worst preachers I ever heard: they were ignorant 1662. to a reproach and many of them were openly vicious. They were a disgrace to their orders, and the sacred functions; and were indeed the dreg and refuse of the northern parts. Those of them who arose above contempt or scandal, were men of such violent tempers, that they were as much hated as the others were despised. This was the fatal beginning of restoring episcopacy in Scotland, of which few of the bishops seemed to have any sense. Fairfoul, the most concerned, had none at all: for he fell into a paralytic state, in which he languished a year before he died. I have thus opened the first settlement in Scotland: of which I myself observed what was visible, and understood the more secret transactions from those who had such a share in them, that it was not possible for them to mistake them and I had no reason to think they intended to deceive or misinform me.

The affairs

I will in the next place change the climate, and 1660. give as particular an account as I can of the settle- 159 ment of England both in church and state which, of England. though it will be perhaps imperfect, and will in some parts be out of order, yet I am well assured it will be found true; having picked it up at several times, from the earl of Lauderdale, Sir Robert Murray, the earl of Shaftsbury, the earl of Clarendon the son of the lord chancellor, the lord Hollis, and sir Harbottle Grimstone, who was the speaker of the house of commons, under whose protection I lived nine years when I was preacher at the rolls, he being then master of the rolls. From such hands I could not be misled, when I laid all to

1660. gether, and considered what reason I had to make allowances for the different accounts that diversity of parties and interests may lead men to give, they too easily believing some things, and as easily rejecting others, as they stood affected.

After the king came over, no person in the house of commons had the courage to move the offering propositions for any limitation of prerogative, or the defining of any doubtful points. All was joy and rapture. If the king had applied himself to business, and had pursued those designs which he studied to retrieve all the rest of his reign, when it was too late, he had probably in those first transports carried every thing that he would have desired, either as to revenue or power. But he was so given up to pleasure, that he devolved the management of all his affairs on the earl of Clarendon; who, as he had his breeding in the law, so he had all along declared himself for the ancient liberties of England, as well as for the rights of the crown. A domestic accident had happened to him, which heightened his zeal for the former. He, when he began to grow eminent in his profession, came down to see his aged father, a gentleman of Wiltshire: who, one day, as they were walking in the field together, told him, that men of his profession did often stretch law and prerogative, to the prejudice of the liberty of the subject, to recommend and advance themselves: so he charged him, if ever he grew to any eminence in his profession, that he should never sacrifice the laws and liberties of his country to his own interests, or to the will of a prince. He repeated this twice: and immediately he fell into a fit of an apoplexy, of which he died in a few hours. This the earl of Cla

rendon told the lady Ranelagh, who put him often 1660. in mind of it: and from her I had it.

notions.

160

He resolved not to stretch the prerogative beyond Clarendon's just and what it was before the wars, and would neither set moderate aside the petition of right, nor endeavour to raise the courts of the star-chamber or the high commission again, which could have been easily done, if he had set about it: nor did he think fit to move for the repeal of the act for triennial parliaments, till other matters were well settled. He took care indeed to have all the things that were extorted by the long parliament from king Charles I. to be repealed. And since the dispute of the power of the militia was the most important, and the most insisted on, he was very earnest to have that clearly determined for the future. But as to all the acts relating to property, or the just limitation of the prerogative, such as the matter of the ship-money, the tonnage and poundage, and the habeas corpus act, he did not touch on these. And as for the standing revenue, 1,200,000l. a year was all that was asked: and, though it was much more than any of our kings had formerly, yet it was readily granted. This was to answer all the ordinary expense of the government. It was believed, that if two millions had been asked, he could have carried it. But he had no mind to put the king out of the necessity of having recourse to his parliament. The king came afterwards to believe that he could have raised both his authority and revenue much higher, but that he had no mind to carry it farther, or to trust him too much. Whether all these things could have been got at that time, or not, is above my conjecture. But this I know, that all the earl of Cla

1660. rendon's [court] enemies after his fall said, these things had been easily obtained, if he had taken any pains in the matter, but that he himself had no mind to it and they infused this into the king, so that he believed it, and hated him mortally on that account. And in his difficulties afterwards he said often, all those things might have been prevented, if the earl of Clarendon had been true to him ".

Venner's

fury.

The king had not been many days at Whitehall, when one Venner, a violent fifth-monarchy man, who thought it was not enough to believe that Christ was to reign on earth, and to put the saints in the possession of the kingdom, (an opinion that they were all unspeakably fond of,) but added to this, that the saints were to take the kingdom themselves". He gathered some of the most furious of the party to a meeting in Coleman-street. There they concerted the day and the manner of their rising to set Christ on his throne, as they called it. But withal they meant to manage the government in his name; and were so formal, that they had prepared standards and colours with their devices on them, and furnished themselves with very good arms. But when the day came, there was but a small appearance, not exceeding twenty. However 161 they resolved to venture out into the streets, and cry out, No king but Christ. Some of them seemed persuaded that Christ would come down, and head

• He himself is silent as to all this, in the history of his life; but that may be accounted for without having any doubt of its truth. If it is true of him, how much are we all indebted to him? That he did

this great and lasting service to his country, has been, and is, the universal persuasion. Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo. O.

P This wants grammar. S.

them. They scoured the streets before them, and 1660. made a great progress. Some were afraid, and all were amazed at this piece of extravagance. They killed a great many, but were at last mastered by numbers and were all either killed, or taken and executed. Upon this some troops of guards were raised. And there was a great talk of a design, as soon as the army was disbanded, to raise a force that should be so chosen and modelled that the king might depend upon it; and that it should be so considerable, that there might be no reason to apprehend new tumults any more. The earl of Southampton looked on a while: and when he saw how this design seemed to be entertained and magnified, he entered into a very free expostulation with the earl of Clarendon about it. He said, they had felt the effects of a military government, though sober and religious, in Cromwell's army: he believed vicious and dissolute troops would be much worse: the king would grow fond of them: and they would quickly become insolent and ungovernable: and then such men as he was must be only instruments to serve their ends. He said he would not look on, and see the ruin of his country begun, and be silent: a white staff should not bribe him. The earl of Clarendon was persuaded he was in the right, and promised he would divert the king from any other force than what might be decent to make a shew with, and what might serve to disperse unruly multitudes. The earl of Southampton said, if it went no farther, he could bear it; but it would not be easy to fix such a number, as would please our princes, and not give jealousy. The earl of Clarendon persuaded the king, that it was necessary for