Life of Algernon Sidney; with sketches of some of his contemporaries and extracts from his correspondence and political writings

Front matter

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Contents

CHAPTER I a

Family of Sidney— His birth and early education— Travels with his father on the Continent — Goes to France — Returns to England in 1641 — Commencement of the Civil War — Appointed to the command of a Troop in Ireland— Serves in Ireland— Returns ^ to England in 1643— His political sentiments at this time — ■ Enters into the service of Parliament — Appointed a Colonel under Manchester — Battle of Naseby— Sidney wounded, and sent to London— Appointed Governor of Chichester — Retires from active service — Progress of the Civil War — ^I'he Independents get control of the army — Appointed Colonel under Fairlax — Elected Member of Long Parliament— Goes with his brother to Ireland Appointed Lieutenant-General and Governor of Dublin— Service in Ireland — His return— Receives the thanks ,' of Parliament — Apointed Governer of Dover Castle — Reflections on his military career 20

Chapter II

The Long Parliament — Its history — Difficulty attending the election of new members — Sidney elected from Cardiff— Does not take an active part in its delit)erations — Events which led to the trial of the Kmg — Conference with the King at the Isle of Wight — Treacheious conduct of Charles — •' Pride^s purge" — Proceedings to bring the King to trial — Sidney nominated one of the commissioners — Declines to sit — His reasons — His opinions of the King's guilt — Reflections on the trial and execution of the King — Conduct of the judges— Sidney retires to Penshurst — Returns to London after the King's death — Resumes his seat in Parliament, and sustains the government — Establishment of the Commonwealth — Installation of the new Council of State — Sidney opposes the "test" oath in Parliament— Difficulty with Cromwell— Question respecting the dissolution of Parliament — Sidney a member of the committee to which it was referred — Labors of the committee — Subject referred to committee of the whole— Difficulty between Sidney and his oflicers— Resigns the command of Dover — Visits Holland— Quarrels with the Earl of Oxford— Returns to England and resumes his parliamentary duty — Appointed on various committees — His colh^agues— Vigor of the Commonwealth government — Sidney's account of it— Ambition of Cromwell — His hostility to Sidney — Contest between the military and civil power — The Republicans oppose Cromwell — Plan of the Repub-

Till CONTENTS.

CHAPTER YIII.

Pack Arraignment of Sidney — Lord Jeffries and his associates — Sidney excepts to the indictment — His exceptions overruled — Oppressive conduct of the Court — Sidney forced to plead to the indictment and remanded to prison — Appears at the bar of the King's Bench for trial — Means taken to secure his conviction — Selection and character of the jury — The judge refuses him a challenge — Sidney demands counsel and is refused — The trial — Oppressive ■ and tyrannical conduct of the Court — The evidence — Its insufficient nature — Objections of Sidney — They are overruled by the Court — Lord Howard of Escrick — His character — His evidence — Testimony of Foster and Atterbury — The writings of Sidney introduced in evidence — Defence of the prisoner — His objections overruled by the Court — He introduces testimony — Impeachment of Lord Howard — Contest with the Court— Brutal conduct of Jeffries — Sidney's argument to the jury — Speech of the Solicitor General — Charge of the Judue — Verdict of the jury — Surrender of the Duke of Monmouth after the trial — Hopes of a new trial — Petition of Sidney to the king — Its lailure — Sentence of Sidney — Scene between the prisoner and the Court — Heroic conduct of Sidney — Condemned to be executed — Petition of Sidney to the king to commute his sentence to banishment — Is refused — His fortitude and resolution in his last hours— Description of his execution by the sheriff— Is beheaded — Buried at Penshurst — Reflections upon his trial, condemnation, and execution, .... 235

CHAPTER IX.

The writings of Sidney — Introductory remarks — Extracts — Common notions of liberty are derived from nature — Men are by nature free— Choice of forms of government originally left to the people — The social contract considered— Such as enter into society in some degree diminish their liberty — The natural equality of man — Virtue only gives a preference of one man to another — There is no hereditary right of dominion — Men join together and frame greater or less societies, and give them, such forms and laws as they please — They who have the right of choosing a king, have the right of making a king— As 1o the forms of government — Those best which comprise the three simple elements — Democracy considered — Sidney in favor of a popular or mixed government — Civil governments admit of changes in their superstructure — Man's natural love of liberty is tempered by reason — Seditions, tumults, and wars considered— In what cases justified — When necessary to overthrow a tyianny, or depose a wicked magistrate — The right of insurrection traced to the social con- .tract — The contracts between the magistrates and the nations which created them were real, solemn, and obligatory — Same subject continued — The general revolt of a nation cannot be trailed a rebellion— Duties of magistrates as representatives of the people — No people that is. not free can substitute delegates — The lepresentative system — Legislative power not to be trusted in the hands of any who are not bound to obey the laws they anake — Keflections on the writings and political opinions of Sidaiey — The sincerity of his motives — His religious sentiments — His private cKaiuctei — Conclusion, 284

INTEODUCTORY CHAPTER

The history of England, whence our language, our literature, our common law, and some of our noblest elementary institutions are derived, is second, in interest, only to the history of our own country. It is, in one sense, a part of our own history. The ancestors of the men who achieved the American Revolution fought at Teuton and at Bosworth field ; they sat in the parliament of Henry VIII. and of Elizabeth. Between the period of the first settlement of the colonies and the era of American Independence, our own history is not only intimately blended with that of the mother country, but forms part of it. Separated by the waters of an ocean we were still one people, bound together by a community of interest as well as a common language, common laws, and a common lineage. To us, then, the history of the British empire, the changes in its government, the progress of its civilization, its political and social revolutions, and above all, the character and genius of the men who wrought these great changes and revolutions, must always remain a subject not only of pleasing interest but of the most instructive study.

No portion of the annals of England deserves a more close and discriminating perusal in a country where the principles of republicanism are established as the fundamental basis of government, than that which records the remarkable event commonly called the Revolution. It properly embraces a period of nearly half a century ; commencing with the rupture between Charles I. and his parliament in the year 1640, and ending with the expulsion of James II., and the election of "William and Mary to the throne, by the parliament, in the year 1688. The first twenty years of this preiod is, undoubtedly, to the republican reader, the most striking chapter of English history, comprising, as it does, the record of the downfall of the ancient monarchy — the solemn judgment of the people upon a king once almost absolute — the temporary triumph of free principles — the establishment of a republic, and its overthrow by a military usurper. It was a period rife with momentous events — fertile of remarkable men. The events of that period have been much misunderstood even on this side the Atlantic ; the really great men — the republicans who sought to elevate the people by the establishment of civil and religious liberty, have been misrepresented, or what is, perhaps, equally unjust, have been passed over in contemptuous silence. It is true, the names of the illustrious commoners, Pym and Hampden, stand out prominent upon the annals of ^that age ;

INTRODUCTORY. 11

and so do those of the victorious soldiers, Cromwell, Fairfax, Ireton, and their associates, who headed the parliamentary army. The most zealous royalist has not been able to trace the history of those times, and follow the mighty events which the revolution developed, without assigning to each a place, a character, and a name. But the less prominent sphere of action of the statesmen and civilians, who established and sustained the Republic, has not been thought worthy the same particularity of narrative ; and we have been left to estimate their characters, not so much from a faithful record of their lives and actions, as from the partial and unjust judgment pronounced upon them, unheard, by writers, who, like Hume, have shared the opinions, and drawn so largely from the narrative of that vengeful and bigoted royalist, Lord Clarendon. Thus, some of the purest and noblest statesmen that England, or the world, has produced, have been neglected and forgotten, or, if remembered, and a place assigned them on the page of history, have been remembered only to have their characters misunderstood, and their opinion condemned or execrated. To many readers, even in our own country, scarcely anything more than the mere names are known of such men as Vane, Bradshaw, St. John, Scott, Marten, Ludlow, and Sidney ; to the great majority of their own countrymen, for more than a century and a half, most of them have appeared merely as rebels, fanatics, and traitors ! It is the peculiar province of biography to correct the errors, as well as the defects, of general history, m respect to the characters of eminent individuals, and to rescue from unmerited neglect and oblivion, the memory of great and good men, who have deserved well of their country and posperity. The present biography is undertaken with this view. It aims at no higher object than to rescue from obscurity and unmerited neglect, the name, the opinions, and the public acts of one of those noble Republican statesmen whose memory deserves to be cherished forever by the lovers of liberty.

I design to sketch the main incidents in the life and public career of ALGERNOiN Sidney, so far as they are now known, or can be gathered from history, or contemporary annals. I shall present such extracts from his letters, (many of which have been preserved,) and, also, from his other writings, as will serve to illustrate his character, his opinions, and his history ; and, in order the more fully to appreciate his true position and character. I shall notice, incidentally, some of his republican contemporaries and associates, who labored with him in the same glorious cause. Sidney lived in the stirring period of which I have spoken ; he was an actor in the drama of the Kevolution ; he commanded a regiment against the king, under the lead of Manchester and Cromwell ; he was a member of that famous legislative assembly, known in history as the long parliament ; he was appointed a member of the commission to try the king, and though he did not act in that capacity, yet

INTEODUCTORY. 13

he never disavowed the principle of the men who sat with John Bradshaw in that tribunal which condemned Charles Stuart to death ; he was the friend of Bradshaw, of Yane, of Milton, of the best and wisest men of the age : with them he resisted, in vain, the usurpation of Cromwell ; when, upon the restoration of Charles IL, liberty was proscribed from England, he chose banishment rather than submission to tyranny ; and when, after a period of seventeen years of voluntary exile, he returned to his native country, it was not to recant an opinion, or seek the favor of government by an abject confession of past error ; but to maintain, silently, the doctrines of his life, and, if necessary, to die rather than renounce them.

Sidney was a pure and enlightened republican statesman. Like Vane, he died on the scaffold, faithful among the faithless, and bearing witness in his death to the truth of the principles he maintained with inflexible constancy through life. Had he no other history than this, his name and memory should be cherished by the friends of free institutions. But he has a higher claim on the admiration of posterity. It is not merely in the silent teachings of his fortitude upon the scaffold, in his heroic constancy and truth to republican principles, that he has left a salutary impression upon the world. His precepts, even more than his example, have been eminently favorable to the progress of liberty and free institutions. The written words he left behind him — those philosophical reflections upon liberty and free institutions — that graceful and conclusive argument in favor of popular government which his elaborate " Discourses" contain, are a rich legacy, bequeathed by a master mind, to his countrymen and the world.

Not only was Sidney a Republican statesman and patriot, but he was a philosopher, scholar, and man of genius. His writings, so little appreciated, and, indeed, in our day so little known, were, at one time, extensively read and widely influential. The " Discourses on Grovernment" was a political text-book with the fathers of our Republic, and the men who achieved the American Revolution. Their influence upon the minds of the first statesmen of that age is plainly apparent. Between the views of Sidney, and the political doctrines laid down in the Declaration of Independence, a striking resemblance can be traced ; indeed, they are almost identical. A distinguished American statesman,* criticising the preamble to that Declaration, which he calls a "hypothetical truism," traces it directly, as an abstract propiisition, to the writings of Sidney and Locke. So much for the influence which th^se writings have had upon the minds of our own statesmen, and incidentally upon the political character of our government It may be added, that their influence has extended even to other lands. At the dawn of the French

* The late John C. Calhoun. It is proper to add, however, that Mr. Calhoun's criticism is merely verbal. We do not understand him as dissenting from the general principle of political equality and rights laid down in the Declaration.

INTRODUCTORY. 15

Revolution, when the principles of popular libertywere minutely investigated by the keenest intellects of the age, Sidney's Discourses were republished, and, with the writings of Rousseau, contributed to the awakening of the revolutionary mind of France.

These writings, once so highly prized as to be thought adequate to supply the loss of Cicero's six books de Republican have, in our day, sunk into obscurity, if not oblivion. Perhaps they have fulfilled their mission, and, with the writings of Bacon, have become obsolete, and are passing away. It may be so ; but their influence, like the thoughts of Bacon, will live for ages to come. Nor is the task an unpleasing one to remove the dust of three quarters of a century from these almost forgotten volumes, and to bring them anew before the public. If not a study of practical utility in an age like ours, so rich in lessons of political philosophy, and in the science of government so far in advance of the age in which Sidney wrote, still it cannot fail to be a matter of curiosity to note the bold speculations, as well as just conclusions, of a political writer, educated under an arbitrary government like that of Charles I. ; and who, if not the very first, was amongst the foremost in modern Europe to assert and defend the fundamental doctrines of political liberty ; and our curiosity is enhanced, and our interest increased, by the reflection that we are perusing the words which awakened the intellect, and confirmed the political faith, of the sages of our own Revolution. The ven-

16 ALGEKXON SID^TIT.

erable John Adams, in his elaborate and now ahnost forgotten treatise in ilefenee of '• the Constitutions of Govern inent o( the Ignited States of America,'' published in London in the year 17S8, speaking of these Discourses o{ Sidney, in connection wirh the writings of Harrington, ^lilton, Locke, and other champions o{ popular government, says, '' Americans should make collections of all these speculations, to be preserved as the most precious relics of antiquity, both for curiosity and use. There is one indispensable rule io be observed in the perusal of all of them, and that is to consider the period in which they were written, the circumstances of the times, and the personal character as well as the political situation of the writer."

Another reilecrion may here be properly made. It is one calculated still further to enhance the value of this last legacy of Sidney to his countrymen. He literally proved a martyr, and died for the principles advocated in these Discourses. A portion of them, or of similar works, found in manuscript in his closet, was produced as evidence against him on his trial, as we shall see when we come to speak more particularly of that event. Two witnesses were necessary, by the hiw of England, in order to convict for treason. Only one was found against Sidney, and these manuscripts were held equivalent to another I To the modest remonstrance that there was nothing treasonable in the writings, the Chief Justice Jewries, replied, ** There is not a line in it scarce, but what is trea-

INTEODUCTOEY. 17

son ;" and immediately added, " That is the worst part of your case. When men become so riveted in their opinions as to maintain that kings may be deposed, that they are accountable to their people, and that a general insurrection is no rebellion, and justify it, it is high time, upon my word, to call them to account."

And, for holding opinions like these, but little more than a century and a half ago in England, Algernon Sidney was found guilty of high treason, and adjudged to die I But the principles for which he suffered did not die with him. A few years later they were asserted, and triumphantly maintained, in that Revolution which drove the tyrant James from his throne. The king was deposed^ and called to account by the people ; and not only was the general insurrection^ which Sidney had truly held to be no rebellion, solemnly legalized, but the original compact between the monarch and his subjects was recognized by act of Parliament. It was not until after this memorable event, during the reign of William and Mary, and in the year 1698, that the " Discourses on Grovernment" were first published, and read by English statesmen.

The name of Algernon Sidney is not an obscure one. Associated with that of Russell, as a martyr for liberty, it has come down with honor to our day. Yet the remark previously made holds true, that we are able to derive from general history but an imperfect view of the career, the opinions, and the character of this eminent republican. Tradition, rather than history, has preserved the memory of his virtues and his genius. Hume makes mention of him as a '' singular person," wedded to his one idea of a republic. He gives a very fair and impartial account of his trial and condemnation, which he justly considers a blemish upon the administration ; but, it is evident that Hume, if he understood, was not the man to appreciate such a character as that of Sidney. Other historians occasionally allude to him ; but with the exception of his trial, we find nowhere any circumstantial account of his private life or public career, save in the brief and imperfect sketch by Collins in his " Memoirs of the Sidneys," printed in 1746, and in the narrative of an enthusiastic admirer, Mr. Meadley, published in London in the year 1813 ; a work, we imagine, never much known among us, and now almost forgotten on this side of the Atlantic. To these may be added the " Brief Memoir" by Richard Chase Sidney, also published in London, containing the substance of Meadley's narrative, with a short account of Sidney's trial, and a description of StephanofF's celebrated painting of that event. These, we believe, are all the writers who have as yet undertaken to sketch the life of this celebrated man. The materials for a complete biography are, therefore, not very abundant. The most valuable, as well as reliable, are those, which are to be found in the large volume containing his " Discourses," published at the same time with Harrington's " Oceana." In

INTEODUCTOET. 19

this volume we find all his letters which had then been discovered,* — the paper containing his defence, which he delivered to the sheriff on Tower Hill — his admirable " Apology," written just, before his execution, and a minute and circumstantial account of his trial and condemnation. From these papers, together with the account of such writers and historians as have made mention of him, we are to gather the facts necessary to present a connected account of his life and public career, and which will enable us the better to appreciate the character of his genius, the constancy and heroism of his nature, and the singular inflexibility of his purpose and opinions.

* The two works above mentioned contain extracts from other letters of Sidney, discovered subsequently to the publication of the edition of 1772.

CHAPTEK I.

Family of Sidney — His Birth and Early Education — Travels with his Father on the Continent — Goes to France — Returns to England in 1641 — Commencement of the Civil War — Appointed to the Command of a Troop in Ireland— Serves in Ireland— Returns to England in 1643 — His Political Sentiments at this Time — Enters into the Service of Parliament — Appointed a Colonel under Manchester — Battle of Naseby — Sidney Wounded, and sent to London — Appointed Governor of Chichester — Retires from Active Service— Progress of the Civil War— The Independents get Control of the Army — Sidney appointed Colonel under Fairfax — Elected Member of Long Parliament — Goes with his Brother to Ireland — Appointed Lieutenant- General and Governor of Dublin — Service in Ireland — His Return-^-Receives the Thanks of Parliament — Appointed Governor of Dover Castle — Reflections on his Military Career.

The family of Algernon SiDNEY=^,\yas one of the most ancient and honorable in England. • It was a branch of the old Norman aristocracy. His ancestor, Sir "William Sidney, in the reign of Henry II., had accompanied the king from Anjou, as his chamberlain. A

* The name is " Sydney^^ as found subscribed to his published letters. It is so also subscribed by Sir Philip Sidney to his will. Sir Philip, as a correspondent, wrote it " Sidney" or " Sydney," as the fancy of the moment prevailed with him. The former appears to be the modem orthography, which I have preferred to retain.

CHAPTER I. 21

lineal descendant of this Sir William Sidney, of the same name, was tutor to Edward YI., who, in the year 1552, rewarded his services with the forfeited park and manor of Penshurst in Kent. This was the family seat of the Sidneys. Here resided Sir Henry Sidney, the son and heir of the last Sir William, for many years Grovernor of Ireland, and a name honorably mentioned in history. His eldest son was the celebrated Sir Philip Sidney, author of the pastoral romance of Arcadia, the favorite of Queen Elizabeth, and nephew to Dudley the powerful Earl of Leicester, who feasted the Queen in his castle of Kenilworth, and, it said, aspired to the hand of his royal mistress.

Sir Philip Sidney was mortally wounded at the battle of Zutphen, and dying a few days afterwards, the family estate passed to his brother Robert, who was created by James I. Baron Sidney of Penshurst, and subsequently Viscount Lisle and Earl of Leicester. This nobleman was succeeded in 1626 by his son Robert, the second Earl of Leicester of this family, and the father of Algernon Sidney. Lord Leicester was married in the year 1618 to Dorothy, eldest daughter of the Earl of Northumberland. He was a nobleman of great distinction, and much employed in diplomatic and other public business during the reign of Charles I.

Algernon Sidney, born in the year 1622, was the second son of this nobleman. He was named after his maternal uncle, Algernon,* Lord Percy. His

* The name seems originally to have been written Algernoon.

22 ALGERITON SIDNEY.

early education, the best and most accomplished that the times afforded , was carefully conducted by his father, who himself was a man of extensive and varied acquirements. In 1632, the Earl of Leicester was sent ambassador to Denmark. He took with him his two eldest sons, Philip, Lord Lisle, and Algernon, in order that he might the more carefully superintend their education. After an absence of three months, during which time he visited various courts and cities on the continent, he returned to England. In the year 1636 he was appointed ambassador extraordinary to France. Still pursuing his design of personally superintending the education of his sons, and of giving them every advantage of study and travel, he again permitted them to accompany him on his mission. The mind of young Sidney was rapidly maturing, and the progress he made in his studies repaid the utmost care and attention of his father. He was distinguished, even at this early period of life for his placid and manly temper and his sprightly wit. In a letter written about this time by his mother to her husband, she mentions with evident pride the favorable reports that some friends who had lately returned from Paris brought with them concerning her son, that " he had a huge deal of wit, and much sweetness of temper." The serenity of temper and the calm and placid disposition which characterized Sidney in his later as well as his earlier years, are said to have been strikingly exhibited in the features of his portrait at Pens-

CHAPTEE I. 23

hurst, painted at Brussels, in 1663, and forwarded thence by him to his father.

The Earl of Leicester remained several years in France. During this time Algernon visited Rome, then under the government of the Pontiff Urban VIL, where he resided some time. In 1689, the earl returned to England on a temporary visit, and was present at the marriage of his eldest daughter Dorothy, the Sacharissa of the poet "Waller.* This lady was married to Lord Spencer, afterwards Earl of Sunderland, who was killed in the civil wars at the battle of Newbury. His son, the nephew of Sidney, was that Earl of Sunderland who was distinguished in the councils of Charles IL The celebrated Marquis of Halifax, whose name is so well known as a statesman and politician of the same reign, was also a nephew of Sidney by marriage.

The Earl soon after returned to Paris, where it seems his son Algernon remained, closely engaged in the prosecution of his studies. Being designed for the army, an application was now made on his behalf by his uncle, the Earl of Northumberland, to the Prince of Orange, for a commission in the Dutch service, but the commission having been previously disposed of, young Sidney was obliged to remain without employ-

* Dr. Johnson states that Waller's verses did not subdue the highborn and beautiful lady, who rejected the addresses of the humble poet with disdain. In her old age, meeting somewhere with Waller, she asked him when he would again write such verses upon her. " When you are as young, Madame," said he, "and as handsome as you were then "

ment in Paris, till the final return of his father to England, in the autumn of the year 1641.

It was at this period, the most eventful crisis in English history, that his active life commenced. The Long Parliament had been in session a year, and the seeds of that great revolution which was about to convulse England were fast taking root. Pym had brought forward his famous accusation against the Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the head of that unfortunate minister had rolled from the scaffold, a victim to the popular justice, or the popular vengeance. The successor chosen to take the place of Strafford in the government of Ireland, was the Earl of Leicester. Various causes combined to delay the departure of that nobleman for Ireland, notwithstanding his presence was imperatively demanded there. The Irish rebellion, as it was called, had broken out. It was general, terrific, and devastating. Almost the entire English population were massacred under circumstances of horrid barbarity and cruelty. The Earl of Leicester, then, according to Hume, in London, being prevented himself from repairing to the scene of action, dispatched his eldest son. Lord Lisle, in command of his own regiment, to reduce the insurgents. In this regiment, Algernon Sidney, then in his nineteenth year, had command of a troop. This was his entrance into military service. In various actions and skirmishes fought with the insurgents, he is reported to have behaved with extraordinary spirit and resolution. The war, however, dragged slowly along. Sid-