entirely changed his usual behaviour, and became thoughtful, prudent, and wary. That he acted with consummate art, when the moment of difficulty arrived, is not to be doubted; but if we were to fix the period of his projects being matured long before the Oxford Parliament, we should probably fall into the common error of attributing too much to design, and too little to accident and impulse. A pilot cannot determine the exact path of the ship he is about to steer, because he cannot foresee the winds which will prevail; and the statesman can almost as little predict the passions which may influence his course. If we may believe Lord Grey, there existed an intention, on the part of the Whig leaders, to resist the dissolution at Oxford, and remain sitting in defiance of the King's authority; but, by his own account, no preparation seems to have been made for supporting by force this act of rebellion; and the whole story seems to be got up for the purpose of justifying the execution of Colledge, which soon afterwards took place. We may more readily trust the same authority, when he tells us, that, after the dissolution, all thoughts of resistance were given up, and every thing remained quiet amongst the party for a long time. It is not well known how far the Prince of Orange was July. 1681. connected with the popular party during the reign of Charles the Second; but the occurrence I am going to relate will show that he was, at this time, on good terms with Lord Russell and the Whigs. He paid a visit to England, for the purpose of doing away a misunderstanding he had had with the King, and with the hope of raising in the court a jealousy against France, and a desire to try once more a reconciliation with Parliaments. * For both these reasons, the Duke of York was much averse to his coming †: but leave having been given before the Duke could prevent it, he arrived in London, where he was waited upon by Lord Russell, and the two sheriffs, who gave him an invitation to dine in the city, which he readily accepted. Lord Halifax, Lord Hide, and Mr. Seymour endeavoured to dissuade him from going; but he answered, that he had been in England twice before, and had dined both times in the city; and, upon their representing to him that the city was now in opposition to the King, which it had not been before, he grew angry, and said he had promised, and he would go. Upon this reply, Mr. Seymour immediately posted to Windsor, and got an order from the King for the Prince of Orange to join him immediately. The Prince obeyed, but did not conceal his trouble at being obliged to break his word. He was unsuccessful in his negociations with the King, but he persuaded the Opposition to offer the King, after his own departure, a parliamentary supply for the relief of Flanders, without the Exclusion Bill, the limitations, or the displacing of any minister.* the King was now fully resolved not to meet his parliament. † But It appears, from the dispatches of Barillon, that during this visit the Prince of Orange was often locked up with Lord Russell and Sir W. Jones, and that he became very popular by his journey.‡ The death of Fitzharris afforded another occasion for the manifestation of party feeling. This vile wretch hoped, by making a sudden turn against the Opposition, to obtain a pardon from the King; but he was left to die the victim of his own impostures. * James's Life, p. 692. Dal. App. 301. Dal. App. to Part First, p. 9. + Life of James, 693. 1 CHAP. XIV. IN LETTER OF LADY RUSSELL. PROJECTS OF THE COURT.- TRIAL OF COLLEDGE. TO THE TOWER. DEATH OF LORD ESSEX. Wi HEN the tumult of public affairs was over, and the members of the Whig party, dispersed in every quarter, followed their several occupations and amusements, Lord Russell retired to the tranquillity of his own house, where he confined himself to the society of his family. and his relations.* The following letter will show, better than any description I could give, the manner of his life. It is written from Stratton, in Hampshire, a seat which Lady Russell had inherited from her father, and the country residence of Lord Russell from the time of his marriage. "September 30. 1681. "To see any body preparing and taking their way to see what I long to do a thousand times more than they, makes me not endure to suffer their going, without saying something to my best life, though it is a kind of anticipating my joy when we shall meet, to allow myself so much before the time. But I confess I feel a great deal, that, though I left London with great reluctancy, (as 'tis easy to persuade men a woman does,) yet that I am likely to leave Stratton with greater. They will tell you how well I got hither; and how well I found our dear treasure here. Your boy will please you; you will, I think, find him improved, though I tell you so before-hand; they fancy he wanted you; for, as soon as I alighted, he followed, calling Papa: but I suppose 'tis the word he has most command of, so was not disobliged by the little fellow. The girls were in remembrance of the happy 29th September †, and we drank your health, after a red-deer * See Mr. Spencer's evidence on Lord Russell's trial. + Lord Russell's birth-day. pye, and at night the girls and I supt on a sack posset; nay, master would have his soon, and for heat burnt his fingers in the posset; but he does but rub his hands for it....... I do propose going to my neighbour Worsley's to-day. Would fain be telling my heart more things,—any thing to be in a kind of talk with him; but I believe Spencer stays for my dispatch. He was willing to go early; but this was to be the delight of the morning, and the support of the day. 'Tis written in bed, thy pillow at my back, where thy dear head shall lie, I hope, to-morrow night, and many more, I trust in his mercy, notwithstanding all our enemies, or ill-wishers. and be willing to be loved by, Love, "R. RUSSELL." Though the Whig party seem to have sunk quietly into retirement after their defeat, the King could, by no means, rest satisfied with the victory he had obtained over his parliament, and the general tranquillity which ensued. He was determined to execute vengeance on his opponents, and establish arbitrary power upon a system of terror. For this purpose, he did not scruple to employ those witnesses whose perjuries in the trials for the Popish plot he had been the foremost to expose. The first person selected for punishment was Stephen Colledge. This man was a carpenter, who, by his noisy zeal, and the notice he had received from the Duke of Monmouth, and other men of rank, had acquired the name of the Protestant joiner. Turberville, Dugdale, Haynes, and Smith swore against him many treasonable discourses, and some strange stories of his having silk armour, and pocket pistols, at Oxford. The grand jury, however, refused to believe the witnesses, and threw out the bill. But the Court was not to be foiled in this manner: they removed the trial to Oxford, where a jury, as partial on the other side, was procured. Colledge had, besides, many hardships to undergo. His papers were taken from him on his way to trial, and the court adjourned on purpose to examine them. So that, whilst the crown lawyers had the advantage of knowing the points he meant to have argued, this poor mechanic was unable to plead the informality of the indictment, or to use other legal arguments he intended to have urged. A copy of the pannel which had been usually given to prisoners, was denied him, and his own witnesses were not allowed to be examined upon oath. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, he brought forward such evidence as materially injured the credit of the witnesses against him. Excepting Sir W. Jennings, and Mr. Masters, he showed that every one of them had owned himself forced to change sides, to avoid starving, or had been guilty of attempting to suborn others. One of them, Smith, had said, that if the Parliament refused to give the King money, and continued to press the Bill of Exclusion, that was a sufficient ground for swearing there was a plot to seize the King. As for Sir W. Jennings and Mr. Masters, they only swore that Colledge had justified, in conversation, the parliament of 1640; and that, in a quarrel at Oxford, where he had got a bloody nose, he had said, "I have shed the first blood in the cause, but it will not be the last.” Colledge explained this, as well as his having a sword and pistols in his possession, by saying that he expected the Papists would attempt a massacre. He begged the jury to consider that he could not seize the King alone, and that no conspiracy had been proved. Jeffries,' in speaking for the crown, impudently argued, that they must not discredit Dugdale (though, in one point, he had been clearly convicted of falsehood), as that would be throwing a slur on the evidence for the Popish plot. The Chief-justice, North, in summing up, said, he would not notice the evidence that had been produced to discredit the witnesses, as that was a point for the jury to decide: yet he afterwards commented on such parts as he thought unfavourable to the prisoner. He was found guilty, and executed a fortnight afterwards. But the King, to display the royal attribute of mercy, gave permission that his quarters should be buried; a favour which he slighted, saying, with philosophical indifference, he cared not whether he was eaten up by flies or worms. Having shed the blood of Colledge, the Court next attempted the life of Lord Shaftesbury. He was imprisoned in July, and indicted in November. A plan of association found in his room, but without any signature, was brought forth to supply the want of evidence. The proceedings in this case are a melancholy instance of the effects |