it were, first that it had bene soe heretofore, & soe is conceaved to be an auntient right: 2 that ye ill effects that have bene by y councells & acc'ons of olde officers, councellors, &c. & ye feares that there may be ye like by the new; will make all that hath bene hitherto donne nothing, if this may not be graunted to secure them, whereby the kingdome may be as well p'served as purged. 3d that yo' Matie did heare partic❜lar & privat mens advise in y choyce of yo' offis, councellors, &c. & therefore it can be noe derogac'on for yo' Matie to take therein ye advise of ye Pliament. Some said that untill such things as these shalbe granted they cannot wth a good conscyence supply yo' Maties necessities: after a long debate this busines was at length referred to a Select Com'ittee to pepare forthwth heads for a peton to be pesented to yo' Matie to receave the P'liam approbac'on of such officers, councellors, &c. as yo' Matie shall choose, for better pevenc'on of ye great & many mischeifs that may befall ye Comonwealth by ye choyce of ill councellors, officers, amb'dors & ministers of state, weh peton is to be ripened wth all speede & to be pesented to ye House: there appeared soe many in y Com'ons House against this busines, that some conceave that there wilbe noe further proceeding in it, but I doubt it: howsoever I may not forbeare to let yo' Matie know, that the Lo: ffalkland, S Jo. Strangwishe,' Mr. Waller, Mr. Ed. Hide, & Mr. Holborne, & diverse others stood as Champions in maynten'nce of yo' Prerogative, and shewed for it unaunswerable reason & undenyable I co'mande pesedents, whereof yor Matie shall doe well to take you to doe it some notice (as yo' Matie shall thinke best) for their telling them encouragm't. The Com'ons House having gotten notice of ye those planets in conjunction, they then cause a deeper eclipse." He then concludes a string of uncouth metaphors by assur ing the House that it was necessary so to provide that the Maecenas's of the times may not, like great jacks in a pool, devour their inferiors, and make poverty a pavement for themselves to trample on." 1 Sir John Strangeways, knt. of Melbury Stampford, Dorsetshire. in my name, that I will doe it myselfe at my returne. On the con new Bpps that are now making, some did mervale traire I com- that any man should move yo Matie for making of mand you to BPs in these tymes, when it is well knowne how great take order that these Billes bee expedited that they may with all complaints are against them in generall, & some would have had a peto" or message to be sent to pray yor Matie to be pleased to stay y constituting of any possible dili- more Brs till ye busines concerning Episcopacy shalbe gence attend determyned: but this moc'on was not resented in ye House, & soe ye discourse thereof fell.2 the Parle ment. There was yesterday a great debate in ye Upper House about ye Bill for taking away ye BPs votes, & it was very doubtfull, after a long dispute, wch side was likeliest to carry itt, but att length both sides agreed to put off ye further debate thereof till ye 10th of Nov' next, before wch tyme it wilbe tryed, of what · vallidity ye impeachm* against ye 13 Bps will proove to be. The considerac❜on of these partic❜lar passages may be sufficyent to move yo' Matie to hasten yo' returne & I shall take ye boldnes to ad to it one more, wch I observed at ye Councell Borde, when Marq: Hertford moved y Lodds (upon occasion of these words in Mr. Th'rers lett to me, viz. that he did hope ye P'liam' of Engl. would interpose & hasten yo' Maties returne) to consider whether it might not be fit to 1 The superstitious feeling which entered largely into all the judgments, of political events at this period is curiously exemplified by a contemporary writer, speaking of the occurrences immediately after Charles's return: "It happened one day, as some of the ruder sort of citizens came by Whitehall, one busie citizen must needs cry, 'No Bishops!' Some of the gentlemen issued out of Whitehall, either to correct the sauciness of the fool in words, if they would serve, else, it seemes, with blowes; what passed on either side in words none but themselves knew; the citizen, being more tongue than souldier, was wounded, and I have heard dyed of his wounds receaved at that tyme; it hath been affirmed by very many, that in or near unto that place where this fellow was hurt and wounded, the late King's head was cut off, the Scaffold standing just over that place." The Parliamentary History asserts that the motion for a conference with the Lords, for the purpose of drawing up a petition on this subject, was carried, on a division, by 71 to 53. 3 Hertford, at this period, was Governor to the Prince of Wales. This branch of the Seymours became extinct in 1675. move ye P❜liam' here to that purpose; most of y rest of ye Lodds of ye Councele declyned it, in regarde y le was not written to ye Boorde but to me, & that Mr. Th'rer left it to my choyce whether to acquaint them wth it or noe; whereby I observe that every one of yo2 Maties Pr. Councele is not fond of yo speedy returne hither. Yo' Matie can best make iudgmt by there carriages how much it imports you to hasten hither. I have delivered yo' Maties warraunt concerning yo' Collar of Rubies, and am promised that this weeke order shalbe sent into ye Low Countries for delivery of ye same accordingly wth all dilligence possible. The Queene toulde me on Wensday last, that she would send an expresse to yo' Matie wthin a few dayes, wch I beleeve she hath donne by this tyme. This from my Lo. Keeper was delivered to me for yo' Maie this afternoone. I assure yo' Matie I have bene warn'd by some of my best friends to be wary what I wryte to yo' Matie, for that there are many eyes upon me both here & in Scotl. & that l'trs that come to yo' Royall hands doe after oft miscarry & come to others view: albeit It is a Ley, this shall not deterre me from p'formaunce of my duty in advertising yo' Mate of all things that shall occurre to my knowledge of certeynty, importing yo Maties service, yet I humbly beseech yo' Matie to vouchsafe to keepe to yo'self what I take ye freedome I shall. to imparte, least, in these tymes, that may be rendred to be treason in me, wch I humbly conceave to be ye this on duty of, Yo' sacred Maties EDW. NICHOLAS. Most humble and most obedient servaunt, WESTMINSTER, 29o 8bris, 1641. EDEN. 6 Nov. Apost. 6o 9bris-Red 11o 9bris by Mr. Tho. Killegrew.1 1 This is the gentleman of facetious memory, generally known only as the Court buffoon of the succeeding reign, but who had other claims, not generally understood, upon the Royal notice. At this period he was, or had been, page to I receaued Wednesday last. When ye deliver this inclosed to my Wyfe, desyre her not to open it but when she is alone. Sir Edward Nicholas to the King. The 29th of ye last moneth I sent yo' Matie a lt' in a packet adressed to Mr. Th'rer, & on Satterday last about 7 at night I receaued by Capt. Smith' yo❜ Maties co'maunds apostiled 24° 8bris, & according to yo Maties co'maunds I gave him yo' Maties lt' to p'sent it to ye Queene. The relac'ons wch are here made by any that come from thence, are (for ye most pte) varied & reported afterward by others according to ye sence and affec'on of each several audito", & soe become very uncertaine, & some are apt to credit & report ye worst of businesses, & to silence what they like not, wherefore I humbly conceave, that a relac❜on written by a good & unsuspected hand, would not only gayne best beliefe, but be lesse subiect to mistakes & misreports: & I hope when ye examinac❜ons of ye late disturbances there shalbe published, ye same will cleere all doubts, & giue honnest men full satisfact'on. I have shewen yo Queene & some Lodds the coppy of Marq: Hamiltons 2. & 3d ltrs to yo' Matie, whereby he begs yo Maties pardon, wch argues he is not soe faultlesse, & innocent, as we would here render him. I humbly Charles the First; and was afterwards an attendant upon Charles the Second during his exile. Some allusions are made to him in subsequent letters; particularly where the Queen of Bohemia solicits a commission for him. His family was also, in some degree, connected with the Royal family, by the marriage of Mary, daughter of Sir William Killegrew, with Frederic of Zulestein, an illegitimate son of Henry Prince of Orange. 1 This Captain Smith displayed great courage, as well as loyalty, in the King's service. In the Battle of Edgehill, on the 22nd of October, 1642, when Sir Edward Verney, the Royal Standard Bearer, was killed, and the standard taken, Smith rushed amidst the enemy and retook it, for which he was instantly made a knight banneret, and received soon after a large gold medal, "with the King's picture on the one side, and the banner on the other, which he always wore to his dying day, in a large green watered ribband, cross his shoulders." He fell, two years afterwards, at Cheriton fight, sometimes called the battle of Alresford. thanke yo' Mate that you have bene soe carefull of yo faithfull servaunt, as to burne all such of my 1", as you returne not to me apostiled, weh soe much concernes my safety, as I assure yo' Matle, I have bene warned by some of my best freinds both there and here, to be wary in my advertisem", least being too good a servaunt (these are their very words) doe me hurt. I have, inclosed, sent yo' Matle ye coppy of an order1 of ye Parliam' concerning their abundant care of y Princes highnes safety and education, the reasons thereof were delivered at Oatlands by my Lo. of Holland' to ye Queene, who (I heare) gave 1 A conference took place on this subject between the two Houses, wherein it was urged that the Prince had recently been often at the Queen's residence at Oatlands; and though the Commons did not doubt the motherly affection and care of her Majesty towards him, yet there were some dangerous persons at Oatlands, Jesuits and others, and therefore it was desired that the Marquis of Hertford should be enjoined to take the Prince into his custody and charge, attending upon him in person, and also that the Prince would make his ordinary abode and residence at his own house at Richmond. To this it was added, that Lord Hertford should place some person about the Prince to be answerable to both Houses; so that, in fact, the Prince would have been a complete prisoner. When the message was sent to the Queen, she made answer that the Prince was celebrating his Sister's birthday. 2 Henry Rich, first Earl of Holland (and second son of the Earl of Warwick), so created by James the First, in 1624. He is recorded in the Loyal Martyrologie by Winstanley, as a special favourite of Charles in the early part of his reign, being then Governor of Windsor Castle: yet, after that date, says Winstanley, "when the Long Parliament began to sit, and religion became the bone of contention, he sided with them; but afterwards perceiving that they made religion only a cloak to cover their rebellion, he deserted them, and took up armes for the Royal interest." Being defeated and taken prisoner, he suffered on the same scaffold with the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Capel, on the 9th of March, 1648. In the charge of his siding with the Parliament, Winstanley goes further than Dugdale, and those writers who copy from him; the latter asserting only that the favours heaped on Holland by Charles made that Earl so fearful of the Parliament's enmity as to induce him not only to stand neutral himself, but also to persuade the Earl of Essex, his near kinsman, and Lord Chamberlain, to desert his Royal Master |