A Narrative by John Ashburnham of his attendance on King Charles the First from Oxford to the Scotch Army, and from Hampton-Court to the Isle of Wight: never before printed. To which is prefixed a vindication of his character and conduct, from the misrepresentations of Lord Clarendon, by his...

Front matter

A NARRATIVE BY JOHN ASHBURNHAM OF HIS ATTENDANCE ON KING CHARLES THE FIRST FROM OXFORD TO THE SCOTCH ARMY, AND FROM HAMPTON-COURT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT : NEVER BEFORE PRINTED. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A VINDICATION OF HIS CHARACTER AND CONDUCT, FROM THE MISREPRESENTATIONS OF LORD CLARENDON, BY HIS LINEAL DESCENDANT AND PRESENT REPRESENTATIVE. " Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus nltor." VOL. I. LONDON : PAYNE AND FOSS, PALL-MALL; BALDWIN AND CRADOCK, PATERNOSTER-ROW. M.DCCC.XXX. PRINTED BV W. NICOL, CLEVELAND-ROW. CONTENTS. VOL. I. Page Introductory Apology . . . , 1 Vindication of the Character and Conduct of John Ashhurnham. Part 1 13 Part II 113 Part III 277 VOL. II. Biographical Notices of John Ashhurnham .... 1 A Letter from Mr. Ashhurnham to a priend .... 41 Narrative 55 Letters and Warrants of the King 137 Letter from Mr. John Ashhurnham to the lord Culpeper, and the lord Culpeper to Mr. Ashhurnham . . . 173

Appendix

. I. A true and perfect Accompt of all such Monies, &c. iii II. Regiments of the King's army xlii III. Stat. 10. Hen. vn. [Poyning's Act] Stat. 11 Eliz. Sess. 3 xliii IV. Letter from general Ireton to colonel Hammond, and from Oliver Cromwell to colonel Hammond xlviii V. Supplementary Evidences, obtained from the earl of Clarendon's own authority, in confirmation and illustration of certain facts, arguments, and inferences, advanced in the first part of a Vindication of John Ashburnham's character ... Ixi CONTENTS. IV Page VI. Memoirs of sir John Berkley, containing an account of his negotiation with lieutenant-general Cromwell, commissary-general Ireton, and other Officers of the army, for restoring King Charles the First to the exercise of the government of England . cxxix VII. Of Salmonet, and his " Histoire des Troubles d'Angleterre" cxcviii VIII.

Lord Clarendon's Characters of those illustrious and eminent Persons with whose esteem and friendship John Ashhurnham is known to have been honoured cciii ERRATA. VOL. I. Page 26, line 17, for was equal read was of equal. 1 17> line 10, for men read man. 137. The side note Clarendon Papers should be at line 4. 228, line 7, for confesses read confessed. 262, line 5, note, for to entertain read from entertaining. 289, line 3, for escaped read ceased. 369, line 23, of courtier read of a courtier. VOL. II. Page lxxii. (Appendix) line 7, for transpired read transpire. To the public, some apology is not less due from the editor of another man's writings, than from an author, who ventures to obtrude his own. It was only in the more humble character (or at most as a commentator) that the writer of this Vindi cation had at first intended to present himself, and would yet wish to be considered.

In his editorial capacity, he offers, not the trite and hackneyed plea of encouragement given in private by some too partial friends ; but repeated calls more or less directly made upon him, in periodical, and other publications: the fact, that John Ashburnham's Narrative is still preserved in his family, being little less known from some extracts given in Collins's Peerage, than that of its former existence, is notorious from lord Cla rendon's avowed and recorded condescension in having honoured it with his perusal. The resolution having been at length taken to comply with these demands, it seemed expedient, as usually practised, to accompany the publica tion with some biographical notices, and historical illustrations. The researches after the information necessary for such purposes led to other, and very different discoveries ; equally unexpected, surprising, and * For all the passages quoted from lord Clarendon's History and Life, the references are to the last Oxford edition.

VOL. I. B {,+ important : so numerous, as well as various, that, if the primary design had not been abandoned, a scanty stream of text would soon have been lost sight of in the wide-spreading inundation of notes and comments. But if, however reluctantly, he must be raised to the rank and dignity of an author, he is pro vided with an excuse for the publication of his work, which he offers with as much undisguised confidence, as the work itself with unfeigned diffidence. It is the irresistible impulse of a sacred duty, forbidding him to suppress the means, which in his conscience he believes himself to have ac quired, of rescuing innocence from calumny, and merit from detraction. And if this be so on a general principle and in ordinary relations, much more forcibly must it be, as it ought to be, felt in the case of a venerated ancestor : and above all of one, whose chiefest care it has been to preclude from his descendants the painful humiliation of being contaminated by the foul aspersions of his merciless revilers.* Yet, while he feels secure that the having un dertaken such a task will abstractedly be deemed * " And though for no other motive, yet for this, that my " own posterity may know, I have not stupidly through silence " passed by the heavy censures upon me, there shall be (for " their information) this faithful discourse extant, to settle " their judgement of my integrity to his majesty, and prevent " the irreverence which otherwise may peihaps not only be " paid by them to my memorie, but give them cause (taking ," loose reports for granted truths) to loath themselves for being " branches of so unworthy and so wicked a stock."

Narrative, p. 62. Hooker. even meritorious, he cannot but be aware of the peculiar difficulties, which in this case he has to encounter, and of the peculiar disadvantages under which he is placed. Of these many he will here restrict himself to the notice of one alone : and to impress it he will borrow part of a leaf out of his ancestor's book. " He, that goes about to persuade multitudes, " that they are not so well informed, as they ought " to be, in things generally received, and deeply " rooted in them, shall never want impatient " hearers. Because men's natural inclinations are " more prone to rest upon what they have already " embraced, and what for a long time hath had " no opposition, than to be curious in the search " after the truth thereof; though it be the truth." This observation of " a grave and most judicious " author on a more divine subject," John Ash burnham, says, that he " cannot but make use of, " since it is so very pertinent to his purpose :" — that of preparing a " Narrative, which he very " much scorns to call a Vindication'.' But it is far more pertinent to the present purpose of sup plying that Vindication ; which himself would hardly have disdained, could he have foreknown by what arm " the unkindest stab of all," as well as the deepest, would be inflicted on his honour ; and from " under what lips" would so forcibly be projected the " adder's poison :" which, from others feebly exuding, he might safely disregard and despise.

In truth, wherever there exists a suspicion, that to be better informed may lead to the thinking less well of one, whom we have long been taught to admire and revere, the natural reluctance springs from a virtuous propensity. Yet surely the de liberate and persevering indulgence of it is repre hensible ; and the avowal of it inconsiderate. Since all honourable, all honest, men have, and ought to feel that they have, their own interest promoted in every fresh instance confirmatory of the great maxim that — " The truth is mighty, and " will prevail." There is no event which the noble historian of the rebellion has so fully and minutely related; none, over which he has, in his remarks, so dis cursively expatiated, or which he has so closely examined, as the king's withdrawing himself from Hampton Court, and repairing to the Isle of Wight.

It was natural therefore, if only for that reason, independently of the well-founded reliance on his having had the best means of information, and on the accuracy, candor, and good faith, with which he had availed himself of these advantages, that later historians should adopt his statement of the facts, and his opinion of the transaction. Of these the more popular, Rapin and Hume, manifestly, and avowedly his followers, have in their turn been followed by a numberless host of abridgers and compilers. Hence, it is impossible that any one, whether deeply imbued, or superfi cially tinged with a knowledge of English history, should not have formed an opinion of Ashburn ham's conduct, equally injurious, and unmerited. That such is the only deduction which can be obtained from lord Clarendon's circumstantial details, so peremptorily and oracularly predicated, it is essential to this Vindication to shew.

Here then of the difficulties and disadvantages, before alluded to, is one most disheartening and appalling. The author of this Vindication sensi bly feels that he has already alienated many of his readers, whom he most desires to conciliate ; that he has prejudiced against him some, whom he most wishes to convince ; and that he shall continue to disgust others, whom he is most am bitious to please. No one can be more aware than he is, into what utter insignificancy must sink, — at what an immeasurable distance must be cast the lowly ser vices of a groom of the bed-chamber, when com pared with those, which transcendent abilities and exalted stations enabled the chancellor to render to his king and country. But in point of honour and integrity ; of loyalty to his sovereign, and fidelity to his master; of zeal, attachment, and devotion, he has yet to learn that he is bound to admit any, the least, inferiority ; or that it is not for him rather to invite, than to decline, any com parative enquiry, which there are still existing ample means to institute.

Surely it cannot be required that the memory of such an ancestor should be held by him less dear, less sacred than that of this illustrious statesman by his descendants. For those noble persons even from early youth he has ever and invariably entertained a sincere regard and an unfeigned respect. And he hopes that by them he shall not now be thought acting inconsistently with the sentiments here professed, while he obeys the more powerful requisition of a paramount duty. Surely he is not to be debarred from detecting and exposing calumnies, of which John Ashburn ham has been the victim, because of these lord Clarendon has adopted some, and originated others. Equally sincere and unavailing is the regret here felt, that it is impossible in any case to prove that charges or allegations are false, without con victing him of falsehood, by whom they have been avowedly and notoriously preferred.

It remains for his advocates to shew that he has not been a calumniator wilfully, or wittingly. However it may often be ungenerous, and sometimes even unjustifiable, to retaliate injuries and insults, it cannot be denied that there are occasions wherein retaliation is not only expe dient but unavoidably necessary. When some restless and ambitious power wan tonly violates the territory of his peaceful neigh bour, he will have little reason to complain, if, on being repulsed, pursuit be carried beyond those boundaries, which himself has been the first to transgress. Nor on the part of the latter will it cease to be a defensive war, when fortune shall have removed the seat of it from the invaded country to that of the invader. The " generous unknown," who often in Spanish romance not less oppor tunely than gallantly places himself by the side of a cavalier singly engaged in an unequal combat with many, would ill entitle himself to the thanks, which await him, were he only to parry the assailant's thrusts, and not contribute to disable some of the bravos, and to put the rest to flight.

Whether there be any analogy between these imaginary cases and that, which is the subject of the present enquiry, will hereafter appear. Mean while the author pledges himself that in the course of the following Vindication such a proof shall be given of his once submissive, confiding, and entire faith in the supremacy of lord Clarendon's authority, as perhaps not one of all his enthusiastic ad mirers and zealous votaries can boast of having displayed. (Page 258.) How many thousands might say of this their idol, (as Rousseau has made Pygmalion say of his statue) " Je ne l'ai point encore examinee ; Je " n'ai fait jusq'ici que l'admirer !" To those few, who have not sacrificed, without any reservation, all their faculties, an intellectual holocaust, on the oracular altar of infallible authority : to those few, who take the liberty to judge, or the trouble to think, for themselves, it may be perceptible, that the religious or moral observances of a well disciplined mind had not given to this illustrious personage the controul over his temper ; on the contrary that he shews himself prompt to take offence, where none has been intentionally offered; and slow, — slow indeed, — to receive apology, when earnestly and sincerely pressed upon him : iracundus, inexorabilis.

They may discover that all, the fullest, consci ousness of real and intrinsic worth, deservedly conspicuous in the most distinguishing honours, and splendid dignities, in which even a wise man Life, p. 77, may be best allowed to pride himself, had not rendered him insensible to the frivolous gratification of a puerile vanity : and that the many en dowments, natural and acquired, of a vigorous and enlarged understanding had not wholly ex cluded such jealousies, suspicions, and enmities, as are usually the characteristics of a feeble and narrow mind. In one of those highly-finished whole length portraits, which (besides half-lengths, kit-cats, three-quarters and heads innumerable) the noble artist has painted of himself, he is represented to have been a man, who was " in his nature inclined " to pride and passion, and to a humour between " wrangling and disputing very troublesome, " which good company in a short time so much " reformed and mastered, that no man was more " affable and courteous to all kind of persons ; " and they who knew the great infirmity of his " whole family, which abounded in passion, used " to say, he had much extinguished the unruliness " of that fire."

" Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret." Lord Clarendon considered himself as an ex ception to the Horatian rule ; but others saw in him an illustration of it. For they who, not having the advantage of being acquainted with the whole of this very choleric family, could not judge by comparison, seem positively to have formed a very different estimate of his " affability, and courtesy " to all kind of persons." Here may be cited the concurring characters briefly given of him by two of his contemporaries, in every respect the very reverse of each other. Burnet says, " he was " high ; and was apt to reject those, who addressed " themselves to him with too much contempt." — While the gay and witty author of the " Memoires " de Grammont," little likely to view any object through the same medium, as it was seen by the grave Protestant Bishop, tells us — " Ce n'est pas " qu'il manquat de capacite ; mais il avait encore ' plus de pr6somption."

When Charles the second, yielding to counsels more in unison with the dictates of his heart, than of his head, had dismissed this, the most virtuous and able minister of that period,* he undertook, with his own hand, to communicate this his own disgrace to the duke of Ormond, then in Ireland ; of whom it is well known, that the profligate and unprincipled monarch had at least the grace to stand in awe. In this letter, there is no charge or imputation of blame, but simply the complaint of " a certain peevishness of temper." This accu sation, though a most insufficient excuse for his removal, was in point of fact well founded ; since lord Clarendon himself admits it, both in his letter to the king, and in his vindication. His much attached and admiring friend Evelyn, has noted of him in his Diary (August 27, 1667)—" The " truth is, that he made few friends, during his " grandeur, among the royal sufferers ; but ad " vanced the old rebels : he was, however, though " no considerable lawyer, one, who kept up the " form and substance of things, with more so- * The earl of Southampton was then no more : and sir Ed. Nicholas, however with less talent, inferior to no one in integ rity, had retired from office.

" lemnity, than some would have had. He was " my particular kind friend on all occasions." Hence, whether, correct or not in point of like ness, this sketch has been delineated by no hostile pencil. The foregoing extracts may be considered as affording an exhibition of the chancellor in public life : the following gives a glimpse of him in his hours of relaxation and retirement. " August 15th, 1662. Came my lord chancellor " and his lady : his purse and mace borne before " him to visit me. (N. B. in his villa at Deptford) " — they were likewise collationed with us, and " were very merry. This great person had ever " been my friend." If, even when deigning thus to share the pas toral feast and rural mirth of the suburban villa, our time-honoured Clarendon could not lay aside the loved insignia of his high office ; if even amidst the dog-days there was for him no refreshment in shady arbours,or cool tankards, unless the "graced * " person" of his portly mace-bearer " were pre " sent," it is no wonder, among the buffooneries of that " chartered libertine" — " at council, in a ring Of mimick'd statesmen, and their merry king," that Buckingham should have been particularly successful in personating the lord chancellor with a pair of bellows in his hand instead of the purse ; and for the mace, a fire-shovel " borne before him" by colonel Titus.

It is with unfeigned reluctance and regret that " Were the graced person of our Banquo present." I the little failings in a great character should be here conspicuously revealed ; as if the purpose were to magnify some few dark points of human pas sion, which, to unaided vision are imperceptibly lost amid the dazzling blaze of godlike attributes. It proceeds from a firm and sincere conviction, that the exposure of them is essential towards the vindication of one, who, not on the conclusive evidence of substantiated facts, but on the arbi trary authority of prejudiced opinion, has been arraigned, tried, and condemned. Justice can never be obtained for Ashburnham, unless it be shewn, how unworthily of himself lord Clarendon has treated him. Nor to this end will even proofs avail, if it be not demonstrable, that there were co existent in the character of this illustrious states man far other qualities than those, for which it has been so highly extolled, and loudly celebrated.

But were it not for this sense of duty ; could the advocate of this cause reconcile to his con science the omission, he would gladly avoid subjecting himself to the reproach of sceptical irreverence towards a name, which common con sent has long since canonized. He would shrink from incurring the suspicion of being one of those, who can only contemplate a hero with the eyes of his valet de chambre ; or who, placed before a colossal statue, even of Grecian sculpture, would be curious only to search for specks, flaws, and blemishes in the material. POSTSCRIPT. When it shall be known that the author of this Vindication, now in his seventieth year, can attest the uniform tenour of a life, throughout which he has as sedulously avoided, as others, at any period of theirs, have sought, to attract public notice ; perhaps the foregoing protestations, here solemnly renewed, may be the better entitled to credit.

Since it will be evident that the motive, by which alone he professes to have been actuated in this attempt, has also been the only sufficient stimulus to rouse and estrange him from the inveterate in dulgence, not of a ruling passion, but of predominant infirmities ; — a constitutionally morbid indolence, and reserve. Perhaps too, for the same reason, his sincerity may be the less questionable, while he deeply laments that an object, in itself so legitimate, should be unattainable but by means so ungraci ous, irreverent, and offensive. Not to care whom he may offend, so long as he asserts, or reveals nothing, but what is strictly true is a stoicism, which, as he does not feel, so neither will he boast. But this conviction he dares to avow ; — that it is only in so far as the truth is in him, that he can be found capable of provoking resentment; or will be deemed worthy of such manifestations of notice as, if he had not been by others duly warned, he should of himself alone have been enough prepared, to expect ; — censure, rebuke, and reproach. AND CONDUCT OF JOHN ASHBURNHAM.

Part I

" L'Histoire n'est fondee que sur le t6moignage " des auteurs, qui nous l'ont transmise. II im " porte done extremement, pour la savoir, de bien " connaitre quels Ætaient ces auteurs. Le tems " ou ils ont v6cu, leurs naissances, leur patrie, la " part qu'ils ont eue aux affaires, les moyens par " lesquels ils ont 6te" instruits, et l'int6ret qu'ils y " pourraient prendre sont des circonstances essen " tielles, qu'il n'est pas permis d'ignorer : de la " depend le plus ou le moins d'autorite qu'ils doi " vent avoir, et sans cette connaissance on courra " risque tres souvent de prendre pour guide un " historien de mauvaise foi, ou du moins mal in " form6."* (Hist, de l'Acad. des Inscriptions.) These two defects, not being incompatible with each other, may sometimes have been united in the same historian.

It cannot therefore be inex- * This very just observation forms the motto to Walpole's " Historical Doubts." pedient to furnish the reader with the means of judging how lord Clarendon stood affected to- Avards John Ashburnham antecedently to the year 1647, by extracts from that illustrious author's historical and biographical works. . The earliest notice of him occurs at page 108 of Clarendon's Life; where the character of sir John Colepepper is thus given in contrast with his own. " But his (sir John Colepepper's) greatest " advantage was, that he had an entire confidence " and friendship with Mr. John Ashburnham, " whom the king loved, and trusted very much ; " and who always imprinted that advice in the " king's mind, which the other had infused ; and " being a member of the house, was always ready " to report the service he did his majesty there, " as advantageously as the business would bear."

That a rivalry for the king's favour was at this time subsisting between Mr. Hyde and sir John Colepepper is sufficiently apparent in this passage alone. And that it was attended with no little jealousy and suspicion on the part of the former, is equally observable in others that occur not un frequently. In the History of the Rebellion we are informed, that " Berkeley had not found that respect, from " Cromwell and Ireton, that he expected ; at least " discerned it to be greater towards Ashburnham, '■' than it was to him ; which he thought evidence " enough of a defect of judgment in them." Per haps lord Clarendon might have formed his estimate of John Ashburnham's intellectual faculties by the same criterion. Here it is difficult to refrain from making a remark, to which frequent temptations will occur.

In this one sentence we read, that " the king loved " and trusted John Ashburnham very much :" and that sir John Colepepper " had an entire con " fidence and friendship with him." The king, according to lord Clarendon, " saw and observed " men long before he received them about his " person : and did not like strangers, nor very " confident men." Of sir John Colepepper we are told, that '•' he was a man of great parts, a very " sharp and present wit, and an universal under " standing." And yet this is the king and this the statesman, who with all their penetration, discernment, and circumspection, lavished, the one his love and trust ; the other his friendship and con fidence, on a man whom lord Clarendon usually represents as destitute of every estimable quality, or talent. The first direct and deliberate attack on John Ashburnham is made at page 196 of Clarendon's Life ; and is entitled — " The chancellor of the exchequer's office in " vaded by Mr. Ashburnham."

" The chancellor of the exchequer had under " gone some mortification during the short abode " at Bristol, which was the only port of trade " within the king's quarters ; which was like to " yield a considerable benefit to the king, if it " were well managed ; and the direction thereof " belonged entirely to his office : but when he sent " to the officers of the customs, to be informed of " the present state of trade, he found that some " treaty was made, and order given in it by Mr. " Ashburnham, a groom of the bedchamber ; who, " with the assistance and advice of sir John Cole " pepper, had prevailed with the king to assign " that province to him, as a means to raise a " present sum of money for the supply of the " army: which the chancellor took very heavily; " and the lord Falkland, out of his friendship to " him, more tenderly ; and expostulated it with " the king with some warmth ; and more pas " sionately with sir John Colepepper and Mr. " Ashburnham, as a violation of the friendship " they professed to the chancellor, and an invasion " of his office ; which no man bears easily.

" They were both ashamed of it, and made " some weak excuses, of incogitance and inad " vertence ; and the king himself, who discerned " the mischief that would ensue, if there should " be an apparent schism amongst those he so en " tirely trusted, was pleased to take notice of it to " the chancellor, with many gracious expressions ; " and said, ' that Mr. Ashburnham being trea " ' surer and paymaster of the army, he did believe " ' some money might have been raised for the " ' present occasion ; and only intended it for the " ' present, without considering it would be an " ' invasion of his right ; and therefore directed, " ' that an account should be given to him of all, " ' that had been done, and he should do as he " ' thought fit.' But when he understood all, that " had been done, he would make no alteration in '■' it, that his majesty might be convinced that his " service was not looked after in the design.

And " it was discernible enough, that Mr. Ashburnham, " who usually looked very far before him, had not " so much intended to disoblige the chancellor, as, " by introducing himself this way into the customs, " to continue one of the farmers of the customs, " when the war should be at an end ; of which he " got a promise from the king at the same time ; " who had a great affection for him, and an ex " traordinary opinion of his managery. If there " remained after this any jealousy or coldness be " tween the chancellor of the exchequer and the " other two, as the disparity between their natures " and humours made some believe there did, it " never brake out or appeared, to the disturbance " or prejudice of the king's service ; but all pos " sible concurrence in the carrying it on was " observed between them."

I. " The chancellor of the exchequer's office in " vaded by Mr. Ashburnham, a groom of the " bedchamber." That Ashburnham was a groom of the bed chamber, is matter of not less notoriety, than his having existed; and that he did that, which is here termed invading the chancellor of the ex chequer's office, instead of there being any wish to deny, an authentic and inedited document shall be adduced to prove. So far then " the truth, " and nothing but the truth," has been told ; but inasmuch as the " whole truth" has not been told, we have here a statement as fallacious in effect, (whatever it may have been in design) as if it VOL. i. c contained with the truth no slight admixture of falsehood. And surely where the " suppressio " veri," is not less injurious, than the " suggestio " falsi," either is alike disreputable to the accusing party.

Neither from this passage, nor from any other in lord Clarendon's Historical Works, often as Ashburnham is mentioned in them, would it be supposed, that he had ever held any other si tuation, or had been ever known in any other character, than the one, by which he is here designated. Who then from the first publication of lord Clarendon's Life to the present moment can have read, without emotions of amazement, indignation and disgust of the chancellor of the exchequer's office invaded by a groom of the bed chamber ? Or who can cite a parallel instance of effrontery, presumption, and arrogance, unless it be when the two thrones of Brentford were simul taneously invaded by a physician and a gentleman usher? Mention indeed is subsequently made of Ashburnham's being " treasurer and paymaster of " the Army :" but surely it is in such a way, as rather to discredit, than to affirm it as a fact.