THIS Year, says he, died date 1658 the Protector Oliver Crom­well, date Sept. 3. one of the greatest and bravest Men, had his Cause been good, the World ever saw. His Actions I leave to the Historian; and having been very near his Person but once, at an Audience of an Ambassador at Whitehall, I can only say that his Figure did not come up to his Character; he was indeed a likely Person, but not handsom, nor had he a very bold look with him. He [Page 2] was plain in his Apparel, and rather negli­gent than not. Tears he had at will, and was doubtless, the deepest Dissembler on Earth.

The Duke of Buckingham, who had at­tended date Aug. 12. date 1659 the King in his Exile, had disobliged, and left his Majesty some time before, and was now endeavouring to marry the Daugh­ter and Heiress of Thomas Lord Fairfax, formerly the Parliament's General, and un­to whom had been granted the greatest Part of the said Duke's Estate. This Duke was the finest Gentleman, both for Person and Wit, I think I ever saw; but he knew not how to be long serious, or mindful of Business; and had behaved with some Insolence to the King, which was the Cause of their Separation. It was now that I first became acquainted with him, and he from the very first Moment expressed a Kindness for me.

It was now easy to perceive that a way was paved to facilitate the King's Return; but still the Rump kept up some Face of State; and I remember to have been pre­sent at a Dinner, given by the City of Lon­don, to Lambert and other Officers of the Army, by far more costly and splendid, than any I ever saw given afterwards to his [Page 3] Majesty; so much is Awe more prevalent than Love. date Oct. 20.

Continuing but in an indifferent State of Health, I, partly for that Reason, and partly for others, returned to Paris, where I had no sooner put my self into some Equi­page, but I endeavoured to be known at our Queen Mother's Court, which she then kept at the Palais Royal. Her Majesty had none of her Children with her, but the Princess Henrietta Maria; and few of the English making their Court there, I was the better received. As I spoke the Language of the Country and danced pretty well, the young Princess, then about fifteen Years of Age, behaved towards me with all the civil Freedom that might be; she made me dance with her, played on the Harpsicord to me in her Highness's Chamber; suffered me to wait on her as she walked in the Garden, and sometimes to toss her in a Swing between two Trees, and, in fine, to be present at all her innocent Diversions.

The Queen commanded me to attend as often as I conveniently could; she had a great affection for England, notwithstanding the Severity of Usage she and hers had met with there. With the great Men and La­dies [Page 4] of France, she discoursed much in Praise of the People and Country, of their Courage, their Generosity, their good Nature, and would excuse all the late Misfortunes, as brought about by some desperate Enthusiasts, rather than proceeding from the Genius and Temper of the Nation. To give a lit­tle Instance of her Inclination for the Eng­lish, I hapned to carry an English Gentle­man with me one Day to Court, and he, to be very fine, had got him a Garniture of rich Ribbon to his Suit, in which was a Mixture of Red and Yellow; which the Queen observing, called to me, and bad me advise my Friend to mend his Fancy a lit­tle, as to his Ribbons, the two Colours he had joined, being ridiculous in France, and might give the French Occasion to laugh at him.

I had three Cousins then in an English Convent at Paris, one of them an antient Lady, and since Abbess of the House: Hi­ther the Queen was wont often to retire for some Days; and the Lady would tell me that Lord Jermyn, since St. Albans, had the Queen greatly in awe of him, and indeed it was obvious that he had great Interest with her Concerns; but that he was marri­ed to her, or had Children by her, as some [Page 5] have reported, I did not then believe, tho date 1660 the Thing was certainly so.

The Court of France was very splendid this Winter; a grand Mask was danced at the Louvre, where the King and Princess Henriette of England danced to Admiration: But there was now a greater Resort to the Palace than the French Court; the good Humour and Wit of our Queen Mother, and the Beauty of the Princess her Daugh­ter being more inviting than any thing that appeared in the French Queen, who was a Spaniard.

The Queen Mother received the News of his Majesty's happy Restoration, with all imaginable Demonstrations of Joy, and a­mong other Things, gave a noble Ball at her Court, to which every Body of the greatest Quality was invited. and to which all the English Gentlemen, then at Paris, had Admittance. Having been ill some Time before, I would have been excused from Dancing, but the Queen commanded me to take out the Cardinal's Niece, I o­beyed.

I stayed at Paris till August, and received more Honours from the Queen and the Princess her Daughter than I deserved, or could acknowledge, but by the most [Page 6] constant Duty and Attendance in my Power.

date Aug. 2. On the 2d Instant I sat out for England; but before my Departure, I waited on the Queen for her Commands; she told me she would write by me, and ordered me to at­tend next Morning for her Letter. Hav­ing received it and taken my Leave, I de­sired to know if it required Haste? Her Majesty said, No, for that it contained but little besides a particular Recommendation of me to her Son the King.

At London I met my Mother and most of my Relations, who were come up, as from all Parts of England they did, to see the King, and was presented by the Duke of Ormond, then but Marquiss, to his Majesty in the privy Chamber at Whitehall, and de­livering him the Queen's Letter, he asked me several Questions, both concerning her and my Voyage.

The Court at Whitehall soon became very magnificent, the Duke of York having his Court apart, and the Duke of Gloucester his: The Kingdom was now very rich, and Men were generally satisfied with the King's Return, tho' some Malecontents of several Sorts there were; and how should it be o­therwise? But the King did not much ad­here [Page 7] to Business: All was calm and easy, he had a Parliament ready to yield to any Thing that was reasonable, as the Acts they made sufficiently declare, and the Earl of Clarendon, then Chancellor, was at the Helm. The King, who was at an Age and Vigor for it, pursued his Pleasures; and if Love prevailed with him more than any other Passion, he had this for Excuse, be­sides that his Complection was of an amo­rous Sort, the Women seemed to be the Aggressors; and I have since heard the King say That they would sometimes offer themselves to his Embraces: Nor were the two Dukes, his Brothers, more averse to the Sex than his Majesty.

date Nov. About this Time the King's Aunt (the Queen of Bohemia) came over from the Hague, as did also his Sister, the Princess of Orange; but they both dyed soon after their Arrival: as did also the Duke of Glou­cester.

The Queen Mother often asked me if the King had done any thing for me, and what it was I had fixed my Mind on, that she might speak a Word for me; but in truth I did not at that Time pursue my own Advan­tage as I might have done; and went to Court rather to converse and look about me, [Page 8] than to sollicit any Favour: I chiefly relied on the Queen's Kindness to me, and the Influence she had over the King; but all the pleasing Superstructure fell to the Ground; the Queen left England soon after the Death of her Children, taking the Prin­cess Henrietta away with her to Paris, and I was disappointed.

date Jan. 6. At this Time a small Rebellion was rais­ed in London by one Venner, which in its very Rise was defeated by a Party of the Guards; but running out of Town they rallied again in Cane-wood near Highgate-Having a mind therefore to see a little A­ction, I mounted one of my Coach-horses, and mounted my Man upon the other, and joined Sir Thomas Sands, who commanded the Party of the Guards that went in pur­suit of the Incendiaries. Having search'd the Wood till Midnight, we came to a lit­tle House, where the People told us they had been desiring some Victuals but a little while before, and that they could not be far off. Accordingly, about an Hour after this, we found some of them in the thickest Part of the Wood. They discharged their Pieces at us, but the Moon setting they got from us, and hurried back again to Lon­don, [Page 9] where they met with the Fate every date 1661 Body knows. Their Captain and about twenty more were hanged, drawn and quar­tered: About twenty of them were killed in their several Skirmishes, and about as many of the King's Men, one of which was shot not far from me in Cane-Wood.

It was this Summer that the Duke of York first took any particular Notice of me. I hapned to be in Discourse with the French Ambassador, and some other Gentlemen of his Nation, in the Presence at Whitehall, and the Duke joined us, he being a great Lover of the French Tongue, and kind to those who spoke it. The next Night he talked with me a long while, as he was at Supper with the King.

Now it was that the King went to re­ceive date 1662 the Infante of Portugal at Portsmouth, date May 19. attended by the greatest Court I ever saw in any Progress. But though, upon this Occa­sion, every thing was gay and splendid, and profusely joyful, it was easy to discern that the King was not excessively charmed with his new Bride, who was a very little Woman with a pretty tolerable Face; she, neither in Person nor Manners, had any one Article to stand in Competition with the Charms of the Countess of Castlemain, (since [Page 10] Dutchess of Cleveland) the finest Woman of her Age. It is well known that the Lord Chancellor had the Blame of this unfruitful Match, and that the Queen was said to have had a constant Fluor upon her, which ren­der'd her incapable of Conception.

date 1664 This Year the War broke out between us and the Dutch; and I resolved to serve as Vo­lunteer in our Fleet, hoping to be on Board the Duke's own Ship. I accordingly equipped my self with Necessaries for the Sea, and went to procure the King's Leave to go on board, and to receive his Commands to the Duke, intending to be gone the next Day. The King told me he was willing I should go, but had Letters to write to the Duke, which he would send by me, and ordered me to stay for them day after day (expecting, it seems, first to hear from the Duke) till at last his Majesty told me he should not write, and that I needed not now to go, for that the Duke would be speedily on Shore, he not having been able to bring the Dutch to Action.

date 1665 A dreadful Plague raged this Summer in London, and swept away 97309 Persons. It was usual for People to drop down in the Streets as they went about their Business; and a Story is reported for a certain Truth, [Page 11] That a Bagpiper being excessively overcome with Liquor, fell down in the Street and there lay asleep. In this Condition he was taken up and thrown into a Cart, betimes the next Morning, and carried away with some dead Bodies. Mean while he awoke from his Sleep, it being now about Day­break, and rising up began to play a Tune, which so surpriz'd the Fellows that drove the Cart, who could see nothing distinctly, that in a Fright they betook them to their Heels, and would have it that they had taken up the Devil in the Disguise of adead Man.

But to resume other Things, I married, and was thereby prevented from being an Eye­witness of the Dutch War; and so I shall only say that his Highness obtained a glori­ous Victory over that Republick.

His Royal Highness the Duke and his Duchess came down to York, where it was date Aug. 5. observed that Mr. Sydney, the handsomest Youth of his Time, and of the Duke's Bed­chamber, was greatly in love with the Duchess, and indeed he might well be excus­ed, for the Duchess Daughter to Chancellor Hide, was a very handsom Personage, and a Woman of fine Wit. The Duchess on her Part seemed kind to him, but very innocently: But he had the Misfortune to be banished [Page 12] the Court afterwards for another Reason, as was reported.

date Oct. 5. I went to Oxford to put the King in mind of a former Promise, to make me High She­riff of the County of York, the Year next ensuing; but hearing that Sir Francis Cob (who had been at some extraordinary Charge in receiving and attending the Court at York) obtained a Grant to continue in that Office for another Year, at his High­ness's Intercession I waited on the Duke, acquainted him with my Claim, and begged his Assistance. He told me he wished he had known my Claim in time, that he should have been ready to serve me, and that I had nevertheless his Leave to sollicit his Majesty's Promise. I thank'd him, but said I could not appear in any Degree of Opposition to his Highness's Interest and Pleasure, and would therefore defer my Pretensions to a better Opportunity. This he took very kindly, went with me to the King, and presented me to him for the next Year; his Majesty gave me his Hand to kiss, and his Word once more that I should be Sheriff as I had desired.

date 1666 date July 25. A great and happy Victory was obtained over the Dutch by Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, and a sad and dismal [Page 13] Fire laid the vast and noble City of London in Ashes, but these being Events that have been of late largely described already, I shall only observe of the latter, that the dreadful Destruction was not more extraor­dinary than the Speed, Regularity, and Cost wherewith it was retrieved, and a new London, far exceeding the old, erected.

date Oct. 2. I went to London to put the King and Duke in mind of their Promise, that I should be High Sheriff for the County of York for the Year next ensuing; and no sooner did I appear before the Duke than he said to me, I remembered you tho' you was not here, and Your Business is done for you. And, to say the Truth, there was no Prince at that Time observed to be more punctual to his Word. I found what the Duke told me to be perfectly true, the King did graciously confirm what he had said, and named me Sheriff for the County of York, tho' I was not of the three present­ed to him by the Judges.

The Duke of Buckingham had been some date 1667 Time in Disgrace at Court; and being sus­pected of some evil Practices against the King, a Proclamation was issued out to ap­prehend date March 8. him. I confess I was at a Loss to know how to act in this Matter, between the Obligation of my Office as Sheriff, and [Page 14] the Respect I had for the Duke: But the Judges coming down to the Assizes, advised me by all means to proclaim it, which I did, and It for ever after lessened me in the E­steem of that Lord.

My Lord Southampton, Lord High Trea­surer of England, being lately dead, the Ad­ministration of that great Office was transact­ed by four Commissioners, the Duke of Albe­marle, Lord Ashley Cooper, afterwards Earl of Shaftsbury, Sir William Coventry, Secretary to the Duke of York, and Sir John Duncomb. It was now that the Parliament fell upon the great Earl of Clarendon, who having surren­dred the Seals, a few Months afterwards as much as possible to avoid the Heat of his Enemies, retired privately into France. His greatest Enemy in the House of Lords was the Duke of Buckingham; in the House of Commons, Sir Thomas Osborne, since Earl of Danby; by this Step, and by the help of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham, who was now absolute Favourite, it was that Sir Thomas more especially rose to his height of Dignity.

The Duke of Buckingham now acted as prime Minister: The King consulted him chiefly in all Concerns of Moment; the Fo­reign Ministers were to apply to him, be­fore [Page 15] they could be admitted to an Audience. But he was such a Foe to Business, such a Friend to Pleasure, and so apt to turn the Day into Night, and the Night into Day, that he could neither attend regularly on the King, nor dispatch Business, as it ought to be, with those who had any Thing to negociate with him; so his Ministry proved of no long Duration.

This Spring I carried my Family up to date 1668 Town, where the Court and City were all gay and jovial; for Peace was now con­cluded with France, with Spain, with Den­mark, and the States General. Embassadors extraordinary were now sent and received with the greatest Pomp and Splendor.

date April. 5. And now the Prince of Tuscany came to London, with a Retinue and Equipage suita­ble date 1669 to his high Quality, and was at first magnificently entertained by the King; but after some Time, he kept House at his own Expence, and had Plenty of all the porta­ble Rarities for Food and Drink, Italy had to afford. I dined with him twice; he was very kind to me, as he was to all those who had travelled into Italy, and spoke the Lan­guage. And this Spring the Prince of Den­mark was in London, the same who some [Page 16] Years afterwards married the Princess Anne of England.

date Aug. 10. But all this Jollity was turned into Mourn­ing for the Death of the Queen Mother, who about this Time departed this Life at Paris: She was a great Princess, and my very good Mistress.

date 1670 This Summer the Duchess of Orleans, the King's Sister, came over to Dover, where she was met by the King, the Duke of York, and the whole Court. Here it was that she confirmed his Highness the Duke in the Popish Superstition, of which he had as yet been but barely suspected; and it is said to have been his grand Argument, for such his Adherence to those Tenets, That his Mother had, upon her last Blessing, com­manded him to be firm and stedfast thereto. Before this, it was thought he was rather a Friend to the Presbyterians; for not long before, a Nonconformist Minister be­ing prosecuted at Pomfret, for preaching in a Conventicle, it was reported that his Highness, and the Duke of Buckingham, then principal Minister of State, had writ­ten in his Favour to the Justices: But the Duke as I was one Day attending on him in St. James's Park, called me to him, and discoursing over the Thing to me, declared [Page 17] what was reported to be a Mistake, that he had not concerned himself at all with it, tho' he was so much a Friend to that Sort of People, that he could wish the Law had not been put in Execution against him, or to that Effect, and that absolutely he did not write. At the same Time he told me to represent him, upon Occasion, as no E­nemy to such. Hereupon I acquainted his Highness, that there was a Kinsman of mine, one Mr. Vincent, in Town, who was a lead­ing Man of that Party; his Highness or­dered me to bring him to Court, which I did, and the Duke took him aside, and talked with him a great while. It was ge­nerally believed that the Duke, in this, acted the politician suitable to the Time; for it was now rumoured about, the King would be divorced from his Queen, which, by thus courting all Parties, he proposed to prevent.

But however this was, our Royal Family lost another of its Number; for the Duke of Orleans had for some time before been jea­lous of his Wife, and, if all that is said be true, not without good Ground: The Count de Guiche it seems, had been a Favourite with her, and now she is said to have fallen in Love with the Duke of Monmouth, while she was at Dover; in short, Things were so [Page 18] represented to the Duke her Husband, that she died very suddenly after her Return to Paris, by Poison as the Report went.

date October. This Month the Prince of Orange came to London to pay a Visit to the King. The Parliament being now met, pursuant to Pro­rogation, it hapned that Sir John Coventry, in a Speech he made, reflected on the King's Wenching; which being reported to the Duke of Monmouth, he ordered Sir Thomas Sands (an Officer of the Guards) and three or four more, to way-lay him as he went late home to his Lodging; which they ac­cordingly did, and, taking him out of his Coach, slit his Nose. But complaint there­of being made to the House, it caused such a Heat, that thence proceeded the Act a­gainst malicious Maiming and Wounding.

The Prince of Orange remaining in Eng­land, and making his Addresses to the Lady Mary, eldest Daughter to the Duke, the King entertained him with great Splendor, as well on that Account, as because of his Relation to him, and great personal Merit. One Night at a Supper, given by the Duke of Buckingham, the King made him drink very hard: the Prince was naturally averse to it, but being once entered, was more frolic and gay than the rest of the Compa­ny; [Page 19] and now the Mind took him to break the Windows of the Chambers belonging to the Maids of Honour, and he had got into their Apartments, had they not been timely rescued. His Mistress, I suppose did not like him the worse for such a notable Indi­cation of his Vigor.

date March 31. This Day dyed Anne Duchess of York, date 1671 with her last Breath declareing her self a Papist.

date April 31. War was declared against the States Ge­neral; and now the City of London had in a great Measure recovered herself out of her Ashes, and was so far rebuilt this Year, that the King was on the Lord Mayor's Day invited to a Dinner, which he accepted.

The King about this Time issued out a Proclamation for the Indulgence of tender Consciences, which caused great Uneasiness, not only in the Houses of Parliament, where it was afterwards reversed, but throughout the whole Kingdom; and was the most vio­lent Blow that had been given to the Church of England from the Day of the Re­storation. All Sectaries now publickly re­paired to their Meetings and Conventicles nor could all the Laws afterwards, and the most rigorous Execution of them, ever sup­press [Page 20] date 1672 these Separatists, or bring them to due Conformity.

date May. This Month the French joined us against the Dutch, but in the End betrayed us. In the Engagement, upon the 18 th of May, the French stood off, and left us and the Dutch to make the best we could of it; whereas if they had assisted his Highness of York, who then commanded in Chief as High Admiral, we had doubtless obtained a signal Victory; but as the Case was; we had so much the better, that, after a Fight of eight Hours, the Dutch made Sail from us. In this En­gagement perished Edward Montague, Earl of Sandwich, Vice Admiral.

It was this Year that my Lord Hallifax first came into Business, and was sworn of the Privy Council. He was soon after join­ed date July 21. in Commission with the Duke of Buck­ingham, and Lord Arlington as Ambassadors to the States; but to no Purpose; the War continued.

date 1673 I had heard the King intended to erect a Fort at Burlington, for the Security of the Colliers and others, trading to the North­ward; and I immediately applyed to the Duke, entreating him to speak to the King that I might have the Command of the in­tended Place; who accordingly did: But [Page 21] whilst the Thing was in Agitation, his Highness refused to take the Oaths tender­ed to him as Lord High Admiral, thereby declaring himself a Roman Catholic, and resigning all his Employments, so that no­thing more was done in my Business for that Time.

And now the King having borrowed most of the ready Money in the Nation, of the Goldsmiths, (at that Time called Bankers,) locked up the Exchequer, to the Bankrupt­cy of the most considerable of them, and the Ruin of an infinite People, whose Money they had borrowed at Interest: And with this Calamity we conclude this Year.

date Aug. 15. Now it was that my Neighbour Sir Tho­mas Osborne rose to the great Office of High Treasurer of England, my Lord Clifford re­signing his Staff, and confessing himself a Papist. The Duke of Buckingham was cheif­ly instrumental in bringing this about for Sir Thomas, by a Bargain he made between Lord Clifford and him, namely, that Sir Thomas should officiate and give him half the Salary, and afterwards prevailing on the King to confer the Staff on Sir Thomas then created Lord Viscount Dunblain, tho' after­wards Earl of Danby, and had a Patent passing for Marquiss just as he fell into Disgrace.

[Page 22] The War with the Dutch still continued, Prince Rupert being Admiral for us, and the Count d'Estrees for the French. Two Victories we now obtained over them, but they were lessened by the Loss of that great Seaman Sir Edward Spraig.

The Parliament of these Days, had from the Beginning, which was soon after the Restoration, been perfectly well inclined to the King: They had given him a very great Revenue upon Tonnage and Poundage, as also by an Excise upon several Sorts of Liquors, Hearth-Money, not to mention Temporary Taxes, the whole amounting to above three times more than had been en­joyed by any King of England before. The Country groaned under this Pressure, and began to be dissatisfied; which having an Influence on some Gentlemen of both Houses, gave Birth to two Parties, the one for the Country, the other for the Court. The former pretended in an impartial Manner to espouse the Cause of the People, in their Liberties and Properties, and whatever is dear to Englishmen; to assert the Religion and Government by Law established: The latter pretended to the same, but thought the King was to have a competent Income, and be invested with a due Power for the [Page 23] Exercise of his regal Office, without having too great a Dependance on the People, a Cause which had been of such pernicious Effects to his Royal Father. Hence it was that Gentlemen bestirred themselves more than usual to be elected into a Seat in Par­liament; so that great was the Competition between the Candidates, and at great Ex­pences they were, even from One or Two Hundred, to Two Thousand Pounds. But the Concerns of the Public were not what alone actuated all Men; some wanted to be in the House to be screened from their Debts, this Parliament having sat a long while; and some had obtained great Emo­luments from the Court to stand up for that Interest; so that it is no wonder I had no less than five Competitors when I offered myself for Audborough. And not to drop this Matter here, I must observe that Mr. Benson was the most formidable of the five; a Man of no Birth, but who from a Clerk to a Country Attorney, had raised himself to be Clerk of the Peace at the Old Bailey, Clerk of Assize of the Northern Circuit, as also to an Estate of two thousand five hun­dred Pounds, tho' not without some Reflec­tions on his Way of getting it. The Elec­tion was irregularly carried on in Favour of [Page 24] this Gentleman, and in the January follow­ing I moved the House to determine the Merit of the Return; but before a Hearing came on, a Prorogation intervened, so that I had the Charge of bringing up Witnesses, to no Manner of Purpose.

Towards the latter End of this Year the Duke declared his Marriage with Ma­ry, Daughter to the Duke of Modena, not long before arrived with the Duchess her Mother. The Nation was much grieved at this Match, the Lady being a Papist of the strictest Class, and the whole Affair Managed by the French Interest.

date January The Duke of Buckingham was now again in Disgrace, for which he was indebted to the Duchess of Portsmouth, a French Lady, and now the most absolute of all the King's Mistresses; a very fine Woman she was, but most think she was sent on Purpose to ensnare the King, who most readily ran in­to Toils of that Sort. His Grace in vain made Use of the Mediation of the Lord Treasurer: And to say the Truth, his Lord­ship was not altogether so zealous for his Grace as he ought to have been, especially if we consider that it was to him he owed the White Staff he bore. In short, the Duke was not the only Person that accused him of Ingratitude.

[Page 25] The King was at this time particularly date 1674 displeased with his Grace, for that being summoned by the House of Commons to give an Account of some Malversations when he was Minister; he did not only appear, being a Peer, and that without the King's Leave, but to excuse himself reflected on others, and upon the whole, behaved in that Assembly in too mean and submissive a Manner; which however was of no avail to him against the Commons, who addressed the King to lay him aside with regard to all Offices of Trust or Profit. His Grace was also called to the Bar of the House of Peers, for scandalously living with the Lady Shrews­bury as Man and Wife, he being a married Man, and for having killed my Lord Shrews­bury after he had debauch'd his Wife.

The King prorogued the Parliament to date 1675 the 13th of April next ensuing. date April.

The Time of the Meeting of Parliament now drawing on, I repaired to London, and petitioned the Committee of Privileges and Elections; and after all endeavours to the contrary, I was voted the Sitting Member, and conducted into the House by Lord Russell, and Lord Cavendish.

Being thus received into the House, I found the two Parties in great Extremes [Page 26] against each other. The Court-side was very pressing and urgent for Money for the King's present Occasions; the Country Par­ty thought of nothing less, except some Laws were enacted for the better Security of the Protestant Religion, and the grand Point of Property. But the two were so equal that nothing more than Words passed between them; meer Words without any Effect, for neither dared stand the Chance date May 15. of a Question put. In the midst of this, Doctor Shirley prefers a Petition to the House of Lords against Sir John Fag, a Member of the Lower House, to appear and answer in a Cause he had brought before the Lords, and a Summons was sent to Sir John, accordingly; which the Commons consider­ing as a Breach of Privilege, great Heats arose among them, and high Expressions be­ing, upon this Occasion, mutually vented against each other by both Houses, the King thought fit to adjourn their Time of Sitting for the present.

date October. They no sooner sat again than my Com­petitor Benson, and another, Mr. Long, pe­titioned against me. They would have had a short Day, but it was my Business to get as long a one as I could, and I accordingly did so. In short, the Business of the House [Page 27] was of such Consequence, that the Proro­gation came on before our Cause could be heard. I took a particular Account of what was transacted this Session, the most extra­ordinary Particulars of which were summa­rily these.

The King had in his Speech acquainted us, That he was four Millions in Debt, ex­clusive of what he owed to the Godsmiths or Bankers, a vast Sum more, for which he paid neither Principal nor Interest, to the Ruin of many Families. It being upon this put to the Vote whether Money should be given or not, It was carried in the Nega­tive by four Voices, and that, when near four hundred Members were in the House. But it appearing that both the Dutch and French exceeded us in the Proportion and Number of their Shipping, a Sum of Three Hundred Thousand Pounds was voted to the King for the Building of twenty Ships, namely, One of the First Rate, Five of the Second, and Fourteen of the Third.

Several Ways were debated for the Rai­sing of this Sum, as upon Land, upon the Jews, by Way of Poll, or upon French Commodities, and lastly upon our own Con­sumption, and upon Merchandise. At length it was to be levied upon Land, and paid in [Page 28] eighteen Months; to be lodged apart in the Exchequer, and appropriated to that particular Use, with very severe Penalties upon the Officers that should apply it to any other: But the Sum itself, the time it was to be raised in, and other Circumstances, were by no means grateful to the Court. It was farther voted That the Customs having been formerly given to the King for the Maintenance of the Fleet, a Clause to that effect and purpose should be inserted in this Bill, or a new one prepared to confirm it.

The State of the Fleet was now given in, whereby it appeared that we had no more than eight First Rates, nine Second Rates, and forty Three Third Rates; while the French exceeded us in the Number of these Rates by six and twenty, and the Dutch by fourteen.

It was moreover voted that the Atheism, Debauchery, and Impiety of the present Age be inserted, as Grievances to be redres­sed: And it being violently suspected that some Members of the House did receive Gratuities from the Court to Vote on that side; it was put that a Committee should be appointed to form a Kind of Oath or Test, to discover what Sums of Money and Offices had been given to Parliament Men to gain their Interest.

[Page 29] The French Trade also was complained of, as being Thirteen Hundred Thousand Pounds an overbalance for ours; and upon the Matter it appeared, that every Thou­sand Pounds a Year had since the Restora­tion paid a Hundred Pounds in Taxes to the Crown.

It was also voted a Grievance, that Jus­tices of the Peace should be summoned to appear before the Council, to account for what they did in their judicial Capacity.

date Novemb. The Business also of Luzance took up some time in the House. This Luzance was a French Jesuit, but becoming a Convert to the Church of England, inveighed against the Fallacies of the Church of Rome, in a Ser­mon he preached in the French Church in the Savoy. This alarmed the Papists, and particularly one Doctor Burnet, a Jesuit, and Confessor to the Duchess of York, who finding him alone in his Chamber, and post­ing Three Men at the Door, threatned to murder him if he did not make Satisfaction for the Injury, eat his Words, and speedily return to France. The Man in this des­perate Dilemma promised faithfully what­ever was required of him, 'till he got his Liberty, when presently going to Doctor Breval, a converted Jesuit as well as him­self, [Page 30] he told him the whole Story; Breval the next Day acquainted me with it, and I communicated it to the House. The Com­mons took Fire at this, and strait appointed a Committee to examine into the Matter, and ordered me to produce Luzance the next Day. He appeared accordingly, and averred the Thing for a Truth. This was the first time I presumed to speak in that great Assembly, or in any Committee; but the next Day I was obliged to do it several times in what concerned this violent Busi­ness.

Upon the Report made from the Com­mittee to the House, my Lord Cavendish cal­led me up to give an Account of some other things I had had from Luzance. One was that Two French Protestants, being Mer­chants of great Substance and Credit, had been threatned by certain Papists, that if they were not less severe upon the Ro­manists, they should ere long see the Pro­testant Blood flow in London Streets. A Committee was appointed to enquire into the Truth of this Matter; and Luzance be­ing summoned, gave Evidence to the very self same Effect, and gave it under his own Hand. The Parties he had his Information from being sent for, appeared also, and de­clared [Page 31] such Threats to have been used to­wards them by some French Papists; but, to what Cause it was owing is uncertain, they gave in only such Names as were of Persons either absent, or of no Estimation; so that little came of this Business. But these and other such Informations, concerning the Height and Insolence of the Papists, did so exasperate the House, that many Motions were made to humble them. Some were for a speedy Confinement of them to the Coun­try, others for Banishment, and some again for disarming them, and the like.

In a short time after, the Matter of Doctor Shirley's Petition to the Lords against Sir John Fag, was again renewed, tho' it had broke up the Parliament the last time. There were those who thought the King had consented to it, disliking the warm Pro­ceedings of both Houses: While others were of Opinion that the Lords of the Country Interest had persuaded the Doctor thereto, with a View thereby to kindle such a Flame between the two Houses, that the King should be obliged either to prorogue, adjourn, or dissolve them: The said Lords apprehending that if this Parliament should sit much longer, the Majority might be gained over by Money and Places, so as to [Page 32] become quite obsequious to the Court; and this My Lord Hallifax (then in the Interest of Lord Shaftsbury his Uncle, who was upon ill Terms with the Court, being no longer Lord Chancellor) told me was his Opinion.

But whatever the Cause was, the Effect was such That the Commons refusing to let their Member plead at the Bar of the Lords during a Time of Privilege, it was resolved That the Lords by receiving an Appeal from any Court, either of Law or Equity, against a Member of the Lower House, du­ring a Session of Parliament, were thereby Infringers of the Privileges of the Commons of England; and that such Lawyers as should attend as Counsel to plead in any such Cause at the Lords Bar, should be deemed as Be­trayers of the Rights of the Commons of England; and that the said Vote be affixed to the Door of the House of Commons, Westminster-Hall, and the Inns of Court; which was accordingly done: And the same Day it was voted by the Lords, that the same was Illegal and Unparliamentary, and tended to the Dissolution of the Go­vernment: And upon the whole, that they would not recede from their Right of Ju­dicature by Appeals from the Courts of Equity.

[Page 33] It was then put to the Question, If the King should not be petitioned to dissolve this Parliament, and it was carried in the Negative by no more than Two Votes.

This Misunderstanding between the Houses was very dissatisfactory to the King. The Lords who had voted for the Dissolu­tion of this Parliament, entered their Pro­test in the Journal of their House, together with their Reasons sor so doing; so that Things being at this Pass, the only Expe­dient left, was to dismiss the Parliament, which the King did, by Prorogation to the 10th of February next.

Before I left London, I, at the Interpo­sition of my Lord Ogle, went with his Lord­ship to see the Duke of Buckingham, being well assured that I should be kindly re­ceived.

I had a fine Black of about Sixteen Years date 1676 of Age, presented to me by a Gentleman who brought him over from Barbadoes: This Black lived with me some Years, and died about this time of an Imposthume in his Head. Six Weeks after he was buried, I date Octob. 20. received an Account That at London it was credibly reported I had caused him to be Gelt, and that the Operation had killed him. I laughed at it at first, conscious it was a [Page 34] Falsehood, and a ridiculous Story, 'till be­ing further informed that it came from the Duke of Norfolk and his Family, with whom I had had some Differences at Law, and that he had waited upon the King to beg my Estate, if it became a Forfeiture by this Felony; I thought it convenient to send for the Coroner to view the Body with a Jury, before it was too far decayed, that a rot­tenness of the Part might not be imputed to Incision. The Coroner accordingly sum­mons a Jury, and does his Office; but when they came to uncover the Breast, it was so putrified they would go no further; so that upon the Examination of Eleven Witnesses, some that laid him out, and some that saw him naked, several, because of his Colour, having a Curiosity to see him after he was dead, they gave their Verdict, that he died Ex Visitatione Dei, by the Hand of God.

This however, was not thought suffici­ent; for within a few Days after, there came one Bright, a Lawyer, one Chappel, an Attorney, (both concerned in the Duke's Affairs,) and one Buck, a Surgeon of Shef­field, whom I had caused to be prosecuted not long before for having two Wives, to­gether with some others, with my Lord Chief Justice's Warrant, directed to the [Page 35] Coroner to take up the Body; which the Coroner refused to obey, saying He had done his Office already. These Ambassa­dors, however, took up the Body, and Buck, under Pretence of viewing the Part the better, would have taken it up with a Penknise, but it was not suffered, lest by that Instrument he should give the Wound he sought for: But what was not only a Mercy, but a Miracle also, the Part proved to be perfectly sound and entire, tho' the Body had been so long under Ground, and the rest of it was much putrified and decay­ed; so that Shame of Face and Confusion came pretty plentifully upon the Actors in this extraordinary Scene.

A black and most ridiculous Piece of Ma­lice this; for had their Suggestion been prov­ed a Fact, all their Art could never have so fix­ed it, as to have indangered either my Person or Estate. My Lord Chief Justice Rainsford acted irregularly and illegally in this Busi­ness, his Information not being given in to him upon Oath. And indeed he afterwards confessed he was misled into it, and that the Duke's Solicitor was most pressing and urgent with him, to grant the Warrant. The Duke of York told my Brother, He wondered such a stir was made about a Re­port [Page 36] which must certainly be a flat False­hood: And Lord Ogle acquainted me, as did also my Lord Treasurer himself after­wards, That he, meaning the Treasurer, had taken great Pains to prevent the beg­ging of my Estate; and I believed it to be true, but shrewdly doubt it was with De­sign, had it proved a Forfeiture, to have se­cured it for himself; I was told as much afterwards. I endeavoured however to reach the Bottom of his Plot, and to pro­cure myself some Reparation, as may be observed hereafter.

date Febr. Having kept my Christmass in the Coun­try, I no sooner returned to London than my Lord Treasurer sent to speak with me. I waited on him therefore, and found him very open in his Discourse upon several Sub­jects, but for the most Part lamenting That his Countrymen would not allow him an Opportunity to be of Service to them with the King, and making many Protestations That the Jealousies of those who called themselves of the Country Party, were en­tirely groundless and without Foundation: That to his certain knowledge, the King meant no other than to preserve the Religion and Government by Law established; and, upon the whole, wished that neither himself [Page 37] or his Posterity might prosper, if he did not speak what he really believed: That if the Government was in any Danger, it was most from those who pretended such a mighty Zeal for it; but who under that Pretence were endeavouring to create such Discontents between the King and the Na­tion, as might produce Confusion in the End; And intreated me to be careful how I im­barked myself with that Sort of People. My reply was, That I hoped I was not one to be wilfully misled; that I should have no Rule to go by in that House but my Rea­son and Conscience, and that so I could be of no particular Faction or Party: That as much as I yet understood of the Duty of a Member of the House of Commons at this Time, suggested to me a Moderation be­tween the two Extremes, and to have an e­qual Regard for the Prerogative of the King and the Liberty of the Subject.

True it is, till now that the Treasurer used such solemn Asseverations, with regard to the King's good Intention, and pretty clear­ly convinced me that some of the Chiefs of the Country Party had most at Heart their own private Interest, whatever they assert­ed in Favour and Defence of the Public, I [Page 38] had great Notions of the Truth and Since­rity of the Country Party.

date Feb. 15. The Parliament meeting, the King parti­cularly desired a considerable Sum for the Building and Rigging of Ships. The Coun­try did every thing possible to stint the Sum to four hundred thousand Pounds; while the Courtiers were for a Million, or eight hun­dred thousand Pounds at the least; but the moderate Men stept in between with an Offer of six hundred thousand Pounds, which Sum was granted, and for this I gave my Vote, a Sum intended for the Building of thirty Men of War of several Rates. My Lord Treasurer took it so kindly that I sided not with those, who did all they could to wea­ken and distress the Crown, that he would needs carry me to kiss his Majesty's Hand, which I had not yet done since I came to Town; and presented me in the Lobby of the House of Lords, next to the Prince's Lodgings, no Body being present but his Majesty, his Lordship and my self. He said much more of me to the King than I de­served, but lastly, That as my Family had been always Loyal, he knew I was perfect­ly inclined to tread in their Footsteps; and that the best way to confirm me in such my Disposition, would be to let me understand [Page 39] how little of Truth there was in the Pre­tences set on Foot to deceive Gentlemen, and withdraw them from their Duty. ‘"The King said he had known me long, and hoped I knew him so well as to give no Ear to such Reports of him. I know, says he, it is said I aim at the Subversion of the Government and Religion: That I intend to lay aside Parliaments, and to raise Money another way; but every Man, nay those who insist the most there­on, knows the Thing in all its Circum­stance, to be false. There is not a Sub­ject that lives under me, whose Safety and Welfare I desire less than my own: And I should be as sorry to invade his Liber­ty and Property, as that another should invade mine. Those Members, continu­ed the King, who boast this mighty Friendship for the Public, are of two Sorts either those who would actually and irre­trievably subvert the Government, and re­duce it to a Common-wealth once more; or else those who seem only to join with the former, and talk loud against the Court, purely in hopes to have their Mouths stop­ped with Places or Preferments."’ And to say the Truth, the Treasurer had named some of the Chiefs to me, who had desired [Page 40] so and so of the King, and upon such Con­ditions promised to come over.

I made Answer to the King, That indeed the Pretences were many, and, to some I believed, plausible, that were raised in Op­position to what others understood to be for his Majesty's Interest: But that they had gained but little on me, who had had the Honour of being so long known to his Ma­jesty, and had been so lately confirmed in my Belief by Assurances from my Lord Trea­surer: That to the best of my Knowledge I should never do any Thing that became not a true and faithful Subject, or should be in­consistent with the Prosperity of his Maje­sty's Royal Person and Government. The King said he was very well pleased that he had seen me, commanded me to wait on him sometimes, and told me I should have Ac­cess to him when and wherever I desired it.

The Condescension of the King, in giving this Satisfaction to so mean a Person, con­vinced me very much of the Truth of what he said; as did also his natural Temper and Constitution; for he was not an active, busy, or ambitious Prince, but perfectly a Friend to Ease, and fond of Pleasure; he seemed to be chiefly desirous of Peace and Quiet for his own Time.

[Page 41] At this Time a great Dispute arising be­tween the Lord Marshal of England, Lord Henry Howard, (tho' commonly called Duke of Norfolk) and his younger Brothers, they not only petitioned the House of Commons in behalf of themselves, but also of their eld­est Brother the Duke, whom the said Lord Marshal kept up at Padua as a Lunatic, tho' perfectly in Possession of his Senses, praying that the House would be pleased to move the King to oblige the Marshal to send for him into England. Upon this a Debate arose in the House, every one delivering his Mind according to his Belief, or Prejudices; till at length the Gentlemen of the House who had been at Padua, were desired to give their Opinions as to the State and Condition of the Duke. Upon this Occasion I declar­ed that at the Time I saw him, he laboured under all the Symptoms of Lunacy and Di­straction. This being carried to the Lord Marshal, who was very conscious I was in­debted to him for no Obligation, he sent a Gentleman to me the next Day to thank me for my Generosity to a Person who had not seemed to have been so much my Friend as he ought to have been, and touching oblique­ly on the Affair of the Blackamoor, he said [Page 42] he intended to wait on me to give me some farther Satisfaction as to that.

My Answer to this Message was, That I was surprised at the Compliment from a Gen­tleman to whom I intended none, what I had said having been with a due Regard to Truth: That however I was not sorry I had happened to oblige his Lordship by it; and that since he had denied all concern in the iniquitous Affair of my dead Servant, I would prevent his Lordship, and wait on him my self; as I did two or three Days afterwards. He received me with all the Civility and Kindness imaginable, and wished that nei­ther himself or Prosperity might prosper, if he was any way aiding or assisting in the Plot laid against me. I told his Lordship, that I could not but add Faith to his Words; but that if he was not, I was well assured his Servants were; and therefore desired he would give me leave to use my best Endea­vours to find it out: With all his Heart he said, he did not only consent to it, but would moreover assist me in the Inquiry; and so, with all possible Demonstrations of Friend­ship we parted.

I very often visited and dined with my Lord Treasurer, and often waited on the King, who, when he saw me, would ask [Page 43] me how things went forward; and particu­larly I this Day entertained him a long date March 18. while, in the Dutchess of York's Bedcham­ber, with what had then been transacting in the House of Commons.

This Session had gone on smoothly and sedately enough, in both Houses, my Lord Treasurer having so ordered it, that the King's Party encreased rather than the o­ther but it was much feared that some Votes were obtained more by Purchase than Affe­ction; and with this we close up the Year.

The Commons voted a second Address to the King, That he would be pleased to date 1677 date March 29. contract Alliances for the Preservation of Flanders in the Hands of the King of Spain; but with this Restriction, That his Majesty should not be obliged to return any Answer to the House, upon the Subject of the said Address; tho' a Number who would have drawn him into Inconveniencies, would have had him urged to declare his Intenti­ons therein; by which he must have either disobliged the Nation on the one Hand, or on the other have declared War with France, before he was prepared to prosecute it.

date April 12. The King and the Duke had both of them much interested themselves in the Af­fair [Page 44] fair of my Election. which being to be try­ed very soon, his Majefty gave Orders to his Servants that were of the House, to attend the Committee, and assist me with their best Services when it came on. The same Day the Duke of Albemark came down to engage his Friends to be for me, nor did the Duke of York forget to concern himself very ear­nestly in my Behalf.

The same Day being alone with the Lord Treasurer, in his Coach as he was going to Westminster, I told him that some of the Discontented had resolved to hasten the Mo­ney-Bill as fast as might be, that so the House might rise before Easter, and the pub­lic Bills, that were preparing, be left un­passed; hoping thereby to incense the Nati­on, and bring about Cause of Complaint a­gainst the King, as if he called the Parlia­ment together for nothing but to get Money from them. His Lordship answered, That the King, well aware of the Design, would pre­vent it by a Message, that Day to be deli­vered to the House by Mr. Secretary Coven­try, to this Effect, That if ought remained undone, which the House judged necessary to be done for the good of the Nation, the King would allow them a sufficient Time after Eafter, and that when they were ready, [Page 45] His Majesty would pass their Bills; a Mes­sage that was accordingly delivered.

My Lord Treasurer sent for me among o­thers, desiring us to assist what we could, towards the Reconciliation of a Difference likely to take place between the two Houses, about framing the Bill for the six hundred thousand Pounds, to be given to the King, which might endanger the Loss of the same: For the Commons had made a Clause there­in, injoining the Officers of the Exchequer to give them an Account of the Disbursment and Distribution of the said Sum; while the Lords had asserted they should be accounta­ble to both Houses. This the Commons would not suffer, alledging the Lords could neither add to nor take away from a Mo­ney-Bill; for that as it was peculiar to them only to give Money, it was to them only that Account was to be given how it was ap­plied. The Lords to this replied, That to de­ny them the Power of calling the Officers of the Exchequer to a Reckoning, was to abridge them of the Privilege of Judicature they un­doubtedly had as the supreme Court; and by way of Precedent observed, That when the Convention gave Money for the Disbanding of the Army, an Account of the same was or­dered to be laid before their House as well [Page 46] as the other. They both adhered tenaci­ously to their Point, till the King at length prevailed with the Lords to erase their Clause; and so the Commons got the better of the Day.

It was not long before this, That the King of France, having obtained a Victory over the Prince of Orange, did in his Return by Calais send over the Duke of Crequy, and the Archbishop of Rheims, to pay a Com­pliment to our King, who returned it by my Lord Sunderland. This gave just Cause to think there would be no War between the two Kings, contrary to what the Parliament had so earnestly advised. I saw a Copy of the Letter these Ambassadors brought with them; beginning with this Stile or Title, Tres haut, tres Excellent & tres Puissent Prince, tres cher tres aimé bon Frére Cousin & Allié: And in truth our King's Neutrality deserved all this from France, and much more.

date May 12. Not long after, having the Opportunity of a private Conversation with the Treasurer, I complained to him of the Injustice done me in the foolish Story of my Black's Castra­tion, as also of the King's readiness to grant away my Estate. He said he did not be­lieve the King had given it, for that he had begged of him not to be too hasty in that [Page 47] particular, believing the Report to be a ma­licious Lye: But that he was of Opinion with me, that now was a fit Time to ask his Majesty for something by way of Reparati­on, and that he would assist me therein. His Lordship was upon this Occasion so o­pen with me as to tell me, That tho' the King denied scarce any thing to the Duke, his Brother, he certainly did not love him at his Heart.

He told me also That the King had no mind to fall out with France; and that if the Parliament would effectually engage him in that War, their Way would be to furnish him with Sums of Money to prepare for it, and that no less than six hundred thousand Pounds would be absolutely necessary for that Purpose. That if the King accepted of this, he would be obliged to carry on the War; but that if the Parliament would not trust him, he was in the right not to em­bark himself, and might justly argue, How can I depend on my Parliament to furnish me with regular and equal Supplies to carry on a War, which they will not so much as enable me to prepare for? But I easily saw through this; I plainly perceived it was all Artifice to get the fingering of Money.

[Page 48] He moreover said, That the King could not in Honour join the Confederates against France: That in all the Treaties the King of England had been mentioned as Principal in the War: That in the Beginning he did actually join with France, and that for him now to turn his Arms against that Crown, would look neither just nor honourable in the Eye of the World. This his Lordship told me was the King's own Way of argu­ing, whenever War hapned to be the Sub­ject of their Discourse together; but that his Answer to his Majesty was, That he needed not be so regardful of that Transaction, the French King having plaid him the very same Trick when Chancellor Hyde was chief Mi­nister. To this he replied, That the French King had a Pique against the Lord Chan­cellor: To which the Treasurer subjoined, That whatever was the Cause, the thing was as he had said.

He was so free also as to tell me still fur­ther, That the Duke was the Grand Promo­ter of the French Interest, and that he now made his Court to the Sectaries and Fana­ticks, only to give Strength and Vigour to the Popish Interest: That his Highness was so very a Bigot, that tho' the Archbishop of Rheims made no Scruple to go into our [Page 49] Churches, and even kneel down during the Time of divine Service, the Duke at the same time could not be prevailed on so much as to step within the Doors. He observed that the Duke was particularly unhappy in his Servants, a senseless Pack; but that in­deed his Confessor was a notable Man, and one that had a great Influence over him; being as well as his Master averse to a War with France. His Lordship however declared himself for it.

The next Day I went to visit the Duke and Dutchess of Lautherdale, at their fine House at Ham. After Dinner, her Grace en­tertained me in her Chamber with much Dis­course upon Affairs of State. She had been a beautiful Woman, the supposed Mistress of Oliver Cromwell, and at that time a Lady of great Parts. Both her Grace and the Duke her Husband, were entirely in the Treasurer's Interest. Her chief Complaint was, That the Duke so adhered to Papists and Fanaticks, and so put the King upon changing the Deputies of Ireland, and all purely for the Subservience of the Romish Interest; and in short, let me into the Secret of many Things I had never so much as heard of before; and particularly acquainted me with the State and Bent of Scotland, which, [Page 50] as her Husband was Lord Commissioner, she was well able to do.

The Day after I went to ask Mr. Secreta­ry Williamson, if any Entry had been made in his Office concerning my Estate? He an­swered He durst only own it to me in private, but that upon some Rumour of a Forfeiture, by some Act of mine, it was true that Mr. Felton, of the Bedchamber, had begged it of the King, and entered a Caveat thereof at his Office.

Upon this I prevailed with my Lord Treasurer to go with me to the King, of whom I begged two Things, namely, That he would be pleased to order Mr. Secretary Williamson to eraze a Caveat that had been en­tered with him, upon his Majesty's granting away my Estate to Mr. Felton, reputed to be forfeited by my pretended felonious Pra­ctices with the Blackamoor that died in my Service: And that also he would be pleased to lay his Commands upon my Lord Chief Justice Rainsford, to discover to me at whose Sollicitation, or upon what Suggestion it was his Lordship issued out his Warrant to the Coroner to take up the Body after it had been so long interred.

To the First the King answered, he did not remember any Grant he had made of [Page 51] my Estate to any Person whatsoever, but that if any such Caveat was entered, he would see that it was expunged. As for the Second, He directed my Lord Treasurer to send one with me to my Lord Chief Justice, as from him, to do as I had desired; which his Lord­ship did the next Day by his Secretary. When we came to him, he told us the whole Matter, and begged I would excuse him for having been so very forward in that Affair; and indeed he had good Reason so to do, having done more than he could justify; for he had granted his Warrant upon a bare Suggestion, that the Moor had dyed by such an Act, without taking any Information ei­ther in Writing or upon Oath.

date May 21. The Parliament met at Westminster pursu­ant to Adjournment; and the King, in his Speech, told the House, He could not make such Alliances as they desired, except they gave him Money, to make Preparations for War. The Commons did not approve of this, and voted that no Money should be raised, till the King had first entered into a League Offensive and Defensive with Holland, and the rest of the United Provinces, for the Safety of these Kingdoms, and the Recovery of Flanders, and to abate the Power of the French King.

[Page 52] In answer to this, the King said, They date May 28. had exceeded the Bounds and Methods of Parliament, That they entrenched on his Prerogative, by not only directing him to make Alliances, but by pointing out to him what those Alliances should be, and with whom to be made. That the Power of mak­ing Peace or War resided wholly in himself, and that if they took that from him, he should have nothing left but the empty Name of King, and no more, and that in such case, no Prince or State would enter into Engage­ments with him. Upon the whole, He re­jected the Address, but would use such Means as became him for the Preservation of his Kingdoms; adjourning them to the 16th Day of July following.

In the mean time, having heard that my Lord Yarmouth was one that had begged my Estate, upon the Occasion os the Death of my Black, and understanding that his Lord­ship was come to Town, I presently waited on him at his House, and being with some Difficulty admitted (for I had never seen him) asked him if the Thing was true? Whereupon he bitterly swore he never asked it from the King, and that he never knew any thing of it, farther than that one Wright, Sollicitor to the Lord Henry Howard, did [Page 53] come and acquaint him That there was like­ly to be such a Forfeiture, and advised him to use his Interest with the King for it; but that he absolutely gave no Ear to the Propo­sal, saying, He would never be the richer for the Misfortunes of others: That he believed it was pure Malice against me, and that he would serve me all he could to find out the Authors of it. In short, I got it from un­der his Hand, That he was neither directly or indirectly concerned in begging my E­state.

The very same Day I found out Mr. Wright, and threatned to bring my Action of Scan­dal against him, upon the Information I had received from my Lord Yarmouth, if he did not let me into the whole Intrigue. He then ingenuously confessed, That both Bright and Chappel beforementioned, had given him an Account of the Moor's Death, with all the Circumstances of his pretended Castrati­on, and with all Assurance of the Truth of what they said; and that he telling the Sto­ry to Lord Henry Howard, his Lordship sent him to Lord Yarmouth, advising him to beg my Estate of the King, and that he begged it accordingly. I was now much surprised that two Noblemen should make their Ho­nour so cheap, and deny a real Fact with [Page 54] such Oaths and Asseverations; but consider­ing with my self that to make more Stir in the Thing, would be only to make a great deal of Noise about a very foolish Story, I contented my self with this Satisfaction, that as a Sign of their Shame and Repen­tance, they had both given themselves the Lye.

date Oct. 19. At this Time was the Marriage agreed on between the Prince of Orange, and the La­dy Mary, first Daughter to his Royal High­ness, to the great Joy of the Nation; for his Highness being a Protestant Prince, this Match in a great measure expelled the Fears that the Majority had conceived concerning Popery. Lord Danby, the Treasurer, was believed to have promoted this Alliance, and got good Reputation by it.

date 26 The Parliament which was to have met upon the 3d of December, was by Proclama­tion prorogued to the 4th of April; but ne­vertheless, the public Business required it, the Day was shortned, and they were to meet on the 10th of January, but when the Time came, they were adjourned for 15 Days.

date Nov. 2. I dined with my Lord Treasurer, who received me very kindly; and the next Day I kissed the King's Hand, and the Duke's. His Highness, among other Things, told me [Page 55] the Reason of this short Adjournment was because the King could not so fully acquaint both Houses why they were called together at this Time, till he had a more perfect Ac­count of a Treaty now upon the Carpet with Spain; and after some other Discouse of pub­lick Concern, I gave him some Assurances of Duty and Respect, which by a former, tho' false, Report he had fome Reason to doubt of.

The Parliament met, and the King, in his Speech, informed them That he was en­tered in a strict Alliance with the Prince of Orange, and the United Provinces, to oppose the French King, and the Progress of his Arms in Flanders; and desired he might have Money to enable him to fulfil his En­gagements.

date Nov. 28. The Commons immediately voted an Ad­dress of Thanks to the King, for the Care he had taken of the Protestant Religion, in marrying his Niece to the Prince of Orange; but observed they could grant no Supplies for the War, if his Majesty and his Al­ies would not engage to lay down their Arms, till the Treaty of the Pyrenées was performed, and till the French King was re­duced to the Condition he then was in; for [Page 56] that without this, neither this Kingdom, nor the rest of Christendom was safe.

date Nov. 30. They now voted the Sum of seventy thou­sand Pounds, to be raised for the Royal In­terment of King Charles the Martyr, and for erecting a Monument to his Memory.

Supping this Night with my Lord Trea­surer. he told me He fully had intend­ed to sollicit the King to do something for me; but, if he had really meant it, I knew he might have done it long before then.

date Feb. 4. The King sent us an Answer to our Ad­dress, and therein pressed us to raise Money to carry on the War; and to prevail on us the more effectually, he acquainted us with the Alliances he had made; which so wrought upon the House, That the Question being put, it was carried by two and forty Voices, to assist his Majesty in the War, and to con­sider of the Way to do it; but it being late, the Debate was put off till the next Morning.

date 5 The next Morning I waited on the Duke of York, and had a great deal of Discourse with him concerning this Matter; and being the Night before with my Lord Treasurer, the Scheme was laid how to proceed the next Day.

[Page 57] Great Debates had arisen upon this Affair, and the Reason of the violent Opposition it met with, was a Desire in some to oppose the Crown, tho' in the very thing they them­selves wished for, the Nation being ever de­sirous of a War with France; and a Jealousy in others, That the King indeed intended to raise an Army, but never designed to go on with the War, and, to say the Truth, some of the King's own Party were not ve­ry sure of the contrary. However, the Commons soon after voted Money for the raising six and twenty Regiments of Foot, four of Horse, and two of Dragoons, toge­ther with a Navy of ninety Men of War, for a War with France.

A few Days afterwards, I acquainted the King and the Duke with some of the Tran­sactions of the House, and of the Doubts some had there expressed concerning the Ratification of the Peace betwixt us and Hol­land. To which the King replyed, ‘That the League offensive and defensive was actually signed by the States, so that they could not now recede, but that the Rati­fication was not yet sealed, the several Provinces not having yet confirmed the Act of their Deputies, and of the Council of Eight who had received it.’

[Page 58] The great Business of granting an Aid to date Feb. 18. the King came on Debate in the House, where it was thoroughly controverted, and many difficulties were started, and many Mi­strusts of the King. Among others, I spoke and attempted to shew the Necessity there was for a Trust at this Time, and how im­possible it was (tho' some Ground might ap­pear for it) to recede at this Hour of the Day.

date The next Day the Commons voted a Mil­lion, to enable the King to make War with France, for the Preservation of Flanders.

We had at this Time News that the French had taken Ghent and Bruges, and that Ostend was besieged; whereupon the King caused sixteen hundred Men to be immediately drawn out of his Guards and other Forces here, and sent them to Ostend, under the Command of the Duke of Monmouth; in short, this News quite alarmed Flanders, Hol­land and England. The Commons particu­larly concerned themselves therein, and now grown warm, they begin to reflect on the King's ill Councils, that had not advised him to a War before. No Man was named, but they plainly pointed at the Duke of York, and the Lord Treasurer.

[Page 59] Attending the King's Levee, His Maje­sty told me and some other Members then date Feb. 28. present, ‘"That except the Money voted was speedily raised, it would come after the French King had done his Work."’ His Highness also told me the same Morning, that his Friends would have a hard Task of it that Day, he being informed that some of the House had resolved to renew the Debate concerning ill Councellors; but I assured him it was not likely, having but the Day before heard a Leader of the anticourt Party say, It was no Time to raise Disputes at home, now that we were in such a Way of being embroiled abroad; and it proved even as I had said.

date March 2. But after all, News came that Ghent and Bruges had not been taken, as had been re­ported; and moreover, that Mons. Rouvigny was coming over, on the Part of France, with Tenders of Peace. The Parliament started at this, and grew jealous the Offers would be accepted; but still our Forces marched onwards, in their Way to Ostend; and two Days asterwards the Bill for raising Money, by way of Poll, was perfected, when the King and the Duke talked much of a War, tho' still it was suspected their Hearts were more inclined for Peace.

[Page 60] His Highness told me, He was informed date March 10. of a Design in the House of Commons, to fall upon him and my Lord Treasurer, and desired me to oppose it. My Lord Trea­surer assured me of the same thing, and that it was to be done that very Day. That, among other Articles, they laid to his Charge a Treaty between the King and the Prince of Orange; but that in reality there was no such Treaty; and had it been, he did not think it had been disadvantagious to England. Another of his Crimes, he said, would be for advising the King to make a Peace which he never did; tho' it was not impossible but such a Design there might be; but that if so it were, it proceeded from nothing but the King's own Judgment, who was that way very much bent, if lawful it were so to say.

date 14 Now several Speeches were made in the House, full fraught of Jealousies and Fears, and particularly with regard to the Army at this time levying; as if it rather intended to erect absolute Monarchy at home, than infest the Enemy abroad. Complaints were made of evil Council, and of the Councel­lors, but still no Body was named. A long Debate it proved, and in the End produced an Address to the King, That before they proceeded to give any more Money, His [Page 61] Majesty would be pleased to declare War with France, and withdraw his Ambassador from that Court. It was also stifly contend­ed, That a Part of this Address should be to intreat the King to put away those evil Councellors from about him, who had ad­vised him to adjourn the Parliament in May last, and prevented a War with France all this Time; but this being put to the Questi­on, it was carried in the Negative by five Votes only.

date March 14. The Commons then resolved, That a Day should be appointed to consider of the State of the Kingdom with regard to Popery: And three Days afterwards my Lord Trea­surer sent for several Members of the House, and me among others, to the Treasury Chamber. His Lordship there told us, It became all good Subjects to withstand all such Motions and Proceedings, which tend­ed only to perplex the Minds of Men, and disturb the publick Tranquility; in short, to raise Jealousies against the Government. The Duke also, among other Things, told me, It would be to disarm all Popish Re­cusants, which he seemed to think a ridicu­lous Thing; and here we put a Period to this Year.

[Page 62] date 1678 At this time, many well meaning Men be­gan to fear the Army now raised, was rather intended to awe our own Kingdom, than to war against France. as had at first been sug­gested; and now it being put to the Questi­on, date May 8. whether an Address should be made to the King, for laying aside Duke Lauther­dale, of the Kingdom of Scotland, it was carried in the negative by one Vote only.

The Question was put again, and carried, That such Councellors as had advised the King to make such Answers to the late Ad­dresses from his Parliament, being Betrayers of the King and Kingdom, or to that Effect, an Address should be humbly presented to his Majesty, to lay them aside from his date 10 Councils. and remove them from their other Employments. This Address was accord­ingly, and his Majesty's Answer was this, That they were so extravagant in the Con­tents of it, that he was not willing to make such Reply to it as it deserv'd. Lautherdale was particularly named. And the same Day it was carried, tho' but by one Voice in a full House, That the King's Message lately sent to them to consider of some Means for a Supply to his Majesty, for paying off his Fleet, should not be observed.

[Page 63] The King understanding the Tide of their Proceedings to run so very high, prorogued date May 13. them to the 23d of the same Month, which put a Stop to their further Proceedings.

It was, at this Time, generally believed that Peace was concluded between us, the Confederates, and the King of France. We blamed the States for their ready Comply­ance; the States blamed the Spaniard who was full of his Offers, while he had neither Men, Arms, or Money in Flanders to defend it; and they both fell upon the Parliament of England, who when they should have given Money; and made other Preparations for the War, were wasting their Time in quarrelling at home with the Government, and with each other.

The Parliament met, pursuant to adjourn­ment, when the King spoke to them a little date 23 more briskly than usual. He told them, a Peace was near upon Conclusion between France and the Confederates, at which they were extremely concerned. This Peace with France, when there was like to be so strong a Union combined to reduce that proud and potent King to a better Sense of himself, was very ungrateful News to Eng­land; and therefore the King, to throw the Blame of it upon the Commons, told us, in [Page 64] his Speech, it was owing to their Refusal of Money, till something was done for the Se­curity of their Religion; their Negligence to direct or advise him concerning the in­tended War, or to assist him till he had changed Councellors, and consequently the little Hopes the Confederates could have of Help from him; that this, together with the low Condition of Spain, had prompted them to lend an Ear to the Offers of Peace; not to speak of the sluggish Motion of the Germans, the Difficulty of getting them to­gether, their Princes being influenced by such discordant Views and Interests, and the present Poverty of the States General, all which had contributed towards the Ces­sation of the War.

But still our King was chiefly condemned in this great Affair, as he so long deferred to engage in this Alliance; which, had he sooner done, the French King had never dared to persist in the War; at least he could not have made so great a Progress in Flan­ders, or have been able to make so good a Market for himself, as he did by this Peace.

To this our King made Answer, He could not have believed the French King would have been able to weather out a War so well as he did, tho' in a manner against all Eu­rope, [Page 65] Himself and the King of Sweden only date 16 excepted, who sat Neuters: And that in case this Number of Enemies had humbled that Kingdom, England might well have been satisfied with the having been an un­concerned Looker-on, while she engrossed all the Commerce of Europe, and might in the End have reaped an equal Share of Ad­vantage with even the Labourers themselves, who had been at all the Pains and Expence.

date June 4. The Commons voted two hundred thou­sand Pounds, to be given for disbanding the Army; but under great Restrictions, fear­ing the King might take the Money, and convert it to other Uses. Wherefore great Penalties were levelled against the Officers of the Exchequer, and others, through whose Hands it was to pass, to prevent their di­verting it from its right Channel, and this done, the Money was chearfully given, the Nation, and its Representatives, dreading nothing so much, at that Time, as a stand­ing Army.

About this Time there was fresh Discourse date 22 about a War with France, the French King and ours not agreeing concerning the Interest of the King of Sweden, which the French would have to be adjusted, before they would de­liver up the Towns they had taken in Flan­ders: [Page 66] But, by what I heard, I thought the thing had but an unlikely Aspect, and parti­cularly as I had seen the King, Duke, and French Ambassador so very often merry, and intimate together at the Duchess of Port­smouth's Lodgings, laughing at those who believed it in earnest.

date Octob. 10. Now came the first News of the Popish Plot, or a Design of the Papists to kill the King. No Body can conceive, that was not a Witness thereof, what a Ferment this raised among all Ranks and Degrees. Being at this Time in the Country, I hurried to town with my Family.

date 21 The Parliament met, and the King in his Speech told us, He had kept the Army on foot longer than by the Act for disbanding it was allowed; but that he had done it to preserve the rest of Flanders, which had prov­ed an expensive Precaution to him; That he was deeply in Debt; That his Revenue would not defray the Charge of the Govern­ment; That he would satisfy them as to this, by laying the whole Scheme of his Income before them, and that he then doubted not but they would make him a proper Augmentation. That there had been a Design against his Life by the Jesuits and their Friends; but that he would not descend to the Particulars [Page 67] of the Thing, lest some should think he said too little, and others, that he said too much: In a word, he left the whole to their Dis­covery.

The two Houses, (but the Commons espe­cially) took Fire at this, and immediately voted an Address to the King, That all Pa­pists should be removed ten Miles from Lon­don. And now came on the Tragedy of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey; and now also appear­ed Doct. Oates, who, as he pretended, hav­ing some Jealousy of what was in Agitation, dissembled himself a Papist, and got Admit­tance of the Jesuits College at St. Omers, where seeing into the whole Matter, he told it to one Doctor Tongue, an English Divine, who told it to my Lord Treasurer, who privately told it to the King, in such Man­ner that the Thing was stifled and latent for a whole Month. But being with the King date Octob. 23. at the Duchess of Portsmouth's Lodgings, my Lord Treasurer also being present, the King told me, ‘He took it it to be some Arti­fice, and that he did not believe one Word of the whole Story.’

Coleman's Affair made also a Noise, and date 25 seemed in some Sort to confirm the other. He made very free with his Highness's Name upon several important Articles, tho' the Duke [Page 68] was an utter Stranger to his Correspondence, as he desired his Friends of both Houses to declare for him. The Commons, however, were very angry with my Lord Treasurer, for keeping the Plot so long in the dark, seeing the King might have been made away with in the mean time. This News I first of any Body communicated to his Lordship, in the Presence of the King, who said, ‘"My Lord was in no Fault as to that; he he having commanded him to keep it se­cret, the better to make Discovery of what Truth there might be therein."’

Now to enter into the Particulars of this Plot, real or pretended, is not the Design of this Work; the several Narratives of the Witnesses before the two Houses of Parlia­ment, and the Courts of Justice, upon the Tryals of the Parties accused, give sufficient Insight and Satisfaction, as to all that ca [...] be said of it. Thus much we may, however, observe, that tho' a great deal of what was advanced and confidently related, bore the Face of Improbability, yet such was the Torrent of the Times, that no Doubt was to be made of all that was heard.

date November. All the Beginning of this Month was ta­ken up by the Commons, in examining of Witnesses concerning the Plot, who came in [Page 69] very plentifully, the King having, at the Request of the Commons, granted Indemni­ty to all who should make any Discovery, tho' ever so deeply and blackly engaged themselves, and not only Indemnity, but Sub­sistence into the Bargain. At length the Com­mons came to this Resolution, That upon the Evidence which appeared from Coleman's Let­ters, and the Informations of Oates and others, it was plain there was a hellish and damna­ble Design to assassinate and murder the King, and to subvert the Religion and Government as by Law established.

The House of Lords now requested his Royal Highness, to withdraw himself from the King's Councils, and he complied with the Request; but the Commons went a Step higher, and were for removing him from a­bout the King's Person. There were those in the House who argued the Danger of this, observing that his Highness might be there­by tempted to put himself at the Head of the Popish Faction. Some there were also, who moved That the Duke should be sent out of England. The King and Duke both, spoke to all their Friends to oppose this, and it was effectually done; for no Resolution be­ing taken that Day, the Debate was adjourn­ed to the 8th Instant. But tho' it came not [Page 70] to the Vote, the House was generally of O­pinion, That the Duke's being of that Re­ligion was what principally encouraged the Papists to such wicked Attempts: In short, they were, by Proclamation, banished to the Distance of ten Miles from London.

date Nov. 6, 7. While Coleman's Letters were under the Consideration of the House, I waited several Times on my Lord Treasurer, who had called several of us together, to consult us about an Act to lessen the Popish Interest in this Kingdom; when his Lordship told us, The King was willing something should be enacted, To pare (as his Expression was) the Nails of a Popish Successor; but that he would never suffer his Brother to be taken away from him, or the right Line to the Crown date 8 to be interrupted; and to the same Effect the King spoke to the two Houses the next Day.

To pass over other Things more generally known, a Jealousy now seemed to arise be­tween the Duke and the Lord Treasurer. The Duke thought his Lordship was within himself for his leaving the Court, that so he might have the King the more absolutely in his own Power: And my Lord (tho' I be­lieve he endeavoured to serve the Duke all he could, tho' no Friend to his Religion) [Page 71] resented the Duke's Suspicion. Much was, at this time, done and transacted, in disfa­vour date Nov. 13. of the Popish Party; and particularly it was now that the Lords passed that great Bill to incapacitate such of the Roman Ca­tholic Members as should refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy; tho' my Lord High Treasurer said in my Hearing, but the Night before, He was sure it would never pass in that House.

The Duke of Holstein's Resident had, it seems, reported the Lord Treasurer to be in the Pay and Pension of France. Thus, at least, had his Lordship been informed, and sending for him, he sent for me also to be present at the Examination; but the Resi­dent absolutely denied what was laid to his Charge. To make amends for this, I, a few Days after, acquainted his Lordship, That the same Gentleman had assured me, the Commons would most certainly fall up­on him, and that it was in his Power to turn the Edge of one that was most violent against him. I told him also, that I had, from other Hands, been informed, that my Cousin Ralph Montague, since Lord Montague, lately recalled from being Ambassador in France, and now Member of our House, would accuse him there. But my Lord gave [Page 72] no Ear to either of these; saying, The lat­ter durst not impeach him, for that he had Letters to show from him, whilst Ambassa­dor, that would prove how officious he was to persuade him, to accept of the French King's Money, tho' he absolutely refused it. The same Day the Duke told me, He expected to be attacked by the Commons, and hoped his Friends would stand firm to him; and Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State, was, by the House, committed to the Tower, for passing the Musters of some Po­pish Officers, without tendering them the Oaths, tho' he had his Majesty's Orders for so doing.

date Nov. 21. Bedloe, the Evidence, went on apace, but being this Day with the King, his Majesty told me, ‘ Bedloe was a Rogue, and that he was satisfied he had given some false Evi­dence, concerning the Death of Sir Ed­mundbury Godfrey.’

In preparing the Bill for purging the House of Lords of such as refused the new Test, it was put to the Question, Whether or no his Royal Highness should be excused from taking it, and it was carried in the affirmative, but by no more than two Votes: Had it been carried in the negative, he would, in the next Place, have been voted [Page 73] away from the King's Presence. And now all the popish Lords, three excepted, were expelled the House of Peers.

date Decem. 1. Having proceeded thus far, the Commons voted an Address to the King, from that House, to represent the ill State of the Na­tion, and the Danger it was in, by his Ma­jesty's adhering to private Councils rather than to his two Houses of Parliament: This aimed at my Lord Treasurer, and some o­thers of the Cabinet Council. This was car­ried by two and twenty Votes, and even some of the Courtiers were for it; whence it was by some surmised, That the Duke, being no longer in Councils, was grown jealous of the Treasurer, and had a mind he should be removed. It was now said the Duke had been persuaded (but unjustly) that his Lordship endeavoured to insinuate into the King, that there was something of Pro­bability in the Accusation against the Queen, purely that he might hearken to a Divorce, and marry another more likely to bring Chil­dren to the Crown.

The Commons were now intent upon dis­banding the Army, raising of Money for that Purpose, and the Conviction of Popish Recusants; during which the Right of the Lords to interfere in a Money-Bill was [Page 74] warmly contested; but not to dwell on so date Decem. 6. nice a Subject, the King caused Mr. Mon­tague's Papers to be seized, and acquainted the House of Commons, That having been his Ambassador at the French Court, he had taken on him to treat with the Pope's Nun­cio, without any Commission from him for so doing; and that he had seized his Papers to come at the Purport of the said Treaty. But Montague assured the House, that this was a mere Artifice, a Contrivance of the Treasurer's to save himself; but that his Lordship had therein failed, for that altho' most of his Letters were seized, he had by good Look saved the most material. One of them, dated the 25th of March 1678, in­structed him to acquaint that Court with the great Difficulties he met withal here in the Affair of Peace between us and them, and the Fear there was the Parliament should dis­cover it: That however he had Orders from the King to bid him treat with them for a Peace, as well between them and the Confe­derates, as our selves; upon Condition, the French King would give ours six hundred thousand Livers per Annum, for three Years together, after the Conclusion of the Peace▪ for that as our King would thereby disgus the Parliament, he could expect no Money [Page 75] from them of so long a time: And finally, That when he wrote back to the Secretary, concerning this Transaction, he should be silent as to the Money, and so on. Signed,

Danby.

This put the House into a Flame, and a Motion was instantly made, that the Trea­surer should be impeach'd of High Treason; for that he had endeavoured to estrange the King from his Parliament, and make it of no Use to him; and one Mr. Powel observ­ed, That this was usurping a Power to the Exclusion of other Councellors, who had a Right to advise the King as well as himself; the very Treason that was laid to the Charge of the Spencers, and the Duke of Ireland, in the Days of Richard the Second.

But it was answered, That it was no such great Offence to write this by the King's own Order, as was expressed in the Letter it self, and would be owned, as supposed, by the King at this Time. That the King had certainly a Power to advise with which of his Councellors he pleased; and that if his Majesty foresaw the Confederates would strike up a Peace, which we must comply with, where was the Harm of making what Advantage we could of it to our selves, and at the same Time of sparing the Purses of the Subject?

[Page 76] A second Letter was produced, which gave Assurance of Inclinations for a very fair Un­derstanding between us and his most Christian Majesty; together with Advice to hasten the Peace; because the Duke seemed every Day more and more averse to it; and mentioned some Towns to be given up, by the French, as cautionary, to the Confederates, upon the Conclusion of this Peace. Mr. Montague then declared in the House, That the French King was willing to deliver up two Towns more than he did by the former Treaty; but that my Lord Treasurer was so earnest and pressing for Money, that he thereby made the Terms much worse for the Confederates; but at the same Time acknowledged he could not say he knew of any Money paid either to him or to his Majesty. Other Things were now laid to the Treasurer's Charge, as the Male-administration of his Office, and the Lowness of the Exchequer: But to this it was answered, by his Lordship's Friends, That a Debt of six hundred thousand Pounds had been paid off since he had been in Office, tho' no Money had in all that Time been given to the King, but what had been ap­propriated to the Uses designed.

He was farther accused, (this Letter bear­ing Date the 25th of March 1678, and the [Page 77] Act which gave Money to the King to en­ter into a War with France being passed but the 20th) of deluding the Nation, in advi­sing the King to take Money for raising an Army for Service abroad, and at the same Time treating for Money from France to make a Peace, which looked as if a standing Army was designed to humble England, and not France. In short, the Question being put, it was resolved, That an Impeachment be drawn up against the Lord Treasurer, and a Committee was accordingly appointed for that Purpose.

Mr. Montague was, in this Case, justly censured, for disclosing what had passed through his Hands, when a public Minister, without the King's Leave. Mean while, date Dec. 7. the Treasurer endeavoured to destroy the Credit of his Accuser, and produced some Letter, from him, when in France, which were read in the House, and made it appear that Montague had been very guilty of the Offences he threw upon his Lordship: But his Enemies were so many and so powerful, that the whole Edge was bent against him; in a Word, the Tide was not to be stemmed, and six Articles of Impeachment were drawn up against him.

[Page 78] But a Debate arose, whether, supposing any of these Articles to be true, they amount­ed to High Treason, none of them being within the Statute of Edward III. At length the Question being put, Whether or no an Impeachment of High Treason, founded up­on the said Articles against his Lordship, should be carried up to the House of Lords, date Dec. 23. the Ay's were 179, and the No's 130. The Impeachment then was carried up to the Bar of the House of Lords, where it being pre­sently debated, whether or no his Lordship should withdraw, it was carried in the ne­gative by 20 Voices; and then both Houses adjourned for Christmass Eve, and Christmass Day only.

date 26 The Houses met, and the Commons heard some Evidence concerning the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, and quarrelled with the Lords on account of the Amendment they had made in the Money-Bill for disbanding the Army. The same Day I spoke both with the King and the Duke, who both de­clared they would adhere to my Lord Trea­surer.

date 27 The next Day the Lords voted, That he should not be committed: And the same Day the Dispute between the two Houses, concerning the Money-Bill, was decided by [Page 79] a Conference, and the Bill passed both Houses. And here I cannot but take Notice, that the King observing the Lord Stafford to be very violent in the House against the Lord Dan­by, (which, it seems, took Birth from a personal Pique to him, for obstructing a Pen­sion he had from the Crown) told me, ‘He wondered at it much, seeing his Father came to the unfortunate End he did, by the very self same Method of Proce­dure.’

date Dec. 30. And now, when it was least expected, the King prorogued the Parliament to the 4th of February; some said in favour of the Papists, others of the Lord Treasurer, and others again in Defence of his Prerogative, which was more than one Way invaded by the Commons: But his Majesty at the same Time declared he intended to disband the Army, and prosecute the Business of the Plot. Montague was now discovered in a Disguise at Dover, in his Way to France.

date Jan. 24. My Lord Treasurer sent for me, and told me, The King had declared he would dis­solve the Parliament, and advised me to make Interest as soon as I could against the approaching Election, for that another Par­liament would speedily be called. This Par­liament was, for the most Part, very Loyal [Page 80] both to the King and the Church; which made those of adverse Sentiments very desi­rous of its Dissolution; and the Way they contrived to bring it about, as was credibly reported, was by persuading the Treasurer to obtain it of the King, promising if he should succeed therein, That there should be no farther Prosecution against him in the next Parliament; but they deceived him, as he afterwards experienced.

date Jan. 31. Both the King and the Duke advised me to stand for the next Parliament, and both of them assured me, not only of my Govern­ment of Burlington, but of their Assistance also, if it came to a controverted Election.

date Feb. 14. Accordingly a Proclamation coming out for the Election of a new Parliament, my Lord Treasurer conducted me to his Majesty, and thanked him for his Promise of continu­ing me in my Government; to which the King replied, That I had served him faith­fully, and that he intended to be kind to me. My Lord Treasurer wrote also to the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, to be favourable to me in the Return; to conclude, having taken leave of the Duke of Monmouth, I left the Town to go into the Country.

date March 6. The Parliament met, but a Difference a­rose about the Choice of a Speaker, the House [Page 81] being for one, and the King recommending another; wherefore they refused to enter upon Business, but adjourned to the 7th In­stant, date March 7. then to the 8th, and so to the 10th. The next Day I met the King in his Royal Robes, and with his Crown upon his Head, as he came out of the House of Lords: He stopped to ask me If I was elected? To which replying Yes, he said, He was glad of it. Upon my Return to Town, I, to the surprise of all Men, found that the King had commanded the Duke to go into Flanders: Some said the Treasurer had brought this to pass, that he might engross the King to him­self; others said it was to divert the Vio­lence of both Houses against his Highness, from the Suspicion of some that he was of the Plot. But I presume it was chiefly in­tended to extirpate all Jealousies in the Par­liament, That he was influenced by Popish Councils, tho' even from his own Brother.

The Commons began to be angry with the Treasurer, for that the Speaker they had proposed had been rejected by the King; saying he was the cause of it, because, truly, the Gentleman was not his Lordship's Friend. This Dispute subsisting between the King and the Commons, they at length Address him, Beseeching him not to invade their un­doubted [Page 82] Privilege of chusing their Speaker; but His Majesty still insists on it, That without his Approbation, their Choice is of none Effect. Now all the Moderate Men in the House were concerned That such Punctilio's should stand in the Way of Business, especially when Business of such High Importance lay before them; but the Angry Party was deaf to all Remonstrance; and the King, by way of Expedient, prorogued the Parliament to the 11th Instant, and from thence to the 15th, when Serjeant Gregory being elected, both sides were satisfied.

The Storm now begins to fall heavy upon the Lord Treasurer, insomuch that he has Thoughts of delivering up his Staff, and with it his Office, in hopes by such Resignation to allay the Heats against him. I was averse to this Step, I confess, and would have had him stood his ground, as long as the King would stand by him, saying, his Resigna­tion would but expose him the more to the Power of his Enemies; in short, that the Lords would fear him the less, and the Com­mons not love him a bit the better. Several Persons had got possessed of good Employ­ments, not so much by my Lord's Favour and Kindness, as by giving Money to his Lady, who had for some time driven on a [Page 83] private Trade of this sort, tho' not without his Lordship's participation and concurrence. This I knew, but had neither the Face nor the Inclination to come in at that Door; so that I was postponed to many, who, as I thought, deserved as little as my self; but they had but a bad Bargain, they were now all swept away with the same Torrent that began to overwhelm his Lordship; against whom fresh Matter now appeared, upon the date March 17. Evidence of Bedloe, before the Committee appointed to examine into the Plot, he ac­cusing the Treasurer of having tampered with him to fly during this Interval of Par­liament. And now every thing went harder and harder with his Lordship's Friends; so that my Election being controverted, the Committee of Privileges and Elections, in a few Days afterward, gave my Cause against me by a small Majority of two only; which considering the Stream of the Times, I rec­koned to be as good as half a Victory at least.

In the mean time a Message was sent to date 20 the Lords, desiring the Treasurer might be committed; but their Lordships had but just before Voted him Eight Days to prepare his Defence in. The Commons repeated their date 22 former Message to the Lords; and the next [Page 84] Day the King coming to the House of Lords, in the usual State and Formality, in­formed both Houses, That it was by his par­ticular Order the Lord Treasurer had writ­ten the Two Letters, produced by Mon­tague: That it was not the Lord Treasurer who had concealed the Plot, but that it was himself who told it his Lordship from time to time, as he thought fit. His Maje­sty then declared he had granted the said Nobleman a full Pardon, and that, if Occa­sion required, he would give it him again Ten times over: That, however, he intended to lay him aside from his Employments, and to forbid him the Court.

Some would have pesuaded his Lordship to take Refuge abroad, as what would ap­pease both Houses: And indeed the Lords had a Conference with the Commons about preparing a Bill to banish him, and the Com­mons desired some Days to consider of it, in hopes he would have withdrawn in that date March 24. time. In the midst of this Perplexity I saw his Lordship at Midnight, as he came out of his Closet, from advising with his Friends what to do. He gave me a great many Thanks and good Words; told me he had recommended me to the King as a fit Per­son to be sent his Envoy into France; as [Page 85] also where I was to make Application in his Absence, if I wanted any thing with the King.

date March 25. The next Day the Commons, in a great date 1679 Heat, refused to comply with the Lords, in their Bill of Banishment; they said it was too slight a Punishment, and sent to demand Justice of their Lordships against the Trea­surer, declaring, He ought not only to be punished in his own Person, but in his Po­sterity likewise, as an Example of those, who for the future should succeed him in his Office: But before the Message came, the Lords had changed their Minds, and sent the Black Rod for the Treasurer; too late tho'; he was gone, and now it was sur­mised the King was grown cool towards him.

A most unhappy thing it is to serve a fickle Prince, which, it must be owned, was Part of our Master's Character. Had the Treasurer considered no Body but himself, he might certainly have fared better; but he resolved rather to suffer; than to do any thing that might derive any Dishonour on the King, or others about him, as he has since said himself. This great Change, I must own, made me seriously ponder the in­certitude of human Grandeur: It was but a [Page 86] few Months before that few things were transacted at Court, but with the Privity or Consent of this great Man; the King's Bro­ther, and favourite Mistress, were glad to be fair with him, and the general Address of all Men of Business was to him, who was not only Treasurer, but prime Minister al­so; who not only kept the Purse, but was the first and greatest Confident in all Affairs of State. But now he is neglected of all, forced to hide his Head as a Criminal, and in danger of losing all he has got, and his Life therewith: His Family raised from Privacy to the Degree of Marquiss, (a Patent was then actually passing, to invest him with that Dignity) is now on the Brink of fall­ing below the humble stand of a Yeoman; nor would almost the meanest Subject change Conditions with him now, who so very lately the greatest beheld with Envy. This confirmed me in a Belief, that a Middle State is always the best; not so lowly as to be trodden on, nor so lofty as to fear the Blasts of Envy. A Man should not be so wanting in point of Industry, as not to en­deavour to distinguish himself in some sort from the Bulk of those of his Rank; nor yet so ambitious as to sacrifice the Ease of this Life, and of that to come, by mounting [Page 87] over the Heads of others, to a Greatness of uncertain Duration. But to digress no far­ther,

I wrote to his Royal Highness, to ac­quaint him with the Posture of Affairs here at present. The Two Houses of Parliament continued in Division, as to what should be inflicted on the fallen Treasurer; the Lords adhering to their Bill to banish him, and the Commons to their Bill of Attainder, till at last it came to a free Conference between them. This Business, and the Plot, engros­sed the Attention of the Houses for a long time; during which time it was thought the Lord Danby lay concealed at Whitehall.

The King seemed not at all concerned at thus parting with his Brother, and his Trea­surer; nor in any Degree sollicitous about the Use the Parliament would make there­of; tho' it was suspected they would get their own Friends into Power, and obtain a snip of the Prerogative, in Consideration of the Money they gave to his Majesty.

date April 17. My Lord Danby at length surrendering himself, was committed Prisoner to the Tower, where going to pay him a Visit, he seemed to be very little concerned.

The Privy Council of Fifty Lords, was date 19 now dismissed, and a new one called, con­sisting [Page 88] of Thirty of those Lords and Com­moners, who had, in both Houses, been most active against the late Court Measures; of these were Lord Russel, Lord Hallifax, Lord Cavendish and others. The Admiralty was put into Commission, and so was the Treasury. The Duke of Monmouth was sup­posed to be at the Bottom of all this; it is certain it was now that he began to set up for himself.

date April 25. My Lord Danby returned Answer to his Impeachment, to the Upper House, pleading the King's Pardon, This was sent down to the Commons, who referred it to a Com­mittee; and the Result was, That his Ma­jesty had no Power to grant Pardon in this Case: The same Day both Houses began to cast Reflections on the Duchess of Ports­mouth.

date 27 The Commons, pursuant to their Resolu­tion the Day before, sat this Day, being Sunday, to consider of the means for the Preservation of his Majesty's Person; and Voted, That the best way would be to pre­vent the Succession from falling into the Hands of a Papist, and that the Duke of York being such, was the Reason of the late Conspiracy against the King's Person and Government, and the Religion as by Law established.

[Page 89] My Lord Viscount Hallifax being now of the Council, and entering into Business, he, tho' a great Enemy to the Earl of Danby, professed a Kindness for me; but here I must observe, that most of the other Lords and Gentlemen of the Privy Council, tho' great Patriots before, in the Esteem of both Houses, began, in some Measure, to lose their Credit with both, so true it is, That there is no wearing the Court and Country Livery together.

date May 11. The Lords in the Tower moved, that Council might be assigned them, in vain; and a Day was appointed to consider of that part of his Majesty's Speech, where he said he was willing to concur with his Parliament, in passing a Bill to limit a Popish Successor, so that he should not be able to alter the Government and Religion as now by Law established, tho' he would not suffer the Succession itself to be touched: Against this Day a Committee was appointed to examine into Coleman's Letters, and to make Report to the House of whatever therein related to the Duke of York. They reported that by the said Letters they had discovered, That his Highness had written thrice to the Pope; that his first Letter miscarried; that the se­cond gave his Holiness such an excess of [Page 90] Joy, that the old Gentleman could not re­frain from Tears; and that the third was to excuse the consent he gave to have his Daughter married to the Prince of Orange, and to acquaint him, that the run of the Times had obliged him to such involuntary Compliance. Upon this and some further intimation of the same Nature, a Debate a­rose, whether a Bill should be drawn up in the way his Majesty had suggested, or whe­ther they should immediately proceed to a total Exclusion. The Friends for the Limi­tation argued, that we might be as safely secured the one way as the other; that a small Revenue might be settled upon a Po­pist Successor while he contined in that Per­suasion; that the Militia might be taken out of his Hands; and that a Parliament might be impowered to assemble, whenever the present King should die, and to sit for six Weeks, in order to settle the Affairs of the Kingdom, to appoint Protestant Offi­cers, Military and Civil, and to make Choice of Bishops, which the Successor, if a Papist, should have no Power to nominate.

To this it was objected, that such a Pro­ject of Procedure were altering the very Frame and Constitution of our Government and Monarchy, and directly to reduce it [Page 91] to a Republic; that it would be quite inef­fectual; that the King, by the fundamental Laws of the Land, was Head and Supreme of the three Estates; that a Parliament so convened as above, could enact nothing va­lid without him; that while he enjoyed the Title of King, he would exercise a Power adequate to his Office; and that therefore the means proposed were delusory and un­safe, in comparison of an utter Exclusion. It was replied, that this Expedient was by far more to be avoided than the former; that it was depriving the Duke of his Birthright; that if his Highness survived, he had as clear a Claim to succeed the King, if he died Childless, as any Man whatever had to suc­ceed to his Father's Possessions; that proba­bly a Prince of his Spirit would not easily submit to be so disinherited; that such a Di­sturbance of the Succession had never, in this Kingdom, been of any lasting Effect; that Right had always prevailed at last; that Ci­vil Wars, upon the like Occasions had been disastrous to England; that Success would reverse all Attainder; and that should his Highness force his way to the Crown, the overthrow of Religion and Government were more, much more, to be feared, than by his peaceful Accession.

[Page 92] The next Day I acquainted the King with date May 12. my Fate in the Committee, he said, ‘"He was very sorry for it, but that they should not stay long behind me, if they did not use himself and his Brother better than they did";’ and promised to continue me in my Command at Burlington, with a Sala­ry of Two Hundred Pounds, till a Company should become vacant, which I should have in lieu of mine now to be disbanded with the rest os the Army.

date 14 The King sent a Message to the Com­mons, advising them to think of raising Mo­ney for the Equipment of a Fleet, and for a fresh Provision of Naval Stores, very much wanted in all the Yards in England. This Message being taken into Consideration, the House insisted on a Change of the Succes­sion, and a proper Security for Religion, and a Removal of all Officers they disliked the Kingdom over. Such was the Tenor of the Debate, but no Vote passed, except to adjourn the farther Consideration of this Matter for Eight Days.

Now the Lords who were in the Tower for the Plot, and my Lord Danby, being shortly to take their Trials, an arduous Question arose in the House of Lords, con­cerning the Bishops, Whether or no they [Page 93] ought to be present in Cases of Blood. Whereupon the Commons, thinking these Spiritual Lords would be of too favourable an Inclination, took the Consideration of the same into their House, and came to an O­pinion, They ought not to be present. This was resented by the Lords, as if the Commons interfered with a Branch of their Judica­ture; in short, the Dispute grew to be of great Warmth.

Mean while the Kingdom in general had a very melancholy Aspect; the King was poor; the Officers of the Crown and of the Houshold were clamorous for their Salaries and Dues, which had not of a long time been paid, and no wonder, when Sir Robert Howard, one of the chief Officers of the Ex­chequer, declared in the House of Com­mons, that there was not Money sufficient for Bread for the King's Family; there were no Stores any where, either for the Sea Service or the Land; the Garrisons were all out of Repair, the Platforms de­cayed, and the Cannon dismounted; the Army divided, for the Duke of York and a­gainst him, the Officers of State the same; the Parliament for the most part in a fer­ment, and glad of these public Misunder­standings, as favoring their Desire of clip­ping [Page 94] the Wings of the Prerogative, redu­cing the height of Monarchy, and furthering their private Designs; the King also and his Brother at variance, and so kept by those who promised to make his Majesty quite ea­sy, if he would but comply with them so far as to disinherit the Duke; so that he was quite in Suspence as to what Resolution he should or should not take.

The Duke of Monmouth was certainly ve­ry much in the King's Affections, was evi­dently in Councils against his Uncle of York; for all his Creatures in the House voted against his Highness, nor were any Men higher in his Estimation, than the Earls of Shaftsbury and Essex, and other Chiefs of the Cabal. The truth is, tho' the Duke of Monmouth was quite finished as to his exte­rior, his inside was by no means of a Piece therewith; so that he was easily beguiled by Shaftsbury into the flattering Notion of being, the Duke disinherited, the next Heir to the Crown, either by the King's delaring Marriage with his Mother, or by being made Legitimate by Act of Parliament. And indeed, tho' at the Instances of the Duke of York, the King had openly in Coun­cil declared, that the Duke of Monmouth was but his Natural Son, and that he never [Page 95] was married to his Mother; there were Numbers ready to assert his Right, and who pretended that sufficient Witness was to be produced of such as were actually at the Wedding, and that a Record of the same was kept in a Black Box, in custody of some of the Duke of Monmouth's Friends; but to dismiss this,

date May 21. The Lords voted, That the Bishops might be present at the Tryal of the Lords, and the Commons committed the Bill of Ex­clusion, upon a previous Question put, the Ay's being 240, the No's 128. date 23

Two Days afterwards, I was at the King's Couchée, and wondered to see him quite chearful, amidst such an intricacy of Trou­bles; but it was not his Nature to think or perplex himself much about any thing. I had the good Fortune to say something that pleased his Majesty, and the Duke of New­castle, one of the Bedchamber, being in wait­ing, his Grace took the Opportunity of say­ing some kind things of me, whereupon his Majesty came to me, and reassured me of a continuance in my Command, and told me, he would stick by his old Friends. date 29

But the Lords persisting in their Opinion, That their Spiritual Members might be pre­sent at the Trial of the Prisoners, and parti­cularly [Page 96] of the Earl of Danby's, as to the Validity of his Pardon, which was his Plea; and on the other Hand, the Commons vot­ing that the said Lords should not be pre­sent, and resolving only to proceed against that Earl, and not the rest of the Prisoners, tho' the time appointed for the Trial of them all was come; extraordinary Heats a­rose between the Two Houses, insomuch that his Majesty came and told them, That not perceiving which way they were to be reconciled, he prorogued them till the 14th of August. The City of London, where the An­ticourt Party was very strong, took so great Offence at this, and were so angry, that it was thought they would have risen; but all, with much ado, was hushed and kept quiet.

date June 12. And now came News of an Insurrection in Scotland, to the Number of 7000 Men, that they had burnt several Acts of Parlia­ment, as the Act of Uniformity and Episco­pacy, as also the Act which abolished and condemned the Covenant. That they had set forth a Declaration for Jesus Christ, the Kirk, and the Covenant; in short, some Troops that were ordered out against them being defeated, the Duke of Monmouth was sent Post haste into Scotland to stop the Pro­gress of this Infant Rebellion.

[Page 97] The King told me he had an Account that the two Armies were but ten Miles di­stant date June 22. from each other, that his consisted not of above 1200, and that the Rebels were a­bove 6000 strong; but notwithstanding this great Odds, News came the next Day that the latter, after a very poor Resistance, had been utterly routed and dispersed.

date July 9. Being soon after in the Country, and un­derstanding the Duke of Monmouth was to be at Doncaster, post out of Scotland; I went to meet him, and sent half a Buck, and some extraordinary Sorts of Wine to entertain him there. He came not till Midnight, and raised me out of the Bed designed for him, his Delay tempting me to think he would hard­ly be in that Night. Sir Thomas Armstrong was with him, and told me the King had heard some Falsehoods concerning the Duke, and had, in all haste, sent for him out of Scotland. And indeed it hapned to be un­derstood, That after his Victory he was a­bout laying a Foundation whereon to suc­ceed in that Kingdom, and by the Industry of his Agents making himself popular.

The Duke of York, who had been some­time abroad, suddenly appeared again in England, to see the King, who, as was pre­tended, had not been well. The Duke of [Page 98] Monmouth, who thought he had the King to himself, knew nothing of it, till his High­ness actually arrived at Windsor; nor were there above four Persons who knew any thing at all of the Matter, so close and re­served could the King be, when he con­ceived it to be necessary. This Revocation of the Duke was principally owing to the Intervention of Lord Feversham, who after­wards told me the whole Story. And now it was thought that the Parliament, being chiefly made up of Exclusionists, would be but very short-lived. The Duke however went back again, but it was only to fetch his Duchess, whom he had left behind him, returning presently, with his whole Court from Flanders, and desiring of the King, That if he must needs be absent, he might rather remain in some Part of his Majesty's Dominions, and so he was sent into Scotland. His Highness then proceeded Northward; but Lord Shaftsbury being soon after remov­ed, the Exclusionists began to dispair of Suc­cess; nor was that all; for the Duke of Monmouth having been sent into Flanders, and returning without the King's Leave, drew such Displeasure on him, that he was divested of all his Employments. Soon after, I heard the Duke had been sent for, from [Page 99] Scotland, by the King; that the two Bro­thers date 1680 met very affectionately, and that the King particularly should say, No Body should ever part them for the future; and with this we conclude this Year.

date April. I went to London to sollicit some Business at Court, but the Application of all Men be­ing to the Duke, who quite engrossed the King to himself, his Highness had but lit­tle Leisure to give Ear to, or assist his Friends, for as such he seemed to look on me when I attended him at York, the last Year, as he went down to Scotland; and, indeed, there was small Hopes of succeeding in Money Requests, as mine was, the King every Day retrenching rather than increa­sing his Expences, that so he might stand the less in need of his Parliament, which he despaired of finding in any good Humour.

There were, at this Time, great Meetings of Persons dissatisfied with the Court, where Consultations were held to distress the King upon all Occasions, whether in Parliament, or out of it, and these Resorts were called Cabals. The Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Shaftsbury, and the Lords Russel, Caven­dish and others, where the Chiefs of these Assemblies, which, for the greater Privacy, shifted every Night from House to House; [Page 100] the public Out-cry pretending Fears of Po­pery, and the Safety of the King.

date April 21. The King and the Duke being at Windsor, came to Town but once a Week, to be pre­sent at Council; and finding the Friends I had with the King were but of little Service to me, I went my self to Windsor, and ac­quainted date May 8. the Duke with a Design, in Agita­tion with some People, to prove the King's Marriage with the Duke of Monmouth's Mo­ther, and inform'd him how he might ob­viate it; for which he thanked me, and told me, without my asking it, that he had been mindful of my Business. The King shewed me a great deal of what he had done to the House, which was indeed very fine, and acquainted me with what he intended to do more; for then it was he was upon fi­nishing that most majestic Structure. He lived quite privately at this Time; there was little or no Resort to him, and his Days he passed in fishing, or walking in the Park; and certain it is, he was much better pleased with Retirement, than the Hurry of the gay and busy World.

date 17 I returned to Windsor a few Days after­wards, and had all Assurances, from the Duke, of constant Services with the King, in what I sollicited, which was to go abroad [Page 101] in quality of Envoy Extraordinary; and at the same time taking my Leave of his Maje­sty, he laid his Hand upon my Shoulder, and said, ‘"He was very sensible of my Ser­vices, and that they should be rewarded."’ I took this Opportunity to put him in mind of his Promise to send me abroad, and men­tioned a Nobleman who was present when he made it; and he said, ‘"He remembered it particularly well, and that, upon the very first Occasion, he would be as good as his Word."’

date Oct. 14, 16. It was now again rumoured about, That the Duke of York was to depart before the Meeting of the Parliament; some said in O­bedience to the King's Orders; others, to avoid the Violence of both Houses: For plain and most evident it was, that the Pa­pists lifted up their Crest with great Arro­gance, presuming on Support from the Duke, who now reigned absolute in all the King's Affairs. In short, the Duke and Duchess sat date 21 out once more for Scotland; and the next date 22 Day the Parliament meeting, the King in his Speech declared, ‘"They were free to do whatever they would for the Security of the Protestant Religion, provided, they did not offer to divert the direct Line of the Succession."’

[Page 102] But still the Commons went on, this Month and the next, to frame a Bill to exclude the Duke of York from the Succession, and the Gentlemen and others of Yorkshire, who had counterpetitioned, and declared their Ab­horrence of the tumultuous Petition for a Meeting of Parliament, were voted Betray­ers of the Liberties of the People, and A­bettors of arbitrary Power. A Committee was also appointed to inquire into the Mat­ter, and after the Persons concerned therein; and two Members of the House, both of Yorkshire, who had set their Hands to the Abhorrence, were convened before them; but I, who was the Penman of that Instru­ment, had done it so cautiously, that no Hold could be fastened, no Exceptions ta­ken, and so they got off.

date Novemb. The Parliament pursued the Duke with such Violence, and the King was so tho­roughly distressed for Money, that some now began to be of Opinion, his Majesty would abandon his Brother. Attending, about this Time, at the King's Supper, I told him that I was threatned, by some of the House of Commons, to be called to an Account for penning the Abhorrence, and signed it with the rest of the Yorkshire Gentlemen: To which his Majesty made Answer, ‘"Do [Page 103] not trouble your self; I will stick by you and my old Friends; for if I do not, I shall have no Body to stick by me."’ But yet, it was, by a great many, feared he was not quite resolved as to this Profession; for Money was so exceedingly wanting, and the Offers of the Parliament so very fair, if he would but give up his Brother, that no Body was safe. What added to the Suspi­cion was, that many who were well in the King's Esteem, appeared for the Bill of Ex­clusion: Nor was it unknown that the Duchess of Portsmouth was well inclined to it; whether artfully to insinuate herself into the good Graces of the Party, who had been at greatest Enmity with her, or in Com­plyance with the French, whose Tool she was, who was ready to catch at any thing to embroil us at home, is uncertain.

A few Days afterwards, I hapned to be at the Duchess of Portsmouth's, where the King was quite unreserved, and very open as to the Witnesses who were making out the Popish Plot, and proved to a Demonstrati­on, that many Articles they had given in E­vidence, were not only improbable, but quite impossible.

date Nov. 17. This was one of the greatest Days ever known in the House of Lords, with Regard [Page 104] to the Importance of the Business they had in Hand, which concerned no less than the Lineal Succession to the Crown, the Bill having passed the Commons, who sent it up to the Lords. Great was the Debate, and great were the Speakers; the chief of those for the Bill was the Earl of Shaftsbury; the chief of those against it, Lord Hallifax. It was matter of Surprise, that the latter should ap­pear at the Head of an Opposition to the former, when they were wont always to draw together; but the Business in Agitation was against the Lord Hallifax's Judgment, and therefore he oppos'd it with Vigor; and be­ing a Man of the clearest Head, finest Wit, and fairest Eloquence, he made so powerful a Defence, that he alone, so all confessed, influenced the House, and persuaded them to throw out the Bill.

The King was so highly pleased with the Transactions of this Day, that he, soon af­ter, took this great Lord into Business; but, on the other Hand, the Commons were so angry with him, that though they could re­gularly take no Notice of what any Man said in the other House, they voted an Ad­dress to the King to lay him aside, and re­move him from his Councils and Presence. To this he answered, ‘"That if Lord Halli­fax [Page 105] had done any Thing contrary to Law, he was willing he should be prosecuted and punished accordingly; but that not being satisfied he had done any Thing a­miss, he could not part with him,"’ or Words to that Effect. One would have thought that so signal a Piece of Service, Lord Hallifax did to his Highness, had been of a Degree and Nature never to be forgot: But when the Duke afterwards came to be King, he, from the Privy Seal, where he found him. removed him to the Presidency of the Council, purely to make Room for another, and in the End quite laid him a­side.

date Nov. 22. I was, soon after, a long while in Dis­couse with his Majesty, and, among other Things, told him, I doubted whether I should be inserted in the List, the Lords had voted to be given in to them, of the Milita­ry Officers, there being neither Company nor Gunner at Burlington, where I was Go­vernor, to make it appear a Garrison; and that if I was, I presumed I should be of the Number of those they intended to petition his Majesty to lay aside: To this the King answered, ‘"Let them do what they will, I will never part with any Officer at the Request of either House; my Father lost [Page 106] his Head by such Complyance; but as for me, I intend to dye another way."’

date Nov. 28. Lord Hallifax, as we have observed before, having defeated the Bill of Exclusion, in the House of Lords, was beheld as the rising Man, and premier Favourite. I waited on him, and the next Day he took me in his Coach to White-hall, and invited me to dine with him in private; in our Conversation to­gether, he told me it was to be feared some unhappy Differences might distract the Nati­on from these Uneasinesses about the Suc­cession: And that in case Things should un­happily ripen to a War, it might be proper to form something of a Party in ones own Thoughts. He said he knew there was but another and my self that had any considerable Influence in my Neighbourhood; in conse­quence of which and some further Conver­sation this way, I, the next Day, carried him the Names and Characters of all the con­siderable Men in those Parts. And upon the whole, we agreed that the Loyalists were not only the most numerous, but also the most active and wealthy; and that those who, in Parliament, were against the Court were Men of little Account or Estimation i [...] their own Country.

[Page 107] But to turn our Eyes upon what justly claimed the Attention of all Men, now came on the Tryal of Lord Stafford by his Peers. date Nov. 30. Westminster-hall was the Place, and I think it was the deepest Solemnity I ever saw. Great were the Expectations of the Issue of this Event, it being doubtful whether there were more who believed there was any Plot by the Papists in reality against the King's Life, than not. He was impeached by the Commons, and being deemed to be weaker than the other Lords in the Tower, for the same Crime, and less able to labour his De­fence, was purposely marked out to be the first brought on; but he deceived them so far as to plead his Cause to a Miracle. The three chief Evidences against him, were Dr. Oates, Dugdale, and Turberville: The first swore that his Lordship had brought him a Commission signed by the Pope, to be Paymaster of the Army to be raised against the King; the se­cond, That he had offered him five hundred Pounds to kill the King; and the third, That he had offered him a Reward for the dreadful Deed, but at a different Time. And so positive seemingly were they in this and other dangerous Evidence, that I, who sat and heard most of the Tryal, had not known what to think, had the Witnesses [Page 108] been but Men of any the least Credit; but indeed such were the Incoherences, and in­deed Contradictions which seemed to me to arise towards the latter End, that consider­ing them, and the very evil Name of the People that swore against this Lord, I was fully satisfied that all was untruth they laid to his Charge: But the poor Gentleman was condemned by a Majority of 22. He heard his Accusers, and defended himself with great Steadiness and Resolution, and re­ceived his Sentence with great Courage and Composure; nor did he stoop beneath the Weight of his Doom, till he submitted his Head to the Block, with his last Breath pro­testing his Innocence, and the cruel Wrong he suffered. My Lord Hallifax was one that gave his Voice for him; and the King who heard all his Tryal, was extremely concern­ed at the Rigour and Abruptness of his Fate.

date December. Being at my Lord Hallifax's, I discover­ed, what was then generally unknown, that his Lordship sat up for first Minister; for I saw the French Ambassador come privately to him upon Business. This same Day the Commons were asked, What they would do for the King after so long a Sitting to no Effect, as to the Matters his Majesty required [Page 109] of them? They voted this Answer, That they would put him into a Condition to de­fend Tangiers; pay off all his Debts; put the Fleet into a Condition, and enable him to assist his Allies; provided he would relin­quish the Duke his Brother; pass an Act for the more frequent Meeting of Parliament, and change such Officers about him as the House should point out. There were many who believed the King would be tempted to comply; but, the very next Day, seeing my Lord Hallifax, he assured me there was not the least probability that he would, for That it was like offering a Man Money to cut off his Nose.

The same Day the unfortunate Lord Staf­ford came to the House of Lords, and was admitted, under a Notion That he had some Discovery, or Confession to make, concern­ing the Popish Plot; but instead of that, he only protested his own Innocence, and ac­cused Lord Shaftsbury of a Correspondence with the Papists, and of sending him to the Duke of York, to desire him to use his Inte­rest with the King to dissolve the long Par­liament, as the best Thing that could be done to favour the Popish Interest, and so he was remanded back again.

[Page 110] I was at the King's Couchée, when there date Dec. 24. were but four present: His Majesty was in a very good Humour, and took up some time in displaying to us the Fallacy and Emptiness of those who pretend to a fuller Measure of Sanctity than their Neighbours, and pro­nounced them to be, for the most Part, abo­minable Hypocrites, and the most arrant Knaves; as Instances of which he mentioned several eminent Men of our own Times, nor spared to introduce some Mitred Heads a­mong the rest, whom he pretended to be none of the best, tho' their devout exterior gave them the Character of Saints with the Croud. However, there were of the Men, so pointed out, some whom the King had no Reason to love upon a political Account, which may be pleaded in Abatement of the Acrimony of his Censure. He was that Night two full Hours in putting off his Cloaths, and it was half an Hour past One before he went to bed. He seemed to be quite free from Care and Trouble, tho' one would have thought, at this Time, he should have been overwhelmed therewith; for eve­ry Body now imagined he must either dis­miss the Parliament in a few Days, or deli­ver himself up to their pressing Desires; but [Page 111] the Straits he was in seemed no ways to em­barrass him, as I just now observed.

date Dec. 26. I dined with that excellent Man Dr. Gun­ning, Bishop of Ely: The famous Dr. Oates was of the Company at Table, and flushed with the Thoughts of running down the Duke of York, expressed himself of his High­ness and his Family, in Terms that bespoke him a Fool and something worse; nor con­tented with this, but he must rail at the Queen, his Mother, and her present Maje­sty. In this Strain did he hurry on, while no Soul dared to oppose him, for fear of be­ing made a Party of the Plot; till, no longer able to bear with the Insolence of the Man, I took him to task to such Purpose, that he flung out of the Room with some Heat. The Bishop told me that such was the gene­ral Drift of his Discourse, that he had some­times checked him for the indecency of his Talk, but that finding he had done it to no manner of Purpose, he had desisted from any further Effort to set bounds to his Viru­lence.

In the mean Time, Lord Stafford was led date 29 to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill, where he per­sisted in the firmest Denial of what was laid to his Charge, and that in so cogent, con­vincing, and persuasive a Manner, that all [Page 112] the Beholders believed his Words, and grieved his Destiny. The same Day I dined with my Lord Hallifax, who said to me, Well, if it comes to a War, you and I must go together. I told his Lordship, I should be ready to follow him, happen what would; but that if the King expected his Friends to be hearty in his Cause, and steady to his Person, he should consider with himself, and encourage them a little; and thereupon acquainted him with some of my Disappoint­ments at Court, notwithstanding the most solemn reiterated Promises; and added, that I should be glad his Majesty would send me his Envoy to some Part of the World or o­ther. But to return to Things of more pub­lic and general Concern;

date Jan. 4. The King sent down an Answer to the House of Commons, signifying, That he still persisted in his Resolution, not to disturb the immediate Succession to the Crown; which had so unhappy an Effect, as to cause the passing of some very violent Votes against such as were understood to be the King's chief Advisers in this Matter, namely, the Earls of Hallifax, Clarendon, Feversham, the Marquiss of Worcester, and Mr. Hyde, since Lord Rochester. Upon this the Parliament was prorogued from the 10th to the 20th of [Page 113] January; some thought in order for a Disso­lution, while others persisted, That the King would suffer them to sit at that Time, and pass the Bill. Waiting this Day on Lord Hallifax, he complained much of the Severity of the Commons in their Vote, That he was a Promoter of Popery, and a Be­trayer of the People, which, said he, were a Man ever so innocent, yet coming from the representative Body of the People, is too heavy for the Shoulders of any one single Person; that he had therefore some Thoughts of retiring from Court; but that, however, he would go his own Pace, and not be kicked out at their Pleasure. That if for the future the King should have Occasion for him, in any thing that was just, he should be ready to serve him: That if I would repose a Confidence in him, he would let me know when it was Time to appear for the King's Service, and that I should share Fortunes with him, and so on. But, at the same time, he complained of the Fickleness and Incer­titude of the King's Temper; and observed, that while he seemed perfectly to approve of the Council you gave him, he hearkned to others from a back Door, which made him wavering of Mind, and slow to resolve. The next Day I waited on Lord Danby in [Page 114] the Tower, and he spoke, of the King's un­steadiness, in the very self same strain; and particularly observed, that tho' the Duke of York had but little Influence with him, as to what purely regarded himself, the Minister would find him an Overmatch with his Ma­jesty, as to any other Person or Concern. The same Day the Duke of Newcastle told me he was to wait on the King the next, and that he fancied he would offer him some Employment, but that as his Majesty had not done it in better Times, he would ex­cuse himself now that they were so dange­rous; which recalled to my Mind what Lord Hallifax had observed a few Days before, That the King's Uncertainty and Silence, as to what he proposed to himself, made Men afraid to serve him.

date Jan. 13. In the midst of this, the City of London petitions the King, by their Common Coun­cil, for the sitting of the Parliament, at the Time appointed: To which the King made Answer, It was none of their Business: And it was the Discourse that the Parliament would be dissolved, and a new one called to sit at Oxford. My Lord Hallifax seemed averse to this Dissolution, but he only seemed so; he could, certainly, have no very cordial Wishes towards those who dealt so severely▪ [Page 115] as he thought, with him. My Lord was now jealous, That the Earl of Danby would be taken out of the Tower, and received again into Councils; which if it hapned, his Resolution was to retire, and his Advice to me was, not to press for Employment, till Things were established upon a more solid Foundation.

date Jan 16. In a few Days afterwards, his Lordship told me his Thoughts were absolutely to re­tire, not that he was at all dissatisfied with the King, but that he was afraid the Duke's superior Prevalency with him, might perad­venture carry Things too far. In short, every thing now, and for some time to come, was in the most unsettled, dark, and most perplexing Suspence, so that a Man scarce knew what to think, or how to behave.

At length a new Parliament was called to date 18 sit at Oxford, whither, being elected a Mem­ber, I repaired, and waited on the King, who received me very kindly. I told him, I had it in Charge from several Gentlemen of our County, to acquaint him, They had no Part in the Petition offered to the Knights of their Shire, to prosecute the Bill of Exclusion against his Highness; and that the thing had been managed but by six or seven factious Persons, tho' it had been in­dustriously [Page 116] reported to be a more general Concern. His Majesty said, he had alrea­dy received some short Account to the same Purpose, and ordered me to return his Thanks to those who did not busy them­selves therein.

date March 21. The Parliament now met. The Court was at Christchurch; and the Commons sat in the Schools, but were very much strait­ned for Room, there being a very great Concourse of Members. His Majesty's Speech to both Houses was very gracious, and calculated to reconcile all Differences, and to disperse all Jealousies as to Religion, &c. but was still averse to, what former Parlia­ments had so pushed at, the Exclusion of his Brother from the Name and Power of King. And yet the first Point debated was, Whe­ther or no, notwithstanding the King's Speech, a Bill of Exclusion should not be framed and brought in? But for the present it was only voted, That the Security of his Majesty's Person, and of the Protestant Re­ligion should be taken into Consideration the 26th instant.

Not to insist on the Impeachment of Fitz-harris, which was done not to destroy, but to serve him in opposition to the Court; the grand Argument for the Bill of Exclusion [Page 117] was, That nothing could preserve us from Popery but that alone. Now the whole House was of Opinion, that Popery was to be kept out, the Dispute was only as to the Means of effecting it. The King had, in his Speech, offered to agree to any thing that might serve to quiet the Minds of the People as to that particular, the utter Exclu­sion of his Brother only excepted. It was therefore moved by Sir Thomas Littleton, That a Bill, to secure the Protestant Religi­on, should be brought in, and consist of the following Heads; That the Duke of York should enjoy the Title, and the Princess of Orange exercise the Power. That if a Par­liament should be in Being, when it should please God to take away the present King, they should have Power to sit: That the Judges, and all other Officers of the Crown, should be continued, till Liberty and Pro­perty were secured: That if there was no Parliament subsisting, one should assemble of Course: And that to prevent the Duke's interfering to prevent this, he should, by the same Act, be banished to the Distance of 500 Miles from England, not to return as long as the King lived. To this it was objected, That the Name and Power of King were inseparable by the Laws [Page 118] date 1681 of England; that the Father would soon find a way to divest the Daughter of her Power; that a Regency was never known but in Cases of Lunacy and Minority; and that the Duke was not of a turn of Disposition to be easily governed. But to this it was replyed, That Regencies had been frequently allowed in other Cases besides Incapacity and Lunacy, as formerly in France, and now in Portugal; that Princes were seldom so complaisant as to resign Kingdoms or Powers tho' to a Fa­ther; and that as for the Authority of Par­liament in this Case, No Question but the same Power that could alter the Govern­ment, could also modify it. But Exclusion was the Word: Some seven or eight disgust­ed Lawyers, and able Speakers, joined by some others, who had been so active in this Matter, that they thought, should the Duke ever come to the Crown, he could never forgive them, wrought so prevalently upon the Members in general, that it was voted a Bill should be brought in, To incapacitate James Duke of York, from succeeding to the Imperial Crown of this Realm; nor during this Debate did some forbear to reflect on his Highness's Courage and Honour.

date March 26. Mean while the Lord's refused to receive Fitz-harris's Impeachment; observing that [Page 119] he being already indicted at Common Law, and in a way of Trial by his Peers, as Mag­na Charta directed, they could not perceive how their House could take Notice of his Offence. The Commons hereupon grew angry with the Lords, and voted That such their Lordship's Proceeding was a Delay of Justice, a Breach of the Privilege of Parlia­ment, and a Bar to the further Discovery of the Popish Plot: And that for any inferior Court to proceed therein, while an Impeach­ment was depending, was an high Breach of the Privilege of Parliament. The Heats grew, in short, to an Excess in both Houses, both as to this, and the Bill of Exclusion. The Commons, however, were of Opinion, That the King would give Way to them, he having already made such Advances to­wards their Measures, and being in such tho­rough Distress for Money, besides that ma­ny who were near the King, urged them to persist still in their Endeavors. But on the very Day the King had appointed the The­atre date March 28. to be made ready for the Commons to sit in, they having complained of the strait­ness of the Schools; the Black Rod came, and commanded them to attend at the Bar of the House of Lords, where being come, the King, in his Robes, told them, That [Page 120] observing a great Difference to have taken Place between the two Houses, which, if they sat any longer, might increase to a per­nicious Degree, it was his Pleasure to dis­solve that Parliament: A Blow so little fore­seen, that there were those who thought there would have been some Stirs or Risings about it, in London.

It was now observed, that many of the discontented Members, of both Houses, came Armed, and more than usually attend­ed; and it was affirmed There was a Design to have seized the King, and to have re­strained him till they had granted their Pe­titions. But if any such Design there was, it hapned that the Parties either wanted the Courage, or the Opportunity to put it in Ex­ecution; the King immediately departed with all Speed for London.

His Majesty was so kind as to afford me several Opportunities of speaking to him, while I was at Oxford; and Lord Hallifax taking leave of him, and, in a particular manner, recommending me to his Thoughts, his Majesty laid both his Hands upon me, and thanked me for my Constancy to his In­terest, and bad me be assured of his Affe­ction.

[Page 121] By this abrupt Dissolution, and what I had heard from Lord Hallifax and others, I concluded the King was determined ne­ver to relinquish his Brother; as also to call no other Parliament for a long time yet to come. The Truth is, the Question now was not so much, Whether the Duke should suc­ceed or not, as whether the Government should be Monarchial, or Republican? Some of the adverse side, had, in the House, bab­bled out, That the Bill of Exclusion was not the only material Bill they intended to get passed this Session, in order to secure the People of England from falling a Prey to Po­pery, and arbitrary Power: That it was ne­cessary the Military and Civil Power too should be lodged in other Hands, and that the present Officers of both should be called to an Account and changed: Whence the King being told, That if he quitted his Bro­ther, it would be but an immediate Step taken to ruin all his Friends and Servants, and to become himself exposed to the Will and Wishes of those, whom he had no Rea­son to think were over and above affected to him, the King dreaded the Consequences, and resolved accordingly.

I was at the King's Couchée, as I was [Page 122] three Times in one Week; his Discourse ran date April 20. generally upon the impossibility of any thing like the Popish Plot, and the Contradicti­ons of which it was made up: That he in­tended Fitz-harris should come upon his Trial immediately: That in all Affairs, re­lating to himself, the Laws should have their regular Course; and that, whatever his own private Opinion might me, he would govern by them, and by them only: A Happiness indeed it was for his People, to live under so good and so gracious a Prince! And now we begin to have a Prospect of Halcyon Days again; for his Majesty having, since the last Parliament was dissolved, issued out a Declaration fraught with the fairest Pro­mises to his People, and assuring them of his firm Intentions to govern inviolably accord­ing to Law, and the like; it had so happy an Effect, that he received the Thanks of the City of London, by the Lord Mayor, and of several Counties and Corporations in Eng­land.

date May 4. In the Interim, Fitz-harris is arraigned at the King's Bench Bar, where by his Coun­cil he refused to plead; because he stood in Parliament impeached for the Crimes he there was to be indicted for; tho' the Im­peachment [Page 123] specified no particular Treasons, which the Indictment did. The Council for the King said, his Plea was evasive, it not appearing whether the same Crimes were intended by the one, as by the other.

date May 9. This Point was argued at the Bar, but the Case being quite extraordinary, both in its own Nature, as well as because of the severe Vote of the Commons at Oxford, the Judges took Time to consider of it, but two date 11: Days afterwards pronounced Judgment for the King; and in the End, Fitz-harris re­ceived Sentence of Death, for his Treason, and was executed accordingly.

date July 7. My Lord Shaftsbury, and Lord Howard, were now sent Prisoners to the Tower; and my Lord Hallifax told me, There would be enough produced against them to hang them both. A short time afterwards, I was, by my Lord Hallifax, presented to the King, in his Closet, to take my Leave of him, being speedily to set out for Yorkshire: His Lord­ship, who was now become absolute Favou­rite, presented me to his Majesty, and spoke to him very kindly of me, and particularly desired him to confirm to me the Promise he had sometime ago made to his Lordship, That I should succeed in the Government of York; his Majesty did it very willingly, with­out [Page 124] the least Hesitation, and gave me his Hand to kiss upon the same; saying, he was convinced how well I deserved of him.

date Oct. 12. I returned again to London, and the next Day my Lord Hallifax told me, That Lord Shaftsbury had written to the King, that if he would be pleased to free him from his Confinement, he would engage to go to Ca­rolina, never more to return into England; but that the King had rejected his Request, and determined to leave him to the Law. He also told me, That were it not for the Interest the King of France had here, he did not doubt but he should be able to put Eng­land into a very happy State and Condition in a very short Time. That there was no Hopes of doing any Thing by way of Par­liament, except his Majesty should make some new Attempt upon Flanders, and that such an Incident might be made use of as a Handle whereby to reconcile all Diffe­rences.

Such an Opportunity offered it self soon after, that News came the French King had taken Strasburgh; whereby becoming Ma­ster of the Rhine, he might intercept all Communication and Commerce between the Low Countries and Germany; so that the Ne­therlands would be absolutely obliged to [Page 125] bend the Knee to France, if we did not en­ter into a League with them against the com­mon Adversary, which they did most ear­nestly sollicit. But our King could lend them no helping Hand, without a Parlia­ment to supply him with Money; and what Distress his Majesty laboured under as to that was sufficiently understood, particularly by France, who determined not to slip the Ad­vantage; so that what my Lord Hallifax ex­pected, from such an Occurrence, proved to be all a Delusion.

date Octob. 20. This Evening his Majesty talked to me a great while, in St. James's Park, and at the Duchess of Portsmouth's; his Discouse ran chiefly upon the late unequal Verdicts and Proceedings of the Juries of London and Mid­dlesex; concerning which he broke out into this Expression, ‘It is a hard Case that I am the last Man to have Law and Justice in the whole Nation.’

His Majesty went to see a new Ship launched at Deptford: He went in his Barge, and I waited on him to the Waterside, he saw me, and called me in. The Gentleman who was appointed to the Command of her, gave a great Dinner to the King, where his Majesty commanded all the Gentlemen to sit down at the same Table. He was more [Page 126] than usually serious that Day, and seeming­ly under a greater Weight of Thought, than had been observed of him on account of the most important Business.

date Nov. 4. I went to pay a Visit to Lord Danby, still a Prisoner in the Tower; who, by the Drift of his Discourse, was not in Charity with the then Ministers, seemingly reflecting on them as too favourable inclined towards date 6 Lord Shaftsbury, and so on. Two Days af­terwards I acquainted my Lord Hallifax with this; to which his Answer was, That Peo­ple were mighty ready with their Judgments and Decisions; but that if the Fact were e­ven as suggested, what could the King do better than set him at Liberty? That he had as good be enlarged upon Terms, as by a Jury which would most assuredly acquit him were he brought to a Tryal, tho' ever so deep in Guilt; and that were he out, he could not do the King so much harm, as such an Act of Mercy and Popularity would do him good. The same Day, one of the under Secretaries told me, the King was re­solved to prosecute him to the utmost, and that there was no want of very sufficient Matter against him.

But before we come to the Issue of such his Majesty's Resolution, it may not be amiss [Page 127] to observe by the way, that my Lord Halli­fax, being by no means a Friend to France, was upon no good footing with the Duchess of Portsmouth; which gave the King some Trouble, as it proved a Hindrance to the Currency of his Affairs; wherefore he sought date Nov. 20. to reconcile them, which he did outwardly this Day; as for a thorough and hearty Re­conciliation, it was impossible, their Views being in such direct Opposition to each other as they were.

And now pursuant to the King's Resolu­tion date 23 that Lord Shaftsbury should take his Trial, a Commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued out for that Purpose, and the most capital Articles of his Accusation having been committed in London, the Jury was there re­turned for the finding of the Bill, and tho' a Paper was produced, containing no less than matter of High Treason, which was sworn to have been found among the Papers, in his Closet, by a Secretary of State, yet such were the Times, That the Grand Jury brought in their Verdict Ignoramus.

In Consequence of this he was enlarged; date 28 but because the Rabble in the City had lighted Bonfires on the Day the Jury ac­quitted him, the Justices of London and Middlesex had now strict Orders to prevent [Page 128] the like tumultuous doings. Now there were those who, considering how nearly Lord Hallifax was related to Shaftsbury, ima­gined his Lordship was not grieved that the latter was no longer a Prisoner; and indeed what made me, among others, bend a little this Way, was That waiting on his Lord­ship a little early, I found one of my Lord Shaftsbury's Gentlemen with him. But his Lordship denied it all very seriously to me, and said he would ere long convince the World of their Mistake.

date Nov. 29. It being customary with the King, when he returned from his Walk before Dinner, to discourse the foreign Ministers, who usual­ly attend to meet him in the Antichamber, he did it this Day on the Subject of the hard Measure dealt to him by Lord Shaftsbury's Jury; and it fell to my Lot to explain seve­ral Things in French relating to the matter in hand. A few Days afterwards his Maje­sty date Dec. 4. declared his Displeasure against the Duke of Monmouth, upon several Accounts, but especially for having offered to be Bail for Shaftsbury. The next Day he made the Duke of Richmond his Master of the Horse, and gave one of the Regiments of Foot Guards to the Duke of Grafton. And now date 7 the King to comply with the Nature of the [Page 129] Times, for it was shrewdly suspected he was not in earnest, sent for the Justices of Middlesex to appear before him in Council, where he gave them a severe Reprimand, for that they were so remiss in their Inquiry af­ter the Number of Papists, and so backward to prosecute them. He spoke not himself, but did it by the Lord Chancellor, and or­dered them to be more vigilant, mindful, and active for the time to come.

The same Day, having been to visit the Duchess of Portsmouth, my Lord Hallifax took me home with him from Whitehall. On the Way, I acquainted him that the general Report was, That his Lordship opposed the Duke of York's Interest with the King, and his Return from Scotland, which his High­ness most urgently pressed. His Reply was, That it was well if the Duke's overhastiness did not turn to his Disadvantage; that his Highness had a sort of hungry Servants a­bout him, who were eternally pressing for his Return, nor would ever let him be at rest, till, with a View to their own Interest, they put their Master upon what might prove much to his Prejudice. And true it is that whilst his Highness was near the King's Person, every Body believed his Majesty to be principally swayed and actuated by his [Page 130] Advice; and consequently That Popish Councils were then uppermost; whereas he did a great deal of good in Scotland, by keeping a watchful Eye over that mutinous Kingdom. But the Papists, and others, his Highnesses Creatures, pretended he was kept in Scotland That his Enemies might the more easily work him out of his Brother's good Opinion; and that the Ministers might have the King all to themselves, and guide him according to their own Will and Plea­sure. Upon this Lord Hallifax observed There was great Partiality in the Judgment of Men; for that in common Justice they ought to take as much Notice of Things that were managed for the Duke's Advan­tage, as of what seemed to be otherwise: That, for Instance, no Body had commend­ed the Ministers for getting the Duke of Richmond to be Master of the Horse in pre­judice to the Duke of Monmouth; tho' it must prove a great Obstacle to his Return to the King's Person, and tho' most evident it was That no greater Service could be done to his Highness, than to keep the Duke of Mon­mouth from Court.

About this Time I had a View of going date Jan. 4. Envoy to Denmark, but to wave that, I this Day carried a Gentleman, one Mr. Grant, a [Page 131] Leader of the Fanatic Party, to wait on my Lord Hallifax. He acquainted his Lordship with the double Dealings of some great Men at Court against him, who had been particular­ly instrumental in exasperating the Commons against him in the late Parliaments; which my Lord took as a piece of Service done, as it would put him upon his Guard against the same Men for the future. At the same time I conducted a Gentleman to my Lord, to ask his Pardon for some Things he had been reported to have said against his Lord­ship. In good Policy, we ought to suffer no Man to be our Enemy, if we can possibly avoid it; but such was his Lordship's natural Disposition, that, in the whole Course of my Life, I never knew a Man more ready, at all Times, to forgive, and shall never forget his Expression upon this Occasion, Sir, if you did not say the Words I am very glad of it, and even if you did, I am glad you find Cause to be of another Mind. In a private Conver­sation I, at the same time, had with his Lordship, he told me, That the People about the Duke of York made him mad; that there was scarce one of them that had a Grain of Sense; and intimated that a Parliament could not be far off.

[Page 132] The next Day I went to see Lord Danby in the Tower; he told me Lord Sunderland was ever railing at Lord Hallifax, tho' his Brother-in-Law; and observing him to ex­press some Satisfaction thereat, I presumed to remonstrate to him, That being a Friend to both, I could wish, now that he was a Prisoner, he would forget all Occasion of a­nimosity against a Gentleman in such high Power, as my Lord Hallifax; for that when a Parliament should be called, his Lordship might stand in need of his Assistance, and the good Offices of his Friends.

date Jan. 11. A few Days afterwards, the King gave Audience to an Ambassador from Morocco, who was admitted with more than ordinary Form, the King being of Opinion that a Commerce established between that Empire and his Kingdom, might prove of conside­rable Profit to us, especially as we had so op­portune a Place on that Continent as Tan­giers. The Ambassador's Present to the King consisted of two Lyons, and thirty Ostriches, at which his Majesty laughed, and said, He knew nothing more proper to send by way of Return than a Flock of Geese.

date 22 I hapned, this Day, to dine with Lord Lumley, at Lord Feversham's, when the for­mer declared he had speedy Intentions of [Page 133] resigning his Post of Master of the Horse to the Queen, which he had hitherto enjoyed in­dependantly of the Master of the Horse to the King. But it seems the Duchess of Portsmouth had prevailed with the King to alter his Patent, and to make him an Officer under the Duke of Richmond, contrary to his Promise. The Duchess was certainly sometimes to blame, in Things of this Na­ture; for to display her Power with the King, which indeed was great, and to ex­press her Friendship to some, she would of­ten persuade the King to break his Engage­ments with others, which was not for his Honour. And yet his Majesty was not, at this Time, thought to be charmed with her Bed, it being generally believed he had not lain with her, since he was at Newmarket, at least four Months before. I also heard, this Day, that one of the three Ministers was endeavouring at a Reconciliation with a great Man who was no Friend to my Lord Hallifax; and immediately warning his Lord­ship thereof, he thanked me, and told me the Information would be of good use to him. date Jan. 28.

We had now Advice that infinite Damage had been done to Ostend, Antwerp, and the Circumadjacencies, by the most dreadful In­undation that had ever been known. That [Page 134] Holland had suffered most prodigiously by the Flood, that the greatest Part of Zealand was under Water, and that several Towns and Villages had been swept away with all their Inhabitants, and that, according to Computa­tion, it would require an Expence of ten Millions Sterling to make good the Loss. The Levels also in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were laid under Water by the same Fate; the incessant Rains of this Season having been the Cause thereof.

date February. And now the great Point in Expectation was, Whether there would be a Parliament called or not, the Ministers of State being divided as to the Thing. My Lord Halli­fax argued, That all Christendom was desi­rous of it, France only excepted, and that nothing could be offered to discountenance it at home, but the Fear they might touch upon high Points, which if they did, his Majesty might dismiss or dissolve them, just as he pleased, and convince the World that it was their Fault and not his, and evince that he endeavoured to give his People Sa­tisfaction by the Means of frequent Parlia­ments. That if the King and the Parliament agreed, his Majesty would thereby gain the grand Points of being united at home, and formidable abroad. But some, as Seymour [Page 135] and Hyde, were against the Motion, more for their own Sakes, than any Body's else.

date Feb. 12. At this Time was perpetrated the most barbarous and audacious Murder that had almost ever been heard of in England. Mr. Thynn, a Gentleman of 9000 l. per Annum, and lately married to Lady Ogle, who re­penting herself of the Match, fled from him into Holland before they were bedded, was set upon by three Russians, who shot him as he was going along the Street in his Coach. This unhappy Gentleman being much en­gaged in the Duke of Monmouth's Cause, it was feared That Party might put some vio­lent Construction on this Accident, the Act­ors therein making their Escape just for the time, and being unknown. I hapned to be at Court that Evening, when the King hear­ing the News, seemed greatly concerned at it, not only for the Horror of the Action it self, which was shocking to his natural Dis­position, but also for fear the Turn the An­ticourt Party might give thereto. I left the Court, and was just stepping into Bed, when Mr. Thynn's Gentleman came to me to grant him an Hue and Cry, and immediate­ly at his Heels comes the Duke of Mon­mouth's Page, to desire me to come to him at Mr. Thynn's Lodging, sending his Coach [Page 136] for me, which I made Use of accordingly. I there found his Grace surrounded with se­veral Lords and Gentlemen, Mr. Thynn's Friends and Mr. Thynn himself mortally wounded with five Shot from a Blunderbuss. I on the Spot granted several Warrants a­gainst Persons suspected to have had a Hand therein, and that Night got some Intelli­gence concerning the Actors themselves. At length, by the Information of a Chair­man, who had carried one of the Russians from his Lodging at Westminster to the Black Bull, there to take Horse, and by Means of a loose Woman, who used to visit the same Person, the Constables found out the Place of his abode, and there took his Man, by Nation a Swede, who being brought before me, confessed himself a Servant to a German Captain, who had told him he had a Quar­rel with Mr. Thynn, and had often ordered him to watch his Coach; and that particu­larly that Day the Captain no sooner under­stood the Coach to be gone by, than he booted himself, and with two others, a Swe­dish Lieutenant and a Pole, went on Horse­back, as he supposed in quest of Mr. Thynn. date Feb. 13. By the same Servant I also understood where possibly the Captain and his two Compani­ons were to be found; and having with the [Page 137] Duke of Monmouth, Lord Mordaunt and o­thers, searched several Houses, as he direct­ed us, till six in the Morning, and having been in close Pursuit all Night, I personally took the Captain in the House of a Swedish Doctor in Leicester-fields. I went first into his Room, followed by Lord Mordaunt, where I found him in Bed, with his Sword at some Distance from him on the Table; his Wea­pon I in the first place secured, and then his Person, committing him to two Constables. I wondered he should make so tame a Sub­mission, for he was certainly a Man of great Courage, and appeared quite unconcerned from the very Beginning, tho' he was very certain he should be found the chief Actor in the Tragedy. This Gentleman had, not long before, commanded the forlorn Hope, at the Siege at Mons, when but two, besides himself, of fifty under his Command, escaped with Life; and, in consideration of this Ser­vice, the Prince of Orange made him a Lieu­tenant of his Guards, and, in Reward for the same, the King of Sweden gave him a Troop of Horse: But to insist no farther on this, his two Accomplices also were taken, and brought to my House, where before I could finish the several Examinations I had to go through, the King sent for me to at­tend [Page 138] him in Council, for that Purpose, with the Prisoners and Papers. His Majesty or­dered me to give him an Account of the Proceedings hitherto, as well with regard to the apprehending of the Prisoners, as their Examination, and then examined them him­self; and when the Council rose, ordered me to put every thing into Writing, and in Form, against the Trial; which took me up a great part of the Day, tho' I had got one of the Clerks of the Council, and another Justice of the Peace to assist me, both for the Sake of Dispatch and my own Security, the nicety of the Affair requiring it, as will, in the Sequel, appear.

date Feb. 15. The Council met again, among other o­ther Things, to examine the Governour of young Count Coningsmark, a young Gentle­man then in Mr. Foubert's Academy in Lon­don, and supposed to be privy to the Mur­ther. Upon this Occasion, the King sent for me, to attend in Council, where the said Go­vernor confessing, That the eldest Count Coningsmark, who had been in England some Months before, and made his Addresses to the Lady who so unfortunately married Mr. Thynn, arrived incognito ten Days before the said Murther, and lay disguised till it wa [...] committed, gave great Cause to suspect [Page 139] That the Count was at the Bottom of this bloody Affair; and his Majesty ordered me thereupon to go and search his Lodgings, which I did with two Constables, but the Bird was flown; he went away betimes in the Morning of the Day after the Deed was perpetrated; of which I immediately gave the King an Account.

I several Times afterwards attended on the King, both in private and in Council, from time to time to give him Information, as fresh matter occurred, or appeared; and upon the whole it was discovered, partly by the Confession of the Parties concerned, and partly by the Information of others, That the German Captain had been for eight Years an Intimate with Count Coningsmark, one of the greatest Men in the Kingdom of Sweden, his Uncle being at that time Governor of Pomerania, and near upon marrying the King's Aunt; and moreover that during the Time he was in England before, he had made his Addresses to Lady Ogle, the only Daugh­ter and Heiress of the Earl of Northumber­land, who had been marryed to the deceas'd Mr. Thynn, and that the said Count had resent­ed something as an Affront from Mr. Thynn: That the Captain, moved thereto out of pure Friendship to the Count, tho' not at all with [Page 140] his Privity, as pretended, had determined within himself to revenge his Cause, and that in Consequence of such his Resolution the Murther hapned: It appeared also that such his cruel Design was furthered by the As­sistance of the Swedish Lieutenant, and the Pole who had been by him obliged to dis­charge the Blunderbuss into the Coach. I was extremely glad that in this whole Busi­ness there was no English Person directly or indirectly concerned; for the Fanatics had buzzed it about That the Design was chiefly against the Duke of Monmouth; so that I had the King's Thanks more than once, the Thanks of my Lord Hallifax and several o­thers, for my Diligence in tracing out the true Springs and Motives of this horrid Ac­tion, as well as the Actors themselves. The Duke of Monmouth had been out of the Coach above an Hour, and, by the Confession of the Criminals, I found they were not to have made the Attempt if his Grace had been with Mr. Thynn.

Mean while it was suspected that Count Coningsmark was still in the Kingdom; and search being made after him, he was met with alone in Disguise at Gravesend, by a Servant of the Duke of Monmouth's, just as he was stepping out of a Sculler, intending [Page 141] the very next Day to embark on Board of a Swedish Ship. Being brought up to Town, the King immediately called an extraordi­nary Council to examine him. I was pre­sent upon this Occasion, and observed that he appeared before the King with all the Assurance imaginable. He was a fine Per­son of a Man, and I think his Hair was the longest I ever saw. He was very quick of Parts, but his Examination was very superfi­cial, for which Reason he was by the King and Council ordered to be, the same Day, examined by the Lord Chief Justice, the At­torney General, and my self, but he con­fessed nothing of the Murder, pretending the Reason why he lay at this time conceal­ed, to be that he was then under Cure for a small Venereal Disaster, and did not care to appear in public, till the Course of his Pre­scription was over; and that his going away in Disguise after the Fact was committed, was by the Advice of Friends, who told him it would reflect on him should it be known he was in England, when an Intimate of his laboured under so violent a Suspicion of having committed so black a Deed; and that he endeavoured to make his Escape, not knowing how far the Laws of this Land might for that very Reason involve him in [Page 142] the Guilt. but being at the King's Couchée date Feb. 21. the Night after, I perceived by his Majesty's Discourse, That he was willing the Count should get off.

date 26 A few Days afterwards, Mons. Foubert who kept the Academy in London, came and desired me to put him in a way how to save Count Coningsmark's Life, insinuating to me, That as he was a Man of vast Fortune, he could not make a better Use of it than to support his own Innocence, and shield him­self from the Edge of the Law, in a strange Country. I told him, That if the Count was really innocent, the Law would natural­ly acquit him, as much tho' a Foreigner as if he was a Native; but that he ought to be cau­tious how he made any Offers to pervert▪Ju­stice; for that it were to make all Men of Ho­nour his Enemies, instead of gaining them to be his Friends. This was one of the first Bribes of Value ever offered to me, which I might have accepted without any Danger of Disco­very, and without doing much for it: But my Opinion has always been that what is so acquired is no Addition to our Store, but rather the Cause of its Waste, according to the Saying, Male parta male delabuntur; I therefore rejected this now as I had done o­thers before, and as I hope I shall always do for the time to come.

[Page 143] Bills being found at Hick's Hall against the three Murderers of Mr. Thynn, as principal, and against the Count as Accessary; they the next Day made their Appearance at the Old Baily, where, after a Trial which last­ed from nine in the Morning to five in the Afternoon, and a very vigorous Prosecuti­on on the Part of Mr. Thynn's Relations, the three were brought in guilty as Principals, and the Count by the same Jury acquitted as not Accessary; it being per medietatem Linguae, according to the Privilege of Strangers. I was the first that carried the News of this to the King, who seemed to be not at all displeased at it; but the Duke of Monmouth's Party, who all appeared to add Weight to the Prosecution, were extremely dissatisfied that the Count had so escaped.

date March 10. The Captain, and the other two his Ac­complices in the Murder of Mr. Thynn, were, pursuant to their Sentence, hanged in the Street where they had perpetrated the Crime. The Captain Died without any the least Symptom of Fear, or offering at the least glance of Reflection on Count Coning­smark; and seeing me in my Coach as he passed by in the Cart, he made a Bow to me with the most steady Countenance, as he did to several of the Spectators he knew, before [Page 144] date 1682 he was turned off; in short, his whole Car­riage, from the first Moment he was appre­hended, to the last that he resigned his Breath, savoured much of Gallantry, but not at all of Religion.

Having thus concluded the History of this remarkable Transaction, I shall only, by the way, observe that I was soon after appoint­ed Governor of York, in Opposition to a strong date May 9. and potent Interest against me. About this Time I had a very long Conversation with my good Friend the Earl of Hallifax, who conti­nued steady for a Parliament; and expressed himself of Opinion, That the Duke had gain­ed no great Ascendant over the King, by his late Journey into England, from whence he was now upon his return to Scotland; a Jour­ney quite disagreeable even to the King's own Friends; and indeed he was chiefly persuaded to it by his Servants, who gained by his being here.

The next Day came News, That his Highness had been in great Danger of being cast away in his Voyage back to the North, the Ship he was in having struck upon Yar­mouth Sands, and that a great Number of the Passengers had been lost, a Piece of News that was at first contradicted, but in date 12 a Day or two confirmed by a particular Ac­count, [Page 145] That the Glocester, a third Rate, in which the Duke of York had embarked for Scotland, had actually suffered Shipwreck upon one of Yarmouth Sands, called the Lemon and Oar; and that the Duke, with about an 160 Persons were saved: among those that perish­ed were the Lords O Brian, and Roxborough, and Mr. Hyde, Lord Clarendon's Brother.

date May 22. Waiting this Day on my Lord Hallifax, he told me that the Day before, being Sun­day, the Duke of Monmouth came to him af­ter Prayers, and asked him if it was true That his Lordship, as was reported, had ad­vised the King in Council, to issue out a Proclamation to forbid every Body from keeping him company: And that he had answered, That he was not obliged to satis­fy him, whether he had so advised his Ma­jesty or not; and that the Duke replyed there would be no need of a Proclamation to prevent him from keeping his Lordship Company, and that in another Place he would have said more to him, and so went away.

It must be by all confessed that his Grace in this acted a very imprudent Part, for he must needs have known that his thus que­stioning a Privy Councellor concerning Ad­vice given by him at the Board, would sound [Page 146] very harsh to the King: And on the other Hand, if his Intentions were really for a Quarrel, he might have chosen a more pro­per Place, and have said more, or nothing at all. I offered to serve his Lordship with my Life upon this Occasion; but he was so very good as to say, That if it came to a Necessity of that sort, he would make use of somebody he did not esteem so much as he did me; but that, however, he did not think himself obliged to fight upon that Ac­count; tho' he should ever be ready to de­fend himself while he wore a Sword by his Side.

The next Day a Council was held at Hampton-Court, where, as soon as it was up, his Lordship told me an Order had been passed to this Effect, ‘"that Whereas the Duke of Monmouth had been guilty of some threatning Speeches to a Member of that Board, in relation to something of­fered to his Majesty in Council; his Ma­jesty considered the same as an unmanner­ly Insolence towards himself; and did therefore charge all his Servants, and all such as had Dependance on him, not to keep Company with, or frequent the said Duke of Monmouth for the time to come."’

[Page 147] I had soon after a Conference with Lord Hallifax, wherein I observed to him, That date June 3. he was too frank and open with some in Bu­siness with him, and with others, who were well in the King's Favor, and that they ge­nerally betrayed him: and desired him to keep himself more to himself if possible. He told me he was very sensible of the Truth and Importance of what I said, but continu­ed, That he could not avoid the Freedom I condemned in the Course of Business, and hoped his Integrity would support him. At this Time he gave me Directions how to behave in the North, but they were such as in common political Prudence must be here suppressed.

And now I retired to my Government of York, where, tho' many Transactions were pretty remarkable they are of too private and particular a Nature to be here enume­rated; I shall therefore only observe, That the City of York had been more noted than most Places in England, for the height and vi­rulence of Faction, but that after I had been there some time, finding some of the Leaders willing to abate of their Warmth, I en­gaged myself in some private Discourse with Mr. Alderman Ramsden, one of the most ex­traordinary of the whole Fraternity▪ and [Page 148] so well explained to him the Danger they were in, if they did not shew some speedy Signs of Remorse and Repentance for their former Behaviour, That he confessed himself sensi­ble of Errors committed upon several Occa­sions, (viz.) in that they had so often per­sisted in their Choice of such Members as they knew to be quite ungrateful to the King; in that they had so handsomely re­ceived the Duke of York when he passed through their City, in his way to Scotland; and in that they had petitioned for a Par­liament, but never addressed or abhorred: But that after all he was afraid their Offen­ces were too enormous to be pardoned, up­on a Consideration less than the surrender of their Charter, which they did not know how to think of. I then asked him what he thought the City might be persuaded to do by way of some Atonement: To which he answered, they might be brought to do three Things if they might be accepted. First, To lay aside Alderman Thompson, a peevish Antimonarchial Fellow, to whom it fell of Course to be Lord Mayor the next Year, provided his Majesty would, by Let­ter, command them so to do. Secondly, To chuse a new High Steward, and to offer the Honour to his Royal Highness, in lieu of [Page 149] the Duke of Buckingham, whom they would put out, or in case his Highness should re­fuse it, to his Lordship of Hallifax; and Thirdly, to elect better Members for that Ci­ty, when Occasion should offer. These three Things, he said, were feasible, might they be thought sufficient.

date Aug. 22. I immediately gave Notice of this our Conversation to my Lord, now Marquiss of Hallifax, who in a few Days sent me for Answer, That tho' he approved of the setting aside of Thompson from being Lord Mayor, he could by no means think it safe to ven­ture the King's Letter upon it, to the Cor­poration; except the Success of the Attempt were actually certain; and especially as Things were in so very fair a way above, particularly with regard to the Quo War­ranto against the City Charter, which if it succeeded, every other Corporation would be obliged to truckle; and that should the King's Letter meet with the proposed Ef­fect, it would rebound back again upon the Court, and be an Encouragement to the o­ther Party. That as for their chusing his Highness to be their High Steward, he judged it improper and unfit upon many Ac­counts; and as for-himself, he was willing to put himself upon the Issue of what they [Page 150] proposed, provided it did not seem to be his own Request, and that it should appear he had a considerable Number of Friends and Wellwishers therein, tho' the Event itself should not answer: Such was the Substance of what he returned.

date Jan. 10. His Lordship soon after advised me to come to London, where he had some things date 18 to tell me, which it would be more proper to communicate near at hand, than at such a Distance. In consequence of which I re­paired to our Capital the Month following, date February. where being arrived, his Lordship was pleas­ed to acquaint me with the whole of a late Dispute he had had with my Lord Hyde, now Earl of Rochester, and first Lord Com­missioner of the Treasury. His Lordship had informed the King of 40000 l. of his Hearth-Money, which had been misapplied to some private Use or Uses Lord Rochester could not but know of, and was much suspected to share in; together with some Miscarriages and Mismanagement of the Revenue, which it seems, no Body but his Lordship had the Courage to expose to the King. He told me also he had lately brought in Lord Sun­derland to be Secretary of State, by engag­ing the Duke of York in his Behalf; and that now his Highness seemed to be kinder to [Page 151] that Lord, who had laboured all he could against him in the late Parliaments, than to himself, who had done all he could to serve him, and who had particularly made the most considerable Head against the Bill of Exclusion; and touched upon some hard Re­turns and Disappointments of the same kind, from the same Quarter. But still his Lord­ship was well with the King, it was in no Degree in their Power to remove him, tho' they combined their whole Strength to ef­fect it: And indeed I had Reason to know how large an Influence he had over his Ma­jesty; for to him it was wholly owing that I sat still in my Government of York.

A few Days afterwards, his Lordship told me of some hard Usage he had met with from Lord Rochester, contrary to their mu­tual Engagements, in favor of each other, upon his first entring into Business; and that having obtained a Promise to be Lord Pre­sident, or Lord Privy Seal, as a Vacancy of either should first fall out, which hapned to be of the Seal, Lord Rochester had behind the Curtain done all in his Power for Mr. Seymour; that upon this Occasion he had been raised to the Dignity of Marquiss, which he had never desired, with a View to make him amends for the Seal; but that not declining [Page 152] the one or the other he had obtained both; and that thereupon Seymour had left the Court. That however, the King command­ing it, he was willing to be upon good Terms with his Lordship, but that he must give him some sufficient Assurance that he was more a Friend to him than to Sunderland, ere he could repose any Degree of Con­fidence in him. That in the mean Time he would keep in his Corner, and be attentive to whatever might be for the King's Service, and not be afraid to ac­quaint his Majesty with what might be for his Majesty's Disadvantage, whoever were the Actors or Transactors; and in fine, that when he had Power, he should be careful to distinguish those who were his Friends, from those who were not so.

Now the Affair of the forty thousand Pounds, said to have been lost to the King, upon his Hearth-Money, and charged upon Lord Rochester, and the other Lords Com­missioners of the Treasury, came to be ar­gued by Counsel on both Sides, before the King; and it plainly appeared that the King was actually so much a Loser; but such was the Interest that Lord Rochester, supported as he was by the Duke of York, Duchess of Portsmouth, and Lord Sunderland, had with [Page 153] his Majesty, that little or no Notice of the Fraud was taken at that Time: Except of some of that Lord's Friends having taken the Liberty to censure Lord Hallifax, as too busy in making the Discovery, the King ju­stified him so far as to say openly that Day, in Court, upon the Trial, That his Lordship had done nothing in the whole Affair, but by his Order and Approbation. My Lord Hallifax told me this was not the only Mat­ter that would appear, as to the ill Manage­ment of the Royal Revenue, and observed That the anticourt Party courted him at such a Rate, that he feared it might create a Jea­lousy elsewhere.

A few Days afterwards his Lordship told me the Duke made it his Business to clear himself from having had any concern on ei­ther Side, for the Fraud on the one Hand, and the Discovery on the other, were the general Talk of the Town, but that his Highness should apply to him, before he would apply to his Highness. He told me also that he had, the Day before, been with the King, and that he was two Hours in private with him; and that he had observed to his Majesty, That a Report was spread as if Lord Rochester was to have the Lord High Treasurer's Staff delivered to him; but [Page 154] that he was in Hopes there was no such In­tention, for that it would be a great Re­flection upon himself, and look as if his Ma­jesty thought he had done wrong to the Man whom he immediately so favour'd; and that his Majesty should say, The Man should not be Lord Treasurer the sooner for what he had lately done as Lord Rochester; and that his Majesty was angry with him for giving Ear to so groundless a Rumour.

date Feb. 28. Two Days afterwards, Lord Hallifax told me The Duke had assured him, he was not in the least concerned in the Difference be­tween him and Lord Rochester; and that he had replyed, he was sure his Highness could wish him no ill, and that if he did, he should never do any thing to oppose him, but that in such a Case he should not be able to serve him with that Zeal he could with, and that his Highness might possibly repent he had lost his Service to the Degree he desired to use it for him: That he had done no more than he had been by the King commanded to do, and that there was no Man in the Kingdom so great that he could be decently displeased with what was done at the King's Command: That he perceived they, mean­ing Rochester, had a mind to rid their Hands of him, and that it was likely they might [Page 155] endeavour to make him uneasy in his Stati­on, but that he would take care they should not remove him, First, because he would stay with the King to be ready to serve him, and, Secondly, Because he had a Mind to dis­appoint those who so earnestly longed for his Absence: That his whole View had been to save the King Money, and that he knew no greater Service that could be done to his Highness, if he would but be pleased to look a little before him into Futurity: That the King indeed had made him a greater Man than he deserved to be, but that he had this to say for himself, He was a Gentleman, and that his Highness ought in Justice to have some Consideration for those that bore Escutcheons, as well as for those that had none; some of the Duke's Creatures were scarce Gentlemen; and that for his Part he should never say any thing to his Highness but Truth, which tho', at first Sight, it might look a little plain and homely, nothing at the Bottom carryed with it a greater Fund of Respect and much more to the same Effect. That to this his High­ness made Answer, That what his Lordship had said seemed to be very rational, that he was sensible of great Obligations he had to him, and that he never would forget them, [Page 156] but serve him in all he was able, and that so his Lordship should find.

His Lordship also told me, the same Day, That he had been with my Lady Duchess of Portsmouth, and that, among other Discourse, he told her, He found that in case he should stand in need of his Majesty's Favor, he was not to expect many Friends on that Side of Whitehall; and that she made Answer, That some who had been very much his Friends, meaning Rochester, came thither sometimes, and that she hoped they would be as much his Friends again: That to this he replyed, He was in much Doubt as to her Intercessi­on, and good offices, in such a strait, but hoped he should avoid the Danger of mak­ing Use thereof; and took Notice that she thereupon blushed, and seemed to be in some Confusion. His Lordship further said, That were he quite as young as he had been, he might be as well with her as others; but upon this I observed, That his Lordship ought to have been furnished with a good Purse as well as something else that began with the same Letter; for so, Report said, Lord Danby kept Intelligence so long and so great with her.

The Court and the whole Town were in­finitely divided as to the Dispute between [Page 157] the two Lords. Those who had any De­pendance on Payments out of the Exchequer, durst not but be on the Side of Lord Ro­chester: But all sober and serious Persons, who were independent, and wished well to the Government, applauded the Integrity, the Zeal, and the Courage, of the Lord Privy Seal, who would not see so great a Sum of the King's Money misapplyed, and was so honest­ly bold as to complain, tho' he was sure he should thereby raise a Number of violent E­nemies against him; and particularly the Whigs, as they now called the anticourt Par­ty, were lavish of their Commendations, not only on account of the Discovery, but in hopes this great Man might, by this Quarrel, be brought to a cooler Degree of Moderation.

date March 20. In the midst of this, all Christendom seem­ed to be in Danger of being involved in a bloody War, the Rebels of Hungary having called in the Turk to assist them against the Emperor, and, one or two excepted, all the Princes of the Empire, and the King's of Spain and Sweden, preparing to defend the Empire against the Turk on the one Hand, and the French King, likely to fall upon Flanders or some of the Princes of Germany, on the other: While we sat at ease amidst the Blessings and Plenty of a Peace, which [Page 158] it was thought would be lasting. because of the Death of the busy and factious Shaftsbu­ry, not long before retired into Holland.

Going with my Lord Privy Seal, to take the Air, in Hyde Park, he told me he hoped I was▪ sorry he pressed me to come up to London, seeing I could not so well have been made acquainted with the State of Affairs at such a Distance as York: That it was un­certain how long he should be able to keep his Station, driven at so fiercely as he was by some, but that he imagined he had the King to his Friend, and could not conceive he would part with him for no other Fault than the having obeyed his Commands; but says he if we fall again under the Influence of French Councils, I shall fairly quit, there being greater Endeavours against me on the other Side of the Water, than on this; and de­sired me when I got into the Country again, to turn the Report of his Disgrace into Rail­lery, till he should give me Notice of his Retreat, which he would early do, if he found it unavoidable.

Two Days afterwards, I went to see Lord Danby in the Tower, and found him to express himself much more obligingly towards Lord Privy Seal, than he had been used to do here­tofore; among other Things, he said his Lord­ship [Page 159] had taken a prudent and becoming Course in declaring himself for a Parliament, and that he was very glad of it upon a pri­vate Account; for that he despaired of be­ing enlarged till there was a Sitting. He said, Lord Rochester and his Party might support themselves for a while, but that the Interest they built upon was no better than a sandy Foundation.

The next Day I communicated this to Lord Hallifax, who on his Part seemed al­so to be more favourably inclined towards Lord Danby, than he had for some time been: He said he had already Enemies enough, and that what he had to say a­gainst that Lord was now out of his Mind; but that however he would not now make himself Enemies by being his Friend, as he had formerly done by being otherwise; so that I found Lord Privy Seal was making up his Interest on the one hand, as Lord Rochester was on the other, for the latter had sent for Seymour to Court, and pro­mised to be his Friend. Lord Privy Seal told me that Seymour had made some Ad­vances to close with him, and that a general Reconciliation was endeavouring on the part of Rochester's Friends. I told his Lordship, That, in my poor Opinion, he had much [Page 160] better stand by himself, now that he had possessed himself of the Interest of the Na­tion, by the Means of what he had done in Opposition to Lord Rochester; that if he closed in with that Side again, he might run the Hazard of losing the good Opinion of his Country, which he now so deservedly enjoyed, whereas if he kept himself sepa­rate, he might be Master of both the one and the other; and that set the Case he should fall, the King would soon be sensi­ble of such a want of him, that he could not long be spared from Court. To this his Lordship replyed, It would be matter of great Difficulty for him to stay there with Men, whose Interest it was to remove him. That they would be apt to play him Tricks, knowing that while he was in any Play, their Carriage and Conduct would be no Secrets to his Majesty; but that if they did engross the King all to themselves they would not long keep their Hold; for that the King had one Quality which would al­ways preserve him from being long in ill Hands, meaning his facility to hear all Per­sons, and to admit of all Informations from a Back-door, while the Favourites did not in the least dream of such his Atttention. His Lordship then lamented the prodigious [Page 161] Influence the Duchess of Portsmouth had o­ver the King, complaining that she betray­ed him not in his Councils only, but his Bed also, and that she certainly lay with the Grand Prior of France, who often came over, under the Mask of Love, the better and more effectually to transmit Intelligence and Information to his Master the French King. He urged it That the King was too passive with regard to these Things, and observed it as his greatest Fault, That no Argument could prevail on him to resent what he clear­ly saw he ought to resent, and that he de­scended too low srom the sublime Elevation of his Dignity. His Lordship then took Notice, that I also, in my Station was the Subject of much Envy, and advised me, when I returned again into the Country, to demean my self so as to gain as great a Mea­sure of Favor and Benevolence as I decent­ly could.

Upon the whole, I perceived that the Lord Privy Seal had the better and more approved Cause, and that the Lord Rochester had the more potent and overuling Interest; that the Lord Privy Seal deservedly weigh­ed with the Body of the Nation, and that the Lord Rochester weighed, tho' undeserv­edly enough, only with the Duke of York, [Page 162] the Duchess of Portsmouth, my Lord of Or­mond, and others at Court, who depended upon his Majesty's Purse, which laboured the Distribution of Lord Rochester. In short the Fear was, That the Diligence of those so near the King might prevail on him to a­bandon the Lord Privy Seal, who depended upon himself only, upon no Interest but his own, and upon the Merit, which was cer­tainly great, of the important Services he had already done, and was best able for the future to do for the Crown; and here we put a Period to this Year.

date 1683 I now returned to York, and heard that date April. City had chosen the Duke of Richmond to be their High Steward, which I was not sorry to understand as their Affairs then stood, my Lord Privy Seal having declined that Honour for the Sake of the Duke of Buckingham, who was to be put out before another could be admitted. The Duchess took this very kindly, and upon receiving the Patent for that Office, which the City presented to the young Duke in a Gold Box, her Grace sent my Lord Mayor a Letter of Thanks, wherein she said the King was ve­ry well pleased that the second City in Eng­land had had that Regard for her Son, and assured him and the Corporation of her ut­most [Page 163] Services. But the Duke of Bucking­ham took it extremely ill of them on the o­ther hand, and wrote them such a Letter, as might easily convince them of it. The Duke of Buckingham being well with the Lord Privy Seal, I was at some Loss to know how to steer between the divided In­terests, but I hope I did it in such a Manner as to give Offence to neither.

date June 26. In June following, we were alarmed with a Report of a dangerous Conspiracy against the King, of such as had been disappointed of Preferments at Court, and of Protestant Dis­senters. The same Conspiracy was also against the Duke of York, and the Design was to have shot both his Majesty and his Highness as they came from Newmarket, the Day of their Return being fixed. This was to have been ex­ecuted by forty Men, who, the Blow given, were to have scoured to London, and to have reported it to have been done by the Papists. In London it was said there were a Body of Men ready to rise, and to take immediate possession of the City and Tower, and conse­quently of the whole Nation, and that the Duke of Monmouth was ready to head the In­surrection.

This was miraculously defeated by a fire which burned down a great Part of the [Page 164] Town of Newmarket, and caused the King's Departure from thence ten Days sooner than was at first intended. The Design thus fru­strated, it was afterward renewed to kill the two Royal Brothers as they came from Hampton-Court, but the King being alone they postponed it, their View being to de­stroy both or neither. These and the like Disappointments put it into the Head of one of the melancholy Conspirators, That God to use his own Phrase, was against them, which wrought on him to disclose the whole Affair, and he accordingly did. Upon this, many of the Conspirators, and Abettors withdrew; the Duke of Monmouth fled, Lord Grey made his Escape after he had been taken, but Sir Thomas Armstrong was apprehended and committed to the Tower, together with the Earl of Essex, the Lord Howard of Eskrick, Lord Russel, and many others; and Orders were sent down, to us in the North, to keep a watchful Eye, and a ready Hand over all suspicious Persons, and particularly to look out for one Mr. Goodenough, and one Mr. Nelthorp, who were supposed to have made their way towards us. By some Scotchmen we intercepted and examined, we understood this Conspiracy to have been general with the Fanatics and [Page 165] Discontented in both Kingdoms, and that the Correspondence was carried on, between them, by the Scotch Pedlars, and other E­missaries in disguise, which caused great Scru­tiny and Search to be made and observed with Regard to all such People from the North: But to dwell on the Particulars of this Plot, and the Proofs made, out against those who suffered for it, were needless, af­ter what has been said and recorded by ma­ny both privately and publickly concern­ing it; so I shall only say, that in the Con­clusion it proved fatal to Lord Russel, the eldest Son and Heir to the Earl of Bedford, and others of more inferior Note.

date Aug. 12. While we were labouring under the Ter­rors of the late Conspiracy, uncertain to what Degree it might extend, and what might be the future Purpose and Resolution of the desperate People concerned, the rest of Christendom was in some seeming Danger of being overspread by the Turk, and now, more than ever, under the Apprehensions of such a Catastrophe, the common Enemy having for some time laid close Siege to Vi­enna, and reduced that Capital to great Ex­tremities. But at length it was relieved by the fortunate Valour of the King of Poland, assisted principally by the Duke of Lorrain, [Page 166] the Emperor's General, and partly by the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria: But the bare mention of this being as much as can be re­quired at my Hands, I shall return to the Posture and Current of our own Affairs.

In October, I had a Letter from my Lord Hallifax, to acquaint me that I had the King's Leave to come to Town, which I had de­sired, as thinking it to be necessary I should be near the King's Person, at a Time when I thought he would be taking of new Mea­sures and making of new Regulations, with Regard to Affairs in general, and Officersin particular, for his own and the Nation's greater Security after the late horrid Ma­chinations: accordingly I sat out the latter End of this Month for London, where I ar­rived in November.

I went to visit my Lord Privy Seal, and found him still rooted in the King's good Esteem; but that the Duke was not altoge­ther so grateful to him as he ought to have been. I found also that the Differences be­tween his Lordship and Lord Rochester not only subsisted still, but with more Acrimony and Warmth than before; and understood that the Lord Mayor of York was sent for up, by an Order of Council, on account of some Words he had spoken. The King re­ceived [Page 167] me very graciously, and the Duke seemed kind to me, nor did my Lord Ro­chester, whom I visited, scruple to favour me with a decent Reception.

But I found the Hopes of a Parliament to be still at a very great Distance, tho' Flanders was in Danger of falling next Spring under the Yoke of France, and tho' the Na­tion was much dissatisfied at the tedious De­lay, that Part of the Nation, I mean, that was in Opposition to the French Interest. And just now it hapned that the Grand Pri­or of France being in England, and observed to be very fond of the Duchess of Portsmouth, and she of him, the King conceived so great a Jealousy thereat he sent him away; and it was shrewdly suspected the Duchess would not be long behind him, which few People seemed to be very sorry for.

I had heard, from a great Man, that something would shortly happen very much to the Mortification of the Duke of York and his Party, a Mystery which seemed in a few Days afterwards to be explained. The Duke of Monmouth being suspected to have taken Refuge somewhere abroad, on account of the Conspiracy, surrenders himself to Mr. Secre­tary Jenkins, at Whitehall, where the Thing being before concerted, the King and Duke [Page 168] went to him, and, after an Hour's Discourse, suffered him to go to his Lodgings at the Cockpit, attended by his own Servants, and under no other Restraint than that of a Ser­jeant at Arms; but what was said or done at this Interview, may be conjectured sooner than known.

This was matter of Surprise to all People, and waiting on Lord Privy Seal, he told me, He doubted not but the Duke of Mon­mouth's Affair, his Grace having that Day kissed the King's Hand, the Duke's and the Queen's, would be the Subject of great Spe­culation, and that various Guesses would be made as to the Intercession that brought it to pass. I told him the World said the Duchess of Portsmouth, and Lord Sunderland had done it, and that it was publickly known That the King had the Day before in Coun­cil said, It was at the Request of the Duke of York, to whom his Grace had made Sub­mission, and disclaimed all Competition with for the Crown. His Lordship answered, that the Thing was far from so, for that the Duke of York and those in his Interest, had opposed it to the very last; and thereupon owned himself to have been chiefly instru­mental therein; and gave me several Rea­sons both public and private, tho' not pro­per [Page 169] to be here enumerated, why he labour­ed to that End. By this it plainly appear­ed to me, That notwithstanding the extra­ordinary Strength of the Interest combined against him, this noble Lord had great Power with his Majesty. His Lordship moreover gave me to understand that his Grace had made Confession of the late Plot, but would not give any public Evidence a­gainst the Conspirators. But to dismiss this, certain it is that whoever wrought so indu­striously, with the King, in favour of the Duke of Monmouth, his Majesty himself may be said to have had a large Share therein. He had a paternal Affection for him, nor could refrain from the most open and pub­lic Expressions of it wherever he saw him; and the Duke on his Part paid all the Re­spect and Duty imaginable in attending up­on, and following the King. Mean while, date Aug. 28. the whole Court began to discover, that tho' his Highness of York seemed outwardly to a­gree to the Duke of Monmouth's Readmissi­on, it was by no Means an Act of Choice, but of Necessity, the King having declared He would have it so; and that he was not made privy to it above two Days before it was effected.

[Page 170] The King had now conceived a Displea­sure date Aug. 29. against the City of York, and coming from the Duchess of Portsmouth's, he asked me, leaning upon my Arm, If I knew suffi­cient Matter for bringing a Quo Warranto a­gainst their Charter. I told his Majesty, I did not, but would endeavour to inform my self, but feared I could not so well do it at such a Distance as if I was upon the Spot: To which his Majesty replyed, I only recom­mend it to you. The Lord Mayor it seems had refused to let a Mountebank erect his Stage in that City, tho' he was furnished with the King's Recommendation, which the Man complaining of, his Majesty thought himself thereby slighted, or injured.

date Decem. 4. The Lord Mayor of York being arrived, came to desire leave to make use of my Name before the Council, so far as to say, The Governor knew how ready he was with his Assistance upon Occasion of the late Plot, to which I gave my Consent. I well knew that the Duke of York, who thought him accessary to his once ill Reception in that City, wished in his Heart the Man might be punished; but I imagined▪ I could not but in Justice stand by him in what was right, and that I could not do amiss in carrying him to my Lord Privy Seal, who gave him [Page 171] his Promise to assist him at the Board. I knew there was Pique and Malice in the Complaint against him, and was in Hopes it might be a means of making him a thorough Convert, if he was but mercifully handled in this troublesome Matter.

Being, the next Day, at Lady Portsmouth's, the King told me there was fresh Complaint against the Lord Mayor of York, and that he was afraid he was but a bad Man. I said I was obliged to acquaint his Majesty with this Truth, That he was very ready to give me his Assistance in York, upon the late dreadful Occasion; but that I could say no­thing in Defence of what he might have committed since I left the Place; to have done with this;

date Dec. 6. The Duke of Monmouth having obtained his Pardon, refused to sign a publick De­claration of his Knowledge of the late Conspiracy against the King, for which he was ordered to keep from Whitehall. My Lord Privy Seal told me, The Manner of doing this, as required, was some­thing hard, but that his Grace ought in­tirely to have submitted himself to the King's Pleasure. His Lordship I found was much concerned that the Duke had been so obstinate, and he had Reason to be so, be­ing [Page 172] now deemed, as he was, the chief In­strument that brought him into Favor. The date Dec. 7. next Day Mr. Algernon Sydney was executed upon Tower Hill, as one of the Conspirators, but said nothing before he suffered. He only left a Paper with the Sheriff, which I heard the King say was very treasonable and eva­sive, tho' not wholly negative of the Fact laid to his Charge; but, however, it was not thought proper to be printed. And now I found that the Duke of York was not at all pleased with the Lord Privy Seal, tho' he made open shew of the contrary, for that he was not consulted on the Restoration of the Duke of Monmouth; and it was his Lord­ship's own Expression, That the Duke would never forgive it him. But the King having been the chief Promoter of it, it did not ap­pear that his Lordship had lost any Ground with him. The Duke of Monmouth would not perform what was expected of him, and how could his Lordship help it?

The Confederates, Spain, Holland, Swe­den, and the rest, who were now preparing to resist the French, and to preserve Flanders, were very angry with us, for that we still supinely persisted in our Neutrality, and particularly the Spaniard, who said it was a Breach of our League with him; but all Re­monstrances [Page 173] of this Sort were to none ef­fect; our King pretended his own Affairs were in so ill a Posture at Home, that he could not so much as think of involving him­self in a War; which confirmed the Jealou­sy of our adhering to the French Interest, and of a private Commerce kept up with them, by the intervention of the Duchess of Portsmouth and others.

date Dec. 11. The Talk of the Town now was, That the Lord Privy Seal was not well with the King, and that at Court he met with Dis­couragements of such a Nature, as to make him retire from Business. I communicated this to his Lordship, who told me, He had, indeed, met with Discouragements from some, but none at all from the King, for that he was as well there as ever; and that there would be a farther Production of Af­fairs in a little time than was expected, and so pointed at the Thing that I easily guessed what he meant. A few Days afterwards I was with the Duke of Albemarle, who told me he was sorry to find That Lord Privy Seal, purely to out do his Antagonist Rochester, should have had so great a Hand in bringing in Monmouth, and thereby have incurred the Duke of York's Displeasure, as well as the Dislike of a great Number of the Loyalists, [Page 174] who were before his Friends. That, not many Hours before, the Duke had told him, That if the Lord Privy Seal had had no Friendship for him in any other Capacity, yet as being the King's Brother, he might have let him into the Secret, and not have brought in Monmouth quite without his Pri­vity: That indeed he never could forget what the Lord Privy Seal had formerly done to serve him; but that he took a Way, if possible, to make him forget it; and that to his Knowledge, his Lordship was still ex­erting his Labours to reunite the King and Monmouth. The Duke of Albemarle then ob­served, That his Highness knew his Relati­on to the Lord Privy Seal, but that the Loy­alty and Respect he bore to his Highness was more considered by him than all that, and that he hoped his Lordship designed him no Disservice in this Affair, with much more to the same Purpose; in short, his Grace seemed much to lament what his Lordship had done in Favor of Monmouth. His Grace added, That if the Privy Seal would but trust him, he would tell him how to be too hard for Rochester, without recurring to such unpopular Methods.

date Jan. 2. I communicated the Particulars of this Conversation to his Lordship, who answer­ed, [Page 175] That he thereby perceived the Duke had a Mind to be upon better Measures with him; but that, absolutely, he had not seen the Duke of Monmouth since he last left the Court; that as to what he had done for his Grace, it was purely in Obedience to the King's Commands; and that as the King would not allow him, it was impossible for him to have disclosed the Matter to his Highness; and concluded, that he was to dine with the Duke of Albemarle, the Wed­nesday following, and should the better know what to say to his Grace, if he touched up­on this Affair, since I had taken Care to apprize him of his Thoughts.

I learnt from a great Man, that we were in no Way of having a Parliament, there be­ing some near the King, who advised him to another Way of ruling the Kingdom. The same Gentleman, at the same time, la­mented, That now the Fanatics had nothing else to say against the Government, they must have sufficient Cause of Complaint up­on this Account, as well as on Account of several other Points now in Agitation. Some Days afterwards, my Lord Privy Seal told me, He had been very earnest with the King to call a Parliament, and had represented to him, That tho' he had slipped the Opportu­nity [Page 176] of calling one immediately after the late Plot, when he could not possibly have failed of one according to his Mind, and might fear he should meet with no good one now, he would do well to consider, that the long­er he deferred the Thing, the worse it would be, and indeed so very bad, That it might be used as an Argument never to call one more. That nothing ought to have that Weight with him, as his Word given to the People; that the Law required a Parliament to be called every three Year; and that, up­on the last Dissolution, his Majesty had pro­mised a religious Observance of the Laws, by a Proclamation setting forth his Reasons for dismissing that Parliament: That the ge­neral Construction put upon this was, that he intended to call another within the three Years, and that he feared an ill Use might be made of his not doing what it was so ge­nerally supposed he certainly would: That tho' the Antimonarchists were now at a ve­ry low Ebb, and under great Discourage­ments, such his Majesty's procedure might raise a Spirit of Discontent where it was least expected, meaning among those, who tho' they were Friends to the Crown, were, at the same time, desirous he should govern according to Law, and not only desired, but [Page 177] expected it, since he had given his Royal Word, that he would do so: That if, how­ever, his Majesty thought not well of this, he would be nevertheless so far from relin­quishing his Service, that he would make it his Study to find out Excuses to make him easy with the People. So then there was no possibility of seeing a Parliament assembled, but by some Compulsion from a foreign Cause, and no Body could tell, but that if the War went on, the Confederates might be pro­voked to declare against us.

In short, Affairs were now chiefly under the Management of the Duke of York, who carried every Thing with a very lofty hand; but, what is very strange, the Earl of Danby was on the Point of stepping out of the Tower, tho' against his Highness's Consent. My Lord Privy Seal assured me his Enlargement was at hand; that he himself had been his Lordship's chief Friend, and that the King had made both the Duke and Lord Rochester seeming­ly set their Hands to it. The Duke, in­deed, appeared to be hearty in it, and that the King was so, there could be no doubt; but Rochester and Sunderland did underhand oppose it with might and main, and so con­trived that the Judges delayed to bail out his Lordship 'till the very last Day of the Term; those two Lords dreading, That [Page 178] Danby might join with Hallifax to weaken date Feb. 10. their Interest.

And now it was resolved to bring a Quo Warranto, if with any Colour of Justice it could be done, against the Charter of York; and two Days afterwards, Lord Danby was bailed out of his long Confinement of five Years, as were all the Popish Lords that had been under Durance ever since the Time of the first Plot. Lord Danby came the same Day to kiss his Majesty's Hand in the Bed­chamber, where I hapned to be present. The King received him very kindly, and when the Earl complained of his long Im­prisonment, his Majesty told him, he knew it was against his Consent, which his Lord­ship thankfully acknowledged; but they had no Manner of private Discourse together. My Lord Privy Seal came into the Presence presently after, and the two Lords saluted each other; but it was very slightly done on both Sides, The next Day, however, I went from the Lord Privy Seal, to wait upon the Earl, when his Lordship desired me to present his Service to him, and to tell him, That he should have taken a more particular Sort of Notice of him, but that he thought it would not prove so much for his Service: And the Earl said, It was for the very self same Reason he had behaved [Page 179] so indifferently towards his Lordship; for there was at that Time great Jealousy of a Friendship between them. Lord Danby told me, he would retire to his House out of Town, nor concern himself with Business, tho' he doubted not but he might if he would, but not upon the national Foundati­on he desired, and therefore would have no­thing to do with it, declaring his Aversion to a French or a Popish Interest. He told me also, the Substance of what had passed between the Duke and him, at the Visit he made to his Highness, after he had been with the King, and I thereby understood his Lordship was upon no very affectionate Terms with that Prince. He said his High­ness told him, he had heard he had spoken slightingly of him, and that he answered, It was true he had often been so unfortunate as to differ with him in Opinion, and could not help saying, That he had never yet found any Cause to repent him of it; but that for expressing himself any how against his Person, if he heard so, they were Whis­pers and Lies; and desired to know who were his Informers; but the Duke evaded that. In short, I found by my Lord Privy Seal, That he and the Earl of Danby had a good Understanding together.

[Page 180] The King went to Newmarket, and I fol­lowed date March 1. him a few Days afterwards; when the Weather being very unseasonable and dirty, and walking about the Town with his Majesty, he observed, that my Shoes were but thin, and advised me to get a stronger Pair to prevent my catching cold, which, tho a trivial Remark in it self, may serve as an Example of that Prince's great Good­ness and Care for those Persons that were near him, tho' ever so inconsiderable. The Manner of the King's dividing his Time at this Place was thus: He walked in the Morning 'till ten of the Clock; then he went to the Cockpit 'till Dinner-time; about three he went to the Horse-races; at six he returned to the Cockpit, for an Hour only; then he went to the Play, tho' the Actors were but of a terrible Sort; from thence to Supper; then to the Duchess of Portsmouth's 'till Bed-time; and so to his own Apartment to take his Rest.

date 1684 But to have done with these Domestic Di­versions, date March 25. it may be proper just to take No­tice, That the War abroad seemed to be in the Way of a very violent Continuance, tho' the French King had offered either a Truce or a Peace for a certain Term of Years: But then it was upon very hard Conditions, [Page 181] he refusing to give up any Thing he had taken, either from Spain or the Empire, so that there was no Likelihood that the Con­federates would agree thereto. Our King however, seconded the French King's Offers, recommended them to the Allies as reasona­ble, and proffered to be Guarrantee between them in case they came to a Point.

date April 2. Mean while, Lord Rochester continued powerful enough to advance his Friends, and Mr. Godolphin, one of the Commissioners of the Treasury, was made Secretary of State instead of Sir Lyonel Jenkins, who had leave, by Reason of his great Age, to retire; a Promotion that was not made without the Par­ticipation of the Lady Portsmouth. The Lord Privy Seal, the same Day, told me, That tho' all these combined Interests were still as averse to him as ever, the King was never­theless as kind to him as he had usually been; but it was very obvious, That his Lord­ship was less in Business than before; His Lordship, however, had certainly a very large Portion of the King's Esteem, and what he said had generally great Weight with his Majesty. And now the Duke of date May 11. York is declared Lord High Admiral of England, that is, he was invested with the Power of that Office, without either the Ti­tle [Page 182] or the Patent, because his Highness could not dispense with the Oaths or the Sacrament a Circumstance which gave great Offence to Numbers of People. Nor must we forget another thing, tho' of a private Nature, which hapned this Day; for the Duchess of Portsmouth, contrary to Custom, waiting on the Queen, at Dinner, as Lady of the Bed­chamber, her Majesty was thereby thrown into such Disorder, that the Tears stood in her Eyes, while the other laughed at it, and turned it into a Jest.

date May 25. News now came, that the French had pos­sessed themselves of Luxemburgh, which our Court seemed to be not at all displeased with; but there were those, and some of them the King's best Friends, who were extremely sorry to hear it, that Place being reckoned to be the Key of Germany, Holland, and Flanders, and probably too opportune to ad­vance the Grandeur of the common Enemy. A few Days afterwards, I went to Windsor, to congratulate the King upon his Birth-Day; the Crowd, upon this Occasion, was great, but as for Gaiety and Gallantry, there was but little of either, especially as to Ap­parel. And now the Duke of York is de­clared of the great Council, commonly called the Privy Council, whence he had been ex­cluded [Page 183] ever since the Statute which required the taking of Oaths, which his Highness re­fusing upon this Readmission, it became the Subject of much Talk, and was deemed to be a Breach of one of the most solemn and most explicit Acts of Parliament.

date June 15. Intending for the North, I went to take leave of the King, who told me, That those who had served him so carefully and so well as I had done, should always be in his Thoughts, and that I should find it so by Experience. I waited also on the Duke, and desired his Commands for York: He told me, he doubted not but I should do what became me for his Majesty's Service, and that for his own Part, he depended up­on me. I assured his Highness, I should never fail in any Part of my Trust; but beg­ged of him to hearken to no Stories that might be told him to my Prejudice. I told him that every County had its Competitors, and that it was impossible for me to hope to live without Enemies, and especially as I had the Honour of serving the King prefe­rably to many of equal and some of superior Rank, who could not but look upon me, for that Reason, with an Eye of Envy. A few Days afterwards, I visited the Lord [Page 184] Danby, who informed me, that Lord Roche­ster was closing in with the moderate Men, not I suppose out of any Affection for them, but to make himself the stronger Rival a­gainst Lord Privy Seal, who was suspected to stand upon a firmer Bottom than he, and consequently to be better able to stand the Shock of a Parliament, in case the King should be prevailed on to call one: But, alas! Parliaments seemed to be no longer thought of, and to be quite out of Doors; for, it was Lord Danby's Opinion, There was a very strict Conjunction between us and France, tho' they had so lately taken Lux­emburgh, and were likely to succeed accord­ing to their own Wishes.

I returned to the North, and the August following, we had the grateful News that Buda had been taken for the Emperor, by the Duke of Lorrain; as also, that a Truce was made between the Emperor and the King of France, which looked as if a gene­ral Peace was at Hand, that the Christian Powers might the better exert themselves a­gainst the presumptuous Arms of the Infidel. And what still added to the good Aspect of the Thing, we had Advice, There had been great Alterations made with Regard to the Grandees at Court, and that particularly [Page 185] Lord Rochester had been removed from the Head of the Treasury Board, to that of the Council; in which, tho' he was advanced in Honour, he was put backward in Profit and Power: It was therefore most evident­ly what he never sought for, and as plain, that Lord Hallifax had brought it to pass: Thus it was that Lord Danby, now in the Country, conjectured; and it was soon con­firmed to me, by a Letter from my Lord Marquiss himself, wherein he made Use of these Words; You may believe I am not at all displeased to see such an Adversary removed from the only Place that could give him Power and Advantage; and he bears it with so little Phi­losophy, that, if I had ill Nature enough, he gives me sufficient Occasion to triumph. You see I cannot hinder myself from imparting my Satis­faction, to so good a Friend. But the wonder was, How the Finger of my Lord Privy Seal was able to effect this against the Shoul­der of the Duke of York, who still continu­ed a Friend to Rochester as much as ever.

I went to visit the Duke of Newcastle at his Castle of Nottingham, where the Duke date Sept. 4. of Buckingham had been not long before, and giving a long Account of Affairs above, which seemed to intimate as if, notwithstand­ing what had lately hapned, the French In­terest [Page 186] was still uppermost at Court. His Grace told me also, that Buckingham was ve­ry angry with the Marquiss of Hallifax, for refusing to admit of a private Communicati­on with the French Ambassador, when he offered to bring him to his Lordship; and that his Grace should say, his Power would never be considerable while he continued averse to that Interest. But in contradicti­on to this, I, towards the latter End of this same Month, received a very kind Letter from my Lord Marquiss, and others from very great Persons, which gave me to un­derstand, There would probably be some farther Change at Court, that his Lordship stood very firm with the King, and that it was believed the Power of the French Inte­rest was somewhat abated.

date Jan. 20. And now a Quo Warranto, which had so long threatned them, was served upon the City of York, and the Resolution thereupon, was to send up the Charter, and to offer at no Defence against the King: I endeavoured, as much as I conveniently could, to appear quite indifferent on either Side; but almost upon the Back of this, I had the sad News, from the Earl of Burlington, that his Maje­sty date Feb. 2. had been taken, upon the 2d of February with a Fit of an Apoplexy, tho' they called [Page 187] it an Epilepsy; and that he had continued as it were dead almost three Hours, till he was brought to himself again, by bleeding, cup­ping, vomiting, and several other Means that had been used. His Lordship farther­more, in his Letter, ordered me, so to dis­pose of Things as might best prevent Di­sturbances and Troubles, in Case his Maje­sty should unfortunately suffer a Relapse; and all the necessary Precautions were taken accordingly; tho' upon the News that the King was recovered, and in some Way of continuance, there was nothing but Bonfires and Rejoycings in our Parts; a short lived Mirth; for three Days afterwards, we had News that his Majesty was fallen into a Re­lapse, and that his Physicians were in great Fear he could not recover. At this we doubled our Diligence to secure Peace and Quietness, and to prevent any Obstacle that might start up in Prejudice to the Duke of York. Two Days afterwards came News date Feb. 7. that my great and good Master was depart­ed this Life. The Mail came not in till four in the Morning, when I was setting up to receive it, resolving to suffer no Letter to go out till I had been with the Lord Mayor, and the High Sheriff, to whom I immediately delivered their own Letters; by [Page 188] which they had Orders, together with my­self, from the Privy Council and the Secre­tary of State, to proceed immediately and proclaim James the Second. As soon as we had got every thing ready for this Ceremo­ny, which we had before Day, I gave leave for the Delivery of the rest of the Letters; and by seven in the Morning, the High She­riff, met by the Archbishop and most of the Gentlemen in the Town, moved towards the Castle-yard to proclaim the King there, while I caused all the Garrison, the necessary Guards excepted, to be drawn together in the Thursday Market.

date Feb. 8. By nine in the Morning, the King was proclaimed by my Lord Mayor, the High Sheriff and my self; the First did it in the usual Places in the City; the Second did it in the Castle-yard, for the County; and I did it in the Thursday Market, to the Garrison there drawn out together; I then ordered a dou­ble Discharge of the Artillery, and several Vollies, according to the Orders I had for that End received from my Lord Sunderland. All this was transacted with all imaginable Tokens of Peace and Joy; not only in York but afterwards throughout the whole Coun­ty, and indeed, the whole Kingdom.

[Page 189] A strange Effect of Power it was from Hea­ven it self, That so strong a Party as had reared its Head in Parliament, and so pertinaciously called out for the exclusion of the Duke of York, should now upon his Accession acquiesce to him, with such Deference and quiet Sub­mission. But it may be presumed, they were aware of the Difference there was between the Spirit of the late and the present King: The former they thought might, for Peace sake, be sooner brought to abandon his Bro­ther, than the latter tamely to renounce his Right and Title to three Kingdoms, for fear of a War. But what served in very great Measure to quiet the Minds and allay the Passions of Men, was King James's Decla­ration to the Privy Council immediately af­ter the Breath was out of his Brother's Body, Whereby he promised to defend the Government of England, both in Church and State, and carefully to tread in the Foot­steps of his late Majesty, with regard to his Kindness and Lenity towards his People; and that as on the one Hand, he would de­fend the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, so on the other, he would invade no Man's Property.

I stayed at York a few Days to keep the Peace, and, in the mean time, had Notice [Page 190] from the proper Hands, that I was continu­ed in my Command, and that I had leave to set out for London, as I, indeed had de­sired. date Feb. 16. But now there began to be great Changes at Court; Lord Rochester was made Lord High Treasurer of England; Lord Privy Seal was made Lord President of the Council; which tho' it was a Step higher as to Place, it was much doubted that it was not at his Lordship's Desire; the Trust and Profit of the Privy Seal being judged to be an overbalance for the Honour of the other. And now we had the agreeable Prospect of of a Parliament, which it was said his Ma­jesty intended should meet in May next.

It was now beyond all Doubt that the date April 13. King was a Papist; for he went publickly to Mass, tho' he ordered the Chappel of Whitehall to be kept in Statu quo; whither the Princess of Denmark repaired daily, while the King did the same to the Queen's pri­vate Chappel. In the Interim, I was cho­sen a Member to sit in the ensuing Parlia­ment for the City of York; and with this new Charge, I this Day sat forward for London; where being arrived, my Lord Marquiss of Hallifax told me he and Lord Rochester, the Treasurer, were now very well together; that he had used his constant [Page 191] Endeavours to serve the King, and that he would continue to do the same; but that he hoped his Majesty would not think of im­posing his Religion on him; which he seem­ed sorrowfully to apprehend, the most con­siderable Posts in the Army in Ireland, being now put into the Hands of Papists. His Lordship then recalled to me several Instan­ces of the late King's Kindness to him, and certainly no Man was deeper in his Favour, when his Majesty was unfortunately snatch­ed away, than my Lord Marquiss. A few date April 22. Days afterwards, I waited on his Majesty, kissed his Hand, and at the same time pre­sented him with an Address from the young Men of the City of York, who had petition­ed me for leave to exercise themselves at Arms on certain Days of the Year, which the King received very kindly.

The next Day my Lord Hallifax told me he had had two private Audiences of the King, and that he had in such plain Terms told him his Mind, upon the grand Point of Government, that he much wondered the King, considering his natural Temper, took it with that Calmness and Composure he did. His Lordship then observed, It possibly might be insisted on, that some Acts should, in the ensuing Parliament, be repealed, which [Page 192] would require a weighty and mature Deli­beration; and touched on some Things not altogether so fit to be inserted in this Place.

date April 23. The King was crowned and the Queen in Westminster-Abbey, with all imaginable Pomp and magnificence, except that there was no Cavalcade thorough the City, as the Custom had formerly been.

Their Majesties went privately to the Pa­lace at Westminster, where they, the Nobili­ty, and all the Officers of the Crown put on their Robes, Formalities, and Ensigns, and thence proceeded thorough Palace-yard, rail­ed in and prepared for that Purpose, in Pro­cession to Westminster-Abbey, whence the Ce­remony being compleated, they all returned to the Hall, to a most sumptuous Dinner. And now the Gentlemen of the House of Commons began to consider what the Court might demand of them, as well as what might be granted at the approaching Sessi­on, the Parliament consisting of a great Number of Loyal Gentlemen, who were nevertheless, good Patriots, and true Pro­testants. The Report went, that there would be more required in Behalf of Pope­ry, than the Laws now in Force would al­low of; and that the King expected the Settlement of a constant Revenue upon him, [Page 193] suitable to that of the late King, besides a Sum of ready Money to subvene his preseut Occasions. That in favour of Popery it would be proposed to repeal the Habeas Cor­pus Act, which I found was much opposed by some great ones, in their private Dis­course, as well as by some of us; and to en­act a general Toleration or Liberty of Con­science, which some seemed willing enough to subscribe to; tho' at the same time, the Resolution was to admit of no Alteration to capacitate Papists to enjoy any Place or Im­ployment in or under the Government. As for the Affair of Money, Men in general seemed willing to settle an handsome Reve­nue upon the King, and to give him Mo­ney, but whether their Grant should be per­manent or only temporary, and to be renew­ed from time to time by Parliament, that the Nation might be the oftner consulted, was the Question: In all this, I resolved punctually to do my Duty to the Crown, but not to be unmindful of a due Regard for my Country, and my Religion.

date May 4. I had some Discourse with Mr. Hilliard, Sir Roger Martin, and other, Gentlemen of great Consideration with the Popish Party: They told me, The King would expect a Repeal of the Sanguinary Laws; that the [Page 194] Papists should be allowed the private exer­cise of their Religion, and that they, at least such as had served the Royal Family in the Wars or otherwise should be capable of Em­ployment under him: That the King would, in Parliament, give full Satisfaction to the Nation, with regard to their Religion and Properties; but that if Reason would not serve his Purpose, he knew what he had to do. That the King would never divide the regal Power by admitting of that of the Pope; that his Majesty was too fond of Power to be guilty of that Oversight; and that his adhering to the Defence of the Church of England, would on the other Hand, deter the Pope from pressing him to admit of his Supremacy; in short, That it was but reasonable the King should insist on the Repeal of the severer penal Laws a­gainst the Papists; for that if he should die, he would leave them in as ill a plight as he found them: But what Wisdom or Sense there was in those who, at this time, could offer at such Arguments, need not be said.

I waited on the King in his Barge from Whitehall to Somerset-house, where he went to visit the Queen Dowager: It was upon this Day, that the noted Doctor Oates was convi­cted of Perjury, it being proved, that he was at [Page 195] St. Omers the 24th of April, 1678, when he swore he was at the White-horse Tavern in the Strand, where Pickering, Groves, Ireland, and other Jesuits signed the Death of King Charles the Second: This was a grate­ful hearing to the King, who thereupon ob­served, That, indeed, there had been a Meeting of the Jesuits that Day, and that all the Scholars of St. Omers knew of it, but that it was well Doctor Oates knew no bet­ter where it was to be; for, says his Maje­sty, they met in St. James's where I then lived, which if Oates had but known, he would have cut out a fine Spot of Work for me. The King then subjoined, That Oates being thus convicted, the Popish Plot was now dead; to which I answering, That it had been long since dead, and that now it would be buried; his Majesty so well ap­proved of the Turn, that going with him afterwards to the Princess of Denmark's, I heard him repeat it to her.

Three or four Days afterwards, we had Advice, That a Store of Arms had been bought up in Holland, and conveyed into Scotland; and that Lord Argyle, Lord Grey, and some said the Duke of Monmouth, were actually gone with them, or after them.

[Page 196] Mean while, the Parliament assembled in the date May 19. usual Apartments at Westminster, but did no­thing this Day but take the Oaths, and chuse their Speaker, Sir John Trevor, who was con­firmed by the King: The two next Days were also taken up in swearing the Members, and taking the Test. On the twenty second, the King made a Speech to both Houses, and therein assured them, he would support and defend the Church of England, whose Mem­bers had ever been most Loyal in the worst of Times, in the Cause of his Father, and the Support of his Brother; as also to ad­here to the Government both in Church and State, as by Law established; and that as he never would depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, so neither would he attempt to invade any Man's Pro­perty. He desired of us suitable Returns in settling the Revenue on him for Life, as in the Days of the late King; and conclud­ed with an Account he had received from Scotland, that the Earl of Argyle was landed with Men and Arms, on the Western Islands of that Kingdom; and that the said Lord had published two Declarations, in both of which he charged him with Tyranny and Usurpation.

[Page 197] The Commons returning to their House, immediately voted, That the King's Speech should be taken into speedy Consideration, and were so well pleased with the solemn Security the King had given them as to their Religion and Property, That they voted him the very same Revenue for his Life, as had been enjoyed by the late King for hi [...]. They then voted, That the King should, by the whole House in a Body, be thanked for his Speech, in which the Lords concur­red, and it was accordingly done the next Day; when they farthermore voted an Ad­dress to his Majesty, assuring him, They would stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes, against Argyle, his Abettors, and all other Traitors whatsoever; which being presented accordingly to the King, he was pleased to answer, That he expected no less from a Parliament so happily made up of Monarchical and Church-of-Englandmen, and that he should fear no Enemy he either had or might have, while he had them on his Side. And now all Things seemed to smile with a very auspicious Countenance, the King forbearing the least Advances to­wards a Change of Religion, and seeming to be bent quite the contrary Way.

[Page 198] In the Midst of this, a Motion was made date May 25. in the House, That something now should be done to please the People, after so much had been done to gratify the King; point­ing at a proper Security for the Protestant Religion; upon which a Debate arising, it was referred to the Committee of Religion. This Committee, the next Day, passed a Vote, That the House should be moved by them, To resolve to stand by the King, with their Lives and Fortunes, for the De­fence of the Religion of the Church of Eng­land, as by Law established: As also to pre­sent an Address to the King, to issue out his Royal Proclamation, for putting the Laws in Execution against all Dissenters of what Denomination soever; and these Votes, tho' in a very full Committee, passed Nemine Contradicente.

date 27 But the next Day, when the same came to be reported to the House, a Debate took Birth, whether the House should concurr with the Committee or not? Against the Question it was argued, That it was remind­ing the King of a Neglect of his Duty; that the Justices of Peace were in Fault that the Laws were not more duly executed; that Votes of this Sort would alarm the King­dom, and might create a Jealousy of the [Page 199] King, who had so solemnly declared his Intentions to defend our Religion; that the King had told us, The Way to keep a good Understanding between him and his Parlia­ment, would be to use him well, and that he could not but take this amiss; and finally, That it might be an Encouragement to the Rebels already in Arms in the Kingdom of Scotland, and so on. To this it was answer­ed, That it would have but an indifferent Look with the Nation, if we being Mem­bers of the Church of England, should let such commendable Votes in favour of our Religion drop unheeded: At length the previous Question being put, Whether to a­gree or not to agree with the Committee, it was carried in the Negative. The whole Matter then was summed up in this Vote, That an Address should be made to the King, purporting that the House did entire­ly rely on his Royal Declaration, that he would defend and secure the reformed Reli­gion of the Church of England, as by Law e­stablished, by far dearer and nearer to them than their Lives.

date May 30. We had now Information, That Argyle had penetrated into his own Territories in the North of Scotland, with a Body of 3000 Men, and that he was fortifying himself [Page 200] date 1685 there. The next Day, the King came to the House of Lords, and passed the Bill for the Continuance of the Revenue of Excise and Customs for his own Life. Having done this, he spoke to both Houses, and thanked them for the Chearfulness and Alacrity wherewith they had passed the same; he said, their Dispatch was as pleasing to him as the Bill itself; but at the same time de­sired some extraordinary Supply for the Na­vy and Ordnance Stores, for paying off the late King's Debts to his Servants and Fami­ly, and for defraying the Charge he was like to be at in quelling the Rebellion in Scotland; he then recommended the Navy to us, as the Strength and Glory of the Nation; as­suring us he had a true English Heart, jea­lous of the Honour of the Nation; and that he pleased himself with the Thoughts, by God's Blessing, and their Assistance, to raise the Reputation of it in the World, higher than it had ever yet been in the Days of any of his Ancestors.

date June 11. This Speech being taken into Considera­tion, it was, by a Committee of the whole House, voted that a Supply should be grant­ed to his Majesty for the Uses therein specifi­ed. While Things were going on in this easy and harmonious Manner, we had News from [Page 201] Lyme in Dorsetshire, That the Duke of Mon­mouth was landed in that Neighbourhood, with Arms for 20,000 Men, together with Officers and Soldiers, to the Number of a­bout 200; that many of the People flocked in to him, from that factious Country, and that he had declared himself the Protector of the Protestant Religion, against Popery. With all Speed then the King sent down the Duke of Albemarle, the Lord Lieutenant of that Part, to raise the Militia; and after him, some Companies of the standing Foot, and six Troops of Horse and Dragoons. Lyme is naturally a safe and advantagious Post, and was in Monmouth's Power; so that in two or three Days more, we heard he was 300 strong; but, at the same time, that the Duke of Albemarle had raised the Mili­tia, and was marching towards him with some 8000 Men.

The King no sooner heard that Monmouth was landed, as we have said, than he com­municated the same to the Commons; upon which they immediately voted him their Thanks, and resolved, in a Body of the whole House, to wait on his Majesty with their own Address, wherein they promised to stand by him with their Lives and For­tunes, against that ungrateful Rebel James [Page 202] Duke of Monmouth, and all others whoso­ever they might be; such were the promising Beginnings of this short and memorable Reign. Soon after comes Monmouth's De­claration, which the King, the next Day, sent to both Houses, who attended him that very Day, and voted a Reward of 5000 l. to any Body that should take him, and bring him to the King, dead or alive. This De­claration charged James Duke of York, for so it stiled the King, with the Burning of the City, the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, the Murder of Sidney, and Lord Russell, with the Poisoning of the late King, and tearing his Crown from his Head: It charged him also with being a Slave to Popish Councils, and with packing the present Parliament; and that therefore he was come to revenge all these Things on the pretended King; that he would never hearken to any Terms, or Accommoda­tion 'till his Work was compleated, and that as he was resolved to give no Quarter to those that opposed him, he exhorted all good Peo­ple to come in and assist him. To this he subjoined, that he had a just Title to the Crown, but that he would lay no Claim to it 'till he had called a free Parliament, to whom he was ready to give full Satisfaction as to that Matter; that Parliaments should [Page 203] sit every Year, nor he dismissed 'till all Grievances were redressed, and that he would grant Liberty of Conscience to all Manner of People, not excluding even the Papists, and much more in the same Strain.

Mean while, came News that Monmouth having marched out of the Town of Lyme with 200 Foot, and 100 Horse, had met with some of the Dorsetshire Militia, fallen on them, killed several Persons of Note, and taken some Prisoners. And now an additional Supply is voted, for defraying the Expence of the War, against the Duke of Monmouth. The House upon this Occasion resolved it self into a Committee of the whole, to con­sider of the Ways and Means for raising this new Supply, voted That it shonld be levied upon such new Foundations, as had been built upon within the Compass of the Bills of Mortality, since the Year 1660, except­ing the late general Fires in the City of London and Borough of Southwark. Secondly, That it should be levyed only upon the Rents of the same Houses for the Term of one Year, Thirdly, Upon such Foundations as were now laid. Fourthly, That there should be a Clause to prevent any more Buildings within the said Limits. Fifthly, That the House should be moved that a Bill [Page 204] might be brought in for that Intent; in all which the House concurred with the Com­mittee.

date June 18. The next Day the King sent to us, to de­sire we would give him Credit upon some Fund, for such a Sum as we should think fit to grant him, towards the Suppression of the Rebellion in the West; and that we would prepare our Business so as to be in a Condition to adjourn for some time, within a few Days. Upon this we resolved again into a Committee of the whole House, and voted him the Sum of 400,000 l. the Sum agreed on the Day before; and at the same Time appointed a Committee to enquire in­to, and bring in an Estimate of the yearly Value of the Rents of the new Buildings upon new Foundations.

date 19 But notwithstanding all this, the Court seemed to be much concerned at the In­crease of the Duke of Monmouth's Forces, which were now reported to consist of 4000 Foot, and four Troops of Horse, with which having marched towards Taunton, a populous and factious Town, he made him­self Master thereof, two Regiments of the Militia running away, when they heard he was near the Place; but the Duke of Albe­marle had still Orders not to fight 'till the [Page 205] standing Troops had joined him, which it was supposed they would do upon the 20th Instant; on which Day also some 2500 of the Guards, Horse and Foot, marched to reinforce the Troops that had before been sent to the Duke of Albemarle, commanded by Lord Feversham. The same Day, the Commons understanding it would be a te­dious Task to levy the necessary Sums upon the new Foundations, proceeded to shift the Tax upon French Linnen, Brandies, Calli­coes, &c.

But I cannot help observing, that my Lord Hallifax took it ill of me, That I had been so earnest for the taxing of the new Buildings, he having a deep Concern there­in; but I told him it was my Judgment, and that if my Father's Interest had been ever so much therein, I should have done the same Thing; that however, I was very sorry He, above all Men in the World, should disapprove of any Thing I did; but we prefently understood each other, and he said he was very sorry he had said any Thing to disturb me: This, tho' a Transaction of quite a private Nature, I could not forbear the mention of, as it was the only Time we ever so much as seemed to differ; but to re­turn to Matters of more general Importance.

[Page 206] This Day his Majesty had Advice from date June 22. Scotland, that the Earl of Dunbarton, com­mander in chief of his Forces in that King­dom, having Notice, that the Rebels had passed the River above Dunbarton, had marched from Glasgow to Sterling, and over­took them near the Close of the Day, but that in the Night the Rebels stole away from him into Renfrew; that the said Earl then pursued them with his Horse and Dragoons, and understood that they were making away from him in very great Confusion; that the same Day three Servants belonging to a Gentleman of Renfrew, fell upon the Earl of Argyle, as he was getting away in the Dis­guise of a Countryman, with a blue Bonnet on his Head; and that they had wounded him in several Places of the Head; till at last, fearing they would kill him, he con­fessed himself to be the Earl of Argyle; and that thereupon they had taken him Prisoner, and conducted him to Glasgow, where he was committed. The King sent an Account of all this to the Commons, who returned their Thanks for the same, by such of their Members as were of the Privy Council, who came back with this Answer, That his Ma­jesty was every Day more and more satisfied with them for their Zeal and Loyalty to [Page 207] his Person and Government, and that he gave them his Thanks.

date June 23. The next Day the King had Notice, that Monmouth had sent a Letter to the Duke of Albemarle, under the Stile and Title of his most trusty and well-beloved Cousin and Councellor, Christopher Duke of Albemarle, charging him upon his Allegiance to come into his Aid and Assistance; in a Word, That he now took upon him to be King; that he was marched from Taunton towards Bristol with about 5000 Men and Boys, and that Albemarle was at his Heels.

The next Day I hapned to dine with Sir date 24 James Smith, the Lord Mayor of London, whom I had formerly known intimately well, and who was of a very Loyal Club in the City, where I used to go, while the Fanatic Plot was in agitation. This Gen­tleman complained to me, That he enjoyed no more than the bare Title of Lord Mayor, the Lord chief Justice Jefferies usurping the Power; that the City had no Sort of Inter­course with the King, but by the Intervention of that Lord; that whatever was well done in the City, was attributed to his Influence and Management; and that himself and the Aldermen were by the Court looked upon no better than his Tools: That upon all Oc­casions [Page 208] his Lordship was so forgetful of the high Dignity of the City as to use him and his Brethren with Contempt; in fine, that the Lord Chief Justice was to be pitied; that his Haughtiness would be the ruin of him; and that he actually intended to let the King into the Mystery of these Things; but that he thought the present Time was not altogether so proper, seeing a Remon­strance of this Tendency might be construed into Mutiny and Disaffection. I answered, That the King was too well acquainted with the Lord Mayor's Services and Integrity to suspect him of that, and that, in my Opini­on, now was the fittest Time for exposing a Man in that Credit at Court; for that now the greatest Notice would be taken of all such Grievances. Indeed I was sorry at my Heart to see such good Men dissatisfied in any Degree; but I was as glad to find this proud Man seen through; for he had to my Knowledge used the City of York as scurvi­ly as it was possible for him to use the City of London. For at York he put out five Aldermen tho' he had solemnly engaged to keep them in, and that, without so much as allowing them to be heard as to the Crimes they stood accused of. The Lord Mayor said the very fame had been frequently pra­ctised [Page 209] in London, and that many had been turned out of their Employments without so much as being suffered to make their De­fence. In short, I was at the very same Time told by one of the Lieutenancy of the City, That should the Duke of Monmouth give a Blow to the King's Forces, it was much to be feared there would be an Insur­rection in London.

date July. 2. This Day, both Houses attended the King in the House of Lords, and his Majesty having passed five Bills, ordered the House to be adjourned to the 4th of August, which was done accordingly. And now the Fears of those who were Friends to the Govern­ment, added to the Hopes of those who were averse to it. The Duke of Monmouth's Army was swelled to a Body of 12000 Foot, and 1500 Horse, which moved from Place to Place, in the hilly and inclosed Country of the West, where tho' the King's Army kept pretty close in with them; they could not offer to give Battle. The King's Army, that was nearest to Monmouth, was command­ed by Lord Feversham, and did not consist of above 3000 Foot, and five hundred Horse, but then they were mostly of the Guards. In a Day or two the King had Advice, that Monmouth had got into Bridgewater, that he [Page 210] intended to fortify himself there whilst he refreshed his Army, and that Lord Fever­sham was close after him.

date July 6. The Duke of Monmouth being then inform­ed, That Lord Feversham lay incamped at not above three Miles from Bridgewater, that his Army was as yet but small, that he was in Expectation of being reinforced by three English, and three Scotch Regiments from Holland, and that a Body of Horse was on its March from London to the same Purpose; he steals out about one in the Morn­ing, with his whole Army, and moves to­wards the Royal Camp, and that with such Silence and good Order, That the King's People knew nothing of the Approach 'till alarmed by the Fire of one of their out Sen­tries. The Duke of Monmouth marched at the Head of the Foot, and Lord Grey led up the Horse, and they brought their Cannon to play within Pistol-shot. On the other Hand, our People got into Order as fast, and received them as well as could be ex­pected, but were so overpowered by Num­bers, that 'till Lord Grey went off with the Horse, which were frightned at the Cannon, we were in very imminent Danger of losing the Day: But for the Duke of Monmouth, he stood 'till a great Part of his Foot was cut [Page 211] to Pieces, and then made off; but so nar­rowly that his Coat, his Papers, and his Se­cretary were taken. Ferguson, that Arch­presbyterian Priest and Rebel, and Lord Grey was taken in Disguise, three Days af­terwards.

The Duke of Monmouth had, from the ve­ry Beginning of this desperate Attempt, be­haved with the Conduct of a great Captain, as was allowed even by the King, who, in my Hearing, said he had not made one false Step. And thus was this great Storm, which gathered from a small Cloud, the Number that landed with the Duke not exceeding 150, thus I say, was this great Storm for­tunately not to say surprisingly allayed. Had Monmouth obtained a Victory, it was much to be feared, that the Disaffected would have risen in such Numbers, in the several Parts of England, as to have made the Crown date July 9. precarious. But to complete the King's good Fortune, came News, that the Duke himself had been taken in Disguise in a Wood, by a Parcel of Country Fellows who were in quest of him, together with one Count Horn, who being first discovered in a Bush, told them the Duke himself was not far off; and the same Day the Duchess of Monmouth and her two Sons were sent to [Page 212] the Tower. The Duke, when he was ta­ken, was almost spent, not having been in a Bed for three Weeks; he was quite un­provided with Arms, nor made any Defence, being destitute of every thing but a Watch he had in his Pocket, and about three hun­dred Pounds in Gold, which was all the Money he had left. His Majesty, and no wonder, was extremely well pleased at this News; but he was of a Temper so very e­qual, that he never appeared transported upon any Occasion; and surely he never could have a greater Reason for it than now, that he saw the Rebellion plucked up by the very Roots, and himself firmer seated on the Throne, by the Endeavours that had been used to shake him out of it.

When his Grace came to Town, the King, at his own Request, saw him at Whitehall, where he expressed some Detestation of his Attempt; threw the Blame on the Earl of Argyle, and Ferguson, who had stirred him up to it; disclaiming all Title to the Crown, and said he was put upon assuming the Stile of King, with a View that the Quality would the sooner come in to him; all this I heard the King say, but what he farther confessed, was not then known. He concluded with a Desire of Pardon, and, on his Knees, [Page 213] begged his Life of the King; and for the same, he, by Letters, sollicited the two Queens, 'till his Head was at five Blows se­vered from his Body, on Tower-hill. When he came to suffer, he submitted with great Unconcern, renounced all Pretence to the Crown, and unkindly, to say no worse, dis­owned his Duchess, who to him, who had nothing of his own, had brought a Fortune of ten thousand Pounds a Year; saying she was given to him as his Wife in the Days of his Minority, but that the Wife of his own Choice, was the Lady Henrietta Wentworth, the only Daughter and Heiress of the Earl of Cleveland, whom he had debauched; with whom he confessed he had lived according to the Rules of his own Convenience, tho' not according to the Laws of the Land, for two Years past. He then said he was sorry for the Effusion of Blood he had caused, but, throughout his whole Discourse, made no mention of a Rebellion; and out of his Pocket were taken Books, in his own hand Writing, containing Charms or Spells to o­pen the Doors of a Prison, to obviate the Danger of being wounded in Battle, toge­ther with Songs and Prayers; such was the latter End of the Duke of Monmouth.

Towards the Close of this Month, I [Page 214] returned to my Government, where no­thing occurring of a Nature general enough to be worthy of public Notice, I shall hur­ry on to the End of October, when we had the bad News, That my Lord Marquiss of Hallifax, Lord President of the Privy Coun­cil, was fallen into Disgrace with the King, and quite dismissed from the Board; he had ever been a true and kind Patron to me; but what was more, he was a Man of great Integrity and most happy Talents, which made it feared the Public might feel the want of him as sensible as his Friends; but it being the King's Pleasure, it became all good Subjects to submit to it: But two or three Days afterwards, being with the Arch­bishop of York and Sir Henry Gooderick, they told me, It was true the King had laid aside the Lord President, but that he had assigned no Cause for it, and expressed some Jealou­sy, That the King would offer at something this Session, in favour of Popery.

date Nov. 9. And now the Term of the last Adjourn­ment being elapsed, I repaired to London; where I found the House of Commons had deferred the Consideration of the King's Speech, on the Day of their Meeting, which was the 9th, to the 13th Instant. The House of Lords had voted their Thanks; [Page 215] but the Commons being moved to the same, made Head against it, as we have hinted. The King in this Speech told the Houses He was glad to meet them in better Times than when he parted with them; that the Rebellion was now perfectly quashed; but that, however, the Government might be in like Manner attempted for the future, it being experienced, that the Militia of the Kingdom was of no Use; that therefore as the standing Force was but small, he had raised it to a considerable Number, which would be an additional Charge upon him, for the Time to come; that, in consideration thereof, he desired a proportionable Aid: That it was true There were some popish Officers in this Army, but that he hoped it would make no Difference between him and his Parliament; for that tho' they were not qualified by Law, they were such as had shewn their Principles by their Loyalty; and that having had Experience of this, he would not expose them to Shame by parting with them, or to that Effect; and that, in fine, he would venture his Life for the true Inte­rest of the Nation.

date Nov. 13. The 13th instant being come, the Com­mons voted a Supply to his Majesty, for his present Occasions; but would neither speci­fy [Page 216] the Quantum, nor the particular Use it was designed for. Upon this a long Debate arose, and the Question being put, they di­vided, the No's being 250, and the Ay's 125. They afterwards, the same Day, came to a Division upon the Question, Whether that House should first proceed upon the Sup­ply to the King, or upon the second Para­graph of his Majesty's Speech, concerning the popish Officers in the Army; and it was carryed for postponing the Supply, by one Voice only; in which Division, the King was told That several of his Servants, and Officers of the Army, that were of the House, were against him. The next Day I waited on the King to kiss his Hand, and imme­diately date Nov. 14. he asked me when I came to Town? I told him, the night before: He said, He was sorry I had not been here sooner, for that if I had, he should not have lost the Day before, for one single Vote, which he said was hard, and the more so because it was owing to his own Officers; which I took to be an oblique Piece of Admonition to me. This same Day, The second Part of the King's Speech was taken into Considerati­on, and the Result was, That an Address should be drawn up and presented to his Majesty, to represent to him, that the Re­ception [Page 217] of Popish Recusants into the Army was quite contrary to Law, and to desire that they might be removed from their Posts. A Committee was appointed for this Purpose, and likewise to frame a Bill for the indemnifying the said Officers, in Considera­tion that they had entered into the Service at a Time of such imminent Danger. Wait­ing this Day on Lord Hallifax, he told me the Particulars of his Dismission: He said he might have continued with greater Ad­vanges than ever, if he could but in Consci­ence have concurred in some Things which he saw in Embryo; that the King parted with him with seeming Kindness, but would assign no Cause for it, and that he would name no Body into his Place. This Lord being generally esteemed a wise Man, and an excellent Subject, the Removal of him, especially in almost the Infancy of a Parlia­ment, was Matter of Astonishment to great Numbers, and injected a Fear, That a Change of Councils was in consequence to ensue a Change of Councellors.

date Nov. 19. Now the Debate, concerning the Aid to be granted to his Majesty came on. The Motion was at first for two hundred thou­sand Pounds, and then four hundred thou­sand Pounds on the Part of the Country; [Page 218] while those of the Court insisted on twelve hundred thousand Pounds, for the Payment of the new raised Forces, for a Term of five Years to come. But the House would give no Ear to such an Application of the Money they might give, lest it should prove a Foun­dation for the Support of a standing Army; they rather chose to give it to the King to do with it as he would; and at length se­ven hundred thousand Pounds was proposed, and granted. In the Course of this Debate, the Usefulness of a standing Army, especi­ally 'till the Ferment of the Rebellion was quite settled, was much insisted on by the one Side, while the other exposed the Dan­ger of it, the Infolency of [...] Soldiery, the ill Example they were of to the Country, and the heavy Burthen of free Quarters: But there was a Compromission of all this, by the Houses declaring its Intention to make the Militia of more Use for the Time to come, and 'till then it was agreed on, as a Thing necessary, that the Army should be kept on Foot.

The Address against popish Officers being prepared, was this Day read, and agreed to; but a Debate arose, Whether the Concur­rence of the Lords should be desired or not: The Courtiers were against it, that the King [Page 219] might have the better Excuse not to comply with it, and the Country Gentlemen were, for that Reason, for enforcing it the more; and upon this Occasion I divided with the Country, but we lost it by some forty Voices. The next Day we considered of the Ways and Means for raising the seven hundred thousand Pounds we had granted, and the same Day we went in a Body, with our Address to the King, who had appointed that to be the Time for his receiving it: But his Answer was, That he did not expect such an Address from such a House of Commons especially as he had so lately offered to our Consideration the great Advantages of an Union between him and us, the good Effects of which had been already experienced: ‘"I had, said he, Reason to hope the Repu­tation God has blessed me with in the World, might have created and confirm­ed in you, a greater Confidence of me, and of all I say to you: But however you, on your Part, proceed, I, on mine, shall be steady to all the Promises I have made, and be very just to my Word given in e­very one of my Speeches;"’ this he utter­ed with great Warmth.

date Nov. 18. The House, the next Day, consulted on the Means to make the Militia of more ef­fectual [Page 220] Service for the future, but the De­bate was adjourned to the 21st instant. At the same time it was moved by Mr. Wharton, eldest Son to the Lord Wharton, That a Day might be appointed for the Consideration of the King's Answer to our Address; which was seconded by Mr. Cook, of Derbyshire, a Gentleman of three thousand Pounds per Annum, who was so warm as, upon this Oc­casion, to say, We were all Englishmen, and that he hoped we should not be frightned from our Duty, by a few high Words: But the House resented this as an Expression of great In­decency, and, in great Anger, sending their Member to the Tower, deferred the Busi­ness sine Die.

The next Day, the Lords began to consi­der that Part of his Majesty's Speech, relat­ing to popish Officers, and grew very warm in their Debate, which was adjourned to the 23d instant. The King hapned to be pre­sent, as he was generally constant in the House of Lords, and was much concerned at the Freedom which they said was used upon this Subject. And, in truth, it gave great Dissatisfaction, that the Law in this Point particularly, would be thus invaded and set at nought; and the very best of the King's Friends, as well as his Officers whe­ther [Page 221] Civil or Military, except such as were popishly inclined, were strangely alarmed thereat, and expressed themselves with great Freedom whenever it hapned to be the To­pic of their Discourse.

date Nov. 20. In the midst of this, the King, in the usual State, comes and, by the Lord Chan­cellor, acquaints both Houses, That for cer­tain weighty Reasons, his Majesty thought fit to prorogue this Parliament untill the 10th of February next, and that it was pro­rogued accordingly. This gave Birth to many Conjectures: Some said the King had so good a Revenue, and was so good a Ma­nager, that he had it in his Power to subsist both his Fleet and his Army without more Money; and that therefore he would scarce have Occasion for any more Parliaments; that this seemed the more likely as he had, by this Prorogation, refused the Sum of se­ven hundred thousand Pounds, which the Commons were preparing to give him: While others believed the King would cer­tainly meet us again, at the Term prefixed, and that, in the mean Time, he would find out some Expedient to satisfy the Houses as to the only Article they complained of, meaning the Affair of the popish Officers; which though it was said, might be shrewd­ly [Page 222] doubted, seeing that some of the Gentle­men, who had signalized themselves for the Address, were forbidden the King's Pre­sence, which was the Case of Mr. Fox, Pay­master to the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Darcy, Major Webb, and others we need not mention.

To pass over Lord Brandon's Trial and Condemnation, for the Concern he had had with the Duke of Monmouth, we must now observe, That the popish Party behaved with great Insolence; which was the more re­marked, as the King of France was now in the Height of persecuting his Protestant Subjects, who many of them fled as they could, poor and naked; being stripped of all they had. This so great and cruel an In­stance of the Spirit that, for the most part, possesses those of this delusive Persuasion, was now the Talk of all thinking People, who began to be of Opinion, that every thing just and lawful, ought to be done to obviate the Growth, and abate the present Pride of the Papists in our Dominions. But the King, as if he had a Mind to shew us date Dec. 2. his Disposition for Clemency, this Day de­clared he had reprieved the Lord Brandon, who was to have been executed three Days afterwards; which, it must be owned, was [Page 223] a great Act of Mercy in his Majesty, this Lord having been pardoned in the late Reign, for breaking a Boy's Neck, when he was in his Cups, of which being convict­ed, he was condemned as guilty of Mur­ther.

At this Time the favourites at Court, be­gan to be at Strife with each other; the Lord Sunderland was made President of the Council, and continued Secretary of State; his Lordship having artfully insinuated to the Queen (he had then a Misunderstanding with the Treasurer) That the Friends and Relations of the King's first Wife, as Ro­chester, Clarendon, Dartmouth, and others, were in greatest Favour, and in Possession of the best Places, while her Friends, tho' she was Queen Consort, were but slenderly pro­vided for; and her Friends being reckoned to be, Lord Sunderland, the Lord Chancel­lor, and the Lord Churchill, they began to play their private Batteries against each o­ther.

I, for my Part, had seen so many Changes backwards and forwards, so many of both great and small removed and shifted about, that I must confess the Thoughts thereof began to damp the Flight of my Ambition; and made me conclude, There was a Time [Page 224] when every sober Man would chuse to re­tire, and be content with what he had, rather than venture his Substance and Con­science upon the uncertain Hazard of aug­menting his Wealth; not that I found the King any way altered with regard to my­self, or that I despaired of keeping my Ground, tho' my great and good Friend was out; on the contrary, could I but have strained to the Pitch some did, I am per­suaded I had a fairer Opportunity of raising my self than ever I had; but I preferred a certain Safety to an uncertain Grandeur.

But Things now, with regard to those who enjoyed any Posts under the Govern­ment, seemed to be carried to a very extra­ordinary Length; for Fox, the Paymaster of the Army, whose Employ was valued at ten thousand Pounds per Annum, and Colonel John Darcy, Grandchild and Heir to the Earl of Holderness, having offended the King by their Votes in the lower House, and hav­ing been thereupon forbidden the King's Presence, were now wholly laid aside; and it was now said that in Council it had been agreed, That all Persons, who for the future, offended in the same Way, would be served in the same Manner, which startled a Num­ber of People. And now it was observed, [Page 225] that the Lord Treasurer was more lowly and obliging than usual, whence it was conje­ctured that the Odds were against him, and as much was confessed by some even of his his Friends; his Lordship now setting up for the Protestant Interest, and the Queen and her Friends for the Popish.

Besides the Gentlemen I have already nam­ed, there were several other Members dis­missed from their Imployments, for not vot­ing as the King expected they should, and particularly such as were Officers in the Ar­my, who being not only so, but also great and very eminent for their Families and Ser­vices to the Crown, it was Matter of great wonder to every Body. But what surprised me as much as any Thing was to hear, from the Archbishop of York, That Lord Marquiss of Hallifax was coming again into play; an agreeable Surprise this, especially as the Times seemed to turn; but the very next Day, I had the Mortification to understand, from the Marquiss's own Mouth, that there was no manner of Foundation for the Re­port. The Duke of Albemarle now told me several Things concerning the State of Af­fairs, which astonished me very much, Gen­tlemen were now in a most unprecedented Manner assaulted in the very Streets; one [Page 226] had a Powder thrown into his Eyes, which deprived him of Sight; another had his Throat cut by two Men, tho' neither of these Gentlemen had given the least visible Provocation or Offence to the Aggressors; and the Duke of Albemarle was met by a Gentleman who threatned him as his Grace was going along in his Chair. And now it was whispered, That the King would still farther prorogue the Parliament 'till May; which certainly was the wisest Course he had, at this Time, to take, if he could not resolve to give some proper Satisfaction to the Houses, with regard to the popish Offi­cers; but that this was far from his Thoughts, and quite contrary to his Intention, appear­ed by a late Admission of several others of that Superstition into Military Posts. In short the King unhappily persisting in his own Way, discharged his Anger against the Bishop of London, a most worthy Prelate, Brother to the late Earl of Northampton, putting him away from the Council Board, on account of a Speech he had, the last Ses­sions, made in the House of Lords, concern­the popist Officers; tho' as I was told, by the Archbishop of York, it was spoken with all the Deference and Respect imaginable. This decent Speech was by some said to be [Page 227] the Cause of his Lordship's Dismission; but others attributed it to his Industry in keep­ing the Princess of Denmark within the Pale of the Protestant Church, in opposition to some extraordinary Endeavours to get her over to that of the Church of Rome.

date Jan. 14. My Lord Delamere was, this Day, tryed by a particular Commission, directed to the Lord High Steward, and thirty other Peers. The Crime laid to his Charge was conspir­ing to raise a Rebellion, and to subvert the Government, in Conjunction with the Duke of Monmouth, and other false Traitors, and so on. I hapned to sit near the King dur­ing the whole Tryal; but the only positive Evidence against his Lordship was one Sax­ton, an obscure Fellow, who swore that a­bout the Time of the Duke of Monmouth's Landing, he was recommended by the Lord Brandon, to the Lord Delamere, and discours­ed with him at his House in Cheshire, upon the 4th of June, Sir Robert Cotton, and ano­ther Gentleman being present; that their Conversation was about Assistance to be gi­ven to the said Duke, and that his Lord­ship should say, He was engaged to raise 10000 Men in his Cause, but that he could not effect it so soon as he had promised, because of a present Want he was under of Money. [Page 228] What the other Witnesses had to alledge, was all Circumstance and Hearsay: Some said the Duke of Monmouth had told them, He depended upon Help from Lord Macclesfield, Lord Brandon, and Lord Delamere, and that they would be ready to rise in Cheshire, as soon as he landed: Others swore that the Duke had written and sent Messages to his Friends in London, to give Notice to the Lords to be ready, and that he was preparing for England. In the Course of this Tryal, a Point of Law never before heard of, was started, by the Lord High Steward, and the Solicitor General, namely, That tho' there were but one positive Evidence, in a Case of High Treason, if the rest, tho' but circumstantial, concurred therewith, it was sufficient to find a Prisoner guilty; for Ex­ample, supposing one Man should hear ano­ther say, he intended to kill the King, upon such a Day, and that another swears he saw the Party lie in wait to prosecute his Inten­tion, the Evidence is sufficient. But what­ever there might be in this Law, it was by no Means applicable to the Prisoner; for he most convincingly disproved the main Evi­dence, Saxton, and, by the clearest Testi­mony, made it appear, That neither the two Gentlemen nor himself were upon the [Page 229] Spot upon the 4th of June; that two of them were then actually in London, and the other sixteen Miles off: He urged also, That if the Man had sworn nothing but Truth a­gainst him, he could be no legal Witness, being himself a Prisoner, and taken in Re­bellion, when Monmouth was routed, and consequently under a Temptation to swear against him, to save his own Life; upon the whole he was acquitted, every one of the Peers declaring him not guilty. There were those who condemned the Lawyers who had advised the King to bring a Peer to Tryal upon so slender a Foundation; while others observed, That as the King had committed him to Prison, it was but fit he should be brought to a public Tryal, lest it should be said he had been detained when nothing appeared against him. But when all was over, I plainly saw the King was in great Rage with Saxton, and the next Day he declared, He should be first convicted for Perjury, and then hanged for High Trea­son.

date Jan. 18. A few Days afterward, I dined with the Lord Chancellor, where the Lord Mayor of London was a Guest, and some other Gentle­men. His Lordship having, according to Custom, drank deep at Dinner, called for [Page 230] one Mountfort, a Gentleman of his, who had been a Comedian, an excellent Mimic; and to divert the Company, as he was pleased to term it, he made him plead before him in a feigned Cause, during which he aped all the great Lawyers of the Age, in their Tone of Voice, and in their Action and Gesture of Body, to the very great Ridicule not only of the Lawyers, but of the Law it­self, which, to me, did not seem altogether so prudent in a Man of his losty Station in the Law; diverting it certainly was, but pru­dent in the Lord High Chancellor, I shall never think it; but let us step to the King.

It was now know, That Mrs. Sidley, who had been the King's Mistress, and had seve­ral Children by him, when Duke of York, but whom he had deserted for a while when he came to the Crown, was as much in his Favour as ever; for he created her Countess of Dorchester, and visited her frequently, which gave the Queen a great deal of Un­easiness; but there was no Help for it; 'till at length her Majesty's Party and Priests did so importune the King, and so pressingly remonstrate to him the Sin of this Amour, and what was worse, the Disparagement it would throw on their Religion, that it was reported he would abandon his Mistress, [Page 231] and that he had sent her Word, either to retire into France, or to expect to have her Pension of four thousand Pounds a Year withdrawn.

To resume the Lord Chancellor once again, he had now like to have died of a Fit of the Stone, which he virtuously brought upon himself by a furious Debauch of Wine, at Mr. Alderman Duncomb's; where he, the Lord Treasurer, and others drank themselves into that Height of Fren­zy, that, among Friends, it was whispered They had stripped into their Shirts, and that, had not an Accident prevented them, they had got up on a Sign-post, to drink the King's Health; which was the Subject of much Derision, to say no worse.

The Term, the Parliament was prorogued to, being expired, the Members of the House of Commons, and the Lords, met in their respective Places. The Commons that appeared were to the Number of about 150; and being summoned, by the Black Rod, to appear in the House of Lords, a Commis­sion directed to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, and others, impowering them, or any of them, to prorogue the Parliament 'till the 10th of May next, was read, and the Parliament was prorogued accordingly.

[Page 232] Though it could not be as yet said, That the King had made any notable Invasion on the Rights of the Church of England, he re­curred to all the Methods he could contrive and practice for the Increase of his own; by putting more Papists into Office in this King­dom, but especially in Ireland; by causing or at least allowing of Popish Books to be printed, and sold, and cried about publick­ly; by publishing some Popish Papers found in the late King's Closet; by a Declaration that his late Majesty died a Papist, and in what Manner; by an Account of the Con­versation of the late Duchess of York, toge­ther with her Reasons for the same, as written by her self; by a Lettter or Order to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to direct the Clergy of his Province to preach a good Life, but never to meddle with Controver­sies in their Sermons; by sending the Lord Castleman upon a solemn Embassy to the Pope, and by much more of the same Na­ture and Tendency; which made it expected that more would infallibly follow.

date 1686 date April 29. Accordingly this Day, being the first of the Term, a great Change was made among the Judges in Westminster-hall: There was a new Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas, and another new Judge of the same Bench; [Page 233] there was a new Chief Baron; in fine, four new Judges of the several Courts. This made a considerable Noise, as the Gentle­men now displaced were of great Learning and Loyalty, and whose only Crime had been, They would not give their Opinions, as several of their Brethren had done, That the King by his Prerogative might dispense with the Test required of Roman Catholics. The next Day I was informed by Mr. Jones, Son to the Chief Justice of that Name, late­ly turned out, that his Father, upon his Dismission, observed to the King, That he was by no Means sorry he was laid aside, old and worn out as he was in his Service, but concerned, That his Majesty should expect such a Construction of the Law from him, as he could not honestly give; and that none but indigent, ignorant, or ambitious Men would give their Judgment as he ex­pected; and that to this his Majesty made Answer, It was necessary his Judges should be all of one Mind. He told me farther, that Sir Robert Sawyer, the Attorney Gene­ral had been directed by the King, to draw up a Warrant, by virtue of his Prerogative, to invest a Priest of the Church of Rome with a Benefice, and to confirm one Walker, head of a House in Oxford, and some Fellows of [Page 234] the same, who had erred over to the papal Communion, by a Non obstante: That the Attorney said This would not be against one Statute only, but against all the Laws since the Days of Elizabeth; that he there­fore durst not do it, and desired the King to weigh the Matter a little with himself; for that it struck at the very Root o [...] the Pro­testant Church, quite contrary to his Maje­sty's late gracious Promises; in short, that the Attorney farther said, He doubted not but as soon as another could be found to do the Work, he should lose his Place; such a Slave was the King to the Priesthood of Rome.

date May 5. But whatever the Attorney at present ex­pected, the Sollicitor Finch, was now turn­ed out, one Powis appointed in his stead, who was ready and willing to do what the other refused, which was, to draw up a Warrant for confirming of Walker, in his Office of Head of University Colledge in Ox­ford, and three Fellows of the same; and another in Behalf of the Parson of Putney, which afterwards passed the Great Seal, tho' the Parties were Papists as strong as could be. And to complete, as it were, all, most of the Protestant Officers in the Army in Ire­land, were removed and Papists substituted in their stead.

[Page 235] The Term of Prorogation being elapsed, it was by Commission continued to the 22d date May 10. of November following. The King said this Morning, in his Bedchamber, That many of the Politicians of the House of Commons were come up, in Fear he should surprise them with doing of Business, but that he would not do by them, as they had been wont to do with the Crown; a very extra­ordinary Speech. But three Days after­wards, taking my Leave of the Lord Dover, late Henry Jermin, Esq a Papist and great Favourite, he told me the Parliament would certainly meet at the Time last limited, and that if they would not comply with the King, they were to look to the Issue. In short, the King having lately got him a Je­suit for his Confessor, drove on at a great Rate, and seemed by far more intent than before upon promoting and spreading his own Religion. In a Word, he was now date June 21. resolved to protect those of his own implicit Faith at all Adventures, a notable Instance of which was now exhibited in the Case of Sir Edward Hales, a profest Papist, to whom the King having given a Regiment of Foot, he was, this Term, sued upon the Statute, for five hundred Pounds, he keeping his Employment without the Qualification re­quired. [Page 236] Upon which Occasion it was agreed [...] all the Judges, Baron Street excepted, That the King had a Power to dispense with all penal Statutes, and that his Majesty en­joying alone the Power, was the only Judge in the Case; and so Sir Edward pleading the King's Pardon, obtained the better of the Prosecution; an Event which gave great Surprise, and occasioned much Discourse the whole Kingdom over.

date Oct. 15. Notwithstanding what had been so confi­dently assured me concerning the Sitting of Parliament, a Proclamation was at this Time issued out for the still farther Prorogation of it from the 22d of November to the 14th of the February following. After this, the King continued his Course of displacing Protestants in favour of their Enemies the Papists, and I expected when it was to be my Turn; for I had frequent Alarms of that Sort; every Post brought us Account of Of­ficers both Civil and Military deprived of Employment; of some who resigned their Commissions and Places; but the most gene­ral Accounts were of Persons actually dis­carded, and that Papists were, for the most Part, put in to succeed them. Lord Cla­rendon, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was re­called, and Mr. Talbot, a rigid Irish Papist, a [Page 237] little before created Earl of Tyrconnel, sent over in his Room; which made so dreadful an Impression upon many Protestants of that Kingdom, that they either left or sold their Estates, as they could, and came over into England. Mr. Saville, Vice-chamberlain to the King, and who had been of his Bed­chamber when Duke of York, and since then Embassador in France, was put out of all Employment.

date March 7. Leaving the public Affairs, for a while, at this untoward Pass, I would venture to take Notice of a private Occurrence which made some Noise at York. The Assizes be­ing there held, an old Woman was con­demned for a Witch. Those who were more credulous in Points of this Nature than my self, conceived the Evidence to be very strong against her. The Boy she was said to have bewitched, fell down on a sudden, before all the Court, when he saw her, and would then as suddenly return to himself again, and very distinctly relate the several Injuries she had done him; But in all this it was observed, the Boy was free from any Distortion; that he did not foam at the Mouth, and that his Fits did not leave him gradually but all at once; so that, upon the whole, the Judge thought it proper to re­prieve [Page 238] her; in which he seemed to act the Part of a wise Man. But tho' such is my own private Opinion, I cannot help conti­nuing my Story: One of my Soldiers being upon Guard about eleven in the Night, at the Gate of Clifford Tower, the very Night after the Witch was arraigned, he heard a great Noise at the Castle, and going to the Porch, he there saw a Scroll of Paper creep from under the Door, which as he imagin­ed, by Moonshine, turned first into the Shape of a Monkey, and thence assumed the Form of a Turky Cock, which passed to and fro by him. Surprised at this, he went to the Prison, and called the Under-keeper, who came and saw the Scroll dance up and down and creep under the Door, where there was scarce an Opening of the Thick­ness of half a Crown. This extraordinary Story I had from the Mouth of both the one and the other: And now leave it to be be­lieved or disbelieved as the Reader may be inclined this Way or that.

It is fit we observe, That the Way of deal­ing with Men, who proposed any Business to themselves in the Government, and especially the Members of both Houses of Parliament, that were in Possession of Places, and near the King, was thus: His Majesty took them [Page 239] aside, and told them The Test Act was made in the Height of Faction, not so much in Prejudice to the Roman Catholics in gene­ral, as to himself in particular, and to ob­viate his rightful Accession; that while that, and the penal Laws remained in Force, no Soul of that Persuasion could be safe; that it was against all municipal Law, for Free­born Subjects to be excluded the Service of their Prince, or for a Prince to be restrained from employing such Subjects as he thought for his Service; and that therefore he hop­ed they would be so loyal as not to refuse him their Voices for annulling such unrea­sonable Laws. Every Man that persisted in a Refusal to comply with this Suggestion was sure to be outed.

The Time for the Meeting of the Parlia­ment now drawing near, and several of the Members neglecting to repair to London; the King ordered the Judges, in their seve­ral Circuits, to feel the Pulses of the Men; in consequence of which I was, to my great surprise, accosted at York by the Judge, who told me, he had Orders to talk with me up­on the Subject. I asked him if his Majesty had made particular Mention of my Name; to which replying, That he had only re­ceived a general Order from the King, to [Page 240] sound the Inclinations of the several Gentle­men who sat in Parliament, and that he had had a particular Instruction from the Chan­cellor only, as to my self by Name; I de­sired Time to consider of it, and the next Morning returned for Answer, That I per­ceived a Denial would be construed into Disloyalty; That I had so lately waited on the King, and given such Assurance of my Integrity, that I could not apprehend his Majesty could harbour any Doubt as to me, and the rather as he had not been pleas­ed to make Use of my Name; That I could not conceive my self obliged to declare my self to any Body else: But that if his Maje­sty should think fit to say any thing to me farther than he had already, when I had the Honour of waiting on him next, which I intended should be speedily, I would so consult my Loyalty and my Conscience, as to give him all the Satisfaction in my Power: The Judge told me he would make Report of what I had said; and did not seem to be very forward in pressing a Complyance; he had his Orders, and he obeyed them. I deemed this to be the most prudent Reply I could at this Time make; for had I answer­ed in the Affirmative, I might have incurred the Displeasure and Censure of the greatest [Page 241] Part of the Nation; if in the Negative, I should have utterly disobliged the King; a Caution the more necessary to be taken, as there was no likelihood there would be any Meeting of Parliament, to control him in his Conduct. However I believe that in all Cases of this Nature it is safest to unbosom ones self to the Prince in Person, and as much as possible avoid the Danger that may arise from the Treachery, the Prejudice, or the Ignorance of a Reporter.

In Consequence of this Examination of the Members, a Number of Vacancies en­sued, and among others that were deprived, was Herbert, the Vice-Admiral of England, and Master of the Robes; he, in those Days, enjoying Places to the Value of three thou­sand Pounds a Year. The King having threatned, and put his Threats in Executi­on, and also made Use of the most plausible Persuasions, to draw the Majority of Par­liament into his own Way of Thinking, as to the Test and penal Laws, and all to no Sort of Purpose, cared not to see them as­sembled at the Time seemingly appointed; and therefore, this Day, declared in Coun­cil, date Mar. 18. That for divers weighty Considerations the Parliament stood prorogued to the 22d of the November following. His Majesty, [Page 242] upon the same Occasion declared, That it having been found impracticable to effect an Uniformity in Religion, tho' it had been the great Endeavour of four of his Prede­cessors successively, assisted as much as pos­sible by their Parliament; and that such At­tempts having been experienced to be high­ly prejudicial to the Kingdom, witness the Fatality of the Rebellion in his Father's Time; he was now determined to issue out a Declaration in Favour of all Sorts of Dis­senters, that they might enjoy the free Pra­ctice of their own Religion: Hoping it might contribute to the general Peace and Quiet of the Kingdom, the Increase of the People, and the Advancement of Trade. But whatever the Reasons alledged were, It appeared to most men, that a deep Design was laid to sap the Foundations of the Church of England, nor could her Sons but dread some extraordinary Shocks; tho' some there were who apprehending no very extraordi­nary Consequence of these Machinations, believed such a Toleration might be of pub­lic Emolument, if considered in a political View; which was, by much the most speci­ous Side of the Building, which shall close up this Year.

[Page 243] At length the Declaration for Liberty of date 1687 Conscience made its Appearance with us in date April 7. the North; gilded over with the taking Pretence of Tenderness, on the Part of his Majesty, towards all his Subjects whatso­ever; containing an Invitation to all Stran­gers of every Sect to come among us; pre­tending a farther Improvement of our Trade, and promising Protection to the Bishops and Ministers of the Church of England, in their Rights, Privileges, and Immunities, as also the free and undisturbed Exercise of their Religion in all their Churches. But all this was too well understood to divide the Pro­testant Churches, Divide & Impera, that so the Papists might with the more Ease pos­sess themselves of the highest Place; which the Presbyterians or Calvinists, who had, most of them began to conform, seemed to be well aware of; and therefore continued to resort to our Churches, tho' the Anabap­tists, Quakers, and Independants thought it worth their while to return their Addresses of Thanks and Acknowledgment. Elated, seemingly, with this, the King goes on in his old Course of displacing Gentlemen that had Posts, but particularly such as were of the Parliament, and obstinate enough to withstand his Wishes; and now the Parlia­ment [Page 244] being prorogued it was not thought worth the Trouble to inquire which way any Body stood inclined, so that the late Question concerning the Test and penal Laws was dropped, or at least suspended. All this Inequality of Usage wrought but upon few Protestants either of Estate or Quality to change their Faith, little or not at all allured by the Baits thrown in their Way, or terrified by the King's Frowns and im­placable Displeasure: Honour therefore now was the grand Bulwark of our Religion, Gentlemen disdaining to have thought they could sacrifice the Sweets of Conscience to the mercenary Views of a Reward: In the Midst of this, dies the Duke of Buckingham, a Man once of vast Estate, and oftentimes in high Favour with the late King, tho' never with the present; a Man of the most exqui­site Wit of his Time, the handsomest, and best bred; but unfortunately given up to Pleasures, unsteady in his Ways, and, in all Respects, an Enemy to himself.

While Addresses of Thanks were every Day presented to the King, on the Part of the various Denominarions of Dissenters, and from some even of the Church of Eng­land; I had frequent Alarms that the Papists were in a Way of persuading the King to [Page 245] grant them the Mannor of York, as a Semi­nary for the Instruction of Youth in the Principles of their Faith; and I this Day heard it was granted accordingly to one date June 24. Lawson, a Priest, for a Term of thirty Years. Surprised at this, I wrote to the Lord Bel­lassis, the principal Commissioner of the Treasury, remonstrating, That I had had it by my Commission of Governor, grant­ed to myself by the late King, and confirm­ed by this; that it was worth sixty Pounds a Year to me, and that it had cost me above two hundred Pounds in Repairs, since I had enjoyed it; and that as I had been allowed nothing for this Expence, I desired it might be either continued to me, or that his Ma­jesty would be graciously pleased to grant me such a Compensation in lieu thereof, and consider me in my Disbursment, in such Manner and Proportion, as in his great Ju­stice and Wisdom he should think fit. A few Days afterwards, a Proclamation came to hand, bearing Date the 2d of July, where­by the King dissolved the Parliament, and at once stunned the main Body of the Nati­on. The next Day, the Pope's Nuncio be­ing to make his public Entry at Windsor, the Duke of Somerset, one of the Lords of the Bedchamber in waiting, refused Attendance [Page 246] at that Solemnity; for which he was forbid the Court, and deprived of all his Places; the same Fate befel five of the six Gentle­men of the Privy Chamber, for the very self same Cause; so that every Hour Things looked worse and worse. A while after I had a Letter from Lord Feversham to acquaint me that, according to my Desire, he had spoke to the King concerning the Mannor of York; but that he had found he had pro­mised it to Father Lawson, for the Uses above specified; that his Majesty told him, He did not know I lived in it, and that if I had been at any Charge in Repairs I should be considered for the same; but added, for my present Comfort, That was I not so good a Man as he took me to be, he would not have kept a Governor at York so long as he had done: But I shortly after had another Letter from the same Lord, to tell me that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury had so represented the Business to the King, at Windsor, that no possitive Resolution was as yet taken.

In the midst of the impending Dangers which seemed to threaten us, there was a Nobleman, the Marquiss of Winchester, who had by his Conduct persuaded some People to think him mad, tho' he certainly acted [Page 247] upon Principles of great human Prudence. This Gentleman passing thro' Yorkshire, in his Way to London, I went to pay him a Visit. He had four Coaches and an hun­dred Horses in his Retinue, and staid ten Days at a House he borrowed in our Parts. His Custom was to dine at six or seven in the Evening, and his Meal always lasted 'till six or seven the next Morning; during which he sometimes drank; sometimes he listned to Music; sometimes he fell into Dis­course; sometimes he took Tobacco, and sometimes he ate his Victuals; while the Company had free Choice to sit or rise, to go or come, to sleep or not. The Dishes and Bottles were all the Time before them on the Table; and when it was Morning he would hunt or Hawk, if the Weather was fair; if not, he would dance, go to Bed at eleven, and repose himself 'till the Evening. Notwithstanding this Irregularity, he was a Man of great Sense, and though, as I just now said, some took him to be mad, it is cer­tain his Meaning was to keep himself out of the Way of more serious Censure in these ticklish Days, and preserve his Estate, which he took great Care of.

[Page 248] The President of Magdalen College, in Ox­ford date Sept. 12. being dead, the King sent them his Mandamus, requiring them to chuse the Bi­shop of that City in his stead; but they an­swered Locus plenus est. The King taking Oxford in his Progress, and the Master and Fellows of that College waiting on him, He told them the People of the Church of Eng­land, had used him ill, that they had behav­ed neither as Gentlemen or good Subjects, and ordered them to go presently back to their Election and chuse the Bishop, or he would let them feel how heavy a Hand a King had. They went, but returned this Answer, That they were sorry they should be so unfortunate as to fall under his Maje­sty's Displeasure; but that they could not proceed to a new Choice without actual Commission of wilful Perjury, and thereup­on hoped he would excuse them. Now, in this Progress, it was an Observation gene­rally made, that the King courted the Dis­senters, and discountenanced the Church of England: For the Papists being by no Means a Body of themselves numerous enough to cope with the national Church, he thought to strengthen them by a Junction with the Dissenters, whom he blinded with his Li­berty of Conscience, and with telling them [Page 249] that he desired a Repeal of the Test and penal Laws, for their Ease and Security, as much as in Behalf of the Papists.

A strange Look it had, That the very People, who had lately been so indefatiga­bly busy to divest him of his Right, and even to deprive him of Life, it having been, in one Parliament, attempted to impeach him of High Treason, upon the Statute a­gainst a Reconciliation with the Church of Rome, I say it looked strange, that these very Men should be preferred to those who had preserved him out of their Hands, not in Parliament only, but in the Field also; but it seems all Considerations are of no Worth or Validity with a hearty Zeal for the Priesthood of Rome, and that Oblivion is so far from being Ingratitude, that it is highly to be commended, a most salutary Expedient, when for the Advantage of Mo­ther Church.

date Sep. 28. In pursuance of this very ill Doctrine, the King puts out several Aldermen, who had ever signalized themselves by their Fidelity and Loyalty, who had adhered to him with the greatest Constancy in the very worst of Times, and what is worse, they were Al­dermen of the City of London; they were Members of the Church of England, and [Page 250] Nonconformists filled their Places. Doctor Hough, President of Magdalen College, is now put out, by certain Visitors appointed by the King for that Purpose, for that he was elected by the Statutes, in contradiction to the King's Mandamus; but the Doctor stout­ly refused to quit, 'till compelled by Force, and then appealed from the Visitors to the King in Westminster-hall.

date Nov. 5. At this Time it was my Turn to feel a Part of the Storm which had hitherto blown over me, or at some Distance on each Side from me. I received a Letter from Father Lawson, the Priest I formerly mentioned, to give me Notice, That the King having made him a Grant of his House, the Man­nor of St. Mary's in York, for the Honour of God and the good of his People, he ex­pected from my usual Civility, that I would give him free and easy Possession. To which I answered, that I held it by Virtue of a Commission that constituted me Governor of York; that he could not think I would divest my self of it by my own Act and Deed; that I had too great a Veneration for the King's Bounty, and was too proud of his Service to do that; but that if his Majesty positively commanded it, I should have no­thing to do but to obey; with this Reserve [Page 251] however, That if his Majesty gave it away, I hoped, and in Justice it was a Duty in­cumbent on him to endeavour it, I was to have some Equivalent for the Loss. Seve­ral Letters passed between us, 'till at length the Earl of Feversham sent me Word, that it was actually granted; while Lawson flatter­ed me with Expectations that the King would consider me one way or other, and informed me of several kind Things his Ma­jesty should say of me.

date Dec. 7. At length Father Lawson comes in Per­son, and claims Possession, it being in vain to contest with him, I ordered my House­keeper to give him Admittance; but he left it again for the present, 'till I could move my Goods. The clear Profits of this Place to me, besides the Use of the House for my self and Friends, and Grass and Hay for my Horses while I staid in Town, amounted to about forty Pounds a Year. After this, I expected the rest would soon follow; for the King had caused or ordered the Lord Lieutenants of most, if not all, of the Coun­ties in England, to call together their Depu­ties and the Justices of the Peace, and ask them these three Questions, (1.) If in Case the King should call a Parliament, and they should be chosen Members of it, Whether [Page 252] or no they would Vote to take away the Test and penal Laws? (2.) Whether or no they would give their Vote for such Members as they believed would be for the Repeal for the same? (3.) Whether or no they would live peaceably, and as Christi­ans ought to live, with such as differed from them in Religion. Some Lord Lieutenants who refused to comply with this Order, were turned out to give Place to Papists, and the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace who did not return a satisfactory Answer, were for the most Part divested of Office.

This certainly was pushing the Point by much too far, nor could Men forbear won­dering to what Purpose it could be meant; for what Answer could any Gentleman pre­tend to give 'till he had heard the Reason­ings and Debates of the House? And who could pretend to answer for the Man he voted to be a Member; or pretend to be sure of what Sort of a Mind he would be when he got to his Seat in the House? If the ge­neral Inclination had been to deceive the King, how easy was it for Men to express themselves one way and resolve another? Besides it was striking at the very Founda­tion of Parliaments, thus to pre-engage the [Page 253] Members, who according as Things, upon their Meeting, appeared to them, are by the Laws of the Land allowed Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Judgment. But the most general Answer that was returned by the Protestants of the Church of England was, That they, if of the House, would so Vote as the Reasons of the Debate should prevail with them; that they would vote for such as they thought would do the same; and that they would live quietly with all Men as good Christians and loyal Subjects. A­bout this Time there were great Removes of Officers, Civil and Military, and most Cor­porations were purged of their Church of England Aldermen, and Papists or Dissen­ters appointed to succeed them. The King, however, soon after seemingly abated of the rigor of this Scrutiny, tho' the Lord Lieute­nants continued the Inquiry in most Coun­ties, but with very little Success.

While this was transacting in England, the French King was engaged in a high Dispute with his Holiness of Rome, concerning the Immunities and Franchises of Ambassadors in that City, which tho' all the Princes of the Catholic Religion submitted to the Re­gulation of, the King of France would not▪ His Ambassador, who would have demand­ed [Page 254] the antient Rights, was denied Audience, and persisting in the Thing, was declared ex­communicated; the Cardinals were forbid­den to visit him as an Ambassador; and the Church of St. Lewis, reputed the parochial Church of the French Nation, whither the Ambassador and his Retinue repaired to the midnight Mass of Christmass, was interdict­ed, for admitting him to partake of the Devotions of the Season. Upon Notice of this, the Parliament of Paris was assembled, and the Attorney General drew up an Ap­peal from Rome to the next general Council, setting forth that the Pope had no just Claim to Infallibility; that he had no Power to excommunicate Princes; that his priestly Authority was of no Weight in Temporals; and that the Power of the Keys was abused when subservient to evil Ends. That his Holiness had not only in this acted contra­dictorily to his Character as Vicar, but also in refusing Bulls to such as his Majesty had nominated and recommended to the vacant Bishoprics in his own Kingdom, for no Rea­son but because they would not acknowlege him to be infallible, or as the Italian Doctors call him Universal Monarch; that by this Means there were no fewer than thirty Va­cancies unsupplied at this Day; and that the [Page 255] Pope's Obstinacy ought to be controled, as as the Custom had formerly been with the Church, by OEcumenic, or National Coun­cils, After this, and much more, the At­torney withdrew, and was by the Parlia­ment admitted as an Appellant in the Case; the Pope's Bull was at the same Time de­clared void; it was forbidden to disperse it within any Part of the Kingdom, and or­dered that the King should be humbly en­treated to exert his Authority as to the Im­munities and Franchises of his Ambassador at Rome; and to call such Councils, or As­semblies of great Men, as might apply a Re­medy to the Disorders that had arisen from the long Vacancies of Archbishoprics and Bishoprics, and lastly, that he would prohi­bit all Commerce with the Court of Rome, nor suffer any Money to be sent thither.

This was a strange Sort of a Scene to us in England. It was thought we were most in­separably linked together with our neigh­bour Kingdom; but while the one is abject­ly endeavouring to crouch to the Lash, the other is seemingly resolved to slip her Neck out of the Collar. But now a Proclamation date Jan. 29. is heard requiring public Thanksgiving to be made, for that our Queen found herself quick with Child. The Joy on Account of [Page 256] this News, if it created any to speak of, was continually interrupted by some violent or unequal Act or other, on the Part of the King; among the rest the Earl of Oxford, the first of his Dignity in the Realm, tho' low in Fortune, being commanded to use Interest in his Lieutenancy for the Repeal of the penal Laws and Test; and making Answer, in plain Terms, that he could not persuade others to that, which in his own Conscience he was averse to, the King took his Regiment of Horse from him, and gave it to the Duke of Berwick. Some Time af­terwards, the Earl of Burlington resigned his Commission for the Lord Lieutenancy of the West-Riding of York, into the Hands of the King, who immediately gave it to Lord Thomas Howard, only Brother to the Duke of Norfolk, a warm and Zealous Papist, pur­suant to the Method his Majesty had hither­to tenaciously observed with regard to most of the Lieutenancies that became vacant in England.

The West-Riding of Yorkshire had not been examined as to the Repeal of the Test date April 24. and Penal-Laws; and now at the General Quarter Sessions at Pomfret, the Popish Ju­stices, in Number six, and Sir John Bointon, the King's Serjeant, who, as I presume, [Page 257] aspired to be a Judge, moved that an Ad­dress of Thanks might be signed and pre­sented to his Majesty for his late Indulgence as to Matters of Conscience, and that not only by all the Justices, but by the two Grand Juries: But none of the Justices ex­cept the six above and one Mr. Bull, nor ei­ther of the Grand Juries would set their Hands to this Address; so that the Roman Catholics sent it up, signed by themselves, as the Act of the whole Sessions. By such Tricks and Artifices as these the King was deceived in the Opinion his Subjects had of his late Indulgence; three or four Men, in several Places as well as this, pretending to speak and answer for the whole Corporation, or County.

date May 7. A few Days afterwards, a Roman Catho­lic Justice told me the King was now con­vinced, that he had been ill advised in push­ing the Question concerning the Repeal of the Test; that he intended to put out some Justices and admit others, tho' not by that Method, but by informing himself, from such as he knew to be true to his Service, how they stood affected as to Liberty of Conscience; and that he had particular Or­ders from the Lord Thomas Howard, who had the same from the King, to advise first [Page 258] with me upon that Subject. I told him that the Method lately taken had most assuredly been of no Advantage to his Majesty, most of the principal and powerful Gentlemen, in every County, having been thereby thrust out of Employment: But that this new Me­thod would be attended with as great Dif­ficulties, and be subject to the fame Falla­cy, it being impossible for one Man to pry into the Recesses of another Man's Heart; nay, that it was even a hard Matter for a Man to promise for himself. For according to the Supposition, he was to be either in Parliament, or out of it; if he himself should be elected, he could not honestly promise which Way he should vote 'till he came to his Seat, and heard the Debates; and that if he was not elected, it would be quite im­possible in any Degree to answer for the Man he should chuse for his Representative; that I believed most Men thought a Liberty of Conscience might be of Use and Advan­tage to the Nation, if settled upon a proper Foundation, and with true Regard to the Rights and Privileges of the Church of Eng­land. To this he replied, that the King had openly declared the Church of England should have any reasonable Equivalent she could desire for her Security, provided an [Page 259] Act might pass for the Liberty of Consci­ence; and told me we should meet and talk farther upon this Head, which for the pre­sent I evaded as much as possible; I cared not to explain myself quite, having no In­clination to expose myself any farther than was barely needful, or to give Characters of other Men. date May.

Having at two several Times obtained Leave to repair to London, I there found Af­fairs to stand much in the Posture I expected. The popish Party was very urgent with the King to press the Repeal of the Laws against them, and the other as obstinate and head­strong against it; and what brought the Di­spute to a still greater Degree of Warmth, was owing to what follows: His Majesty had lately renewed his Proclamation for Liberty of Conscience, and given Order to the Bishops, to cause it be read in the Churches of their respective Dioceses. The Archbishop of Canterbury, and the rest of the Order, remonstrated against this; setting forth, in a Petition they presented to the King, That they could not pay his Majesty Obedience in what he was pleased to require of them; that no Bishop, or Minister of the Church of England could assent to the Pro­clamation, which must of course be implyed [Page 260] by their reading it or causing it to be read; that a Declaration of the same Nature, on the Part of the King, had been in Parlia­ment condemned twice in the late Reign; that therefore they might be liable to be called to an Account hereafter, for doing what had been adjudged contrary to Law; that tho' the King of himself could do no wrong, his Ministers or Agents were respon­sible for whatever was done infractory of the Law; and tho' his Majesty had been pleased to declare a Liberty of Conscience, it was, nevertheless, the Duty of the Clergy, as much as in them lay, to persuade Men into an adherence to their Communion; that for them to publish the King's Pleasure, in the Manner required, would be the same as if they told the People They needed not to come to Church except they pleased; and that by the same Rule he might command them to read Mass in their Churches, and be found to obey: These and many other Arguments were, upon this Occasion, offer­ed by the Bishops; at which the King con­ceived so violent a Displeasure, that they were commanded to appear in Council be­fore him, on the 8th of June.

date June 1. In the mean time I kissed the King's Hand, and met with a gracious Reception: [Page 261] I was honoured with a Visit from the Mar­quiss of Hallifax, who expressed himself pretty well inclined for Liberty of Consci­ence, but averse to the Test and penal Laws all at once, tho' he was seemingly not un­willing it should be done gradually, and up­on wise and weighty Considerations.

date June 8. And now seven of the Bishops made their Appearance before the King in Council, where they were commanded to enter into Recognizances of five hundred Pounds a Man, to answer to an Information to be brought against them the next Term, for Disobedience to the King's Orders. This they refused to do, saying they were not to engage themselves under any Security of the Kind, 'till the Information or Indictment was found, and that by so doing they should not only run counter to the Law, but betray the Liberty of the Peerage; upon which the Archbishop of Canterbury and his six Bre­thren, were committed Prisoners to the Tower, a Severity most deeply resented by the whole Church. Being then at Whitehall, I saw the Bishops going to take Water for the Tower: They all looked very chear­fully, and the Bishop of Chichester, in parti­cular, called to me, and asked me how I did. The next Day the Lord Huntingdon, one of [Page 262] the Privy Council, told me, That had the King known how far the Thing would have gone, he had never laid the Injunction he did, to have the Declaration read in Churches.

date June 10. In the midst of this Ferment, this Day, being Trinity Sunday, about four Minutes before ten in the Morning, the Queen was delivered of a Prince, to the great Joy of the Court. But as important as this Event might seem to be, little Notice may be said to have been taken of it. The Imprison­ment of the Bishops was now uppermost in the Minds of most of the People, who flocked to them in such Numbers, for their Blessing, and to condole their hard Usage, that great and very extraordinary Remarks were made both of Persons and Behaviour. Among the rest, ten Nonconformist Ministers went to pay them a Visit, which the King took so heinously, that he sent for four of them to reprimand them; but their Answer was, That they could not but adhere to the Pri­soners, as Men constant and firm to the Pro­testant Faith, or to that Purpose. Nay, what is more extraordinary, the very Sol­diers that kept Guard in the Tower, would frequently drink good Health to the Bishops; which being understood by Sir Edward Hales, Constable of the Tower, he sent Orders to [Page 263] the Captain of the Guard, to see it was done no more; but the Answer he received was, That they were doing it at the very Instant, and would drink that, and no other Health, while the Bishops were there.

date June 15. At length the first Day of the Term came about, when the Archbishop and the rest moving for the Habeas Corpus, twenty-one of the very Prime of the Nobility appeared at the King's Bench to bail them, and they were bailed accordingly. Upon this Occa­sion the Hall and Palace-yards were crouded with thousands of People, who begging their Blessing as they passed, the Archbi­shop freely gave it, and as freely, at the same time, exhorted them to be constant to their Religion. A fortnight afterwards, an date 29 Information was exhibited against their Lordships, in the King's Bench, for that they had framed and published a seditious Libel; of which the Jury would not find them guilty, The Council for the Bishops, the ablest of their Profession in all England, produced such Arguments in their Behalf, that the Judges were divided, two of them declaring that the Proofs did not extend to the making their Petition or Ad­dress a Libel, and two of them that they did, which cost Sir Richard Holloway and Sir John Powell their Seats on the Bench, [Page 264] as soon as the Term was over. In the Course of this Tryal, the Power of the King to dispense with the Laws, that grand Point, was most exquisitely discussed by the Bi­shop's Council, who were so much an over­match for the King's, that at Court it was most heartily wished this Business had never been pushed to such a Crisis. Westminster­hall, the Palace-yards, and all the Streets about, were thronged with an infinite Peo­ple, whose loud Shouts and joyful Accla­mations upon hearing the Bishops were ac­quitted, were a very Rebellion in Noise, tho' very far from so either in Fact or Inten­tion. Bonfires were made, not only in the City of London, but in most Towns in Eng­land, as soon as the News reached them; tho' there were strict and general Orders given out to prevent all such doings; and the Clergy preached more loudly, and more freely than ever against the Errors of the Latin Church. The next Day I waited on the King to the Camp on Hounslow-heath, where every Body observed him to labour under a very great Disturbance of Mind; but he spoke very kindly to me as I rode by him, upon several Occasions.

date July 12. I was present, as a Justice, at the General Sessions held for the Liberty of Westminster, [Page 265] and some Days afterwards, at the same held for the County of Middlesex, at Hicks's Hall, where I found such a strange Revolution among the Justices of the Peace, so many Papists and Fanatics put into the Commissi­on, that I neither sought Business, nor chose to mix with them. At this last Place there were several indicted as Rioters, for that they had been concerned in making of Bon­fires, or contributed thereto; but the Grand Jury would find no Bill, tho' they were sent out no less than three Times; so generally did the Love of the Bishops and the Prote­stant Cause prevail. And now my Lord Hallifax advised me to consider with myself, Whether as Affairs stood, it were prudent to continue in my Imployments: I answer­ed, I had great Obligations to the King, and would serve him as well as I could, whilst he would allow me that Honour, without concerning himself with my Reli­gion.

date July 13. Lord Sunderland, who had been long sus­pected for a Papist, now openly declared himself of that Communion, with the usual Ceremonies, in the King's Chappel; and ten or eleven Days afterwards, the King went down to the Thames's Mouth, as pre­tended, only to take a View of the Fleet; [Page 266] but the real Cause was to appease the Sea­men, who were ready to mutiny, on Ac­count of some of their Captains, who had publickly celebrated Mass in their Ships. The King flattered them all he could; went from Ship to Ship; called them his Chil­dren; said he had nothing to do with their Religion, and that he granted Liberty of Conscience to all; but that he expected they would behave like Men of Honour and Courage when there should be Occasion for their Service; tho' they were so far grati­fied that all the Priests were ordered on Shore. Admiral Herbert, an able Seaman, who n the King had discarded from several great Posts, because he would not promise to vote for the Repeal, went privately away to Holland, where he was made Rear-Ad­miral; which raised Anger in the King, and the rather, as a great many Seamen went after him.

date August. Sometime afterwards, the Duke of Nor­folk came to visit me in London; with whom discoursing upon the present Situation of the Kingdom, I found him a very firm and steady Protestant, to which he had been converted in the late Reign, and by no Means Satisfied with the Court. Some Days afterwards, carrying my Wife and [Page 267] Daughter to Windsor, to wait on the Queen; I perceived the Court to be under some Con­sternation, and the King in an ill Humour, tho' he was of an Equanimity which made it difficult to discover, at the News that the Dutch had fitted out a large Fleet as design­ed against us; and that the French and Dutch were on the Brink of a Rupture, and would each of them press us soon to know which Side we would take. This, considering the Jealousies we were under on Account of Religion, the violent Discontents about the Army, and the ill Time of the Day it was to call a Parliament for fresh Supplies of Mo­ney, did very justly and reasonably disquiet the Court. And now the first Thing the date Aug. 24. King did, was to declare he would call a Parliament, to meet the 27th of November following, protesting in Council, that he was moved thereto more for the Good and Satisfaction of the Nation, than for any Ap­prehension he was under of the Dutch Arma­ment. However, he commanded all Offi­cers in general to their Posts, and drew the Forces out of other Garrisons and Places to man the Sea Ports.

Designing for York, I took Leave of his date 28 Majesty, but with terrible Apprehensions that he would put the same Question to me [Page 268] he had to others, concerning the Repeal; but he said nothing at all of it, only enjoyn­ed me to stand a Candidate, for the next Parliament at York, which I would gladly have been excused, but it could not be; and so he wished me a good Journey. Just at this Time I had News, that the Question had been put, the Week before, to all our Justices of the West-Riding, and that they had all answered in the Negative; so that I could not but think I had a lucky escape.

I sent Notice to the Mayor and others of York, that I intended to stand for one of their Representatives, at the ensuing Electi­on, and found the Magistracy would be for the most Part against me, tho' I had good Encouragement from the other Citizens. The Truth is, I was at some Loss to know how to act in this Matter; I was not desi­rous to be of this Parliament, not only be­cause I was grown infirm and almost unfit to attend the Duty of the House, but also because I was afraid the King would expect more from me than my Conscience would extend to; for as I was determined not to violate this on the one Side, so I could hard­ly resolve to offend so good a Master on the other. In these Straits, I went to the King at Windsor, and shewed him the Letters I [Page 269] had sent to York, and the Answers I had received thereto; desiring his Majesty to indulge me with Replies to three Queries I had to make, (1.) Whether, seeing the Contest was like to be both chargeable and difficult, and the Success extremely doubt­ful, it was his Pleasure I should stand? He replied positively, I should. (2.) Whether, as the Opposition was very strong against me, he would impute it to my Remissness if I miscarried? He promised he would not. (3.) Whether he would assist me all he could to prevent my being baffled, and particular­ly by such Means as I should propose to him? His Answer was, Yes; and he gave immediate Orders to the Lords for purging of Corporations, to make whatever Change or Alteration I desired in the City of York, and to put in or out, which the King it seems had reserved to himself by the last Charter, just as I pleased. But I was care­ful of what I did in this Regard: I consi­dered that if I put out none, it would look as if I had no Power, and debase me into Contempt; and that if I displaced too ma­ny, it might exasperate the City against me, make them believe I was too deep in the Court Interest, and prevent my Success on the other Hand; I therefore only desired [Page 270] that the Lord Mayor might be dismissed his Office, and Sir— Thompson appointed in his stead, which would prevent his being a Member of Parliament; and that too, Mr. Edward Tomson and Mr. Ramsden, who were my principal Friends in the former Election of me for York, and were afterwards turned out partly on my Account, might be re­stored as Aldermen. Then taking leave of the King, and presented him with some Roman Medals, which he took very kindly, he again charged me to do what I could to be chosen.

I afterwards desired Mr. Brent, the Agent for Corporation Matters, that if he had the Power, I might with some others I should name, be added to the Bench of Justices in that City, by a Writ of Assistance, which he promised me should be done. To leave this Affair for the present, there had at this Time been fifty Irishmen and Papists sent for from Ireland, by the Duke of Berwick, in order to be incorporated into his Regiment. Every Captain was to have some; but Lieu­tenant Colonel Beaumont, and five Captains more, who were all that were then on the Spot, in Quarters at Portsmouth, refused to take a Man of them, saying their Companies were complete, and that they were not to [Page 271] part with good Soldiers and Englishmen, to make Room for such as were inferior to them and Foreigners; desiring they might chuse their own Men, or throw up their Commissions. The Duke of Berwick took great Offence at this, and sending an Ac­count of it to the King, he dispatched twen­ty Horse to bring them up in Custody to Windsor Castle, where they were to be tryed by a Council of War; and they were brought up accordingly. I spoke to them just as they arrived, and found they were all resolved to stand it out; but they told me the Duke had not offered a Man of the Irish to any Company, then in his Grace's Regiment, which was very kind of him on his Part, and a miraculous Escape on mine.

Mean while, the Prince of Orange and the Dutch Ambassador had lately given the King Assurances that their Preparations were not against us; but his Majesty, as if he made a Doubt of it, ordered great Things towards a Fleet for the Spring; and I was positively told, by one, that he had actually twenty five hundred thousand Pounds in his Cof­fers.

date Sept. 10. This Day a Council of War sat upon Co­lonel Beaumont, and the five Captains, and they were all cashiered, tho' with Relu­ctance [Page 272] on the Part of the King, who seemed to dread the Consequences of it: They were offered Forgiveness if they would but accept of the Men, but they all refused it; which caused a great and general Discontent throughout the Army, and particularly in that Regiment, most of which soon after quitted. The same Day Sir Walter Vavasor, and Mr. Middleton, came up to make Report to the King of the Answers they had re­ceived from the Westriding and the Corpo­rations, to the Queries they had put to them; in which I found the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of York were so faulty, that they would out of Course, and that I need­ed not give my self the Trouble of getting them removed, and more remarkably my greatest Opposers; so I left them to their Stars, and only insisted on the Commission of Assistance for my self and Friends I should name; but every Post brought me new Fears I should not be chosen at York, tho' several Alterations and Restrictions from popular Elections to a Mayor and twelve Aldermen, whom the King appointed as he pleased, were now made by new Charters, for the more certain Election of such Members as might be to the King's good Liking. And now Lord Hallifax, when I took Leave of [Page 273] him, which was this Day, advised me not date 1688 to be too much in earnest with my Electi­on; date Aug. 16. at least not to make too free a Use of the Court Assistance, for many Reasons he then offered to my Consideration.

A few Days afterwards, I sat out for Yorkshire, and being at my Seat in the Coun­try, I received Advice that my Interest at York was much lessened by my Absence; and what was still worse, that Lord Montgo­mery's Company, being ordered to march from that City, his Lordship would, if I did not come speedily, be obliged to deli­ver up the Keys into the Hands of the Lord Mayor; I therefore immediately posted a­way and received the Keys, and the Com­pany marched. I represented it to the King as a great Inconvenience that there should not be so much as one Company in Garrison at York, and desired to know what I was to do with the Keys; to the first of which his Majesty answered, That upon more mature Deliberation he had recalled the Company, and that as to the Second I might dispose of the Keys as I saw pro­per.

date Oct. 1. I desired the Lord Mayor to call a Hall, for that I had something to say to them. A Hall was called; but his Lordship, the [Page 274] greatest Enemy to my Election, not having Patience to stay till I came, dismiss'd it al­most as soon as assembled, fearing I should make some Proselytes to my Interest. Just on the Back of this comes down a Procla­mation, setting forth a certain Intention the Prince of Orange had to invade this King­dom, by the Assistance and with the Con­currence of the States General, both with a strong Fleet and a numerous Army; com­manding all Lord Lieutenants, Deputy Lieu­tenants, and all other his Majesty's Officers, to hold themselves in Readiness to defend the King and Kingdom. At this Time Lord Thomas Howard was Lieutenant of the West Riding, a rigid Papist, and now gone Ambassador to Rome. He had left but three Deputies behind him, two of which also were Papists, and but two of the three were now in the Country; while most of the Gen­try of Yorkshire were come to the City, ex­pecting to meet with Writs for the Choice of Members. I therefore pressed the High Sheriff to give Notice to some Gentlemen, while I convened others, for the next Day; when Sir Henry Gooderick began a Discourse, which I seconded, to shew how little we were able to serve the King with the Mili­tia, without another Lord Lieutenant, un­der [Page 275] whom we might lawfully serve, meaning a Protestant; and at the same Time we sub­scribed a Representation of our Case to his Majesty. I was well aware how very un­grateful this would be to him; but to obvi­ate his Displeasure, I gave him private In­telligence of the Intention to prepare it, and begged of him to excuse the Concern I had therein, assuring him it was now absolutely for his Service.

date Octob. 4. In the Midst of this comes down a special Messenger to purge the Corporation, to put out the former Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and to appoint others, almost all Papists; but the Commission was so defective, and there were such Mistakes in the Execution of it, as frustrated the Design. The next Day I prevailed with the Lord Mayor to call a Hall; upon which Occasion I spoke to them a full half Hour, and so convinced them of the evil Arts which had been put in Practice against me, and the great Injustice done me, that they all seemed to be Converts in my Favour; and to add to what I had said, I gave them up the Keys, but made them own it as a Courtesy, and promise to restore them to me again, whenever I desired it, for his Majesty's Service. And now Lord Fairfax, a Roman Catholic and Lord Lieutenant of [Page 276] the North Riding, being at York, observed to me it could be for no good End that the Lords Devonshire and Danby were come down to the Country; tho the former pretended he was only come to view his Estate, and the latter to drink the Waters at Knaisbourgh. They were both of them frequently enga­ged in Conversation at Sir Henry Gooderick's, and the first of them came to York, where I paid all imaginable Civilities to him, and received the same from him; the other I waited on at Sir Henry's, not once suspect­ing that Men of their high Quality and great Estate could intend any thing prejudicial to the Government or dangerous to themselves; and indeed their outward Behaviour was very decent and innocent.

Two Days afterwards I had an Express from Lord Preston, the new Secretary of State, Sunderland, who was turned Papist, and had been the Author of great Mischief since he had been near the King, being laid aside, to acquaint me that his Majesty had given a very kind Reception to our Repre­sentation on the Part of the County, and that in Compliance therewith he had named the Duke of Newcastle to be Lord Lieute­nant of all Yorkshire; and his Grace coming to town soon after, appointed his Deputies and [Page 277] Militia Officers, both Horse and Foot. The King began now, tho' fatally too late, to be sensible of his Error in carrying Matters to so enormous a Length at the Instigation of Popish Councils; and now restored several Justices of the Peace in most Counties, as al­so the old Charters all England over; he now quits his Hold of the Bishop of London, does Justice to Magdalen College, and begins a­gain to court the Church of England.

date Octob. 10. Amidst this hopeful Reform comes News that the Prince of Orange increased daily, and that his Fleet was ready to spread Can­vass for the Sea. Three Days afterwards I had Orders from the King to receive seven hundred Scotch Horse and Dragoons, on date 13 their March from the northern Kingdom; and in two Days they arrived. I was in great Hopes they would have taken up their Quarters in York, for the Security of both the City and Country; but the Danger hour­ly approaching, the Apprehensions of the Prince of Orange's Descent growing stronger and stronger, and the King being willing to have his Army in as numerous a Plight as might be, they were ordered to continue their March southward, after they had been with us but three Days. The Duke of New­castle, who kept nothing a Secret from [Page 278] me, told me he had heard Lord Danby had a great Sum of Money in the Bank of Hol­land, and that he had been invited up to London by my Lord Bellassis and the King's Order; that he had made some Offers of his Service, but that he had no manner of In­tention to go up; which last I very well knew from other Hands.

date Oct. 15. Upon some Discourse with the Earl of Danby, at the Dean's House, his Lordship broke out into these Expressions; We are now every Way in an ill Condition in this Kingdom.—If the King beats the Prince of Orange, Popery will return upon us with more Violence than ever.—If the Prince beats the King, the Crown and the Nation may be in no small Danger. The fate Lord Mayor being now superseded, tho' it was impossible to swear the new one in, because of some Mistakes with Regard to the new Charter, it may be said that York was now a very remarkable Place; for it was an Archbishopric without a Bishop, a City without a Mayor, and a Garrison with­out a Soldier. But these Defects were soon supplyed; the old Charter was restored and the old Lord Mayor therewith; the Bishop of Exeter, who fled from that City upon the Prince of Orange's Landing, was made Arch­bishop [Page 279] of York; and I had one Company of Foot sent to continue with me.

Strange it was, and a certain Presage of the Mischiefs which attended this Invasion, that neither the Gentry nor the Commona­lity were under any Concern about it: Said they, the Prince comes only to maintain the Protestant Religion.—He will do no Harm to England: While on the other Hand it was from Court suggested that his Aim was at the Crown, and that the Dutch, who assisted him, grasped at the Trade of Eng­land. In truth, his Highnesses Declaration, when it made its Appearance, which was a little while before he landed, seemed to be dark and ambiguous enough, setting forth all the Grievances of the Nation with great Aggravation, and asserting that the King's Intention was to subvert the Government both in Church and State; that he designed to make himself absolute, and to extirpate the Protestant Religion; that to this Pur­pose he had insisted on a dispensing Power; that he had moulded and fashioned all the Charters to his Mind, to the End he might have such Members of Parliament as he de­sired; that he had examined and pre-enga­ged such as he intended should be of the House of Commons; and that what was [Page 280] worse, he had imposed a suppositious Prince of Wales upon the Nation, merely to pro­mote Popery, and to defeat the Prince and Princess of Orange of their Right of Succes­sion.

The King understanding there was a great Noise raised about this Prince of Wales, had, a little before the Invasion, called an extraordinary Council, whither all the No­bility, Bishops, and foreign Ministers were summoned, before whom the Queen Dow­ager, several Lords and Ladies, and the King's and Queen's Servants, to the Num­ber of forty, as well Protestants as Papists, gave pregnant Evidence concerning the Birth of this Prince, all which was re-examined in Chancery upon Oath, and there record­ed.

date Oct. 29. A Report now arrives that the Dutch Fleet had been miserably shattered by Tem­pest; that Lord Sunderland was certainly out, and Lord Preston Secretary of State in his Stead. The King mean while made great Preparations for War, and had swelled up his Army, as was computed, to six thou­sand Horse and Dragoons, and thirty eight thousand Foot: The Fleet also was out, un­der the Command of Lord Dartmouth, but much inferior to the Dutch, and did nothing [Page 281] to the Purpose. Three Days afterwards the Prince of Orange's Declaration, conveyed by an unknown Hand to a Citizen of ours, was brought to me, and I immediately transmit­ted it to the Secretary of State. Orders were at the same Time sent down to us to secure the Lord Lumley, then in the North Riding; but the Gentleman, Colonel John Darcy, who was charged with this Commis­sion, pretended he could not find him, tho' it afterwards appeared his Lordship was not far off, and might have been seized at Plea­sure. The next Day I had an Express from the Secretary at War, signifying that the Dutch Fleet had been seen off Dover, steer­ing their Course to the Westward, which gave us some Hopes there was no Danger of their landing in the North. In three Days more I received by another Express that the Prince was actually landed at Tor­bay, in the West, (on the 5th of this Month, November) and that he had marched strait to Exeter, attended by Marshall Schomberg, an old and experienced Officer, together with a Number of our own Nobility and Gentry of considerable Name, and a great Land Army.

I immediately sent the Duke of Newcastle Word of this Invasion, tho' he had Notice [Page 282] of it from above; but he wrote back that the Prince being landed at such a Distance: his Presence would be no way necessary at York. I thought this a very weak Answer, and sent him Word that the Danger was not only from the Invaders, but also from their Confederates at home, and that it was impossible the Prince should dare to attack England with an Army of under 20000 Men, if he was not very sure of Assistance from our selves. The Deputy Lieutenants, being ten in Number, were now all at York, and be­ing very sollicitous to preserve Peace, Quiet, and good Order, proposed a Meeting of the Gentry and Freeholders of the County, to be held on Thursday the 19th instant, in Or­der to draw up some Declaration of unshaken Loyalty to the King in this Time of Dan­ger; as also to consult on such Matters as might be for the Honour of God, and our own Welfare and Safety. This being a Motion made by Sir Henry Gooderick, I se­conded it, and observed that an Address of such a Tenor might give some Satisfaction to the Government, and be a Discourage­ment to its Enemies. Accordingly a Sum­mons was drawn up, to be dispersed all the Country over; and in the mean Time I wrote up to Lord Preston, the Secretary of State, [Page 283] to acquaint him with this seemingly intend­ed loyal Address from the Gentlemen in our Parts, and sent a Letter to the Duke of Newcastle, desiring him to make one of the Company.

date Nov. 15. Being this Day at Dinner with Lord Fair­fax, Sir Henry Gooderick, and others, at a Gentleman's who had invited us, the Clerk of the Peace of the West Riding comes in, to give us Notice of a new Commission, in which some thirty of the principal Gentle­men of the Neighbourhood were left out; and among the rest Sir Henry himself. This threw him into such a Rage, that he vowed he was sorry he had promoted the Meeting he had for the Service of the King; but I heard that at this intended Assembly there were to have been some Points discussed which would not have been of so grateful a Nature to the Court: For it was at the same Time the Design to have petitioned for a speedy and a free Parliament, and for other Concessions which were to have been de­manded and insisted upon. But all this was all along denyed to me, and particularly by Sir Henry Gooderick, who being an open Man, I confess I added Faith to his Words; but Friendship is too often a Blind to the Eyes.

[Page 284] Four Days after this, the Duke of New­castle date Nov. 19. himself came to York, and said he heard there was a Design to petition for a free Parliament, and that he thought it not fit there should be so much of the Militia together. I sat that Night with his Grace till it was twelve of the Clock; and we came to a Resolution, That if the Petition or intended Address was not con­ceived in Terms of the strictest Loyalty, we would not set our Hands to it. The next Day his Grace called together his De­puty Lieutenants, and asked them, If there was any Thing meant by their Assembly on Thursday, more than to make a Declaration of Loyalty to his Majesty? Whereupon Sir Henry Gooderick, who was one of them, de­clared plainly, That he intended to petition for a free Parliament, and hoped that the rest, who should meet, would concur there­in, after the Example of a late Petition from some Bishops, and some Temporal Lords. The Duke took this so much amiss, that he declared he would not stay to be af­fronted or overuled by his Deputies, and that he would be gone the next Day. I made Opposition to this; observing that no absolute Resolution could be taken, till the Gentlemen appeared; and that if ought else [Page 285] besides a mere Declaration of Loyalty were thought necessary, it might be so penned, and with that Modesty as both to satisfy here, and not displease above; in short, that his Grace ought, at all Events, to be on the Spot in a Time of such great Trouble and Difficulty. But he went away according to his Word, saying no Body had been of his Side but my self.

date Nov. 22. And now came the Day of Meeting; a fatal one I think. I would not go to them at the Common Hall, which was the Place appointed; nor indeed was I very well able, by reason of some Bruises I had received by my Horse's falling upon me: But I heard that in the Midst of about a hundred Gen­tlemen who met, Sir Henry Gooderick deli­vered himself to this Effect; That there having been great Endeavours made by the Government of late Years to bring Popery into the Kingdom, and by many Devices to set at nought the Laws of the Land, there could be no proper Redress of the many Grievances we laboured under, but by a free Parliament; that now was the only Time to prefer a Petition of the Sort; and that they could not imitate a better Pattern than had been set before them by several Lords Spiritual and Temporal. There were those [Page 286] who differed with him in Opinion, and would have had some Expressions in the Pa­per moderated and amended; and observed that at the same time they petitioned as they designed, it would be but their Duty to assure his Majesty, They would stand firm by him in the midst of the Dangers which threatned both him and his King­doms, at the Hazard of their Lives and Fortunes; but this was overuled. When therefore the Draught was completed ac­cording to the Mind of Sir Henry Gooderick and his Friends, tho' several disliked it and went away, they proceeded to sign; but be­fore a third Man could subscribe it, in comes one Mr. Tankard with a rueful Story That the Papists were risen; and that they had actually fired upon the Militia Troops. A­larmed at this, the Gentlemen ran out; and those that were privy to the Design betook them to their Horses, which were conveni­ently at hand for their Purpose. Lord Danby, mean while in his Lodging, waited for the false Alarm, and mounted, with his Son, Lord Lumley, Lord Horton, Lord Wil­loughby and others, who, together with their Servants, formed a Body of Horse, con­sisting of a Hundred in Number, well mount­ed, and well accoutred. These rode up to [Page 287] the four Militia Troops, drawn out on ano­ther Account, and cryed out A free Parlia­ment, the Protestant Religion, and no Popery. The Captains of these Troops were Lord Fairfax, Sir Thomas Gower, Mr. Robinson, and Captain Tankard, who being admitted of the Secret the Night before, tho' prompt and ready enough in their Nature for any Action of the Kind, immediately cryed out the same, and led their Troops over to them. In the first Place they went to the main Guard of the standing Company, which, the Number not exceeding twenty, they surprised, before I had the least Notice or even Jealousy of what was in Agitation; not thinking it possible that Men of such Qua­lity, such Estates, could give Way to their Discontent, however great and just it might be, to the Degree of engaging themselves in an Attempt so desperate, and so contrary to the Laws they boasted, and the Religi­on they professed. But I had no sooner No­tice of what had been transacted, than I sent for the Officers and the Guard, and un­derstood they were Prisoners. I then sent to each Captain of the four Troops, injoin­ing him to bring his Troop to me as the King's Governor, as also to the Main Guard of the Militia Foot; but they would not [Page 286] stir a Step; they would hearken to no Or­ders. I then sent for my own Horses, and was just ready to go to the Troops, in hopes, by my Presence, to regain them to the King's Service, when Sir Henry Bellassis, who had commanded a Regiment in Holland, under the Prince, and had lurked about a long while in Yorkshire for his Highness's Service, drew up a Party of thirty Horse before my Door, and prevented my stirring abroad till Lord Danby, and his principal Companions, came up to me.

His Lordship told me that to resist were to no manner of End or Purpose; that him­self, and the Gentlemen with him, were in Arms for a free Parliament, and the Preser­vation of the Protestant Religion and Go­vernment, as by Law established, which the King had almost brought to nothing, and which the Prince of Orange was come to re­store; and that he hoped I would join them in so laudable an Effort. I made Answer that I was for a free Parliament and the Pro­testant Religion as well as they, but that I was also for the King: His Lordship re­plyed, that he was so too, and that he hop­ed as we agreed in Principles, we should concur in Action: I told him tho' we exact­ly agreed in the Matter, we differed widely [Page 287] as to the Manner; and I could not conceive it lawful to extort any Thing from the Crown by any manner of Force; and that as I had the Honour of being his Majesty's Gover­nor for York, it was impossible, whatever the Consequences might be, for me to join in Concert with those who openly and avow­edly acted in repugnance to and contempt of his Authority and Commission. His Lord­ship then said, he must imprison me; to which I made Answer, that I was naked and destitute of Friends and Assistance, and that I acknowledged my self in his Lord­ships Power to do with me as he would: But after some short Consultation, his Lord­ship told me, he knew me to be a Man of Honour, and that he should think my En­gagement not to stir, to be as sure and as close a Restraint upon me, as a Guard or a Prison; so that upon the Pledge of my Ho­nour I was to confine my self to my Room; his Lordship, however, recommended what he had offered to my farther Consideration. They then seized on all the Gates, posted strong Guards every where, and suffered none to go in or out; they secured such Persons as betrayed a Dislike to their Pro­ceedings, and especially the Officers of the [Page 288] Company; but the Company it self revolt­ed to them the next Day.

Gathered to this Head, the next Day they visited the Magazine and Stores, which, God knows, were next to nothing, not­withstanding all my most pressing Remon­strances to the King, both formerly and of late. The Militia Troops then, and some of the Gentlemen who came in to serve as Voluntiers, and who were not above sixty, ransacked the Houses of several Papists, for Priests, Arms, and Horses, which they took wherever they found them. They seized also on a Company of Foot new raised, but not yet armed, in their Quarters at Tadcaster, and a Company of Grenadiers as they were on their March for London, by the Way of York; but as yet they touched the Property of no Man but the Kings, the Papists and my self excepted, for they made very free with my Coals, and other Provision I had said in for the Use of the Garrison.

date Nov. 24. The Earl now caused the Lord Mayor to call a Hall, where his Lordship made a Speech, setting forth the Reason for their Rising, and of their Declaration, desiring the City would join with them in the latter, and they signed it accordingly, as did also a Number of Gentlemen. This Declaration [Page 289] being the next Day printed, there appeared of Hands of Lords to it, six; of Lords Sons, three; of Baronets, five; of Knights, six; of Esquires and Gentlemen, sixty six; and of Citizens of York, fifty six. We had now News from Nottingham, that the Earl of Devonshire, Lord Delamere, and many more Noblemen and Gentlemen were risen also in those Parts, and that great Numbers flocked in to them.

Mean while the King was on his March to Salisbury, which he had appointed to be the general Rendezvous of his whole Army, having sent the young Prince, his Son, to Portsmouth, as the Report was by some, but to France according to others. In a Day or two, I made it my Request to the Earl of Danby, that he would give me leave to be a Prisoner at my own House in the Country, where I promised to act nothing to his Pre­judice, but to aquiesce, and abide by my Word as a true Prisoner. Hereupon he sent for me to come and dine with him; and at my coming into the Room told me, That to give me the better Stomach to my Meal, I might, upon the Terms I had pro­posed, depart whenever I pleased. At Din­ner his Lordship told me the Duke of New­castle's Absence had been what principally [Page 290] favoured their Design; and that he doubted not but I had some Fear or Suspicion of what was going forward: I answered, that I did indeed believe they would go very high in their Petition, but never imagined so many Gentlemen of their Rank and Qua­lity would have ventured upon so perilous an Expedient; and that if I had been aware of it, I should certainly have made a Resi­stance, tho' to ever so little Purpose, or at least have made my Escape out of the Town. I had Discourse with several of these Gen­tlemen, and perceived that they began to reflect on what they had done, as of more Danger than they at first thought of, and found they were troubled, that Men come in so slowly to them. Lord Willoughby said it was the first Time that any Bertie had been concerned against the Crown; that it was a Grief to him, but that the Necessity of the Times was fatally such, that there had been no avoiding it. To this I observed, that the flagrant Invasion on our Rights might have been restrained without a Re­pessing Force, and that a thorough and plain representation of our Injuries, properly urg­ed on the Part of the whole Kingdom, could not have failed to reduce the King to a bet­ter and juster Sense of what he was about; [Page 291] that the great want of Money, the violent Distraction of the Nation, and a plain Dis­covery that Popery could never again be imposed upon us, would have obliged his Majesty, for his own Sake, for his own Safety and Interest, to have altered the Te­nor of his Conduct. Sir Henry Gooderick would then have persuaded me to sign their Declaration, but I told them I could not possibly do it; for that tho' I should be of a Mind with them, as to the Matter it con­tained, yet being now in Arms I could not, in my Judgment, conceive but a Concur­rence with them, as to the Contents of their Paper, might be justly construed into a join­ing with them in the Force. Mr. Tankard also most earnestly pressed me to be with them, but I held out. In the midst of this comes the Clerk of the Peace to give me No­tice of a new Commission that was brought down, which restored all the Gentlemen of the West Riding I have formerly observed to have been turned out; but that myself and two more were omitted. Lord Danby immediately took up this, and told me it was plain There was a Resentment against me, and that it was very evident I should meet with worse Quarter on the other Side, than from them; but all this had no manner [Page 292] of Effect upon me. The next Day the Duke of Newcastle sent Orders to his Captains of Horse to dismiss the Militia Troops; but they instead of obeying his Orders, laughed at him for his ill-timed Message.

This Day I obtained a Pass of their Ge­neralships to go to my own Home, upon my Parole that I would confine my self there, nor exceed the Bounds of five Miles about, and live peaceably and quietly, and abstain from all Manner of hostile Action. We had now News as if the Army had voted for a free Parliament, tho' at the same Time they declared they would defend his Majesty's Person from all Men without Exception; the very Matter I desired to be the Con­tents of our Yorkshire Petition. But on the Heels of this laudable Resolution, it hap­ned, as we were told, that a Number of great Men, Officers of the Army, and par­ticular Confidents of the King, had revolted and gone over to the Prince of Orange; par­ticularly, that on the 19th of November, the King having then reached Salisbury, where his Army was rendezvoused, the Lord Churchill, one of his Major Generals, under Pretence of shewing him his Outguards, misled his Majesty into a Train which must have betrayd him to the Hands of a Party [Page 293] of the Prince of Orange's Army, had not an immoderate Bleeding at the Nose prevented the King from proceeding; and that the said Lord perceiving his Design to be thus frustrated, immediately went over to the Prince, accompanied by the Duke of Graf­ton, Colonel Berkley, and others; tho', it must be observed, that this Lord Churchill was raifed from a Page to the King, to the Degree of a Viscount of England, and in Possession of a great Estate therewith, which was entirely owing to his Majesty's Bounty. The King astonished, and not knowing who to trust, returned to Andover, on the 24th, where he sat at Supper with Prince George of Denmark, his Son-in-law, and the Duke of Ormond, bnt to the Surprize of all Men, they both deserted him that very Night, and withdrew to the Prince, together with others of good Note and Account. The very next Day, the Princess of Denmark de­parted privately from Whitehall, in Compa­ny with Lady Churchill, and took Refuge at Nottingham. Now the Number of all that thus forsook the King did not as yet amount to one thousand, but such a mutual Jealousy now took Birth, that there was no relying on any one, no knowing who would be true and honest to the Cause; wherefore [Page 294] the Army and Artillery were ordered to re­tire back towards London, where his Maje­sty arrived on the 26th, his Out-quarters be­ing at Windsor, Reading, and Places round about.

The next Day he called together all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal then in Town, being about fifty in Number, and pursuant to their Advice, Writs were immediately issued out for calling a free Parliament, and for removing all Roman Catholics from Coun­cils and Imployments; for issuing out a ge­neral Pardon to all who were with the Prince, and for sending Commissioners to treat with him. The Proclamation accordingly came out, the Parliament was to meet upon the 15th of January next ensuing, and the Lords date Nov. 28. Hallifax, Nottingham, and Godolphin, were appointed Commissioners to the Prince. But to return back a little to our northern Parts, Kingston upon Hull, or Hull, that considera­ble Garrison was at this Time surprised by Mr. Copley, the Lieutenant Governor, who gathering a Party to him, seised the Gover­nor himself, Lord Langdale, in the Night, as also a Number of Roman Catholics who fled for Refuge to that Place; and the Soldiers joining in the Treachery, they declared for the King, and the Protestant Religion, and [Page 295] sent immediate Notice to York of what they had done. About the same Time a Party was dispatched from York to seise the Duke of Newcastle's Horses and Arms, which they did, but no Manner of Attempt or Injury was offered to his Grace's Person. In short, there were but few Gentlemen in our Parts of the County that adhered to the King; nor indeed in any Part of the North of Eng­land.

date Dec. 11. And now Plymouth, Bristol, and other Places, submitted themselves to the Prince, and the Defection began to be general. In the Midst, as it were of this, the Prince of Wales is brought from Portsmouth to London, when every Soul concluded he was in France: But he made no Continuance; the Queen the very next Night, being Sunday, carrying him, about twelve of the Clock, down to a Vessel privately prepared, which by a fa­vourable Gale was wafted over to Dunkirk. The next Day a Regiment of Scotch Horse deserted to the Prince, nor was there an Hour scarce but his Majesty received, like Job, ill News of one Sort or other; so that, prompted thereto, by most fatal Advice, he the next Day, being the 11th, withdrew himself privately, attended only by two or three Persons, to follow the Queen, as was [Page 296] then most commonly believed. This was very extraordinary and quite wonderful; for his Commissioners having just before sent him Word, That Affairs might be managed with the Prince to his Majesty's Satisfaction, he had summoned his Cabinet Council to meet the next Day, at nine in the Morning; tho' he seems he intended nothing less than to be with them; for he went away that very Night, without so much as leaving any Order or Direction behind him. The Lord Chancellor withdrew at the same Time, and took the Broad Seal along with him; so that all was now in the utmost Confusion, nor is the Consternation to be expressed▪ Upon this the Lords, as well Spiritual as Temporal, wrote to his Highness of Orange, to let him know the King was gone from them and to acquaint him, They would en­deavour to keep Things in Order, till they could receive his Directions, and to invite him to Town.

The Rabble had been before sufficiently incensed against the Papists, but now appre­hending, and reasonably enough, That the King had withdrawn himself by their Ad­vice, or rather at their Instigation, they grew to that Height of Outrage, that rising in prodigious Multitudes, and dividing them­selves [Page 297] into great Parties, they pulled down the Chappels of that Worship, as well as the Houses of many of its Professors, taking and spoiling their Goods, and imprisoning such as they suspected to be Priests: Nor did they spare even the Chappels and Houses of Ambassadors, and other foreign Ministers; and particularly the Spanish Ambassador, who, as was generally computed, of his own and others, who sought his Protection, had Goods and Plate to the Value of one hun­dred thousand Pounds taken from him; what was of less Worth, and belonging to that Superstition, was burnt publickly in the Street. The same Day, the Lord Chan­cellor, who had waited too long for the Tide, tho' in the Disguise of a Seaman and destitute of his Eye-brows, which he had purposely cut off, was stopt at Wapping, ta­ken, and committed to the Tower by Or­der of the Lords. He was first brought to the Lord Mayor upon Suspicion only; but being soon known, they were obliged to give him a strong Guard, or he had cer­tainly been torn to Pieces. Pen, the great Quaker, a Man of reputed Wit, and much consulted by the King, with regard to the dispensing Power he would unfortunately have usurped, and the Scheme of Liberty of [Page 298] Conscience, was taken also; as was Father Peters, that Incendiary, that Scandal to the Privy Council, where he was the first of his pernicious Order that had sat for many a Year before.

The King, however, upon his Departure wrote to the general Officers of his Army, signifying, That Things being brought to Extremities, and being obliged to send a­way the Queen and the Prince, he was forced to follow himself; but hoped it might, at some Time or other, please God to touch the Hearts of this Nation with true Loyalty and Honour. That could he but have trusted to his Troops, he would at least have had one Blow for it; but that tho' there were some loyal and brave Men among them, both Of­ficers and Soldiers, it was their Advice to him not to venture himself at their Head, or to fight the Prince of Orange with them. He thanked those for their Fidelity who had been true to him; and added, That tho' he did not expect they should expose themselves, by resisting a foreign Army, and a poisoned Nation, he hoped they would preserve themselves disengaged from Asso­ciations and all such evil Doings. In the Postcript he told them, That as he had ever found them Loyal, so they ever had and e­ver [Page 299] should find in him a kind Master. Lord Feversham, then commanding as General, dispatched this Letter to the Prince of O­range; and sent him Word, That having thereby Directions to make no Opposition, he had, to prevent the Effusion of Christian Blood, given Notice of the same to his Ar­my, which had thereupon in great Measure disbanded.

His Majesty, in the mean Time, endea­vouring to forsake the Kingdom, in a Hoy with few of his Attendance, among whom was Sir Edward Hales, and stretching over from an Island in Kent, was boarded by a Boat, with thirty six armed Men, who were bound, as they called it, a Priest-codding, or catching. They used the King, but espe­cially those that were with him, with great Rudeness and Incivility, and took from his Majesty three hundred Guinea's, all he was at that Time worth, and his Sword: But when they came to understand who he was, they offered to restore him both, but he would take back nothing but his Sword. Being brought to Shore, he went to Lord Winchelsea's, where he was taken with ano­ther Fit of Bleeding at the Nose, which made him very weak and very sick. Infor­mation of this being sent up to the Lords at [Page 300] Whitehall, they ordered four Noblemen, Aylsbury, Middleton, Yarmouth and another, with some of his Servants to attend him, and carry him Necessaries; some of the Guards also, and Lord Feversham, waited upon him; but their Orders were to leave it to his Ma­jesty's own Choice, either to go or to re­turn, it being deemed unfit to put any Re­straint upon him. Much about the same Time, the Lords Peterborough and Salisbury, who had been lately converted by Father Walker, Master of University College in Ox­ford, were also taken: But the Prince of O­range being invited to London, had reached Windsor before he knew the King had been intercepted.

Before his Highness came to Town, he sent his own People to possess themselves of the Tower: He quartered them in and near the Town, and posted them at Whitehall; and at two in the Morning sent his Majesty Notice That he must remove from thence that Day to some Place ten or twelve Miles distant, and be attended by his Highness's Guards. His Majesty therefore went to Rochester, attended by Lord Dunbarton, Lord Aylsbury, and Lord Arran; and then the Prince came to St. James's, where he was complimented by many of the Nobility; [Page 301] the Bells rang, Bonfires were lighted up, nor was any public Profession of Joy want­ing among the Rabble; while serious Men in the City seemed to think it hard The King should be so forced to withdraw him­self a second Time.

The Prince, upon his Arrival, seemed more inclined to the Presbyterians than to the Members of the Church, which startled the Clergy; he ordered as many of the King's Forces to be gathered together as possible, and confined Lord Feversham to Windsor Castle for having disbanded them, and for other Matters laid to his Charge; nor must we forget, That his Highness as­sumed so much to himself, as to make the Duke of Beaufort wait full four Hours before he would give him Admittance. The King, alarmed at this Proceeding, began to think himself in Danger, and sent to the Lords, signifying, It was his Desire to go out of the Kingdom. Their Lordships took some Time to consider on the Answer they were to make; but while they were in the midst of their Deliberation, he gratifyed himself in his own Desire, and went private­ly away. And now the English Guards and other Troops were, by the Prince, sent to the Distance of twenty Miles from London, [Page 302] to make Room for the foreign Soldiery he had brought with him.

The Lords having for some Time sat in their House, and finding that his Majesty would not appoint another Chancellor or Keeper, or produce the great Seal, the Lords I say, being about sixty in Number, as well Spiritual as Temporal, Lord Hallifax being in the Chair, made an Order to banish all Papists that had not kept House for four Years last past, to the Distance of ten Miles from the City. Their Lordships ceased not to sit, tho' it was Christmass-Day; and among other Things, framed an Address to the Prince, That he would take the Govern­ment on himself, till Affairs could be set­tled; and the next Day a certain Number of Lords were appointed to wait on him therewith; but his Highness said, He could give no Answer to it, till he had the Opini­on of the Commons; for it was but two Days before that he had ordered the Lord Mayor and fifty of the Aldermen and Common Council, together with all such Gentlemen as had been Members of Parliament in the late Reign, and were in Town, to meet to­gether in the House of Commons, to sit there as a Committee, in Imitation of the Lords. They met accordingly, to the Num­ber [Page 303] of about 300, and voted a Concurrence with the Lords in most Things, and particu­larly in their Address to the Prince to take the Government upon him till the 22d of January, when a Convention was to be sum­moned; the Writs, it should seem, that had been issued out for the calling of a Parlia­ment, and the Elections that had thereupon been made, becoming void and of none Ef­fect. All this was transacted in the midst of almost a dead Calm, no Mischief was at­tempted, no Disorders raised or fomented, but all was Peace, Acquiescence, and Sub­mission.

date Dec. 28. The Prince having received this Address, replyed, That he would, according to their Advice, endeavour to secure the Peace of the Nation, till the Meeting of the Conven­tion; and that in order to the said Meeting, he would issue out his Letters to the seve­ral Counties and Towns; that he would take Care the Revenue should be applied to the most proper Uses the Exigencies of Affairs required; that he would do his best to put Ireland into such a Condition as might best maintain the Protestant Religion and Eng­lish Interest in that Kingdom; and that he would at all Times hazard himself for the Laws and Liberties of these Kingdoms, and [Page 304] the Preservation of the Protestant Faith, It being the very End for which he came.

News now came that the King was safe arrived in France, and that he was gone to the Queen, who was at Paris. The French King at first prepared the Castle of Vincennes for their Reception and Entertainment; but their Ma­jesties afterwards removed to St. Germains. The King thus absent in a strange Land, the Lord Tyrconnel, Lieutenant of Ireland, ne­vertheless remained firm and stedfast to his Majesty, with a numerous Army of Papists; while Lord Inchequin headed another of Protestants, and had taken Londonderry, and some other strong Towns in that Kingdom. date Jan. 22. And now being at Liberty to go where I pleased, I repaired to London, where being arrived, I was presently sensible of a great Alteration; the Guards, and other Parts of the Army, which both for their Persons and Gallantry were an Ornament to the Place, were sent to quarter at a Distance, while the Streets swarmed with ill-favoured and ill-accoutred Dutchmen, and other Strangers of the Prince's Army; and yet the City seem­ed to be mightily pleased with their Deli­verers, nor perceived their Deformity, or the Oppression they laboured under, by far more unsupportable than ever they had suf­fered from the English.

[Page 305] Tho' the Convention met on the 22d, there was nothing considerable done till the 28th, when the Settlement of the Nation being taken into Consideration, by the Com­mons, they voted That King James II. hav­ing endeavoured to subvert the Government of this Kingdom, by breaking the original Contract between the King and the People; and by the Advice of Jesuits, and other wicked Persons, having subverted the fun­damental Laws, and having lastly with­drawn himself from the Kingdom, had ab­dicated the Government, and the Throne was thereby vacant. The next Day the date Jan. 29. Lords entered upon the Consideration of the same; and several Motions were made, as there had been the Day before in the House of Commons. Some would have had the King recalled upon Terms, but these were few; others would have had the Govern­ment continued in the King's Name, while the Prince was invested with the executive Power by the Stile or Title of Regent, or Protector; some again were for having it that the King should forfeit the Crown, and the Prince be elected thereto; and others again were for having the Prince and Princess crowned, as in the Case of Philip and Mary, and that the Prince should be King by De­scent [Page 306] in Right of his Wife, while no No­tice was to be taken of the Prince of Wales, who should be rendered incapable to succeed, as a Roman Catholic, he having been baptiz­ed in that Church: At length, their Lord­ships date Dec. 30. voted a Concurrence with the Com­mons as to the main Point, the Vacancy of the Throne, but could not agree with them as to certain Words, and so adjourned the Debate till the next Day, tho' it was car­ryed by no more than so small a Majority as three. The same Day the Commons resolv­ed, First, That it had been found inconsi­stent for a Protestant Kingdom to be go­verned by a Popish Prince; Secondly, That a Committee should be appointed to bring in general Heads of what was absolutely necessary for the better Security of our Re­ligion, Laws, and Liberty. This last Vote or Resolution was of most high Importance, and wisely intended to give Birth to the Conditions on which the Person that next filled the Throne should be intitled thereto, and to bind him down to a more strict Ob­servance of what ought to be, than had heretofore been the Case. Mean while, the Prince seemed not at all to concern himself with what was going forward; and only de­sired that, the Circumstances of Holland and [Page 307] Ireland requiring it, they would make all possible Dispatch, and come to as early a Conclusion as they could.

date Dec. 31. The next Day was appointed a Festival of Thanksgiving for his Highness's Arrival, as it was worded, To deliver us from Pope­ry and Slavery; but it was observed that the public Expressions of Joy flowed not to the Height expected; which, whence it came to pass, might be in Part accounted for here, but may be better deferred to a little Distance of Time. The same Day the Lords sat, and resumed their Debate; but differed with the Commons as to their Term, Abdicated, and would have had, Deserted, substituted in lieu thereof; nor could they quite agree with them, That the Throne was absolutely vacant; so that there was still Room for the Constitution of a Regent or Pro­tector, or even for a Revocation of the King himself upon Terms.

date Feb. 1. In the midst of this I saw Lord Hallifax, in Company with Mr. Seymour, the quondam Speaker of the Commons, a Man of great Parts, and much for continuing the Power in the King's Name, and even in his Person, could we but be secured from the Danger of Popery. Dr. Burnet also was present, who with great Violence argued That the Prince [Page 308] was to be crowned; and urged, That Eng­land could never be happily settled till his Highness was at the Helm, and this King­dom in strict Conjunction with Holland. Seymour said his Proposals were impractica­ble; for that if the Prince was King, he must maintain himself as such, by the Means of an Army, which was not to be relyed on against their natural Sovereign. He observ­ed, That as the late English Army would not fight for Popery, they would be as back­ward in fighting against their King; and that it was impossible for England and Hol­land to join heartily in one and the same In­terest, being Suitors, as they were, to one and the same Mistress, namely, Trade. That same Night my Lord Hallisax told me, He was not at first in the Secret of the Prince's Expedition; but that as his Highness was now with us, and upon so good an Occasion, he thought we were obliged to stand by and defend him. I told him, I had heard Lord Danby expected to be beforehand with him in the Prince's good Graces; but he gave me some Reasons to make me believe otherwise, took Notice that his Lordship began to lag in his Zeal; and concluded that the said Lord could have no Hopes of being Trea­surer, his Highness having declared he would [Page 309] have Commissioners for the Execution of that Office. His Lordship then proceeded to tell me he himself should be employed, and offered to me some Arguments to prove the Legality of serving under the future Go­vernment; particularly that tho' the King had relinquished his Function, the Constitu­tion was not for that Reason to be suffered to fall; that fall it must, if Men would not act under those to whom it was delegated; in fine, that in our present Circumstances the Salus Populi was to be the Lex Suprema. His Lordship then continued, That there were so many who declined to serve, and so few who were fit for it, that if I had a Mind to engage myself, there would be, doubtless, Room sufficient for me; and that after Things were upon a stable Founda­tion, I might entertain some Thoughts of being sent Ambassador to some Prince or State, whereby I might be out of the way, till the Clouds which hung over us, were dispersed and blown away. His Lordship then offered to carry me the next Morning to the Prince, whom I had not yet seen, ad­vised me to be cautious of the Company I kept, and to be very circumspect in all my Actions and Behaviour.

[Page 310] The next Day I went to meet the Mar­quiss, who was with the Prince in his Bed­chamber; but coming out to me, he told me his Highness could not be publickly seen of two Hours yet to come; and advised me to defer the waiting on him till the next Day. At the same Time the Lords, who were for conferring the Crown immediately on the Prince, began to apprehend the adverse Par­ties might prevail against them; wherefore they found Means to stir up the People, who in a tumultuous Manner offered a Petition to the two Houses of Parliament, That they would crown both the Prince and Princess of Orange, and take speedy Care of Liberty and Property, as well as for the Defence of Ireland: But the Lords rejected it, because it was not signed; and the Commons did the same, saying, They would not be awed in their Votes, nor be directed; for that they ought to be free. The very same Day the King sent two Letters, the one to the Lords, the other to the Commons; but the Messenger not being present to testify they were brought from the King, they were laid by, and the Person who brought them was ordered to attend on the Lords the Monday Morning next. At this very Juncture I was told, by a Court Lady, That it was much [Page 311] wondered my Friend, the Marquiss of Hal­lifax, had been so eager for the King's hav­ing abdicated the Government, when he ab­solutely knew his Majesty had never gone, if he had not been frightned into it. She assured me his Lordship had treated with the King to come again into Business, a few Weeks before the Prince's Intention was certainly known: That she was the very Person his Lordship sent to the King; that the King actually gave him a Meeting at her House: That they had agreed upon Terms; nay, what is more, that his Lordship had treated with some Priests for his Return to Court. That upon this Account his Majesty particularly depended upon him, when he named him one of the Commissioners to go to the Prince; that after having conferred with his Highness, he sent the King a private Letter, intimating an ill Design a­gainst his Person, and that this was the real Cause of his Majesty's Flight, and the De­parture of the Queen. That after the King was brought back, Lord Hallifax was one of the Peers that came and admonished him, on Behalf of the Prince, to leave Whitehall, for Rochester or Ham, within the short Space of two Hours; and that his Lordship's Rea­son for conveying this ungrateful Message to [Page 312] his Majesty, was, That he was assured the Prince's Party had in Council resolved to seize on his Person, and imprison him: That upon the whole it must be notoriously known to his Lordship that the King had no man­ner of Inclination to withdraw either the first or the second Time; and that he was compelled thereto out of a Principle of mere Self-preservation. She farther imparted to me That the the King was so terribly pos­sessed of his Danger, and so deeply afflicted when the Princess Anne went away, that it disordered him in his Understanding, but that he recovered pretty well upon his Re­turn. She continued, That the second Time he went away he so little designed any such Thing, that he knew not which way to set forward; one while he resolved to go north­ward, and throw himself into the Hands of the Lord Danby; another, he had Thoughts of going to the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Bishop of Winchester; that she herself was sent to these last, to know if they would re­ceive and secure him, and that they neither accepted the Motion, nor rejected it. She told me moreover, That the Lords intend­ed to make Use of the Marquiss for the Prince's Service, but were far from intend­ing him any Advantage thereby: That his [Page 313] Lordship having been the first that advised the taking away of the Charters, he would be in some Danger of being called to an Ac­count for it, as soon as the Government was well settled; as well as for other Articles, he having great Enemies among the Party to which he adhered; at last she desired me if possible so to contrive that she might speak to his Lordship, and endeavour to moderate him so far as to make him think well of a Regency, and not hurry on so fast for a Forfeiture or Abdication. I told her I would do what I could in it; but was sensible his Lordship was too far engaged to recede. The same Lady again told me a great Lord of Scotland had, but a few Days before, assured her, That in Case the two Houses agreed to make the Government vacant, that Kingdom would chuse for herself, be no more a Province to England, nor give no longer Attendance at the Door of an English Court.

The Lords this Day did nothing more than order the 8th of February, which used to be kept as the Anniversary of his Ma­jesty's Accession, to be no longer observ­ed as a Festival; and sent down their Re­solution to the Commons concerning the Abdication and other Matters thereto re­lating: Which the Commons, the Day af­ter, [Page 314] taking into Consideration, they resolv­ed to adhere, totidem verbis, to their first Vote.

date Feb. 2. I saw the Duke of Sommerset, the Earl of Bur­lington, the Earl of Scarsdale, and some other Lords, who had all been active in the Prince's date 3 Cause, which they now seemed in some Mea­sure to repent. Some of them said The Thing had run a Length they little expected; others, That they could never have believed the Prince would have contended for the Crown; but all agreed in Opinion It was to be set on the Head of the Princess, and so descend in its right Course: And the Earl of Scarsdale particularly told me The Princess of Den­mark was very sensible of the Error she had committed in leaving her Father, to make herself of a Party with the Prince, who now in Return was endeavouring to put her by her Right, and to obtain priority of Succes­sion before her.

date 4 The Lords having sent down to the Com­mons their Reasons for abiding by their Word Deserted, and why they thought there was no Vacancy; the House thereupon di­vided, the Ay's being 183, and the No's 251. The next Day the Houses had a free Conference, the Issue of which was, That the Day after, being the 6th, the Lords [Page 315] concurred with the Commons. A Vacancy being thus on all Hands pronounced, the Lords proceeded to consider in what Man­ner the Throne was to be filled, and in the End passed a Vote That the Prince and Prin­cess of Orange should be proclaimed by the Style and Title of King William and Queen Mary. But the Commons proceeded a Step farther, and voted that all Sanction of the Laws and the negative Voice should be vest­ed in the King singly, declaring it impro­per there should be two Negatives: That the Succession of the Crown should be to the new King and Queen, and to the Sur­vivor of the two; then to their Issue, and in default thereof to the Princess Anne and her Issue; and in default of such Issue, to the Issue of the King in case he should have any by another Venter, and so to the right Line, Papists always excluded.

date Feb. 8. The Commons having completed a Scheme of Grievances and Usurpations on the Rights of the Subject, sent up the same to the Lords for their Concurrence, intending to lay them before the Prince for Redress, at the same Time they made him a Tender of the Crown of England with all its Dependan­cies.

[Page 316] Mean while the Marquiss of Hallifax de­sired me to get the Lady, I just now men­tioned, date Feb. 9. to my House, where he gave her a Meeting, and was two Hours in Conversa­tion with her. During which, he after­wards told me she was so free with him as to say, She wondered he, of all Men living, should contend that the King had abdicat­ed, when he knew himself to have been so directly instrumental in forcing him away, by sending him Word, That if he staid his Life would be in Danger; that for this No­tice and Advice the King owned himself in­debted to him for his Life now, as before that he was not excluded: That to this his Lordship replyed, The King had done ill by him, in sending him a Messenger to the Prince, and going away before he could re­turn: That to this she returned, his Lord­ship was not to say that to her, who actually knew he first sent him away, and was then angry because he went: That then my Lord complained to her of the King's never send­ing for him till the Prince was landed: That this also she contradicted by observing that his Lordship knew her to be privy to fre­quent Invitations he had from the King, and that he might have had his own Terms long before, if he had not stood so aloof: [Page 317] That she then remonstrated to him that though he was so deeply at present imbark­ed in another Interest, he could not be well too cautious; for that the Earl of Danby would most certainly get the Start of him, and play him the same Game in this Court, Lord Sunderland had in the other; that all they were now doing tottered upon an un­certain Foundation; that Scotland would most assuredly chuse her own King; that Ireland was probably lost and gone, the Lord Deputy Tyrconnel being there at the Head of an Army of 40000 Men; and that England herself was much divided, and in great Distraction, with much more to the same Effect; That his Lordship himself con­fessed there were but small Hopes of a last­ing Peace from this Settlement, tho' by far the best that could be formed at this Time of the Day; and that as he was well aware of the great Interest she had with the King, he hoped she would upon Occasion be his Friend, as he would be hers whenever she might stand in Need of him. The Truth is, she dealt more roundly with him than any Body else could have ventured to do with so great a Man; but his Lordship knew her well, and was prepared for all she had to say; [Page 318] telling me himself, it was but Prudence to lend an Ear to every Body.

There were most certainly great and vio­lent Discontents at this Time, and the Causes thereof were these; The Prince had declared he had no Design upon the Crown, and now sought it all he could; he came to settle the Protestant Religion, and yet brought over 4000 Papists with him in his Army, a Number not far short of what the King had in his, but then the former were Foreigners, the latter, for the most Part, English; public Declaration had been made that the Birth of the Prince of Wales was false or suppositious; that there was a pri­vate Treaty made with France to inslave England, that the Murder of the late King and of the Earl of Essex would be amply made out; and yet nothing of all this ap­peared, excepting some small Circumstances relating to the Earl of Essex: Then the Prince kept his Dutch Forces in Town, while the English were marched off to re­mote Quarters; his Highness declared he intended to keep his own Men here, and to send ours to Holland and Ireland; the Prin­cess Anne of Denmark was post-poned in the Succession; several Noblemen were disap­pointed [Page 319] of Posts and Preferments they de­servedly expected for joining with his High­ness, because they would not vote so readi­ly for him as he imagined; in short, the Letters his Majesty sent to the two Houses, were not so much as opened; and Trade, the Dutch being a frugal People, seemed to be much abated in London, to what it had been in the King's Time: These were the Causes of the Discontents that now broke out and appeared. date Feb. 11.

The two Houses having agreed upon a List of Grievances and Usurpations, and the Princess of Orange being now safe ar­rived, they both in a Body attended their Highness's, who sat in two Chairs of State, in the banquetting House, Whitehall, where date 12 the Speaker of the House of Lords having read their Grievances and desired Redress, at the same Time made them an Offer of the Crowns of England, France, and Ireland, with all the Dependancies and Dominions thereunto belonging. The Prince in a short Speech told them He did accept of the same, and would do all he could for the Preservation of their Liberties; and then went away with the Princess; while the Heralds and several of the Nobility pro­ceeded to proclaim them King and Queen, [Page 320] in the usual Form. The Remainder of the Day was spent in Joy and Acclamation; tho' some there were who had but a sorrow­ful Countenance in the midst thereof.

The chief of the Articles the Convention demanded Redress of, were, Suspension of the Laws, or their Execution by the King, without the Consent of Parliament; the pre­tended Power to dispense with Laws; the Court of Ecclesiastical Commissioners; the raising of Money by Prerogative; the keep­ing up a standing Force in Times of Peace, without the Consent of Parliament; the Ob­structions made to the free Choice of Mem­bers to represent the People; the Bars to Freedom of Speech in Parliament; and the Imposition of excessive Bail, or Fines. The Houses then desired the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be suppressed, and the two following taken in their stead; I A B, do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to their Ma­jesties King William and Queen Mary, so help me God.—I A. B. do swear that I do from my Heart abhor, detest, and abjure as impious and heretical that damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes excommunicated or de­prived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murdered by their [Page 321] Subjects or any other whatsoever; and I do de­clare That no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate or State hath or ought to have any Jurisdicti­on. Power, Superiority, Prè-eminence, or Au­thority Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Realm, so help me God.

The Days following, the Houses being adjourned for some Time, were taken up in Congratulations to the new King, whose Numbers, on this Occasion, were unspeaka­ble; in naming and swearing a new privy Council; by whose Advice his Majesty be­gan first with appointing the great Officers of the Court and the Kingdom; while the grand Expectation was, who would have the Preference Hallifax or Danby. The latter certainly hoped to be Lord Treasurer; but the former assured me he was disap­pointed, and obliged to take up with the Presidency of the Council, a Place of great Honour and Credit, but very small Profit; while Hallifax himself was made Lord Pri­vy Seal, of his own Choice, an Office of great Trust, and worth full three thousand Pounds a Year. Before this was publickly known, his Lordship told me Danby was down in the Mouth, and would not suffer his Neighbours to be a little quiet about him, and that for his own Part, as they yet [Page 322] stood seemingly fair together, he would give him no just Occasion of Offence.

The King being thus seated in the Throne, the great Business was to procure such a Parliament as would confirm what the Convention had done; and because a new Election might carry some Hazard with it, or, as was pretended, might be the Loss of Time, when the Exigencies of the State required such immediate Dis­patch, it was, after great Disputes between the Lawyers as to the Legality of the Thing, and warm Debates in both Houses agreed That the Convention should be con­verted date Feb. 23. into a Parliament; which was ac­cordingly done by a Bill framed for that Purpose, which having first passed the House of Lords, was transmitted down to the Commons, who having passed the same, it was at length offered to the Royal As­sent, which was granted of Course.

And thus was a Parliament obtained, af­ter an extraordinary Manner it must be confessed, but being thus constituted they proceeded to prepare several Bills, and particularly one for a Comprehension, and date 28 another for the Toleration of Protestant Dis­senters, which being moved by Lord Not­tingham, in the House of Peers, was se­conded [Page 323] by some Bishops, tho' more out of Fear than Inclination; and a third for the raising of 400,000 Pounds by a Tax upon Land.

And now Lord Arran, who had been a little before assaulted in Leicester-Fields by eight Ruffians, and had, at a Meeting of the Scotch Nobility in London, proposed to recall King James, was committed Prisoner to the Tower, and many of the same No­bility being on the Point of setting for­ward for the Convention in their King­dom, were stopped. The same Day, I dined with the Earl of Danby, who treated me with more Intimacy and Freedom than I expected; his Lordship said He had made a fair Report of me to the King, when he gave him an Account of the Sur­prisal of York; but I found him extremely cooled with regard to Affairs, as now ma­naged. He said that being embarked with his All, he was sorry to see Things no bet­ter conducted; that Ireland was in a man­ner become invincible by our Neglect of sending Forces thither before now; that with regard to this, and other material Points, equally unheeded, he had been pressing with the King to a Degree even of Incivility; that he had told his Maje­sty, [Page 324] He plainly saw he did all he could to encourage the Presbyterians and to dishear­ten the Church, which could not but be ab­solutely prejudicial both to himself and the Government; tho' he at the same Time ob­served that his Majesty interfered but little in Councils, being prevented therefrom partly by Inclination, and partly by want of Health. Indeed the King looked but ill, and the Difficulty he laboured under in swallowing, seemed to foretel him a Man of short Continuance in this World. His Lordship farther told me He had been ap­pointed President of the Council quite a­gainst his Will, after the King had declar­ed he could not give him the Staff of Trea­surer, determined, as he was, that the Treasury should be in the Hands of Com­missioners; that he had been offered to be Secretary of State and President both at the same Time, and that he had declined the first; that all he had asked of the King for himself, was a Patent to which he had a Right by a former Grant, and that he would also be pleased to gratify some Gen­tlemen who had, upon this Revolution, joined him in the North; in fine, that the King had told him It would be by no Means for his Interest to be out of all Business; and [Page 325] that he had, in a Manner, forced the Presi­dentship upon him, His Lordship expressed himself doubtful of the Continuance of Af­fairs, as they now stood, and informed me That King James had sent down to him in the North, offering to throw himself into his Hands before he went away. To this, he said, his Answer was, by Charles Bertie who brought the Message, That his own Force, which he depended upon in the North, was not sufficient to trust to; but that if his Majesty would bring a considera­ble Party with him, and come without his Papists, he would sooner lose his Life than he should suffer the least Injury; but that the King having no Mind to part with his Romans, would not come. His Lordship then said That if the King would but quit his Papists, it might possibly not be too late yet for him. He then observed That the Duke of Gordon, a Papist, and Governor of Edinburgh Castle, the only Magazine in Scotland, who was lately ready and willing to surrender it to any Body, now held it out obstinately for King James; and that the Discontents in England grew greater daily and greater. He then reflected on Lord Hallifax, the King, and all about him, as most strangely infatuated with Notions [Page 326] of their own Security; and particularly ani­madverted on the last mentioned Lord for insisting with such Violence, in a Speech of his, That the Prince should be entitled Le­gal and Rightful King of this Realm, (which I suppose the Lord Hallifax did with a View of continuing the old Oaths of Alle­giance and Supremacy, and to obviate all Scruple about taking the new) saying it was mere Nonsense; for that had the Prince of Wales been made King, he could never have been deemed our lawful Sovereign, while his Father lived. But his Lordship nevertheless appeared very serious and ur­gent about the Legality of taking the new Oaths, and condemned the Bishops for their Squeamishness in that Respect, tho' they themselves had had so large a Hand in bring­ing about this great and extraordinary Change; and thereupon quoted Lord Not­tingham's Speech, who, in the House of Lords, had observed That tho' he had ne­ver in the least consented to this Revoluti­on, but had with all his Might opposed the Prince's Accession, as contrary to Law; yet since his Highness was here, and we must owe our Protection to him as King de facto, he thought it but just and legal to swear Al­legiance to him. I have been the more ex­act [Page 327] in the particulars of this Conversation, to give the better Insight into the Thoughts of the greatest Men upon this Occasion; tho' I wondered his Lordship would venture to be so very undisguised with me; but he was sure I would not betray him, tho' even to Lord Hallifax.

The very same Day, after several At­tempts of the Sort, the Marquiss of Hallifax, now again Lord Privy Seal, presented me to the King, having before requested him that a young Son of mine might have my Com­pany, and that he might be excused from Duty a Year or two, on Account of his E­ducation; but his Majesty thought it an ill Precedent, and would give no Ear to it. Having kissed his Hand, I told him I had had the Honour of a Trust upon me from the late King to the very last, having been a Stranger to his Designs till I saw them in Execution, and that I could not then, in Honour or Justice, comply with them; but that I was a firm Protestant, and had upon that Account been a Sufferer in my Estate, concluding that I should be strictly faithful to my Duty wheresoever I served. My Lord Hallifax then desired I might keep my Company without paying any Attendance, to which I subjoined, Sir, If you have resolved [Page 328] to take away my two Governments of York and Burlington, I hope you will not expect I should wait on a single Company: His Majesty said, No, He did not expect Attendance from me; which was all that passed.

date March 1. I was told by a Lady whom King James had trusted with some Seals and Jewels, that his Majesty had written her Word to put them into the Hands of a certain Person he sent for them. She shewed me the Letter, which was dated the 17th of February New-Stile; whereby I understood that he was to set out for Ireland as the very next Day, and that he depended upon his old Friends to assist him in his Cause. This Lady told me the French King had supplyed him with a great Treasure of Money, and 6000 Swiss Protestants: That he intended to go through Ireland for Scotland, there to call a Parlia­ment, instead of the propos'd Convention; and that from thence he would march into England, and put himself entirely into the Hands of the Protestant Interest: She add­ed, That as she had a Friendship for the Lord Privy Seal, she had a Mind to disclose herself to him, if with any Safety she so might do. I told her I would speak to his Lordship that very Night, and let her know farther.

[Page 329] Having an Opportunity of speaking to him accordingly, I failed not to be as good as my Word; tho' I must own, the Topic being of so nice and tender a Sort, I did it with great Caution. However, I gave him plainly to understand That the chief Motive which induced the Lady to desire a Meet­ing with him, was to impart to him what might be for his own Good, and the Ser­vice of the Public. Hereupon he began to be more free and open with me than he had hitherto been, on this Chapter; and I told him, in general, that great Designs were on Foot; he said He believed it, and that tho' Men seemed to be for the present Inte­rest, as most prevalent, it was not altoge­ther discreet to venture too far; that if Matters really were as I had said, it was but safe to carry it fair with those in the Oppo­sition, and to let some People know He spoke always with great Respect of King James; that if we came to Blows, it was uncertain who would strike hardest; and that he should be glad to meet the Lady at my House, whenever she pleased. But his Lordship, however, said all imaginable Care would be taken to ward off any Danger that might threaten us; that an Army of 20000 Men would be presently raised; that all sus­picious [Page 330] Persons would be secured, the Par­liament intending to invest the King with a Power to imprison whom he pleased, and to keep them in safe Custody till they came to a Tryal; and in fine, that the Parliament would most plentifully furnish the King for the Prosecution of the War. At this Time several Lords and Gentlemen of both Houses withdrew to their several Countries; and I was told That some who were out­wardly great Friends to the present Go­vernment, were treating for Terms on the other Side; which I communicated to his Lordship, and particularly made mention of some he little suspected. Whereupon his Lordship said That if King James was a­ctually driving on at the Rate reported, the Papists would certainly contrive some how or other to assassinate or kill King William, well knowing what a Task it would be to defend the Crown on the Head of a Woman, with much more to the same Effect.

I waited on Lord Bellassis, first Commis­sioner of the Treasury under the late King, who told me that tho' he was himself a Pa­pist, he had been quite averse to the Mea­sures which had been taken to promote the Catholic Religion; but that his Council ne­ver had Weight, the Warm-ones having in­sinuated [Page 331] to the King That it came from a Man old and timerous, who having a great Estate did not care to run any Hazard of it. He then observed That as there was such a Number of great Men combined in this Re­volt, it was almost impossible to think the King, being a Papist as he was, should ever again be restored; but that if he would but be a Protestant it would certainly happen in a very short Time. This Lord was very deservedly esteemed one of the wisest Men of his Party.

date Mar. 3. Mean while, the two Houses were at some Stand about the taking of the new Oaths. The Commons made scarce any Scruple to swear; but some of the Lords refused so to do, and a greater Number of Bishops, con­ceiving they could not lawfully comply, seeing they had before engaged themselves under Oaths to King James; and even those who did comply, did it as a local and tem­porary Duty naturally resulting from the Protection they owed to King William and Queen Mary. This Day Lord Hallifax met the Lady I just now mentioned to have re­ceived a Letter from King James: She dealt very frankly with him, but durst not tell him all she knew. However he desired her [Page 332] to be his Friend if any Alteration of Affairs should by any Means be brought to pass.

Now the two Houses had, some Days be­fore, voted to stand by King William and Queen Mary with their Lives and Fortunes, the Commons had completed the Bill for lay­ing a Tax upon Land, and deliberated on o­ther Ways for levying of Money for the Crown, as well to raise Men, as to supply the Loss of that Branch of the Revenue called Hearth-Money, which they were, by an Act for that Purpose, taking quite away, as trou­blesome to collect and oppressive in its Nature; while the Fears greatly and greatly increas­ed That King James was actually in Ireland, and that Scotland would not fail to take his Part; wherefore Commissions were given out for the raising of 10000 Foot, and twenty Shillings Advance allowed to every Man; but notwithstanding this Encouragement, and tho' the Colonels were most of them Men of Quality and great Interest, it was much apprehended the intended Troops would not be easily collected together. The French King had, for his Irish Expedi­tion, furnished King James with a Squa­dron of 14 Men of War, 6 lesser Frigates, and 3 Fireships, all well manned and fitted; [Page 333] as also with a Sum of 200,000 l. in ready Money, and 50,000 Pistoles as a present for his Pocket, together with Plate, Tents, and a most Royal and splendid Equipage: He assist­ed him also with eight experienced Field Officers, one hundred of inferior Note, a Guard of one hundred Swiss, a Band of skilful Pio­neers, 15000 of his own natural Subjects, Arms for 40000 Men more, Cannon and Ammunition in a great abundance, and over and above made him an Offer of 15000 of his French Troops; but King James [...]cused himself upon this Head, saying, He would succeed by the Help of his own Subjects, or perish in the Attempt. In the midst of this threat­ning Danger, Lord Hallifax told me the the Commons were still bent upon pursuing him and Lord Danby; and that some of them had declared They would give no more Money till the King had dismissed them, and some other of his Officers; but says his Lordship, The King is not to be wrought upon as they may imagine; he is very well able to defend himself. They were angry with this Nobleman for advising King Charles II. to take away the Charter of the City of London, and for opposing the Bill of Exclusion: But I told him it was quite foolish for Men who had raised a new [Page 334] Fabric, immediately to pull down the main Support of it. His Lordship said he was very little sollicitous whether they succeed­ed in their Attempt or not, and that it would be no great Mortification to him if he did surrender his Place. His Lordship then begged of me to endeavour a Recon­ciliation between him and a Lady I had formerly brought to him about some Busi­ness wherein she thought herself ill used, for that she had a good Interest with King Jame [...] ▪

date March 13. There seemed now to be great Discon­tents among all Sorts of Men; Affairs look­ed somewhat embroiled; and I heard Lord Privy Seal say, That in the Posture the Na­tion now stood, the King [James] if but a Protestant, could not be kept out four Months; nay, Lord Danby went farther, and averred That if he would but give us Satisfaction as to our Religion, as he easily might, it would be very hard to make Head against him; Sayings which I thought very extraordinary to fall from such great Men, date 17 and of the Times too; a few Days after­wards, Lord Dunbarton's Regiment, which he had long since brought out of France, and was now quartered at Ipswich, being all Scotch, and consisting of 1300 Men, chose [Page 335] rather to march off in a Body with their Arms and four Pieces of Cannon, towards Scotland, than obey Orders, which were to embark and sail for Holland. Lord Privy Seal doing me the Honour of a Visit this Day, told me The King had sent two Re­giments of Dutch Horse, and one of Dra­goons, after them; that if the Scotch Regi­ment had done this without Confederacy they were all lost; but that if any other of our Forces were in the Secret, and under Engagement to join and support them, there might be Danger in the Thing. I now perceived his Lordship to be very uneasy That Danby, under Pretence of Illness, so much absented himself from Business; and very much displeased that some, very little qualifyed, had so wonderfully, by his Means, got into Posts of Consequence, and particu­larly That Lord Willoughby, a very young Man, and quite a Stranger to Business, should be the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I told his Lordship, I wondered much more that Lord Mordaunt, who never saw a hundred Pounds together of his own, should pretend to be the first Commissioner of the Treasury; I then dealt very freely with him as to the apparent Uncertainty of the Times; desired him to be cautious and Circumspect, [Page 336] and assured him I wished his Safety and his Family's, as much as my own. His Lord­ship then observed, among other Things, That the King used no Arts; to which I replied, That, in my Opinion, some Arts were necessary in our Government; I think so too, said he, we act a little too plainly. I acquainted his Lordship with some Particulars which caused a Murmuring in the Town, and of some which caused the same in the Country; whereupon he said, come Sir John, we have Wives and Children, we must consider them, and not venture too far. He then proceeded to in­timate That if a Change should happen, there would be a general Pardon; tho', said he, I hear there is one which creeps up and down, wherein I am excepted; but said he, as you know I gave you some oblique Hints of what was likely to be brought a­bout, (tho' so obscure that I must own I did not take them) so you must let me know what you hear on the other Side: And in­deed I loved him so well that I was always ready enough to communicate to him what­ever I heard, relating either to the Public or his own private Service, provided I did thereby no Prejudice to any particular Per­son, [Page 337] or incurred the Guilt of betraying what was told me in pure Confidence.

date March 22. This Day the Lord Privy Seal told me The Rebels, meaning the Scotch Regiment, had submitted themselves to the King's Mercy; that their Officers would have per­suaded them to fight, tho' the Dutch were four Times their Number; and that they were in Confederacy with others, who, as it hapned, did not dare to lift up their Heads. His Lordship continued That there was now great Hopes of Scotland; and in­deed the Kirk Party, which declared for King William, was by much the strongest there. King James appeared too late in Ireland; but he had this to plead, the Winds would not permit him to stir out of Brest sooner than he did. The Church of Eng­land was now furiously driven at by some in both Houses, King William being seem­ingly a greater Friend to Calvinism. In the House of Lords it was strongly debated, date 23 and particularly by the Lord Privy Seal, which lost him some Credit, That the Re­ception of the Sacrament should be no longer a Part of the Test, as required by the Statute of Charles II.; and in the House of Commons it was stifly contended That the King in his Coronation Oath should not [Page 338] particularly bind himself to the Church of England as by Law established; but both these Points being carried in Favor of the Church, evinced her Interest to be stronger than any other in Parliament, and would, as it was thought, induce the King to court her a little more than he had done.

The Affairs of all Europe were now seem­ingly at a Stand, tho' Preparations were e­very where making for War; the Empire was mustering up all her Quota's against France on the one Hand, and the Turk on the other; Spain betrayed a Willingness to side with the Emperor; Sweden, Holland, and England were ready to do the same; while Denmark seemed to be fixed to a Neutrality. The Pope was still in anger with France tho' she did all she could to mollify him, pre­tending to blow up the Flames of a religi­ous War; but this was not to serve the Pur­pose at present, his Holiness thinking the King of France was grown too big for his Neighbours, and that therefore Regard was to be had chiefly now for his Temporals; the Church was out of the Question, the World was now uppermost, and Conscience was Pusilanimity and Indolence, according to the known and avowed Maxims of the Roman Creed.

[Page 339] It hapned this Day that I met with the date 1689 Bishop of St. David's, who asked if I thought date March 28. he might safely take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, he being one of the Prelates that had hitherto stood out, and were now cited to appear before the House of Lords. I told him it were fittest for me to be advised by him in such a Case, and that certainly his own Conscience could not but dictate to him right: But I found he was already resolved, and accordingly he went the next Day and complyed. Mean while the Arch­bishop was obstinate in his Refusal, and would not so much as repair to the House of Lords, disowning the Authority either of the King or the Parliament. The Lords sent his Grace a Letter admonishing him to come to the House; but he wrote to excuse himself, by an Answer directed, not to the Lord Privy Seal, or the Speaker of the House of Lords, but to the Lord Marquiss of Hallifax. The House voted this Answer to be not satisfactory, but thought it unad­visable to pursue the Point too far, sensible of the ill Blood that had been set on Float, by the late Severity of Usage toward the E­piscopal Order. A Day or two afterwards, the Church of England carryed a second Vote in the House of Commons, and indeed [Page 340] it was high Time for her Sons to exert themselves, the Dissenters having not only prevailed that the Oaths meant for her Se­curity, some Prayers in the Liturgy, and certain Ceremonies should be altered or dis­pensed with, but a Motion had likewise been made that there might be some Altera­tion in the very Creed. In a few Days af­terwards a very extraordinary Debate arose in both Houses, between the Dissenters and the Members of the Church; the former pushing their Act of Comprehension and Toleration farther than the latter were wil­ling it should go. They were almost equally matched, and sometimes one carryed a Vote in both Houses, and sometimes the other.

date April 1. A Number of Regiments, tho' many of them were unarmed, uncloathed, and in want of Pay to clear off their Quarters, were now ordered to march Northward; it being past all Doubt that King James was now in Ireland, and intended for Scotland, tho' the Kirk Party in the Convention of that Kingdom were for opposing him. Mo­ney was at this Time very scarce at Court, and yet great Preparations were daily mak­ing for the Coronation of King William and Queen Mary. But tho' Necessaries were certainly wanting for the Army, the Court, [Page 341] and the due Support of the Government, it was not that the Parliament was backward in giving, but the Money could not be rais­ed soon enough, the City refusing to ad­vance any Money upon the Acts that were passed; for great Discontents were visible to every Eye, which seemed rather to in­crease daily than to diminish.

date April 7. A few Days afterwards, I saw Lord Pri­vy Seal, who told me That if the Church of England was a Sufferer, she might thank her self for it, her Pretences being too large; that the Commons were so slow in their Proceedings that it looked as if they thought the whole World was confined to Westmin­ster; that the King also was very dilatory, to the great Hindrance of Business, tho' Dispatch could at no Time be ever more required; his Lordship continued, That there was a Necessity for acting with so ma­ny Fools, that they alone were wise who had nothing to do; and moreover, That he had heard there were some Irish landed in Scotland; that Scotland, however, would give them but a cool Reception; that King James had nothing to depend on here but the Army, which would be so disposed of as to be unable to do any thing for him; and [Page 342] that if he came not very soon, he would be disappointed of this his only Hope: He concurred with me That the Earl of Dan­by had procured the Government of Hull as a Place of Retreat where he might make his own Terms in Case of a Change of the Times; and assured me He was more afraid of the Consequences of King William's Cough, which increased upon him with great Violence, than of any Thing else. I must confess I, upon this Oc­casion, temporised a little, it being neither safe nor prudent to be too open with a Pri­vy Councellor, and so great a Minister, espe­cially as I had been guilty of Freedoms with his Lordship to little or no Purpose; tho' whenever he asked me my Opinion, I never failed to deal uprightly with him.

But now let us take a View of the Corona­tion date April 11. of our new King and Queen, a splendid Sight, as usual. The Procession to the Ab­by was quite regular, tho' not so complete in the Number of Nobility, as at the two last Solemnities of the same Kind. Parti­cular Care was had of the House of Com­mons, who had a Part prepared for them to sit in, both in the Church and in the Hall. They had Tables spread for them at the [Page 343] Banquet, to which I, among other Friends, had the Honour of being admitted, as well as to be with them throughout the whole of the Shew; so that I had a very fair Op­portunity of seeing all that past. The Bi­shop of London crowned them both, assisted by the Bishop of Salisbury, the late Doctor Burnet, who preached the Sermon, and two others. A few Days afterwards, being with Lord Privy Seal, the Bishop of Salis­bury came in, and complained heavily of the slow Proceedings of the House of Com­mons, saying the Dutch would clap up a Peace with France if they did not mend their Pace; observed that the Church of England was in the Fault, and expressed himself as if he thought they meant a Kind­ness to King James by their Method of Pro­cedure. Lord Privy Seal agreed with him in his Sentiments, and added that the Church People hated the Dutch, and had rather turn Papists than receive the Presbyterians among them; but that on the other Hand these were to the full as rank and inveterate against those, and would marr all their Busi­ness, by their Inadvertance with Regard to their Bill of Comprehension, and their Ill­timing of other Bills; in short that they would disgust those from whom they look­ed [Page 344] for Indulgence. They were both angry with the Commons Address to the King the Day before, desiring him to support and defend the Church of England according to his former Declaration, and to call a Con­vocation of the Clergy, which the Bishop said would be the utter Ruin of the Com­prehension Scheme. In fine, the Marquiss took Notice, that, at the Rate we proceed­ed, the Government could not but be very short lived.

King James was all this while in Ireland, the Convention of Scotland opposing him with Might and Main, and declaring the Throne of their Kingdom to be vacant: Presently after we had Advice that they had voted William and Mary to be King and Queen of Scotland, converted their Conven­tion into a Parliament, and invited the Eng­lish Forces on their Borders to come into their Kingdom, to be ready to assist them against King James and his Friends, but at the same Time that they had prepared cer­tain Conditions, and drawn up a List of certain Grievances, for the King to redress and assent to; and particularly that Episco­pacy should no longer have Being in Scot­land, and that the King should, with regard to them, embrace the Presbyterian Persua­sion. [Page 345] The Duke of Gordon, however, still kept the Castle of Edinburgh.

At home the Parliament was taken up with raising of Money; and the Commons address the King to declare War with France, and promise him all the needful Supplies. But great Heats broke out between the two Houses about the Oath Bill, the Lords be­ing willing to excuse the Bishops, convinc­ed that several of them would forfeit their Sees rather than comply; while the Com­mons urged that no Soul should be excused. But as widely as they for the present differ­ed about this, they concurred in the Bill for the Toleration of all Protestant Dissen­ters. The next Day the King gave a favor­able date April 20. Answer to the Address which remind­ed him of his Promises to the Church of England, and moved him for a Convocation. A Day or two after he returned Answer to the Commons Address That he would de­clare War with France, telling them he com­plyed with their Request, and the rather as the French King had in a Manner begun, and assured them that whatever Money they gave should be faithfully applied to the de­sired End.

About this Time a very sad Accident hapned, which for a while was the Discourse [Page 346] of the whole Town; Mr. Temple, Son to Sir William Temple, who had marryed a French Lady with 20,000 Pistoles, a sedate and accomplished young Gentleman, who had lately, by King William, been made Secretary of War, took a Pair of Oars, and drawing near the Bridge, leapt into the Thames and drowned himself, leaving a Note behind him in the Boat, to this Effect, My Folly in Undertaking what I could not per­form, whereby some Misfortunes have be­fallen the King's Service, is the Cause of my putting my self to this sudden End; I wish him Success in all his Undertakings, and a better Servant. A dangerous Thing it is for some Constitutions to give Way to Dis­content, and imaginary Notion, but not to digress on this melancholy Subject;

The Parliament proceeded to raise Mo­ney, but upon Terms and Persons, that gave great Dissatisfaction. The Poll was quite strict, scarce a Soul being exempted therefrom, but such as received Alms, the House consenting to a Grant of no less than four Millions for one Year only. And now Lord Hallifax told me That the Marquiss of Caermarthen's Retirement into the Country, his Pretences to be sick, and his so seldom appearing at Court instilled fresh Jealousies [Page 347] of him; That he had heard he should say Things could not long continue thus; That his Relations and Friends were very dange­rous in in their Discourse, and that he him­self was very open; That he found this new Marquiss had no Mind to be inward or inti­mate with him; That he supposed his Lord­ship might imagine he had kept him at a Di­stance from the Treasurer's Staff; but that imagine what he would, he did not alto­gether deserve it; that, of all Men, in the World, the King never would have invest­ed him with that Office, nor, indeed, with any other that was very considerable, as he would find, if Affairs but held out till Sep­tember. Hereupon I acquainted his Lord­ship with some Grounds that made it suspe­cted the President was discontented. His Lordship then continued That for his own Part he found the King very well affected towards himself, that his Majesty did not only carry it fair to him, personally, but that from third Hands he had it That the King used very kind Expressions of him be­hind his Back; for that he gave him but ve­ry little Trouble either on account of him­self, or of other People, while the Lord President knew no End of his Importunities. This urged me to say, That I did not know [Page 348] what his Lordship might thereby be a Loser with the King, but that he gained much with others I was certain; for that it was a common Saying No Lord used his good Offices for his Countrymen but the Lord President; and this I observed, because the Lord Privy Seal, tho' otherwise very kind and free with me, did not espouse my Inte­rest as I expected he would. But his Lord­ship farther told me That the King being so very inaccessible as he was, and confining himself so to Hampton, when there was such absolute Need of the most stirring Action, was the Destruction of all Business. That he had desired his Majesty but to lye some­times in Town, and that his Answer was, It was not to be done except his Lordship desired to see him dead, which, said my Lord, was a very short Answer. To con­clude, he proceeded to say That if the King survived this Summer, which he thought he fairly might, notwithstanding his consumptive Diforder, or escaped the murderous Hands of the Papists, he doubted not but the Government would stand firm tho' it devolved to the Queen singly; but that however the Concern he had for his Fa­mily would naturally tempt him to act with all the Moderation that might be; that up­on [Page 349] this Consideration it was he had taken no great or additional Places, no new Honours, no blue Ribbon, as others had done.

The next Day I was to go to Hampton Court, where his Lordship was to meet me and present me to the King before I went into the Country. His Lordship repeated his Promises to do for me what he could, but said It would be but Discretion to let two or three Months pass over-head, be­fore I pressed Matters too much, to the End we might the better see what was likely to become of Things.