each prisoner was first ' hoisted by the hands, wit
a cord attached to his wrists, upon a large door, where he wan
made ftist to two staples of iron fixed on both sides at the
top of the doorposts, his hands being hauled, the one from
the other, as wide as they could stretch.' Thus secured, his
feet, which were suspended some two feet from the ground,
were ' stretched asunder as far as they could rea«h, and so
made fast beneath on each side of the doorposts.' A cloth
was then bound round the lower part of the face of the vic
tim, tight at the throat and loose at the nose. Water was
now poured gently upon the head, until the cloth was full to
the mouth and nostrils, so that the prisoner could not draw
breath without sucking in the water, ' which, being contin
ually poured in, came out of the nose, ears, and eyes, causing
the greatest agony, till he became insensible.' This result
attained, the tortured man was taken down quickly and
made to vomit the water. Occasionally these torments were
varied by incisions being made in the breasts of the unhappy
captives, which were filled with powder and then ignited.
In this fiendish manner, we read, some of the factors were
tortured ' three or four times, until their bodies were fright
fully swollen, their cheeks like great bladders, and their eyes
starting out of their heads.' One John Clarke, a factor at
Hitto, we are told, bore all his sufferings without confessing
anything, upon which the Dutch fiscal said he must be a
devil or a witch, and have some charm about him that he
could bear so much. ' So they cut his hair very short, and,
hoisting him up again as before, they burnt the bottoms of

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 99
his feet with lighted candles until the fat dropped from
them ; they also burnt the palms of his hands and under his
armpits, until his inwards might evidently be seen.' At last,
wearied and overcome by these tortures, Clarke confessed all
that was suggested to him, ' to wit, that Captain Towerson
had sworn all the English, with the help of the Japanese, to
surprise the castle of Amboyna and put the governor and all
the Dutchmen to death.' His statement was corroborated
by most of the other factors, who were prepared to admit
anything in order to terminate the horrible torments they
had to suffer.
Against this cumulative evidence the assertions of
Captain Towerson that he was perfectly innocent of the
charges brought against him were in vain. ' He was led
up into the place of examination, and two great jars of
water carried after him. What he there did or suffered was
unknown to the rest of the English, but he was made to
underwrite his confession there.' These examinations,
tortures, and confessions were the work of eight days — from
February 15 to February 23 — and on February 26, 1623, all
the prisoners were brought into the great hall of the castle,
and solemnly condemned to death. Their last moments
were worthy of the nation to which they belonged, and of
the religion which they professed. Each man ' went one to
another, begging forgiveness for their false accusation, being
wrung from them by the pains of torture. And they all
freely forgave one another, for none had been so falsely
accused, but he himself had accused another as falsely.'
H 2

loo STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
The night before execution was passed in prayer, the
prisoners turning a deaf ear to the offers of their Dutch
guards, who bade them ' drink lustily and drive away their
sorrow.' Early in the morning they were led out into the
castle yard, and the sentence of death read to them. Before
' suffering the fatal stroke ' the condemned ' prayed and
charged those that were saved to bear witness to their
friends in England of their innocency, and that they died
not traitors, but so many innocents, merely murdered by the
Hollanders, whom they prayed God to forgive their blood-
thirstiness, and to have mercy upon their souls.' Ten
Englishmen, one Portuguese, and nine Japanese were then
executed with the sword, and all the English save Captain
Towerson were buried in one pit. The day following the
execution was spent by the Dutch in public rejoicing for
their deliverance from this pretended plot.
When the news of the Amboyna massacre reached Eng
land the greatest excitement prevailed. The nation cried out
loudly for revenge, and our ambassador at the Hague was
instructed to demand reparation from the Dutch. At a
court meeting of the Company three points were resolved on
— justice against the murderers, reparation for injuries, and
a separation of the two companies. And now ensued one of
the most ignominious chapters to be found in the history of
English diplomacy. The States General declined to be con
vinced that our version of the story was the correct one ;
they upheld the conduct of their agents. It was the Eng
lish who had attempted to seize the castle of Amboyna ; then-

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA.

designs had been frustrated, and the ringleaders of the plot
had been deservedly executed. It was true that the English
prisoners had been tortured, but the accounts that had been
circulated of their sufferings had been much exaggerated.
Nor was it for England, sneered the States General, where
men were pressed to death for political crimes, to cry out
against the punishment of torture. The Dutch proceedings
in Amboyna, argued the Hollanders, were neither against
justice nor without formality, and certainly not with
extremity against the conspirators.'
In reply England stated that the factors condemned to
death were not conspirators ; the men were innocent of any
designs against the governor of Amboyna, and only accused
each other of imaginary crimes to escape the torments of tor
ture. It was evident upon the very face of it, she said, that
this pretended attack was impossible for the English to exe
cute. The castle of Amboyna was of great strength, it was
garrisoned by some 200 men, whilst living in the town were
as many more of their free burghers. ' Durst ten English,
whereof not one a soldier, attempt anything upon such strength
and vigilancy ] ' Whilst as for the assistance of the Japanese,
' they were but ten neither, and all unarmed as well as the
English ! ' And suppose, it was argued, that these twenty per
sons had been so desperate as to venture the exploit, how could
they be able either to master the Dutch in the castle or to
keep possession when they had gotten it ? What seconds had
they at hand ? There was neither ship nor pinnace of the
' State Papers, East Indies, Barlow to Carleton, August 5, 1624.

102 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
English in the harbour, and not an Englishman to be found
within forty leagues of Amboyna to render assistance. The
idea was as mad in its conception as it was impossible in its
execution. Whilst, on the other hand, in addition to the
strength of the castle and town of Amboyna, the Dutch had
three other strong castles weU furnished with soldiers in the
same island and at Cambello adjoining. They had vast
stores of arms and ammunition, and lying at anchor in the
roads of Amboyna were eight men-of-war. Was it probable,
said the English Commissioners, that a few unarmed men
would contend to overthrow such a power ? '
Still, the States General maintained that the conduct of
their East India Company, if not perfectly blameless in the
matter, was not very guilty. They would institute an
inquiry into the affair, and punish the offenders if found to
be deserving of punishment, but they decHned to make the
humiliating reparation required of them. Those who wish
to study despatches full of bluster and evasion have only to
read the third volume of Mr. Sainsbury's Calendar, where
the history of the negotiations that took place on this occa
sion is for the first time made public. The King vowed
vengeance, but his ire spent itself in idle threats. He de
clared that by August 12, 1624, he would have satisfaction
' both for the slaughter of our people and the spoil of our
goods.' Yet said Governor Abbott, in full court of the Com
pany, 'the day is come and past, and we have heard
1 State Papers, East Indies, ' An answer to the Dutch relation touching
the pretended conspiracy of the English at Amboyna,' Se-tember [?], 1624.

THE MASSACRE OF AMBOYNA. 103
nothing.' His Majesty swore that unless reparation was made
he would attack the Dutch ships in the Channel, but no orders
were issued for the English fleet to stand out to sea to attack
the enemy. The truth was that the treaties between Eng
land and the United Provinces, who were then fighting
against Spanish dominion in the Netherlands, rendered it
most undesirable that a rupture should take place between
the Courts of St James's and the Hague. England fancied
that she was avenging the insult done to her flag by a bluster
which deceived no one, and threats which caused no appre
hension. ' And thus the matter rested,' writes Mr. Sainsbury,
' three months after King James had ceased to reign ; and
though efforts were made from time to time by his successor
to see justice done, which were renewed again and again
during the interregnum, and even in Charles the Second's
reign, whenever any treaty between England and the United
Provinces was in question, so the matter rested.'

104 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM.
There was ambition, there was sedition, there was violence ; but no
man shall persuade me that it was not the cause of Liberty on one side and
of Tyranny on the other. — Lord Chatham.
The right divine of kings to govern wrong.
The Dunciad, Book IV.
Shortly after the year 1625 had dawned upon the world the
condition of James the First caused much anxiety to those in
attendance upon him. After slowly recovering from a severe
attack of the gout, he had fallen a victim to tertian ague.
No immediate danger was apprehended, but the King, who
had always been nervous about himself where his health was
concerned, took a graver view of his illness than did those
around him, and said, ' I shall never see London more.'
Remembering that Buckingham had derived great benefit
from the prescription of a country doctor at Dunmow, James
was now anxious to adopt the same remedies. A messenger
rode post haste into Essex, and brought back the village
quack'.s recommendation. The King was to be kept in
bed, to be given a posset, which would promote perspiration,
and to have a plaster placed upon his stomach and his wrists.
The advice was faithfully carried out, but instead of relieving

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 105^
the invalid, only aggravated his malady. The Court physicians,
irritated at this interference with their treatment, declined
to visit the King unless he would place himself unreservedly
in their hands, and abandon the Dunmow posset and plasters.
A returning fit of great severity now compelled James to
listen to his recognised medical attendants, and under their
skill and care his health began gradually to mend. But with
regaining vigour came back the short-sighted obstinacy which
ihad always been one of the evil features in his character. In
spite of all opposition the King resolved to give the Dunmow
treatment another trial. Once more he poured down his
throat the posset, and applied the plasters to his stomach and
his wrists ; from that hour the improvement that had taken
place in his condition became checked,and he grewrapidly worse.
Fit succeeded fit, and it was evident to all the end was nigh.
The divines in attendance upon the royal bedside told the
sufferer that his recovery was now despaired of ' I am satis
fied,' said James, ' and I pray you to assist me to make ready to
go away hence to Christ, whose mercies I call for, and I hope
to find them.' On March 27, 1625, he passed away. 'He
died at twelve at noon,' writes Chambermayd to the Queen
of Bohemia, ' and before six at night the accession of King
Charles was proclaimed, and all persons commanded to see
the King's peace duly kept, and to be obedient to his laws.'
Of the young King little was known. Shy, reserved, and
accustomed to stand much upon his dignity, except to the
very few friends who possessed his confidence, as Prince of
Wales Charles had never come prominently before the nation.

I06 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
The grasp of his mind was limited, he had many prejudices
and few ideas, the flow of his thoughts was slow and
laboured, and he was by nature reticent and reserved.
Conscious that his gifts did not tend to shed a lustre upon
his father's Court, he had held himself aloof from its more
boisterous festivities, and from the homage of the vulgar.
The loquacity, the pedantry, the vanity of his coarse self-
asserting sire jarred upon the sensitiveness of the young
Prince, and caused him to withdraw from the society of those
who by their servile flatteries had wormed themselves into
the intimacies of the throne. The select and limited few,
however, who had been afforded the opportunities of judging
the character of Charles were strongly impressed in his favour.
He was not a ready talker, but when he spoke he showed that
he was able to bring to bear upon the subject under dis
cussion, if not much original thought, at least much reading.
He had a keen appreciation of the fine arts, and in his travels
on the Continent had struck those who surrounded him by
the depth and judgment of the criticisms he passed upon the
different paintings that met his view. In an age of much
licence he had worn the white flower of a blameless life, and
had been sneered at by the wits of Versailles as being as
virgin as his sword. So far as externals went Nature had
been most kind to him. His face was expressive, and the
features marked by that purity and refinement which are
termed aristocratic; his figure was graceful, his manners,
though somewhat haughty, were eminently courtly and win
ning. As it was said of his unhappy descendant, the Young

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 107
Pretender, on his first entrance into Edinburgh, so it
could be said of Charles, he was ' not only a king but a
gentleman.' His accession to the throne had occurred at a season
which required no ordinary capacity to contend with the
surrounding difficulties. Both at home and abroad dark
clouds had sprung up, obscuring the political horizon. On
the Continent England was engaged in a war to oppose the
might of the Austrian family, and to recover the Palatinate.
Spain, irritated at the rupture of the marriage-treaty between
Charles and the Infanta had become our bitter enemy.
France, though she had consented to the union of the Princess
Henrietta with the young King of England, hovered between
her hatred of Spain and her hatred of the Huguenots, and
declined to give any decided support to the English policy in
Europe. Whilst at home the opposition of the House of
Commons to the claims of Prerogative, which had embittered
the relationship between the Crown and the people during
the latter part of the preceding reign, was now again being
mischievously agitated. To add to these difficulties, the
question of religious toleration was demanding an immediate
settlement. Shortly after his accession Charles had united
himself in marriage with the Princess Henrietta Maria, the
daughter of Henry IV. of France, whose beauty, it is said,
had attracted him at a ball in Paris, whilst en route for
Madrid to pay his court to the Spanish Infanta. The young
Queen was a devoted Cathohc, and it was expected that her
elevation to the English throne would result in the removal

io8 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
of those penalties and restrictions which at that time visited
severely upon the adherents of the Holy See.
These hopes resolved themselves into certainty when the
private views of the King became known. On the day of his
marriage he had issued instructions to the Lord Keeper ' to
cease all manner of prosecution against Roman Catholics, as
well on their persons as goods, for the exercise of the said
religion, provided always that they behaved themselves mod
erately therein, and yield us that obedience which good and
true subjects owe unto their King.' It was soon found, how
ever, that in the present temper of the English people it would
be most unwise to carry these concessions into effect. The war
in the Palatinate and the attitude assumed by the Huguenots
had aroused both the Protestant sympathies and jealousies of
the nation. Throughout England the recent alliance with
France was looked upon coldly, men fearing that the union
had been purchased at the expense of the established religion
of the country. Charles, at the very outset of his marriage
and in the face of his instructions to the Lord Keeper, was
bidden to put in force the statutes for the suppression of
Popery, really to ' execute the laws against the wicked
generation of Jesuits, seminary priests, and incendiaries ever
lying in wait to blow the coal of contention.' He hesitated
and dallied with the demand, hoping that time might
extricate him from the embarrassment.
Nor did the conduct of the young Queen tend to smooth
over the difficulties of the situation. Her beauty was acknow
ledged by both friend and foe, yet from such brilliant peran^«l

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 109
attractions much danger was to be apprehended. It was
known that the King was deeply attached to her, that his
disposition caused him to give an undue weight to the counsels
of those by whom his affections were engaged ; and it was
felt that the influence of his young and beautiful consort might
be very detrimental to the activity of Protestantism. Hen
rietta had surrounded herself by a little band of advisers of
her own creed, to whom she always referred before entering
on any act, private or political. At the instigation of her
confessor she had made a pilgrimage across Hyde Park to the
gallows at Tyburn, where she had prayed to the Catholic vic
tims executed there in the preceding reigns, as to so many
saints and martyrs. She had declined to be crowned by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, but had requested that the cere
mony might be performed by her own bishop, which had been
refused. ' His Majesty was yesterday crowned,' writes Sir
Benjamin Rudyard, ' The Queen was not crowned (her
Church not recognising our bishops), bu:t stood in a window
at Sir Abraham Williams's to see the show.' The feelings
of the people were excited against her, and she was called a
Daughter of Heth, a Canaanite, and an Idolater.
So pernicious was the influence of her advisers that at la.st
it became imperatively necessary for the King to interfere.
Attended upon by the Duke of Buckingham and the Earls of
Holland and Carlisle, Charles came to Somerset House, where
the retinue of the Queen had assembled to await his orders.
' Gentlemen and ladies,' said the King, ' T am driven to that
necessity as that I am personally come to acquaint you that

no STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
I very earnestly desire your return into France ; true it is the
deportment of some amongst you hath been inoffensive to me,
but others again have so dallied with my patience and so
highly affronted me as I cannot, I will not, longer endure it.'
In vain certain of the officials of the Queen's household raised
their voices in earnest protestation against this summary dis
missal ; they were ordered to quit the kingdom and not to
irritate further the royal will. 'On Tuesday,' writes Sir
Benjamin Rudyard, 'the Queen's Fi'ench attendants were
suddenly commanded to quit the Court ; the Queen takes the
act very passionately, but having prevailed for the return of
her nurse, is reasonably pacified.' With the departure of her
mischievous advisers the influences that had been at work to
create a breach between husband and wife were silenced, and
the domestic life of Charles, which at one time had been
gravely threatened by the bigotry and obstinacy of the Queen,
was restored to that harmony and affection which ever after
wards characterised it.
Whilst these private differences were being settled
matters of great public moment had made large claims upon
the temper and discretion of the young King. Into the
thrice-told story of the reign of Charles we have no inten
tion of entering, except as a new light is shed upon it by
disclosures from the State Papers. On June 18, 1625, the
King opened his first Parliament at Westminster. In his
speech from the throne he frankly acknowledged the necessi
ties of his position ; he had received on his accession the
legacy of a war approved of by the nation ; he had entered

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. in
into arrangements with Denmark, the Low Countries, and
the Palatinate, which made heavy calls upon his exchequer ;
he had spent large sums upon the navy ; the debts of his
father remained still to be discharged ; and he confidently
expected his faithful Commons to freely vote him the
supplies he required. His confidence was misplaced. In
the Lower House the leaders of the country party were the
dominant section. They ruled the assembly, and gave the
tone to the debate. To these men the situation of their
Sovereign was fuU of promise for the redress of grievances
they had long complained of. They resolved that the
power of Parliament should be re-established, and the pre
rogative reduced within more reasonable limits. They
required that the Penal Acts against the Roman Catholics
should be put in force, and demanded that full information
as to the future expenditure of the sums to be voted should
be laid before the House. To these requests the King
declined to give any decided answer, and the Commons
retaliated by voting two miserable subsidies to meet the
heavy expenses incurred by the Crown.
For the moment, all negotiations between the Sovereign
and his subjects were brought to an end by the hasty
adjournment of the Parliament, owing to the plague which
was then devastating the metropolis. Of the havoc made
by this terrible visitation the State Papers are full. Entry
after entry in the Calendars ' before us reveals the terror
1 State Papers, Domestic, 1625-1640, edited by John Bruce and W.
Douglas Hamilton, 14 vols.

112 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
and distress caused by its appearance. ' The plague spreads.
Parliament is in suspense ; ' ' the sickness in London in
creases in a remarkable manner ; ' ' the sickness has spread
into all parts of the City, and has broken out in the house
of the Lord Mayor ; ' ' the sickness increases more and
more, the bill specified 500 and odd last week; ' 'the in
crease and general spread of the plague in London and
Westminster cause such distraction and consternation that
the like was never seen in that age. The number of deaths
for four weeks was answerable to those in the first year of
the late King, but this last week it is near a thousand
greater, which makes all men hasten away ; ' ' a few days
since there died two of the sickness at Windsor, in a house
where the Queen's priest was lodged : it is very much about
Kingston and its neighbourhood ; ' ' the sickness so violent
in London that there is no intercourse of boats from
Kingston, those that go to London must not return into the
country. Last week's deaths were 4,855 ; of the plague 4,133,
not counting Westminster and the outlying parishes, where
there died about 1,000 ; ' 'few adventure into London : the
Lords are about to send to the Mayor that the infected shall
be sent out of the City to tents and cabins in the fields. No
man comes into a town without a ticket, yet there are few
places free ; ' ' Sir Francis Howard's lady took the infection
from a new gown she had from London, so as she died the
same day she took it.' ' I believe,' writes the Dean of St.
Paul's, ' that in the City of London, and in a mile compass
there died 1,000 a day. The citizens fled away as out of a

THE GATHERING OP THE ^TORM. 113
house on fire, and stuffed their pockets with their best ware
and threw themselves into the highways, and were not re
ceived so much as into barns, and perished so ; some of
them with more money about them than would have bought
the village where they died.'
And then we read how the fell visitation spread in spite
of all precaution, from county to county, and town to town,
till the whole kingdom was infected; how trade was paralysed,
how piteous were the applications to the authorities for relief,
and how stringent were the regulations for the prevention of
the disease. ' On deaths of persons of the contagion of the
sickness,' write the Justices of the Peace for Westminster, ' the
searchers go with white wands in their hands, the red cross,
and the bill " Lord have mercie upon us '' set apparent on
the doors. With every such house ther.e is a warder, and
every day some of the Justices visit and examine to see them
do their duty. They be so kept up forty days, and in that
time purge and cleanse their houses with lime and such-like.'
From the State Papers we collect the following table of
mortality : In 1592, the interments from the plague were
11,505; in 1603, .30,583; in 1625, 35,428; in 1630,
1,317; in 1636, 12,102; in 1637 down tothe end of July,
when the disease was beginning to slacken its ravages, the
number of deaths had been 2,876.
To escape infection the Parliament met at Oxford, and
Charles, nothing daunted by past failure, again appealed to
the generosity of the Commons. He had scarcely the means
to supply the necessary provisions for the Royal household.
VOL. II. I

114 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
He was about to equip a fleet against Spain. He had to
pay large subsidies to the King of Denmark, to the army of
Kamfeldt, to the army of the Low Countries, and for the
security of Ireland. It was necessary if the war was to be
carried on that large supplies should be voted. In his
appeal Charles was supported by all the arguments and
specious eloquence of his admirers. The Commons, however,
declined to reconsider their decision. They had been
angered by an attempt on the part of the Court to employ
certain English vessels (which had been despatched to
Dieppe ostensibly to attack the Genoese) in the service of
the French king against the Huguenots of Rochelle : a
design which had only been frustrated by the mutiny and
desertion of the crews. They again demanded to know how
the past subsidies had been expended, and requested a full
and detailed account of the warlike operations that were
meditated by the Court. If the King gave them his confi
dence and accepted their advice, they would then see how
far they would be justified in meeting the Royal wishes.
The struggle was thus between the inquisitorial power of
Parliament and the despotism of Prerogative. Charles
declined to recognise the pretensions of his Parliament ; he
placed his confidence in his Ministers, and not in the repre
sentatives of the people : it was the duty of the Commons to
obey, and not to pry into the commands of their Sovereign ;
to place the right of inquiry in the hands of Parliament
was to accord a favour most detrimental to the interests
of the Crown. Holding these views, and finding that no

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 115
object was to be gained by further discussion, the King took
advantage of the appearance of the plague at Oxford to dis
solve the Houses.
With the vast mass of documentary evidence now before
us it is not difficult to account for the opposition of the
Commons to the demands of the Crown. In the Lower
House there were men hostile to the Royal Prerogative, and
who were anxious to embrace every opportunity of inflicting
slights and humiliations upon their Sovereign, but they were
in a minority. To the larger section of the assembly the
Throne was still the emblem of all that was sacred and
dear, and opposition to the Sovereign did not so much imply
disloyalty as hate and distrust of the mischievous adviser
who then enjoyed the Royal confidence. The leaders of the
country party did not war against Charles, but against
Buckingham. It has been the fate of many who have
exercised supreme sway, either in the Court or the Cabinet,
to encounter the bitter hostility of a people ; but seldom has
any Minister met with such flerce detestation as was then
excited by the conduct of Buckingham. About the middle
of the last reign a younger son of an old Leicestershire family
had come up to Court, and had purchased the office of cup
bearer. Few men were more impressed by the external
advantages of a handsome person and an elegant address
than James. It was not long before the graceful bearing,
the winning manner, and the charming face of George
Villiers attracted the attention of his Sovereign. The young
cup-bearer was not one of those who lose an opportunity ; he
J 2

ii6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

speedily ingratiated himself in the good opinion of his master
and his rise was rapid. The favourite Somerset was, as we
know, dethroned and dismissed, and George Villiers reigned
in his stead. Honour after honour was rapidly conferred
upon him ; office after office was entrusted to him. He was
knighted ; he was created Baron Whaddon and Viscount
Villiers ; he was created Earl of Buckingham ; he was
created Marquis, and then Duke of Buckingham. He had
been sworn of the Council, he had received the insignia of
the Garter, he was Master of the Horse, he was Lord High
Admiral, and he was the bosom friend and trusted counsellor
of his Sovereign.
A man made only to shine in the salon and the boudoir,
the power now placed in the hands of Buckingham turned his
head. His arrogance, his abuse of authority, his dangerous
counsels, offended all. He was hated with the bitterest of
all hates, the hate that knows it is powerless to wound.
Neither James nor Charles would listen to a word said
against the favourite. It was useless for men grown grey in
the service of the State to expose the incapacity of Bucking
ham for the high offices he filled — to point out the mischief
he had effected between England and Spain, and to show
how he was wanting in tact, foresight, and discretion. James
turned a deaf ear to all such insinuations, and continued to
be fonder than ever of his ' Steenie.' As was the sire, so was
the son. On the accession of Charles to the throne. Bucking-
ham was the adviser who guided the Royal pohcy. ' During
Buckingham's presence at Court,' writes Mr. Bruce, ' he

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 117
reigned there as the King's absolute and single Minister.
Every act of the Government passed by or through his will.
Except formally, the King was little seen or heard of in
State affairs. He seldom even attended a sitting of the Privy
Council, except to carry out some project of his favourite.'
It was this elevation of a dangerous and domineering
incapacity that had so angered the Commons, and forced
them into a disloyalty they regretted, in order to curb the
mischievous activity of the one adviser of the Crown. By
the nation at large the favourite was as much hated as was
Bute in the days of George the Third. He was a traitor,
a Papist, a poisoner, a Frenchman, the cause of England's
heavy taxation, and of all her distresses. Such were the
accusations brought against the Duke by an infuriated people.
' The whole island,' writes one Gabriel Browne, ' is so
sharpened against him, that even ridiculous toys inflame
them with offence. The multitude were bitterly disgusted
because, being sickly, he suffered himself to be carried in
a covered chair upon his servant's shoulders from Whitehall
to Denmark House ; and the Commons House took it ill,
because, at a Committee, he was a little more gaillard,
trim, and wantonly great, " after the French fubb and
garb," than stands with the national gravity of the noble
English.' The King, we are also told, ' is a most sweet and
gentle Prince, saving as he is misled by that great man.'
' Who governs the land % ' it was asked. ' Why, the King.
And who governs the King ? Why, the Duke of Bucking
ham. And who governs the Dake? Why, the Devil.'

ii8 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
The conflict that now ensued between the Executive and the
Legislature was not, therefore, so much an antagonism
between the King and the Parliament as between the
Parliament and the favourite Minister.
To supply the want of Parliamentary assistance, Charles
now issued Privy Seals for borrowing the necessary money
from his subjects. The sum required to be lent, we leam,
was ' to be sent to the collector within twelve days, and was
to be repaid within eighteen months.' This form of com
pulsory contribution created the liveliest dissatisfaction from
those on whom levies were made ; still it excited no open
resistance, and the amount thus raised enabled the ill-starred
expedition against Cadiz to set out upon its work of de
struction. Concerning this expedition, the State Papers are
full of interest, but, inasmuch as they throw little new light
upon Cecil's undertaking, it is not necessary to dwell upon
the matter they contain. We know that the expedition was
a complete failure; Puntal was taken and abandoned, a
march was made against the enemy outside the walls of
Cadiz, but 'the men being faint and without provisions, the
Marshal (Sir Edward Cecil, created Viscount Wimbledon in
anticipation of the successes he did not achieve) gave them
wine, under the influence of which they came unmanageable.'
It was found that the town could only be taken by siege,
' for which we were unprepared. We, therefore, embarked
our men, to our great dishonour.' The Plate fleet, with
its splendid treasures on board, eluded the search of
Wimbledon, and safely anchored in Cadiz Bay, and thus,

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 119
having failed to carry out a single one of the numerous plans
it had proposed to execute, the expedition returned home.
When we read a few of the entries from the State Papers
as to the conduct of this enterprise, we are not surprised at
the result that attended its efforts. Buckingham, though he
remained at home, was ' Generalissimo of the Fleet ; ' whilst
Cecil, its actual commander, was an excellent soldier, who
had seen much service in the Dutch army, but who natur
ally had had no experience of naval warfare. The details of
the expedition were managed with the usual carelessness and
incompetency of Buckingham. ' Great wrong,' writes Sir
G«orge Blundell, 'has been done tothe King and his service
by pretending the ships were flt to go to sea ; they were
leaky and rotten, and every man cries out for victuals. Some
drink beverage of cider that stinks worse than carrion, and
have no other drink. They have been much wronged and
abased.' ' The landsmen,' writes Wimbledon himself, ' are so
ill-exercised, that they killed more of their own men than of
the enemy. The sickness is so great that there are not sea
men enough to keep the watches. The ships leaky. We
feel the want of a competent number of pinnaces, which in
Queen Elizabeth's time were always furnished ; but now, to
save charges, we have ketches, which men are afraid to go in.
Our beverage of an ill-quality, and victual growing short. I
anticipated all these difficulties and wants before setting out ;
but, being commanded by the Duke, I resolved to undertake
anything.' ' I speak out of anguish,' moans Sir William St.
Leger, ' to see so brave and chargeable a business so foully

I20 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
miscarried. The army is in wretched poor condition for
want of health and clothes, and much decayed in numbers.'
The expedition had sailed from Plymouth early in October,
amid the hopes of a proud and high-spirited nation ; it
returned a few weeks later, ship straggling after ship, their
crews decimated by disease, whilst the soldiers, on landing,
had barely rags enough to satisfy the demands of decency.
' We request,' write the Commissioners at Plymouth to the
Privy Council, ' that the soldiers may be speedily clothed, the
greatest part not having therewith to cover their nakedness,
which is the greatest cause of their miseries. Orders should
also be given for the maintenance of the captains and officers,
whose complaints are equal to those of the soldiers.' The men
thus returned were distributed throughout the different coun
ties, and, in defiance of all law, billeted upon the people.
The expedition to Cadiz a failure, his supplies squandered,
his necessities daily becoming more urgent, the King had
no alternative but to call a new Parliament. The House
of Commons was, however, in no more generous or pliant
mood than its predecessor. It bitterly complained of the
reverses of the past, of the secrecy in which all the accounts
relating to the expenditure were enveloped, of the manner in
which the Constitution had been strained, and of the in
competency of the sole Minister of the Crown. After much
debate, it was resolved that three subsidies and three-
fifteenths should be granted to the King ; but that the vote
should not be converted into a Bill until all grievances had
been redressed. The Commons demanded that the favourite

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. I2i
should be removed ; that a statement as to the expenditure
of the future should be presented them ; that the religious
question should be definitely settled ; and that the claim of
Parliament to control the Crown, as well as to advise it,
should be recognised. Buckingham was impeached, but
Parliament was dissolved before the charges brought against
him had been fully inquired into.
Charles, who regarded himself as the centre and force of
all Government, declined to be responsible for his actions to his
Parliament, to permit an inquiry into the expenditure of the
past, or to throw over his mischievous adviser. In a fit of
temper he dissolved the Houses ; and, since his faithful Com
mons would grant no subsidies without being taken into the
Royal confidence, he determined to carry out those ' new
counsels ' he had threatened his Parliament with adopting.
He compounded with the Catholics for the suspension of the
penal laws against them. He demanded a loan of 100,000?.
from the City of London. He required each of the maritime
towns, with the aid of the adjacent counties, to equip so many
vessels as were appointed them. He begged pecuniary
assistance from the peers and from all friends to his cause.
These expedients, however, did not meet with the success he
had anticipated; and, after some deliberation, an Act of
Council was passed which enforced a general loan from the
subject according as every one was assessed in the rolls of the
last subsidy. Against this taxation, and the inquisitorial
manner in which it was conducted, a violent outcry was
raised. Many declined to contribute to the loan, and the

122 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
State Papers of the years 1626-1627 are full of the re
monstrances and sufferings of those who opposed the Court.
All who refused to comply with the King's demands were
thrust into prison.
And now, as if domestic matters were not grave enough,
the country was plunged into a new war. To avenge him
self against Richelieu, who, jealous of the favour accorded
to Buckingham, then Ambassador Extraordinary at Paris,
by the beautiful Anne of Austria, had interrupted the
amorous designs of the gallant Envoy, the Duke threw
down the gauntlet to France. He gave orders that all the
French servants of Henrietta Maria should be dismissed.
He encouraged the EngUsh men-of-war to seize upon
French merchantmen. He made overtures to Spain for
peace. These injuries produced only remonstrances across
the Channel, or at the most reprisals, and failed to excite
that declaration of hostilities which the Duke had antici
pated. Since France kept her temper, and declined to be
provoked, Buckingham now resolved to show his hand, so
that no mistake should arise as to his intentions. Nothing
daunted by the fate of the Cadiz expedition, he fitted out a
fleet of 100 sail; he embarked an army of 7,000 men; he
appointed himself commander of this naval and military
force, and bent his course to the West of France. Rochelle,
garrisoned by the Huguenots, was then besieged by Richelieu ;
and it had been the intention of Buckingham to relieve the
town, and make common cause with the beleaguered against
the foe. The Rochellois, however, distrustful of the scheme

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 123
of the English commander, refused to admit the Duke ; and
the baffled commander, concealing his mortification as best
he could, steered farther west, intent upon subduing the
Isle of Rh6.
Of the various historical incidents relating to this period
recorded in the State Papers there is none more minutely
treated than this, the second iU-fated enterprise of Bucking
ham. The whole facts relating to the expedition to Rhe are
brought so vividly before us that there is not the shghtest
break in the continuity of the narrative, or a single omission
which the historian can regret. We read all the details as to
the preparations that were made ; as to the departure and
landing of the troops ; as to the endeavours at home to sup
port the expedition with new levies and continued supplies ;
as to the feverish anxiety in which England and France were
kept for several months by the progress of the siege of the
citadel of St. Martin ; as to the final abandonment of the
siege and the return to England of the shattered forces. The
expedition under Buckingham is but a repetition of the ex
pedition under Wimbledon. The ships were deficient in
accommodation and in sanitary arrangements, and utterly
unseaworthy. The commissariat department was miserably
attended to. ' There was no bread and beer thought of for
the soldiers,' writes one ; ' wheat instead of bread, but no
means to grind or bake it, and wine instead of beer.' ' The
present condition of Buckingham's army,' says a second, ' is
such, that, without a speedy supply, they will not only be
disabled from gaining anything, but will hazard the loss of

124 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
what they have got.' ' The army,' mourns a third, ' grows
daily weaker, victuals waste, purses are empty, ammunition
consumes, winter grows, their enemies increase in numbers
and power, and they hear nothing from England.' The
men wanted hose, shoes, and clothing; their ammunition
was scarce ; their pay was in arrears, and disease was doing
more harm in their ranks than the attacks of the enemy.
Nor is the story of the siege of St. Martin, the chief town
of the Isle of Rh6, one that Englishmen will care to remember.
The men, ill and discouraged, were not anxious to fight;
there was no order or discipline maintained amongst them ;
they refused to obey their commander, and we read of
Buckingham, cudgel in hand, going about ' beating some
and threatening others,' in order to rouse them to their
work ; the officers had little confidence in their chief, and
being deprived of the materials calculated to render a siege
successful, they conducted their duties in a feeble, half
hearted manner, which could not but act disastrously upon
the men under their command. The only cheering incident
in the history of the expedition is the courage that its
General displayed. From all quarters the bravery of Buck
ingham was acknowledged. ' The Lord-General,' writes Sir
Allen Apsley, ' is the most industrious and in all business
one of the first, in person, in danger. Last night the
enemy's ordnance played upon his lodging, and one shot
lighted upon his bed, but did him no harm.' ' Our General,'
writes Henry de Vic, 'behaves himself to admiration,
making those parts appear which lay hid before. His care

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 125
is infinite, his courage undauntable, his patience and con
tinual labours beyond what could have been expected.
Himself views the grounds, goes to the trenches, visits the
batteries, observes where the shot doth hght and what effect
it works. He is partly constrained to exertion by the
carelessness of some officers. None of extraordinary credit
in the army besides himself.' ' He has shown,' cries the
Abb6 ScagUa, ' that he possesses the courage of Scipio.'
Whilst superintending the operations before the town
of St. Martin, the Duke received certain letters which have
been preserved amongst the State Papers, and which in
their strictest sense may be classed in the domestic Series.
On his departure from England the Duke had quitted his
wife without taking any formal leave, though promising
that he would see her again shortly. He had even assured
her that he would not accompany the expedition. The
Duchess was then in a condition of health which rendered
the absence of her Lord particularly distressing, and she
thus upbraids him : ' I confess I did ever fear you would
be catched,' she writes,' ' for there was no other likelihood
after all that show, but you must needs go. For my part
I have been a very miserable woman hitherto, that never
could have you keep at home. But now I will ever look
to be so, until some blessed occasion comes to draw you
quite from the Court. For there is none more miserable
than I am now, and till you leave this life of a courtier,
which you have ever been since I knew you, I shall ever
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 26 [?], 1627.

126 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
think myself unhappy. I am the unfortunatest of all other,
that ever when I am with child I must have so much cause
of sorrow, as to have you go from me, but I never had so
great a cause of grief as now I have. God of his mercy give
me patience, and if I were sure my soul would be well I
could wish myself to be out of this miserable world, for till
then I shall not be happy. Now I will no more write to
hope you do not go, but must betake myself to my prayers
for your safe and prosperous journey, which I will not fail
to do and for your quick return, but never whilst I live will
I trust you again, nor never will put you to your oath for
anything again. ... I pray God never woman may love a
man as I have done you, that none may feel that which I
have done for you. Since there is no remedy but that you
must go, I pray God send you gone quickly, that you may
be quickly at home again ; and whosoever that wished you
to this journey beside yourself that they may be punished,
for it wQl be cause of a great deal of grief to me. But
that is no matter. Now there is no remedy but patience,
which God send me ! I pray God send me wise, and not to
hurt myself with grieving. Now I am very well, I thank
God, and so is Mall. And so I bid you farewell.
' Your poor grieved and obedient wife, ' K. Buckingham.
' I pray give order before you go for the jewels which I
owe for. Burn this for God's sake. Go not to land and
pity me, for I feel [most miserable] at this time. Be not

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 127
angry with me for writing these, for my heart is so full I
cannot choose because I did not look for it. I would to
Jesus that there was any way in the world to fetch you off
this journey with your honour. If any pains or any suffer
ing of mine could do it, I were a most happy woman ; but
you have send (sic) yourself, and made me miserable. God
forgive you for it.'
Hearing of the indifference of the Duke to danger and
of his freedom in exposing himself to the enemy, the fond
wife entreats Dr. Moore, Buckingham's physician, to watch
over her fickle lord, and to do his best to prevent him from
landing at Rochelle. ' I should think myself,' she writes,'
' the most miserablest woman in the world if my lord should
go into the main land, for though God has blessed him
hitherto beyond all imagination in this action, yet I hope
he will not still run on in that hope to venture himself be
yond all discretion, and I hope this journey has not made him
a Puritan, to believe in predestination. I pray keep him from
being too venturous, for it does not belong to a General to
walk trenches ; therefore have a care of him. I will assure
you by this action he is not any whit the more popular man
than when he went ; therefore you may see whether these
people be worthy for him to venture his life for.'
On the return of the expedition her eagerness to welcome
her lord thus breaks out : ^ ' Since I heard the news of your
landing, I have been still every hour looking for you, that I
¦ State Papers, Domestic, October 20 [?], 1627.
2 lUd. November 15 [?], 1627.

128 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
cannot now, till I see you, sleep in the nights, for every
minute, if I do hear any noise, I think it is one from you,
to tell me the happy news what day I shall see you, for I
confess I long for it with much impatience.'
Among the papers of this interesting period we also
light upon a letter to the Duke from his mother Mary,
Countess of Buckingham, written at the time when the
troops were before the walls of St. Martin. It is in reply
to one penned by her son begging for money, and saying that
he is so busy that he has no time to spend in prayer : ' —
' My dearly beloved Son, — I am very sorry you have
entered into so great business, and so little care to supply
your wants, as you see by the haste that is made to you.
I hope your eyes will be opened to see what a great gulf of
business you have put yourself into, and so httle regarded at
home, where all is merry and well pleased, though the ships
be not victualled as yet, nor mariners to go with them. As
for monies the kingdom will not supply your expenses, and
every man groans under the burthen of the times. At your
departure from me you told me you went to make peace, but
it was not from your heart. This is not the way ; for you
to imbroil the whole Christian world in wars, and then to
declare it for religion, and make God a party to these woful
affairs, so far from God as hght and darkness, and the high
way to make all Christian princes to bend their forces against
us, that otherwise in policy would have taken our parts.
1 State Papers, Domestic, August 30 [?], 1627.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 129
You know the worthy King your master never liked that
way, and as far as I can perceive there is none that cries not
out of it. You that acknowledge the infinite mercy and
providence of Almighty God, in preserving your life amongst
so many that fell down dead on every side of you, and spares
you for more honour to Himself, if you would not be wilfully
bUnd, and overthrow yourself body and soul ; for He hath
not, I hope, made you so great and given you so many ex
cellent parts as to suffer you to die in a ditch.
' Let me, that is your mother, intreat you to spend some
of your hours in prayers and meditating what is fitting and
pleasing in His sight that has done so much for you ; and
that honour you so much strive for, bend it for His honour
and glory, and you will soon find a change so great that you
would not for all the kingdoms in this world forego, if you
might have them at your disposing. And do not think it
out of fear and timorousness of a woman I persuade you
to this. No, no ! It is that I scorn. I would have you
leave this bloody way in which you are crept into, I am sure
contrary to your nature and disposition. God hath blessed
you with a virtuous wife and sweet daughter, with another
son, I hope, if you do not destroy it by this way you take ;
she cannot believe a word you speak, you have so much
deceived her. She hath bestord [bestirred?] herself care
fully for you, in sending monies with the supply that is now
coming though slowly ; it would have been worse but for
her. ' But now let me come to myself. If I had a world you
VOL. 11. K

130 • STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
should command it, and whatsoever I have, or shall have,
it is all yours by right ; but, alas ! I have laid out that money
I had, and more by a thousand pounds by your consent in
buying of Gouldsmise [sic] Grange, which I am very sorry for
now. I never dreamed you should have needed any of my help,
for if I had they should have wanted all and myself before
you. I hope this servant will bring us better news of your
resolutions than yet we hear of, which I pray heartily for,
and give alms for you, that it will please Almighty God to
direct your heart the best way to His honour and glory.
' I am ever your most loving, affectionate, sad mother,
' M. Buckingham.'
Though the leader and originator of the expedition
against Rh6. had failed in carrying out a single detail of the
campaign he had set before him, he did not lack the applause
of the servile and the interested. Had Buckingham been
the most successful general or the most far-seeing statesman,
he could not have listened to more fulsome flattery. He
was a Csesar, an Alexander, the most brilHant of commanders •
what he had achieved at Rh6 was even, in the opinion of
the Earl of Exeter, ' miraculous.' The Duke had hesitated
to accept a gift from the Bishop of London, whereupon his
Lordship assures Buckingham that to refuse his offering
would break his heart. ' When God,' he writes to the Duke,
' returns back again a man's sacrifice, it is because He is
offended with him ; therefore I cannot live if your Grace
returns me mine.' Field had been raised to the see of

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 131
St. David's on the recommendation of Buckingham. Accord
ingly he writes to Laud to tell his patron that the Duke had
imitated God Himself, who ' very oft as He passes by and
seems to turn from us leaves His blessing behind.' This
recently created bishop is the most effusive of toadies. He
compares the late parliamentary opposition to ' dogs in a
village, barking for company with full and foul mouth,' and
' burns with desire to turn soldier, and encourage the soldiers
to cry St. George, to pray and fight for the Duke.' Men of
ancient race, soldiers of proved courage, statesmen who
had seen much service, clergymen who professed that their
kingdom was not of this world, mindful of the power and
patronage of the great favourite, did not blush to grovel in
the dust before the Duke, and, in the hope of advancement,
to sign themselves his ' creatures ' and his ' slaves.' A few
— a very few — dared boldly to protest against the policy of
Buckingham, and the measures he had suggested to raise
suppUes. Success had not crowned the efforts of the expedition
against Rhe ; the besieged had been relieved, the assistance
expected by the English General had not arrived, and Buck
ingham felt that he had no alternative but to embark his
troops and return to England. The loss of life that this
expedition entailed has been variously estimated. The
following entry among the State Papers settles the question :
 ' Statement of the number of the several regiments em
barked at Portsmouth for the expedition to the Isle of Rh6,
with the numbers of subsequent supplies, and the numbers
K 2

132 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
which returned to England. Embarked, 5,934 ; subsequent
supplies, 1,899 ; returned, 2,989.' '
In the meantime the unconstitutional proceedings insti
tuted by Charles, though they inflamed the country with
wrath and sedition, failed to replenish the coffers of his
exhausted exchequer. The general loan had been well sub
scribed to, but all its proceeds were swallowed up by the
pressing necessities of the Crown. In the expenditure of the
past year there was a vast deficit. The preparations for war
now amounted to a fearful total. The pay of the soldier.s
and the seamen was rated at some 200,000?. a year, and if
Rochelle was to be relieved in the spring, another 100,000?.
would be required. How, and from whom, were these sums
to be obtained ] The King was aware that the inevitable
must be boldly faced, and he summoned his memorable third
Parliament. We all remember the scenes that took place.
The Commons, conscious of their power and of the justness
of the grievances they complained of, refused to be brow
beaten, or to yield one jot of their demands. Five subsidies
were voted, but before they were handed to the King, the
representatives of the people determined to obtain a guarantee
against the abuses of the past. The Petition of Right was
drawn up. Charles was asked to pledge himself that he
would never raise loans or levy taxes without the consent of
Parliament ; that his subjects should be free from arbitrary
imprisonments ; that soldiers should not be billeted upon the
people; and that martial law should be abolished. The
' State Papers, Domestic, November 1627.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 133
King attempted to evade the clauses of the Petition. In
stead of pronouncing the usual words which signify the
royal assent to a bill, he, inspired by Buckingham, replied :
' The King willeth that right be done according to the laws
and customs of the realm, and that the statutes be put into
execution ; that his subjects may have no cause to complain
of any wrong or oppression contrary to their just rights and
liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds himself in
conscience as much obliged as of his own Prerogative.' The
Commons were not to be hoodwinked by so elastic an answer ;
they did not want the statutes confirmed by simple words,
but interpreted according to the hard and fast limits they
had assigned to them. For a time the King refused to
return any other answer, and threatened the House with
instant dissolution. Then, after some delay, advised by
Buckingham, who had been concerned at the fierce censure
poured upon his conduct by the Commons, and pressed by a
joint application from the two Chambers, Charles came down
to Westminster and agreed to the terms of the Petition, by
pronouncing the usual form, ' Let it be law as is desired.'
' The King came to the House at two o'clock,' writes
Secretary Conway, ' and gave an answer which begat such an
acclamation as made the House ring several times. I never
saw a more general joy in all faces than spread itself suddenly
and broke out into ringing of bells and bonfires miraculously.'
' It is not possible,' writes Sir Francis Nethersole to the
Queen of Bohemia, ' to express with what joy this answer
was heard, nor what joy it causes in all the city, where they

134 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
are making bonfires at every door, such as were never seen
but upon his Majesty's return from Spain.' This frantic
d.elight was, however, soon checked. In the struggle between
the inquisitorial power of Parliament and the despotism of
Prerogative the Commons had been victorious. Flu.shed
with success they now pressed the Crown still further with
their demands. They requested that the penal laws against
the Catholics should be fully enforced, that the Arminians
should be silenced, and that the Duke of Buckmgham should
be removed. To satisfy the religious prejudices of the
Commons the King had no objection, but to dismiss the
Duke from his Councils was an interference with the Royal
Prerogative which Charles declined to entertain for a
moment. Irritated at this refusal, the Lower House now
proceeded in a spirit of mischievous intrusion to meddle with
the grant of tonnage and poundage (the duties on exports
and imports), which ever since the days of our sixth Henry
had been voted by Parliament during the lifetime of each
successive monarch, on the ground that the King had relin
quished his claim to this taxation by his assent to the
Petition of Right. Charles loudly raised his voice again.st
this strained interpretation of the favours he had recently
granted ; and seeing that the position of affairs was now
reversed, that, it was the Commons who were encroaching
upon the rights of the Crown, and not the Sovereign upon the
rights of the subject, he hastily prorogued the ParKament.
And now he who had been the head and front of all the
evils under which the country was then labouring was to

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 135

fall a victim, not to the vengeance of a justly angered Legis
lature, but to the hand of an unknown assassin. The Duke
of Buckingham had gone down to Portsmouth to superin
tend the preparations for an expedition to relieve Rochelle.
Whilst engaged in conversation with one of his colonels, a
man, who had long been on the watch for his opportunity,
suddenly pressed against him and stabbed him in the breast.
The blow had been well directed ; the Duke unsheathed the
knife from his wound, crying out, ' Villain ! ' and attempted
to pursue his murderer ; but he was mortally struck, and
after an unsuccessful effort to steady himself fell to the
ground a dead man. The assassin was John Felton, a
young Puritan officer who had conceived a deadly hatred
against Buckingham on account of having been disappointed
of his promotion when serving in the expedition against
Rhe. ' Our noble Duke,' writes Lord Dorchester,' ' ' in the
greatest joy and alacrity I ever saw him in my life, at news
received about eight o'clock in the morning of Saturday last,
of the relief of Rochelle, wherewith he was hastening to the
King, who had that morning sent for him by me, at his
going out of a lower parlour, in presence of many standers-
by, was stabbed into the breast with a knife by one Felton,
a reformed lieutenant, who hastening out of the door, and
the Duke having pulled out the knife and following him
out of the parlour into the hall, with his hand put to
his sword, there fell down dead with much effusion of blood.
The Lady Anglesea, then looking down into the hall, went
' State Papers, Domestic, August 27, 1628.

136 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
immediately with a cry into the Duchess's chamber, who
was in bed, and there fell down on the floor. The murderer
in the midst of the noise and tumult slipped out into the
kitchen, when a voice being current in the court, " A French
man ! a Frenchman ! " his guilty conscience making him be
lieve it was " Felton ! Felton ! " he came out of the kitchen,
said, "I am the man," and rendered himself to the company.'
So terrible a tragedy, its victim the foremost man in
the kingdom, created a profound sensation, and not a detail
respecting the history of the murderer, the sorrow of the
King, the grief of the widow, the burial of the Duke,
and the sentiments of the nation upon the dread event is
omitted in the State Papers before us. There we learn how
Felton had come 'from London expressly the Wednesday,
arriving at Portsmouth the very morning, not above half
an hour before he committed the deed ; ' how ' he gloried
in his act the first day, but when told that he was the first
assassin of an Englishman, a gentleman, a soldier, and a
Protestant, he shrank at it, and is now grown penitent ; '
how it was wished to have him racked, should the law
sanction such punishment, to find out his accomplices ; how
' he confessed his offence to " be a feai-ful and crying sin,"
and requested that he might do some public penance before
his death in sackcloth, with ashes on his head and ropes
about his neck ; ' how verses were written in his honour,
and how he was hanged at Tyburn and the body then
carried to Portsmouth to be suspended in chains.' There
1 ' A portion of the gibbet upon which the Duke of Buckingham's
murderer (Felton) was suspended in chains has been brought to light by

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 137
we read how ' the King took the Duke's death very heavily,
keeping his chamber all that day, as is well to be believed ;
but the base multitude in Iiondon drink health to Felton,
and there are infinitely more cheerful than sad faces of bitter
degree ; ' how ' there never was greater demonstration of
affection than his Majesty showed to the deceased Duke in
all which concerns his honour, estate, friends, and enemies,
whom he cannot well look upon if any come in his way ; '
how ' the King omitted nothing which may in any way
concern the doing honour to the body of the Duke,' and
how the corpse was privately interred in the Abbey to es-
ca2oe the fury of the mob; and how passionate was the
sorrow of the bereaved Duchess. Still to the nation at
large, though it regretted the act of the assassin, few beyond
the King and the widow mourned the death of the Duke.
' The stone of offence being now removed by the hand of
God,' writes a courtier, ' it is to be hoped that the King and
his people will come to a perfect unity.' The following
epitaph, suggested by the rise and fall of Buckingham, is
among the State Papers : ' —
Enigma mundi morior.
Omnia fui nee quicquam habui ;
Patrise parens et Hostis audio ;
DeliciaB idem et ludibrium Parliamenti ;
Qui dum Papir^tis helium infero, insimulor Papista ;
Dum Protestautium partibus consulo, occidor a Protestante.
the workmen engaged in erecting the new refreshment anrl retirin:,' rooms
upon Southsea Pier. The gibbet bears the borough arms and date, the
latter having been placed on it when it was decided it should be used as a
borough boundary.' — Morning Paper, May 5, 1880.
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 18 [?], 1628.

138 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
The vacancy left in the . councils of the King by the
murder of Buckingham was soon to be filled up by a far more
dangerous favourite. Few characters of this period have been
more misjudged and less understood than the designer of the
famous policy of Thorough. It has been the fashion for his
torians and biographers to represent Wentworth as the most
flagrant of political apostates. In his early life, it is said, he
stood forth as the champion of the liberties of the people of
England, as the most formidable of the antagonists of the
Crown, as the representative of the power of Parliament in
contradistinction to the claims of Prerogative. Then, when
his name had been known throughout the country as the
friend of freedom and as the staunch ally of those who had
made war against the arbitrary proceedings of the Sovereign,
he shamelessly deserted his party and enrolled himself in
the ranks of those who were the warmest supporters of a
dangerous despotism. This conventional view of the cha
racter of Wentworth becomes at once disproved when we
study his life and acts by the light of the evidence brought
forward by the State Papers and by the valuable Strafford
correspondence. We see him imperious, stern, sweeping in
the measures he advocates, untiring in his industry, mis
chievous, uncompromising, but inconsistent never. He was
not an apostate, but a disciple whose faith had been hidden
for a time behind the clouds of personal hatred. In the
first three Parliaments summoned by Charles he had sided
with the country party, not because he was opposed to the
policy of the Crown, but because he detested with a malig-

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 139
nity which knew no rest the man who was then the adviser
of the King and the sole minister of the nation. He is the
first on the list of those English statesmen who have gone
into factious opposition not because they disapprove of the
measures of the Government, but because they hate the
Minister who suggests them.
What was the origin of the feud between Buckingham
and Wentworth we know not, but at one time, from the
Papers before us, it is evident that no such antipathy
existed. Early in the year 1626 we find Wentworth writing
to Conway respecting the Presidentship of York, which Lord
Scrope was on the eve of resigning, and suggesting the
appointment of himself as Scrope's successor. In that letter
he states that he will not move further in his suit until
he knows how it may please the Duke of Buckingham, 'from,
whose bounty I acknowledge much already, and still repose
under the shadow of his favour.' Whether the Duke declined
to further the applications of Wentworth for personal ad
vancement, whether he was jealous of him as a probable
rival near the King, whether he feared his intellectual
superiority, or whatever may have been the cause of the
quarrel, it is certain that Buckingham essayed his utmost
to crush the ambitious Yorkshire knight. Through under
hand influence he endeavoured to deprive him of the office
of custos rotulorum which he held ; he attempted to dis
qualify him from serving in the second Parliament by causing
the name of Wentworth to be pricked as sherift' of his
county; and on every occasion he tried to prejudice the

I40 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
King against him. To a man of Wentworth's imperious
will and keen ambition, this hostility of Buckingham, which
effectually barred all the approaches to Court favour, was
intensely galling. He resolved to be avenged, and there
were few in the House of Commons who could compare with
him for fierce denunciations against the policy of the Crown,
or for bitter invectives against the Minister.
Yet, after a careful perusal of his speeches and letters,
it is absurd to class Wentworth in the same category with
the leaders of the popular party — with Eliot, with Pym,
with Hampden. He was no friend to democracy ; he had
no wish to see the Prerogative domineered over by the
Parliament ; if there was to be battle between the Sovereign
and the subject, he did not desire to see the latter supreme.
In his sympathies, in his prejudices, in his views of govern
ment, he was thoroughly the aristocrat. When he stood
forward as the opponent of the Crown he was always most
careful to distinguish between the acts of the Sovereign and
the acts of the Minister. It was not the King who was
ever at fault, but his dangerous and short-sighted adviser.
The whole blame of misgovernment, the illegal measures
that had been introduced, the grievances under which the
country was then labouring, were the work of Buckingham,
and of Buckingham alone. ' This hath not been done,' cried
Wentworth, after passionately inveighing against the loans
that had been levied, the imprisonments that had been put
in force, and the soldiers that had been billeted upon the
people — ' this hath not been done by the King (under the

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 141
pleasing shade of whose crown I hope we shall ever gather
the fruits of justice), but by projectors : these have extended
the prerogative of the King beyond its just Kmits, so as to
mar the sweet harmony of the whole.' So little did he
consider himself as the enemy of the Sovereign, ' under
whose smile he would much rather live than the frown,'
that he begged Weston to use his good offices with Charles
to remove the Royal prejudice against him, and owned him
self to be an ' honest, well-affected, loyal subject.'
After the passing of the Petition of Right, Wentworth
severed himself entirely from his colleagues. He had
no sympathy with the course the House of Commons was
then pursuing. All the grievances complained of had been
redressed, and it appeared to him that it was now the Lower
House who were trying to tyrannise over the Sovereign, and
who were imitating some of the worst precedents that
Charles had set. 'The authority of a King,' he said, 'is
the keystone which closeth up the arch of order and govern
ment, which contains each part in due relation to the
whole, and which once shaken and infirmed, all the frame
falls together into a confused heap of foundation and battle
ment, of strength and beauty.' The position of affairs was
now reversed. It was the House of Commons which was
on the side of despotism and unjust encroachments, whilst
the King had assumed the true position of a wise and
benevolent Sovereign. Wentworth made overtures to the
Court which were accepted; the death of Buckingham
removed the great bar to his progress, and henceforth the

142 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
chief author of the Petition of Right was to be the firm
friend and confidential adviser of the King.
We now enter upon those memorable eleven years when
for the first time in our history the personal will of the
Sovereign and his advisers was to supplant the direction of
Parliament ; when justice herself was to be domineered over
by the decisions of arbitrary and illegal courts ; and when
the people, harassed by inquiries and burdened by taxation,
were to find themselves rudely deprived of the constitutional
protection their forefathers had enjoyed. Irritated at the
tone adopted by the Commons respecting the right of levy
ing the duties on tonnage and poundage, and at the attacks
directed against the Papists and the Arminians, 'whereby
the King and his regal authority and commandment have
been so highly contemned as our kingly office cannot bear
nor any former age parallel,' Charles hastOy dissolved
Parliament, condemning by fine and imprisonment those
who had taken a foremost part in the late opposition.
peace was made with France and Spain, and the whole
attention of the Sovereign was now confined to the domestic
concerns of his kingdom. The events embraced by the State
Papers during this period divide themselves naturally into
three heads ; the ecclesiastical policy of Laud, the fiscal "
policy of Charles, and the despotic policy of Strafford.
The character of Laud wUl always be open to a diversity of
opinions, and estimated variously according to the sympathies
of the critic. To the political layman he represents the
worst type of the meddling ecclesiastic, always interfering in

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 143
matters foreign to his province, and careless of all con
sequences provided the pride of his order be upheld. To the
Protestant he is the type of that sacerdotal arrogance which
seeks to create a marked distinction between the clergy and
the laity, and to control the affairs of men and nations by
calling into play the terrorism of the unseen and the exercise
of a special and peculiar authority. To the High Church
man he is the type of a true son of the Church, anxious to
maintain a proper discipline within her fold, firm in his
resolve to repress the mischief of dissent and the vagaries of
latitudinarianism, and conscious of his right to wield that
power which belongs, and only belongs, to the consecrated
priest of the Most High. Viewed apart from sectarian
prejudices and partialities. Laud was a man of great
industry, of much business-like capacity, of little know
ledge of human nature, and consequently deficient in tact,
zealous, hasty, unsympathetic, and severe. His worst enemy
could not, however, deny that his life was pure and his
honour stainless. 'My lord of Canterbury,' writes Sir
Thomas Roe to the Queen of Bohemia,' ' is an excellent man,
and if your Majesty has no relation to him, I wish you
would be pleased to make it, for he is very just, incorrupt,
and, above all, mistaken by the en-ing world. For my part
I do esteem him a rare counsellor for integrity, and a fast
friend, and one that hath more interest in his Majesty's judg
ment than any man.' Laud had completely ingratiated
himself in the affections of his master, and his opinion
1 State Papers, Domestic, December 10, 1634.

144 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
carried such weight with the Royal mind that, in the judg
ment of Roe, he was the ' one man ' whom those who wished
favours from the Court should conciliate. At the time of
the dissolution of the third Parliament he was Bishop of
London, but further honour was in store for him. On the
death of Abbot he was raised to the See of Canterbury,
and on the death of Lord Treasurer Weston he was
appointed First Lord of the Treasury.
In the volumes before us there is little connected with
the history of Laud which is not the subject of the fullest
and most minute comment. We listen to his frequent
counsels to his Sovereign ; we hear his congratulations upon
the abolition of Parliaments, and his delight ' that noise is
silenced for ever ; ' we read his letters to Strafford ; we
watch him making his narrow inquiries at the Treasury into
the national expenditure, passing his stem judgment upon
some unhappy offender brought before the Star Chamber or
the High Commission Court, punishing vagrants, restoring
churches and cathedrals, and persecuting Low Churchmen
because they fail to carry out the rubric of the Prayer Book
to the very letter. There in these Papers stands his picture
painted both by friend and foe — we see him the fussy poli
tician, the stern judge, the uncompromising Churchman, the
staunch friend to his order, the hard, intolerant man. The
portrait may be flattered or distorted, but not a single
feature is permitted to escape without minute criticism.
Whatever opinion may be held as to the ability of Laud, it
is impossible after perusing the evidence preserved in the State

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 145
Papers to doubt his industry. His energy, to copy Lord
Exeter's phrase, is 'miraculous.' Nothing sacred or secular,
civil or criminal, was beyond his province. He would come
fresh from the composition of a State Paper to discuss with
the authorities at Oxford the best means for the suppression
of dissipation among the undergraduates. At one moment
he would be sitting in solemn state as presiding judge in
the Star Chamber or High Commission Court, and the next
he would be as keen as a hound on the slot of a deer in
pursuit of disobedient Nonconformists. ' We took another
conventicle of Separatists,' he writes to his private secretary
with all the glee of a successful sportsman, ' in Newington
Woods, on Sunday last, in the very brake where the King's
stag should have been lodged for his hunting the next morn
ing.' Now he would occupy himself with putting down
wakes, issuing writs for ship-money, or interesting himself
in the embellishment of his favourite Oxford ; and then he
would be busy interfering with the-churches of the English
residents in Holland, ot-'with -the churches of the Protestant
refugees in England, or with' the form of worship north of
the Tweed. One minth we find his attention entirely
engrossed with the care of cathedrals, the patronage of a
learned literature, and the proper exercise by his brother
bishops of their ordination duties ; the next he is engaged
in regulating the Sunday recreation of the people, superin
tending the ecclesiastical matters of the Inns of Court, and
solving the difficult problem of the double duty to King and
Pope of the Roman Catholic subjects of a Protestant country.
VOL. II. ^

146 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
' Nothing,' writes Mr. Bruce, ' was too lofty, too distant, or
too mean to escape his regulating hand.'
The chief feature, however, in the policy of Laud is his
conduct as a Church reformer. As the most rigid of cere-
monialists he was exceedingly pained at the lax discipline
maintained by the clergy, and the evasions of the rubric of
the Book of Common Prayer, to be met with in the churches
scattered throughout the country. He was determined to
put down, by the severe ruling of the Star Chamber and
High Commission Court, the Puritanical element which was
then leavening the doctrines of the Church of England with its
Calvinism, till they were hardly deserving of the name of
' Catholic' He bade all bow at the name of Jesus. He gave
orders for the removal of the altar from the centre of the
aisle to the east end of the church. He visited with punishment
the clergyman who refu.sed to call himself ' priest,' to wear
the surplice, to teach the doctrine of the Real Presence, to
uphold the Apostolic Succession, to maintain the efficacy
of Confession, or to use the sign of the Cross. Equally
severe was he upon the conduct of the congregation of
the clergy. He exacted the most outward reverence from
the laity during the hours of Divkre worship; they were
to bow at the Sacred Name, to turn to the east durino- the
recital of the creeds, not to laugh or talk, or to wear their
hats at morning prayer, or to receive the sacrament non-
kneeling. How the Archbishop carried these views of
his into effect is well known from memorable prosecutions
he instituted against offenders, and which are the common

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 147
facts of history. Into these — the sentences passed upon
Peter Smart, Alexander Leighton, Henry Sherfield, William
Prynne, and others — we need not enter, as the evidence before
us is not of so novel a nature as to justify special comment.
Among the State Papers there is, however, a docu
ment which certainly deserves attention. In the year
1635 Sir Nathaniel Brent, the Vicar- General, reported
to Laud the result of his visitation throughout the dioceses
of Norwich, Peterborough, Lichfield, Worcester, Glouces
ter, Winchester, and Chichester. From the /pages of this
report we have an insight into the condition of the country,
the state of the clergy, the grievances complained of, and
the punishments inflicted, all of which are of the deepest
interest. At Norwich we read that ' the cathedral church
is much out of order, the hangings of the choir are naught,
the pavement not good, the spire of the steeple is quite
down, the copes are fair but want mending ; ' that ' many
ministers appeared without priests' cloaks, and some of them
are susjDected of nonconformity, but they carried themselves
so warily that nothing could be proved against them ; ' and
that the mayor and his brethren were ' convented ' for
' walking indecently in the cathedral church every Sunday in
prayer time before the sermon.' At Lynn we learn that the
three churches are exceeding fair and well kept, but that
'there are divers Papists who speak scandalously of the
Scriptures and of our religion ; they are already presented for
it, and I have given order that they shall be brought into the
High Commission Court.' At Bungay ' Mr. Fairfax, curate
L 2

148 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
of Rumborough, was charged with divers points of incon-
formity, but hath renounced all upon his oath, and hath faith
fully promised to read the King's declaration for lawful
sports.' Mr. Daines, lecturer of Beccles, ' a man of more
than seventy years of age, did never wear the surplice nor
use the cross in baptism.' At Ipswich ' I suspended one
Mr. Cave, a precise minister of St. Helen's, for giving the
sacrament of the Eucharist to non-kneelants.' At St.
Edmund's Bmy, which was ' formerly infected with Puri
tanism, but now is well reformed,' the licence of a young
curate was taken away ' in regard of his great ignorance,
being not able to tell me what Ecclesia did signify.' At
Stamford ' the ministers were generally in priests' cloaks,
and the)'', with the laity, were all the time of Divine service
uncovered, and still bowed at the pronouncing of the blessed
name of Jesus.' At Oundle a canonical admonition was
given to the schoolmaster 'for instructing his scholars oiit
of a wrong Catechism, and for expounding the Ten Com
mandments out of the writings of a silenced minister.' At
Northampton the parish priest and his congregation were
threatened with the terrors of the High Commission Court
if the laity continued to wear their hats during Divine
service and refused to bow at the name of Jesus. At
Wolverhampton a young curate was suspended for decHnino'
to call himself curate but assistant. At Bridgenorth the
vicar was suspended for marrying one couple before the
canonical hour. In the town of Derby several of the clergj'
were suspended for drunkenness, and for ' making many very

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 149
foul clandestine marriages to the great offence of the
country.' At Worcester the state of the cathedral and of
the much walking about during the hours of Divine service
are complained of. At Stratford-upon-Avon the vicar
was suspended 'for grossly particularising in his sermons,
for suffering his poultry to roost and his hogs to lodge in
the chancel, for walking in the church to con his sermon in
time of Divine service,' <fec. At Gloucester it is complained
that ' they are much given to straggle from their own
parishes to hear strangers.' Throughout the pages of this
important report, we see how zealous the Archbishop was
not only that irreverence and disorderly proceedings should
be discountenanced, but that the churches and cathedrals
should by repairs and restoration be made worthy of the
sacred purpose for which they were intended.
Side by side with this investigation of Brent we have, as
a most valuable supplement to the information drawn up by
the Vicar-General, four original Minute Books of the pro
ceedings of the High Couit of Commission. The first volume
runs from 1634 to 1635 ; the second from 1635 to 1636; the
third from 1639 to 1640 ; and the fourth, which contains fair
tran.scripts of entries in the preceding book, runs from April
to June, 1640. Of this court Laud was the chief judge and
moving spirit, and from the punishcaents inflicted by it, we
see what were the grievances complained of, and the light in
which they were regarded. Turning over the pages of these
Minute Books we read how certain vestrymen were fined lOZ.
for their misconduct in publishing a new table of church fees ;

150 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
how the King's printers were fined 300?. ' for errors in print
ing the Bible; ' how one Nathaniel Barnard was fined 1,000/.
for seditious preaching at St. Mary's College, Cambridge;
how the Lady Eleanor Touch et was fined 3,000?. for ' pub
lishing fanatical pamphlets ; ' how Amy Green was fined
2,000/., ' subject to consideration, for notorious adultery; ' how
John Laverock, clerk, was imprisoned in Bridewell for
' preaching in London without licence, and living a vicious
life ; ' how Henry Deane, of Greenwich, fisherman, was
committed to Newgate for ' receiving men and young women
to be transported beyond seas without leave.' And then we
read the punishments and penances that were inflicted upon
men guilty of flagrant immorality ; of contempt of court and
refusal to pay wages to their curates; of preaching after
deposition and degradation ; of building houses upon con
secrated land ; of cock-fighting taking place in front of the
communion table before an admiring audience of villacfers ¦
of hindering the officers of the court in the performance of
their duty ; of circulating Popish tracts and the like ; records
of offences which afford us no little information as to the
state of morality and the social customs of the age. Respect
ing the proceedings in the Star Chamber, ample information
is supplied by the Papers calendared in these volumes. In
the hearing of the cases before this court the Archbishop is
characteristically conspicuous, and when his judcments are
compared with those of the other judges, it will be seen that
he is inclined to take a severer view of the offences brouo-ht
before him than the rest of his colleagues.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 151
In all his efforts for the restoration of Church discipline,
and the rendering the King independent of his Parliament,
Laud was ably assisted by the imperious will of Wentworth.
The alliance entered into between the King and Wentworth
had resulted in the good of the two contracting parties. The
King henceforth was to command the devoted services of one
of the ablest of his subjects, whilst the servant was to be
honoured with titles and splendid advancement. On severing
himself from the demagogues of the House of Commons,
Wentworth had been raised to the peerage as Baron Went
worth, but shortly after the death of Buckingham he had
been created Viscount Wentworth, and appointed Lord
President of the North. The post was one especially suited
to his pride of power and train of thought. He saw that the
contest was no longer between Prerogative and the control of
Parliament, but between the abolition of the Royal supremacy
and the extinction of Parliament. During the debates before
the di'isolution of the third Parliament, his loyalty and aristo-'
cratic sympathies had been disgusted at the offensive tone
adopted by the Lower House, inspired by Eliot and his party,
towardsthe Crown. He admitted the principle that Parliament
was to be assembled for counsel and advice, but he declined to
recognise the new political creed then put forth, that Parlia
ment should control and domineer over the Crown. Since
the House of Commons refused to keep within its proper
limits, the King was fully justified in resolving to govern
without its advice. It was the province of the King to rule,
and not that of the Legislature ; and Wentworth henceforth

152 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
ranked himself as the stoutest upholder of the absolutism of
the Prerogative, in the face of Parliamentary innovations.
He soon displayed the nature of the opinions he held.
The jurisdiction of the Council of York, or of the North, ex
tended over the counties of York, Northumberland, Cum
berland, and Westmoreland, the bishopric of Durham, the
cities of York and Hull, and over the town of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne. Originally established to cru.sh the northern
rebellions which had broken out on the suppression of the
monasteries, its authority had gradually developed, till it
now included within itself the powers of the Courts of Com
mon Law, the Courts of Equity, and even of the Star Cham
ber. This despotic authority had been still further in
creased in the time of James by rendering the President
independent of the forms of law, and subject only to ' secret
instructions,' which were transmitted from Whitehall to the
Northern Council. Upon his arrival at York, Wentworth
proceeded at once to carry out the policy he had designed.
Save the King he acknowledged no master, nor tolerated any
interference with his actions. As the representative of
royalty he exacted the most absolute reverence and respect
from all. One young man, the son of Lord Faulconberg,
declined to move his hat in the presence of Wentworth ; he
was imprisoned and forced to apologise. A barrister, who
had expressed dissatisfaction with the ruhng of the Lord
President, was sternly admonished and compelled to ex
piate his offence by the most servile submission. Sir
David Foulis, a man holding a high position in the county

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 153
had opposed the jurisdiction of the Lord President, and had
spoken disrespectfully of the Council ; he was summoned to
appear before the Star Chamber, and the sentence passed
upon him was that he should be degraded from his various
offices, be fined 5,000/. to the King and 3,000/. to Went
worth. and be condemned to offer a most abject apology to
the King and ' the Lord Viscount Wentworth, not only in this
Court, but in the Court of York, and likewise at the open
assizes in the same county ; ' and finally be committed to the
Fleet during the Royal pleasure. His son, who had participated
in the father's offence, was also heavily fined and imprisoned.
From Wentworth's judgments there was no appeal; law
yers objected to his absolute proceedings, but he overruled
their remonstrances with a high hand, and declared that he
would lay any man by the heels who ventured to sue out a
prohibition in the Courts at Westminster. Knowing how
dependent a despotism is upon the military element, Went
worth embodied an effective militia and speedily drilled it
into a splendid state of disciphne. He enforced the rigid pay
ment of all taxes, fines, and Government exactions, so that
the revenue of the Presidency was quadrupled. Never had
the North contributed so handsomely to the exchequer ;
never had its people been cowed into such a spiritless con
dition. Bitter remonstrances against the rule of Wentworth
had been addressed to the Royal ear; but Charles, fully
satisfied with the devotion of his servant, declined to pay
heed to them. The praise of his Sovereign was the only
reward that Wentworth desired, and so long as he enjoyed

154 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the confidence of the King, he feared not the abuse of
enemies or the malice of intriguers. ' That his Majesty rest
satisfied,' he writes to the Earl of Carlisle, in a letter to be
found only amongst the State Papers,' ' in the course I hold
in this Government is my chiefest exaltation before men, and
my fullest contentment in my inmost retirements. And surely
I will never omit continually to serve him his own way, when
I once understand it ; and when that beam leaves me, serve
him the most profitable way the dimmer lights of my own judg
ment shall by any means be able to lead me unto. In this
truth I will live and die ; all the devils of hell, all their minis
ters on earth, shall never be able to impeach or shake it.'
Such devotion was soon to be repaid with advancement,
and Wentworth, after a brief but brilliantly successful reign
at York, crossed St. George's Channel as Lord Deputy of
Ireland. As at York, so now at Dublin, he carried out
those designs which, in their frequent letters to each other.
Laud and he had called by the name of Thorough. The
policy of Wentworth was that of a vigilant and well-inten
tioned despotism. Since men were prone to discontent and
sedition, they required the strong arm of the military power
to suppress their dangerous murmurs ; he was therefore in
favour of a standing army. The prejudices of the lawyer,
the parade of precedents, the adherence to obsolete practices
were foreign to his mode of administering the law ; in their
stead he preferred the exercise of ' sound discretion,' and the
ruling of the statesman to that of the judge. He had no
' State Papers, Domestic, October 24, 1632.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 155
faith in national sympathies, he had no respect for vested
interests, he cared not for individual opinion and independ
ence of judgment; but he believed in the welfare that could
accrue to a nation from the control and suggestions of one
firm, far-seeing, and eminently capable ruler. ' It was a
chaste ambition,' he said, when remonstrated with for his
absolute proceedings, ' if rightly placed, to have as much
power as may be, that there may be power to do the more
good for the place where a man serves.' Wentworth was
desirous of doing good, but unfortunately for those who had
to obey his rule the ' good ' was only what appeared in his
eyes as wise and beneficial. He knew better than the judges
how the law should be administered ; he knew better than
the whole bench of bishops how the policy of the Church
should be carried out ; he knew better than the merchant
or the economist how the commerce of a country should be
stimulated and restricted. Every question was to pass in
review before his keen, fertile mind, and in every question
the control and reformation suggested by the policy of
Thorough was to be sweepingly exercised.
From his correspondence, both in the Strafford and the
State Papers, we see what this policy really signified. Ab
solute power was placed by the King in the hands of the
new Lord Deputy, to do what seemed to him best for the
maintenance of the Prerogative and the extension of Irish
prosperity. On the arrival of Wentworth in Dublin he was
received with royal honours ; he established a guard and or
dered the ceremonies of the English Court to be observed

IS6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
within the Castle. To the joy of the nation he gave his sanc
tion to the assembling of a Parliament, but we who are behind
the scenes, thanks to the Strafford Papers, see how little reason
the Irish had to congratulate themselves upon this permission.
The plan of Wentworth was as simple as betrayal and re
pudiation could make it. He would convene a Parliament ;
it would be divided into two sessions; during the first
session the attention of the Houses would be exclusively
occupied with the question of supplies ; during the second
session the redress of Irish grievances would be brought
forward. In his despatches we see Wentworth calmly
discussing the base policy he intends to carry out. The
first session is the one that interests him. Ample subsidies,
he feels sure, will be voted him by a House anxious to
propitiate the Crown and smooth the path for the redress of
the grievances complained of. Once ample subsidies sup
plied, the second session can be dispensed with ! He re
solves to play off Protestant against Roman Catholic, so as
to manage both parties in the House of Commons. He
intends to fill the House with his creatures and dependants,
so that the requisite majority may be obtained. He has no
fear as to the result of his machinations, and is full of con
fidence at the future.
His hopes were not disappointed. Parliament met, and
ample subsidies were voted in the first session by the Irish,
expectant of having their grievances redressed. Duiing the
second session, Wentworth, with his Exchequer full, laughed
to scorn the grievances that were brought before him. The

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 157
indignant Catholics now broke out into opposition, but they
were defeated by the Lord Deputy throwing all his weight
into the scale of the Protestants ; the Protestants then, in
their turn, claimed their reward, and were cruelly snubbed
for their pains. In his correspondence with Laud, Went
worth chuckles over his dishonourable victory, and ex
presses no shame at the tortuous course he had pursued.
He had nothing to do with Catholic or Protestant griev
ances ; all that interested him was to make the Prerogative
absolute, to obtain ample supplies, and to render Ireland
prosperous according to the form of prosperity he desired.
His next step was to reorganise the army. He supplied it
with clothes, arms, and ammunition; he paid up all arrears ;
he restored discipline within its ranks ; he strengthened its
numbers, and at the end of a short time he had at his disposal
a powerful and weU-drilled force. To establish a permanent
revenue now occupied all his attention. He freed commerce
from the pirates that had infested the Irish coasts, he levied
fines, he raised taxes, he established monopolies, he planted
new districts, he introduced the general cultivation of flax ;
by his iron wiU and his determination to make Ireland
follow industries, not which she liked best, but which paid
her be„st, he raised the fortunes of the Emerald Isle to a
high pitch of prosperity. Within four years the produce of
the Customs rose from 12,000/. a year to 40,000/, and in
the fifth year of his power he wrote home that the annual
revenue would exceed the expenditui'e by 60,000/. 'My
Lord Deputy of Ireland,' writes Sir Thomas Roe to the

158 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Queen of Bohemia, ' doth great wonders, and governs like
a king, and hath taught that kingdom to show us an ex
ample of envy by having Parliaments and knowing wisely
how to use them. . . . This is of great service, and to give
your Majesty a character of the man — he is severe abroad
and in business, and sweet in private conversation ; retired
in his friendship, but very firm ; a terrible judge, and a
strong enemy;' a servant violently zealous in his master's
ends, and not negligent of his own; one that will have
what he wUl, and though of great reason, he can make his
will greater when it may serve him ; affecting glory by a
seeming contempt ; one that cannot stay long in the middle
region of fortune, but entreprenant, will either be the greatest
man in England or much less than he is.'
The policy which Wentworth was exerting all his energy
and industry to carry out in Ireland was being feebly imi
tated by Charles in England. Assisted by a few confidential
advisers the King reigned supreme. The one check upon
the arbitrary exercise of Prerogative, the Parliament, had
been struck out of the English constitution. The will of
the Sovereign was the law of the nation ; by it the judges,
removable at the Royal pleasure, framed their decisions ; by
it taxes were levied and exactions imposed ; by it ecclesi
astical discipline was enforced ; and by it the Privy Council,
whose acts of State had now superseded Acts of Parliament
regulated the affairs of the country. Nothing more im
presses the student of these exhaustive Calendars than the
attention which the King, during the long interval when

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 159
Parliament was suppressed, paid to affairs of State. The
Privy Council was now the only public deliberative body in
matters of Government, and if we are to place any faith in
State Paper evidence, Charles was always a constant and
most diligent member at its proceedings. Under Bucking
ham, the King entrusted everything to the favourite ; the
Duke governed, whilst Charles scarcely ever appeared upon
the scene ; it was the Duke who advised the Council, who
laid do'wn the law, and who conducted the domestic and
foreign policy of the country. But since the removal of his
trusted adviser, the King had become well versed in the
affairs of the Government ; he was informed of all that his
Ministers had undertaken; he directed the decisions of
committees, and was consulted on all important matters of
State. The era of Ministerial responsibility had not been
ushered in. To men like Laud in England, like Hamilton in
Scotland, like Wentworth in Ireland, the duty of obedi
ence to the Royal mandate was the corner-stone of their
school of politics. ' Thorough ' signified a full and complete
devotion to the -views and desires of the Sovereign.
Inflexible, narrow-minded, mistaken, yet believing in
all sincerity that the course he had mapped out was the
right one to pursue, Charles resolved to render himself
independent of all control. He had acceded to the demands
of Parliament; his generosity in concession had failed to
satisfy the Legislature ; to grant more would be to menace
the might of the Prerogative and to endanger the welfare of
the country. He declined to be more submissive to his

i6o STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Parliaments than his ancestors before him had been sub
missive ; and since the Houses refused to be kept within
their constitutional limits he would reign independent of
their aid and advice. It was his aim, he asserted, to be
actuated in all that he promoted from the purest of motives ;
the welfare of the country was his one object, and not the
gratification of any vindictive feelings; he wished so to
govern the country that he might have not only the good
opinion of man, but the approval of God. Among the State
Papers is a form of daily morning and evening prayer,'
written in the handwriting of the King, and doubtless the
outpourings of his own heart, which is particularly interest
ing, as reflecting the personal character and opinion of the
man. Whatever were the faults of Charles, and in spite of
the inconsistencies his career displays, no one can doubt but
that he was a sincere believer in Christianity, and anxious
in all his actions to be illumined by the light of the Divine
wisdom. The spelling has been altered to that of the pre
sent day ; but it is a curious fact that Charles in writing out
this prayer has adopted his own peculiar style of ortho
graphy — a spelling founded on the Scottish pronunciation
which adhered to him throughout life : —
' Good Lord, I thank Thee for keeping me this day
[night], I humbly beseech Thee to keep me this day [night]
from all dangers or mischances that may happen to my body,
and all evil thoughts which may assault or hurt my soul, for
1 State Papers, Domestic, February ? 1632. With regard to this Prayer
see Antiquary for May 1880.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. i6l
Jesus Christ His sake. And look upon me Thy unworthy
servant, who here prostrates himself at Thy throne of grace ;
but look upon me, O Father, through the merits and media
tion of Jesus Christ Thy beloved Son, in whom Thou art only
well pleased ; for, of myself, I am not worthy to stand in
Thy presence, or to speak with my unclean lips to Thee,
most holy and eternal God ; for Thou knowest that in sin I
was conceived and born, and that ever since I have lived in
iniquity, so that I have broken all Thy holy Command
ments, by sinful motions, e^vil words, and wicked works,
omitting many duties I ought to do, and committing many
vices which Thou hast forbidden under pain of heavy dis
pleasure ; as for sins, 0 Lord, they are innumerable ; in the
multitude therefore of Thy mercies, and by the merits of
Jesus Christ, I entreat Thy Divine Majesty that Thou
wouldest not enter into judgment with Thy servant, nor be
extreme to mark what is done amiss ; but be Thou merciful
to me, and wash away all my sins with the merits of that
precious blood that Jesus Chiist shed for me ; and not only
wash away all my sins, but also purge my heart by Thy
Holy Spirit from the dross of my natural corruption ; and
as Thou dost add days to my life, so, good Lord, add repent
ance to my days, that when I have past this mortal Ufe, I
may be a partaker of Thy everlasting kingdom, through
Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Deprived of the supplies of his faithful Commons, it was
necessary for the King to fill his empty exchequer by a
system of direct taxation proceeding from the Crown, He
VOL. II. M

1 62 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
levied the tonnage and poundage dues, ordering all those
who resisted to be imprisoned during the Royal pleasure.
He revived the obsolete knighthood fines. He created
monopolies, and exacted new licences. He forced Papists to
pay for the suspension of the laws against their religion.
He laid claim to lands, and to the towns that had sprung up
thereupon, on the pretence that they had been filched from
the Royal forests. But all these exactions are dwarfed by
the issue of his memorable writs for ship-money. Under
the PlanJ;agenets it had been the custom to call upon the
port towns to furnish ships manned and equipped for the
defence of the kingdom. Acting upon the advice of his
Attorney-General, Charles determined to levy the tax, and to
lay before the countiy plausible reasons for so doing. The
aid was not new, for so late as in 1626 a fleet had been
created in this manner, with this difference — that then the
country was at war with Spain, whereas now it was in per
fect peace. The delicate task of convincing the Council and
the nation of the necessity of this imposition was entrusted
to Secretary Coke. Nor did the arguments of the Secretary
lack a certain weight. He spoke of the increase of English
commerce ; of the powerful navy of the Dutch Republic ¦ of
the fleet being gathered together by France. ' All nations,'
he said, ' desire to be served by their valour, yet our ancient
reputation is not only cried dovsm, but we submit to wrongs in
all places which are not to be endured.' Then he alluded to
the injuries the English had to sustain in Constantinople,
' where the ambassador's house had been searched and

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 163
merchants had been imprisoned without colour of justice,
ships burnt and sailors made slaves ; ' in Spain, ' where
our ships and goods are confiscated if they find them Holland
built ;' in France, ' contrary to the late treaty of peace, en
deavours are made to drive our trade out of the country, and
at the same time to inveigle our gunfounders and ship
wrights into France;' and to the injuries sustained by our
fishings from the intrusion of the Dutch. The only course
for the King to pursue to obtain justice was, he said, to rein
force his guards so as to recover his undoubted rights of
sovereignty in all his seas.
The reasons of Coke were accepted by the submissive
Council, and the writs for ship-money issued. At first the
writs were directed to seaport to"wns only, but the tax was
too convenient to remain long thus restricted, and they
were soon extended to the whole kingdom — each county
being rated at a particular sum, which was afterwards assessed
upon individuals. The information upon this subject to be
found in the State Papers is most volviminous. Every de
tail in the history of the levy of ship-money — the opposition
the tax encountered, the sums annually raised by the tax,
the mode in which it was collected, are all described, either
;by the officials of the Government or by private persons,
with great minuteness. A bulky volume, containing new
and interesting matter, could be written alone upon this sub
ject from the mass of materials now brought to the light by
the careful editors of these Calendars. Like our income
tax, ship-money was not only a wealthy addition to the
M 2

i64 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
revenue, but it was collected with great facility. Within
the limits of his jurisdiction the Sheriff was made per
sonally responsible for the collection. His instructions from
the Council were comprised in two words — demand, and
in cases of non-payment distrain. The strictest supervision
was maintained so that the Sheriffs should not neglect their
duties. One Edward Nicholas, who had been Secretary at
4he Admiralty, and who was now one of the clerks of the
Council, was appointed to correspond with the Sheriffs and
specially to watch their payments. Every Saturday the
Treasurer of the Navy, to whom the Sherifis remitted their
money, made up his books, and forwarded to Nicholas a
written account of all the sums received by him under the
current writs, and also of the amounts which still remained
unpaid from every county ; whilst Nicholas, in his turn, was
directed to submit these accounts every week to the personal
cognizance of the Sovereign, at the customary meeting of
the Council held every Sunday. By this system of checks,
the whole facts connected with the levy appeared at a
glance. The Sheriffs were responsible to the Treasurer of
the Navy, the Treasurer of the Navy was responsible to the
Clerk of the Council, the Clerk of the Council was responsi
ble to the Sovereign. If any Sheriff failed to duly render
his accounts, he was at once reprimanded by Nicholas and
ordered to pay in his money by a certain day, or in default
to appear personally before the Council. In important cases
he was even summoned to appear before Charles himself to
give account of his stewardship.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 165
The sums raised by this tax were expended on the navy ;
but as the imposition was entirely arbitrary, the majority
of the country, though of opinion that a powerful fleet
was very desirable, both for the credit and safety of the
kingdom, yet considered the establishment of a naval force
as a very unequal recompense for the national liberties
which were thus being sacrificed in the cause of maritime
protection. In the correspondence preserved amongst the
State Papers, this feeling of hostility towards the tax is one
of the most important features in the history of the period.
Sheriff after Sheriff complained that he could not get the
chief constables of the Hundreds to assess the inhabitants.
Several of the Sheriffs, like Francis Goddard of Wiltshire,
aware of the unpopularity they incurred in le'v^'ing this de
tested tax, were ' full of fear at keeping so large a sum in a
single weak house, standing far from neighbours, and all the
country being acquainted with the fact of the money being
in their possession,' and were most anxious to know how
such large amounts should be transmitted to London. This
difficulty of remittance seems to have been so great that
several Sheriffs, afraid to trust the sums they had collected
with such distasteful labour out of their own hands, begged
permission to bring the money themselves up to London, a
request which was uniformly gi-anted by the Council. The
power of distress given by the writ was fully used, but we
read complaint after complaint from the different Sheriffs,
that the people, banded together by the sympathy of oppres
sion, refused to purchase the articles thus distrained, In

1 66 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Northamptonshire, in Oxfordshire, in Yorkshire, in Wiltshire,
in Essex, in Derbyshire, in Shropshire, in London, grave
difficulties arose ; individuals assessed refused to subscribe
their amounts, and cheerfully suffered imprisonment in the
sacred cause of liberty. Every obstacle was placed in the
way of the Sheriffs whilst in pursuit of their duties — the
parish authorities withheld from them the necessary informa
tion, the constables were rebellious, collectors could not be
found to gather the tax, and as the unhappy Sheriffs were
rendered personally Uable for the amount they were in
structed to obtain, many of them who were short in the sums
received preferred to make up the deficiencies themselves
rather than appear before the King and his dreaded Council.
' Scarcely a county,' writes Mr. Bruce, ' was without its
complaint ; and what with charges of over-assessment on
the one hand, and refractoriness, as it was termed, in non
payment on the other, the Council, Nicholas, and the referees
in cases of difficulty were kept fully employed in this naval
business.' Of the great opponent to this tax little is to
be ascertained from a perusal of the State Papers. The
information touching Hampden and his memorable resist
ance is so meagre, whilst petty and insignificant details are
related at full length, as to appear intentional. There is one
entry in these volumes headed ' Papers relating to the case
of ship-money between the King and John Hampden,' but
the papers contain only what can easily be obtained else
where — notes of the arguments of the law advisers of the
Crown and of the Judges. The cause of this blank in the

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 167
continuity of the State Paper evidence is thus briefiy ac
counted for by Mr. Bruce : — ' It was a case,' he says,
referring to the trial, ' which official people not engaged in it
were probably not very willing openly to notice.'
By his arbitrary proceedings, his forced loans, his uncon
stitutional courts of law, the King had aroused a dangerous
spirit of disloyalty in the nation, which only wanted oppor
tunity to break out into revolt. He was now to cross the
Tweed, and wound where they were most vulnerable the
feelings of a people whose temper was as bold as their
religious prejudices were strong. Worked upon by the
mischievous suggestions of Laud, Charles resolved to carry
out the ecclesiastical policy in Scotland which his father
before him had endeavoured to establish. He would
crush the dangerous independence of Presbyterianism by
forcing every kirk and assembly from Wick to Berwick to
accept the hated Five Articles which James had drawn up.
The Holy Communion was to be received kneeUng ; in cases
of sickness or other necessity the Lord's Supper was to be
administered in private houses ; under similar circumstances
Baptism was to be administered in the same manner ; the
great fasts and feasts ordained by the Church were to be
observed ; and children were to be brought to the bishop for
a blessing. These Articles had been obeyed in some districts,
disobeyed in others, but everywhere had given rise to much
revolt and dissatisfaction. Charles now determined that
the same uniformity which existed in Church matters south
of the Tweed should be maintained throughout North

1 68 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
 • 
Britain. On July 23, 1637, an order was issued from the
Privy Council that the English liturgy was henceforth to be
used in all churches and cathedrals of Scotland, The storm
of indignation with which the command was received is well
known. The congregations refused to listen to the formal
words of prayer, and in such places where the minister
insisted upon using them he was mobbed, and his church
half wrecked by the angry assembly. Riots ensued, and the
people, led by the aristocracy and their chief ministers,
banded themselves together, and openly opposed the hated
innovation. The clauses of the Covenant were framed and
eagerly subscribed to by a furious and offended nation. Re
sistance so overt and determined created considerable con
sternation in the Council Chamber at Whitehall. The
Marquess of Hamilton was sent post-haste to Edinburgh
with power to grant ample concessions, and to withdraw the
Service Book, the Book of Canons, the Five A rticles, and to
admit the setting up the Confession of Faith of 1580 as a
substitute for the Covenant recently entered into. He was
also authorised to publish the proclamation of a General
Assembly, to meet at Glasgow on November 20 next, and a
Parliament at Edinburgh on May 15, 1639.
These measures failed to throw oil upon the troubled
waters; they were regarded by the stern Covenanter as
symptoms of weakness rather than of evidence of the Royal
clemency. The whole history of the religious conflict that
now ensued is described by the State Papers so fully, and with
such detail, as to be literary treasure-trove of the deepest value

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 169
to the future historian of this period.' The General Assembly
was held, and the Covenanters, assured of an overwhelming
majority, offered no opposition to its meeting. Scarcely had
it commenced its deliberations than it was evident that the
EpiscopaUan element was hopelessly beaten. The Cove
nanters brought forth their resolutions, and they were
passed by immense majorities.- All the Acts of the
Assembly, since the accession of James VI. to the Crown of
England, were declared null and void. The Acts of Parlia
ment which affected ecclesiastical affairs were repudiated as
ha-ving no authority. The Covenant renouncing Popery
and Prelacy was ordered to be signed by every one under
pain of excommunication, and the press was set to work to
promulgate the Acts of the General Assembly. Thus fell at
once to the ground that scheme of ecclesiastical policy which
James and Charles, vrith so much thought and with so little
consideration for the feelings of certain of their subjects, had
originated and attempted to carry out.
The success which had attended upon these measures
now caused the Covenanters to quit the defensive and
assume the aggressive. ' We are bu,sy here,' -writes a Mr.
Craig from Edinburgh to Lord Stewart, ' preaching, praying,
and drilling ; and if his Majesty and his subjects of England
come hither they will find a harder welcome than before,
unless we be made quit of the bishops.' Instructions were
now issued for the defence of the kingdom against the
English marching north. Edinburgh was to be the centre,
1 State Papers, Domestic, 1639-40.

170 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
and communication was to be constantly maintained between
the shires and the capital by the appointment of commissioners
' to be entertained at the public charge of their shires, and
each commissioner to have allowance of pay for furnishing
the watch when it falls upon his shire.' A committee of
war from the different presbyteries was selected, which was
to have ' a very special care to oversee the trying of all the
people able to bear arms in all the shires, in choosing out
soldiers, and taking course for the way of their payment,'
&c. All the regiments to be enrolled were to be com
manded by men of skill, ' and must be sent for out of Ger
many and Holland.' Every parish was to furnish its quota
of men, so that an army be levied in every one of the four
quarters of the kingdom. The instructions then concluded
with orders as to the manner in which the payment for the
troops -was to be raised, and a solemn assertion that the
soldiers thus massed together were to be employed for no other
purpose than ' for the defence of their rehgion and laws.'
Matters having now come to a crisis, Charles prepared
in earnest for war. The State Papers throw much new
light upon his proceedings. We see the King accumulating
magazines of powder, the monopoly of which he held in his
own hands ; storing arms in convenient places in the northern
counties ; and taking measures for the levying and disciplin
ing of the trained bands which were to be equipped and
transported at the charge of the several counties, but upon
reaching their places of rendezvous were to enter into the
King's pay. We read how the guns were taken down from

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 171
Landguard Fort, from Harwich, and from some of the
castles in the Downs, to be applied to the fortification of the
northern towns ; how the roads between England and
Scotland were stopped to intercept the letters written by
the disaffected in England to the Covenanters ; how the
master gunner, in a petition to the King, ' dares to his
great regret to siy that there are few gunners in your
kingdom at this time who understand the several ranges of
ordnance or the use of the mortar ; ' and how Sir Jacob
Astley, the military commissioner, regarded the state of the
northern • counties — their capacity for defence, the points
most threatened, and the route most eligible for the march
ing and support of an army. After holding many meetings
of the Council, and listening to various suggestions how to
raise money, a force consisting of 24,000 infantry and 6,000
cavalry was collected by the King. Before starting forth
upon his campaign he issued a proclamation declaring the
immediate grounds of his quarrel with the Scots.
' We cannot but hold it requisite,' began Charles, ' to
give our good subjects timely notice of the Scots' traitorous
intentions, which in very many ways appear to us. As,
first, by the multitude of their printed pamphlets, or rather,
indeed, infamous libels, stuffed full of calumnies against our
Royal authority and our most just proceedings, and spread
ing of them in divers parts of this our kingdom ; secondly, by
their sending of letters to private persons to incite them
against us, and sending some of their fellow-Covenanters to
be at private meetings in London and elsewhere to pervert

172 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
our good people from their duty, and some of these meetings
we know, and some of those letters, lewd enough, we have
seen; thirdly, by their public contemning all our just com
mands, and their mutinous protesting against them, a course
not fit to be endured in any well-ordered kingdom; fourthly,
by their rejecting of the Covenant commanded by our
authority, because it was commanded by us; and, lastly,
by their most hostile preparations in all kinds, as if we were
not their King, but their sworn enemy.'
The ' traitorous Scots' were not unprepared to resist their
foe. Letter after letter among the State Papers shows the
measures they had adopted to make a sturdy fight, and the
spirit that animated them. With the exception of a small
district under the Mai-quis of Huntley, the whole of the
south of Scotland was in the hands of the Covenanters.
The few castles which belonged to the King, being inade
quately provisioned and garrisoned, were either seized or
voluntarily surrendered. The Earl of Argyle, after long
temporising, subscribed to the Covenant, and became the
chief leader of the party, which now numbered among its
adherents the Earls of Rothes, CassiUs, Montrose, Lindsey,
Dalhousie, and Lothian, and the Lords Sinclair and Bal-
merino. The Scotch officers who had acquired fame in the
German wars, especially under the great Gustavus, were
invited over, and the chief commands in the army entrusted
to them. Colonel Leshe, a soldier of great experience, and
who had seen much service on the Continent, was appointed
General-in-Chief. Forces were regularly enlisted and disci-

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 173
plined, and the Scottish Borders put in a state of defence
against England. Nor were the men ill-equipped. ' I have
inquired,' writes Sir Jacob Astley, who had been sent north
to prepare the country for the campaign, ' what arms the
Scotch Borderers are armed withal. They have all muskets
and pikes, so as our Bordering men must be so likewise, and
think no more of bows, spears, jacks, and skull-caps.'
This energetic action was strongly stimulated by the reli
gious prejudices of the people. To the staunch Presbyterian,
who refused to bow at the Sacred Name ; who regarded the
sign of the Cross as one of the devices of the Scarlet Woman ;
who hated prelacy ; and who detested all prayers that were
not extempore, death was far more preferable than the extinc
tion of his ancient form of worship. In the private letters
among the State Papers we see how stern and uncompromis
ing was this feeUng. The people will have nothing to do
with ' scurvy priests ; ' they hope ' that the same God that
strengthened the arm of the land of Sweden against Ger
many will strengthen Scotland against England ; ' both ' the
King and England are rending that they 'will never knit
again, and it shall be seen hereafter that it is to then' great
prejudice ; ' there ' were never any bishops in the old time
before, neither will they have any now ; for they have
banished them all out of Scotland, and swear that they shall
never come in more, for if they do the women will beat out
their brains with stones.' The fury of the Scotchwomen
acrainst the innovations meditated by Laud rose almost to
insanity. 'They say,' writes Lady Westmoreland, 'the

174 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
women of Scotland are chief stirrers of this war.' Accord
ing to Edward Norgate, the women cursed and swore,
' wishing their husbands' and children's flesh to be con :
verted into that of dogs, and their souls annihilated, is the
word, or damned the meaning, if they refuse to come into
the Covenant, or ever consent to admit of the bishops.' '
The storm which the bigotry of Laud and the short
sighted policy of Charles had aroused considerably disconcerted
the Government at home. ' We daily meet in Council,'
writes the Lord- Admiral Northumberland, ' but to little
purpose, for, in my opinion, we are but just where you
[Viscount Conway] left us. Divers trivial things have been
argued amongst us, but yet the King declares not where he
expects to have the money that must defray the expense of
his army.' The question of supplies was the most harassing
of all the difficulties that the King now had to contend with.
He had resolved not to appeal to the hated system of Parlia
ment, yet the troops now massed together to subdue Scotland
must be maintained. Encouraged by the triumph he had
gained in the case of the ship-money, he now revived a still
more obsolete custom. The feudal claim to military service
was re-established. Letters were issued to all members of
the aristocracy requiring them in person to attend the Kino-
in his march northwards, with their retinues. By this
course, Charles was assured that twelve hundred horse could
be raised and maintained without any charge upon the
Royal purse. Similar letters were sent to the ' Judges, Inns
' State Papers, Domestic, June 5, 1639.

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 175
of Court, and Inns of Chancery,' but instead of military
service they were required to lend the King such sums as
they thought fit. The clergy were also assessed ; ' every
Dean and Chapter at 200 marks, and the rest of the clergy
at three shillings and sixpence in the pound. The bishops
were left to a voluntary contribution.' Thus, what with
forced loans, voluntary contributions, and the revival of
mediseval taxes, the army was ready to take the field by the
end of March, 1639.
Disintegrating influences were, however, strongly at work
in the camp. The distribution of the military commands
had given great dissatisfaction to many of the nobles ; the
presence of the King was strongly disapproved of, and
was declared by the Earl of Bristol to be ' against all rule
of mi'Utary and politic discipline ; ' whilst the soldiery were
a disordered rabble, who on their march north amused
themselves by robbing the districts they passed through, and
offering rude caresses to the women. The plan of the cam
paign had been drawn up by Charles with no little skill.
At the head of a considerable force he was to march into
Scotland from Berwick ; Wentworth, with an army of Irish
recruits, was to land in the Clyde ; the Marquis of Hamil
ton was to command a fleet of sixteen sail, which was first
to land 5,000 men in the north of Scotland, and then to take
up a station for general assistance in the Firth of Forth ;
the Marquis of Huntley, the head of the Roman Catholic
party in Scotland, was to secure the north of Scotland, and
then to march southwards and unite with the King; whilst

176 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the Earl of Antrim was to invade Argyleshire with another
Irish army of 10,000 men.
This military programme, like many other military
programmes, was excellent on paper, but when it was being
practically carried out, failures and deficiencies which had
not been anticipated were painfully -visible. Hamilton
' anchored betwixt the two little isles or Inches ' in the Firth
of Forth, and did hothing, or, according to the narrative of
one James Gordon, he did worse than nothing, for ' the fleet
did more hurt to the King who sent them than the enemy.'
The Irish recruits did not arrive. Huntley in the north was
powerless against the tactics of the lords of the Covenant.
The soldiers were ill-fed, their pay was in arrears, sickness
broke out in the camp, whilst both amongst officers and men
the war was unpopular, being regarded as impolitic and un
constitutional, and as a threat against the civil and reHgious
liberties of England. On arriving at Berwick, Charles, who
seems to have felt keenly that the sympathies of his soldiers
were in favour of the foe, was not indisposed to come to
terms. Nor were the Covenanters opposed to attaining their
ends by pacific means. From the State Papers it is evident
that Leslie might on several occasions have snatched an easy
victory during this campaign had he so wished. It was,
however, his object to avoid as long as possible actual hostili
ties, for whether vanquished or triumphant, he deemed either
result would be detrimental to the cause of the Covenant : if
victorious, the martial spirit of England would be aroused and
a new and more powerful army speedily collected ; if van-

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 177
quished, the hopes of the Covenanters would have been
dashed to the ground. ' General LesUe,' writes Dr. Watts,
' chaplain-in-chief of the Scotch forces, is absolutely of opinion
not to come to a pitched battle with the King's army, not of
conscience but out of judgment, his reason being that if the
Scotch army be beaten they wUl hardly be able to draw an
other army into the field ; whereas, if the King should chance
to lose the day his Majesty might easily raise another army.'
Between enemies, one of whom is averse to fight, whilst
the other is in favour of a pacific policy, the conclusion of
a peace is seldom a matter of much difficulty. Interviews
took place between the King and the Scotch Commissioners,
and it was at last stipulated that Charles should withdraw
his fleet and army ; that within forty-eight hours the Scotch-
should dismiss their forces; that the forts of the King
should be restored, the royal authority be fully recognised,
and a General Assembly and a Parliament be immediately
summoned in order to redress all grievances. In his turn the
King agreed to remove the great stumblingblock of offence ;
he confirmed his former concessions, abrogating the canons,
the liturgy, and the High Commission, and abolished the
order itself of bishops for which he had so zealously contended.
To those who wish to study the history of the negotiations
that occurred on this occasion, we beg to refer them to the
State Paper, June 14, 1639, containing the 'Journal of
Events at the English Camp, extending from the 6th to the
14th June, 1639,' written by the Lord-General for the in
formation of Archbishop Laud. This peace is called the
VOL. II. N

178 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Pacification of Dunse Law, or more commonly the Treaty of
Berwick. The truce was, however, of short duration, for soon
after the pacification had been signed the conduct of the
Scotch again aroused all the bitterest feehngs of the King.
Charles complained that, in spite of his past clemency, his
subjects north of the Tweed were doing all in their power to
excite the resumption of hostiUties. They circulated amongst
the English aristocracy seditious papers against the Royal
authority ; instead of disbanding their forces, as had been
agreed, upon, they continued to keep all their officers in
readiness, and in their pay ; they refused to make full resti
tution of the forts, castles, and ammunition, as stipulated ;
they continued to hold unlawful meetings upon matters of
State ; they proved their disloyalty by their actions at the
meeting of their General Assembly ; and they refused to
recognise the Royal authority over their Parliamentary pro
ceedings. But what excited most the anger of the King
was his having intercepted a letter, subscribed by certain of
the leading Covenanters, to the French King,"asking for aid.
It was addressed, ' Au Roy,' ' a subscription only employed
in France from those subject to their natural prince, and
thus implied that the Covenanters had intended to transfer
their allegiance to Le-wis XIII.,' and had ' practised to let in
foreign power into our kingdom of Scotland.' It has been
generally supposed that the original letter had reached its
destination ; but from the declaration of the King, pre- -
served among the State Papers, such appears not to have been

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 179
the case. ' For my part,' says Charles, ' I think it was
never accepted of by him. Indeed, it was a letter to the
French King, but I know not that ever he had it ; for by
chance I intercepted it, as it was going unto him ; and
thereupon I hope you will understand me right in that. But
because the world shall see that we charge the Scotch not
but upon very good and sure grounds, we have thought it
fit to set down here their own letter ; of which we have
given our good brother, the French King, an account, being
confident he will not assist any rebels against us.' Hence it
is clear that the letter was made known at the French
Court, not through the Covenanters, but through the
channel of the English Embassy.
Distracted by conflicting opinions, anxious to uphold his
prerogative by a war against Scotland, yet ignorant how to
obtain the supplies for such an undertaking; Charles had
lecourse to the ad-vice of one whom hitherto he had seldom
consulted upon English affairs, but whose brilliant rule in
Ireland had now proved him to be the most consummate
statesman around the throne. He wrote to Wentworth.
He wished, he said, to consult him respecting the army ;
' but I have much more,' he added, ' and indeed too much to
desire your counsel and attendance for some time, which I
think not flt to express by letter more than this — the Scots
Covenant begins to spread too far.' Wentworth, though
shattered in health, hastened at once to obey the Royal wish.
He arrived in London in the November of 1639, and be
came the most prominent member of that secret council,
N 2

i8o STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
composed of the King, Laud, and Hamilton, which now
managed the affairs of the nation. He had been opposed to
the flrst campaign against Scotland, -wishing the King to
obtain his ends by any other course ' than that of shedding
the blood of his Majesty's own natural, albeit rebellious
subjects ; ' but when the conduct of the Scotch subsequent
to the treaty of Berwick was laid before him, he declared at
once for war. His next counsel hag never before been di
vulged, until the State Papers have been made to yield their
secrets. Wentworth, the imperious, the despotic, the man
who hated all interference with control, advised the imme
diate calling of a Parliament ! ' I believe,' writes the inde
fatigable Nicholas to Sir John Pennington, who was then
absent in the Downs in command of the Channel Fleet, ' you
will have heard before this can come to your hands of his
Majesty's resolution to call a Parliament about the end of
March or beginning of April next, whereof his Majesty
made a public declaration this day se'nnight (Dec. 5), sit
ting in Council, and it is said that it hath been the Lord
Deputy who hath persuaded the King to a Parliament. I
pray God it may succeed as well for the good of the kingdom
as the news of it is acceptable to all men in this kingdom.'
The raising of supplies now occupied the attention of
Wentworth. He pledged himself to bring over a large sub
sidy from Ireland. He proposed a loan in England, and
subscribed to it, by way of example, the enormous sum of
20,000/., equal to 100,000/. of our money. ' Divers of our
great lords councillors,' -writes Nicholas, ' have declared to

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. i8l
his Majesty that they will lend him large sums of money —
viz., the Lord Deputy, 20,000Z. ; the Lord Keeper, 10,000/. ;
the Lord Privy Seal and Earl of Newcastle, 10,000Z. apiece,
and so divers others, to the value of 300,000/. in all.' Then,
after having superintended the preparations for the organ
ising of an army, Wentworth proceeded to return to his
own kingdom. He was now to have his reward. He had
frequently solicited an earldom, but Charles, whether he
preferred to grant favours without being asked, or whether,
from some peculiarity in his mental constitution, he liked at
times to snub those who had served him best, had invariably
turned a deaf ear to the request. Wentworth, however, had
no occasion now to grumble that all arrears due to past ser
vice were not fully paid up. He crossed St. George's Channel
as Earl of Strafford and Baron Raby ; the Star of the Garter
glittered upon his breast, whilst, for the first time since the
days of Essex, he was invested with the title of Lieutenant-
General of Ireland. On his arrival he performed what he
had promised. The obedient Irish Parliament agreed to
levy 8,000 men for the King's service out of Ireland, and
voted a supply of four entire subsidies from the laity of
45,000/. each, and six subsidies from the clergy, who already
owed them more, ' so that their nine subsidies and our four
subsidies,' writes Lord Thomas CromweU, ' wUl all be paid
in three years if God say Amen.' These generous proposals
settled, the practical Strafford returned to England to assist
the King in organising the army and selecting the officers.
Here we take our leave of these deeply interesting

i82 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Papers. The volumes relating to the termination of the
second Scotch campaign, the proceedings of the Long Parlia
ment, the Civil War, and the execution of the King, re
main still to be calendared. It is, however, no secret that
the domestic State Papers, after the year 1640, are as
meagre in bulk as they are in interest. Various causes
have led to this result. During the Civil War numer
ous documents were purposely destroyed by the Parlia
mentary party; the officials appointed to preserve the
Papers were not in power, whilst their unguarded reposi
tories were freely ransacked by the enemy. Ministers of
the Crown, anxious that their documents should not be lost
or fall into hostile hands, took charge of them themselves
(hence the existence of official papers in private collections),
whilst many of the State Papers, which travelled about with
the King, were captured by the foe and destroyed or subse
quently printed in different collections.
' During the early years of Charles the First,' writes Mr.
Bruce, in his preface to the first volume of these Calendars,
' the number of Papers is very great. It continues to be so
during the administration of the Duke of Buckingham, and
until after the peace with Spain. For a few years after 1630
the Papers are much less numerous. From 1634 there is
again an increase, and as the time of the final public troubles
.approaches they are greatly augmented. For 1639 and
1640 they are as numerous as in 1625 and 1626. From an
early period in the succeeding year there is a great falling
off, and the Papers of the last eight years of the reign will

THE GATHERING OF THE STORM. 183
not occupy more space than those of the two bustling years
which are included in the present volume (1625-1626). The
cause of this inequality is obvious. The greater the variety
and importance of public business, the larger the number of
Papers. The early years of the reign, which were years of
war and foreign and maritime expeditions, produced most
extensive coUections ; the endeavour to defray the expenses
of Government by the levy of ship-money gave rise to much
new business and to many Papers. But the State Paper
Office, it wUl be remembered, was the King's repository, and
the officers who transmitted Papers thither were his
servants. When the fatal quarrel arose between the King
and the ParUament, and the King retired from London,
these officers followed his person to York, to Oxford, and
elsewhere. They carried about their Papers with them, or
deposited them in places not within the enemy's quarters.
Few found their way into the State Paper Office, except
those which were captured on the field of battle, or came
into possession of the Parliament by some of the other
chances of a state of warfare.'

1 84 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.
From elves, hobs and fairies,
From fire-drakes or fiends,
And such as the devil sends,
Defend us, good Heaven. Monsieur Thomas. Act. iv. sc. 6.
In those ' good old times ' we love to talk about — when edu
cation was restricted to a superstitious and rapacious clergy,
when our poor were serfs, and our ruling classes warriors
with predatory instincts, when Government signified an ex
tortionate monarch and a weak council, or an extortionate
council and a weak monarch, when life and property were
subject to all the vicissitudes of insecurity, when, in fact,
our country was the ' merrie, merrie England ' of the
ballad-monger — in those dear old days, which 'wiU never, we
sigh, come back again, few influences were more implicitly
believed in, or more frequently invoked, than the powers of
witchcraft. If an elderly gallant wished to gain the affec
tions of some reluctant maiden, he sought out the aid of a
neighbouring witch to foretell his future, or to provide him
with a love-potion. If a competitor wished his rival to be
utterly defeated in the struggle between them, the services
of the hag of magic were appealed to, and her counsel

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 185
obeyed. The soldier-sovereign, uncertain as to the results
of the war he was about to undertake, summoned the sup
posed agent of the nether world into his presence, and bade
her divine the fortune in store for him. The invalid, mis
trustful of the lore of his physician, felt the blood within his
veins surge -with new life as he followed the instructions in
spired by -witchcraft. To the arts of ' the daughter of Satan '
all resorted, as to the one great, last resource. The farmer
whose cattle had been struck down with disease, the child
less wife who longed, -with the cra-ving of the barren, for
offspring, the jealous beauty who prayed for her rival to be
ill-favoured, the viUage household anxious to ward off an
approaching pestUence, the lover whose suit would not
prosper, all went secretly to the grotto or cottage of the
witch, and pleaded as supplicants for her aid. If she could
not assist them, their condition was indeed, they felt, outside
the region of all hope.
And yet, though the temple was thronged with wor
shippers, the idol was treated as the most degraded and
contemptible of objects. A witch, in the earlier centuries of
our history, in spite of the power with which she was credited,
was among the most persecuted creatures on the earth. She
Uved apart from her fellows, in lone and secluded haunts.
She was shunned, with the fear that dared not give open
expression to its feelings, by all with whom she came in
contact, and it was often with difficulty she obtained the bare
necessaries of life. At any moment she was liable to be tracked
to her lair, to be seized and mercilessly exposed, and to be

i86 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
put to a cruel death. Her children, looked upon as the issue
of hell, bore the stain of their descent down to the third
and fourth generation, and were often forced to seek their live
lihood in distant provinces. Nor was it only upon the pro
fessional witch that these severities might be inflicted. It
was open to any malignant or credulous person to accuse her
neighbour of deaUngs with the devil, and to subject her to
all the penalties which such proceedings then entailed. A
spiteful woman had only to seek out the nearest magistrate
and inform him that a witch was in their midst, and that
she had been seen kissing the devil in the shape of a cat, or
riding through the air on a besom, or using miraculous
charms to do hurt to a neighbour, or disfiguring her body
with significant marks and gashes, for a warrant to be in
stantly made out, and the unhappy accused to be branded
with a hot iron, in order to see whether such application
would burn her flesh, or to be dragged through a pond, with
her thumbs and toes tied across, to test if water had the
power to drown her, or to be scratched with pins to see if
blood would flow, or to be tied to a stool for twenty-four
hours whilst deprived of all sleep and nourishment, or to be
tortured tUl she wept — for it was held that a witch could
only shed three tears, and those from her left eye — or to
endure other like pains and penalties. Frequent instances
occur, in the history of this peculiar form of superstition, of
innocent girls, upon the evidence of pure malice, being torn
from their homes and put to a painful death, for machina
tions of which they knew nothing, and for arts they had

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 187
never pretended to possess. In those good old times the
charge of witchcraft was the easiest method of getting rid of
an unpopular neighbour ; the testimony brought forward, if
once believed in (and it was seldom rejected), the flre or
water ordeal necessarily followed ; and the ordeal, whether
the victim was a witch or no, was generally sufficient either
to kill her or to send her ra-ving mad.
The history of this subject is somewhat curious. From
reference to our statute book it appears that witchcraft was
one of the oldest and most deeply rooted articles of the
superstitious belief of the English people. In the ' Poeniten-
tial ' of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, composed in
the seventh century, we read that ' those who deal in charms,
those who work people's destruction, or endeavour to gain
their love by witchcraft, those who consult diviners, magi
cians, and enchanters, and those who redse tempests, are to
be subject to punishments varying from one to three years'
fasting upon bread and water.' ' Early in the following
century, under Egbert, twelve months' penitence was en
joined upon a woman who exercised witchcraft, but should
death ensue from her arts the sentence of seven years' peni
tence was passed upon her. During the reign of King
Edgar it was urgently recommended by the Church that
' every priest zealously promote Christianity, and totally
extinguish every heathenism ; and forbid well- worshippings,
necromancies, divinations, enchantments, and man-worship-
' Proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler, edited by Thomas Wright.
Camden Society.

i88 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
pings ; also the vain practices which are carried on with
various speUs, and with many various delusions, 'with which
men do much of what they should not.' In the law of the
Northumbrian priests it was ordered that 'if any one be
found that shall henceforth practise any heathenship, or in
any way love witchcraft or worship idols, if he be a King's
thane let him pay ten half-marks : half to Christ, half to the
King.' By the early EngUsh, witchcraft was rightly consi
dered as one of the most dangerous reUcs of paganism, and, so
far as it was supposed to be a means of inflicting personal
injury, was classed vrith murder and subject to the same
penalty. 'We have ordained,' decreed King Athelstan,
' respecting witchcraft, that if any one should be thereby
killed, the life of the witch be Uable.' It was, however, not
until the Church had ranged witchcraft as among the most
virulent of all the heresies, that the disciples of the magic art
were made to feel the lash of persecution in all its full
severity. Witches were tortured, were burnt, were pressed
to death, were drowned. Then, as those who believed in
sorcery were generally men of some independence in thought
and action, the charge of witchcraft gradually became a very
favourite accusation of the Romish Church, wherewith to
punish aU who separated from her fold. Early in the four
teenth century the Waldenses were accused, amongst other
things, of communion with the devU, who it was alleged
appeared to them in the form of a cat, and whom they kissed
under his tail ; also of riding on sticks rubbed with a cer
tain ointment, which carried them in a moment i-^ +iicir

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 189
place of assignation ; and of swearing fealty to the evil one
as to their acknowledged lord. These charges were likewise
brought against the followers of Wicklif, and in later times
against the Huguenots. Indeed, as our history progressed
the crime of witchcraft became so easy to assert and so hard
to disprove, that this offence soon established itself as the most
popular of all accusations. Through its agency a heretic
was suppressed, an unpopular personage got rid of, and in
several instances statesmen were even found not above
employing it as a means of political vengeance. Still, in
spite of all deterrents, the witches continued to drive a most
flourishing trade, and to find, even among their persecutors,
numerous lavish and credulous believers. Thus we read of
Henry IV. giving directions to the Bishop of Norwich ' to
search for and arrest witches and sorcerers of different
kinds, reported to be very numerous in your diocese, and to
convert them from their evil ways or bring them speedily to
punishment.' Ludicrous as the powers appear to us at the present day
with which witchcraft in former times was credited, such
powers seem never to have been denied or disputed by the
great minds of the past. A witch was aU that was abomin
able, and to be held in the strongest loathing ; yet few had
the wisdom or the courage to contradict the possibility of her
exercising the arts she pretended to. The judge, as he passed
sentence upon the condemned woman, trembled lest her fell
gaze should bring upon him and his household sorrow or
death. The yelling crowd, as it half stripped her to undergo

190 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the water ordeal, shuddered as it saw upon her exposed
bosom the marks which, it was supposed, proved that she
allowed her ' familiar ' to draw upon her life's blood. The
villagers who went miles out of their way to avoid her haunts,
never for one moment believed that the object of their fear
was powerless to work them evU, and was either a half-mad
woman, the victim of a hideous delusion, or else the actress
of a knavish part to suit her own vile ends. To all, the old
crone, with her tall hat, crutch stick, and black cat nestling
on her shoulder, was one who had dealings with the devil,
and who, through the might of Satanic aid, could scatter the
seeds of misery broadcast wherever she listed. She had sold
herself body and soul to hell, and until death claimed her,
her power to effect evil, it was aUeged, was unUmited. The
great man is he who rises superior to the prejudices of his
age ; but before the end of the seventeenth century — with
the exception of Bodin, Erastus, Reginald Scot, John Wag-
staffe, and Dr. Webster — there were none who had the bold
ness or the knowledge to brand witchcraft as a base and
palpable superstition. We find Lord Bacon gravely pre
scribing ' henbane, hemlock, mandrake, moonshade, tobacco,
opium, and other soporiferous medicines,' as the best ingre
dients for a witch's ointment. From the pages of his
' History of the World ' we see that the gifted and practical
Sir Walter Raleigh was a firm believer in this childish form
of superstition. The learned Selden, in his ' Table Talk,'
whilst pleasantly discoursing on the subject of witches, shows
that he also held the same faith. Sir Thomas Browne, the

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. igi
kindliest of physicians ; Sir Matthew Hale, one of the most
acute and spotless of judges ; Hobbes, the sceptic ; ' the
eminent Dr. More of Cambridge,' and the patient and
thoughtful Boyle, all were of opinion that witchcraft was an
evil capable of solid proof, and that its disciples merited
sharp and swift punishment. It was not until the dawn of
the eighteenth century that men came to the conclusion that
the devices of ' witches and witchmongers ' were only so
many tricks and fables, and utterly unworthy of credence.
The last judicial execution in England for witchcraft took
place in the year 1716, when a woman and her little daugh
ter were hanged at Huntingdon ' for selling their souls to
Satan.' Since that date, however, various cases have oc
curred of women, accused as witches, being drowned whilst
undergoing the ordeal by water at the hands of their in
timidated yet infuriated neighbours.
It was only natural that' an offence like witchcraft, so
elastic in its details, and so capable of being transformed into
an engine of oppression for the gratification of personal or
political hate, should have given rise to various curious pro
ceedings in our administration of justice. To the lover of
out-of-the-way literature there is little reading more weii-d
and interesting than is to be found in the study of our witch
trials.' Women, perfectly innocent of the crimes imputed
' Read the Discoverie of the Three Witches of Warhoys, 1593 ; the trial
of Amy Dnny and Rose Cullender, at Bury St. Edmund's, in 1664; the
Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot, 1584 ; A Dialogue concerning
Witches and Witchcraft, by George Gifford, Minister of God's Word in
Maldon, 1593 ; the Trial of Witchcraft, by John Cotta, 1616 ; A Candle in

192 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
to them, under the terrors of torture, or in the hope to escape
punishment, freely confessed themselves guilty of misdeeds
they had never imagined, with an elaboration of detaU
almost sufficient to con-vince the most sceptical listener.
The envoy of the de-vil was vividly described ; the terms he
imposed as the price of a lost soul were fully entered into ;
the course he suggested his victim to pursue ; the places of
rendezvous he appointed ; the homage he required to be paid
him ; the different forms of disguise he adopted, and the like,
were all clearly and precisely described — statements which
often tended to show that either the unhappy woman had
been well counselled as to her answers, or that she was in an
advanced stage of insanity. Of all these trials, the most
well-known are the proceedings in the early part of the
seventeenth centmy against a band of wretched creatures,
called the Lancashire Witches. The story is as follows.
In the barren wUds of the Forest of Pendle, once a por
tion of the great wood of Blackburnshire, there had lived for
many years before our first James had been summoned from
Edinburgh to ascend the throne of England, two old women,
who with their families constituted the most important part
of the population of the neighbourhood. The names of
these aged dames were Elizabeth Southerns and Ann Whittle ;
but to the votaries of witchcraft they were only known as
'Old Demdike' and 'Old Chattox.' Both women were
the Dark, or a Treatise concerning Witches and Witchcraft, by Thomas
Ady, M.A., 1656 ; The Question of Witchcraft debated, by John Wagstaffe,
1669 ; and the Proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler, 1324.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 193
nearly eighty years of age, and had lived in the direst poverty,
occasionaUy relieved by mendicancy until public ojiinion had
taken it into its head to endow them with the powers of
natural magic. And now visitors flocked to the miserable
hovels in Pendle Forest for love-potions, poisons, washes,
and waxen images, that if melted would render the barren
fruitful. The two old crones began to flourish, and since
the business which had been forced upon them appeared a
very paying concern, both Old Demdike and Old Chattox
were much too wise in their generation to deny the arts with
which they were credited. Each acted her part with much
cunning and mystery ; but, as two of a trade seldom agree,
feuds and bickerings soon broke out between the competing
witches. Old Demdike declared that she was the only
genuine agent of the devil, that all her wares were efficacious,
and that those who went elsewhere obtained but a spurious
article. Old Chattox retorted in the same mercantile spirit,
and thus it came to pass that the inhabitants in the forest
began to be divided into two rival parties — one party uphold
ing the excellence of Old Demdike, whilst the other party
believed only in her competitor. For some years these two
elderly ladies appear to have driven a lucrative trade in
superstition, and to have found that their lines had fallen in
pleasant places. On the accession of James I., however,
Nemesis, then travelling in the north in search of victims,
paid them one of her unpleasant visits.
Our ' British Solomon ' took a singular interest in
witchcraft ; he firmly believed in the existence of witches,
VOL. II. O

194 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
as is proved by his work entitled ' Dsemonologie,' and he
was resolved to stamp out the whole brood in the country.
Shortly after his accession he caused to be enrolled in the
statute book an Act to suppress the crimes of sorcery,
necromancy, and witchcraft, which is among the most
sanguinary that its pages have ever had to record. By this
Act it was decreed ' that all persons invoking any evil
spirit, or concealing, covenanting with, entertaining, em
ploying, feeing, or rewarding any evil spirit ; or taking up
dead bodies from their graves, to be used in any witchcraft,
sorcery, charm, or enchantment ; or killing, or otherwise
hurting any person by such infernal arts, shall be guilty of
felony without benefit of clergy, and sufier death.' The
consequences of the creation of this authority were to over
run the country with informers, to sacrifice innocent persons
freely to the credulity of the age, and to permit many
ordinary casualties — the burning of a rick, the falling sick
of cattle, the sudden death of the ailing, and the rest — to
be attributed, in want of better interpretation, to the incan
tations of witchcraft.
With this statute in active force, it was scarcely likely
that the proceedings of such notorious dames as Old
Demdike and Old Chattox would escape notice. A war
rant was made out by the Lancashire magistrates for the
apprehension of the two women, and they were com
mitted to take their trial at the next assizes. Justice,
however, was not content with securing the persons of
the two chief offenders, but was determined to destroy the

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 195
whole brood, and accordingly there were lodged in the prison
cells at the same time, Elizabeth, daughter of Old Dem
dike ; James Device, her son ; Anne Redfern, daughter of
Old Chattox ; Alice Nutter, and others ; Whilst a little girl
— Jennet Device, the granddaughter of Old Demdike — was
kept free, to act as witness against her family. Old Dem
dike had not long been within the walls of the gaol before
she drew up a full statement of her past history, for the
benefit of the magistrates then investigating her case. She
confessed that about twenty years ago she had met the devil
in Pendle Forest, ' in the shape of a boy, the one half of his
coat black and the other brown,' who offered to give her
everything she would request in exchange for her soul. Th\is
tempted she fell, and admitted that she had had frequent
resort to her new friend, who said ' his name was Tibb,' and
who appeared at various times to her ' in the guise of a brown
dog.' She was now fourscore years old, and had been, she
frankly owned, a witch ever since she was thirty. Her
home had been for the last half-century in the forest of
Pendle — ' a vast place, fit for her profession ; ' and there she
had ' brought up her own children, instructed her grand
children, and took great care and pains to bring ihem to be
witches.' She pleaded guilty to having bewitched several
persons, upon whom vengeance was demanded, so that they
died; to having ' her famUiar,' the brown dog, to bite cattle, so
that they soon afterwards perished ; and to having brought
death in the cup by bewitching the different drinks of men.
This confession was followed by one of a similar charac-
o 2

196 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
ter from Old Chattox. The ancient dame, however, took
the opportunity of attributing her present unhappy posi
tion entirely to the evU advice of her former rival. She
declared that ' about fourteen years past she entered, through
the wicked persuasions and counsel of Elizabeth Southerns,
alias Demdike, and was seduced to condescend and agree
to become subject unto that devilish, abominable profession
of witchcraft.' At the house of Demdike she met the devil,
' who moved that she would become his subject, and give
her soul unto him.' At first she refused ; ' but after, by the
great persuasion made by the said Demdike, she yielded to
be at his commandment and appointment.' Upon her con
sent the devil said that when she wanted to summon him
she must call out ' Fancy 1 ' In her statement the old
hag confesses having bewitched a young gentleman who at
tempted to do violence to her daughter, and with causing
his death ; to having made wax images which slowly wasted
away before the fire, so that those whom they resembled
miglit likewise perish ; and to having sold potions, destroyed
cattle, and poisoned drinks by the art of ' her familiar '
Fancy. With the exception of two or three of the accused,
aU now followed the example of Old Demdike and Old
Chattox, and drew up confessions either freely acknowledg
ing their guilt, or attributing their errors to the two aged
crones under whom they studied. In the crimes of which
they con-vict themselves there is a great simUarity : selling
potions and poisons, bewitching persons to a slow and pain
ful death, destroying cattle by wounds inflicted by the evil

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 197
one, sucking the breath of young children, and gratifying
the desire of the barren in some cases and the, promptings
of vengeance in others, appear among the chief articles of
self-accusation. With the exception of Old Demdike, who
died in prison before her trial, the whole of the Lancashne
witches, who had established themselves in Pendle Forest,
were found guilty and executed Augu.st 17, 1612.'
It is difficult to account for the circumstantial character
of these confessions unless they were suggested by the delu
sions of insanity, or by the pains of torture. The King, it
was well known, was the bitter foe of all witches, and magis
trates anxious to curry royal favour were assured that there-
was no better course to gain their ends than to ferret out an
ample supply of 'victims, encourage them to accuse them
selves in order to gain their release, then con-vict them out of
their o-wn mouths and send them to the gallows. ' Con
fessions were so common on those occasions,' writes the
learned Mr. Crossley, ' that there is, I believe, not a single
instance of any great number of persons being con'victed of
witchcraft at one time, some of whom did not make a con
fession of guilt. Nor is there anything extraordinary in
that circumstance, when it is remembered that many of
them sincerely believed in the existence of the powers attri
buted to them ; and others, aged and of weak understanding,
were in a measure coerced by the strong persuasion of their
guilt, which all around them manifested, into an acquies-
1 Potts's Discovery of Witches in Lancashire, edited by J. Crossley,
Cheetham Societj'.

198 STORIES IROM THE STATE PAPERS.
cence in tlje truth of the accusation. In many cases the
confessions Vere made in the hope, and no doubt with the
promise, seldom performed, that a respite from punishment
would be eventually granted. In other instances, there is
as little doubt that they were the final results of irritation,
agony, and despair. The confessions are generally com
posed of " such stuff as dreams are made of; " and what they
report to have occurred might either proceed, when there
was intention to fabricate, from intertwining the fantastic
threads which sometimes stream upon the waking senses
from the land of shadows, or be caused by those ocular
hallucinations of which medical science has supplied full and
satisfactory solution. There is no argument which so long
maintained its ground in support of witchcraft as that
which was founded on these confessions. It was the last
plank clung to by many a witch-believing lawyer and
divine. And yet there is none which will less bear critical
scrutiny and examination, or the fallacy of which can more
easily be shown, if any particular reported confession is taken
as a test, and subjected to a searching analysis and inquiry.'
Twenty years after these events had taken place another
batch of so-called Lancashire witches was unearthed, of
whose proceedings the State Papers of Charles I. furnish a
full account. ' The greatest news from the country,' writes
one Sir William Pelham to Viscount Conway,' 'is of a huge
pack of witches which are lately discovered in Lancashire,
¦ May 16, 1634, State Papers, Domestic, 1634-5, edited by John Bruce,
F.S.A.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 199
whereof it is said nineteen are condemned, and that there
are at least sixty already discovered, and yet daily there are
more revealed : there are divers of them of good abUity, and
they have done much harm. It is suspected that they had a
hand in r.aising the gr-eat storm wherein his Majesty was in
so great danger at sea in Scotland.' Sir William was evi
dently a firm believer in the arts of diabolical magic, but he
somewhat exaggerates the details of this discovery. It
appears that for some time past village rumour had re
ported that in Pendle Forest, precisely on the same site
where Old Demdike and Old Chattox had carried on their
evil practices, a band of women had congregated which pro
fessed to be, in a simUar manner, the agents of the powers
of darkness. Of these women the presiding spirit was one
Margaret Johnson, an elderly crone of sixty, whom country
gossip accused of wholesale bewitchery of young chUdren, of
the sick and dying, and of cattle grazing in the ' vaccaries,'
or the great upland pastures of the neighbourhood. With
her, it was said, were associated as accomplices in her vile
art, Frances Dicconson, the wife of a husbandman in Pendle
Forest, Mary Spencer of Burley, a young girl of twenty, and
Alice Hargrave, together with some twenty other women
of lesser note.
The proceedings of this little infernal community having
been reported to the neighbouring magistrates, a warrant
for the apprehension of its leaders was issued, who were
at once committed for trial at the next assizes. The chief
informer on this occasion was a young lad, Edmund

200 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Robinson, commonly known by the name of ' Ned of
Roughs,' the son of a mason in Pendle Forest. Both
father and son, it seems, had been in the habit of going
from church to church, in the capacity of amateur dis
coverers of -witches, and accusing various members of the
different congregations of diabolical arts; and with such
success that it is stated ' by that' means they got a good
living, that in a short space the father bought a cow or two
when he had none before.' At the trial young Robinson
was sworn, and proceeded to state his case. He was a prac
tised evidence-monger, and there was Uttle hesitation in the
story he told from the witness-box. Kissing the book and
looking straight at the bench, he said that ujion All Saints'
Day last he was picking wild plums in the forest with a
friend, and whilst thus engaged two greyhounds, a black
and a brown one, came running up to him and fawned upon
him. He noticed that they had collars round their necks
which ' shone like gold,' and that to each of the collars a
piece of string was attached. Seeing no one with the grey
hounds, he thought 'to hunt with them, and presently a hare
did rise very near before him, at the sight whereof he cried
Loo ! loo 1 but the dogs would not run.' Irritated at this
unsportsmanlike conduct he tied the hounds together to a
hedge, and was about to give them a good thrashing, when
suddenly the black greyhound vanished, and in her place
stood Frances Dicconson. Almost immediately afterwards
the brown greyhound disappeared, and in her stead appeared
a little boy.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.

Frightened at this transformation, he, the witness, was
about to run away, when the woman Dicconson put her
hand in her pocket and offered him a shilling, pro-vided he
would say nothing about the matter. He declined the
money, and called out that she was a witch. 'Where
upon she put her hand into her pocket again, and pulled
out a string like unto a bridle that jingled, which .she
put upon the little boy's head that stood up in the brown
greyhound's stead ; whereupon the said boy stood up a white
horse.' Young Robinson was now seized by Mother Diccon
son, and carried rapidly off to a house called Hoarestones.
Here he met numerous other witches who had ridden to the
place on horses of various colours, and was offered refresh
ments, which he refused. 'And presently after, seeing
divers of the company going to a barn near adjoining, he
followed after, and there he saw six of them kneeling and
pulling at six several ropes which were fastened or tied to
the top of the house; at once with which pulling came
then in this informer's sight flesh smoking, butter in lumps,
and milk as it were straining from the said ropes, all which
fell into basons placed under the ropes. And after that
these six had done, there came other six, which did likewise,
and during all the time of their so pulling they made such
foul faces that he became frightened, and was glad to steal
out and run home.' On being asked by the coui't if he were
acquainted with any of the women who had been engaged
in these practices in the barn, the witness answered that he
knew them well by sight, and proceeded to give their names.

202 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
to the number of some twenty. His evidence concluded,
Robinson was ordered to stand down.'
The confession of Margaret Johnson — for, of course,
according to custom, she had confessed — was then read.
The old dame said that some eight years ago, being in her
house ' in a great passion of anger and discontent, and
withal pressed with some want,' there suddenly appeared
before her a spirit like unto a man, ' apparelled in a suit of
black tied about with black points,' who offered, if she
would give him her soul, to supply all her needs and stand
ever as her firm friend. After ' a solicitation or two she
contracted and covenanted with the said devil for her soul,'
to whom, under the name of ' Mamil my God,' she hence
forth always appUed for what she required. This friend,
she admitted, had paid frequent visits to her, now in the
shape of a brown coloured dog, then of a hare or white cat,
and invariably settled upon her bosom to suck her blood.
He often put into her hand gold and silver, ' but it vanished
soon again, and she was ever bare and poor, though he oft
gave her the like.' However, since she had been in trouble
the spirit had cruelly deserted her, for she had never seen
bim whilst in prison.
The poor demented creature then frankly acknow
ledged her guilt, and mentioned the names of several
women who had been her accomplices. In the fulness of
her heart she also took this opportunity to reveal one or
two of the secrets of her order. Good Friday, she ex-
' State Papers, July 10, 1634.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 203
plained, was the one great day in the year for the general
meeting of witches, when they assembled ' to consult for the
killing and hurting of men and beasts.' The marks upon
the body denoted the number of famiUars a witch could
invoke : ' if a witch have but one mark she hath but one
spirit ; if two, then two spirits ; if three, yet but two spirits.'
More than two spirits to one agent, Satan would never
permit. The men -witches were possessed by women spirits,
and women witches by men spirits ; but witchcraft, she said,
was rather the province of women than of men, because as
Eve was deceived by the serpent at the beginning, so women,
being frailer, were more easily entrapped in the snares of
the devU. Witches had power ' to cause foul weather and
storms ; ' and if they ' desire to be in any place upon a sudden,
their devU or spirit wiU upon a rod, dog, or anything else,
presently convey them thither, yea, into any room of a man's
house : still it is not the substance of their bodies, but their
spirit assumeth such form and shape as go into such rooms.'
Then with a piteous moan she confessed she had no more to
say, and could not hope for mercy.'
Though the example of Margaret Johnson, in admitting
her guilt, was followed by several of the accused, there were
one or two who, healthy in mind and conscious of innocence,
declined to implicate them.selves. These loudly affirmed that
they were not witches, but honest women, fearing God and
serving the King. Speaking up against her informer, Frances
Dicconson denied the whole story of the lad Robinson, and
1 State Papers, June 15, 1634.

204 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
said that he was a young scoundrel who had been prompted
by his father to wrong her because she had refused to sell
him a cow, and had also refused to pay the price he
had asked for him not to appear against her. But the
most curious instance of how, in those days of superstition,
the simplest n^atter could be distorted into a cause for
offence, is to be found in the case of Mary Spencer. This
young girl was accustomed to go into the village to draw
water, and as she went down the steep hill that led to the
well, she let the wooden paU she carried roll after her, and
as now it followed her, and then she chased it, she, like a
healthy merry lass, sang and called after it as if it had been
a living creature. For this childish outburst of animal spirits
Mary Spencer was accused of witchcraft; it was alleged that
the pail followed her about where she listed, and hence was
not of wood, but of the devil. Unfortunately, what gave a
colour to this assertion was the fact that the girl herself was
the daughter of witches, for it appears that both her father
and mother had been condemned during the last assizes for
professing magic arts. The poor lass was accordingly com
mitted to prison, and sent for trial. At her examination she
Stoutly denied that she knew any witchcraft, or had ever
done hurt thereby to anybody. She had always gone to church,
she said indignantly, and could repeat the Creed and the Lord's
Prayer. She defied the devil and all his works, and only
hoped to be saved by Christ Jesus. She admitted without
shame that when she went to the well for water she used ' to
trundle the coUock or pail down the hill, and she would run

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 205
along after it to overtake it, and did overhie it sometimes,
and then might call it to come to her ; ' but she utterly
denied that it followed her of its own accord, or that she
could ever make it come to her by any witchcraft. Then,
after an appeal for mercy to her judges, she said she was a
Christian and not afraid of death, for she hoped it would
make an entrance for her into heaven.'
On the revelations contained in these examinations and
confessions, seventeen out of this second pack of Lancashire
witches were brought in guilty by the jury, and condemned
to death. Fortunately, the judge who presided on this oc
casion was a humane and sensible man, and superior to the
prejudices of his day. The evidence against the prisoners
failed to satisfy him ; he refused to appoint a date for the
execution, and referred the case to the King in Coimcil for
further consideration. Accordingly, Bridgman, Bishop of
Chester, was instructed by Coke and Windebank, the two
Secretaries of State, to examine two or three of the most
prominent among the condemned. Margaret Johnson was
the first to be summoned, and was the most penitent of
offenders. After listening to an exhortation from his lord
ship, the old woman, weejdng piteously, sobbed out, ' I will
not add sin to sin. I have already done enough, nay, too
much, and will not increase it. I pray God I may repent.'
The guilt of the others was not so easily arrived at. They
denied the chai-ges brought against them, and explained
how they had been the sport of the vindictiveness of their
1 State Papers, June 15, 1634.

2c6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
neighbours. The bishop was nonplussed, and knew not how
to separate the truth from the falsehood : ' Conceit and
malice,' he writes to the Secretaries of State,' ' are so power
ful with many in those parts, that they will easily afford an
oath to work revenge upon their neighbour : ' in fact, his
lordship declined to commit him.self to an opinion one way
or the other.
As a second solution of the difficulty, the matter was
now entrusted to medical hands. It was acknowledged
that every true witch had certain peculiar marks about
her person, which were nothing else than seals impressed
by the devil, and by which therefore she could easily be
identified. Should these marks be found on the condemned,
there was at once an end of the inquiry. Margaret Johnson,
Frances Dicconson, Mary Spencer, and one Janet Har-
graves, as the most notorious of the offenders, were hastily
sent up from Lancaster gaol to the Ship Tavern at Greenwich,
where they were for the moment housed. At the same time
Alexander Baker and WUliam Clowes, the King's surgeons,
were ordered by the Council ' to make choice of midwives to
inspect and search the bodies of those women lately brought
up by the sheriff of Lancashire indicted for witchcraft,
wherein the midwives are to receive instructions from
Dr. Harvey, the King's physician, and themselves.' ^ The
examination took place, and the question excited so much
interest that the King himself, it is said, was present. It re
sulted in the doctors coming to the conclusion that on the
1 State Papers, June 15, 1634. 2 Ibid. June 29, 1634.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 207
bodies of Janet Hargraves, Frances Dicconson, and Mary
Spencer they found nothing unnatural ; whilst on the body
of Margaret Johnson there were two marks, which were
probably the effect of a former application of leeches.'
Such was the mouse which the mountain of witchcraft had
delivered. The evidence for the prosecution having now in a great
measure broken down, it struck Secretary Windebank that
he would privately examine the lad Edmund Robinson, upon
whose sole and unsupported testimony the whole case de
pended. The boy was removed from the influence of his
father, and then the truth came out. Before the stern
presence of the Secretary of State the boldness of the witness,
who had given so glibly his evidence as to the greyhounds,
Mrs. Dicconson, and the meeting at Hoarestones, completely
collapsed, and crying for mercy the lad confessed the enormi
ties of which he had been guilty. He admitted that the
story he had told to the magistrates concerning the practices
of witches was ' false and feigned, and had no truth at all,
but only as he had heard tales and reports made by women,
so he framed his tale out of his own invention, which, when
he had once told, he had to persist in.' The trial of the
Lancashire witches twenty years ago had suggested the
materials for his story. ' He had heard,' said this charming
youth, ' the neighbours talk of a witch fea.st that was kept
at Mocking Tower in Pendle Forest, about twenty years
since, to which feast divers witches came, and many were
1 State Papers, July 2, 1634.

2o8 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
apprehended and executed at Lancaster, and thereupon it
came into his head to make the like tale of a meeting at
Hoarestones : ' the more especially as Frances Dicconson
and the others were reputed by their neighbours to be
witches. ' He had heard,' continued this interesting speci
men of juvenUe depravity, ' Edmund Stevenson say that he
was much troubled with Dicconson's wife in the time of his
sickness, and that he suspected her of witchcraft ; and he
heard Robert Smith say that his wife lying upon her death
bed accused Janet Hargraves to be the cause of her death ;
and he heard William Nutter's wife say, that Janet and
William De'vys had bewitched her; and it was generally
spoken that Beawse's wife who went a-begging was a witch ;
and he had heard Sharpee Smith say that the wife of John
Loynd laid her hand upon a cow of his, after which the animal
never rose.' With these materials, and assisted by a vivid
imagination unballasted by scruples of any kind whatever,
young Robinson confessed he had concocted his story. ' No
body,' he said, with some pride, ' was ever acquainted with
any part of my fiction or invention, nor did anybody ever
advise me, but it merely proceeded out of mine own brain.'
Like Coriolanus, he could cry, ' Alone I did it ! '
The motive for the fabrication of these heinous false
hoods, which had for their object the bringing of innocent
people to the gallows, is a terrible instance of how great
crimes can sometimes arise from the commission of slight
offences. It appears that it was the boy's duty to look
after his father's cattle, to drive them home from the

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 209
meadows, and to see that they were properly housed in
the shed during night. One evening, having been tempted
to play with some children, young Robinson found the
time had sUpped so merrUy away, that to his horror he was
now too late to go in search of the kine. Fearing a beat
ing from his parents, the ready lie, always the resource
of the timid, rose to his lips, and ' he made this tale for
an excuse.' Henceforth amusement became easy to him ;
he could neglect his duty as much as he pleased, and play as
often as he chose in the woods and the village streets, for
on his return home he had only to give as an excuse that
he had not been to the meadows to fetch the cattle because
he had been spirited away by a witch, or that he had been
frightened by seeing a boy with a cloven foot, or that a
woman coming up to him had suddenly transformed herself
into a lantern, and he had run away in sheer terror. Before
Windebank, Robinson now solemnly denied that there
had been any truth in these statements ; he had ' but told
these tales to excuse himself when he had been at play.' '
It is some satisfaction to learn that in this instance the
biter was severely bit, for both the boy and his father were
imprisoned under heavy sentences, whilst the so-called
witches were released and had their innocence fully estab
lished. The revelations disclosed at this trial dealt a severe blow
to this peculiar form of superstition. It was now seen how
easily vindictiveness or lack of principle could trump up a
1 State Papers, July 10 and 16, 1634.
VOL. II. P

210 STOR/ES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
case of witchcraft against persons perfectly guUtless ot 11
diabolical arts, and succeed in bringing their necks to the
gallows. It was also seen how terror or a distorted imagina
tion could force, as in the case of Margaret Johnson, the
innocent to confess to acts which they had never committed,
and which when analysed were but one tissue of mental
delusions. Hence when, in the future, accusations of witch
craft were brought against certain individuals, such charges
were inquired into by the justices of the peace with a care
and a respect for common sense which had hitherto been
painfully conspicuous by their absence. Still it was long
before the nation emancipated herself from the thraldom of
this degrading credulity, and it was not until the middle of
the eighteenth century that the law positively declined to
consider the ' magic arts ' as within the bounds of possibUity.
Throughout the stormy times of the Civil War, and during
the dissolute period of the Restoration, it always went hard
with a woman accused of witchcraft, when accidental circum
stances appeared to support the charge — when, for example,
by a curious coincidence an evil prophecy that she had
made had been fulfilled, or when by the buoyancy of her
corpulence she failed to sink when pitched into a pond, or
when, as in the instance of Margaret Johnson, she had
certain marks upon her bodj', which might be interpreted
as the suckling spots of her familiar. We have no occasion
to be a student of Buckle to learn that, of all the reUcs of
paganism with which civilisation in its onward march has
had to contend, none have been more difficult to eradicate

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.

from the heart of man than that special form of superstition
which found one phase of its full development in the study
and belief of witchcraft. Even at the present day, in many
of our English villages, the power and existence of a witch
are stUl believed in.'
' Since this article was written, the following trial took place. Four
women were convicted, June 21, 1881, before the Correctional Tribunal at
Charleroi in Belgium, of swindling by means of pretended sorcery. The
chief of the gang was a Madame Lignan, who obtained money by pretending
to exercise the same art as the most notorious of these Lancashire witches
—making up love-potions, healing the sick, pretending to cause death
when it suited her, but above all proclaiming her power to assist fortune-
hunters in the obtaining of legacies. On this case a morning paper thus
comments : —
' After such revelations as these, which disclose unscrupulous cunning
and greed on the one side, and on the other a lamentable amount of avarice
and superstition, it is difficult to affirm that the belief in witchcraft is no
longer a powerful force on the continent of Europe. We have no rea.son to
suppose that the inhabitants of the particular part of Belgium where Char
leroi is situated are more naturally credulous or less educated than other
Belgians ; certainly they may be judged to be more enlightened than the
average Russian peasant. Their complete belief, however, in the power of
the EvU One being delegated to such a human instrument as the nefarious
Madame Lignan appears to be inseparably bound up with the articles of
their religion, and would be quite touching if it were not so extremely
ludicrous and so miserably irrational. Yet who shall say that we in England
are quite free from the taint of superstition ? We burned our last witch so
long ago as the beginning of the eighteenth century ; but quite lately —
in 1863 — a reputed wizard was drowned in a pond at the village of Heding-
ham, in Essex, not forty miles from London ; while in 1867 " Dr. Harris "
was committed for trial at the Radnorshire Assizes for duping persons into
the belief that their ailments were caused by their being "witched," and
for professing to cure them by giving them charms to wear suspended
round their necks. Eveu later than this there have been cases in England
of reputed " wise women " having their wisdom and their necromantic
abilities tested by the old ordeal of the horse-pond ; at the present moment
there are thousands of Cornish and Devonshire rustics who believe impli
citly in the " evil eye " and in the existence of " brownies ; " and the viUage
p 2

212 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
witch is quite a popular local institution in various parts of the country.
When will railroads, religion, and civilisation all combined, succeed in driv
ing out of the heads of European populations the faith in particular persons
being selected as authorised agents of the Powers of Darkness — a belief
which has come straight down to us from the bad old days when ignorance,
Popery, and cruelty flourished unchecked ? '

213

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON.
Oh the miserable and calamitous spectacle ! such as haply the world
had not seen the like since the foundation of it, nor be outdone till the uni
versal conflagration. — John Evelyn.
Lord ! what a sad sight it was by moonlight to see the whole city
almost on fire, that you might see it plain at Woolwich as if you were by
it ! — Samuel Pepys.
' 1666, 2nd Septembee. This fatal night, about ten,' writes
chatty John Evelyn in his Memoirs, ' began that deplorable
fire near Fish Street, in London.' How the fire originated
we know not, but the fiames were first seen to issue from
the shop of a French baker, near London Bridge. The
progress of the conflagration was fearfully rapid ; for every
thing, it seemed, had conspired to lay the city in ruins. The
season had been an exceptionally dry one ; a fierce easterly
wind was blowing all the while, thus encouraging the fury
of the flames ; the houses, closely crowded together and built
entirely of wood, were incapable of opposing any resistance
to the enemy; there was, as there had always been until
within comparatively recent times, a terrible lack of water
in the City ; whUst the engineering appUances to cope with
so devouring an element were of the feeblest character.
Writers, chiefly foreigners who visited our shores, had fre«

214 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
quently raised their voices in warning against the dangers to
which we were then exposed from fire. They pointed to the
absence of brick and stone in our dwelUngs, to our narrow
streets, to our houses pressing one upon the other without
plan or arrangement in their construction, to our want of
wells and water supply, and to the lack of men specially
trained to fight against a severe conflagration, and keep it
under. ' You may fear the Dutch,' said one, ' but a fire in
your midst will work you more hurt than all the fleets of
Holland and France together.'
This prediction was now to be fulfilled. Before the fatal
morning of that September had dawned, all the houses
and wharfs on the banks of the Thames, on the Middle
sex side, had crashed down and were one heap of charred
ruin. The numerous winding streets which ran from
Cornhill to the Tower were a mass of smouldering rafters
and wrecked goods and chattels. Then rapidly licking
their way, the forked flames sped their lurid course due
west — up the Poultry, up Cheapside, around the sacred
ediflce of St. Paul's, do-wn Ludgate Hill and the neighbour
hood of Newgate, along Fleet Street and Warwick Lane, till
they reached the Inner Temple ; the fire, like a swollen river
that has burst its dam, and scorns all opposition, swept
everything before it. For a moment the flames crossed
towards Whitehall, but the wind changing, they were beaten
back to complete their work of havoc in the east. From the
Temple to the Tower, north and south, east and west, the
City was as if it had been laid waste by the enemy. What

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 215
had once been flourishing streets and [imposing structures
«
were now acres of vacant spaces, strewn with smoking
rubbish, charred furniture, and household stuff and dead
animals. Here and there, some partly hidden beneath the
blackened rafters of fallen buildings, and others lying stark
and exposed upon the smouldering heaps of wreck, were a
few corpses. St. Paul's, that ' goodly church,' was a sad
ruin. The fine halls of the different City companies were
leveUed to the ground. The statues in the Royal Exchange,
of the English sovereigns since the Conquest, had been baked
by the heat, and had then burst into a thousand pieces. The
fountains, the favourite places of gossip of an evening of the
apprentices and the City maidens, were dried up, whifet the
water in their basins was hissing forth its heated vapours.
All the cellars and warehouses, the crowded goods of which
constituted so much of the wealth of the City, were being
consumed, and darkened the sky by their spasmodic belchings
of black and acrid smoke. ' So that in five or six miles tra
versing about,' says Evelyn, ' I did not see one load of timber
unconsumed, nor many stores but what were caicined white
as snow.' ' I am too much affected,' writes an anonymous corre
spondent to one Pedder, at Newport,' 'with the deplorable
sight of London's ruin ever again to value the things of this
world, seeing all man's labour and riches but a portion that
an hour may consume. I heard many cries and complaints ;
but some gave glory to God in the fire, and wished the por-
1 State Papers, Domestic, edited by Mrs. Green, September 13, 1666.

2i6 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
tion consumed had been more laid out for His glory. In
three days the most flourishing city in the world is a ruinous
heap, the streets only to be known by the maimed remainder
of the churches. These differ about how it began ; but all
agree that it was the anger of the Lord for the sins of the
people : yet the great ones, like Israel of old, say, " The
bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones."
Pestilence and fire have come ; Jesus the Lord will empty
His quiver of wrath unless the nation improve its pri-vileges.
I have lost nothing in the fire : the people are quite stupefied
and surprised by it.'
On the first shooting forth of the flames, and the cruel
rapidity with which they bore down everj^hing that barred
their devastating progress, the inhabitants were utterly
paralysed with terror. They appeared incapable of all
thought and action. ' The conflagration,' writes Evelyn,
' was so universal and the people so astonished, that from the
beginning, I know not from what despondency or fate, they
hardly stirred to quench it ; so that there was nothing heard
or seen but crying out and lamentation, running about like
distracted creatures, without at aU attempting to save even
their goods. Such a strange consternation there was upon
them, so as it burned, both in breadth and length, the
churches, public halls. Exchange, hospitals, monuments, and
ornaments, leaping after a prodigious manner from house to
house and street to street at great distances one from the
other : for the heat, with a long set of fair and warm
weather, had even ignited the air and prepared the materials

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 217
to conceive the fire, which devoured, after an incredible
manner, houses, furniture, and everything. Here we saw the
Thames covered with goods fioating, all the barges and boats
laden with what some had time and courage to save ; as, on
the other, the carts, &c., carrying out to the fields, which for
many miles were strewed with movables of all sorts, and
tents erecting to shelter both people and what goods they ,
could get away. Oh the miserable and calamitous spectacle !
such as haply the world had not seen the like since the
foundation of it, nor be outdone till the universal confiagra-
tion. All the sky was of a fiery aspect, like the top of a
burning oven, the Ught seen above forty miles round about
for many nights. God gi'ant my eyes may never behold the
like, now seeing above 10,000 houses all in one flame ! the
noise, and cracking, and thunder of the impetuous flames,
the shrieking of women and children, the hurry of people,
the fall of towers, houses, and churches was Uke an hideous
storm, and the air all about so hot and inflamed that at last
one was not able to approach it, so that they were forced to
stand still and let the flames burn on, which they did for near
two miles in length and one in breadth. The clouds of smoke
were dismal, and reached upon computation near fifty miles
in length. Thus I left it this afternoon burning, a resem
blance of Sodom or the last day. London was, but is no
more ! '
The first shock over, the courage of Englishmen was re-
•stored to panic-stricken London, and energetic measures
were at once adopted to crush the terrible foe that had so

2i8 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
suddenly and with such malignant force made its presence
felt. Constables were stationed at Temple Bar, Clifford's
Inn, Fetter Lane, Shoe Lane, and Cow Lane. At each of
these five posts soldiers were on guard under the command
of a ' good and careful officer and three gentlemen,' who had
power to grant one shilUng to such as had been dUigent in
putting out the flames all night. Five pounds in bread,
cheese, and beer, were allowed to the men at each post.
The trained bands were called out to protect the people's
goods in Lincoln's Inn Fields, Gray's Inn Fields, Hatton
Garden, and St. Giles's Fields, and a ' great officer ' was told
off to see that these orders were properly execu'ted.' Instruc
tions were sent to the magistrates for Middlesex to procure
workmen and tools; the militia of Middlesex, Surrey, and
Hertfordshire were called out, ' for prevention of unhappy
consequences ;' and the crisis was considered so dangerous
that the presence of Monk, Duke of Albemarle, who was in
command of the fleet, was keenly desired by the agitated
Londoners. ' If my Lord General,' writes Lord ArUngton
to Sir Thomas Clifford, who was then with the fleet, expect
ing to give battle to the Dutch,^ ' could see the condition we
are in, I am confident, and so is everybody else, he would
think it more honour to be called to this occasion than to be
stayed in the fleet, where it is possible he may not have an
opportunity of fighting the enemy ; but here it is certain he
will have it in his hands to give the King his kingdom a
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 3, 1666.
» Ibid. September 4, 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 219
second time, and the world see therein the value the; King
makes of him.' Monk complied with the royal wishes, but
the fire was extinguished before his return ; in his capacity
of Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex he however assisted in the
subsequent precautions to restore order.
To aid the distressed and to open storehouses for the re
ception of goods, a proclamation was now issued, ordering
that for the supply of the destitute bread was to be dis
tributed gratuitously at the markets held in Bishopsgate
Street, Tower Hill, Smithfield, and Leadenhall Street —
the ordinary markets having been destroyed — and that all
churches, chapels, schools, and public buildings were to be
thrown open to receive the goods of those persons who did
not know how to dispose of them.' No difficulty was ex
perienced in obtaining volunteers to help in extinguishing
the flames : the whole population was knit together by the
closest of all ties, that of selfish fear. No one knew but
that his own house might be the next victim, and the con
sequence was, that men of all ranks hastened to contribute
their personal efforts to quench the fire. The King and his
brother were most active during this anxious time. ' He
and the Duke of York,' we are told,^ ' frequently exposed
their persons with few attendants, sometimes even intermix
ing with those who laboured in the business.'
But it was in the removal of his hardly-saved goods that
the citizen was most perplexed. The villages around the
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 5, 1666.
2 Ibid. September 8, 1666.

220 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
City — Kingsland, Hackney, Highgate, Edgware, Finchley,
and other suburbs — were thronged with rich and poor,
guarding the different household goods they had managed to
snatch from the avarice of the flames. It was the object of
all who had been fortunate enough in saving any property to
have it at once carried to a place of security ; to effect this
was, however, no easy task. Labour was in such demand,
and vehicles of any description were so scarce, that ' four
pounds a load to a carter, and ten shillings a day to a
porter,' were deemed small wages.' From the numerous peti
tions presented to the King for relief, to be found among the
State Papers, we can form some idea of the misery and dis
tress which followed in the wake of this wholesale wrecking
of property. The parish churches were destroyed, yet the
poor were thrown upon the hands of the clergy, and cla
moured for relief. The clothiers of Coventry were ruined, for
' their whole estate of cloth ' had been stored in the City
warehouses. Bookbinders, printers, and artificers of all de
scriptions had lost their entire stock-in-trade, and were
left completely destitute. Ships heavUy laden with goods in
the docks and the river had been set on fire, and their cap
tains, considering that they had a claim on the Government,
petitioned the CounoU for help. Landlords whose houses
had been gutted by the flames were beggai'ed. Aldermen
and merchants, whose ceUars had been stocked with valuable
produce, found themselves, within the short space of three
days, deprived of the fruits of a lifetime of anxious and
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 6, 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON.

honest toU. On all sides we read of nothing but want, ruin,
and prayer for relief. ' M. Leroy, jeweller, has had great
losses on the fire, and wants to be paid for a diamond ring of
the Countess of Castlemaine.' John Ogilby, bookseller, asks
for a licence to import paper largely from France, to replace
stock, destroyed after twenty years spent ' in setting forth
several books in a more noble and heroic way than hath
been heretofore done in England.' Nathaniel Hubert peti
tions for ' an order to the Admiralty Court to take him from
Newgate prison, where he lies perishing, and send him to
sea, to which he was condemned because in removing the goods
of one Serskall during the fire, receiving no reward, he de
tained goods value 3s. 6ii., since restored.' One disinterested
person, anxious to make a private claim conducive to public
utility, sends in a ' Proposal to prevent mischief from aliens,
who are suspected to have had a hand in burning the City,
by a grant to the writer, on consideration of his sad condition
after represented, of a patent whereby no foreigner would
remain a night without full information whence he came,
where he lodges, &c., and the same of subjects not at their
own homes, so that robberies, murders, and other mischiefs
may be prevented or discovered.' '
The only persons who derived benefit from the calamity
were those who had nothing to lose. The beggars, the cut-
purses, the predatory tramps, the nocturnal prowlers availed
themselves to the full of the opportunities which the dark
ness and desolation around now offered them. They pilfered
' State Papers, Domestic, September 1666.

222 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
such goods as they could conveniently carry away with them.
They made raids upon the poor who were feebly endeavour
ing to protect the little they had saved from the fiames.
Under cover of the smoke, they entered burning houses and
seized upon any valuables that came within their reach.
Nor did they scruple to stab and then rob those who crossed
their path in the purUeus of Thames Street, and whose dress
and appearance betokened them to be prizes worth securing.
Though constables, the trained bands, and militiamen
patrolled the streets, the ruin was so great and the confusion
so bewUdering that it became no difficult task for the robber
and the assassin to escape undetected to his haunts and in
safe possession of his booty. ' There are many people,' writes
one James Hicks,' 'found murdered and carried into the
vaults amongst the ruins, as three last night, as I hear, and
it is supposed by hearty fellows that cry, " Do you want
light? " and carry links; and that, when they catch a man
single, whip into a vault with him, knock him down, strip
him from top to toe, blow out their links, and leave the
person for dead ; and an apothecary's man in Southwark,
coming into Fenchurch Street, being so served, and being
left for dead, when these 'vUlains had done, struck fire with
a tinder-box, which they took out of their pockets, lighted
their links, and away, and by the glimpse of their lights, as
the story goes, the man perceived a dead body lying by him
in the said vault. When the murderers were gone, the
young man made shift to get out, from whom this relation
1 State Papers, Domestic, December 12, 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 223
is spread, and a woman dead in the vault was found. For
want of good watches, no person dare, after the close of the
evening, pass the streets amongst the ruins.'
So terrible a disaster as the fire of London caused the
wildest excitement in the provinces. It was a time of great
ignorance and suspicion, and as the means of communicating
the real state of the case were very limited and imperfect,
the most strange reports got abroad. As the news travelled
through the country, we can see the dismay it occasioned.
From West Cowes, one John Lysle ' supposes the sad fire
in London was chiefly caused by fanatics and strangers, and
complains of the French and Dutch strangers who resort to
the Isle of Wight. Guards should be kept at landing-places,
some trusty person employed to search for and take the
names of lodgers in houses, and no stranger allowed to come
into the island without good testimonials, for fear of a similar
accident. The number of 80,000 French, Dutch, and other
strangers, said to be in London, may bring all to destruc
tion.' ' The doleful news of the firing of London,' writes
one from Dover, ' makes the same thing feared here, as the
Dutch fleet lie in sight taking in men before Boulogne.' At
Walmer, ' the generation of fanatic vipers will report the
fire as God's revenge for Englishmen's valour at Vlie.' '
k
1 After the defeat of the Dutch fleet, July 25 and 26, 1666, the English,
ab.-olute masters of the sea, rode in triumph along the coast, and insulted
the Hollanders in their liarbours. A squadron, under Sir Robert Holmes,
entered the road of Vlie and burnt two men-of-war and a hundred and forty
merchantmen, together with the large village of Brandaris : the whole
damage was estimated at several millions sterling.

224 STORIES FROM TIIE STATE PAPERS.
From Yarmouth, we hear that ' a French seaman is before
the bailiffs for saying, when told of the fire of London, that
it were good news if Yarmouth were on fire. He spoke
those words in plain English, but on his examination will
not own that he can speak a word of English. Most here
judge the City was wUfuUy set on fire by the French and
Dutch who lurk about it.' ' There is great fear in these parts,'
writes Lord Carlisle from Na worth, ' the post not coming as
usual, and there being a rumour of a great fire in London.
I will set forward thither on Friday, unless ordered to
remain. I have just heard that the City was set on fire by
Anabaptists and other disaffected persons, and have ordered
the trained bands to meet and continue in convenient places
for the safety of the country.' At Chester, they were 'all
in amazement at the heavy judgment fallen on London,
which is concluded to be a total devastation and destruction
of the metropolis.' At Hull, the ' doleful tidings ' that the
Dutch had set fire to London arrived ; consequently ' the
governor has had strong guard set, both by soldiers and
townsmen, on the town and the ships in the harbour, causing
the masters and their companies to lie aboard. He has
secured suspected persons and will turn them out of town,
and has committed to close custody all the Dutch prisoners
that were out on bail.' ¦ ' On the news of the sad fire in
London,' we learn from Norwich, ' the mayor ordered the
bellman to cry about the city, to give innkeepers notice not
to lodge strangers till he had examined them, nor to allow
them to go out of the city without his order ; also for in-

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 225
habitants not to lodge strangers without knowing whence
they come.' The country was evidently in a highly nervous
condition, and every countiy town feared that it was about
to share the fate of the metropolis.'
As soon as the fiames had been got under, and all fears
of a further outbreak removed, the first step of the Council
was to institute an inquiry into the cause of the fire. Upon
this point the nation was divided into three distinct sets :
th()ise who attributed the fire to the designs of the French,
the Dutch, and the Papists ; those who attributed it to the ven
geance of an offended Deity atthe open sin which was allowed
to reign supreme in high places ; and those who, like sensible
persons, believed that the fire was entirely due to accident
and to the combustible nature of the materials with which
the houses were then buUt. The first section were, however,
in a large majority. Wading through the vast correspondence
of this period which has been preserved by the State, almost
every letter which alludes to the subject lays the ruin of
London at the door of the foreigner and the Papist. In the
different towns in the kingdom the Catholics were keenly
watched, whilst Frenchmen and Dutchmen were haled be
fore the magistrates, and might consider themselves fortu
nate if they were not at once committed to gaol as suspi
cious characters. The wUdest rumours were circulated, and
in some places it was dangerous for a foreigner to" show
his face. Witness after witness came forward and swore to
having seen Frenchmen and Dutchmen wandering about the
' State Papers, Domestic, September 5-13, 1666.
VOL, II. Q

226 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
country, thro'wing fire-balls into the open -windows of houses.
Numbers of innocent persons, but who had the misfortune
to profess the creed of Rome, were seized on ' eminent
suspicion,' and found to have on them ' several fire-balls as
large as tennis balls.' In Warwickshire and Leicestershire
suspicion seems to have been very much on the alert, owing
to a curious form of theft. Sheep were stolen from the
meadows ; ' strange robberies have been committed, many
sheep having been killed in the fields, and only their tallow
taken away ; this was thought to be intended for the making
of fitre-balls, and one malefactor was apprehended who said
that he did it through poverty, and sold the tallow.'
The harshest conclusions were drawn from the ffim.siest
of premisses. To be a foreigner was to be an incendiary ;
to be a Papist was to be a plotter against English security ;
to be seen with a ball in the hand was to be the owner of a
fire-ball. ' It is impossible,' -writes one Ralph Hope from
Coventry,' ' to persuade the people into any other belief than
that the Papists have a design to rise and cut their throats,
and they impute the late sad conflagration solely to their
continuance and propagation; this has been insinuated by
what has happened at Warwick. A boy gathering black
berries sees a man doing something in a ditch, who hastily
puts something into a bag and goes away ; the boy finds at
the place a blackish brown ball, and carries it away before
the Deputy-Lieutenants there met. There is no appearance
of anything combustible in it, but all take it to be an
' State Papers, Domestic, September 15, 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 227
unfinished fire-ball ; the boy describes the man and takes his
oath ; the whole town takes the alarm ; hue and cries are
sent out everywhere to take the man, but in vain ; the town
is in a tumult all day, every man in arms, besides the militia
horse keeping strict guard all night. Next day Sir H.
Pickering, with his troop, dismisses the horse guard, and
commands the townsmen home : they peremptorily refuse
to obey, and after some high words, tell him, for aught they
know, he had a design himself to betray the town. Sir
Harry grows angry, and commands the troops to fire unless
they disperse ; the townsmen dare them to do it, cocking
their loaded muskets, so that, had not the prudence of some
prevented, much mischief had been done. The tempest
calmed at last, and the townsmen by degrees dropped home.
Though the Mayor of Warwick says it was a fire-ball, an
ingenuous gentleman says it was no such thing. The Papists
thereabouts are well armed, and have frequent a.nd suspicious
meetings. The trade of kUling sheep and taking out the
tallow only is still foUowed in several places thereabouts.'
The truth was, the countiy was in one of her most
feminine moods. She had come to the conclusion that the
fire was due to the Papists, incited by the Dutch and French,
and nothing would con-vince her that her suspicions were
strained and groundless. She declined to Usten to e-vidence
or to weigh arguments ; it was as she had said, and there
was an end of the matter. In vain the Government
announced ' that, notwithstanding that many examinations
have been taken -with great care, by the Lords of the Council
Q 2

•228 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
and His Majesty's Ministers, yet nothing hath been yet
found to argue it to have been other than the hand of God
upon us, a great wind and the season so very dry.' ' The
popular excitement refused to be satisfied. Rumours of
Popish plots were rife throughout the kingdom. It was
said that designing Catholics were hidden in country houses,
that they held secret meetings in the taverns of the 'villages,
and that they bribed the watchmen to take no notice of their
proceedings. A letter was intercepted from Paris exhorting
the English Catholics to rise and fire the remainder of
London. A chambermaid at the ' Unicorn ' inn, at Banbury,
was brought up before the justices of the peace, and said that
certain foreigners had stayed at the inn, that she overheard
them whispering, and one said, ' When we have done our
mischief we will take our horses and ride out, because we
should not be thought to have a hand in it ; and afterwards
will come in again and bemoan their condition, that they
may conclude that we have no hand in it. Then they read a
paper, and talked of what the rich de-vils would do when
they saw fire about their ears, and said their charges would
be borne, and that they would want no money when in
London.' One unhappy Frenchman, Robert Hubert by
name, confessed to ha-ving ' fired London,' and was executed
at Tyburn, ' but denied the fact at the gallows, though
before he had stood obstinately to it, and would hardly have
been believed on account of his varying answers, but that he
took his keeper to the place he had so long affirmed that he
1 Slate Papers, Domestic, September 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 229
fired, and it was the very house where the flames first broke
out.' There is little doubt but that this Frenchman was
one of those persons, which seasons of great excitement
invariably produce, who out of love for notoriety accuse
themselves of offences of which they are perfectly innocent.
The country was thoroughly alarmed, and informers every
where readily appeared to give evidence. One charming
youth, only ten years of age, an apothecary's errand-boy,
accused his father and mother, John and Mary Taylor, of
York Street, Covent Garden, of having helped to fire the
city, and of having taken him down to Acton to burn a
house in that village ! Throughout the principal towns,
guiltless persons suspected of having fire-balls in their
possession were frequently arrested and confined in the city
prison. It was scarcely possible for strangers to stand about
in groups, or to join in earnest conversation, without being
looked upon as Papists or plotters. Guests on arriving at an
inn were searched, their names written down, and then severely
cross-examined as to their future proceedings. England
was more Uke a city in a state of siege than a free country.'
To calm this agitation, the rigours of intolerance were
freely invoked. For those outside the pale of the Church of
England there was no security. It was impossible for one
who was an Anglican to treat with an enemy or to plot for
the overthrow of the city : but with a Papist, a Quaker, a
Dissenter, every treachery and diabolical undertaking were
within the compass of his creed. All priests and Jesuits, at
1 State Papers, Domestic, October— December, 1G66.

230 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the express wish of the House of Commons, were expelled
the country. The laws against Roman Catholics were
rigidly enforced. A vote was passed that members of the
House of Commons were to receive the Sacrament according
to the Church of England, on penalty of imprisonment. All
who refused to take the oaths of Supremacy and AUegiance
were to be disarmed. Quakers and other Nonconformists were
sent to prison, and their numerous petitions for release con
stitute no small portion of the State Papers of this period.
In Holland it was said that the Court had set fire to London,
whilst in Padua an account of the conflagration was circulated
in Italian, the most remarkable portion of which is that ' at
Moorfields the King, the Duke of York, and nobles, came to
see Charles the First avenged, but, moved with compassion,
stimulated the people to exertion by working themselves.' '
London, east of the Temple, being one mass of ruins, the
first matter to be attended to, now that the flames had been
got under and the national fears and prejudices fully
avenged by the imprisonment of foreigners. Papists, and
Dissenters, was the rebuilding of the city. Accordingly
His Majesty issued a declaration ' To his City of London,
upon occasion of the late calamity by the lamentable fire.'
No man's loss in the late fire, said Charles, was comparable
to his ; yet he hoped to live to see a much more beautiful
city than the one that had been consumed, one well provided
against accidents by fire. There must, therefore, he directed,
be no hasty rebuUding. Should any persons, on pretence
1 State Papers, Domestic, October 22, 1666.

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. 231
that the ground was their own, erect ' unskUful ' houses, the
Lord Mayor was authorised to give orders to have the same
pulled down. Brick having been found to resist and even
extinguish fire, all houses were for the future to be buUt of
brick and stone, with strongly-arched cellars in the base
ment. The principal streets were to be broad and open, and
no alleys allowed unless absolutely necessary. No houses
were to be erected within some few feet of the river, and
those buUt were to be 'fair structures for ornament.'
Brewers, dyers, sugar-bakers, and others whose trades were
carried on by smoke, were to dwell together in some quarter
to be specially assigned to them. (Thus, even in the seven
teenth century, the desirableness of a fair river frontage and
the nuisance of smoke were at least recognised : we certainly
have taken our time in acting upon these sensible ideas.)
A survey was to -be made of the whole ground, and each
person was to have his land secured him by Act of Parlia
ment. With regard to the rebuUding of the churches, they
were to be recommended to the charity of well-disposed
persons. His Majesty then concluded by promising that
' those who shall erect any buildings acccording to this de
claration ' shall have the hearth-money duties remitted for
seven years.' The following year the RebuUding Act (19
Chas. II. c. 3) was passed.
The loss occasioned by the Great Fire of London was esti
mated at 1 3,000 houses, 89 churches, including St. Paul's Cathe
dral, and property to the amount of nearly ten miUions sterUng.
1 State Papers, Domestic, September 13, 1666.

232 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

A NATIONAL SCARE.
' Going out of church immediately after sermon, some people of St.
James' parish passed by and told me the enemy had entered the town.' Harte.
A PEW years after Charles II. had been restored to the throne
of his ancestors, a war, disgraceful in its origin, and doubly
disgraceful by the marked incapacity with which it was con
ducted, was forced upon the United Provinces.
The prosperity of the Dutch, their commercial rivalry with
the English, and their superiority in every department of
trade, were viewed with extreme jealousy by our merchants.
It was hoped that the commercial predominance we could
not obtain by superior industry and ability might be
attained by superior strength. Charles, who thought he
saw a prospect of filling his rapidly emptying treasury, and
who hoped, by defeating De Witt, the Grand Pensionary, to
reinstate the young Prince of Orange on the throne, and thus
bring the States to a dependence upon England, had no
objection to the war. His brother, the Duke of York, who
hated the Dutch because they opposed a new African company
of which he was the head, and who wished for an opportunity
of gaining distinction, cordially sided -with the war party.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 233
and did all in his power to rouse the languid Charles to
action. Parliament, acted upon by the avidity of the
mercantile classes, voted for hostiUties, and were generous in
furnishing supplies. Satisfaction was demanded from the
Dutch for imaginary grievances ; redress was refused, and war
declared. On the victories of the English navy — for, in the earlier
engagements, fortune was auspicious to the fleet of Charles
• — France, who had no desire to see England's dominion over
the seas supreme, united, in spite of all entreaties from White
hall, with the States-General. A third enemy now appeared
upon the scene. Denmark, with a double-dealing which
plainly indicated her contempt for Charles and his Govern
ment, quickly followed the example of the policy of VersaUles,
and proved a most irritating thorn in our side. Thus alone,
England had to bear the brunt of the storm her guilty greed
had raised. It is true that at flrst in this unequal contest
she managed to inflict severe injuries upon the enemy, but
Charles was soon made painfully aware that the ends for
which the war had been undertaken were likely to prove
entirely abortive. The Dutch, though defeated in the
different engagements that ensued, were not disheartened ;
they were actively making preparations to recommence hos
tilities ; their credit stood high, and money was never lack
ing to support their operations. Whilst England, on the other
hand, was soured and impoverished, her towns and villages
had been laid low by the terrible plague, her capital had but
recently been the sport of the flames, and now to her dismay

234 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
she saw the whole coast-line of Europe, from the North Cape
to the Pyrenees, arrayed against her in arms. Charles was
not the man to extricate himself from a false position
by a resolute, if even an unjust, policy. He hated anything
that interfered with the voluptuous ease by which he was
surrounded, and this Dutch war made calls upon his purse
and time which both annoyed and embarrassed him. He
threw out hints which were carried to the Hague that he was
not indisposed to compromise matters ; from lording it as the
buUy he now pleaded as the suppliant. The proud country,
but a few years before the terror of Europe, began to repent
her of her rashness and to sue for peace. Negotiations with
regard to the termination of hostilities were entered into at
Breda, and the proposals of Charles were discussed by the
assembled French, Danish, Dutch, and English plenipo
tentiaries. MeanwhUe De Witt had no intention of calmly abandon
ing the advantages fortune had been gracious enough to
place in his hands. He thought he saw an opportunity of
striking a blow which, whilst restoring to the Dutch the
honour lost during the war, would at the same time obtain
full compensation for those injuries which the wanton
ambition and injustice of the English had inflicted. He
declined to agree to a suspension of arms during the con
duct of the negotiations at Breda, but, on the contrary, with
a promptness all the more active since it was stimulated by
the prospects of revenge, he hastened all naval preparations,
and was soon in a position to carry out the scheme he

A NATIONAL SCARE. 235
meditated. Thanks to republicans like Algernon Sydney,
who had taken up their abode at the Hague, and who were
among the bitterest foes of the policy of the EngUsh Council,
the Grand Pensionary knew that his enemy — with her cap
tains incompetent, her sailors unpaid and half starved, and
her navy greatly reduced in strength- — was incapable of
effecting any formidable resistance, and that he had only to
strike rapidly and decisively to estabUsh himself as complete
master of the situation. He resolved upon teaching Eng
land a lesson such as she should not easily forget, and to
give her a fright such as she had not experienced since the
days when the ' Armada ' was sighted off the Lizard. Ac
cordingly orders were issued to De Ruyter, the dreaded
Dutch admiral, for his fleet, then riding at anchor in the
Zuyder Zee, to bear up towards the east coast of England,
and to blockade the Thames. At midday, June 1, 1667,
his ships quitted their moorings, and once again in our
history a hostile squadron was to stand out to sea to menace
our shores.
These preparations created no little consternation in the
minds of the CouncU at Whitehall. Charles, anxious to
save all the money he could for his own pleasures, and feel
ing assured that the negotiations at Breda would be satis
factorily settled, had taken the first opportunity, when
peace was proposed, of cutting down his naval expenses.
He had written to the Duke of York, as Lord Admiral, not
to keep in pay such third-rate ships as had been ordered to
be maintained, to discharge all men-of-war which required

236 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
considerable repairs, and to lay them up in Portsmouth,
and to retain ' only a squadron of smaU ships to distract the
enemy and disturb their trade.' At the same time Sir
William Coventry, a Commissioner of Admiralty, was in
structed to request the Na-vy Commissioners to reduce the
crews of the fire-ships then stationed at Portsmouth, Dover,
Harwich, and Chatham, and to leave them ' only a sufficient
number to do ser-vice, or at the most so many as may suffice
to weigh their anchors.' ' The same absurd policy of dis-
bandment and reduction before peace was definitely assured,
was also adopted in our military establishments. The garri
sons which guarded our ports were ill supplied with ammu
nition, the forts 'along the coast were unprotected, and
volunteers for active service discouraged. ' The Dutch are
known to be abroad,' moans chatty Sam Pepys, ' with
eighty sail of ships of war and twenty fire-ships, and the
French come into the Channel with twenty sail of men-of-
war and five fire-ships, while we have not a ship at sea to
do them any hm-t with, but are calling in all we can, while
our ambassadors are treating at Breda, and the Dutch look
upon them as come to beg peace, and use them accordingly.'
When, however — thanks to the escape of French pri
soners from Rochelle, and to the return of fishing smacks — it
began to be definitely ascertained that the country, was
threatened by a Dutch invasion, less insane measures were
put into operation. Every one was struck with anger.
and terror ; trade was at a standstill, and outward-bound
' State Papers, Domestic, edited by Mrs. Green, May 24 and 29, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 237
merchantmen hastened back to the nearest English port for
shelter. The Council roused itself to action. Lord ArUng
ton sent despatches to the Lords-Lieutenant of the eastern
and southern maritime counties, requesting them to give
orders to the militia of their respective shires to ' be in such
a readiness that upon the shortest warning they may as
semble and be in arms for the defence of the coast, in case
of any attempt or appearance of the enemy's fleet ; taking
care in the meantime that the several beacons upon and near
the coast be duly watched by the respective hundreds in
which they are, for the preventing any surprise or sudden
descent of the enemy.' They were also to present an im
posing, even if hollow, front to the foe. ''.His Majesty,' con
tinues Arlington, ' commands me particularly to mind you
that, in all places where you shaU be obliged to make head
or appear to the enenjy, you make the greatest show you
can in numbers, and more especially of horse, even though
it be of such as are otherwise wholly unfit and improper for
nearer service, horse being the force that will most discou
rage the enemy from landing for any such attempt.' Fire-
ships were hastily collected and fitted with ingredients from
the Tower ; whilst competent men were to be pressed into
the ser-vice without the authorities staying for warrants or
orders. ' The time wUl not permit the observation of these
forms; pray use all possible despatch,' writes Sir W. Coven
try, who a few days ago was suggesting reduction.
Along the coast the miUtia were rapidly getting underarms,
and the Deputy-Lieutenants of Kent, acting in conjunction

238 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
with the governors of the different forts, were arranging the
best measures for defence. The Lord-Lieutenant of Essex
was ordered to send to Lee such of the troops as were not
already despatched to Harwich. Half the militia of Hert
fordshire were ordered to Barnet. Half the militia of
Surrey were marched to Southwark and Lambeth, whilst
the other half were commanded to hold themselves in readi
ness at the shortest notice. The men of Wiltshire and
Berkshire were sent to protect the Isle of Wight, those of
Dorsetshire to Portland and Weymouth, whilst a detach
ment from Hampshire was told off to Portsmouth. At
Harwich the young Duke of Monmouth, with a large body
of the aristocracy and the country gentry, was on guard,
awaiting the arrival of the Dutch. The fortifications along
the coast were under the special inspection of the Duke of
York. Sir Edward Spragg, nicknamed the 'Irish Papist ''
by the people who hated him on account of his religion,
protected the Medway. At Gillingham a strong chain was
thrown across the river, and beyond it lay the King's ships.
To complete the measures adopted for the safety of the
countiy, orders were issued that no accounts should be
printed of the whereabouts of the men-of-war, nor any news
circulated except under directions from Government, ' such
a course being dangerous when the enemy are masters of the
seas.' '
Undeterred by these preparations, the squadron of De
Ruyter bore up towards the coast of Kent, and the thunder
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 4-10, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 239
of his gims could be plainly heard at Harwich and Dover •
bombarding some helpless village or maritime hamlet. The
following account of the proceedings of the Dutch ' in the
river of London, and in the haven of Chatham, and the
Isle of Sheppey,' is from a curious journal printed at Am
sterdam, a copy of which is now amongst the State Papers.'
' The Dutch fleet,' it begins, ' set sail June 1, 1667,
under command of Lieut.-Admiral de Ruyter. On the
4th a heavy storm arose from the south-south-west, by
which some ships were forced to cut their anchors ; but on
the 7th they again came safely to anchor before the river of
London. On this the Admiral put out a signal for all the
principal officers to come on board and hold a councU of
war, how they might best sail up the river of London, with
some of the lightest ships, to see whether they could there
take some of the King's ships. Thereupon on the 9th seven
teen ships of war, four advice boats, and four fire-ships
sailed up the river Thames, under command of Lieut.-Ad
miral Van Ghent, -with whom went De Witt as deputy of
their High Mightinesses the States-General, in the ship
"Agatha." The same evening they arrived between Queens-
borough and Gravesend, but there being nothing to be done
there, on the 10th they came back to Queensborough, where
De Ruyter had some ships to support them.
' Ha-ving returned to the river of Rochester, conquering
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 13, 1667. ' Description of the attack made
by the Dutch fleet on the English ships in the Thames at Chatham and
the Isle of Sheppey, and of all their proceedings from June 1-13, with a
plan of the Thames and an engraving of the engagement.'

240 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
the Island of Sheppey and Queensborough, a stronghold lying
thereon, they thought good to attack the fort of Sheerness,
which the English were beginning to make, a Uttle while
before, for the defence of the passage to Rochester and
Chatham. Our cannons so stormed the place that the
enemy left it, before Colonel Dolman, who had been sent
for by some messengers, had arrived.' Our people found
there an entire royal magazine, with heavy anchors and
cables, and hundreds of masts. Our people took on board
the ships as many of the cables, masts, and round woods as
they could, and they also acquired fifteen heavy pieces,
shooting balls of 18 lbs. ; the rest was destroyed or rendered
useless, and the magazine burnt. The damage done to the
English at this island was estimated at more than four tons
of gold. It is a beautiful and fruitful island. Every one
was strictly forbidden, on pain of heavy punishment, to
injure the inhabitants in life or goods.'
Sheerness in the hands of the Dutch, De Ruyter pur
sued his victorious progress by sailing up the Medway to
bombard Chatham, and to attack the King's ships riding at
anchor, to guard the invulnerable chain that had been
thrown across the river.
' On the 12th,' continues the Dutch journal, ' the wind
1 ' June 11. — This morning Pett (ship-builder to the Admiralty) writes
us word that Sheerness is lost last night after two or three hours' dispute.
The enemy hath possessed himself of that place ; which is very sad, and
puts us in great fears of Chatham.' — Pepys' Diary.
' Sheerness Fort was not in posture of defence, for the which Sir R.
Spragg is much blamed.' To Lord Conway. — State Papers, Domestic, June
15, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 241
being east-north-east, the Hollanders saUed before the tide
about four miles up the river of Chatham, under command
of Thomas Tobias. There they made a severe attack. Be
fore their coming the English had sunk there seven fire-
ships, and enclosed the river with a thick and heavy iron
chain running on pulleys, which turned on wheels. Six of
their ships, distributed in good order, lay before the chain ;
at the one end lay four, and at the other end two stout
frigates, which crossed the water.'
And now humiliation was to be in store for the Eng
lish. ' With more than mortal boldness,' the journal goes
on to record, ' the Dutch made an attack against all
these dangers. Captain Brakel offered himself, and at
tacking with his frigate an EngUsh frigate called the
" Jonathan " of forty guns, took it and burnt another
English frigate by means of a fire-ship; then the other
four ships were left by their comrades, the crews in con
fusion sprang overboard, and our people took the ship
" Royal Charles," fitted to bear one hundred pieces of cannon,
and with thirty-two guns on board : it was formeiiy com
manded by the English Admiral Monk. Nothing more
costly has been made in England, and it must have cost
almost 100,000 dollars in the gilding alone. They also took
the " Charles the Fifth,'' which with two others of the
largest ships, the " Matthias " and " Castle of Honingen,"
are burnt. The chain was burnt into pieces, and all with
in it destroyed and annihilated : so that the EngUsh lost
the Admirals of the red and white flag, besides others of
VOL. II. E

242 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
their largest ships, as the " Royal Charles," the " Royal
Oak," the " Loyal London," the " Royal James," which they
had sunk, the " Matthias," the " Charles the Fifth," the
" Castle of Honingen," and two stout frigates, the one
named the " Jonathan ; " besides two other large ships and
a good number of fire-ships, which they had sunk to stop
the passage. On land our people did not do much, for all was
in commotion, and the EngUsh with 12,000 men came
against them in arms : so the Dutch abandoned the places
which they had taken, and came again with their ships into
the river Thames. Vice- Admiral Van Ghent was person-
aUy present throughout, and with other brave heroes of our
fatherland manfully forwarded this great work. God keep
them henceforth and give them yet more success in their-
actions, that beloved peace may again descend from heaven
upon us, and pride be put down.'
The merchants' ships they will burn ; oh tell
How flrst he should guard his own shores well !
For rumour reports, all the country over.
That the wolf was burned in his own cover.
This version of England's defeat, though written by the
enemy, is substantially true, and amply borne out by the rest
of the correspondence before us.' Letter after letter was
despatched from Chatham to WhitehaU, and aU told the
same sad tale : the Dutch had forced the chain at Chatham,
had with little opposition burned several of the finest ships in
the English navy, and had carried off the ' Royal Charles,'
1 State Papers, Domestic. See Letters to Lord Conway and Sir J.
Williamson, June 14 and 15, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 243
the pride of the fleet, as a trophy to Holland. Yet the
victory of the Dutch is not such a matter of surprise, when
we learn how ill supplied the English were with the means
of resistance. ' You may wonder,' writes Captain Neville to
his brother at Rome,' ' our block-houses did so little service
against the Dutch ; but their Captains, being questioned, are
come off well, having made it appear that they have long
since made their defects known to the Council. Some
wanted guns, some platforms to mount them upon, and
carriages, others bullets, others had bullets too big for their
guns. The answer from the Council was, they needed not to
trouble themselves, for the peace being as good as concluded,
they would not order any more money to be issued.' The
honour and fame of his kingdom were trifles utterly beneath
the notice of the idle and voluptuous Charles. ' Sir H.
Cholmly,' writes Pepys, ' came to me this day and tells me
the Court is as mad as ever, and that the night the Dutch
burned our ships the King did sup with my Lady Castlemaine,
at the Duchess of .Monmouth's, and they were all mad in
hunting of a poor moth.'
The country, however, did not regard this national
disgrace with the indifference of the Court. Apart from the
shame which ignoble defeat must ever occasion in the
patriotic and the high-minded. Englishmen, impoverished
and defenceless, knew not to what bitter ends the Dutch
might yet press the victory they had gained. ' Was England,'
men asked, ' which had wrecked the Armada, only to have
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 20, 1667.
u. 2

244 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
escaped the Spaniard to become the victim of the hated
Dutchman % ' The greatest excitement prevailed, and the
temper of the people was in one of its ugliest moods. ' The
members of the Council,' Pepys tells us, ' were ready to fall
together by the ears at the Council table, arraigned one
another of being guilty of the counsel that brought us into
this misery by laying up all the great ships.' Clarendon, the
Lord Chancellor, who had advised the sale of Dunkirk, the
fortifying of useless Tangiers, and the marriage with the
sterile Catherine of Portugal, had his windows broken and
his trees cut down ; a gibbet was painted upon his gate, ' and
these three words writ, " Three sights to be seen, Dunkirk,
Tangier, and a barren Queene." ' The sailors, whose pay
was in arrears, and who heard of their King lavishing vast
sums upon the ladies of his harem, threatened to desert to
the Dutch, whilst their wives walked up the streets crying
out in front of the offices of the Navy Commissioners,
' This comes of your not paying our husbands, and now
your work is undone or done by hands that understand it
not!' In the City men knew not which way to turn, so
paralysed were they by fear and confusion. ' The merchants
are undone,' writes one John Rushworth.' * Our great
bankers of money have shut up their shops. People are
ready to tear their hair off their heads. Great importunity
hath been used at Whitehall for a Parliament, and more
' State Papers, Domestic. See Letters to Lord Conway and Sir J.
Williamson, June 15, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 245
particularly by Sir George Sa'vUle, but nothing will prevail ;
there is one great gownman against it, and all the bishops
and Papists, and all those who have conjured and cheated the
King. News came this day to the King, that the French
are come from Brest and appear before the Isle of Wight ;
some at Court give out that they are friends and not enemies.
We expect the Dutch as far as Woolwich. People are fled
from Greenwich and Blackwall with their families and
children. We are betrayed, let' it light where it will.' The
agent of Lord Conway takes the same desponding view of
matters, and thus -writes to his master : ' ' Upon the first
attempt of the Dutch at Chatham,' he says, dating his letter
from London, ' here was such an astonishment upon men's
hearts, that every one went to his goldsmith to recaU his
moneys, but they were all sent back empty-handed, and the
King was forced to set forth a declaration to save the said
goldsmiths from being so much persecuted as they were.
Since that, people's hearts are a little better settled, though
we stUl lie under the same prejudice of uncertainty as before.
As to matter of peace from Breda, 'tis written that the
common people in HoUand are so satisfied since the late loss
and disgrace, never to be forgotten by us, that they talk no
more of peace, but on such high terms as I hope we are not
yet so low as to submit unto them, though I confess we are
lower already than I did ever fear to see poor England, and
in such a strait as we know not scarce how to help ourselves.
. . . Never was England brought to such an extremity,
' State Papers, Domestic, June 29, 1667,

246 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
never so benumbed with such a lethargy, that, seeing our
enemies so watchful, so providing, and at last so provided, we
still were so resolvedly blind as not to endeavour the pre
vention of those miseries which almost every eye could have
easily foreseen ; but the observation of the old heathen takes
place: Quos Jujnter vuli perdere priv^s dementat. However,
after all this complaint I will yet hope that God will have
mercy upon us, and that we may once more be in capacity to
defend ourselves and to terrify our enemies.'
As is always the case when disaster overtakes either a
nation or an individual, rumour exaggerated the evU. It
began to be reported that not only had the Dutch burnt
Chatham, but that they had also burnt Queensborough,
Gravesend, Harwich, Colchester, and Dover; that the
French were massing their forces at Dunkirk for the invasion
of England ; that there were traitors not only in the Council,
but amongst the troops drawn up to defend our shores ; and
that the King, disgusted and intimidated, had fled from his
throne and gone no one knew whither.' The contents of the
State Papers of this time reveal to us the agitation that pre
vailed in the prsovinces. ' When we heard,' writes one Watts
from Deal to Sir J. Williamson,^ ' the Dutch were gone up
the river, and some of our best ships fired by them, and the
" Royal Charles " in their possession, and little or no opposition,
the common people and almost all others ran mad, some ciy-
• State Papers, Domestic. See Letters to Lord Conway and Sir J.
Williamson, June 13, 14, and 17, 1667.
2 Ibid. June 15 and 18, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 247
ing out we were sold, others that there were traitors in the
Council ; then the loss of Dunkirk, the dividing of the fleet,
the disbanding of the army, the non-payment of the seamen,
and permitting so many merchant ships to go out of the land,
and several other things were called in question. . . . None
abuse their judgment so much as to blaspheme his most
Sacred Majesty, but desperate outcries against some great
persons whom they coinmonly name. I have several times
been in great danger, desiring them out of their passion.
Most eminent people of this place have sent their goods to
Sandwich or Canterbury.' As at Deal, so at Hull. ' We
are here much terrified,' writes Charles Wittington,' ' at the
unexpected news of the Dutch firing four of our great ships
and taking one, and ten more being in great danger ; and
some do not stick to say, things were better ordered in
Cromwell's time, for then seamen had all their pay, and were
not permitted to swear, but were clapped in the bilboes ; and
if the officers did, they were turned out, and then God gave
them a blessing to them ; but now, all men are for making
themselves great, and few mind the King and the nation's
interest, but mind plays and women, and fling away much
money that would serve to pay the seamen. This is the
seamen's discourse.'
One Bentham thus makes moan from Lowick : ' Lord !
that it was possible that after the first tidings of the
Dutch fleet coming out upon some desperate design, no
platforms were raised, nor sufficient cannon mounted,
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 16, 1667.

248 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
nor soldiers sent to make a considerable defence ! How
strangely were all our councillors lulled into a dead sleep
of security, that nothing less than so mortal a blow and irre
parable a loss could awaken them ! Must we be the first
that are registered to posterity for casting or giving away our
principal arms, both of offence and defence, while we treat
with a numerous, malicious, armed, and active enemy % ' '
From Lowestoft and Aldborough, people were hastily re
moving their goods into the interior. At Yarmouth the
sailors were much enraged, and ' every one talks at a strange
rate,' whilst the drums were beating for volunteers to enlist
under Lord Townshend. At Lynn, ' the news of the burning
of our ships by the Hollanders causes strange discourse.' At
Hull, the people ' were afflicted but not daunted, and care
was taken to suppress intestine enemies and repulse invaders.'
At Whitby, all were much perplexed that the Dutch vapour
so publicly in the Thames.' At Newcastle, ' people were at
their -wits' end,' and gave up the place as lost. Chester, the
head-quarters of the Nonconformists, ' was much perplexed.
Some said we were asleep, or should have fortified ourselves,
knowing the enemy near. All concluded that there was
treachery in the business, and hoped the contrivers would
receive the reward due to those who betray King and country.'
At Minehead, ' the loss of the shipping in the harbour was
resented as the greatest dishonour that ever the King and
kingdom lay under, especially when discourses and prepara-
1 State Papers, Domestic. See Letters to Lord Conway and Sir J.
Williamson, June 16, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 249
tions were but of peace,' At Plymouth, ' the news of the
Dutch fleet lying in the Thames makes many look sadly.'
Throughout the correspondence, anger, astonishment, fear,
patriotism, and a longing for revenge are uppermost in the
different writers' breasts. Bristol,' o-wing to the number of
disaffected persons it harboured, appears to have been the
only port which showed itself favourable to the enemy.
Fortunately for England, De Ruyter faUed to take ad
vantage of the victory he had gained and the panic he had
created. The forts of Gravesend, Tilbury, and the Tower,
ill-suppUed with ammunition and out of repair, alone stood
between him and London. Had he issued orders for his
ships to saU up the river, nothing could have prevented
the capital from falling into his hands. These instructions,
happily for us — whether he feared the vessels sunk off
Blackwall to hinder his progress, or whether he objected to
trusting his fleet within a narrow channel, or whether he
rated too highly the enthusiasm of the militia drawn up to
defend the coast, or whatever was the reason — De Ruyter
failed to give. Taking advantage of the ebb, he dropped
down to the buoy of the Nore, much to the surprise and
relief of the inhabitants of the metropolis.^
This unexpected retreat of the Dutch restored the nation
to its senses, and plans of defence were discussed on all sides,
so as to prevent the humiUation of the past from being
1 State Papers, Domestic. See Letters to Lord Conway and Sir J.
Williamson, June 16, 1667.
2 Ibid. June 16, 1667.

250 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
repeated. At such a crisis the impoverished state of the
exchequer became bitterly felt, and crushed all energy and
activity at their very outset. Nothing could be done for
want of ready money. The men in the dockyards were so
mutinous at their wages not being forthcoming, that at
Chatham the Duke of Albemarle could only persuade three
workmen out of a body of eleven hundred to do any busi
ness.' Ships that ought to have been put at once in com
mission were lying still untouched in dock, because the
Navy Commissioners bad no funds for the necessary repairs
and fittings. Unpaid sailors went loafing about the quays
or singing in companies up and down the streets, vowing
they would desert to France or to Holland unless they had
their due. Merchants and contractors declined to supply
any more goods to the Government unless their past accounts
were settled. It was evident to the Council that the first
step was to raise supplies, as without money all talk of de
fensive mesisures was but waste of time. The loyalty of the
people of all grades was therefore appealed to. A circular
was drawn up, nominally by the King, asking for help.
The Lord Chancellor was instructed to make its contents
known to the legal profession; the Lords-Lieutenant were
to be the channels of communication with the aristocracy
and the landed gentry ; whilst the Archbishop of Canterbury
was to appeal to the clergy,'' ' because,' said the pious Charles,
' you are to deal with a sort of persons endued with discre-
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 14, 1667.
2 Ibid. Entry Book, 26, p. 11.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 251
tion and ingenuity, who cannot forget what tenderness we
have for them, what care to protect and support them, and
how much their interest and welfare is involved in ours.'
In this begging letter all loyal subjects were enjoined,
' owing to the insolent spirit of our enemies,' to make a
voluntary liberal advance of what sums of money they can
afford by way of loan towards the supply of our present and
pressing occasions in this time of public danger ; ' nor did
his Majesty doubt ' but that your endeavours, which we
assure ourself you will engage to the utmost, will meet with
so much loyalty and prudence in them as easUy to produce
what we reasonably expect, a speedy and cheerful compliance
with our necessities in this so important a juncture of
affairs.' '
When the squire and poor vicar were appealed to, it was
not probable that so wealthy a corporation as that of the
East India Company would escape. Accordingly, a circular
was addressed to the directors, applying to them ' for a
present loan of 20,000Z. for the use of our na-vy ; ' and ' such
is the importance of this conjuncture, that -we cannot think
you wUl wonder if we be more than ordinary pressing in
this desire, in which you will do us a very seasonable
service; and we assm-e you it shall, upon occasion, be
readily remembered to the advantage of your Company, in
any its concerns wherein you shall have need of our royal
favour and protection.' ^ Yet, in spite of the urgency with
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 21, 1667,
2 Ibid. July 5, 1667.

252 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

which he pressed these appeals for pecuniary aid, the King
declined to set an example of economy. His Court was as
extravagant and luxurious as ever. Though he demanded
contributions for the maintenance of his navy and for the
defence of his kingdom against the enemy, he had always
the means at hand to reward a favourite or to enrich a
mistress. Surrounded by a terrible distress, with provisions
scarce, and coal at five pounds a chaldron, the establishment
of the Court was a byword for waste and iniquitous profu
sion. ' God forgive us all ! ' sighs Pepys. ' It was computed
that the ParUament had given the King for this war only,
besides all prizes, and besides the 200,000Z. which he was to
spend of his own revenue, to guard the sea, above 5,000,000?.
and odd 100,000Z., which is a most prodigious sum. It is
strange how everybody do nowadays reflect upon Oliver and
commend him, what brave things he did, and made all the
neighbour princes fear kim ; while here a prince, come in
with all the love and prayers and good liking of his people,
who have given greater signs of loyalty and willing
ness to serve him with their estates than ever was done
by any people, hath lost all so soon, that it is a miracle
what way a man could devise to lose so much in so little
time,' Still, in spite of the worthless sovereign then on the
throne, the loyalty of the nation declined to be appealed to
in vain. The Ordnance Commissioners, who had previously
lent 40,000?., added to the loan another 20,000?. The
London citizens offered 10,000?, to be spent entirely on

A NATIONAL SCARE. 253
fortifying Gravesend, Tilbury, Woolwich, Sheerness, and
other places on the Thames ; and Prince Rupert, assisted by
Lord Craven, was ordered to superintend the proceedings.
Instructions were given to fill the magazines at Greenwich
and Blackwall with ammunition. Vessels heavUy laden
with stones were sunk off Woolwich and Blackwall, whilst
between Woolwich and London Bridge were stationed ' 70
bUanders, 70 or 80 smacks, and 337 other ships, some great,
some less,' for the protection of the river.' It appears that
the owners of these vessels strongly objected to theii- shipping
being pressed into the King's service without compensation,
and demanded a month's pay in advance. They were, how
ever, politely informed by Sir Wm. Coventry that ' the
King hath taken other men's ships and sunk them, and may
take theirs also in this case, as justly as the others. The
intention at present is only to use them to protect the river
Thames ; if they be used further, there will be opportunity
of timely notice of it, and the owners in that case will have
all reasonable satisfaction.' ^ Besides, added Sir William,
the proprietors of these vessels should remember that their
ships were taken up for the defence and securit}' of their own
interest as well as that of others in the river. With this
consolation the murmuring owners had to content them
selves. During the last few days a westerly breeze sprang up,
and a heavy fog hung like a shroud over the mouth of the
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 13-18, 1667.
2 Ibid. June 19, 1667.

254 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
Thames. The watchers consequently failed to detect the
position of the enemy, but it was rumoured that the Dutch
flats were hovering about the east coast, awaiting a favour
able opportunity to effect a landing. Consequently, great
excitement prevailed at the ports in the neighbourhood of
De Ruyter's vessel. At Har-wich, several troops of horse
and companies of militia held themselves in readiness for
action, whilst colliers disguised as men-of-war, with jack,
ensign, and pendant, were laid across the arm of the sea
from Landguard Fort to the side beacon, with holes cut in
their sterns, ready to be sunk in case of the enemy's
approach. At Ipswich, vessels were anchored in front of the
harbour, prepared to be sent to the bottom at the first inti
mation of a Dutch invasion. Yarmouth was ready for any
emergency. ' We have here,' writes Sir William Doyley to
Sir Peter Gleane,' ' 2,000 foot and five troops of good horse ;
if the enemy land, we resolve to sally with 1,000 foot and
four troops, to try their metal upon the Downs. If they
attack us by boats, we are prepared to make our defence to
the utmost. A good ship is ready at the boom to be sunk,
if there be occasion ; two more are ready to be sunk at the
pier head. Our guns are fixed, our hearts are up, and I am
confident there's many of the officers and soldiers -wish the
Dutch were in the road. In my whole Ufe I never saw so
much ready resolution in men as I find here.' As the fog
lifted, it was seen that the enemy had not saUed north
wards; for the present, the object of the Dutch was to
1 State Papers, Domestic, June 22, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 255
prevent the English fleet from holding communication with
London ; hence, when the wind was easterly, they anchored'
in the Thames, knowing that ships could not well come
from north and south, but when the wind changed to the
west they lay-to between Harwich and the North Foreland.
After a fortnight's inactivity, it became evident that the
Dutch were meditating vigorous measures. Part of the
fleet stood out to sea, and sailed northward, to intercept
the fleet of Sir Jeremy Smith, then on the north-eastern
coast; the remainder, after hovering off Harwich, by a
clever manoeuvre cast anchor close to Landguard Fort, ' a
way our great ships never used to venture.' In the un
certain light of a summer night, and under cover of their
guns, the Dutch landed over 2,000 men, with a strong body
of pikes. Lord Suffolk at once marched down to meet
the foe, and a severe engagement ensued. Meanwhile a
party of some three or four hundred Dutch ran along the
beach, and attempted to scale Landguard Fort. They came
briskly up with their cutlasses drawn, crying deridingly, in
allusion to the negotiations at Breda, ' Peace ! peace ! '
They were, however, met with a severe fire, and, though for
well-nigh an hour they repeated assault after assault, were
continually repulsed. At last, discouraged and demoralised,
they ran away, ' leaving some of their ladders, their hand-
grenades, and a case of very handsome pistols ; and as the
ships saw them within the fort in the Salt Roads they
bestowed upon them a bullet welcome.' Nor was the force
opposed to the Earl of Suffolk more successful. From

256 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.
eleven o'clock at night to two in the morning the English
and the Dutch were hotly engaged one with the other,
neither side gaining any pronounced victoiy, until, the
dawn breaking, and the tide fioating their boats, the enemy
thought it prudent to beat a retreat, and run off to their
ships. The loss of the English was trifiing, but that of the
Dutch severe.'
Thus repulsed, the enemy turned their bows towards
Aldborough Bay : here nine ships cast anchor, whilst the
remainder sailed southwards. And now, during the rest
of the month of July, we hear of the Dutch fleet appearing
at various places, causing the greatest alarm to the inhabit
ants, yet seldom acting upon the aggressive. For a time
they sailed about the Sledway and Bardsey sands, being, we
are told, ' quiet neighbours, though stiU having an aching
.tooth against Harwich.' Then they appeared off Plymouth,
where De Ruyter attempted to land and steal some sheep,
but was conipeUed to retire, as the coasts were well guarded.
After this they anchored in Bigbury Bay, forcing all the
mUitia in Cornwall and Devonshire to rise in arms to de
fend the coast. Then steering eastwards, they burnt two
small vessels at Torquay, and passed the Isle of Wight,
'when the people took alarm.' Once more they took up
their old moorings at the mouth of the Thames, where an
engagement ensued between the Dutch under De Ruyter
and the EngUsh under Sir Edward Spragg and Lord
Craven, in which the former were worsted. The English
1 State Papers, Domestic, July 2-4, 1667.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 257
commanders were accused of not having made the most of
their opportunity in pursuing the enemy, but vindicated
their inactivity by attributing all the blame to the high
winds that were then blowing dead in their teeth. ' Else,
had the weather been favourable, they would have de
stroyed the whole of the Dutch squadron.'
This affair was the end of hostUities. On August 24, 1667,
the peace with Holland, France, and Denmark was pro
claimed. It was received throughout the countiy with great
rejoicings. The national deUght is plainly evinced by the
buUetins, among the State Papers, from the different ports in
the kingdom, when it became definitely known that the treaty
of Breda had been signed. At Weymouth, ' the peace as it
were raised the dead to Ufe, and made them rich in thought,
though their purses are empty, for the town is exceedingly
poor.' At Lynn ' the bells have hardly lain still since the
news of peace.' At Deal the peace was solemnly pro
claimed ' with arms and trumpets, and a procession of magi
strates and soldiers,' amid the cheers of the mob and the
thunder from the guns of Walmer and Sandown. News
of similar rejoicings were despatched to London from New
castle, Yai-mouth, Margate, Dover, and the chief ports in
the Channel. It was hoped, at last, that peace would usher
in a reign of prosperity, and the Parliament that was about
to be assembled redress the grievances of the past.
We know who was made the scapegoat f6r the late mis
deeds. The Lord Chancellor Clarendon was then the best
hated man in the kingdom. To his counsel were attributed
VOL. II. s

258 STORIES FROM THE STATE PAPERS.

the sale of Dunkirk, the stoppage of the seamen's wages, the
disgrace at Chatham, and the unsucces.sful conclusion of the
war. He was offered up as a sacrifice to appease the people,
and commanded to resign the seals. His dismissal, how
ever, failed to satisfy the national hate. On the meeting
of ParUament he was impeached, and sentence of banish
ment passed upon him. Among the State Papers of this
period there is the following vituperative epitaph on the
fallen statesman ; of the numerous bitter attacks of which
Clarendon was the subject, it is perhaps the most severe and
scurrilous ' : —
Pride, lust, ambition, and the people's hate.
The kingdom's broker, the ruin of the State,
Dunkirk's sad loss, divider of the fleet,
Tangiers' compounder for a barren sheet.
The shrub of gentry married to the Crown,
His daughter to the heir has tumbled down ;
The grand affronter of the noble lies
Grovelling in dirt as a just sacrifice,
To please an offended king. Abused nation.
Who could believe this sudden alteration ?
God is revenged too, for the stones he took
From aged Paul's to make a nest for the rook.^
Those cormorants of State, as well as he.
We more than hope in the same plight to see.
Go on, great Prince, thy people do rejoice ;
Methink I hear the kingdom's total voice

1 State Papers, Domestic, August 31, 1667. See also the preface to the
Calendar of this reign by Mrs. Green.
2 Clarendon's hew house near St. James was nicknamed Dunkirk House,
' from the general opinion of his having a good bribe for the selling of that
town,' and was partly built with the stones of St. Paul's Cathedral, lately
gutted by the great fire.

A NATIONAL SCARE. 259
Applauding this day's action to be such
As roasting of the Rump, or beating of the Dutch.
Now look upon thy withered cavaliers.
That for reward have nothing had but tears ;
Thanks to this Wiltshire hog,' son of the spittle,
Had they been looked on, he had had but little.
Break up the coffers of the hoarding thief,
Three millions will be found to make him chief.
I have said enough of linsey-wolsey Hide,
His sacrilege, ambition, lust, and pride.
Clarendon was the son of Henry Hyde, of Dinton, Wiltshire.

THE EXD.

LONDON : FEINTED BT
grOTTISWOODE iND CO., HEW-:STIIEET SQUABB
AND PABLIAMENT 6TEBBT

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