great Interest and good Information Next to these those that have had the perusal of the Cabinets of great Ministers and of Publick Records are the best qualified for giving the World a true Information of Affairs This makes the most celebrated History of the Council of Trent be received over all the World as a Pattern of History Strada and Grotius are also highly valued upon the same account But it has been commonly found that Historians being generally of a Party and having Ends to serve or being under the curb of procuring Licences have accommodated their Relation to the tast of those they intended to flatter and so have corrupted the Truth with the concealment of many things fit to be known and to make amends for that have added as many Sophisticating Colours to make the best things look ill and to give some fair appearances to the worst things And this has generally detracted so much from the value of History that most people begin to neglect such Books for they do not believe that they write Truth And it is no wonder many are full of such prejudices at Ancienter Histories for they reckon that men in all Ages were pretty near the same temper they find them to be of at this day and there is such foul dealing in the Histories of our own Time and things that are so eminently false are positively asserted that from thence many conclude all other Writings of that nature are likewise to be suspected only Forgery and Impudence has not now so much Art to conceal or disguise it with as it had in former Ages since most of our late Histories are written either in the style and strain of Panegyricks or Satyrs which of all things an Historian that would be believed ought to avoid most carefully for naturally all people are apt to suspect Interest or Malice when they find much Flattery or Passion in a History Too much Art does but disgrace it for though Father Paul has written his History of the Council of Trent in as flat and plain a style as was possible and Cardinal Pallavicini has adorned his with all the Beauty of Art and Wit yet there appears somewhat so native in the one and so laboured in the other that it does much prepossess the Reader with an inclination to believe the one and disbelieve the other A short and concise style though it succeeded wonderfully with Tacitus and not ill with Grotius yet by the common Verdict of all men is judged not so proper for a History which should open up things fully so as to be easily understood by every Reader These common failings of Historians have in this last Age made people desire to see Papers Records and Letters published at their full length Livy begun the making of Speeches in Councils and at the heads of Armies for States-men and Generals and was much followed till within this Age that these things became Vniversally distastful and instead of that which was but the issue of the Writers brain the World desires nothing so much as to see the Truth of things as they were really designed and acted rather from some Original Papers than from the Collections or Extracts of persons of whose Fidelity or Iudgment they are not well assured Of all Nations in the world the French have delighted most in these Writings so that the Memoires written in that Nation and Language since the days of Henry the 3d would almost make up a Library and every year we get over new Memoires of some one Great Person or another And though there are great Indiscretions committed in publishing many Secrets and Papers not fit for Publick View yet this way of Writing takes now more in the World than any sort of History ever did There is but one in this Island that hath hitherto written in that Method and his Collections are so well received that it gives great encouragement to any who will follow him in it And indeed it is a much easier thing to write in this way than any other for when a man undertakes a History he ought to be well informed of all that passed on both sides and is obliged to publish every thing that is of Importance for opening up the secretest Causes and Beginnings of great Changes or Revolutions this being the chief Instruction that men receive from History by which they are most enabled to provide against and prevent mischief for the future But he that writes Memoires from a Collection of Papers that are in his hands has no such ties on him being only obliged to give a faithful account of such things as are in his Papers and where these fail he is at no loss but may well pass over such Particulars as occur not to him For the Lives of Great Persons though it might have been expected that after the many excellent Patterns Plutarch had left the World those should have been generally well written yet there is no sort of History worse done they being so full of gross Partiality and Flattery and often swelled with trifling and impertinent things so that it is no great wonder if this kind of Writing be much decried and neglected I had all these Considerations before me when I designed and drew this Work and therefore will be more guilty if I transgress the Laws of Writing History without Partiality and Passion The late Civil Wars of this Island deserve a good and full History as much as any Transaction in any part of the World For it was a strange and unheard-of thing to see a Prince whose Title was unquestioned and who had great Virtues and eminent Piety and was of the same Religion with His Subjects and had never put any of them unjustly to Death so oppressed by a prevalent Faction and that a Party which was not headed by any new Pretender nor under the united Authority of any one Person but on the contrary was divided from the very beginning into two great Factions should become so successful as to defeat Him in the Field take all His Garrisons imprison His Person and in end put Him to Death openly with a Form and shew of His Iustice many thousands of His lamenting Subjects looking on and that all this was done near so great and populous a City which did universally pity His Condition and abhor the Crime and yet not so much as one Person made a Tumult to oppose it The Rise and Progress of such a War is a thing which every one desires to be particularly informed about for though many have published Relations of those times on both sides yet there is scarce any body satisfied either with the Truth of Matters of Fact or with their way of Writing But the first beginning and rise of the Civil Wars having been in Scotland from whence they moved Southwards there can be no clear Vnderstanding of what followed until these first Disorders be truly stated This made me oft wish that some Moderate Pen were employed in
giving a just and true Relation of the Reign of the late King I was my self pretty early acquainted with a great deal more of the Truth of these Affairs than is generally known having had the blessing of my Father's Conversation for many years who had been a very exact Observer of all that passed He was also much importuned by men of all sides to write the History of those distempered Times being esteemed a Person of great Moderation and Candour who as he had his breeding in the Law so lived in great Friendship with the most eminent Persons of both Perswasions for before the Troubles began he was accounted a Male-content but he did afterwards give such signal demonstrations of his Loyalty that he was put from his Employment and made to take a voluntary Exile on him which was granted him as a great Favour by the Covenanters who generally had much kindness for him for all his being so contrary to their way And Warriston his Brother-in-Law in whose hands were all the Original Papers of the Covenanters side offered them to him for his Assistance if he would undertake it but he was over-grown with Age and Infirmities and so could not set about so difficult a Work But I received from him such Informations as made me look on most of the Writers of those Times with Indignation who were either utterly ignorant or so basely partial that Matters of Fact are falsly represented and the whole Counsels and Secret Contrivances either quite passed over or so palliated that there is very little truth in the Relations they have made And particularly I wondred to find James Duke of Hamilton represented to the World with such foul and base Characters as if he had been a Monster both for Ingratitude and Treachery though he had laid down his Life for the King and involved his Estate in vast Debts for His Service It seemed to me the greatest Injustice in the World that one who served his Prince and his Country so long and so faithfully and sealed all with his Blood should not only be deprived of the Honour due to his Memory but that a company of ignorant and impudent Slanderers should do what they could to attaint his Blood and Family by the black Imputations they have cast on him and that this should pass current without any Vindication This made me resolve if ever I could meet with such Instructions as might direct me well to write an account of the late Troubles and in particular to give a true and clear Relation of that Duke's Concerns to set about it I knew well the Temper of those who were most severe in their Censures on him to be a violent and hot-headed sort of People who were for nothing but Fire and Sword and yet knew not how to do much more than to drink and swagger and therefore as I was naturally inclined to disregard their Blusterings so I was apt to think his Counsels must have been moderate for tempering the eagerness of other mens Passions which did enrage them so much against him so that they having dispersed many false Stories of him these were easily received by our Scribling Historians and have been made use of to poyson the Truth of the History It is such a natural and constant effect of Passion to carry men to Extreams that it is no wonder if those who had more temper and fore-sight and studied to heal the Breaches and followed more moderate Counsels were hated on both sides for in all times the Moderate Party is the weakest and has most obloquie cast on it from all hands I also thought that I could not do a greater Service to my Country than to enquire into the whole Course of the late Civil Wars And I knew there were none so eminently Employed as the two Dukes of Hamilton the one having been the Kings High-Commissioner in the beginning of them and the other the Secretary of State in the sequel of them therefore it was certain that if their Papers had not been destroyed in the common fate of Scotland I could not find a clearer thread to direct me than from them I shall not deny that I had many pre-engagements on me to have a high value of that Family both from the Great Worth of those who now represent it and from the Vnblemished Fidelity their Ancestours have always payed the Crown and their constant Affection to their Country so that since the first Greatness of it in King James the third his days who gave his Sister in Marriage to the Lord Hamilton they were never in any Rebellion against their King nor did they ever abuse their Prince's Favour to be a Grievance to their Country And though they stood next the Crown for fifty years together from the year 1543 that King James the fifth died till the year 1593 that Prince Henry was born during all which time there was none but Queen Mary and King James of the Royal Blood yet all that while their Deportment shewed that they had no other design but to serve those Princes with all possible Fidelity and Zeal And though Scotland was then much distracted with Intestine Broyls and Disorders yet they never set themselves at the head of any Faction nor departed from the Interests of the Crown When King James the fifth died he left his only Daughter Queen Mary but a few days old and the Government of Scotland fell by Right to the Earl of Arran being her nearest Kinsman and if such an Ambition as the Enemies of that Family have pretended was hereditary to it had been lodged in him he would never have let such an Opportunity of raising himself slip out of his hands But he was a Person of great Iustice and Candour and set nothing before his eyes but the Publick Good so that Archbishop Spotswood tells of him in his History that in his Court there was nothing seen that the severest eye could censure or reprove In the Publick Government such a Moderation was kept as no man was heard to complain the Governour was reverently obeyed and held in as great respect as any King 's of preceding Times It is true he was of too easie a nature and his base Brother who was afterwards Archbishop of St. Andrews had great power over him which did much prejudice his Reputation In the disposing of the Queen in Marriage he had much to have said for himself if he had married Her to his own Son who was but a few years older than the Queen but he shewed he designed Her Greatness more than his own and perhaps more than the true Interest of his Country for I am far from thinking that he carried himself wisely in that when he consented to send Her to the Dolphin of France afterwards Francis the second in acknowledgment of which he was made Duke of Castle-herald or as it is pronounced by the French Chastle-herault by the French King After the Death of Francis the second when Queen Mary
Our Council by Our Letter to that effect CHARLES R. Oatlands the 9th of Septemb. 1638. With these His Majesty did also sign the following Instructions for his behaviour with the Bishops CHARLES R. Instructions to be communicated to the Bishops YOV shall shew My Lord of St. Andrews that We intend by being content with his demission of the Chancellours Place no injury to him and most willing We are that in the manner of doing it he may receive no prejudice in his reputation though we cannot admit at this time of his nominating a Successor and to make it more plain that We are far from having any thought to affront him by thinking of his demission We will in no ways that you urge him to do it yet you are to intimate that in Our opinion a fair Demission will prove more to the advancement of Our Service and be better for him than if he should retain the Place If you find him willing to demit you shall then try what consideration he doth expect from Vs and if the same be not altogether unreasonable you shall promise it in Our Name If a demission then it is presently to be done If he resolve to hold that Place then you must prâ—sently command his repair to Scotland all excuses set apart You shall communicate to him and the rest of his Brethren that far of Our Intentions that it is probable you may indict a General Assembly Thai We are content absolutely to discharge the Books of Service and Canons and the High Commission You shall shew that the Five Articles of Perth We are pleased be esteemed as indifferent and that though We maintain Episcopacy yet We will be content that their Power be limited according to the Laws And it is Our further Pleasure that if an Assembly be indicted he and the rest of his Brethren be there to defend themselves and their Cause and for that end that he and they repair to Newcastle Morpeth or Berwick there to attend your further advertisement that so immediately they may repair to Scotland not only to answer for themselves at the said Assembly but likewise to consult with you what will be fiâ—test to be done for the advancement of Our Service that evil may be kept off so much as in you and them lieth both from Kirk and Commonwealth C.R. Oatlands the 9th September 1638. As for the Place where the Assembly should be held The Assembly was to sit at Glasgow though in the written Instructions it is referred to my Lord Commissioners choice Edinburgh only excepted yet it seems it hath been concerted betwixt the King and him where it should hold for in a Paper concerning the Assembly presented by the Marquis to the King yet extant where mention is made of the Place of the Assembly the King with His Own hand interlined Glasgow if may be and without doubt that was the fittest place for as the City was large and convenient so the Magistracy there was right set Besides it was next to the place of the Marquis his Interest whereby his power for over-ruling them might have been greatest neither was it fit they should go so far from the scene as Aberdeen which was advised by my Lord St. Andrews since for the Strangers it would have been all to one purpose for thither they would all have flocked and it seemed not so proper they should meet in a Place or Country which was still well set lest the numbers and boldness of those Strangers had either poysoned or frighted them from their Duty But to make the whole matter clear I shall here set down the Covenant and Bond which were now enjoyned by His Majesty WE all and every one of us underwritten protest The National Covenant first signed by King Iames and now received by the Kings Order that after long and due examination of our Consciences in Matters of true and false Religion we are now thorowly resolved in the Truth by the Word and Spirit of God and therefore we believe with our Hearts confess with our Mouthes subscribe with our Hands and constantly affirm before God and the whole World that this only is the true Christian Faith and Religion pleasing God and bringing Salvation to man which is now by the Mercy of God revealed to the World by the preaching of the blessed Evangel and received believed and defended by many and sundry notable Kirks and Realms but chiefly by the Kirk of Scotland the Kings Majesty and the Estates of this Realm as Gods eternal Truth and only ground of our Salvation as more particularly is expressed in thâ— Confession of our Faith stablished and publickly confirmed by sundry Acts of Parliaments and now of a long time hath been openly professed by the Kings Majesty and whole body of this Realm both in Burgh and Land to the which Confession and form of Religion we willingly agree in our Consciences in all points as unto Gods undoubted Truth and verity grounded only upon his written Word and therefore we abhor and detest all contrary Religion and Doctrine but chiefly all kind of Papistry in general and particular Heads even as they are now damned and confuted by the Word of God and Kirk of Scotland But in special we detest and refuse the usurped Authority of that Roman Antichrist upon the Scriptures of God upon the Kirk and Civil Magistrate and Consciences of men all his tyrannous Laws made upon indifferent things against our Christian Liberty his erroneous Doctrine against the Sufficiency of the written Word the perfection of the Law the Office of Christ and his blessed Evangel his corrupted Doctrine concerning Original Sin our natural inability and rebellion to Gods Law our Iustification by Faith only our imperfect Sanctification and obedience to the Law the nature number and use of the Holy Sacraments his Five bastard Sacraments with all his Rites Ceremonies and false Doctrine added to the ministration of the true Sacraments without the Word of God his cruel Iudgements against Infants departing without the Sacrament his absolute necessity of Baptism his blasphemous opinion of Transubstantiation or real presence of Christs Body in the Elements and receiving of the same by the wicked or bodies of men his Dispensations with Solemn Oaths Perjuries and degrees of Marriage forbidden in the Word his cruelty against the Innocent divorced his devilish Mass his blasphemous Priesthood his profane Sacrifice for the sins of the dead and the quick his Canonization of men calling upon Angels or Saints departed worshipping of Imagery Reliques and Crosses dedicating of Kirks Altars Days Vows to Creatures his Purgatory Prayers for the Dead praying or speaking in strange Language with his Processions and blasphemous Litany and multitude of Advocates or Mediators his manifold Orders Auricular Confession his desperate and uncertain Repentance his general and doubtsome Faith his Satisfactions of men for their sins his Iustification by Works Opus operatum Works of Supererrogation Merits Pardons Peregrinations and Stations
offer or intend any injury or revenge against them or any one of them for the Premises making his cause and part that is pursued all our parts notwithstanding whatsoever privy grudge or displeasure standing betwixt us which shall be no impediment or hinder to our said effauld joyning in the said common cause but to lye over and be misken'd till they be orderly removed and taken away by the Order under-specified To the which time we for the better furtherance of the said Cause and Service have assured and by the tenour hereof every one of us taking the burden upon us for our selves and all that we may let assure each other to be unhurt unharmed or any ways to be invaded by us or any our aforesaids for old Feid or new otherwise than by ordinary course of Law and Iustice neither shall we or any of our foresaids make any Provocation or Tumult Trouble or Displeasure to others in any sort as we shall answer to God and upon our Honours and Fidelity to His Majesty And for our further and more hearty Vnion in this Service we are content and consent that all whatsoever our Feids and Variances fallen or that may fall out betwixt us be within forty days after the date hereof amicably referred and submitted to seven or five indifferent Friends chosen by His Majesty of our whole number by their moderation and arbitrement compounded and taken away And finally that we shall neither directly nor indirectly separate or withdraw us from the Vnion and Fellowship of the remanent by whatsoever suggestion or private advice or by whatsoever incident regard or stay such resolution as by common deliberation shall be taken in the premises as we shall answer to God upon our Consciences and to the World upon our Truth and Honours under the pain to be esteemed Traitors to God and His Majesty and to have lost all Honour Credit and Estimation in time coming In witness whereof by His Majesties special Command Allowance and Protection promised to us therein we have subscribed these presents with our Hands at 1589. The Marquis being thus again dispatched took journey to Scotland and at Ferrybridge he met the Bishops The Marquis finds the Bishops jealous of him to whom he signified His Majesties Pleasure at which they seemed infinitely grieved and spoke against it with so great vehemency as clearly told they were no way pleased with the Marquis yet they resolved to keep the Assembly and in the mean while to send one of their number to Court to which he gave way The Archbishop of S. Andrews seemed willing on a good Composition to quit his Place of Chancellour and the Marquis offered him 2500 l. Sâ—erlin with which he was satisfied Hitherto the Marquis had wrestled against the Malice and Jealousies of the Covenanters and now Storms begun to rise from another Hand which ceased not to persecute him to his Grave but the Truth of this Narration will best discover both their Injustice who charged him and his Innocence He holding on his Journey came to Holyroodhouse on the 17th of September He comes to Scotland and finds some Jealousies amongst the Covenanters where he found Jealousies beginning to arise betwixt some of the wiser Ministers and the Lords of the Covenant concerning the Lay-ruling-elders which he was resolved to cherish with all the Art he was master of causing some represent to the Ministers that if they gave way to that inordinate Power Gentlemen were pretending to in Church-matters it might end in a greater Servitude than any they had ever reason to fear from either King or Bishops this was well considered by many but they were over-ruled He also found the Covenanters were ready immediately to have indicted an Assembly if he offered at any more delays and therefore resolved to give them present satisfaction But his first Work was to deal with the Lords of the Council most of whom he found abundantly satisfied with His Majesties Gracious Offers so that he began again to gather some hopes and to the first accounts he gave His Majesty he had the following Return Hamilton IF I should be too long silent I might seem to contradict that Rule which my self prescribed therefore though for the present I can say nothing of the main business yet this must go if it were but to acknowledge the receipt of your two viz. of the 12th of September from Ferribridge and of the 17th of the same from Holyrood-house So referring you to the Comptroller for what concerns the Ordnance that is to be transported to Hull I rest Your assured constant Friend CHARLES R. Hampton-Court 22 Sept. 1638. Upon the 20th of September the Covenanters sent to ask the Marquis when they might wait on him to know His Majesties Pleasure The Marquis lets the Kings intentions to be known he answered when they would for he was resolved to hold a Council next day and the day following to publish it So on the 21th in the morning they came to him he told them he was going to Council to make His Majesties Pleasure known which should be also known at the Cross next day but for their present joy he told them that the King had granted all they had desired and more also and that a free Assembly and Parliament should be immediately indicted Some did hang their heads and seemed surprized yet they expressed thanks He also spoke frankly to some of them telling them what the particulars were which His Majesty had granted for having opened them to so many PrivyCouncellours at which the Covenanters were troubled he could not think but all was known to them They seemed reasonably well satisfied onely they pressed him to desist from renewing the Confession of Faith for they clearly saw that this could not but take off a great many and would heal most of the Subjects of the Jealousies they had been infusing in them but he resolved to hear of no delay having made most of the Councellours sure before-hand and that by Oath The Council sat in the afternoon and it was a very frequent Meeting After they were set the Marquis with all the Art and Industry he could think of He proposes the matter in Council laid out His Majesties Gracious Intentions for the Preservation of the true Reformed Religion and the Laws and Liberties of that Kingdom and that for the saving it from utter ruine and keeping of peace in the Land he had done many things to which he had never been induced to have given way except out of that Consideration Then was the Kings Letter to the Council read which was of the same strain with the Instructions after which there was a general silence But the Marquis not willing that should last long much less that any whose affection he suspected should begin the Discourse desired Traquair to speak who spoke as he used to do both long and well After that he called up ten or twelve of whom he was
preserved it Their next Attempt was upon Dalkeith whither Traquair retired with a small Company and he without stroke of Sword surrendred it for which his Courage seemed more blame-worthy than his Honesty But his greatest fault was that he yielded up the Regalia the Crown and Scepter which lay there and carried them not with him neither did he spoil the Arms that lay there which since he could not carry with him he ought to have done and not to have left them to strengthen the Enemy But from this he hasted to meet the King at York Roxburgh's Misfortune followed this his County being upon the Borders was of great importance for the Kings Service and he kept it in pretty good order till Munro came with some Forces out of other Shires but his Son Lord Ker whom he left with the Trust of all going himself to wait on the King turned over to the Covenant The News of this overtook Roxburgh in his Journey in which he made the more haste that he might be the first who should give the King an account of that unlucky Adventure whereby he might prevent all Jealousies against himself The King set out from London the 27th of March and came to York the first of April The first blast of this Storm fell on Huntley against whom the Covenanters sent a great Force both of Horse and Foot with some Cannon commanded by the Earls of Montrose and Marshal But Marquis Huntley finding himself unable to resist them retired in some disorder to Turreff and they followed him taking Aberdeen in their way which had hitherto stood for the King but was now forced to render the Bishop with the Doctors escaping by Sea to Berwick At Turreff My Lord Huntley laid down Arms where treating with them by a surprize he and his Son the Lord Gordon were taken Prisoners and brought over and committed to the Castle of Edinburgh The Marquis of Huntley is taken prisoner where they lay till the Capitulation at Birks I am sorry I want materials for saying more in the vindication of that Noble Person but I must not dismiss one Story without taking notice of it which is that the Marquis is blamed as having given him Orders to doe as he did And this with other Stories of the like truth was put in to swell the Charge given in against him some years after this yet it is strange that when the Viscount of Aboyne who was Huntley's second Son came to wait upon the King at York there was no Complaint made of that nor when Huntley was enlarged and waited on the King doâ—s there appear the least vestige of his alledging any thing to the Marquis his prejudice The ground of the Story is this the Marquis had written in the Kings Name and by his Order to the Marquis of Huntley when he sent him the Commission of Lieutenantry as hath been said to beware as much as was possible that he should not be the first Aggressor till His Majesty were upon the Borders for the King knew that Huntley could not resist all the Covenanters Forces and to make a powerful Diversion when the King should be dealing with them in the South was all could be expected from him Likewise the Marquis failed not to give weekly Advertisements of the progress of the Kings Preparations which appears both from Huntley's Letters to the Marquis and the Copies of the Returns he gave them that are yet extant and therefore there remains nothing upon this account to charge or suspect the Marquis his Fidelity The Marquis prepares for the Sea and gets three Letters from the King The Marquis was left at London to see that the Fleet and the other Land Souldiers who were to be shipped in some Colliers Vessels might be ready to go aboard upon Order and His Majesty wrote him the following Letter before he left London Hamilton I Received yours but this morning to which before I answer I must tell you News First that Jacob Ashly has possessed Berwick with 1000 Foot and 60 Horse and Carlisle is likewise possessed by My Lord Clifford with 300 men Secondly I have commanded Traquair to keep his Câ—amber until he give me an account how he left Daâ—keith withâ—ut striking one stroke and before any Cannon was brâ—ught before it having left the Ammunition not destroyed to their reverence and likewise the Regalia of this more by the next Now for Answer I have given the Proclamation to be written over by the Clerk-Register with the General Oath both which you shall have with all speed for your Military Oath I like it extreme well as likewise your opinion for detaining the Patents of Honours until the Country be settled for your Brother certainly if you had forgotten him I should not but have remembred my old Engagement and for Dalliel indeed he deserves well yet methinks a Viscounty may serve at this time that I may have something more to give upon further occasion and so I rest Your assured constant Friend CHARLES R. York 2 Apr. 1639. The next day he had that which follows Hamilton ACcording to my promise yesterday I have sent you back the Proclamation and Oath but with very few Additions As touching Traquair I can say little more than I did because I have not yet seen his Defence only if I had not taken this rude notice of his base Action I am sure I should have disheartened a number of honester men than ever he was or will be This morning I have News of the safe Landing of the 500 Irish which are by this time in Carliâ—le there to attend until further Directions I have no more at this time to say but to know if Col. Gun be not one that you have entertained for it is said that he is going back again to Germany One thing I had almost forgot they say for certain that Aberdeen holds out still and is not likely to yield in haste if it be so you know what to do And so I rest Your assured constant Friend CHARLES R. York 3 Apr. 1639. The day following he got the next Letter Hamilton THis is to tell you that the News of the rendring of Aberdeen came immediately after the dispatch of the last Post and thâ—t though Huntley be retired yet he is neither beaten nor over-run but the chief cause of my writing at this time is that since I have shown the Proclamation to Orbiston and Sir Lewis Stewart they have both been very instant with me to change something in it which though my Iudgement goes with them in the most and therefore I will not be wilful yet I think I shall alter or but rather palliate one point to wit not to set Prices upon the declared Rebels Heads until they have stood out some little time which time is to be expressed in this same Declaration Anâ—ther thing is whither and when to send you Devick and lastly whether I shall see you before you put to Sea which
be said of the Duke Anno 1649. ON the 4th of December Orders were sent to bring him to Windsor and he came thither the 11th of that Month. He was lodged in the House of one of the poor Knights of Windsor and kept under strict Guards yet on the 21th of that Month as the King was carried through Windsor he prevailed so far with his Keepers as to permit him to see his Majesty and as he passed he kneeled down and with a transport of humble Sorrow kissed his hand and had only time to say My dear Master the King embraced him very kindly and said I have been so indeed to you but they were parted and suffered to have no discourse It may easily be imagined with what sorrow he followed the King with his eyes as far as he could see him knowing he was to do so no more nor did he much regrate his present Trouble or imminent Danger all his thoughts being swallowed up in sorrow at the Consideration of his Master's Ruin which was then no more to be doubted the Army and House as it was then modelled or rather forced having avowed their Design against his Person and thrown off the Disguise with which they had long mask'd themselves The Parliament of England had upon the matter condemned the Duke to perpetual Imprisonment Much pains is taken to draw discoveries from him but in vain by setting an hundred thousand pound sterling for his Ransome which sum could not be raised by him at a time when by the Debts he had contracted in the Kings Service his Fortune was fallen so low Cromwel came several times to him to draw from him some Discoveries of his Correspondents in England and gave him great assurances of Life Rewards and Secrecy but he rejected the Proposition with horrour and disdain though often repeated and apprehending they might get his Brother into their hands sent him at that time the following Note which I set down though unfinisht and written with the Juyce of a Lemmon I Vnder the power of the Sword and merciless men no favour to be expected oft examined but nothing discovered being ignorant perhaps you will abide the same Trial beware if you do The thirtieth of Ianuary was that fatal and never-to-be-forgotten Day wherein His Sacred Majesty after the Pageantry of a Trial to add the appearance of Justice to so base and barbarous a Murder was beheaded to the Amazement of all Europe by an unexampled practice in any Monarchy But the particulars of his Royal Constancy and Christian Patience being so punctually related by others I shall not stand to repeat what is already known but having proposed to my self nothing more in this whole Work than to let the World see the great Piety and strictness of Conscience that Blessed Prince carried along with him in all his Affairs and to publish such Remains of his Pen as had not been formerly seen or known I shall therefore insert a Copy of Verses written by his Majesty in his Captivity which a very worthy Gentleman who had the honour of waiting on him then and was much trusted by him Copied out from the Original who avoucheth it to be a true Copy but I shall first present that Royal Martyr to the Readers view in the Posture which was most familiar to Him and then set down those Verses in which the mighty sense and the great Piety will be found to be beyond all the finest sublimities of Poetry which yet are not wanting here An. 1648. Rom. VIII more than Conquerour Bona agere mala pati Regium est Alij diutius Imperium tenuerunt nemo tam fortiter reliquit Tacit. Histor. Lib. 2 c.47 p417 MAJESTY in MISERY OR An Imploration to the KING of Kings Written by His late Majesty King CHARLES the First during His Captivity at Carisbrook Castle Anno Dom. 1648. GREAT Monarch of the World from whose Power Springs The Potency and Power of Kings Record the Royal Woe my Suffering sings And teach my tongue that ever did confine Its faculties in Truths Seraphick Line To track the Treasons of thy foes and mine Nature and Law by thy Divine Decree The only Root of Righteous Royaltie With this dim Diadem invested me With it the sacred Scepter Purple Robe The Holy Vnction and the Royal Globe Yet am I levell'd with the life of Job The fiercest Furies that do daily tread Vpon my Grief my Gray Dis-crowned Head Are those that owe my Bounty for their Bread They raise a War and Christen it The Cause Whil'st sacrilegious hands have best applause Plunder and Murder are the Kingdoms Laws Tyranny bears the Title of Taxation Revenge and Robbery are Reformation Oppression gains the name of Sequestration An. 1649. My Loyal Subjects who in this bad season Attend me by the Law of God and Reason They dare impeach and punish for High Treason Next at the Clergy do their Furies frown Pious Episcopacy must go down They will destroy the Crosier and the Crown Church-men are chain'd and Schismaticks are free'd Mechanicks preach and Holy Fathers bleed The Crown is crucified with the Creed The Church of England doth all Faction foster The Pulpit is usurpt by each Impostor Ex tempore excludes the Pater noster The Presbyter and Independent Seed Springs with broad blades to make Religion bleed Herod and Pontius Pilate are agreed The Corner-stone's misplac'd by every Pavier With such a bloody method and behaviour Their Ancestors did crucifie our Saviour My Royal Consort from whose fruitful Womb So many Princes legally have come Is forc'd in Pilgrimage to seek a Tomb. Great Britain's Heir is forced into France Whilst on his Father's head his foes advance Poor Child He weeps out his Inheritance With my own Power my Majesty they wound In the King's Name the King himself 's uncrown'd So doth the Dust destroy the Diamond With Propositions daily they enchant My Peoples ears such as do Reason daunt And the Almighty will not let me grant They promise to erect my Royal Stem To make Me great t' advance my Diadem If I will first fall down and worship them But for refusal they devour my Thrones Distress my Children and destroy my bones I fear they 'l force me to make bread of stones My Life they prize at such a slender rate That in my absence they draw Bills of hate To prove the King a Traytor to the State Felons obtain more priviledge than I They are allow'd to answer e're they die 'T is death for me to ask the reason Why. But Sacred Saviour with thy words I woo Thee to forgive and not be bitter to Such as thou know'st do not know what they do For since they from their Lord are so disjointed As to contemn those Edicts he appointed How can they prize the Power of his Anointed Augment my Patience nullifie my Hate Preserve my Issue and inspire my Mate Yet though We perish bless this Church and State Vota dabunt quae bella
Designs At that time the Enemy landed at Innerkeething in Fife The King marches to England and the great Loss the King had there did both raise the Enemies boldness and much daunt his faithful Friends for now Cromwell was betwixt His Majesty and the Northern Counties of Scotland which were both most affectionate to his Service and from whence he was to expect Provisions and Supplies so that it was not possible for the King to maintain the War any longer in Scotland and therefore he resolved on a March to England being put in hopes of great Accessions of force to his Army from the Royal Party there and this gave a trial to the Fidelity and Courage of many of the Scotish Nation but too many looking on the Attempt as desperate being more careful of their Lives and Fortunes than to hazard either in the King's Service shrunk away though divers of them had Charges in the Army Against these base Deserters of their King and Country the Duke was moved with such just Indignation that he vowed if ever he returned with Life and Liberty he should make these in whom he had interest answer for it But the Duke's thoughts of this March and his sad apprehensions of the whole Business will appear from the following Letter he wrote to his Neece that succeeded him Dear Neece INdeed I know not what to say to you I would fain say something more encouraging than my last was but I cannot lie our Condition is no better and since that time we have a thousand men I fear twice that number run from our Army Since the Enemy shuns Fighting with us except upon advantage we must either starve disband or go with a handful of Men into England This last seems to be the least Ill yet it appears very desperate to me for more reasons than I will trouble you with I fear your own Reason will afford you too many Dear Neece it is not your Courage I will desire you to make use of in this Extremity look for Strength to bear it from a higher Power all your Natural Virtues will not resist it therefore look to him who hath in former times assisted you to resist a great Affliction and can do it again if you seek to him aright you have already lost so much that all other Earthly Losses were drowned in that Those you meet with now are Christian Exercises wherewith oftimes the Lord visits his own to wean their Affections from things here below that we may place them upon himself in whom we have all things and if we could as we ought set our Hearts upon him we should find our selves very little concerned in most things which bring us greatest Trouble here on Earth where we are but for a minute in our way to Eternity O consider that word Eternity and you will find we struggle here for that that 's even less than nothing why trouble we our selves for Earthly Losses for when we have lost all we have there are thousands as dear to God as we as poor as we We are rich though we lose the whole World if we gain him let us set before our eyes the example of those who to give testimony to the Truth rejoyced to lay down their Lives nay let us with humble presumption follow the Pattern of our Blessed Saviour who for our sakes suffered more than man can think on the burthen of all our Sins and the Wrath of his Father and shall we then repine to lay down our Lives for him when he calls for it from us to give us a nearer admittance to him than we can hope for while we are clog'd with our Clay-Tenements Dear Neece I should never be weary to talk with you though this be a Subject I confess I cannot speak of well but even that Happiness is bereft me by the importunity of a Crowd of Persons that are now in the Room with me grudging the time I take in telling you that while I am I am Yours c. Sterlin 28th July 1651. The Duke waited on the King in the whole March and gave Order that the Troops which he had levyed should follow with all possible haste Seven of them came up and joyned the Army at Moffet but the interruptions the Enemy gave made that the rest could not be raised nor were these Troops full The Duke welcomed them with great affection and assured them they should be as dear to him as his own Life and that if God blessed the King with Success he should be very careful to see them rewarded as they should deserve but seeing they made in all but betwixt two and three hundred he feared too many Standards would make them look like the remains of a broken Army and therefore he set up only his own Standard and so turned his small Regiment into a great Troop and marched on with the Army When the Army came to Warington-Bridge An. 1651. and beat Lambert from it the Duke Commanded the Brigade where his Horse were that was in the Reer of the Foot Lambert is beat from Warington-bridge but that and the other Brigade of Horse being commanded to halt he sent his Major to the Lieutenant-General for Orders to March that the Enemy might be vigorously pursued but the Lieutenant-General would have the Foot led over first and so that occasion was lost which he with many others did infinitely greater with great demonstrations of Grief Then it was debated which way the King should hold the Duke pressed that they should March streight to London which was the desire of the whole Army and that which Lambert apprehended for in his Retreat he took the London-Road There were also many other reasons used to enforce it but the English Nobility and Gentry who were in the Army and the Earl of Derby who with many Gentlemen came to the Army that night gave many reasons against that March The Duke seeing them so much against it though his Reason could not go along with theirs yet that he might not oppose so many brave and LoyalGentlemen went out of the Kings Tent for he would not by his Presence seem to consent to that which he apprehended would prejudice the Kings Service but was so far from disparaging the other Counsels and enhancing the value of his own that he went and laboured with all the Officers of the Army to engage them to a cheerful Concurrence in the Resolutions that were taken and studied even to perswade them to assent to that which had not yet prevailed on his own Reason The Resolution being taken to go to Worcester and storm it The King entered Worcester the Army marched and when they came near the Town some Horse and Dragoons which were sent thither by Lambert two days before retired to Glocester and the King entred Worcester with two Bodies of Foot the rest Marched through the Town over the Severn The day after the King came to Worcester the Duke with many