else." The King having procured a printed copy of this letter, himself showed it to Hyde, and proposed immediately to carry the plan into effect. Hyde refused, unless with the full consent of Nicholas, who represented that the change would be disadvantageous to him. Luckily at this time the office of Master of the Rolls, which Colepeper greatly coveted, became vacant by the death of Sir Charles Cæsar. Colepeper willingly gave up his office of Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Rolls, of which he never enjoyed but the title, Speaker Lenthal being [FEB. 1643.] soon in possession of its jurisdiction and emoluments,—and Hyde was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, was sworn of the Privy Council, and received the honour of knighthood.

He exerted himself with great energy in his office, and was in hopes of a favourable issue to the contest-when the [SEPT. 20.] battle of Newbury was fought, in which fell Lord Falkland, a loss," he says, "which no time will suffer to be forgotten, and no success of fortune could repair."*

The office of Secretary of State, now vacant by the untimely death of this distinguished man, was offered to Hyde, but he declined it in favour of Lord Digby, who, it was thought, might be more competent to conduct negotiations then pending with Harcourt, the French ambassador.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was soon overwhelmed with grief by the decline of the royal cause-which he mainly ascribed to the misconduct of the royalists, both in the military and civil departments. "Those under the King's command grew insensibly unto all the havoc, disorder, and impiety with which they had reproached the rebels, and they into great discipline, diligence, and sobriety. Thus one side seemed to fight for monarchy with the weapons of confusion, and the other to destroy the King with all the principles of monarchy." He himself, notwithstanding his talents and services, was regarded with envy by ignorant, profligate, high-born cavaliers as an upstart. The recollection of the slights and indignities which he now suffered afterwards drew from him these cutting observations: It were to be wished that persons of the greatest birth and fortune would take that care of themselves, by education, industry, literature, and a love of virtue, to surpass all other men in knowledge, and all other qualifications necessary for great actions, as far as they do in quality and titles: that Princes, out of them, might always choose men fit for all employments and high trust; which would exceedingly advance their service, where the reputation and respect of the persons carries somewhat with it that facilitates the business. And it cannot

* Hist. Reb. iv. There is nothing in the writings of Clarendon which gives us so high an opinion of his head and his heart, as his character of Lord Falkland. The writer must have had high qualities himself who could so enthusiastically admire, so delicately discriminate, and so beautifully delineate the high qualities of another.-Life, i. 42—50.

well be expressed or comprehended by any who have not felt the weight and burden of the envy which naturally attends upon these promotions which seem to be per saltum, how great straits and difficulties such ministers are forced to wrestle with."*

About this time Hyde had to resist a bold measure, which the King at the suggestion of some hot-headed courtiers strongly urged, to issue a proclamation for dissolving the parliament. His Majesty said, "that he thought there was too much honour done to those rebels at Westminster in all his declarations, therefore he knew no reason why he should not forbid them to sit, or meet any more there; he knew learned men of an opinion, that the act for the continuance of the parliament was void from the beginning, and that it is not in the power of the King to bar himself from dissolving it." The Chancellor of the Exchequer answered with irresistible force, " that not only the people in general, but those of his own party, and even of his Council, would take more umbrage upon such a step than upon any one particular that had happened since the beginning of the war; that his forbidding them to meet at Westminster, would not make one man the less meet there; and that if he had power to dissolve this parliament on such grounds, he might likewise repeal all other acts made by this parliament, whereof some were very precious to the people; and that such a proclamation would confirm all the fears and jealousies which had been infused into them, and would trouble many of his own true subjects."

The noble historian insinuates, that this advice came from Herbert the Attorney General, against whom he ever shows his grudge. After some conferences with Mr. Attorney, the scheme was abandoned.}

Hyde continued to struggle vigorously amidst all difficulties and discouragements, and in the hope of producing a scene where talent and merit might have the as[JAN. 1644.] cendancy, he prevailed on the King to call a parliament at Oxford, as a rival to that at Westminster. He was now for a time in the important position of leader of the House of Commons, being decidedly the first in eloquence and a knowledge of parliamentary business of the 120 Commoners who assembled in Christ Church Hall. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he opened his budget, detailing the mischiefs which arose from raising money by unlawful means, and under the plea of warlike licence; and showing the necessity for finding more regular methods for raising supplies to carry on the war. He did not, however, venture to propose that any tax should be formally imposed,-which might have speedily raised an awkward question as to the regularity and powers of this Oxford parliament, while another was sitting under a law to which the King had given his assent. He proposed, therefore, that, under the authority of the two Houses, as testified by Life of Clarendon, i. 169,

* Hist. Reb. b. iv.

letters to be signed by their respective Speakers, a contribution should be levied on the wealthy, with their own consent, in the nature of a property tax; and that the royalists should imitate the tax lately imposed by an ordinance of the two Westminster Houses, on wine, beer, and other articles of household consumption, the origin of our excise.* These " ways and means" were agreed to, and produced a considerable supply.

The other great measure attempted by this Convention,-the opening a negotiation for peace, proved abortive,-the two Houses at Westminster refusing to receive any communication till they were recognised as a parliament,-and when they had been so recognised, complaining that "the persons now assembled at Oxford, who, contrary to their duty, had deserted the Parliament, were put on an equal footing with the two Houses convened according to the known and fundamental laws of the kingdom." This "little Senate," to which Hyde gave laws, conclud[MARCH.] ed its session by a resolution, "that the Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster have rejected all offers of peace and treaty and that for having made war against the King, counterfeited the King's Great Seal, and abetted the Scotch invasion, they are guilty of high treason, and ought to be proceeded against as traitors to the King and kingdom." The desire for peace and the jealousy about religion, manifested by some of the members, had given much uneasiness, and the prorogation was a great relief to the King, and still more to the Queen, who hated the very name of parliament.

During the campaign which followed, in which Prince Rupert once more, at Marston Moor, lost a great battle by his blind impetuosity, Hyde remained at Oxford trying in vain to establish some order and regularity in the administration of the King's affairs. He received a flattering mark of his importance, in being specially exempted from pardon in some new demands made by the parliament at Westminster, in the autumn of 1644.

In the beginning of the following year Hyde was the leading commissoner on the part of the King at the treaty [A. D. 1645.] of Uxbridge, the last time the two parties negotiated on any thing like equal terms,--subsequent events soon placing the King as a prisoner in the hands of his subjects. Seeing that there never would be another chance of pacification on the basis of preserving a limited monarchy, his exertions were now stupendous. "They that had been most inured to business. had not in their lives ever undergone so great fatigue for twenty days together as at that treaty. The Commissioners. seldom parted during that whole time till two or three o'clock in the morning. Besides, they were obliged to sit up later who

* Both parliaments declared that this tax should only continue to the end of the war, and then be utterly abolished,-" which," adds Clarendon, "few wise men believed it would ever be."

† Rush. v. 565. Ante.

were to prepare such papers as were directed for the next day, and to write letters to Oxford,"*-a task which fell chiefly on Hyde himself. He was particularly charged with the church question, and peremptorily refusing the entire abolition of episcopacy, he expressed a willingness to modify the church establishment, and disallow pluralities with cure of souls,—that the Bishop should keep constant residence in his diocese, and preach in some church within it every Sunday,-and that 100,000l. should be raised out of Bishops' lands for the public service.†

On this and every other point the parliamentary Commissioners were inflexible, so that a constitutional settlement was impossible, and another trial of strength in the field was to determine whether England should fall under the sway of an absolute monarch or of a republic.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

CONTINUATION OF LIFE OF LORD CLARENDON TILL HIS RETURN FROM THE EMBASSY TO MADRID.

BEFORE the expected crisis arrived, Hyde's position was entirely altered. The King wished to remove Prince [FEB. 1645.] Charles, now a spoiled youth of fourteen, from the Court (as he said,) "to unboy him," and the presence of some person of exalted rank was greatly wanted in the west of England, where Goring, Granville, and other royal generals were quarrelling for the command, and exposing themselves to loss. and discredit. An association of the gentry and yeomanry of the four western counties had petitioned that the Prince should be placed at their head, and notwithstanding his tender years he was invested with two commissions, one as General of all the King's forces in England, and another as Commander of the western association. But he was to be guided in every thing by a mixed council of military officers and civilians, and among the latter was Sir Edward Hyde, on whose prudence and attachment the King placed such reliance. Although he was still to retain his office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, he very little relished this new appointment, but he deemed it his duty to submit.‡

On the 5th of March, 1645, the Prince and his adviser took leave of Charles, now fated to destruction, and neither of them

* Hist. Reb, b. v. Rush, v. 892.

Hist. Reb, b. v.

Although the advice of such a discreet person as Clarendon was very desirable for the young Prince, I suspect that the real cause of his removal was the dislike entertained for him by the more violent cavaliers, and by the Queen, who considered him little better than a Roundhead. From this time he had no influence whatever in the general direction of the King's affairs.

ever saw him more. They journeyed on to Bristol, then a royal garrison, where they stayed a considerable time, while efforts were vainly made to allay the jealousies of the rival Generals. The Council, at the suggestion of Hyde, wrote to the King proposing that the Prince should be recalled; but before an answer was received, news arrived, of the disastrous defeat at Naseby, and there was no safety for the royal family in the

[JUNE, 1645.] centre of England. Fairfax advanced towards

Bristol, and it was necessary to conduct the Prince further to the west. Had he remained, he must have been taken prisoner on the shameful surrender of that city by Prince Rupert.

The King, who had retreated into South Wales, now anxious for the safety of his sor, summoned Hyde and [SEPTEMBER.] Colepeper, who was likewise of the Prince's Council, to repair to him. The former was confined to his bed by illness, but the latter joined Charles at Brecknock, and brought back from him a mandate addressed to the Prince in these words: "My pleasure is, whensoever you find yourself in apparent danger of falling into the rebels' hands, that you convey yourself into France, and there to be under your mother's care, who is to have the absolute full power of your education in all things except religion." Hyde, who was always at enmity either openly or secretly with the Queen, and who on public grounds dreaded the consequences of her influence over her son, prevailed upon the Council to write a letter of expostulation, in which, while assuring the King that nothing should be omitted to save the Prince from falling into the hands of the Parliament, they besought that a place of refuge might be left to their discretion, and that at all events Ireland or Scotland might be preferred to France. [MARCH, 1646.] In the mean time, under colour of giving some directions as Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting the duty of customs, he went to Falmouth, and there secured a vessel to be ready at any moment for the escape of the Prince and his attend

ants.

The King wrote back a peremptory order that the Prince "should quit the kingdom; that he should not go to Scotland or Ireland; that he should go if possible to Denmark, and if not thither, rather to France or Holland." There were no means of reaching Denmark, and from Holland the Prince would have been sure to be transferred to France and placed under the dominion of his mother, whereby a settlement of the nation would become impossible. Hyde and his colleagues, who now had the Prince in their care at Tavistock, addressed another remonstrance to the King, assuring him "that nothing but his commands should put the Prince in the power of the Parliament, but also telling him how strongly the followers of the Prince were disinclined that he should quit the kingdom; that many who were faithful would rather see him in the hands of the enemy than in France; and that the Council must advise that he continue still within the King's dominions,