that refer to this Subject and confirm what has been above related Monmouth seem'd to be born for a better Fate Monmouths Character for the first part of his Life was all Sunshine though the rest was clouded He was Brave Generous Affable and extremely Handsome Constant in his Friendships just to his Word and an utter Enemy to all sort of Cruelty He was easy in his Nature but fond of Popular Applause which led him insensibly into all his Misfortunes But whatever might be the hidden Designs of some working Heads he embark'd with his own were Noble and chiefly aim'd at the good of his Countrey though he was mistaken in the means to attain it Ambitious he was but not to the degree of aspiring to the Crown till after his Landing in the West and even then he was rather Passive than Active in assuming the Title of King It was Importunity alone that previal'd with him to make that Step and he was inflexible till it was told him That the only way to provide against the Ruin of those that should come into his Assistance in case he fail'd in the Attempt was to declare himself King that they might be shelter'd by the Statute made in the Reign of Henry VII in favour of those that should obey a King de Facto Those that advis'd him had different Ends in it Some to render the Breach betwixt King Iames and him irreconcilable and thereby pave a way for a Commonwealth in playing them against one another Others to prevent a possibility of his being reconcil'd to King Iames by the merit of delivering up those that should join him which was a Thought unworthy of that nice Sincerity he had shown in all the former Conduct of his Life To confirm this I remember to have heard Rumbold say openly at his Execution in Scotland upon the account of Argyle's Invasion That Monmouth had broke his Word with them in declaring himself King And I have reason to know that he was so far from a Design upon the Crown before he left Holland that it was not without great difficulty he was persuaded to come over at all And that upon King Charles's Death he express'd a firm Resolution to make no such Attempt but to live a retir'd Life without giving King Iames any disturbance In his latter Years he us'd to complain of the little Care had been taken of his Education and in his Disgrace endeavour'd to make up that Want by applying himself to Study in which he made in a short time no inconsiderable Progress He took the occasion of his Afflictions to inform his Mind and recollect and amend the Errors of Youth which it was not strange he should be tainted with being bred up in all the Pleasures of a Luxurious Court What sedate Thoughts his Retirement brought him to and which is in a great part hitherto a Secret how little Inclination he had to make a Bustle in the World to give it in his own Words is best express'd in a Letter of his own to one that afterwards lost his Life in his Quarrel Which though without a Date appears to be writ after King Charles's Death and is plac'd in the Appendix Appendix Numb 15. which was deliver'd me by a Gentleman yet alive that was intrusted with the Key of that and other Letters that were writ at that time Mr. Spence Secretary to the late Ear of Argyle Which rather than discover he chose to submit himself to be thrice cruelly tortur'd all which he bore with a Courage worthy of the Ancient Romans The Duke of Monmouth when he was brought Prisoner to King Iames's Presence made the humblest Submissions for his Life and it 's a Mystery what could move King Iames to see him when he had no mind to pardon him But the Manner of his Death Three Days after did more than acquit him of any Meanness of Spirit in desiring to live since he died with the greatest Constancy and Tranquility of Mind and such as became a Christian a Philosopher and a Soldier The Storm being thus blown over that threatn'd his Crown King Iames thought it time to cast off the Mask and to act without disguise what till then he had in some part endeavour'd to dissemble This Parliament had express'd a more than ordinary Zeal in Attainting Monmouth and had readily granted him a competent supply to suppress that Rebellion Not only so but to testify the Confidence they had in his Promises mention'd in the former Speeches the House of Commons Pass'd a Vote nemine contradicente That they did acquiesce and intirely rely and rest wholly satisfied on His Majestyâ—s Gracious Word and repeated Declarations to support and defend the Religion of the Church of England as it is now by Law Establish'd which was dearer to them than their Lives So that they had reason to expect some suitable Returns to all this Kindness and Confidence on their sides But they were mistaken for King Iames began to talk to them in a quite other strain than he had done before And in another Speech from the Throne gave them to understand by a plain Insinuation That he was now Master and that for the future they must expect to be govern'd not by the known Laws of the Land but by his own sole Will and Pleasure No part of the English Constitution was in it self more sacred or better secur'd by Law then That by which Roman Catholicks were declar'd incapable of Places of Trust either Civil or Military in the Government And he himself when Duke of York was forc'd by the Test-Act to lay down his Office of Lord High-Admiral even at a time when he had not publickly own'd his Reconciliation to the Church of Rome But he did what lay in his power to break down this Barrier upon Monmouth ' s Defeat And in a Speech to his Parliament told them That after the Storm that seem'd to be coming when he parted with them last he was glad to meet them again in so great Peace and Quietness But when he reflected what an inconsiderable number of Men began the late Rebellion and how long they carry'd it on without any Opposition He hop'd ev'ry body was convinc'd that the Militia was not sufficient for such Occasions but that nothing but a good Force of Disciplin'd Troops was sufficient to defend Vs from Insults at Home and Abroad And therefore he had increas'd the number of Standing Forces to what they were K. Iames's Speech to the Parment after Monmouth's defeat Appendix Numb 16. And demanded a supply to support the Charge of them which he did not doubt they would comply with Then as the main End of his Speech and to let them know what he was positively resolv'd to do He adds Let no man take Exception that there are some Officers in the Army not qualified according to the late Test for their Employment The Gentlemen I must tell you are most of them well known to
be the Scourge of Tyrants and Deliverers of the Oppress'd The Father of this Prince died young The ill Circumstances of the House of Orange at his Birth possess'd of Hereditary Dignities he deriv'd from his Ancestors in the States of the Vnited Provinces which had plac'd them upon a Level with most Princes of Europe and had given them a Figure in the World equal to some Crown'd Heads He had married a Princess of England the Eldest Daughter of King Charles I. and left her with Child of this only Son at a Time when the Royal Family of England was not only bereft of their Regal Power at Home but forc'd to seek Refuge Abroad The Father was scarce dead and the Son yet unborn when a Party in Holland that always oppos'd the House of Orange took hold of that unhappy Juncture to divest the Family by a Publick Decree of all the Dignities and Offices they had enjoy'd since the first Foundation of that Commonwealth and which they had so justly acquir'd as the Rewards of so many glorious Services they had done their Countrey Under these dismal Circumstances was the Prince of Orange now King of England born And in Apartments hung with Mourning for the Untimely Death of a Father and the Murther of a Royal Grandfather he first saw Light He was about Ten Years of Age when his Uncle King Charles the Second was restor'd and whether it proceeded from want of Power or of Will in the one the Condition of the other was little better'd by that Change It 's true King Charles in his Wars with Holland did always mention the Injury done to his Nephew as one of the Motives of his breaking with the States Yet neither in the Treaty of Breda in 1667. nor in the Alliance made at the Hague in 1668. nor that of the Peace concluded at London in 167 1 4. was there any notice taken of the Prince of Orange's Interest In this last it 's confess'd it was needless seeing some little time before he was Restor'd to all his Hereditary Offices and Dignities upon the following Occasion King Charles The manner he was restor'd to the Dignities of his Family the French King and the Bishop of Munster had enter'd into a mutual League against the Hollanders in the Year 1672. While in pursuance of that League King Charles without any previous Declaration of War did send out a strong Squadron of Ships to intercept their Smyrna Fleet and ruin their Trade at Sea and while the Bishop of Munster did invade the Provinces that lay next to him the French King at the Head of a Royal Army of at least 118000 Foot and 26000 Horse broke in upon them on the other side Like an Impetuous Torrent he carried all before him without any remarkable opposition making himself Master in a few Weeks of above Forty Towns and places of Strength some without firing a Gun and the rest with little or no Resistance This Army was compos'd of the best Troops that had been seen together for some Ages before and was made up of several Nations Over above the French themselves there were 3000 English 3000 Catalans 3000 Genoese and other Italians 6000 Savoyards 1200 German Horse 10000 Swissers without reckoning into the Number the Ancient Regiments of that Nation in the French Service and which was altogether new and extraordinary there was a Regiment of Swiss Horse Under the King in Person this Army was commanded by Two of the greatest Generals of the Age the late Prince of Conde and the Mareschal Turenne Never was any State nearer its Ruin The desperate Condition of Holland An. 1672. than that of Holland was upon this Irruption and in the opinion of all the World the end of that flourishing Republick was then at hand The French pierc'd into the Bowels of Holland as far as Vtrecht where the King kept a splendid Court and receiv'd Embassies from all Parts He was already Master of Three of the Seven Provinces and a Fourth was in the hands of the Bishop of Munster his Ally The Consternation was so great in the rest that it 's said it was debated at Amsterdam whether they should send the Keys of that Town to the French King at Vtrecht or hold out a Siege Scarce any thing can paint out in livelier Colours the low Ebb the Common-wealth of Holland was brought to at that time than the Declaration which the French King publish'd at Arnheim plac'd at length in the Appendix Appendix Numb 23. In this the French King declar'd that all the Inhabitants of the Towns in Holland that should render themselves willingly his Subjects and receive his Troops should not only be treated favourably but likewise be maintain'd in their Liberties and Privileges and enjoy the free Exercise of their Religion But upon the contrary whoever of them did not submit themselves of whatever degree or condition they be or should endeavour to resist his Arms by opening their Sluces or any other way they should be punish'd with the utmost Rigor his Majesty being resolv'd to give no Quarter to the Inhabitants of those Towns that shall resist his Arms but an Order to pillage their Goods and burn their Houses Among the more immediate Causes of this surprizing Desolation of Holland The Causes of that Desolation upon the Irruption of the French Army there were chiefly these two 1. The supine Security or rather profound Lethargy they were of late fallen into And 2. Their Intestine Divisions As to the first A vast Opulent Trade through most parts of the World had wonderfully enrich'd them and brought them to neglect and forget the Art of War A Peace that had continued without any remarkable Interruption for about Twenty Years at Land lull'd them so fast asleep with false Notions of their own Strength that they had neglected their Fortifications and Martial Discipline and were brought to believe that their Neighbour's Garisons and Strong Places were sufficient to cover them from all Insults As to the second Their Ancestors at the first founding their State taking into their Consideration that they were to raise a Commonwealth out of a great many distinct Governments independent originally of one another and govern'd by Customs and Laws peculiar to every Town and Province and how difficult it was to prevent Intestine Divisions in a Body thus aggregated did wisely provide against such a destructive Inconvenience by constituting an Hereditary Stadtholder and Captain General whose Office and Power was to be the Center in which all the various Lines of their Constitution should meet and the Cement that should keep the whole Frame together This High and Important Dignity was lodg'd in the Family of Orange and it was to the Auspicious Conduct of the Princes of that House that the States of Holland ow'd their first Settlement and the Figure they have made ever since in the World What their Ancestors foresaw and had thus wisely provided against came to pass
one Family The Breaches that have been sometimes made in the immediate Line not at all derogating from the nature of a Successive Monarchy so long as a due Respect is had to the Blood and for the most part the next immediate Heir except only upon great and urgent Difficulties and Emergencies The Crown being thus Hereditary it might have reasonably been expected That we should not only be strangers to the Inconveniences that arise naturally from Competitions in Elective Kingdoms but that it should be always the Interest of the Prince that 's in Possession of the Throne so to govern his People as not to put them upon the necessity at any time to break through the Succession and pass by the next Immediate Heir But such is the brittle state of human things that notwithstanding all the Advantages and Excellencies of the English Constitution scarce an Age has pass'd without some remarkable Struggle either between King and People for Prerogative and Liberty or between Competitors for the Crown it self The Glory of England was arriv'd to a high pitch in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The Reign of Q. Elizabeth Her People liv'd at their Ease and were happy under her Auspicious Conduct and her opprest Neighbours felt the benign Influences of her great and bountiful Mind She it was that made Head against the then Paramount Power of Christendom and that in both the Old and New Worlds And it was in a great measure owing to her Conduct and Fortune that the Spaniard fell short of the Vniversal Monarchy To draw a Picture worthy of Queen Elizabeth Her Châ—ractâ—â— were a Task fit only for the Greatest Masters since all that ever was Great or Wise in Womankind did contribute to make up her Character As to her Person she had but little of a Regular Beauty in her Face but that was well proportion'd and in the main very agreeable Her Mien and Gait were Noble and in every thing she said or did there was something of Majesty that stâ—uck more Awe than Love Tho when she had a mind she could put on Charms that few were able to resist In her Features Person and Mien she had more of Henry the Eighth than of the Unfortunate Anna Bullen her Mother But they were his good and none of his ill Qualities which she deriv'd from her Father Her Youth was a continued Scene of Afflictions but she was happy in that she suffered one of the greatest before she was capable of feeling the weight of it for she was scarce Three Years old when her Mother was sacrific'd to the Rage and Jealousy of her Husband And she that had been the Year she was born declar'd not only Heir Apparent of the Crown but which was out of the ordinary Road Princess of Wales and that by Act of Parliament was now by another Act declar'd Illegitimate and excluded from the Succession Notwithstanding this strange Reverse of Fortune particular Care was taken of her Education especially by her Brother Edward the Sixth who lov'd her above all things and was scarce ever pleas'd but in her Company Before she was Seventeen Years of Age she understood perfectly well the Latin French and Italian Tongues and was so far Mistress of the Greek that she translated into Latin Two of Isocrates's Orations one of which I have seen of her own Hand-writing corrected by her Tutor but in Three places whereof one is an Error only in the Orthography She was indefatigable in the Study of Learning especially Philosophy History Divinity and Rhetorick not forgetting both Vocal and Instrumental Musick as far as it might become one of her Quality Being thus Learned it was no wonder she form'd her Tongue and Pen to a pure and elegant way of speaking and writing and her Mind to the Noblest Notions of Philosophy and the highest Practice of Virtue Her Brother dying Queen Mary's Hereditary Aversion to her upon the account of their Mothers broke out with all the marks of Ill-Nature and Revenge And Philip the Second who prov'd afterwards her greatest Enemy was the Person that preserv'd her Life but it was upon a mere political Design which however miscarried During all that Reign the Princess Elizabeth was tost from one Confinement to another being oblig'd many times to suffer Indignities far unworthy of her Birth till at last by the Death of Queen Mary she was call'd from a Prison to a Throne at the Age of Twenty five Years Upon receit of the News of her Sister's Death and that she her self was proclaim'd Queen it 's said she fell down upon her Knees and after a short silence broke out with these words of the Psalmist A Domino factum est isâ—ud est mirabile in oculis nostris Which Words she took afterwards for her Motto in some of her Gold Coin During all the time of her Reign she would never allow her Title to be debated or reason'd upon nor so much as explain'd or vindicated She thought it sufficient that she wore the Crown and was resolv'd and knew well how to maintain it upon her Head without the help of Paper-Arguments She receiv'd with Indignation a Proposition that was made to her to have her Title asseâ—ted in Parliament And scorn'd to Repeal even the Act which declar'd her Illegitimate and incapable to succeed Her Reign was long and glorious being lov'd of her People fear'd and admir'd by her Enemies and attended with constant Success in all her Enterprizes Never Prince was better serv'd nor more happy in the choice of her Servants and no Age can instance such a Set of Able Ministers as she had Her Court at home was the quiet and happy Seat of the Muses while her Fleets and Armies abroad gather'd Laurels every where for their Mistress and themselvts She had to perfection the Art of pleasing her Parliament and she and they never parted in discontent but with the highest proofs of mutual Confidence What sort of men they were that composed the House of Commons during her Reign and of how different a stamp from those in that of her Sucâ—essor Appendix Numb 1. The Character of the Members of Parliament in Q. Elizabâ—th's Reign is best express'd in the words of Sir Robert Nauntwell Secretary to King Iames who was a Member of Parliament in both Reigns which may not be improper to insert in the Appendix If Queen Elizabeth can be properly said to have had Favourites they were chiefly the Earls of Leicester and Essex but she never fail'd to humble them upon every occasion where they presum'd too much upon her Favour The one she recall'd with Ignominy from his Government of the Vnited Provinces for behaving himself haughtily in his Office And at another time upon his threatning Bower the Vsher of the Black Rod to have him turn'd out of his Place for stopping one of his Retinue at the Queen's Bed-Chamber Door she told him with a severe Frown accompanied with an Oath My Lord I had
the State not much lamented and left in Legacy to his Son a discontented People an unnecessary expensive War an incumbred Revenue and an exhausted Treasury together with the Charge of his Grand-children by the Queen of Bohemia that were now divested of a large Patrimony deriv'd to them by a long Series of Illustrious Ancestors In fine he entail'd upon his Son all the Miseries that befel him and left in the minds of his Subjects those Sparks of Discontent that broke out some Years after into a Flame of Civil War which ended in the Ruin of King Charles and of the Monarchy with him This Prince His Character though his Father and Mother were esteemed the Handsomest Couple of the Age they liv'd in was himself but a Homely Person nor in any of his Features was to be found the least Resemblance of the Beautiful Mary Stuart or Lord Darnly No Prince had a more Liberal Education And it could not well be otherwise having the Celebrated Buchanan for his Tutor He was acquainted with most parts of Learning but valued himself upon his Knowledge in Divinity above the rest in which he writ some things that were much esteem'd at that time He writ and spoke well but in a Stile that border'd too much upon Pedantry which was indeed the common Fault of that Age. As to his Religion notwithstanding all his Advances to the Pope and Papists upon the account first of the Spanish and afterwards the French Match he was really Calvinist in most Points but that of Church-Government witness some of his Books and his Zeal for the Synod of Dort But as to Episcopacy he shew'd so much Learning and Reading in his Arguments for it at the Conference of Hampton-Court that Archbishop Whitgift said He was verily persuaded the King spake by the Spirit of God Notwithstanding his Mother was dethron'd to make room for him and consequently he could have no Right but the Consent of the People while she liv'd yet upon all occasions he was fond of being thought to have a Divine Right to the Crown His Courage was much suspected and some would ascribe his want of it to the Fright his Mother was in upon the Death of David Rizio The Troubles of his Youth were various occasion'd chiefly by Factions of Great Men that strove who should have the Management of him But when he came of Age he sought all occasions to be reveng'd upon such of them as were living and the Posterity of those that were dead Goury's Conspiracy being in it self so improbable a thing and attended with so many inconsistent Circumstances was disbeliev'd at the time it was said to have been attempted And Posterity has swallow'd down for a Truth what their Ancestors took for a mere Fiction He came to the Crown of England by Lineal Descent and the Verbal Designation of Queen Elizabeth upon her Death-bed And the Conspiracy wherewith Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh were charged to set him by the English Throne was no less Mystery than that of Goury's had been before The only uncontroverted Treason that happen'd in his Reign was the Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot. and yet the Letter to the Lord Mounteagle that pretended to discover it was but a Contrivance of his own the thing being discover'd to him before by Henry the Fourth of France through the means of Monsieur de Rhony after Duke of Sully King Henry paid dear for his Friendship to King Iames and there is reason to believe that it was upon this account among others that a Party of the Church of Rome employ'd Ravillac to murther that Great Man King Iames was equally happy and unhappy in every one of his Children The Character of Pr. Henry Prince Henry was the Darling of Mankind and a Youth of vast Hopes and wonderful Virtues but was too soon Man to be long-liv'd The Duke of Sully being in England to congratulate King Iames upon his Accession to the Crown laid the Foundation of a strict Friendship betwixt his Master and Prince Henry which was afterwards carried on by Letters and Messages till the Death of that King Though it 's a Secret to this day what was the real Design of all those vast Preparations that were made by Henry the Fourth for some time before his Death yet certain it is those Preparations were such as kept all Europe in suspense And I have seen some Papers that make it more than probable that Prince Henry was not only acquainted with the Secret but was engag'd in the Design But whatever it was it prov'd abortive by the Murther of that Excellent King just at the time when it was to have been declar'd his Army being ready to march Prince Henry surviv'd him but two years and dy'd universally lamented The World is very often willing to attribute the Untimely Death of Princes to unfair Practices and it was the general Rumour at that time that this Prince was poison'd Whatever was in it there is yet in Print a Sermon preach'd at St. Iames's upon the Dissolution of his Family that boldly insinuated some such thing And also Sir Francis Bacon Lord Chancellor of England in his Speech at the Trial of the Earl of Somerset had some Reflections upon the Intimacy of that Lord with Sir Thomas Overbury which seem to point that way insomuch that there were several Expressions left out of the printed Copy that were in the Speech But after all there is an Account in Print of what was observable upon the Opening of Prince Henry's Body under the Hand of Sir Theodore Mayerne and Five other Physicians Appendix Numb 5. from which there can be no Inference drawn that he was poyson'd The Second of King Iames's Children was the Princess Elizabeth Of Queen of Bohemia married to the Elector Palatine who was afterwards to his Ruin elected King of Bohemia It is hard to say whether the Virtues of this Lady or her Misfortunes were greater for as she was one of the best of Women she may be likewise reckon'd in the number of the most unfortunate King Iames thought to retrieve his Son-in-law's lost Fortune by the way of Treaty but in that and in every thing else the House of Austria outwitted him so that the poor Prince Palatine gain'd nothing by his Alliance with England but the hard Fate to be abandon'd by those whose Honour and Interest it was to support him Nor had the Crown of England any share in the Honour of re-establishing the Palatine Family which happen'd Thirty Years after for at the time of the Treaty of Munster when that matter was setled King Charles the First was so far from being in a condition to mediate for his Friends that he was himself a Prisoner to those very Enemies that in a few Months after the signing of that Treaty took his Life Of whom being the Youngest of King Iames's Children and of his Misfortunes there will be too much occasion to speak in the following
and among other Motives brought them Engagements in writing from most of the greatest Peers of England to join with them and assist them when they should come into England with their Army This did much animate them for they had not the least doubt of the Papers brought them But all this was discover'd at the Treaty of Rippon to have been a base Forgery For there the Scâ—ttish Lords looking very sullenly upon some of the English Lords as on Persons of no Faith or Truth the Lord Mandevil came to the Earl of Rothes and asked the reason of that change of their Countenances and Behaviour in them who after some high Reflections at length challeng'd him and the other Lords of not keeping what they engag'd to them Upon which that Lord stood amaz'd and told him and so did the other Lords there That they had sent no such Messages nor Papers to them and that they had been abus'd by the blackest Imposture that ever was Thus it appear'd concludes this Author how dangerous it may be to receive some things that seem to have the highest probabilities in them easily and upon trust To leave this Subject it may not be improper to add another Passage out of the same Book where that Reverend Prelate speaking of the Inâ—lucements that prevail'd with the Scots to come into the Assistance of the Parliament Three Years after tells us That among other Arguments That Paper which was sent down in the Year 1640 as the Engagement of Twenty eight of the Peers of England for their Concurrence with the Scottish Army that Year was shown to divers to engage them into a grateful Return to those to whom it was pretended they were so highly oblig'd For though the Earl of Rothes and a few more were well satisfied about the Forgery of that Paper yet they thought that a Secret of too great Importance to be generally known therefore it was still kept up from the Body of the Nation To shut up what relates to K. Charles I. K. Charles's thoughts of Resigning the Crown to his Son After the Treaty of Newport was broke off and he once more carried away by the Army he found his Case was desperate and thereupon began to have some Thoughts of Resigning the Crown to the Prince of Wales as the only means in that unhappy Condition to preserve it for his Family But before he had time to digest this Resolution or an opportunity to acquaint the Parliament with it he was hurried on to his Trial. The last day of that Trial he earnestly propos'd That before Sentence pass'd he might be heard before the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber where he had something to offer for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject which might settle all differences It is probable he meant by this to have resign'd the Crown which his Enemies having some Intimation of and fearing it might be accepted they were the more forward to proceed to Sentence and Execution Likewise some days before his Death About setting up the Duke of Gloucester King the prevailing Party had thoughts of setting up the Duke of Gloucester King This was not kept so secret but King Charies had some notice of it for the Duke and his Sister having leave to wait upon him the Night before the Execution he took the Young Duke in his Arms and told him They were going to take off his Father's Head and may be they would set the Crown upon his Head which he forbad him to accept of while his Two Elder Brothers were Living There befel him an Accident which though a Trifle in it self and that no Weight is to be laid upon any thing of that nature yet since the best Authors both Ancient and Modern have not thought it below the Majesty of History to mention the like it may be the more excusable to insert it The King being at Oxford during the Civil Wars went one day to see the Publick Library where he was show'd among other Books a Virgil nobly Printed and exquisitely bound The Lord Falkland to divert the King would have his Majesty make a Trial of his Fortune by the Sortes Virgilianae His consulting the Sortes Virgilianae which every body knows was an usual kind of Augury some Ages past Whereupon the King opening the Book the Period which happen'd to come up was that part of Dido's Imprecation against Aeneas which Mr. Dryden translates thus Yet let a Race untam'd and haughty Foes His peaceful Entrance with dire Arms oppose Oppress'd with Numbers in th' unequal Field His Men discourag'd and himself expell'd Let him for Succonr sue from place to place Torn from his Subjects and his Son's embrace First let him see his Friends in Battel slain And their untimely Fate lament in vain And when at length the cruel War shall cease On hard Conditions may he buy his Peace Nor let him then enjoy Supreme Command But fall untimely by some hostile Hand And lye unburi'd in the common Sand. It is said K. Charles seem'd concern'd at this Accident and that the Lord Falkland observing it would likewise try his own Fortune in the same manner hoping he might fall upon some Passage that could have no relation to his Case and thereby divert the King's Thoughts from any Impression the other might have upon him But the place that Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his Destiny than the other had been to the King 's being the following Expressions of Evander upon the untimely Death of his Son Pallas as they are translated by the same Hand O Pallas thou hast fail'd thy plighted Word To fight with Reason not to tempt the Sword I warn'd thee but in vain for well I knew What Perils Youthful Ardor would pursue That boiling Blood would carry thee too far Young as thou were 't in Dangers raw to War O curst Essay of Arms disast'rous Doom Prelude of Bloody Fields and Fights to come To return to our History Upon the Death of King Charles I. there was a Total Eclipse of the Royal Family for Twelve Years During a great part of which time an unusual Meteor fill'd the English Orb and with its surprizing Influences over-aw'd not only Three Kingdoms but the powerfullest Princes and States about us A Great Man he was and Posterity might have paid a just Homage to his Memory if he had not embrued his Hands in the Blood of his Prince or had not usurp'd upon the Liberties of his Countrey It being as natural a Curiosity in mankind to know the Character of a Fortunate Vsurper as of a Lawful King it may not perhaps be much amiss to say something of Oliver Cromwell By Birth he was a Gentleman The Usurpation and Character of Oliver Cromwell and bred up for some time at the Vniversity though nothing of a Scholar When the Civil Wars broke out he took the Parliaments Side and his first Employment in the Army was a Captain
of Horse whence by degrees he rose to be Lieutenant-General under the Earl of Manchester In which Post he was the chief Instrument together with Lieutenant General Lesley of gaining the Battel of Marston-Moor which prov'd the first remarkable Stop to the King's Success Some time after the Earl of Manchester having refus'd to give an Order to Cromwell to charge a Party of Horse where the King was personally present he came up to London to complain against him though he ow'd his Advancement chiefly to his Favour Which the Earl having notice of and being by this time weary of a War of which he foresaw the fatal Consequences he took that opportunity to lay down his Command wherein he was succeeded by Cromwell Sir Thomas Fairfax also laying down his Commission some time after he was declar'd General of all the Forces rais'd or to be rais'd by the Parliament and having modell'd the Parliament and Army to his mind he dismiss'd the former when he had no more use for them and upon their forc'd Resignation he assum'd the Supreme Power under the Title of Protector Being thus mounted to so high a Pinacle of Fortune he became more formidable both at Home and Abroad than most Princes that had ever sat upon the English Throne And it was said that Cardinal Mazarine would change Countenance whenever he heard him nam'd so that it pass'd into a Proverb in France That he was not so much afraid of the Devil as of Oliver Cromwell He had a Manly stern Look and was of an Active Healthful Constitution able to endure the greatest Toil and Fatigue Though Brave in his Person yet he was Wary in his Conduct for from the time he was first declar'd Protector he always wore a Coat of Mail under his Cloaths His Conversation among his Friends was very diverting and familiar but in publick reserv'd and grave He was sparing in his Diet though sometimes would drink freely but never to Excess He was moderate in all other Pleasures and for what was visible free from Immoralities especially after he came to make a Figure in the World He writ a tolerable good Hand and a Stile becoming a Gentleman except when he had a mind to wheedle under the Mask of Religion which he knew nicely how to do when his Affairs requir'd it He affected for the most part a Plainness in his Cloaths but in them as well as in his Guards and Attendance he appear'd with Magnificence upon Publick Occasions No man was ever better serv'd nor took more pains to be so As he was severe to his Enemies so was he beneficent and kind to his Friends And if he came to hear of a Man fit for his purpose though never so obscure he sent for him and employ'd him suiting the Employment to the Person and not the Person to the Employment And upon this Maxim in his Government depended in a great measure his Success In matters of greatest Moment he trusted none but his Secretary Thurlo and oftentimes not him An Instance of which Thurlo us'd to tell of himself That he was once commanded by Cromwell to go at a certain hour to Grays-Inn and at such a place deliver a Bill of Twenty thousand Pound payable to the Bearer at Genoa to a Man he should find walking in such a Habit and Posture as he describ'd him without speaking one word Which accordingly Thurlo did and never knew to his dying day either the Person or the Occasion At another time the Protector coming late at Night to Thurlo's Office and beginning to give him directions about something of great Importance and Secrecy he took notice that Mr. Moreland one of the Clerks afterward Sir Samuel Moreland was in the Room which he had not observ'd before and fearing he might have over-heard their Discourse though he pretended to be asleep upon his Desk he drew a Ponyard which he always carried under his Coat and was going to dispatch Moreland upon the Spot if Thurlo had not with great Intreaties prevail'd with him to desist assuring him that Moreland had sat up two Nights together and was now certainly asleep There was not the smallest Accident that befel King Charles the Second in his Exile but he knew it perfectly well insomuch that having given leave to an English Nobleman to Travel upon condition he should not see Charles Stuart he ask'd him at his Return If he had punctually obey'd his Commands Which the other affirming he had Cromwell replied It 's true you did not see him for to keep your Word with me you agreed to meet in the dark the Candles being put out for that end And withal told him all the Particulars that pass'd in Conversation betwixt the King and him at their Meeting That he had Spies about King Charles The Business of Dunkirk was not strange but his Intelligence reach'd the most secret Transactions of other Princes and when the Matter was communicated to but very few Of which we have a notable Instance in the Business of Dunkirk There was an Article in the Treaty between France and the Protector That if Dunkirk came to be taken it should be immediately deliver'd up to the English and his Ambassador Lockhart had Orders to take Possession of it accordingly When the French Army being join'd with the English Auxiliaries was in its March to Invest the Town Cromwell sent one Morning for the French Ambassador to Whitehall and upbraided him publickly for his Master 's design'd Breach of Promise in giving secret Orders to the French General to keep Possession of Dunkirk in case it was taken contrary to the Treaty between them The Ambassador protested he knew nothing of the matter as indeed he did not and begg'd leave to assure him that there was no such thing thought of Upon which Cromwell pulling a Paper out of his Pocket Here says he is the Copy of the Cardinal's Order And I desire you to dispatch immediately an Express to let him know That I am not to be impos'd upon and that if he deliver not up the Keys of the Town of Dunkirk to Lockhart within an hour after it shall be taken tell him I 'll come in Person and demand them at the Gates of Paris There were but Four Persons said to be privy to this Order the Queen-Mother the Cardinal the Mareschal de Turenne and a Secretary whose Name it is not fit at this time to mention The Cardinal for a long time blam'd the Queen as if she might possibly have blabb'd it out to some of her Women Whereas it was found after the Secretary's Death That he had kept a secret Correspondence with Cromwell for several Years and therefore it was not doubted but he had sent him the Copy of the Order above-mention'd The Message had its effect for Dunkirk was put into the Possession of the English And to palliate the matter the Duke and Mareschal of Crequy was dispatch'd into England Ambassador Extraordinary to Compliment Cromwell attended with
fully acquainted with the Native Strength and peculiar Interest of the Nation I mean the Affairs of the Navy in which he had acquir'd deservedly a great Reputation He had met with but too many occasions to understand the Genius and Temper of the People he was to govern and to know how far it was impracticable to overturn the Establish'd Religion or to introduce a New one for he had wrestled through a great many Difficulties upon the account of his own He could not but have a true value for hâ—s Brother's great Parts and Abilities and be acquainted with the Arts by which he gain'd and preserv'd the Affections of his People notwithstanding all the Hardships he had been induc'd sometimes to put upon them And he had seen how fearful and averse he had been to push things too far or to drive his Subjects to Extremitities He had before him the Fatal Example of a Father who though he was a Protestant yet upon a false Suspicion of having a Design to introduce Popery was sent to his Grave by a violont Death and he was almost a Man when that Tragedy happen'd and had suffer'd Ten Years Banishment among other Consequences that attended it He had been acquainted abroad with a Princess fam'd for Parts and Learning who Resign'd her Crown apprehending she might be divested of it for embracing the Romish Religion by those very Subjects that held her before in the greatest Veneration both upon her own account and that of a Father who had rais'd them to the highest Pitch of Glory that ever the Suedish Nation arriv'd to And he might have remembred what his Mother said upon her Return to Somerset-house after the Restoration That if she had known the Temper of the People of England some Years past as well as she did then she had never been oblig'd to leave that House But the History of his Ancestors might have more fully inform'd him Tâ—at those that grasp'd at Immoderate Power or a Prerogative above the Law were always Unfortunate and their Reigns Inglorious There was also a Passage at his Father's Death which he would have done well to have observ'd He deliver'd his George to Dr. Iuxon upon the Scaffold and bid him Remember without saying more The Council of State was willing to know the meaning of that Expression and call'd the Doctor before them to give them an Account of it who told them That the King immediately before his coming out to the Place of Execution had charg'd him to carry to the Prince his Son his George with these his Two last Commands That he should forgive his Murtherers And That if he ever came to the Crown he should so govern his Subjects as not to force them upon Extremities Over and above all this one of the best Historians of the Age Puffendorf ut supra who had the advantage of all the late Elector of Brandenburgh's Papers and Memoirs acquaints us That King Charles the Second delivering to King Iames at his Death the Key of his Strong Box advis'd him not to think upon introducing the Romish Religion into England it being a thing that was both dangerous and impracticable And that the late Don Pedro Ronquillor the Spanish Ambassador at his first Audience after the Death of King Charles having ask'd leave to speak his mind freely upon that occasion made bold to tell him That he saw several Priests about him that he knew would importune him to alter the Establish'd Religion in England but he wish'd his Majesty would not give Ear to their Advice for if he did he was afraid his Majesty would have reason to repent of it when it was too late This Author tells us That King Iames took ill the Freedom of the Spanish Ambassador and ask'd him in Passion Whether in Spain they advis'd with their Confessors Yes Sir answer'd Ronquillor we do and that 's the reason our Affairs go so ill The same Historian does likewise inform us but he does not tell us upon what grounds Pope Innocent XI th's Letter to K Iames. That Pope Innocent XI writ a Letter to King Iames upon his Accession to the Crown to this purpose That he was highly pleas'd with his Majesty's Zeal for the Catholick Religion but he was afraid his Majesty might push it too far and instead of contributing to his own Greatness and to the Advancement of the Catholick Church he might come to do both It and himself the greatest Prejudice by attempting that which his Holiness was well assur'd from long Experience could not succeed This Letter does very well agree with what I shall have occasion to mention afterwards concerning the Earl of Castlemain's Embassy to Rome How far he profited by all these Advantages on the one hand and Examples and Advices on the other will appear in the Sequel The first Speech he made as King the day his Brother died gave hopes of a Happy Reign and even those that had appear'd with the greatest Warmth against him before were willing now to own themselves to have been mistaken and were ready to express their Repentance for what was past For he told them That since it had pleas'd Almighty God to place him in that Station and that he was now to succeed to so good and gracious a King as well as so very kind a Brother he thought fit to declare to them That he would endeavour to follow his Example and especially in that of his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People And that though he had been reported to be a Man for Arbitrary Power yet he was resolv'd to make it his Endeavour to preserve the Government of England both in Church and State as it was then Establish'd by Law That he knew the Principles of the Church of England were for Monarchy and that the Members of it had show'd themselves good and Loyal Subjeâ—ts therefore he would always take care of it and defend and support it That he knew that the Laws of England were sufficient to make the King as Great a Monarch as he could wish And that as he would never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown so he would never invade any manâ—s Property Concluding That as he had often hitherto ventur'd his Life in defence of this Nation so he was resolv'd to go as far as any man in preserving it in all its just Rights and Liberties If a Trajan or an Antoninus had been to lay down a Scheme of Government to make their People happy they could not have done it in better Terms nor could the Nation well desire or in reason wish for more If his subsequent Actions had come up to it he had eterniz'd his Name and might have reviv'd in himself the Memory of those of his Ancestors who have deservedly given them by Posterity the Character of Good and Great This promising Speech was not many days old nor King Charles's Ashes well cold when the Nation was alarm'd with a Proclamation
to smell out what was done in the Conclave and his good old Father was so well seen in the Mathematicks as that he could tell you through all Spain every part every Ship with the Burthens whither bound what preparation what Impediments for diversion of Enterprizes Counsels and Resolutions And that we may see as in a little Map how docible this little Man was I will present a Taste of his Abilities My Lord of Devonshire Mountjoy upon the certainty the Spaniard would invade Ireland with a strong Army had written very earnestly to the Queen and the Council for such Supplies to be sent over that might enable him to march up to the Spaniard if he did land and follow on his Prosecution against the Rebels Sir Robert Cecil besides the general Dispatch of the Council Earl of Salisbury as he often did wrote this in private for these two began then to love dearly My Lord Out of the abundance of my Affection and the care I have of your well-doing I must in private put you out of doubt for of Fear I know you cannot be otherwise sensible than in the way of Honour that the Spaniard will not come unto you this Year for I have it from my own what Preparations are in all his Parts and what he can do for be confident he beareth up a Reputation by seeming to embrace more than he can gripe but the next Year be assured he will cast over unto you some Forlorn Hopes which how they may be reâ—inforced beyond his present Ability and his first Intention I cannot as yet make any certain Iudgment but I believe out of my Intelligence that you may expect their landing in Munster and the more to distract you in several places as at Kingsale Beerhaven Baltimore where you may be sure coming from Sea they will first fortify and learn the Strength of the Rebels before they dare take the Field howsoever as I know you will not lessen not your Care neither your Defences and whatsoever lies within my power to do you and the Publick service rest thereof assured Note All came exactly to pass as this Letter insinuates NUMB. III. Queen Elizabeth's Speech to the House of Commons Cambden's Hist. of Q. Eliz. p 26 27. in Answer to their Address about her Marriage IN a matter most unpleasing most pleasing to me is the apparent Good-Will of you and my People as proceeding from a very good mind towards me and the Commonwealth Concerning Marriage which ye so earnestly move me to I have been long since persuaded that I was sent into this World by God to think and do those things chiefly which may tend to his Glory Hereupon have I chosen that kind of life which is most free from the troublesome Cares of this World that I might atttend the Service of God alone From which if either the tendred Marrriages of most Potent Princes or the danger of Death intended against me could have removed me I had long agone enjoyed the Honour of an Husband And these things have I thought upon when I was a private Person But now that the publick Care of governing the Kingdom is laid upon me to draw upon me also the Cares of Marriage may seem a point of inconsiderate Folly Yea to satisfy you I have already joined my self in Marriage to an Husband namely the Kingdom of England And behold said she which I marvel ye have forgotten the Pledge of this my Wedlock and Marriage with my Kingdom And therewith she drew the Ring from her Finger and shewed it wherewith at her Coronation she had in a set form of words solemnly given her self in Marriage to her Kingdom Here having made a pause And do not saith she upbraid me with miserable lack of Children for every one of you and as many as are Englishmen are Children and Kinsmen to me of whom if God deprive me not which God forbid I cannot without injury be accounted Barren But I commend you that ye have not appointed me an Husband for that were most unworthy the Majesty of an Absolute Princess and unbeseeming your Wisdom which are Subjects born Nevertheless if it please God that I enter into another course of life I promise you I will do nothing which may be prejudicial to the Commonwealth but will take such a Husband as near as may be as will have as great a care of the Commonwealth as my self But if I continue in this kind of life I have begun I doubt not but God will so direct mine own and your Counsels that ye shall not need to doubt of a Successor which may be more beneficial to the Commonwealth than he which may be born of me considering that the Issue of the best Princes many times degenerateth And to me it shall be a full satisfaction both for the Memorial of my Name and for my Glory also if when I shall let my last Breath it be engraven upon my Marble Tomb Here lieth ELIZABETH which Reigned a Virgin and died a Virgin NUMB. IV. Queen Elizabeth's Letter to King Henry the Fourth of France Ibid. p. 475. upon his changing his Religion ALas what deep Sorrow what vehement Grief what Sighs have I felt at my Heart for the things which Morlante hath told me of Alas is the World come to this pass Was it possible that any Worldly matter should make you quit the fear of God Can we expect any happy Issue of such a Fact Or could you think that he who hath hitherto with his own Right Hand upholden and preserved you would now forsake you It is a very dangerous thing to do Evil that Good may come of it Yet I hope a sober Spirit will put you into a better Mind In the mean time I will not omit to make it a principal part of my Prayers the recommending you to God beseeching him that the Hands of Esau may not lose you the Blessing of Iacob Whâ—reas you do religiously and solemnly offer me your Friendship I know to my great Cost I have well deserved it neither should I repent that had you not changed your Father Verily from henceforth I cannot be your Sister by the Father for the truth is I shall ever more dearly love and honour mine own Father than a false and counterfeit one which God knoweth very well who I beseech him bring you back again to a better Mind Subscribed Your Sister if it be after the old manner as for the new I have nothing to do with it Elizabeth R. NUMB. V. An Account of what was Remarkable upon opening the Body of Prince Henry FIrst Truth brought to Light or the first 14 Years of K. Iames p. 33. we found his Liver paler than ordinary in certain places somewhat wan his Gall without any Choler in it and distended with Wind. Secondly his Spleen was in divers places more than ordinarily black Thirdly his Stomach was in no part offended Fourthly his Midriff was in divers places black
For no sooner was this Office and Dignity abolish'd upon the Death of the last Prince of Orange through the Interest of a prevailing Faction but they fell into Intestine Divisions and Animosities at Home and sunk in their Reputation Abroad Insomuch that it was justly said That instead of being the Vnited they were become the Disunited Provinces There may be a Third Reason given for this Chain of Misfortunes that overwhelm'd the Hollanders the first Year of this War From a false though plausible Notion of saving Money they thought fit to reduce their Army to 25000 men and rejected the repeated Propositions of Spain to enter into a Treaty with them for a mutual Supply of Money Yearly to England and Sueden by which these Two Crowns might be enabled and encourag'd to maintain and continue the Triple League And which was yet worse the few Troops they had were in a bad Condition and sunk to a very low degree both in Discipline and Courage Their Fortifications were every where fallen into decay and their Magazines ill provided To compleat all their Misfortunes they wanted a Head to command them at least one of Weight and Authority enough to support so great a Trust. It were in vain to attempt to express the deplorable Condition of the Hollanders at that time It 's enough to say The approach of a Triumphant King flesh'd with Victories put them into so deep a Consternation that a great many of their Richest Families abandon'd their Countrey and retir'd to Hamburgh Antwerp and other places of Security while the States-General gave Orders for removing the Courts and Archives from the Hague for fear they should fall into the Enemies hands This horrid Fright which spread it self every where and grew every day greater was sufficient of it self to occasion the entire Ruin of their State though it had not been accompanied as it was with Seditions Divisions and Tumults in every Town and Province and no Enemy within their Bowels Those alone did naturally tend to the Dissolution of the Belgick Vnion without any other concurring Circumstances to hurry it on Matters standing thus with the Vnited Provinces they came to see when it was almost too late their former Errors and more particularly that of abolishing the Office of Stadtholder And now as the last Cast for their Liberty they applied to the Prince of Orange young though he was as the only Person capable to support their Tottering State and to put a stop to the Miseries that overwhelm'd their Countrey With the Universal Consent and Approbation of the People and the Publick Sanction of the States he was declar'd Stadtholder Captain and Admiral-General and restor'd to all the Dignities of his Family It 's hard to determine whether the Misfortunes of his Countrey or the Universal Love the People bore him contributed most to his Restoration However he was restor'd in spite of the Barnevelt Faction and had the pleasure to see De-Wit the greatest Opposer of his House among the other Deputies that waited upon him with the Resolutions of the States-General and deliver'd him his Commission The Difficulties this Young Prince had to struggle with in supporting his sinking Countrey would have pall'd any Courage but his own The History of the Maâ—â—schal Tureme by Monsieur de Busson render'd out of French by Ferrand Spence 1686. and may in the main be gather'd from what has been already said What these were upon his first heading the Army are in part so well express'd by a French Author who was a considerable Actor in that War on the French side and has writ the Account of it with an Impartiality not over-frequent among the Historians of his Countrey that it may not be amiss to Transcribe some few Passages relating to this matter as they lye together in the English Translation Nothing but the Season of the Year The difficulties the P. of Orange had to grapple with for retrieving his Countrey from Ruin says he hinder'd the French from attempting new Conquests or rather the Waters which cover'd the Surface of the Earth The Duke of Luxenburgh being still at Vtrecht hop'd however that if it once came to freeze he might by means of the Ice surprize several Posts that were otherwise inaccessible As the Enemy meaning the Hollanders were not unacquainted with his Design they had ever the Shovel and Pickaxe in their hands to precaution themselves against this Misfortune upon the first Frost that should come They broke the least piece of Ice hoping by taking such strict care they should render all his Measures abortive But it happening to freeze all of a sudden it was impossible for them to repair in several days what fell out in one Night This cast so great an Alarm into the Places that were the most expos'd that Peoples minds were wholly set upon removing thence what they had most precious The Consternation spread it self to the very Hague which being destitute of Walls and Defence could not otherwise expect but a strange Desolation if the Posts that cover'd it came to be forc'd However the Prince of Orange who laid the Publick Miseries as much to heart as if they had only regarded himself had not for all this been under any Apprehensions if his Troops by being so often beaten had not utterly lost their Courage For though the Ice seem'd to give a great Advantage to the French they would however run a great Risque in coming to attack him in places well intrench'd and where his Highness might oppose against them as many Men as they could have He was busied Day and Night either in adding new Fortifications to those that were already made or in encouraging his Captains and Soldiers But whatever care he took Colonel Penvin abandon'd his Post upon the Request of the Inhabitants of Dergau who sent for him to maintain their Walls The D. of Luxemburgh's Cruelties at Swammerdam The Duke of Luxemburgh trusting rather to the Terror than the Strength of his Troops marching in the mean while towards Bodegrave and Swammerdam won both Sword in hand And as if this Action had not been sufficiently glorious by reason of the little Opposition he met with he would render it the more remarkable not only by the Slaughter that he made of those that were found in Arms but of all sorts of Persons even Women and Children He was often heard amidst the piteous Cries that every one made to move him to Compassion to bid his Soldiers give no Quarter but Plunder Ravish and Kill He himself did what he said and his Men after his Example having delug'd the Streets with Rivers of Blood entred the Houses where they committed inconceivable Cruelties Several Women were violated in their Husbands Arms several Maidens in their Fathers and whoever went about to oppose such Criminal Excesses was pitilesly massacred by these Furies who suffer'd themselves to be no longer govern'd but by their disorderly Passion and by their Cruelty Thus far my