Lautherdale's coming thither, and the order thereupon for the fleet to sail presently for Holland for the reasons aforesaid, kindled all those sparkles into a bright flame of dissension, so universal, that there were very few who spake with any civility of one another, or without the highest animosity that can be imagined. encourage him to expect any thing from them; were all arguments of perplexity and consternation to all men, who had been moderately versed in the transaction of affairs; and were too many things to be looked upon at once, and yet could not be effectually looked upon but together. So that the chancellor used to say, "that all the business he had been conversant in, from the beginning to his coming to the Hague, had not ad"ministered half the difficulties and disconsolation, had not half so much disturbed and distracted his understanding, and broken his mind, as the next six months from that time had "done." Nor could he see any light before him to present a way to the king, by entering into which he might hopefully avoid the greatest misery that ever prince had been exposed to. His own particular condition (under so general a mortification) afflicted him very little, having long composed himself by a resolution, with God's blessing, to do his duty without hesitation, and to leave all the rest to the disposition of Providence. 66 This was the distracted condition of affairs when the lord Cottington and the chancellor came to the Hague; the council divided between themselves, and more offended with the court for presumption in making themselves of the council," and opposing whatsoever the other directed, by their private whispering to the prince in reproach of them, and their public murmurings against their persons for the counsel they gave, every man endeavouring to incense others against those who were not affected by him; and this ill humour increased by such an universal poverty, that very few knew where to find a subsistence for three months to come, or how to dispose of themselves. The clamour from the fleet was so high for new victual and for money, that there was apprehension just enough, that they would provide for themselves by returning to their old station; to which they had both opportunity and invitation, by the parliament's having set out another fleet superior in power to them, that were already at anchor in their view, under the command of the earl of Warwick, to block them up in that inconvenient harbour. The sudden news of the total defeat of the Scots army, and shortly after the loss of Colchester, and taking the persons of so many gallant gentlemen, and murdering some of them in cold blood; the daily warm contests in council upon the insolent behaviour and the unreasonable demands of the lord Lautherdale, who as peremptorily insisted upon the prince's going immediately with the fleet into Scotland, as he had done before the total defeat of duke Hamilton, and without expecting to hear what alteration that fatal change had produced in that kingdom, which was very reasonable to apprehend, and in truthsary. had at that time really fallen out: these and many other ill presages made the chancellor quickly find, that in his two years' repose in Jersey he had not fortified himself enough against future assaults, nor laid in ballast to be prepared to ride out the storms and tempests that he was like to be engaged in. When the fleet was committed to the government of prince Rupert to embark for Ireland, it was enough foreseen by those who foresaw what naturally might fall out, that Ireland was probably like to be the place whither it might be the most counsellable for the prince himself to repair. But as it was not then seasonable in many respects to publish such an imagination; so it was not possible to keep the fleet where it then was, or in any port of the dominions of Holland, where the States were already perplexed what answer they should return if the new commonwealth should demand the ships, or whether they were not obliged to deliver them: and therefore no time was to be lost. Nor was the voyage itself like to be secure, but by the benefit of the winter season, and the unquiet seas they were to pass through; which would have made it too dangerous a voyage for the person of the prince, who must find a shorter passage thither, when it should be neces When that inhuman impiety was acted at London, and the young king had in some degree recovered his spirits from the sudden astonishment, and had received the vile proclamation and propositions from Scotland, his majesty with those few who were of nearest trust concluded, "that it "would be shortly of necessity to transport him"self into Ireland;" which was to be the highest secret, that it might be equally unsuspected in England and in Scotland. "That he should in cognito, or with a light train, pass through "France to Nantz, or some other port of Bre66 tagne, where two or three ships of war, which "he could not doubt of obtaining by the favour "of his brother the prince of Orange, might attend him; and from thence he might with "least hazard embark for the nearest coast of Ireland, where the marquis of Ormond might The preservation of the fleet was a consideration that would bear no delay; and was in a short time, though with infinite difficulties and contests full of animosity, resolved to be by committing the charge of it to prince Rupert, who was to carry it into Ireland, where were many good ports in his majesty's obedience. But that was no sooner done, but the horrid murder of the king, and the formed dissolution of the monarchy there," and erecting and establishing the government in that kingdom with a seeming general consent, at least without any visible appearance or possibility of contradiction or opposition; the faint procla- This being concluded in that manner, the lord mation of the present king in Scotland, under the Cottington went in a morning to the king before same conditions which they would have imposed, he was dressed; and desired, "that when he was and with all the circumstances with which they ready, he would give him a private audience in had prosecuted the rebellion against his father; "his closet." He there told him, "that his mathe resolution what was fit for the young king to jesty had taken the most prudent resolution undertake in his own person, and the dismal" that his condition would admit, for Ireland; prospect, how all the neighbour princes were soli- "where there remained yet some foundation for citous not to pay him any such civilities, as might "hope. That for himself he was so old and in 66 meet him." much pleased with what he had before discoursed, and asked what the other particular was that he intended to offer; the lord Cottington told him, "that he was very glad his majesty was so well pleased with what he had proposed, which he " confessed the more he had revolved himself, the more hopeful the success appeared to him; "which made him the more solicitous, that through any inadvertency such a design might "not miscarry.' 66 66 66 66 He put him then in mind again" of his great age, how unlike it was that he should be able "to hold out such a journey, or, if he did, the fatigue thereof would probably cast him into a "fit of the gout or the stone, or both, which if he "should outlive, he should be long detained "from the prosecution of his business, which the "less vigorously pursued would be more ineffectual" and therefore proposed, "that he might have a companion with him, of more "youth and a stronger constitution, who would "receive some benefit by the information and "advice he should be able to give him, the advantage whereof would redound for the present, and might more in the future, to the king's "service;" and in fine proposed, "that the chan"cellor of the exchequer might be joined in the "commission with him, and accompany him into "Spain, from whence if they made haste in their "journey, they might make such a progress in "that court, that he might be able to attend his "majesty in Ireland in a very short time after his "arrival there; whilst himself remained still at "Madrid, to prosecute all further opportunities "to advance his service." "That he knew the crown of Spain was so low "at that time, that whatever their inclinations might be, they could neither supply him with ships or men or money towards the raising or supporting of an army: yet that he knew too, "that there is such a proportion of honour, and "of a generous compassion and bounty, that is "inseparable from that crown, and even runs through that people, which other nations are "not inspired with. And he was confident, that The king was surprised with the overture; and "if his majesty sent an ambassador thither, how asked "whether the chancellor would be willing "necessitous soever that court might be, it would "to undertake the employment, and whether he never refuse to make such an assignment of "had spoken with him of it." To which the other money to him as might, well husbanded, pro- presently replied, "that he knew not, nor had "vide a decent support for him in Ireland; where ever spoke to him of it, nor would do, till his "likewise the king of Spain had power to do his majesty, if he liked it, should first prepare him; majesty more offices than any other prince could "for he knew well he would at first be startled do, or he any where else, by the universal influ- "at it, and it may be might take it unkindly. ence he had upon the Irish nation. And general" That he knew well how much of the weight or "Owen O'Neile, who was the only man that then "obstructed the union of that people in a sub"mission to the king, had been bred up in the "court of Spain, and had spent all his time in "the service of that crown, and had still his sole dependance upon it; and therefore it was to be presumed, that he might be induced by direc-" might be with him again, with such a return "tion from Madrid, to conform himself to a "from Spain as might be welcome and conve"conjunction with the marquis of Ormond, the "nient to him. And therefore if his majesty king's lieutenant there." He said, "that his "would first break the matter to him, he would "majesty knew well that he had spent a great" then take the work upon him; and he believed 66 part of his life in that court, in the service of" he should give him such reasons, since he could "his grandfather and father; and he would be" not suspect his friendship," (which was very willing to end his days there, if it were thought notorious, and they lived then together,) "of use to his affairs." "would dispose him to the journey.' When the king spake to him of it, as a thing that had resulted from his own thoughts; "that "he had more hope to obtain some supply from " Spain, than from any other place; that no man "could be so fit to solicit it as the lord Cotting"ton, and nobody so fit to accompany him as he, "who might be with him in Ireland in a short "time;" he said, "he had spoken with lord "Cottington to undertake the employment, to "which he was not averse; but he had expressly "refused to undertake it alone, and he knew that The discourse was too reasonable not to make impression upon the king; which discovering in his countenance, the other desired him, " that he "would think that day upon all that he had said, "without communicating it to any body, till the "next morning, when he would again wait on him, to know his opinion upon the whole; for "if his majesty should approve of what he proposed, he had another particular to offer, before "the matter should be publicly debated." When he came the next morning, and found the king no companion would be so acceptable to him as | tion, which he reviewed and enlarged in his later "he would be." times of leisure. Though he underwent in this employment many mortifications of several kinds, yet he still acknowledged that he learned much during the time of his being in Spain, from whence he returned a little before the battle of Worcester; and after the king's miraculous escape into France, he quickly waited upon his majesty, and was never separated from his person, till sixteen or seventeen years after by his banishment. The chancellor did not at first dissemble the apprehension, that this device had been contrived at Paris, where he knew that neither of them were acceptable, nor were wished to be about the king, or to have so much credit with him as they were both thought to have: but the king quickly expelled that jealousy. And he desired a short time to consider of it; and received such reasons (besides kindness in the invitation) from the lord Cottington, that he did not submit only to the king's pleasure, but very willingly undertook the employment: and, though it was afterwards delayed by the importunity of many, and the queen's own advice, who thought the chancellor's attendance about the person of the king her son to be more useful to his service, than it was like to be in the other climate, the king was firm to his purpose; and despatched them shortly after his coming into France, when he resolved and prepared for his own expedition into Ireland, in order to which there were then some Dutch ships of war that waited for him at St. Malo's. This was the occasion and ground of his second retreat and recess from a very uneasy condition, of which he was not more weary in respect of the difficulty and melancholy of the business, from which he could not entirely disentangle himself by absence, than in respect of the company he was to keep in the conducting it, who had humours and inclinations uneasy to him, irresolute in themselves, and contrary for the most part to his judgment. And he did still acknowledge, that he did receive much refreshment and benefit by that negotiation. For though the employment proved ineffectual to the purposes for which it was intended, by the king's finding it necessary to divert his intended journey for Ireland, into that of Scotland; yet he had vacancy to recollect and compose his broken thoughts; and mended his understanding, in the observation and experience of another kind of negotiation than he had formerly been acquainted with, under the assistance, advice, and friendship of the most able person, and the best acquainted with foreign negotiations and the general interests of the several kings and states in Christendom, of any statesman then alive in Europe, and who delighted in giving him all the information he could. He was conversant in a court of another nature and humour, of another kind of grandeur and gravity, of another constitution and policy; and where ambassadors are more esteemed and regarded, and live with more conversation and a better intelligence amongst themselves, than in any other court in the world. The less of business he had, he was the more vacant to study the language and the manners and the government of that nation. He made a collection of and read many of the best books which are extant in that language, especially in the histories of their civil and ecclesiastical state. Upon the reading the Pontifical History written by Illescas in two volumes, and continued by one or two others in three other volumes, he begun there first his Animadversions upon the Superiority and Supremacy of the Pope, which he afterwards continued to a perfect work. Here he resumed the continuation of his Devotions on the Psalms, and other discourses of piety and devo This he called his third and most blessed recess, in which God vouchsafed to exercise many of his mercies towards him. And though he entered into it with many very disconsolate circumstances; yet in a short time, upon the recovery of a better state of health, and being remitted into a posture of ease and quietness, and secure from the power of his enemies, he recovered likewise a marvellous tranquillity and serenity of mind, by making a strict review and recollection into all the actions, all the faults and follies, committed by himself and others in his last continued fatigue of seventeen or eighteen years; in which he had received very many signal instances of God's favour, and in which he had so behaved himself, that he had the good opinion and friendship of those of the best fame, reputation, and interest, and was generally believed to have deserved very well of the king and kingdom. In all this retirement he was very seldom vacant, and then only when he was under some sharp visitation of the gout, from reading excellent books, or writing some animadversions and exercitations of his own, as appears by the papers and notes which he left. He learned the Italian and French languages, in which he read many of the choicest books. Now he finished the work which his heart was most set upon, the History of the late Civil Wars and Transactions to the Time of the King's Return in the Year 1660; of which he gave the king advertisement. He finished his Reflections and Devotions upon the Psalms of David, which he dedicated to his children; which was ended at Montpelier before the death of the duchess. He wrote and finished his Answer to Mr. Hobbes's Leviathan, to which he prefixed an epistle dedicatory to the king, if his majesty would permit it. He wrote a good volume of Essays, Divine, Moral, and Political, to which he was always adding. He prepared a Discourse Historical of the Pretence and Practice of the successive Popes from the Beginning of that Jurisdiction they assume; in which he thought he had fully vindicated the power and authority of kings from that odious usurpation. He entered upon the forming a method for the better disposing the History of England, that it may be more profitably and exactly communicated than it hath yet been. He left so many papers of several kinds, and cut out so many pieces of work, that a man may conclude, that he never intended to be idle. In a word, he did not only by all possible administrations subdue his affections and passions, to make his mind conformable to his present fortune; but did all he could to lay in a stock of patience and provision, that might support him in any future exigent or calamity that might befall him yet with a cheerful expectation, that God would deliver him from that powerful combination which then oppressed him. INDEXES. I. INDEX TO THE HISTORY OF THE REBELLION. ABBOT, George, archbishop of annexed to it, 856. the letter of Andrews, Thomas, sheriff of Lon- Anne of Austria, (see queen of 88. president of the council of state, 891. Action, (see Battle.) Ardglass, earl of, (see lord Crom- 779. in exile, 852. their propositions Argyle, Archibald Campbell, se- Mountrose, and Hamilton, 119. Argyle, ninth earl of, (see lord Armagh, James Usher, archbishop Arminian points, contentions con- army, 610. the army erects a kind officers dissolve the parliament, in ib. and order Lambert's troops to Arundel, (Alethea Talbot,) countess , sent agent into Spain Ashburnham, colonel, 291, 342, 343, the army, ib. 622, 623. how far Ashburton, lord Wentworth's horse Ashley, colonel Bernard, 408, 411. wards lord,) 115, 118, 185, 220, Assembly of confederate catholics, Assembly of divines, 1642, (see Atkins, sergeant, 338. |