On the con new BPP that are now making, some did mervale traire I com- that any man should move yo' Male for making of mand you to BP in these tymes, when it is well knowne how great take 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 yo' Male to be pleased to stay y constituting of any possibledili. more B" till ye busines concerning Episcopacy shalbe gence attend determyned: but this moc'on was not resented in ye House, & soe ye discourse thereof fell.' the Parle ment. There was yesterday a great debate in y Upper House about ye Bill for taking away y BP 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 y⚫ impeachm* against yo 13 BP will proove to be. The considerac❜on of these partic'lar passages may be sufficyent to move yo' Mae to hasten yo' returne & I shall take ye boldnes to ad to it one more, wch I observed at y 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 y' P'liam' of Engl. would interpose & hasten yo' Maties returne) to consider whether it might not be fit to 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 conference with the Lords, for the purpose of drawing up petition on this subject, was carried, on a division, by 71 to 58. Hertford, at this period, was Governor to the Prince of Wales. This branch of the Seymours became extinct in 1675. move y' P'liam' here to that purpose; most of y rest of y 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 yo' Maties Pr. Councele is not fond of yo speedy returne hither. Yo' Matie can best make iudgm' 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 y' same accordingly wth all dilligence possible. The Queene toulde me on Wensday last, that she would send an expresse to yo' Matie whin a few dayes, weh I beleeve she hath donne by this tyme. This from my Lo. Keeper was delivered to me for yo' Made this afternoone. my I assure yo' Mate 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 duty in advertising yo' Ma of all things that shall occurre to my knowledge of certeynty, importing yo' Maties service, yet I humbly beseech yo' Male to vouchsafe to keepe to yo'self what I take y freedome I shall. to imparte, least, in these tymes, that may be rendred I receaued to be treason in me, weh I humbly conceave to be ye this con duty of, Yo' sacred Mater EDW. NICHOLAS. Most humble and most obedient servaunt, WESTMINSTER, 29o 8bris, 1641. EDEN. 6 Nov. Apost. 6o 9.-Red 11° 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 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' Mates co'maunds apostiled 24° 8bris, & according to yo' Male co'maunds I gave him yo' Maties lt' to p'sent it to ye Queene. The relac'ons we are here made by any that come from thence, are (for ye most p') varied & reported afterward by others according to y sence and affec'on of each several audito", & soe become very uncertaine, & some are apt to credit & report y 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 y examinac'ons of y late disturbances there shalbe published, ye same will cleere all doubts, & giue honnest men full satisfact'on. I have shewen y Queene & some Lodds the coppy of Marq: Hamiltons 2. & 34 lt to yo' Mate, whereby he begs yo Maties pardon, weh 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. 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' Matie, 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' Mae ye coppy of an order of y 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 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. 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 Parlia ment'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 my name. a very wise and discreete answeare to y same, as (I beleeve) her owne pen will very speedily acquaint yo' Matie It is said there is a new designe discovered of a later intenc'on then Mr. Percyes to have debauched ye late Army, but what it is I cannot learne. My Lo. Keeper sent to me this day to acquaint yo' Matie, that ye pesent new Lo. Mayor lately sworne (named Rich. Gurney), being not in y com'ission of Lieutenn'cy for London & liberties, it wilbe necessary Doe you it in that y comiss'on be renewed & his LoP put into it, weh may soone be donne, if yo' Mae please to signify yo' pleasure to my Lo. Keeper to that purpose. The BP of Chichester humbly desires yo' Maie licence to be absent from P❜liam', for weh pu'pose I have (at his I have syned LoP request) herein sent a warr' for yo' Mate signature, if you shall think fitt to signe it. It was to make use ordered on Friday last by y Com❜ons that there should be heads p'pared for a conference concerning a pet to be sent to yo' Male to stay y making of y new BPP, but this hath not hitherto beene proceeded in any further, and some thinke it wilbe let fall. it, but I will not haue you of it but as my Wyfe shall direct you. ties There is newes come to my Lo. Lieutenn't of Ireland of a rebellion in y° north of that kingdome, raysed (as it is said) by Papistes, whereof one Macguire' is one of ye chiefest; I have not seene y le concerning it, but y Los of yo' Maties Privy Councell sate yesterday (when I was at Oatlands) in close Councell about it, & this day they were w ye House of Com'ons to advise concerning it as I heare: I beleeve yo' Matie hath before this receaved advertisem' of ye certeynty of this busines out of Ireland, & I doubt not but ye Lo of yo' Privy Councell here, or my Lo. Lieutenant, will forthwith give yo Mate an account, what they have advised upon when forced to fly from Whitehall. De Larrey, a French historian, says of him that he possessed greater genius than his brother, Lord Warwick, who was "a person of an agree able wit, perhaps a little too much libertine, but knew very well how to dissemble, and imposed on the people by an affected devotion, and going regularly to sermons.' He was brother to the Lord Macguire, who was afterwards tried by order of the Parliament, and hanged, drawn, and quartered, notwithstanding he pleaded his Irish Pecrago. |