A history of the early part of the reign of James the Second : with an introductory chapter ... to which is added, An appendix

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CHAP. I. Redress of gi'ievances

fertile of matter, Avhether for reflection or speculation. Between the year sixteen hundred and forty, and the death of Charles the Second, we have the opportunity of contemplating the state in almost every variety of circumstances. Religious dispute, political contest in all its forms and degrees, from the honest exertions of party, and the corrupt intrigues of faction, to violence and civil war ; despotism, first 5n the person of an usurper, and afterwards in thai of an hereditary king J the most memorable and salutary improvements in the laws, the most abandoned administration of them J in fine, whatever can happen to a nation, whether of glorious or calamitous, makes a part of this astonishing and instructive picture.

The commencement of this period is marked by exertions of the people, through their representatives in the House of Commons, not only justifiable in their principle, but directed to the properest objects, and in a manner the most judicious. IVIany of their leaders were greatly versed in ancient as well as modern leainiing, and were even enthusiastically attached to the great names of antiquity ; but they never conceived the v/iid project of assimilating the government of England to that of Athens, of Sparta, or of Rome. They were content with applying to the English constitution, and to the English laws, the spirit of liberty which had animated, and rendered illustrious, the ancient republics. Their first object was to obtain redress of past gilevances with a proper regard to the individuals who had suffered ; the next, to prevent the recurrence of such grievances, by the abolition of tyranical tribunals, acting upon arbitrary maxims in criminal proceedings, and most improper!}' denominated courts of justice. They then proceeded to establish that fundamental principle of all free government, the preserving of the purse to the people and their reprc-

INTnODtJCTOKY CHArfER. 5

sentatives. And though there may be more difference cilAP. I. of opinion upon their proposed regulations in regard to the militia, yet surely, when a contest was to be foreseen, they could not, consistently with prudence, leave the power of the sword altogether in the hands of an adverse party.

The prosecution of Lord Strafford, or rather the Lord Strafmanner in which it was carried on, is less justifiable. ^^^'^'^ aUain- He was doubtless a great delinquent, and well deserved the severest punishment ; but nothing short of a clearly proved case of self-defence can justify, or even excuse, a departure from the sacred rules of criminal justice. For it can rarely indeed happen, that the mischief to be apprehended from suffering any criminal, however guilty, to escape, can be equal to that resulting from the violation of those rules to which the innocent owe the security of all that is dear to them. If such cases have existed, they must have been in instances where trial has been wholly out of the question, as in that of Csesar, and other tj-rants ; but when a man is once in a situation to be tried, and his person in the power of his accusers and his judges, he can no longer be formidable in that degree which alone can justify, (if any thing can,) the violation of the substantial rules of criminal proceedings.

At the breaking out of the civil war, so intemper- Commenceately denominated a rebellion by Lord Clarendon and ^vi^-^ar *^ other Tory writers, the material question appears to me to be, whether or not sufficient attempts were made by the Parliament and their leaders, to avoid bringing affairs to such a decision ? That according to the general principles of morality, they had justice on their side, cannot fairly be doubted ; but did they sufficiently attend to that gi-eat dictum of TuUy,* in questions of

6 INTRODUCTORY CHAl^fEK.

CHAP. I. civil dissention, wherein he declares his preference of even an unfair peace to the most just war ? Did they sufficiently weigh the dangers that might ensue even from victory ? dangers, in such cases, little less formidable to the cause of liberty than those which might follow a defeat ? Did they consider that it is not peculiar to the followers of Pompey, and the civil wars of Rome, that the event to be looked for is, as the same TuUy describes it, in case of defeat,.... proscription ; in that of victory,... .servitude ? Is the fai- Uie^lsf *^ f ^^^^ °^ *^^ negotiation when the King was in the Isle Wight. of Wight to be imputed to the suspicions justly enter-

tained of his sincerity ? or to the ambition of the parliamentary leaders ? If the insincerity of the King was the real cause, ought not the mischief to be apprehended from his insincerity, rather to have been guarded against by treaty, than alleged as a pretence for breaking off the negotiation ? Sad indeed will be the condition of the world, if we are never to make peace with an adverse party whose sincerity we have reason to suspect. Even just grounds for such suspicions will but too often occur, and when such fail, the proneness of man to impute evil qualities as well as evil designs to his enemies, will suggest false ones. In the present case, the suspicion of insincerity was, it is true, so just, as to amount to a moral certainty. The example of the Petition of Right was a satisfactory proof that the King made no point of adhering to concessions which he considered as extorted from him ; and if a philosophical historian, writing above a century after the time, can deem the pretended hard usage Charles met with, as a sufficient excuse for his breaking his faith in the first instance, much more must that prince himself, with all his prejudices, and notions of his divine right, have thought it justifiable to retract concessions, which to him, no doubt, appeared far more

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER unreasonable than die Petition of Right, and which, CHAP. I.

widi more colour, he might consider as extorted. These considerations were probably the cause why the Parliament so long delayed their determination of accepting the King's offer as a basis for treaty ; but unfortunately, they had delayed so long, that when at last they adopted it, they found themselves without power to carry it into execution. The army having now ceased to be the servants, had become the masters of the Parliament, and being entirely influenced by Cromwell, gave a commencement to what may, properly speaking, be called a new reign. The subsequent measures, therefore, the execution of the King, as well as odaers, are not to be considered as acts of the Parliament, but of Cromwell ; and great and respectable as are the names of some who sat in the high court, they must be regarded, in this instance, rather as ministers of that usurper, than as acting from themselves.

The execution of the King, though a far less vio- Iving's Exelent measure than that of Lord Sti-afford, is an event of ^^ ''^"' so singular a nature, that we cannot wonder that it should have excited more sensation than any other in the annals of England. Tliis exemplary act of substantial justice, as it has been c?dled by some, of enormous wickedness by others, must be considered in two^ points of view. First, was it not in itself just and necessary ? Secondly, was the example of it likely to b*; salutary or pernicious? In regard to the first of these questions, Mr. Hume, not perhaps intentionally, makes the best justificatiou of it, by saying, that while Charles lived, the projected republic could never be secure. But to justify taking away the life of an individual, upon the principle of self-defence, the danger must be not problematical and remote, but evident and immediate. The danger in this instance was not of such a nature ; and tb.e imprisonment, or even banishment, of t INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

CHAP, I. Charles, might have given to the republic such a degree of security as any government ought to be content with. It must be confessed however on the other side, that if the republican government had suffered the King to escape, it would have been an act of justice and generosity wholly unexampled ; and to have granted him even his life, would have been one among the more rare efforts of virtue. The short interval between the deposal and death of princes is become proverbial ; and though there may be some few examples on the other side, as far as life is concerned, I doubt whether a single instance can be found, where liberty has been granted to a deposed monarch. Among the modes of destroying persons in such a situation, there can be little doubt but that adopted by Cromwell and his adherents is the least dishonourable. Edward the Second, Richard the Second, Henry the Sixth, Edward the Fifth, had none of them long survived their deposal ; but this was the first instance, in our history at least, where, of svich an act, it could be truly said, that it was not done in a corner.

As to the second question, whether the advantage to be dsrived from the example was such as to justify an act of such violence, it appears to me to be a complete solution of it to observe, that with respect to England, (and I know not upon what ground we are to set examples for other nations, or in other words, to take the criminal justice of the world into our hands,) it was wholly needless, and therefore unjustifiable, to set one for kings, at a time when it was intended the office of King should be abolished, and consequently, that no person should be in the situation to make it the rule of his conduct. Besides, the miseries attendant upon a deposed monarch, seem to be sufficient to deter any prince, who thinks of consequences, from running the risk of being placed in such

IXTUOULCTOKV CU.VPTKR, 9

a situation ; o;-, if death be the only evil that can de- cHAP. I. ter him, the fate of former tyrants deposed by their subjects, would b\' no means encoiu-age him to hope he could avoid e\en that catastrophe. As far as \vc can judge from the event, the example was certainly not very eflfectual, since both the sons of Charles, though having their father's fate before their eyes, yet feared not to violate the liberties of the people even jcnore than he had attempted to do.

If we consider the question of example in a more extended view, and look to the general eftect produced upon the minds of men, it cannot be doubted but the opportunity thus given to Charles, to display his firmness and piety, has created more respect for his memory than it could otherv.ise have obtained. Respect and pity for the sufferer on one hand, and hatred to his enemies on the other, soon produce favour and aversion to their respective causes; and thus even though it should be admitted, (which is doubtful,) that some advantage may have been gained to the cause of liberty, by the terror of the example operating upon the minds of princes, such advantage is far outweighed by the zeal which admiration for virtue, and pity for sufferings, the best passions of the human heart, have excised in favour of the royal cause. It has been thought dangerous to the morals of mankind, even in fiction and romance, to make us sympathize with characters whose general conduct is blameable ; but how much greater must the effect be, when in real history our feelings are interested in favour of a monarch with whom, to say the least, his subjects were obliged to contend in arms for their liberty? After all, however, notwithstanding what the more reasonable part of mankind may think upon this question, it is much to be dottbted m hether this singular procc{xling has not, as much as any other cir-

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CHAP. 1. cumstance, served to raise the character of the Eng- " lish nation in the opinion of Europe in general. He

who has read, and still more he who has heard in conversation, discussions upon this subject, by fo- Sentiments reigners, must have perceived, that, even in the minds on the 'act ^^ those who condemn the act, the impression made by it has been far more that of respect and admiration, than that of disgust and horror. The truth is, that the guilt of the action, that is to say, the taking away the life of the King, is what most men in the place of Cromwell and his associates would have incurred ; what there is of splendor and of magnanimity in it, I mean the publicity and solemnit}'- of the act, is what few would be capable of displaying. It is a degrading fact to human nature, that even the sending away of the Duke of Gloucester was an instance of generosity almost unexampled in the history of transactions of this nature.

CromweU's From the execution of the King to the death of goAeuiraen. Qj-om well, the government was, with some variation of fomis, in substance monarchical and absolute, as a government established by a military force will almost invariably be, especially when the exertions of such a force are continued for any length of time. If to this general rule oiu- own age, and a people whom their origin and near relation to us would almost warrant us to call our own nation, have afforded a splendid and perhaps a solitary exception, we must reflect not only, that a character of virtues so happily tempered by one another, and so wholly unalloyed with any vices, as tliat of Washington, is hardly to be found in the pages of history, but that even Washington himself might not have been able to act his most glorious of all parts, without the existence of circumstances uncommonly favourable, and almost peculiar to the country which was to be the theatre of it. Virtue like his depends

INTRODUCTORY CIIAPTKH 11

not indeed upon time or place ; but although in no ciIAP. I. country or time woidd he have degraded himself into a Pisistratus, or a Ciesar, or a Cromwell, he might have shared the fate of a Cato, or a De Witt ; or, like Ludlow and Sidney, have mouraed in exile the lost liberties of his country.

With the life of the Protector almost immedi- ^^''^ Characately ended the government which he had established. The great talents of this extraordinary person had supported, during his life, a system condemned equally by reason and by prejudice ; by rea^. son, as wanting freedom; by prejudice, as an usurpation ; and it must be confessed to be no mean testimony of his genius, that, notwithstanding the radical defects of such a system, the splendor of his character and exploits render the ?era of the Protectorship one of the most brilliant in English history. It is true his conduct in foreign concerns, is set off to advantage, b\' a comparison of it with that of those who preceded, and -who followed him. If he made a mistake in espousing the French interest instead of the Spanish, we should recollect, that in examining this question we must divest our minds entirely of all the considerations which the subsequent relative state of those two empires suggest to us, before we can become impartial judges in it ; and at any rate, we must allow his reign, in regard to European concerns, to have been most glorious when contrasted with the pusillanimity of James the First, with the levity of Charles the First, and the mercenary meanness of the two last Princes of the House of Stuart. Upon the whole, the character of Cromwell must ever stand high in the list of those, who raised themselves to supreme power by the force of their genius ; and among such, even in respect of moral virtue, it would be found to be one of the least exceptionable, if it had

CHAP. I. not been tainted with that most odious and degrading of all human vices, Hypocrisy.

Iiidifierence The short interval between Cromwell's death and forms of CO- ^^e Restoration, exhibits the picture of a nation either vernment, go -wearied with changes as not to feel, or so subdued by military power as not to dare to show, any care or even preference with regard to the form of their government. All was in the army ; and that army, by such a concurrence of fortuitous circumstances as history teaches us not to be surprised at, had fallen into the hands of one, than whom a baser could not be found in its lowest ranks. Personal courage appears Character of to have been Monk's only virtue ; reserve and dis- ' simulation made up the whole stock of his wisdom.

But to this man did the nation look up, ready to receive from his orders the form of government he should choose to prescribe. There is reason to believe, that, from the general bias of the Presbyterians, as well as of the Cavaliers, monarchy v/as the prevalent Avish : but it is observable, that although the Parliament was, contrary to the principle upon which it was pretended to be called, composed of many avowed royalists, yet none dared to hint at the restoration of the King, till they had Monk's permission, or rather command, to receive and consider his letters. It is impossible, in reviewing the v/hole of this transaction, not to remark, that a general who had gained his rank, reputation, and station in the service of a republic, and of what he, as well as others, called, however falsely, the cause of liberty, made no scruple to lay the nation prostrate at the feet of a monarch, without a single provision in favour of that cause ; and if the promise of indemnity may seem to argue that there was some attention, at least, paid to the safety of his associates in arms, his subsequent conduct gives reason to suppose, that even this provision was owing to any other cause, rather

INTKODUCTOUY ClIAPTKH 13

ihan to any generous feeling of his breast. For he ciivi'. I. afterwards not only acquiesced in the insults so meanly put upon the ilKistrious coi-psc of Blake, under whose auspices and command he had performed the most creditable services of his life, but in the trial of Arg}le, produced letters of friendship and confidence, to take away the life of a nobleman,* the zeol and cordiality of whose co-operation with him, proved by such documents, was the chief ground of his execution ; thus gratuitously surpassing in infamy those miserable wretches who, to save their own lives, are sometimes persuaded to impeach, and swear away, the lives of their accomplices.

The reign of Charles the Second forms one of the Restoration, most singular, as well as of the most important periods of historv. It is the sera of good laws and bad government. The abolition of the Court of Wards, the repeal of the Writ De Heretico Comburendo, the triennial Parliament Bill, the establishment of the rights of the House of Commons in regard to impeachment, the expiration of the License Act, and above all, the glorious statute of Habeas Corpus, have therefore induced a modem writer of great eminence to fix the year 1679 as the period at which our constitution had arrived at its greatest theoretical perfection ; but he owns, in a short note upon the passage alluded to, that the times immediately following were times oi great practical oppression. What a field for meditation does this short observation, from such a man, furnish! What reflections does it not suggest to a thinking mind, upon the inefficacy of human laws, and the imperfection of human constitutions ! We are called from the contemplation of the progress of our con. stjtution, and our attention fixed with the most minute

• Burnpt. Baillio's Letters, II. 43!,

14 INTKODUCTORY CHAPTER.

CHAP. I. accuracy to a particular point, when it is said to have ~ risen to its utmost perfection. Here we are then at

the best moment of the best constitution that ever human wisdom framed. What follows ? A time of oppression and misery, not arising from external or accidental causes, such as war, pestilence, or famine, nor even from any such alteration of the laws as might be supposed to impair this boasted perfection, but from a corrupt and wicked administration, which all the so much admired checks of the constitution v/ere not able to prevent. How vain then, how idle, how presumptuous, is the opinion, that laAvs can do every thing ! and how weak and pernicious the maxim founded upon it, that measures, not men, are to be attended to ! AdminLstra- The first years of this reign, under the administra- Southamp- ^'^°^ °^ Southampton and Clarendon, form by far the ton and cla- least exceptionable part of it, and even in this period, the executions of Argyle and Vane, and the whole conduct of the government with respect to church matters, both in England and in Scotland, were gross instances of tyranm^ With respect to the execution of those who were accused of having been more immediately concerned in the King's death, that of Scrope, who had come in upon the proclamation, and of the military officers who had attended the trial, was a violation of every principle of law and justice. But the fate of the others, though highly dishonourable to Monk, whose whole power had arisen from his zeal in their service, and the favour and confidence with v/hich they had rewarded him, and not perhaps very creditable to the nation, of which many had applauded, more had supported, and almost all had acquiesced in the act, is not certainly to be imputed as a crime to the King, or to those of his advisers who were of the Cavalier party. The passion of revenge, though properly condemned both, by philosophy and religion,

INTRODUCTORY CIIAPTEI4 15

yet when it is excited by injurious treatment of per- ciiAr. I sons justly dear to us, is among the most excusable of ^ human frailties ; and if Charles, in his general conduct, had shown stronger feelings of gratitude for services performed to his father, his character, in the eyes of many, would be rather raised than lowered by this example of severity against the regicides. Clarendon is said to have been privy to the King's receiving money from Lewis the Fourteenth ; but what proofs exist of this charge, (for a heavy charge it is,) I know not. Southampton was one of the very few of the royalist partv'^ who preserved any just regard for the liberties of the people, and the disgust which a person possessed of such sentiments must imavoidably feel, is said to have determined him to quit the King's service, and to retire altogether from public affairs. Whether he would have acted upon this determination, his death, which happened in the year sixteen hundred and sixtv-seven, prevents us noAV from ascertaining.

After the fall of Clarendon, v.hich soon followed, The King's the King entered into that career of mis-government, ^t-nf ^*^'" which, that he was able to pin-sue it to its end, is a disgrace to the history of our country. If any thing can add to our disgust at the meanness with which he solicited a dependence upon Lewis the Fourteenth, it is the h)-pocritical pretence upon which he was continually pressing that monarch. After having passed a law, making it penal to affmn, (whatvras true,) that he was a Papist, he pretended, (which was certainly not true,) to be a zealous and bigoted Papist ; and the uneasiness of his conscience at so long delaying a public avowal of his conversion, was more than once urged by him, as an argument to increase the pension, and to accelerate the assistance he was to receive from France.* In a later period of his reign, when his in-

* Dalrymple's Memoirs, II. "1 See.

CHAP. I. terest, us he thought, lay the other way, that he might ~ at once continue to earn his wages, and yet put off a public conversion, he stated some scruples, contracted, no doubt, by his affection to the Protestant churches, in relation to the Popish mode of giving the sacrament ; and pretended a wish, that the Pope might be induced bv Lewis, to consider of some alterations in that respect, to enable him to reconcile himself to the Roman church with a clear and pure conscience.* Cabal. The ministry, known by the name of the Cabal,

seems to have consisted of characters so unprincipled, as justly to deserve the severity with which they have been treated by all writers who have mentioned them ; but if it is probable, that they were ready to betray their King, as well as their country, it is certain that the King betrayed them ; keeping from them the real state of his connection with France, and, from some pf them, at least, the secret of what he was pleased to call his religion. Wliether this concealment on his part, arose from his habitual treachery, and from the incapacity which men of that character feel, of being open and honest, even when they know it is their interest to be so ; or from an apprehension that they might demand for themselves some share of the French money, which he was unwilling to give them, cannot now be determined. But to the want of genuine and reciprocal confidence between him and those ministers, is to be attributed, in a great measui-e, the escape which the nation at that time experienced; an escape, however, which proved to be only a reprieve from that servitude to which they were afterwards reduced in the latter years of the reign.

Dutch War. The first Dutch war had been undertaken against all maxims of policy, as well as of justice ; but the superior infamy of the second, aggravated by the disnp-

' Dalrvmplc's ISIemoirs, H. 84.

IXTRODUCTOUV CHAI'TKK 17

pointmcnt of all the hopes entertained by good men, chap, r from the triple alliance, and by the treacherous attempt at piracy with which it was commenced, seems to have effaced the impression of it, not only from the minds of men living at the time, but from most of the writers who have treated of this reign. The principle, 1672. however, of both was the same, and arbitraiy power at home was the object of both. The second Dutch war rendered the King's system and views so apparent to all who were not determined to shut their eves against conviction, that it is difhcult to conceive how persons, who had any real care or regard, either for the liberty or honour of the countrj', could trust him afterwards. And yet even Sir William Temple, who appears to have been one of the most honest, as well as of the most enlightened, statesmen of his time, could not believe his treachery- to be quite so deep, as it was in fact ; and seems occasionally to have hoped, that he was in earnest in his professed intentions of following the wise and just system that was recommended to him. Great instances of credulity and blindness in wise men are often liable to the suspicion of being pretended, for the purpose of justifying the continuing in situations of power and employment longer than strict honour would allow. But to Temple's sincerity his subsequent conduct gives abundant testimony. When he had reason to think that his services could. ♦

no longer be usefid to his country, he withdrew wholly from public business, and resolutely adhered to the preference of philosophical retirement, which, in his circumstances, was just, in spite of every temptation which occurred to bring him back to the more active scene. The remainder of his life he seems to have employed in the most noble contemplations, and the most elegant amusements ; every enjoyment heightened, no doubt, by reflecting on the honourable, part he

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CHAP. I. had acted in public affairs, and without any regret on, his own account, (whatever he might feel for his c(?Untry,) at having been driven from them. De Witt. Besides the important consequences produced by this second Dutch war in England, it gave birth to two great events in Holland ; tlie one as favorable, as the other was disastrous, to the cause of general liberty. The catastrophe of De Witt, the wisest, best, and most truly patriotic minister that ever appeared upon the public stage, as it was an act of the most crying injustice and ingratitude, so likewise is it the most completely disencouraging example, that history affords to the lovers of liberty. If Aristides was banished, he was also recalled: if Dion was repaid for his services to the Syracusans by ingratitude, that ingratitude was more than once repented of: if Sidney and Russel died upon the scaffold, they had not the cruel mortification of falling by the hands of the people : ample justice was done to their memory, and the very sound of their names is still animating to every Englishman attached to their glorious cause. But with De Witt fell also his cause and his party ; and although a name GO respected by all who revere virtue and wisdom, when employed in their noblest sphere, the political service of the public, must undoubtedly be doubly dear to his countrymen, yet I do not know that, even to this day, any public honours have been paid by them to his memor\'.

Prince of On the other hand^ the circumstances attending the