Monmouth's penitence or conversion discredited.

633

The references to Monmouth making undignified efforts to obtain a respite or pardon are not more severe than justifiable.'

In next letter from James to Orange, on Friday, 17th July, he mentions Monmouth's death with coolness. "He was very solicitous to have gained more time, and did many things towards it, not very decent for one who had taken on him the title of King. He was beheaded on Wednesday, on Tower-Hill. He died resolutely, and a downright enthusiast [i.e. fanatic]. Richard Goodenough is taken in Devonshire; they are in hopes to have Farguson (sic) also; so that few of the chief rebels are escaped." (Dalrymple, ii. 135.)

It seemed best to here complete the story of King James's unbroken correspondence with William of Orange, concerning the Western Insurrection, although we are thus anticipating events not yet fully described.

On a later page (662) we give a copy of Monmouth's Attainder, direct from the rare original broadside; similarly reproducing the Proclamation which offered a Reward of "Five thousand Pounds for James the Scott," alive or dead. It was issued at Whitehall, dated the sixteenth day of June, 1685. The Bill of Attainder was read thrice in the Commons on the same day; carried up to the Lords by Sir John Fenwick, thrice read there also and passed by the Lords; then received the Royal assent: all in rapid succession on the said Tuesday, the sixteenth of June. Two days later the Commons voted a sum not exceeding £400,000 for suppression of the Rebellion.

The following poem of "The Country's Advice to the Duke of Monmouth" was issued at the time when his landing and selfproclamation as "King" were known: his formal attainder had made him "the late Duke," although he was alive and yet unconquered.

1 We add a Note, showing James II.'s reception of Monmouth's offer to become a convert, if by so doing he might gain a respite and pardon:

"Arrived at Traitors' Gate, he [Monmouth] was received and lodged in the Lieutenant's house, but did not ask to see his boys and girl. Two years had passed since he had looked on their young faces, and the girl was still so young as hardly to recall his figure to her mind. She was frightened at the Tower, and sinking into low and fitful moods. The Duke was too much busied with his own affairs to mind such weaklings. Could not some one save him yet?—I know my Lord,' he cried to Dartmouth, that you loved my father. For his sake, for God's sake, try if there be room for mercy!' It was useless. Tell the King,' he muttered, I am willing to become a Catholic if he will but let me live.' This offer was sent on to James, who only sneered, It is to save his life, and not his soul."-Her Majesty's Tower, by William Hepworth Dixon, iv. 204, 1871 ed.

On our p. 698 we tell of little Lady Anne Scott's death, at the Tower, the girl mentioned above. On Monmouth's desire to see Arundel, cf. p. 686.

[British Museum Collection, 1872, a. 1, fol. 42.]

The Country's Advice to the late
Duke of Monmouth,

And those in Rebellion with him.
This may be Printed. R[oger] L. S[trange]. June 30.
Ou, who[m] the gazing World did once admire;
And you, who were extoll'd and prais'd by all,
You, who[m] each sighing Virgin did desire,
And you, who[m] once we might Great Monmouth call;
Wherefore do you against our Peace conspire,
And in a bloody War our Land enthral?

Thus Lucifer, aspiring to be great,1

Was thrown from Heav'n to his Infernal Seat.

When to great CHARLES's Arms you did return,
Not of your 'fore-committed crimes to tell,
How did that Sacred Prince's bosom burn,
In hopes you from your former Ills had fell!
But, oh! too much Indulgence makes us mourn,
And sighs, instead of joy our bosoms swell.

Thus Mercy freely given is abus'd,

And Pardon'd Rebels for Sham-Princes us'd.

Weigh with your self the fall of Absalom,
Let his Example teach you to be wise;
(He justly had a Rebel's Martyrdom,

And climb'd a Tree, 'cause he'd a mind to rise :)2
Just Heav'n in Thunder will with Vengeance come,
And on your Head avenge your Treacheries.

Think on the guiltless Blood you hourly spill,
Where Brother brother, Father son doth kill.

In vain (alas!) Rebellious arms you use,
In vain you mighty Preparations make,
And but in vain our Monarch you abuse
And skulking round about poor Women take;
In vain you your Rebellion would excuse,
By saying "tis for pure Religion's sake."

What your Religion is, I cannot tell,

But Protestants (I'm sure) can ne're Rebell.

1 Compare p. 631. 2 See Note on p. 636, regarding this allusion to Absalom.

The Country's Advice to Monmouth.

Though with your weak Pretences you delude,
And bring in some who're Traytors in despair,
A wretched, hopeless, gaping Multitude,

Whose desperate Souls know neither sense nor care;
Yet all in vain your Treasons are pursu'd,
Your Stratagems but weak and feeble are;

For the Almighty has his Angels spread,
To guard our sacred lawful Monarch's head.

What shew of Right, what Law can you pretend,
To justifie this bold, this bloody Deed?
What is't you'd have? Wherefore do you contend,
That thus you make the shaking Countrey bleed?
Is this our Liberties? Are you our Friend?
Dear Liberties, and a fast Friend indeed!

Our Souls at Liberty you set; our Wives,
Our goods, and children, perish with our Lives.

When on ambitious wings you first were tost,
And the curst Faction did your mind invite,
They spar'd no time, no labour, nor no cost,
To puff you up with a supposed Right:
But 'cause you shou'd not in your Pride be lost,
Your Royal Father clear'd your misted sight,

Who (wise as just, and powerful as great)
Declar'd you to be ILLEGITIMATE.

And you, deluded Souls that are engag'd
In Arms against your just and lawful Prince,

635

40

48

56

Consult the grounds on which this War is wag'd,

Call back your Reason, and alarm your Sense,

That this sad bloody Conflict be asswag'd,

In which you ne're can hope for recompence.

Ask God forgiveness, your wrong'd Sovereign greet,
And lay your Arms at his Imperial feet.

64

Good God! that ever people thus should be
Into such base, unnat'ral Wars betray'd,
Under the old sham-tale of LIBERTY,
Which at that very time they do invade,
When we before had all things just and free,
Nor any fear, or cause to be afraid :

Now Treason, Murther, Rape, and Massacre,
Must the blest title of RELIGION bear!

72

636

Weigh with yourself the fall of Absalom."

But if you will not now be wise in time,

And choose Repentance e're it be too late,

May you with speed be punish'd for your Crime,
And meet the scourge of your deserved fate;

And for your Head, who wou'd to Empire climb, [=Monmouth.
Upon the ashes of a ruin'd State,

Since neither Pardon, nor a Prince's Love

Can the sweet bait of Mighty Crowns remove,
Let him unpity'd in a Dungeon lie,

Till with Despair and Envy he shall die.

80

London: Printed by T. M. (for the Author) in the Year 1685. [T. M. T. Moore. White-letter. No cut. Issued before news of Sedgemoor or Monmouth's capture was received, July 10th, 1685; the term "late" being applied to his loss of title, not to loss of life, which was five days after.]

Note on the nickname "Absalom," as applied to Monmouth.

was a

With reference to 2nd Book of Samuel, xv. 5, et seq. a single-sheet folio pamphlet, in prose, "London, printed [on both sides] in the year 1680," entitled Absalom's Conspiracy; or, the Tragedy of Treason, had familiarized the public with the story, and with the suggestion that Monmouth's "Progress' revival of Absalom's tactics; the mention of David, Achitophel, Hushai, strikingly anticipating Dryden's employment of the names. Achitophel's fate points the moral: he went home and hanged himself, giving fair warning to all treacherous Councellors, to see what their Devilish Counsels will lead them to at last: Mischievous Counsel ever falling in conclusion upon the heads where first it was contrived, as naturally as dirty kennels fall into the common-sewer.' None can mistake the political application, the last words being these: "Whatsover was written aforetime, was written for our instruction, for Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

In our Bagford Ballads, p. 95, we gave a hitherto unreprinted "Paraphrase on the Third Psalm" (="Eternal Monarch! you who are the shield of injur'd kings," etc.), loyally testifying by implication against Monmonth, at about the same date, 17th November, 1681, when Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel appeared (commenced in MS. in 1680). On p. 399 of the present volume we reprinted the Roxburghe Ballad of " Absalom restor'd to David's Bosom," demonstrably belonging to a date between 28 November and 7 December, 1683. In Azaria and Hushai, A Poem, London, printed for Charles Lee, 1682, the anonymous author, Samuel Pordage, addresses the reader thus: "The Ancients say, that every thing hath two handles; I have laid hold of that opposite to the Author of Absalom: As to Truth, who has the better hold, let the World judge." It begins, "In impious Times, when Priest-craft was at height, And all the Deadly Sins esteemed light," etc. Dullness so reigns throughout that it has not been reprinted in modern days. Elkanah Settle attacks the Tories, in Absalom Senior; or, Achitophel Transpos'd (so printed when "revised with additions" in 1682), and declares that the Licentiousness of the first Absalom and Achitophel has been the sole occasion of the Liberty of this." It begins, "In Gloomy Times, when Priestcraft bore the sway, And made Heaven's Gate a Lock to their own Key," etc. (Dryden ridiculed this couplet.) In conclusion Settle declares that

'Gainst Absalom even Oracles would lye,

Though Sense and Reason preach 'tis Blasphemy.

The Duchess of Monmouth's Lamentation.

"The Duchess mark'd his weary pace,

His timid mien, and reverend face,
And bade her page the menials tell
That they should tend the old man well:
For she had known adversity,

Though born in such a high degree;

In pride of power, in beauty's bloom,

Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb."

-Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.

WE prefer to give here the ballad (mentioned on p. 415) entitled

"The Dutchess of Monmouth's Lamentation" (issued in September, 1683), before we narrate the Insurrection in the West.

Anne Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, born in 1651, "the greatest heiress and finest woman of her time," daughter of Francis Scott, Earl of Buccleuch, might have seemed to be such a woman as deserved the entire devotion of her husband. Beautiful in person, amiable in disposition, accomplished and graceful, she held her place at a Court where women exercised a sovereign charm, virtuous beyond almost all of them, and possessed in her own right ample fortune, rank, and influence. In her youth, she had brought to her boyish husband every gift that he was able to value. Nothing but perversity and ingratitude could account for his neglectful treatment of her. His heart can never have really accompanied his hand, and it is only the most generous natures who learn to love those who have showered benefits upon them. To baser natures gifts received work little good, and are felt as burdens or injuries, because a morbid conscience gnaws within, telling of unworthiness in the recipient, who strives to transfer the sense of wrong-doing from himself to the giver.

Their marriage had taken place in 1663, while she was only twelve years old, and Monmouth not fifteen.1 Their son Charles, Earl of Doncaster, was born August 26, 1672; their daughter Catherina Laura on January 10, 1674. Both died early. Charles died at the close of 1679, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Two sons, James and Henry, survived their father. Other children died young, viz. Francis, Charlotte, and Anne. (See Note on p. 698.)

In early days of her married life the charm of her conversation had been appreciated by James Duke of York, over whom she was

1 In 1673 their titles were augmented as Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Earl and Countess of Dalkeith, Baron and Baroness of Whitchester and Eskdale in Scotland. Their marriage during infancy had been contrived solely for his benefit as a worldly advantage, of wealth, rank, and assured position. During the time of their necessary separation, he formed evil habits, which clung to him.