THE

CONTINUATION

Of the LIFE of

EDWARD Earl of CLARENDON, &c.

(1)

Molins, 8th Day of June, 1672.

Reflections upon the most material Paffages which happened after the King's Refloration to the Time of the Chancellor's Banishment; out of which bis Children, for whofe Information they are only collected, may add fome important Paffages to bis Life, as the true Caufe of his Misfortunes.

HE eafy and glorious Reception of the The Author's King, in the Manner that hath been men- Preface. tioned, without any other Conditions than

what had been frankly offered by himself in his Declaration and Letters from Breda; the Parliament's cafting themselves in a Body at his Feet, in the Minute of his Arrival at Whitehall, with all the Profeffions of Duty and Submiffion imaginable; and no Man having Authority there, but They who had either eminently ferved the late King, or who were fince grown up out of their Nonage from fuch Fathers, and had throughly manifested their faft Fidelity to his present Majefty; the reft who had been enough criminal, fhewing more Animofity towards the fevere Punishment of thofe, who having more Power in the Vol. II. B

late

late Times had exceeded them in Mischief, than Care for their own Indemnity: This Temper fufficiently (=) evident, and the univerfal Joy of the People, which was equally visible, for the total Suppreffion of all those who had fo many Years exercised Tyranny over them, made moft Men believe, both abroad and at Home, that God had not only restored the King miraculously to his Throne, but that He had, as He did in the Time of Hezekiah, prepared the People, for the Thing was done fuddenly, (2 Chron. XXIX. 36.) in such a Manner, that his Authority and Greatnefs would have been more illustrious, than it had been in any of his Ancestors. And it is most true, and must never be denied, that the People were admirably difpofed and prepared to pay all the Subjection, Duty and Obedience, that a juft and prudent King could expect from them, and had a very fharp Averfion and Deteftation of all thofe who had formerly mifled and corrupted them; fo that, except the General, who feemed to be poffeffed entirely of the Affection of the Army, and whofe Fidelity was now above any Misapprehenfion, there appeared no Man whofe Power and Intereft could in any Degree shake or endanger the Peace and Security the King was in; the Congratulations for his Return being fo univerfal, from all the Counties of England, as well as from the Parliament and City; from all those who had moft fignally differved and disclaimed him, as well as from those of his own Party and those who were defcended from them: Infomuch as the King was wont merrily to fay, as hath been mentioned before, "that it could be Nobody's Fault but his own that "He had stayed fo long abroad, when all Mankind "wished him so heartily at Home." It cannot therefore but be concluded by the Standers by, and the Spectators of this wonderful Change and Exclamation of all Degrees of Men, that there must be some wonderful Miscarriages in the State, or fome unheard of Defect of Understanding in those who were trufted by the King in the Administration of his Affairs; that

there

there could in so short a Time be a new Revolution in the general Affections of the People, that They grew even weary of that Happiness They were poffeffed of and had so much valued, and fell into the fame Difcontents and Murmurings which had naturally accompanied them in the worst Times. From what fatal Causes thefe miferable Effects were produced, is the Business of this prefent Difquifition to examine, and in fome Degree to discover; and therefore must be of fuch a Nature, as must be as tenderly handled, with Reference to Things and Perfons, as the Discovery of the Truth will permit; and cannot be prefumed to be intended ever for a publick View, or for more than the Information of his Children of the true Source and Grounds from whence their Father's Misfortunes proceeded, in which Nothing can be found that can make them afhamed of his Memory.

T

HE King brought with him from beyond the Seas that Council which had always attended him, and whofe Advice He had always received in his Transactions of greatest Importance; and his fmall Family, that confifted of Gentlemen who had for the moft Part been put about him by his Father, and conftantly waited upon his Person in all his Distress, with as much Submiffion and Patience undergoing their Part in it, as could reafonably be expected from fuch a People; and therefore had the keener Appetites, and the stronger Prefumption to push on their Fortunes (as They called it) in the Infancy of their Master's Restoration, that other Men might not be preferred before them, who had not borne the Heat of the Day, as They had done. (3) OF the Council were the Chancellor, the Marquis The King's of Ormond, the Lord Colepepper, and Secretary Nicho-Cuncil at the Refloration, las, who lived in great Unity and Concurrence in the Communication of the most secret Counfels. There had been more of his Council abroad with him, who accord

B 2

Lord Chancellar Hyde.

according to the Motions He made and the Places He had refided in, were fome Times with him, but other remained in France, or in fome Parts of Holland and Flanders, for their Convenience, ready to repair to his Majefty when They fhould be called. The four nominated above were They who conftantly attended, were privy to all Counfels, and waited upon him in his Return.

THE Chancellor was the highest in Place, and thought to be fo in Truft, because He was most in private with the King, had managed most of the fecret Correspondence in England, and all Difpatches of Importance had paffed through his Hands; which had hitherto been with the lefs Envy, because the indefatigable Pains He took were very visible, and it was as visible that He gained Nothing by it. His Wants and Neceffities were as great as any Man's, nor was the Allowance affigned to him by the King in the least Degree more, or better paid, than every one of the Council received. Befides, the Friendship was fo entire between the Marquis of Ormond and him, that no Arts that were used could diffolve it; and it was enough known, that as He had an entire and full Confidence from the King and a greater Efteem than any Man, so that the Chancellor fo entirely communicated all Particulars with him, that there was not the leaft Refolution taken without his Privity and Approbation. The Chancellor had been employed by the last King in all the Affairs of the greatest Truft and Secrecy; had been made Privy Counsellor and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the very Beginning of the Troubles; and had been fent by that King into the Weft with his Son, when He thought their Interest would be best preserved and provided for by feparating their Perfons. A greater Teftimony and Recommendation a Servant could not receive from his Mafter, than the King gave of him to the Prince, who from that Time treated him with as much Affection and Confidence as any Man, and which (notwithstanding very powerful Oppofi