: Sir Edward Nicholas to the King. May it please yo' most excellent Matie, Yesterday I wrote to yo' Matie, & addressed it by packet to ye D. of Richmond, as yo" Matie co'manded me when you should be on yo' returne: since that, I have receaved from y° Queene 3 of my l'trs, all of them apostiled by yo' Matie ye 13th of this moneth, & I humbly acknowledge myself infinitely obliged to yo Matie for yo' grac'ous goodnes in returning and burning my l'trs. I shall carefully obey all yo' Maties com'aunds in those l'trs. I have herewth sent for yo' Maties signature a draught for yo Royall assent for ye BPP of Lincolne' to be Arch of Yorke this was brought to me this day, & there is noe returne as yet made vpon ye Congé d'eslires for any of ye other BPP. I have herewth alsoe sent yo❜ Matie a Bill conteyning a Com'ission to appoint y Ea. of Holland to be Lo: G'rall of all yo' Maties forces beyonde the Trent, wch com'ission yo' Matie gave order for, before yo' iourney into Scotland, but it seemes by Mr. Attorney (who now brought me this by direcc'on from ye Parliam' to be sent wth speede to yo' Matie) that vpon ye mistake of some name in yo former draught it passed not ye Greate Seale: I tould Mr. Attorney I did beleeve yo' Matie would not thinke fitte to signe it now before yo' returne; but howsoever he wished me to send it away to yo' Matie wth ye first, because he had promised soe much to ye Lodds in P'liam': this is all I know of this busines, and yo' Maties wisdome can best direct you what to doe in it. The business against O'Neale is referred to a select Com'ittee to be pepared reddy for ye House against Munday next, & some thinke it wilbe hardly heard then, for albeit ye Com'ons haue a very good minde to proceede roundly against him, yet (I heare) y 1 John Williams, D.D. Dean of Westminster, and formerly Lord Keeper. To this draught the royal signature was given. VOL. IV. K proofes are soe broken, as they will not make a full & cleere evidence: the worst in all that busines is, that it reflects on yo' Matie, as if you had giuen some instrucc❜ons concerning ye stirring up ye army to peto y Parliam': I hope it will appeare that yo Maties intenc'ons were only to reteyne ye army in their duty & dependance on yo' Matie. The House of Com'ons hath pressed ye Lodes very earnestly for removall of ye Êa: of Portland from his gov'ment of ye Isle of Weight, but ye Lodes yesterday, upon his Los profession to liue & dye in ye Protestant religion, let fall that busines as by ye inclosed yor Matie will perceave. There hath bene nothing donne these 2. ́ dayes by ye Com'ons touching ye Declarac'on remonstrating y bad effects of ill councells, but it is thought that ye same wilbe finished this weeke: there are diverse well affted servants of yo' Maties in that House, that oppose that remonstrance wth vnanswerable argums, but it is veryly thought that it will passe notwithstanding,' & that it wilbe ordered to be printed wthout transmission to ye Lodes. The Comons (I heare) haue intercepted some lets that passed betweene Mr. Crofts & y Dutchess of Chevereux,3 and gotten the key of their caraches, whereupon Mr. Crofts hath this day bene exa'ied: as alsoe touching his soe frequent vissitting of Col: Goring at Portsmouth, and ye Coll: is also come up by com'and The motion was carried by 159 to 148, on the 22nd of this month. 2 Mr. Crofts and Mr. William Murray, already mentioned, were two of those whom the Committee of Parliament, sitting at Grocers' Hall, declared to be persons of vile character, and enemies to liberty; passing at the same time a resolution that the King should be called on to dismiss them from his service. Crofts had married the aunt of the Earl of Warwick; and she had also been very active in Court intrigue previous to this, as appears by a reference to Bromley's Royal Letters, page 85. This Lady was at the Court of England for the first time, in 1638; and is mentioned by Pennant, in his Journey to the Isle of Wight, as having, in a frolic, swam across the Thames; somewhere, as he supposes, in the vicinity of Wind gor. He also preserves an extract from a Copy of Verses made on the occasion by a Sir J. M. (probably Sir John of ye Com❜ons, & suspected, for that it hath bene informed, that he hath fortifyed that garrison to ye land, & put forth some ould soldiers & put in new; whereby yo Matie may see that euery small matter ministers feare here amongst us. I dare not as yet stirre out of my chamber, being still weake, but (if I shalbe able) I intend (God willing) to wayte on yo Matie at Theobalds on Wensday next, & in y° meane tyme I humbly rest Yo' sacred Maties Most humble & most obedient servaunt, WESTMINSTER: 19° Nobris 1641. "For yo' Sacred Matie." EDW. NICHOLAS. The Queen to Sir E. Nicholas. Maistre Nicholas, I did desire you not to acquainte mi lord of essex of what the King commanded you touching his commin: now you may doe it and tell him that the King will be at Tibols vendnesday and shall lye there and upond thursday he shall dine at my lord Maiors and Îye at Whitthall onlye for one nitgh and upon friday will goe to hampton-court where he maenes to stay this vinter: the King commanded me to tell this to my lord of essex but you may doe it, for there Lords ships are to great prinses now to receaued anye direction from mee: beeng all that I haue to say I shall rest "For Maistre Nicholas." R: 20° Nobris 1641. Your assured frand, HENRIETTE MARIE R. The Q: for me to signify to Lo: Chamb❜lan. Mennes, author of the Musarum Delicia), whose opinion of the lady's frigid chastity is matter of vast amusement to Pennant. Sir J. M. exclaims, in his poetic rapture, "But her chaste breast, cold as the cloyster'd nun, Sir Edward Nicholas to the King. May it please yo' most excellent Matie, I receaved yo' Maties com'aunds yesterday by S Hen: Hungate,' & this day by Mr. Proger, & shalbe carefull to observe ye same, as I hope I shalbe able on Wensday next to give yo' Matie an accompt att Theobalds. ties I have now againe receaved assuraunce, that (as 1 formerly acquainted yor Matie) y° Gent: & diverse of ye best of ye freeholders of Hertfordshire will wayte on yo' Mae a myle before you come to Ware, & if yor Matie please to make a little stop in that towne, that ye better sorte may there kisse yo' Royall hand, & y rest be spoken to by yo' Mate, it will give them very great contentm'. If yor Matie please to come softly from Ware, y most of those will wayte on yo' Matie as farre as Theobalds, & if yo' Matie thinke not that convenyent, they will wayte on yo' Matie only a mile or two out of Ware, & soe receave yo' Ma" grac'ous dismission. I am ye more dilligent to give yo Matie this advertisem', because I know those gent: will not fayle in this manner to shew their affecc'ons & duty to you, & that county being soe neere a neighbour to London, it wilbe a good encouragem & comfort to yo' well affected people here, to vnderstand, that they have neighbours that have ye like dutifull affecc'ons to yo❜ Mai person and governm', as these Cittizens here, who are constantly resolved to giue yo' Matie a magnificent recepc'on, notwithstanding (I heare) there have bene some practises vnderhand to divert them from that their setled pu'pose. ties By ye Queenes direcc'ons I signifyed to my Lo: Chamb'layne on Satterday last, that yo' Mate intends to lye at Theobalds Wensday next, to dyne Thursday att y Guildhall, & that night to lye att Whitehall, & Friday to goe to Hampton Court. Coll. Goring gaue ye House of Com'ons good satisfac'con Satterday last touching his fidellity & good affec'cons, and was thereupon dismissed: The Com'ons have bene in See ante, pp. 117, 118. 2 Goring, in some subsequent transactions, underwent the debate about their Declarac'on touching y ill effects of bad councells euer since 12 at noone, & are at it still, it being now neere 12 at midnight.' I staid this dispatch in hope to have sent yo' Matieye result of that debate, but it is soe late, as I dare not (after my sicknes) adventure to watch any longer to see y issue of it; only I assure yo' Matie there are diverse in ye Com'ons House, that are resolved to stand very stiff for reiecting that Declarac'on, and if they p'vayle not then to protest against it. That yo Matie may have a happy & safe returne2 shalbe euer ye prayer of Yo' sacred Maties Most humble & most obedient servaunt, WESTMINSTER, 22o Nobris, 1641. imputation of having acted a double part with the King and the Parliament. When the war broke out, Goring, as Governor of Portsmouth, declared for the King; but that town, being unable to sustain a siege, was soon lost to the Royal Cause. Goring then went to France, as Bulstrode says, with the money he had received on both sides, "without making good his promises to either." That Author adds, that "if his conscience and integrity had equalled his wit and courage, he had been one of the most eminent men of the age he lived in; but he could not resist temptations, and was a man without scruple, and loved no man so well, but he would cozen him, and afterwards laugh at him." Goring's high command in the army, and subsequent court-favour, are supposed to have been occasioned in a great measure by the very active assistance he afforded to the Queen, whilst in France, in procuring both money and arms. 1 It was a little after twelve when the "Great Remonstrance" was carried, by a majority of eleven. Hampden then moved that it should be printed, which Hyde met by a counter-motion, in which he claimed the right for the minority to be allowed to enter a formal protest against the decision of the House. It appears by the above letter that Nicholas had been informed of Hyde's intention to make this attempt. Hampden's motion was not carried till two o'clock, and after a scene of extraordinary excitement (in which bloodshed was only prevented, according to Sir Philip Warwick, "by the sagacity and great calmness of Mr. Hampden") the House adjourned at three o'clock. Sir Benjamin Rudyard compared the result to "the verdict of a starved jury." 2 The King did return on the 25th; which closed this por |