The King to Sir Edward Nicholas. OXFORD, 30 Jan: 1644.' Nicholas, I shall ad nothing to the seuerall good newes you will receaue by your fellow Secretairs letter, but the surpryse of Compton House by S W. Compton : & to bid you tell your fellow Comissioners, that if there be any Treaty proposed tion of the Correspondence. On the next day, the 26th of November, 1641, the loyal diligence of Mr. Secretary Nicholas was acknowledged and rewarded by the honour of Knighthood conferred on him at Whitehall, as appears from a MS. List of Knights of that reign in the Harleian Collection, No. 6832. In some old Tracts of that period we find also recorded "Five most noble Speeches" spoken to his Majesty by the mayors of several cities on his route homeward. The Mayor of York assured him: "Our well-tuned bells at this present time, to congratulate the welcome of so great a Prince, turne themselves, and doe willingly stand, as if Time commanded them soe to doe;" to which this ultra-loyal magistrate added: "our wives conceive with joye, our children's tongues are untyed with alacrity, and each one doth strive to cry welcome home to so indulgent a Soveraigne, our fields do seeme triumphing in their gay diapry to welcome home your Sacred Majesty, the woods doe seeme to contemne a falling Autumne or a nipping Winter, and assume unto themselves their Spring liveries, and all to welcome home your most Sacred Majesty." The Mayor of Stamford, after describing himself as the King's "abject Lieutenant," enlarged upon the loyalty of his fellow citizens, and said that "each would have bin glad to have entertained the place of a speaker;" whilst Huntingdon's worshipful magistrate boasted, “that although Rome's Hens should daily hatch of its preposterous eggs, crocodilicall chickens, yet under the shield of Faith, by you our most Royal Sovereigne defended, and by the King of Heavens as I stand and your most medicable councell, would we not be fearful to withstand them." A long interval here occurs in the Correspondence, arising from the King's return. Nicholas appears to have been constantly attached to his Majesty's person, until his appointment as one of the Commissioners pending this well-known Treaty. The "good news" to which the King refers, may have been the entrance of the Scottish army into England, which took place on the 16th. 2 Sir William Compton was third son of the Earl of Northampton. His two elder brothers were also active in the King's service, These were, the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Hertford; the Earls of Southampton, Kingston, Chichester; concerning Scotland (of weh I forgott to speake to them at parting) theire answer must be, to demand a passeport for a gentleman to goe from me to see what stat the Marquis of Muntrose' is in, there being noe reason, that I should treate blyndefolde in so important a business, nor without the knowledg of him whom I haue now cheefly employed in that Kingdome & who hath undertaken my seruice there, with so much galantry, when no boddy else would: so I rest R 31° Jani. 1644. Your asseured frend, CHARLES R. His Maties let to me by Mr. Skipw'th1 concerning Scotland during ye Treaty at Uxbridge. Sir Edward Nicholas to the King. I have herewh sent to yo' Matie coppies of such Montrose is represented by those who take the more favourable view of his character to have been secretly attached and faithful to the King's cause some time before he so declared himself, though the King had been kept ignorant of it by the artifices of the Marquis of Hamilton; for though in the beginning of the troubles in Scotland Montrose had joined the Presbyterian party, and was the first to sign the Covenant, yet seeing reason to change his views, and trusting to the weight of his family alliances, he is alleged to have come to England with the intention of rendering all the service in his power to the King. On his arrival, however, Hamilton, who had often been accused of deceiving Charles with respect to Scottish affairs, contrived so artfully to throw slights upon Montrose, that the latter returned to the Covenanters; with whom being again disgusted, he wrote shortly after to the King, expressing his loyalty and desire of serving him in the strongest terms; which letter, it is asserted, Hamilton took out of his Majesty's pocket in the night, and sent it secretly to the Covenanters. 2 Perhaps Fulmar Skipwith, of Newbold Hall, afterwards created a Baronet by Charles II. 3 The King's military affairs at this moment were beginning to decline; for both the armies of Essex and Waller had Oxford 6 Feb. Heerafter you shall orders to labor to fynde out, w'che an doe well to here yesterday, & ye Londoners touching ye Militia, marke their wch this afternoone yo' Maties Com'ission' are to make saue us the appeare to be a power most naturally & legally in yo Matie: this morning wee are to observe y fast according to yo' Maties Proclamac'on,' but it must swers w'ch, be donne here in ye Inne, for wee cannot be permitted to have ye Booke of Com'on Prayer read in ye themselfes. church here, & wee resolve not to goe to any church where the Divine service established by law may not be celebrated. as wel as to send the Papers You have done well, but they, barbarusly. Setle the Weekely dispaches with the Portugall Agent, & send me word how. I haue. much less my hand. I have made reddy the dispatch to ye King of Portugall, we wilbe tendred to yo Matie under I hope yor Matie upon ye advertisem* I sent to yo for France Matie & P. Rupert yesterday, hath before this taken order to pevent that Woodstock be not garrison'd as those of London have com'aunded. The Comission's from London say, that S Wm Waller' is marching westward as farre as Winchester, & those partes, wth No Bragges 6000 men; and that there is an army of about must stager, 26,000 Scots to come into England att the opening alter you in of ye spring: They vapour much att London, but I the way you heare they are much devided amongst themselves. stantly ad- 276. 352. 574. 662. hath 123. 63. 21. 25. 290. 657. hering to Concience, 116. 276. 352. 225. 276. 428. offring 163. 300. since 173. 276. 340. 225. 276. Militia, soe as 276. 10. 26. 198. 166. satisfac'on. 278. 225. 626. but I know not ye p'ticlars, having not had tyme to speake wth them concerning their discourse, & when I know it, now been greatly augmented by recruits from the Metropolis and its neighbourhood, as well as from the associated counties. Thus reinforced, these two Parliamentary Generals carried every thing before them. They had recently advanced into Oxfordshire, where they hovered about the King's headquarters, and kept the Royal Army in constant alarm. ar, Justice,& In this, free Conscience is not to be This fast was appointed by the King, for a blessing on the Treaty then pending at Uxbridge. In the Mercurius Rusticus is a copy of the prayer orderd for the occasion: but as it spoke of the "unnatural War," and prayed the Almighty to "let the truth clearly appear, who those are, which under pretence of the public good do pursue their own private ends," it is not surprizing that obstacles were thrown in the way of its celebration. 2 Waller was not a very fortunate General. Walker says of him, in the History of Independency, "that he lost two armies, yet was a gainer by the employment." |