528

Funeral of King Charles the Second.

How often Villains did design, by cruelty, his blood to spill;

Yet, by the Providence Divine, God would not let them have their will:

But did preserve our gracious King,
Under the Shadow of His wing.

We griev'd his Soul, while he was here, when we would not his Laws obey;
Therefore the Lord he was severe, and took our Gracious Prince away:

We were not worthy to enjoy

The Prince whom subjects would annoy.

In Peace he did lay down his head, the Scepter and the Royall Crown,
His Soul is now to Heaven fled, above the reach of Mortal frown;

Where joy and glory will not cease,

In presence with the King of Peace.

Alas! we had our Liberty; he never sought for to devour;
By a usurping Tyranny, to Rule by Arbitrary Power :

No, no, in all his blessed Reign,

We had no cause for to complain.

Let Mourners now lament the loss of him that did the Scepter sway,
And look upon it as a Cross that he from us is snatch'd away:

Though he is free from care and woe,

Yet we cannot forget him so.

But since it was Thy blessed Will to call him from a sinful land,
O let us all be thankful still that it was done by Thine own hand:

No pitch of Honour can be free
From Death's usurping Tyranny.

The fourteen day of February they did interr our Gracious Charles,
His funeral solemnity accompanied with Lords and Earls :

Four Dukes, ay, and Prince George by name,

Went next the KING with all his Train.

And thus they to the Abby went, to lay him in his silent Tomb,

Where many inward Sighs was spent, to think upon their dismal doom :
Whose showers of Tears afresh there fell,

When they beheld his Last Farewel.

Since it is so that all must dye, and must before our God appear,

O let us have a watchful eye over our Conversation here :

That like Great Charles, our King and Friend,

We all may have a happy end.

Let England, by their Loyalty, repair the breach which they did make;
And let us all united be to Gracious James, for Charles his sake:

And let there be no more Discord,

But love the King, and fear the Lord.

["was.

Finis.

[In Black-letter.

Printed for J. Deacon, in Guilt-spur-street.

Four woodcuts, two being a small skeleton in duplicate; another was given on our p. 509 the fourth is similar to the Royal Funeral on p. 527, but inferior to ours and reversed. Date, February, 1861.]

Monmouth's Reception of the News from England.

Donaldbain.-"What is amiss ?"

Macbeth.

"You are, and do not know it. The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood Is stopp'd: the very source of it is stopp'd."

Macduff.-"Your royal Father's murder'd!"

-Macbeth, Act ii.

It may be well for us to give such documentary evidence as we

T

possess, indicating the manner in which Monmouth received the news of King Charles's death, in addition to what has been already printed (on our p. 410). Plaything of Fortune and of the Fates, it had been in the month of February, 168, when his prospects were brightest, when secret missives with gifts of money were opening to him a return to Court-life in England, preferment to be won, and perhaps the highest possible station as "presumptive Heir!" that the sudden death of the King (not without suspicion of having been poisoned, although this rumour came later), defeated all the young man's calculations, leaving him disappointed, helpless, purposeless, and embittered. He might well write in his note-book, February 16.-The sad news of his death by L. [=George Saville, Marquis of Halifax]-0 cruel Fate!

Elsewhere we are told that it was from William of Orange on the 19th that Monmouth heard of King Charles's death. No doubt the discrepancy is delusive, caused by confusion of Old Style in England and New Style in Holland. Also by this: the letter from Halifax to Monmouth would be for safety and expedition sent to the care of Orange. The difference of date is apparent, not real. Charles had died on the 6th, English reckoning, Old Style. Dutch computation (New Style) would make this date the 16th. The news had taken a few days to cross England and the sea; therefore it would be the 19th (N.S.), night, when it reached William and Monmouth. The latter wrote on the 20th concerning the sad event having happened on the 16th. This solves the difficulty.

February 20 [N.S. Feb. 10, 168].-Letters of the 16th from England arrived yesterday at seven o'clock in the evening, with the melancholy news of the death of the King [Charles]. The Prince of Orange did not go up to the Princess's chamber, where the Ladies of the Court were paying her their attendance, but sent to desire her to come down, when he told her the news. The Duke of Monmouth was there also, who afterwards retired to his apartment, and did not return back to the Prince of Orange's apartment till ten at night, and they two remained shut up by themselves till midnight. The Duke of Monmouth set out very secretly in the night; and, the better to conceal his departure, he caused it to be given out this morning till near noon, that he was still in bed. I have heard that the Prince of Orange lent him money, but no great sum, probably to defray the expense of his voyage.-D'Avaux's Negotiations, iii. 146.

VOL. V.

2 M

530

Hogen-Mogen edition of Willy Beguily,' 1685.

D'Avaux was wonderfully accurate as to facts, and seems to have better gauged the duplicity of William than any other observer of his time. It was a long game that was being played by France. Her intrigues were actively maintained to keep influence over citizens of Amsterdam, of Dort, Friesland, etc.; and the presence of so astute a watcher near the Hague was an immense advantage. Nevertheless, defeat was impending, not because of blunders on the part of D'Avaux, but owing to the incomprehensible folly of King James, playing into the hands of his treacherous son-in-law. Errors might come through false intelligence, of course, but D'Avaux had so many skilful emissaries that the correction of any one informant's mistakes speedily followed on the first report. Thus he soon learnt that when Monmouth left his apartments at five o'clock in the morning, before it was day, it was not to make a flight, but to consult with Bentinck, "where he was close shut up, so that it was six at night before he returned to the Hague . . . . The Duke of Monmouth has been ever since like a man raving mad. He has been heard, in the little house where he lodges, making bitter cries and lamentations. 'Tis said he set out this morning [February betwixt four and five o'clock."

],

It is impossible, after examining the documentary evidence, to doubt the duplicity of William of Orange in his relations to James and in his pretended ignorance of Monmouth's disloyalty. On the death of Charles II. William sent over M. Ouerkerque (Auverquerque, or Overkirk) to effect a reconciliation with the new king, making acknowledgement of former errors in having opposed him strenuously; assuring him of intentions to make reparation by future conduct, and agreeing to James's demands that he should dismiss Monmouth from Holland, and also remove from the English regiments in the States those officers who had already committed themselves seditiously in Monmouth's favour. Among these was Lieut.-Colonel Babington, in whose behalf William wrote a letter of introduction and commendation (10th March, 1681), in vain.

Outwardly there were signs of a good understanding being reestablished between Orange and his father-in-law, who had never ceased writing to him, even while dissatisfied. That Orange was secretly hating and despising James, while pretending to be submissive, is absolutely certain. He chose to make a pretence of dismissing Monmouth from the intimacy hitherto notorious, but held secret interviews with him instead of public audiences.

He was already laying fresh plans to win advantages by the affectation of becoming protector of the interests of Protestants in religion. Even a few hours before the death of Charles was known, the Count de Waldeck told Skelton that the intimacy with Monmouth had been maintained for the sake of this protection to the Protestant Religion. Three weeks previously, d'Ouerkerque,

Sojourners in the Dutch Cave of Adullam.

531

captain of William's guards, had entertained Monmouth at dinner, when they drank to the Confusion of York and all Papists. The same evil toast had been drank by Orange and Monmouth on St. Hubert's day; as Chudleigh took care to inform York. In the January previous to the King's death, a marked insult had been paid by Orange against keeping the anniversary of "martyrdom of Charles I." as a day of sadness, when he forced his wife to join in revelry. About the same date, or earlier, "the English rebels, who were scattered in many of the towns of Holland, and the Duchy of Cleves, held another meeting at Utrecht, under the protection of M. Dyckveldt." On the day that they heard of the death of Charles II., "they made great feasts and carousals, by way of rejoicing." But until this time Monmouth had avoided compromising himself by too great familiarity with them.

There were numerous refugees and outcasts who had received a dangerous welcome in Holland. It was perpetually a focus of sedition against the English Government, a Cave of Adullam for all the discontented Sectaries. Men whose only religion was disquietude and spiritual pride found a fitting refuge among these Calvinistic Brownists, with whom, however, they could never wholly coalesce, for they were themselves of discordant opinions, and only united in their bitterness of hatred. Scottish exiles were there, who held by the "Solemn League and Covenant; Plotters for an imaginary Republic, in which the Saints were to be not only predominant, but to possess power to exterminate their foes; libellers in hiding to escape fine or pillory; bankrupt traders whose dishonesty had been detected and punished, and many who had carried their liberty of thought into Atheism.

For several months Monmouth had been more anxious to form a strong party with the help of the wealthy local magnates, than to enter into league with his disaffected countrymen and the associates of the embittered Argyle. They invited him, less as a leader than as a tool or serviceable ally. In fact, a large number of them distrusted his sincerity in matters of religion, whispering that he was "not sound," and would not improbably become a Romanist. He had resisted their advances, which they could not pardon, but it was because he knew them to be disreputable unpleasant companions, noisy, needy, swaggering, and dishonest. He temperately refused to embark in their ruinous enterprize.

A Letter from the Duke of Monmouth, Written in his Retirement in Holland (a little before making his attempt in the West of England), 1684-85.

I receiv'd both yours together this morning, and cannot delay you my Answer longer than this Post; though I am afraid it will not please you so much as I heartily wish it may. I have weigh'd all your Reasons, and every thing that you and my other Friends have writ me upon that Subject; and have done it with the greatest Inclination to follow your Advice and without prejudice.

532 "Surely in rain is the net spread in sight of any bird."

You may well believe I have had time enough to reflect sufficiently upon my present state, especially since I came hither. But whatever way I turn my thoughts, I find insuperable difficulties. Pray do not think it an effect of Melancholy, for that was never my greatest fault, when I tell you That in these Three Weeks Retirement in this Place, I have not only look'd back but forward; and the more I consider our present Circumstances, I think them still the more desperate, unless some unforeseen Accident fall out, which I cannot divine nor hope for.

[Here follow sixteen lines in Cypher: unfortunately not transcribed by Welwood, therefore inaccessible now for our interpretation.]

Judge then what we are to expect, in case we should venture upon any fresh attempt at this time. It's to me a vain Argument, that our Enemies are scarce well settled; when you consider, That Fear in some, and Ambition in others, have brought them to comply; and that the Parliament being made up for the most part of Members that formerly run our Enemy [York] down, they will be ready to make their Peace as soon as they can, rather than hazard themselves upon an uncertain Bottom. I give you but hints of what, if I had time, I would write you at more length. But that I may not seem obstinate in my own Judgment, or neglect the Advice of my Friends, I will meet you at the Time and Place appointed. But for God's sake, think in the mean time of the Improbabilities that lye naturally in our way; and let us not by struggling with our Chains make them streighter and heavier. For my part I'll run the hazard of being thought any thing, rather than a Rash, Inconsiderate Man. And to tell you my thoughts, without disguise, I am now so much in love with a Retired Life, that I am never like to be fond of making a Bustle in the World again (sic). I have much more to say, but the Post cannot stay; and I defer the rest till meeting, being entirely Yours, [unsigned: Monmouth.]

Of the foregoing letter we may notice these points. 1.-That it was written most certainly after the death of Charles the Second, the accession of James II., and the summoning of the Parliament of 1685 (which was announced by proclamation of 12th February, and met on 19th of May). 2.-That it shows clearly the present disinclination of Monmouth to enter anew into intrigues with the plotters. He is not so much despondent and fearful of defeat, as unwilling and indolent. 3.-That the expression of his thoughts, and even the thoughts themselves, being far above his usual strain, must be taken to indicate, the assistance of a superior mind in dictating, or at least, in revising the first copy of his letter. 4.— That although undated, we cannot err in attributing it to the time intervening between the middle of February, 168, and the 19th of May, 1685. 5. That the Letter, an original in Monmouth's own handwriting, had been in possession of James Spence, who possessed the key of the cypher, and was still held in safety twenty years later when a copy was made from it, minus the important portion in cypher. Nothing that the ingenuity of man can frame of secret writing is able to resist for ever the investigation of a skilled interpreter. We regret not having this cypher open to study. Although we know not with absolute certainty the name of the person with whom this appointment by letter was made, nor the intended place of meeting, nor the precise day, it tells the rest with