one of those who were truffed to prepare fuch a charge against the Earl, that might fatisfy the reft that they had done well in accusing him; and fo he became quickly privy to all their fecrets, knew what every particular man thought he knew, and by what means they intended to know more, what proofs they could for the prefent make, and how they meant to fupport and enlarge thofe truths, all their arts and artifices, which were neceffary to be communicated among ft themselves, and with thofe Lords who were joined with them, to make their confpiracy more practicable. In a word, the whole method they propofed for their proceedings, and what they most apprehended might obftruct thofe proceedings, was as clearly understood by him as by Mr. Pym and Mr. Hambden themfelves. Having now got himself to the top of the pinnacle, he began to look about him, and take a full profpect of all that was to be feen; and it is very poffible, that the defperate defigns of the perfons with whom he had communicated, not answerable to the reputation they had of integrity to the nation, the uningenuity of their proceeding, and the foul arts they could give themfelves leave to use, to compafs any thing they propofed to do; as in truth their method was first to confider what was neceffary to be done for fome public end, and which might reasonably enough be wifhed for that public end, and then to make no fcruple of doing any thing which might probably bring the other to pafs, let it be of what nature it would, and never fo much concern the honour or intereft of any perfon who they thought did not, or would not favour their defigns: I fay poffibly this obfervation might make fome impreffion upon him, who

without doubt had no wicked purpofes himself. Let what would be the caufe or the temptation, refolve he did to steer another courfe, and to fet up for himself upon that flock of commodities, in the getting together whereof there were fo many joint fharers with him; and fo he found ways eafily enough (and his nature was marvelloutly difpofed to that dexterity) to infinuate to the court; that, if they gave him reafons for it, they might depend upon his fervice, and that he would make it very ufeful to them: and the freights they were in, and the be nefit they might receive from fuch a promptnefs, bringing him such a return from thence as he could wish, he took the first occafion (before he was fo much as fufpected) to give his party caufe to believe, that he meant not to venture himself in their bottom. As foon as there was an occation, by the addrefs of a great number of minifters by way of propofition, to reform many particulars both in the doctrine and difcipline of the church, he difcovered his diflike of thofe defigns and the fpirit that produced them, very warmly; and because it was well known that many of thofe minifters had had frequent communication with him, and even confulted that very addrefs by his confent and approbation, he took notice of it himfelf, and feemed much offended that they had infifted upon many parti culars which he had difallowed; and fo mentioned fome particular expreffions that had paffed between them, and which offended more perfons than had been privy to the conferences, and looked like a discovery of future projections which were not yet ripe. In the public profecution of the Earl of Strafford, he continued fill in the fame conjunc tion, and kept his poft amongst thofe A 3

who

were to manage the evidence against him, but with fuch a temper (which could not be reafonably excepted again) that manifefted enough, that he neither brought the fpirit, nor would bring the teftimony they expected from him; and as foon as the trial was over, and it was difcerned that the houfe of Peers would not take upon them the condemning the Earl, but that it would be neceffary to pass an act of Parliament to that purpofe, the bill was no fooner brought into the Houfe of Commons, but he appeared most violently against it, difcovered many particulars which had paffed in their most private conferences, which he said had first perplexed him, and enlarged fo pathetically upon the whole matter, and against the condemning of the Earl, that that whole party had fo great a deteftation of him, that they had no lefs appetite to deftroy him than the Earl of Strafford. And this conteft produced another discovery, that a very important paper which had been produced and perufed in the clofe committee, and upon which they principally depended for making good their charge, had been taken away, and could never afterwards be found; and it was confidently alledged, that at the time when that paper was laft feen, and lay upon the table in Mr. Pym's chamber, there were only three perfons prefent, whereof he was one. This produced an order in the Houfe, that every one of that clofe committee, who were about eight, fhould make a folemn proteftation in the house, that he neither had that paper, nor knew what became of it. Which teft he chearfully fubmitted to, with the moft folemn and bitter execrations that can be imagined, upon himself and his family, if he knew what was become

2

of that paper, or if he had ever taken it away; notwithstanding which they who were angry with him did not believe him, and confidently reported, that it was found afterwards among fome papers of his which were taken in the houfe of his father, in the war; which is not probable, fince it may be prefumed that a man who had gotten it in fuch a manner, would, at least after fuch an enquiry was made upon it, have cast it into the fire, though there was not then any fufpicion that fuch an action could ever have produced it.

"However it was, the inconvenience of that difcovery, produced by the furreption of that paper, that it produced many other notable difcoveries with it which were all cast upon his accompt, who was looked upon as a deferier at least, if not a betrayer of his party; and fo from as great a height of applaufe, and even adoration, which he had attained to by Christmas, before the Eafter he was fallen to fo low an esteem with all that people, that they thought no reproach equal to his demerit; and profecuted him accordingly with their utmost animofity and rage.

"He was now compelled to tranfplant himself into the court, when the foil was neither fo fruitful, nor the air fo pleafant as it had formerly been; indeed, where a nipping froft had induced a marvellous fierility, and in this too his conftitution was fo happy that he found a confolation for himfelf, and induf trioutly imputed that to his generofity and election, which other men thought to be the effect of his ne ceffity, and that he could grow no where elfe, when he endeavoured to grow there. It was a very melan choly feafon there, where moft of thofe who had received the greatest obligations

obligations from their mafter, and were most able to have done him fervice, not only forfook him but be trayed him; and in order to getting credit with those who fuppreffed all other authority, they difcovered all they knew which might advance the evil defigns of the other with whom they refolved to go thorough fharers in all that was to be gotten and the other few who retained till their fidelity and their zeal, with indigna tion enough to see the back-liding of their fellows, were yet fo terrified with the power of the other, and with the perfidioufnefs that they faw every day practifed, infomuch as nothing was faid or done in the moft fecret places of the court, even by the king or queen themfelves, but it was communicated to thofe who had no modefty in the confidering it, but impudently declared that they would remove all perfons from the King and Queen, whofe very looks were not grateful to them, of which they had already given many inftances. So that they, who, 1 fay, wanted not faith, were yet without skill to forfee what they were to do, and the King himself found his infelicity to be fo monftrous, that he knew not with whom to advife, nor in truth whom to truit; for they, who had no mind to betray him, were betrayed themfelves, and, out of their trusting others, made themfelves acceflary to the betraying him. In this conjuncture the vivacity of fuch a perfon could not but be very accept able, who had a brain perpetually working, and a conception and understanding deliberating and refolving together, and a courage fo keen and fearless, that he was ready to execute the fame minute whatsoever was refolved. The truth is

Si duos præterea tales Idæa tuliffet

Terra viros

God only knows what might, or might not have refulted from his bold temper; when the party, that did all the mifchief, was made up of those whofe defpair of being fafe any were elfe, and belief that the king would yield to any thing that fhould be confidently demanded, had thrown into that stronger fide. He could no longer act upon the ftage where he had fo long flourifled, and where his mercurial temper was not grateful, even to thofe to whom the violence and ill defigns of the others was vifible and equally odious; fo that he was called up by writ to the House of Peers, as fit to move in that sphere, where he no fooner came than he gave frefli life and vigour to it, the real temper of that house retaining a vigorous affection to the king, church, and government, and confequently very inclined to follow his example, and to be fwayed by his reafon, who always delivered himfelf with notable advantage, and was now known to be trufled by the court, and fo like to carry on their defigns in the method prefcribed there, and where he was looked upon, not as having deferted his principles or his party, but as a prudent difcoverer of their exorbi tant defigns, contrary to the prin ciples they owned, and had to retired himfelf from their dangerous converfation and loft their confidence, because he would not part with his innocence. And truly, if the too great activity and restleffness of his nature would have given him leave to have fat ftill, and expected, and made ufe of thofe advantages which the hafty and choleric humour of the Houfe of Commons was ready every day to prefent to them, and which temper was the utmoft extent of the House courage of Peers could be carried to, which A 4 did

did not yet fufpect the defigns of the worst men to be fo monftrous as they flortly after appeared to be, it is very probable, the wifdom and temper of the one houfe, with the concurrence it would have found from the major part of the other, which was far from being corrupted, would have prevented thofe calamities, which, under the fpecious authority of the Parliament, were afterwards brought upon the kiugdom. But his nature was impatient of fuch repofe, and he always embraced thofe counfels which were boldest and most hazar dous, which he thought would give a greater luftre to his wit and conduct. This inconvenient prefumption was the longer from being difcovered or taken notice of, except by a few of his most intimate friends, by the wonderful faculty he had of diffimulation, which was fo profound, that he appeared the most offended and enraged when he faw any thing done that was notorioufly difliked, and bitterly inveighed against the authors of thofe counfels which himself alone had contrived, and to the execution whereof no man elfe was privy. So when he had prevailed with the king to caufe the fix members to be accufed, and had undertaken to caufe them to be committed, when he found in the Houfe of Peers the general difapprobation and diflike of it, he flood himfelf up and fpake against it, and whifpered the lord Mandeville in the ear, that the king would be undone if he did not publicly difcover those who had given him that counfel, and that he would immediately go to the court and difpofe him to it; when he alone was the only man, who, without communicating it to any other, had advised that profecu. tion, named all the perfons, and promifed the king to bring in ample

teftimony and evidence against them; and all this in a feafon when the king's affairs were in fo good a pofture, that there was no need of fuch a defperate remedy, and when the heart of the contrary party was fo near broken, that they needed fuch an expedient to keep up their credit and ability to do farther mifchief. And therefore many fober men detefted that advice as the most visible introduction to all the mifery that afterwards befel the king and kingdom. Yet his great spirit was fo far from failing, that when he faw the whole city upon the matter in arms to defend them, knowing in what houfe they were together, he offered the king with a select number of a dozen gentlemen, who he prefumed would stick to him to feize upon their perfons, dead or alive, and without doubt he would have done it, which must likewise have had a wonderful effect. But that counfel being rejected, and finding his credit abated in all places, he tran. fported himself out of the kingdom, and was fhortly after, by a wonder ful retaliation of Providence, and in the fame method of contempt which he had cause to be practifed towards the other (by publishing a proclamation to reftrain them from going out of the kingdom, when he knew they were together in London, and environed with a ftrength and power enough to drive the king himself from Whitehall, as they fhortly did), accufed of high treafon, upon the most flight and trivial fuggeftions, and a proclamation iffued out for his apprehenfion; all which would have brought another man to make serious reflections upon himself, and extinguifhed that inordinate heat of brain and fancy, which had so often tranfported him to unreasonable and unprofperous refolutions. But

all this nothing allayed that flame, or extinguished that fire in him; but as foon as the war broke out, or rather as foon as there was any appearance of it, he retranfported himself again into England, raifed a regiment of horfe, and charged in the head of it at the battle of Edge-hill, with as much courage as any man, and afterwards marched with prince Rupert towards the North; and in the way, finding the Clofe in the city of Litchfield garrifoned by the rebels, and fecured by a strong old wall and a mote, and the prince refolving to reduce it, he caufed his foot to ftorm it, which being beaten off, and indeed not being fufficient in number to make fuch a general affault as was neceffary, the other, to encourage the officers of the horse to make an attempt in another place, offered himself to go at the head of them, and fo led them through the mote to another part of the wall which was thought to be weaker; by means whereof, and the garrifon within being divided into feveral quarters, the foot entered the place, and made themselves mafters of it with great difficulty, and with great lofs, and very many of the horfe officers who entered by the mote were killed, and the rest beaten off, himself being in the mud to the middle, and hot through the thigh with a mutket bullet, was wonderfully brought off, and afterwards recovered his wounds; but not finding that refpect from the prince which he had promifed himfelf, he gave up his regiment of horfe and retired to the court, where he was fure to find good counte

nance.

"Though he had thus difcharged himself from any command in the army, he was always ready to engage himself as a volunteer with it, upon any brifk adventure; fo

he was, after the relief of Gloucefter, in the purfuit of the earl of Effex's army, and was in the first engagement at Aubourne, where he was hurt, and had all the powder of a piftol fhot in his face, by which it was thought he had lost both his eyes, the bullet dropping or paffing by ; and the lord Falkland being the next day killed at Newberry, he was fhortly after made fecretary of state, and betook himself to the discharge of it, with great intentnefs of mind and induftry enough, and continued in that employment many years; in all which time he ran many adven tures, and frequently found himself at a lofs when he believed he had attained his point, and at laft found the greatest part of the officers of the army fo implacably irreconciled towards him, that he was again forced to retire from his majesty's fervice with his full approbation and confent, who in truth, could not but find him at least very unfortunate. And by degrees, after feveral very brifk attempts of feveral kinds, in which he dhewed as much refolution and dexterity as could be expected from a man of great wit and unquestionable courage, he was forced to tranfport himself into Ireland, about the time that the prince of Wales (after fo great fuc ceffes of the rebels, and the king's armies being upon the matter totally defeated) by his father's command to tranfport himself out of England, took his first refuge in the ifle of Scilly, from whence he might naturally fend to, and receive intelligence from Ireland.

"This was now a scene fit for the other's activity, and being received very kindly by the lord lieutenant, out of refpect to his perfon, and the character he had under the king, he quickly took upon him to fay any thing in the

king's