TRIAL AND DEATH OF STRAFFORD
[Sidenote: Strafford leaves Ireland. Wandesford Deputy, 1640.]
[Sidenote: Strafford advises the King.]
Having done what was required of it, the Irish Parliament was prorogued
to June 1, and on April 3 Strafford sailed for the last time, leaving
Wandesford behind as Deputy. The gout, which he had neglected, took
its revenge at Chester, preventing him from being at the opening of
the Short Parliament, and he had to stay at Bishop Wright's house for
a full week. He then travelled by litter all the way to London, and
reached Leicester House on April 18, where he remained, generally
very ill, until August 24. Few believed that he would recover, still
fewer that he would return to Ireland, and when the next session began
Wandesford found that the Government was no longer feared. Of course
it had never really been loved. But of the old Irish army which he had
improved, or of the much larger force which he had given orders to
raise, Strafford had no doubts. Ill as he was, he wrote to the King
from Coventry begging him to provide the necessary funds, otherwise he
would lose the fourth part of his army, and that the part most to be
depended on for absolute, unquestioning obedience. Charles paid him
several visits when he was unable to go out, but he did sometimes get
to the Council, and it was by his advice that the King went to the
House of Lords and persuaded them to declare that supply ought to have
precedence of grievances. It is not quite certain how far Strafford
was to blame for the fatal dissolution of the Short Parliament. He had
advised that it should be called, and he urged the King not to run
great risks because he could not get exactly what he wanted. But the
popular fury fell upon him and Laud. Lambeth was attacked and the
archbishop withdrew to Whitehall, whereupon a lady remarked: 'Black
Tom hath more courage than his Grace, and therefore will not be so
apprehensive as he is, nor suffer a guard to attend him, knowing he
hath terror enough in his bended brows to amaze the 'prentices.'[257]
[Sidenote: The Irish Parliament turns against Strafford.]
[Sidenote: The power of the purse.]
When Wandesford met his Parliament on June 1, the wind had changed.
Strafford was believed to be at the point of death, and the subsidies
were being assessed upon an increased estimated value. This was arrived
at by fixing a quota for each county, and spreading it as equally as
possible upon the properties therein contained. The Government had
hitherto been able to secure a majority by the votes of public servants
in the Commons, but many were now absent with the army, and the Roman
Catholic members were in power, nor, as it was a question of money,
were they without plenty of allies. Radcliffe was in England, and it
was found impossible to resist the passing of a declaration against the
new method of taxation. Wandesford was forced to allow the enrolment of
the document in chancery and elsewhere, and thus the administration of
Supply was transferred from the Executive to the House of Commons. The
constitutional point having been gained, the first subsidy was allowed
to be levied as assessed, and yielded over 46,000_l._ The second and
third together, raised in the old 'parliamentary way,' came to less
than 24,000_l._, and the fourth was never levied at all. Seeing that he
could do no better, and that the House became more intemperate daily,
Wandesford prorogued Parliament on June 17 until October 1.[258]
[Sidenote: Strafford in England very ill.]
[Sidenote: Charles intends to send Strafford back to Ireland,]
[Sidenote: but makes him General instead.]
Meanwhile the man upon whom the weight of both kingdoms lay was so
ill that his recovery was doubtful. He could not turn in his bed, and
relief was obtained by losing twelve ounces of blood. In writing to
Ormonde Wandesford mourned over the unhappy dissolution of the Short
Parliament. Strafford's mind was wearing out his body, and he could
hardly bear to speak of him, 'if you did not love this man well. It is
true, if the favour and grace of a Prince shall recover him he shall
not perish, for those are heaped upon him every day; but if the good
man's heart be more willing to spend himself in great business than
to contemplate his own safety, or to live upon such favours, who can
help him? I know you love him, and you shall know when we hear better
of him.' When he seemed to be recovering Charles paid him a visit that
nearly proved fatal. Strafford left off his warm gown to receive the
King, which caused a relapse and involved the loss of eighteen ounces
of blood; it is surprising that the doctors did not bleed him to death.
It was not till a month later, at the end of June, that Radcliffe
reported steady progress towards recovery. Early in July Strafford was
at Sion House, and can have derived little comfort from association
with Northumberland, who disagreed with his views and believed an
invasion of Scotland impossible. But Charles was determined to go to
the north, and at this time intended that the Lord Lieutenant should
return to Ireland and take charge of the new army. In the meantime he
ordered him to attend every day at Oatlands until he himself started
for York, which was not till August 20, and at that moment Wandesford
was expecting him in Ireland. But Northumberland was ill, and Strafford
became commander-in-chief. Conway had been routed at Newburn, and the
Scots were in possession of Newcastle before the unfortunate general
had time to do anything. 'Pity me,' he wrote to Radcliffe, 'for never
came any man to so lost business. The army unexercised and unprovided
of all necessaries. That part which I bring now with me from Durham the
worst I ever saw. Our horse all cowardly, the country from Berwick to
York in the power of the Scot, an universal affright in all, a general
disaffection to the King's service, now sensible of his dishonour. In
one word, here alone to fight with all these evils without any one to
help. God of His goodness deliver me out of this the greatest evil of
my life.'[259]
[Sidenote: Strafford at York, September 1640.]
[Sidenote: Strafford denounced by the Scots.]
[Sidenote: Proposals as to the Irish army]
After Newburn there was no serious attempt to fight the Scots, and
Strafford never had any opportunity of showing what he could do as a
general. His health was bad, his army unpaid and without enthusiasm,
and the people generally but half-hearted. Even his own Yorkshiremen
were anxious for a new Parliament, and many could see clearly that the
Scots were upholding the cause of both nations. Still he had influence
enough to get the gentlemen of the county to undertake for the payment
of their train-bands, and for this last piece of service he was made a
Knight of the Garter. He had now reached the utmost height to which,
according to the last Roman poet, the Gods raise men in order that
their fall may be the heavier. The Great Council of Peers met at York
on September 25, and sat till October 28, and Strafford took an active
part in the debates. He had a sharp encounter in the King's presence
with the new Lord Clanricarde, ending in the latter's Connaught titles
being confirmed and all his privileges restored. The negotiations with
the Scots were carried on at Ripon, by commissioners representing both
sides, but 'the Earl of Strafford,' says Clarendon, 'had not amongst
them one friend or person civilly inclined towards him.' The King
wished them to meet under his eye at York, but the Scots positively
refused to put themselves into the power of an army commanded by
Strafford, whom they denounced as a chief incendiary. They were quite
justified in saying that he talked freely of them as traitors and
rebels, and desired their utter ruin. He had already suggested the
use of his Irish army against them, and ten days later he offered to
bring over at two days' warning 8000 foot, 2000 horse and 60 guns 'if
there be shipping to convey them.' In Scotland it was believed that
these troops had actually landed in England, and a battle was expected.
The Scots at Ripon were so far successful as to have an allowance
made to their forces of 850_l._ a day for two months, and to get the
negotiations adjourned to London, where they would be among friends.
At the head of an army whose discipline he might be able to improve
Strafford was still formidable, and he had more friends in Yorkshire
than anywhere else; but both King and Queen urged him to leave this
comparative safety, and to trust himself in London. After looking his
last on Wentworth Woodhouse, where he spent three or four days, he set
out for the south, having the King's written assurance that he 'should
not suffer in his person, honour, or fortune.'[260]
[Sidenote: Strafford under arrest, Nov. 1640.]
[Sidenote: Strafford sent to the Tower.]
[Sidenote: Impeachment of Radcliffe.]
'I am to-morrow to London,' wrote Strafford to Radcliffe, 'with
more dangers beset, I believe, than ever any man went with out of
Yorkshire.' He arrived on Monday the 9th, rested the next day, and on
Wednesday morning went down to the House of Lords. That he intended to
attack the Parliamentary leaders is clear, but the plan was not mature,
and he went away without speaking. This gave Pym his chance, and later
in the day he appeared to impeach Strafford and demand his arrest. The
accused man was with the King, but he hurried back to the House as soon
as he knew what had been done. He was not allowed to speak, and had
to kneel at the bar, when he was told that he must remain in custody
until he had cleared himself from the Commons' charges. The Usher of
the Black Rod, James Maxwell, a Scotchman, took his sword and carried
him off in his coach. Baillie, who gloats over the fallen statesman,
notes that he had to walk some distance through gazing crowds, 'no man
capping to him, before whom that morning the greatest of England would
have stood discovered.' Maxwell was not a severe gaoler, and for a
while his prisoner had many visitors, but the Commons objected, and a
few days later he was sent to the Tower, of which another Scot, Sir
James Balfour, was Lieutenant. Balfour, whom Baillie calls 'our good
kind countrieman,' might be trusted to obey the orders of the House.
Ultimately Strafford was confined to three rooms, in the outer one of
which was a guard, and no visitors were admitted to see him without the
Lieutenant's special permission. It must, however, be supposed that he
was allowed some exercise. Communication of any kind was forbidden with
Sir George Radcliffe, who was soon brought to London and imprisoned in
the Gatehouse. Clarendon is probably quite justified in saying that
the object of impeaching Radcliffe was to prevent Strafford having his
help as a counsellor or witness. When the principal was once condemned,
it was not found worth while to continue proceedings against the
accessory.[261]
[Sidenote: Wandesford's last session, Oct. 1640.]
[Sidenote: A committee sent to England.]
[Sidenote: The Irish Parliament repudiate Strafford.]
The Irish Parliament was prorogued from June to October, when
Wandesford found it as unmanageable as before. The House of Commons
lost very little time in attacking the method of levying the subsidies,
and then agreed to a Remonstrance which criticised adversely all
Strafford's policy, and formed the basis of the charges at his trial.
This document was presented to the Lord Deputy, and he was several
times asked for an answer. While waiting for this, the House appointed
a committee of twelve members to go to England and represent the
Irish case there. Clarendon says, and there can be no doubt of the
fact, that Strafford's fate was largely determined by the conduct of
this committee, who kept up communications between the revolutionary
wire-pullers on both sides of the channel; some of the members were
afterwards engaged in the Irish rebellion. They were empowered to call
for all public papers in Ireland, and to have copies free of charge.
The Remonstrance was carried over by them, and was reported to the
English House of Commons a few days later. On the next day Wandesford
gave his answer by proroguing Parliament. During the recess, by the
King's special order, he had the journals brought before the Council,
and there in the presence of several members of Parliament, tore out
the two orders relating to the subsidies. Afterwards, when the tide
had turned hopelessly against Strafford, Charles ordered the leaves
to be reinserted, but they do not appear in the printed journals. The
Lords were surprised by the sudden prorogation, but most of those who
were in Dublin met and deputed Lords Gormanston, Dillon, and Kilmallock
to carry their grievances to London. When Parliament reassembled this
action was confirmed, and Lord Muskerry was added to the number.[262]
[Sidenote: Death of Wandesford, Dec. 3, 1640.]
Wandesford died three weeks after Strafford's arrest. The autopsy
showed that his heart was diseased, so that distress of mind may have
killed him, though his daughter does not say so. He was not long enough
at the head of affairs to make much figure in Irish history, but he
was an upright judge, made many reforms in the Rolls Court, and seems
to have been generally liked. He advised his son to lead a country
life, excusing himself for having done the contrary. 'The truth is, my
affection to the person of my Lord Deputy, purposing to attend upon
his lordship as near as I could in all fortunes, carried me along
with him wherever he went, and no premeditated thoughts of ambition.'
Bramhall attended him on his deathbed and preached his funeral sermon
in Christchurch. His daughter says there were not many dry eyes among
the multitude present, and 'the Irish did set up the lamentable hone,
as they call it, for him in the church, which was never known before
for any Englishman.'[263]
[Sidenote: Trial of Strafford, March-April, 1641.]
[Sidenote: Not guilty of treason in the ordinary sense.]
The trial of Strafford, with the intrigues and discussions leading to
it, belongs to the general history of these islands. The impressive
scene in Westminster Hall has been dwelt on by historians, and is
indeed of surpassing interest. The King and Queen were present
throughout, and the concourse was such as England had never seen till
then. Even hostile witnesses have testified to the inimitable life and
grace with which the prisoner under every disadvantage maintained his
cause against the accusing Commons, and before judges who had little
sympathy with him. Lord Cork, though only a peer of Ireland, had been
called up by writ, and Baillie noticed that he sat covered daily, his
black cloak being conspicuous among the coloured robes. As the trial
proceeded Strafford's courage and eloquence gained him many supporters;
the ladies were all on his side, and the Queen had ample opportunities
of admiring his beautiful white hands. His object was to show, and it
is generally thought he succeeded in showing, that no single count of
the impeachment amounted to treason, and that he was entitled to an
acquittal even if every charge was proved. In Fuller's homely phrase,
no number of frogs will make a toad. The Commons, on the contrary,
maintained that he had persistently striven to upset the fundamental
laws, that there was a cumulative force in repeated offences, and that
he ought to die the death of a traitor.[264]
[Sidenote: The articles of impeachment.]
[Sidenote: Strafford's line of defence.]
The articles of Strafford's impeachment were twenty-eight in number,
and of these seventeen, from the third to the nineteenth, bore directly
upon his government in Ireland. The third article charged that he
had in a public speech in 1634 declared that Ireland was a conquered
nation, and that the King might do what he liked there; and that the
charters of cities were obsolete and at the royal discretion. This
was proved by several witnesses, of whom Cork was one, who declared
that he had come to England with Strafford's leave, that he had
determined to make no complaint, and that he had purposely left all
his papers behind him. The answer to this evidence was that Ireland
was in fact conquered, that the charters had been often violated, and
that the object of his dealing with the corporation of Dublin was to
encourage the English Protestants who had been depressed by native
competition and combination. All that he had done, however, was at most
a misdemeanour, and no treason. In support of the fourth article, which
declared that the prisoner had seized property by Order in Council,
Cork deposed that this had been done in his case, that he had tried
to appeal to the law and 'that my lord of Strafford answered "call in
your writs, or if you will not, I will clap you in the Castle; for I
tell you I will not have my orders disputed by law nor lawyers"'; and
that on another occasion the Lord Deputy had told him that he would
make an Act of State as binding as an Act of Parliament. There were
other witnesses on the latter point. Strafford replied that there was
no breach of Magna Charta, since the law and custom of Ireland had been
followed, and that during the long interval between Parliaments it
was necessary to depend upon the action of the Executive. The fifth
and sixth articles dealt with Lord Mountnorris's case, which has been
sufficiently discussed, and the eighth with the Loftus case and other
accusations of arbitrary treatment by the Lord Deputy and Council, the
general defence being that they had acted according to the established
custom of Ireland. The ninth article contained a charge of unlawfully
stretching the secular arm to support the power of certain bishops. One
case was proved, but Strafford answered that he had discontinued the
practice when he found its legality was doubtful.
[Sidenote: Strafford's financial measures: the customs.]
[Sidenote: Tobacco and linen.]
[Sidenote: Strafford discouraged Irish woollens.]
The tenth article charged Strafford with procuring the customs to be
farmed, and the rates upon merchandise raised for his own profit. The
facts could scarcely be denied, but the accused was able to show that
he had objected to having a personal interest in the revenue, and that
he was persuaded to do so by Portland as the only means of inducing
other speculators to undergo the risk. The twelfth article attacked
the tobacco monopoly which Strafford had created by proclamation, and
the thirteenth with doing something of the same sort in the case of
linen. He looked upon tobacco as a superfluity, and therefore a fit
subject for heavy taxation, but there can be no doubt that many traders
suffered severely. The linen business had always existed in Ulster, and
he tried to improve and regulate it, but no doubt he went too fast and
much hardship was caused. 'He did observe,' he said, 'that the wool of
that kingdom did increase very much, that if it should there be wrought
into cloth, it would be a very great prejudice to the clothing trade
of England, and therefore he was willing, as much as he might lawfully
and fairly, to discourage that trade; that on the other side, he was
desirous to set up the trade of linen cloth, which would be beneficial
there and not prejudice the trade of England.' He made rules for the
management of the manufacture which he believed would greatly add to
its value, but they had turned out too rigid for the working people,
who could not so quickly be induced to change their habits. He had
himself lost 3000_l._ by his share in the business.
[Sidenote: Soldiers quartered on private persons.]
[Sidenote: Strafford's arbitrary acts supported by precedents.]
[Sidenote: The Black Oath.]
[Sidenote: Opinion of the judges.]
[Sidenote: Fear made the Commons cruel.]
The fifteenth article charged that Strafford did traitorously 'by
force of arms and in a warlike manner' strive to subdue Ireland
to his arbitrary will by quartering soldiers upon private persons
without warrant of law. Hallam thought this came nearer treason than
anything of which he was accused, but that the cases proved were too
few to constitute levying war. There was much hearsay evidence, but
enough was proved to make out a strong case. Edmond Byrne testified
that soldiers were quartered on him by the Lord Deputy's order for
not paying 'a pretended debt of a matter of ten pounds' to a Mr.
Archibald, and that they had done him damage to the value of 500_l._
The sixteenth article was directed against Strafford's system of
denying appeals to England except through himself, and of preventing
anyone from leaving Ireland without his leave. In this, as in many
other things, he had found the practice in existence, and had carried
it further than his predecessors, so that it was thought worthy of
special complaint in the Remonstrance of the Irish Parliament. The
nineteenth article was concerned with the imposition of the Black Oath
on the Ulster Scots, and the fact was undeniable; but Strafford pleaded
danger from the Covenant which bound 100,000 people in the North to
their near neighbours and fellow-countrymen across the channel. The
seventh, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth articles were
postponed, and in the end were not proceeded with at all, and it was
a Bill of Attainder and not a verdict of the Lords on the Impeachment
that brought Strafford to the scaffold. It may be granted that none of
the charges taken separately amounted to treason, but the Lord Chief
Justice 'delivered the opinion of all the judges present upon all
that which their Lordships have voted to be proved that the Earl of
Strafford doth deserve to undergo the pains and forfeitures of High
Treason by law.' It is evident that the majority of the Commons were
determined to have the Lord Lieutenant's head, for they did not feel
safe as long as he lived. St. John brutally said that the laws of chase
were not for him, and that he should be hunted down without mercy as
a beast of prey. 'Stone dead hath no fellow,' was Essex's answer when
Hyde suggested a milder penalty. Nor can it be said that the fears of
the Puritan party were unfounded. The King, after hearing every word of
the evidence, admitted that Strafford was unfit to hold even a chief
constable's place; but Charles was not to be trusted, and his word gave
no guarantee that the hated statesman would not again be a minister and
at the head of an army.[265]
[Sidenote: The Irish army fatal to Strafford.]
[Sidenote: Charles consents to Strafford's death,]
[Sidenote: and perpetuates the Parliament.]
[Sidenote: Execution of Strafford and disbandment of his army, May
1641.]
Of all the causes for fear the greatest was the existence of the Irish
army, which Charles repeatedly refused to disband. Strafford was
accused on the authority of Vane's famous notes of saying that it might
be used to 'reduce this kingdom,' and these words, if truly reported,
were uttered in England. Yet Scotland was probably intended, and the
choice of Carrickfergus as a rendezvous pointed in that direction.
But it is not likely that the plan would have been too scrupulously
observed, and Willoughby's mission to Carlisle showed that there was
no pedantic objection to employ troops from Ireland upon English
ground. 'Strafford's pride,' says Clarendon, 'was by the hand of
heaven strangely punished by bringing his destruction upon him by two
things that he most despised, the people and Sir Harry Vane.' There is
no mystery about the proceedings of the Commons, and not much about
that of the Lords, but there was nothing to prevent the royal consent
to the Bill of Attainder being withheld. Some episcopal casuists, of
whom Ussher was not one, gave advice for hearkening to which Charles
never forgave himself. The fact that he had fears for his family, and
especially for his wife, is really no defence at all. He surrendered
the right to pardon, which is the most precious privilege of monarchy,
and the same day that he passed the fatal Bill, too agitated perhaps
to know what he was doing, he consented to another providing that
Parliament should not be dissolved without its own consent. He himself
killed prerogative, and after he had done so defied the assembly he
had perpetuated by attempting to seize the five members. If the royal
power was after that to be restored in his person it could only be by
success in war. On the day after Strafford's execution Charles wrote to
Ormonde that he had decided to disband the Irish army.[266]
[Sidenote: Character of Strafford.]
Strafford was a very great man; but he failed completely, and it is not
difficult to see why. His scheme of prerogative government depended
upon the personality of Charles I., and the minister's qualities were
not such as could make people forget the monarch's defects. In his
determination to establish the Laudian system of what Petty afterwards
called 'Legal Protestantism,' he made enemies of Roman Catholics and
Puritans alike. Strafford had read law, had a fair knowledge of the
classics and of English and French literature, and understood Scotch
and Continental affairs. He wrote and spoke brilliantly, trusting much
to his memory, which served him very well. For some years he wielded
greater power than any servant of James or his son, Buckingham only
excepted. He warned the King against war with the House of Austria
for the Palatinate, because it would necessarily weaken him at home,
and in private he gave the strong reason that Charles would be driven
by war to raise money illegally without restraint. Strafford was very
English in his views, and cared little for foreign opinion; but he
would never have insulted the Prime Minister of Spain, nor made love to
the Queen of France. He was an immeasurably abler man than Buckingham,
but resembled him, to use Clarendon's words, in that 'he never made
a noble and a worthy friendship with a man so near his equal that he
would frankly advise him, for his honour and true interest, against
the current, or rather the torrent of his impetuous passions.' Apart
from his great office Laud was not his equal, and it may be doubted if
Conway, with whom he was on intimate terms, ever gave him any advice
at all. Wandesford and Radcliffe were clever men, but mere echoes of
their master, and Ormonde was too young to have much weight. Even Laud
cautioned Strafford against making powerful enemies by his high-handed
methods. His doctrine was that no subject could have any power against
the King, or against his substitute in Ireland and Yorkshire. He spoke
with scorn of Sir Edward Coke and his year-books, drew all important
business into the Castle-chamber, and openly declared that while he
had power Orders in Council should bind as fast as Acts of Parliament.
Clarendon, who was essentially a common lawyer, has recorded his
judgment against this policy in both islands. What recalcitrant
juries or sheriffs had to suffer may be gathered from the Galway
case. Strafford took credit for a rise in the price of land while he
governed Ireland, but the same thing happened under Cromwell; for
order gives security, and Plutus is a very timorous person. His work
soon crumbled away, as the work of despots generally does, for who can
secure a fitting successor? Marcus Aurelius was followed by Commodus.
Strafford professed to rule for the benefit of the whole community,
and probably the poor did really benefit by his firm hand; but he was
hated by the official class and by most men who had anything to lose.
His letters to his third wife are affectionate enough, but he did not
consider her his equal in any way, and the want of intelligent female
friendship was supplied by Lady Carlisle in England and by Lady Loftus
in Ireland. The first famous lady is described by her friend, Sir Toby
Matthew, as having no passion at all, and the latter must have been
constantly under the eyes of Radcliffe, who declares his belief that
there was nothing wrong; but Strafford was so much hated that every
hostile report was long accepted as fact. Perhaps his unpopularity is
sufficiently accounted for by Sir Philip Warwick, who knew him and who
was one of the fifty-nine members of the House of Commons who voted
against the Bill of Attainder. All his powers and acquirements, says
that staunch royalist, were 'lodged in a sour and haughty temper; so as
it may probably be believed, he expected to have more observance paid
to him than he was willing to pay to others, though they were of his
own quality; and then he was not like to conciliate the good will of
men of the lesser station.' But he had a few friends who loved him, and
his relations to his own family leave nothing to be desired.[267]
FOOTNOTES:
[257] Strafford to the King, April 15, 1640, _Strafford Letters_, ii.
411; Gardiner's _Hist. of England_, chap. xci.; Lady Essex Cheeke to
Lord Mandeville, May 16; Eighth Report of _Hist. MSS. Comm.,_ appx. ii.
56 _b._
[258] Wandesford to Radcliffe, June 12, 1640, in Whitaker's _Life
of Radcliffe_. Writing to Ormonde in March, 1664-5, Sir W. Domville
estimated a subsidy at 15,000_l._, _Carte MSS._ vol. xxxiv.
[259] Wandesford to Ormonde, May 26 and 29, June 7, 12, and 30, 1640,
_Carte transcripts_; Strafford to Radcliffe, July 3 to September 1 in
Whitaker's _Life of Radcliffe_, p. 202.
[260] Minutes of York Council in _Hardwicke State Papers_, ii.
241, 284, September 29 and October 18, 1640; Answer of the Scots
Commissioners, October 8, in _Rushworth_, iii. 1292; Whitaker's _Life
of Radcliffe_; _Baillie's Letters_, October 1, i. 257; Clarendon's
_Hist. of the Rebellion_, ii. 107; Ulick Earl of St. Albans and
Clanricarde to Windebank, York, October 26, 1640. _Hardwicke State
Papers_, ii. 207.
[261] 'His Lordship was called into the House as a delinquent,
and brought to the bar upon his knees, I sitting in my place
covered'--Cork's Diary, November 11, 1640, in _Lismore Papers_, 1st
series, v. 164; _Rushworth_, viii. 1-15, from November 6 to 30,
1640; _Baillie's Letters_, i. 276, December 2; and 282, December 12,
_Strafford Letters_; and November 5 in Whitaker's _Life of Radcliffe_,
p. 218.
[262] _Irish Lords Journal_, February 18, 1640-41; _Irish Commons
Journal_, November 7, 11, 12, 19, 1640, February 10, 1640-1. The
Remonstrance is printed in the Journal and also in _Rushworth_, viii.
Lords Justices and Council to Vane, February 13, 1640-1, in Cal. of
State Papers, _Ireland_. On January 26, 1640-1, the Irish Commons voted
5,086_l._ for the expenses of the London Committee, which consisted
of Sir Donough MacCarthy, Sir Hardress Waller, Sir Roebuck Lynch,
Sir James Montgomery, John Walsh, N. Plunkett, N. Barnewall, Richard
Fitzgerald, Simon Digby, Geoffrey Brown, and Edward Rowley.
[263] Wandesford's _Book of Instructions_ to his son George, Cambridge,
1727. _Autobiography_ of Mrs. Alice Thornton, Surtees Society, 1875.
Wandesford's letters have not been collected, but seventeen are printed
in the Cal. of _Ormonde MSS._, Hist. MSS. Comm., 1902.
[264] Strafford's trial occupies Rushworth's eighth volume. The report
in Howell's _State Trials_ is founded upon _A Brief and Perfect
Relation of the answers and replies of Thomas Earl of Strafford_,
London, 1647. A third contemporary account is in _Baillie's Letters_,
i. 313-353. These three are the reports of eye-witnesses. The historian
May was probably also present; his book was licensed May 7, 1647,
and has some touches not found elsewhere. Nalson was an infant when
Strafford died, and his account, which was published after Rushworth's,
has no independent value. Madame de Motteville (_Mémoires_, chap. ix.),
reporting Henrietta Maria's conversation, says Strafford 'était laid,
mais assez agréable de sa personne; et la Reine, me contant toutes ces
choses, s'arrêta pour me dire qu'il avait les plus belles mains du
monde.' May says many thought of Ovid's lines: 'Non formosus erat, sed
erat facundus Ulysses, et tamen æquoreas torsit amore deas'--Earl of
Cork's Diary in _Lismore Papers_, v. 164, 170, 176. 'The natural pity
and consideration of women, sympathising with his afflictions, with
sadness of his aspect, their facility with his complacences, their
lenity with his pathetical oratory'--Earl of Strafford characterised,
1641, _Somers Tracts_, iv. 231.
[265] _Lords' Journals_, May 6, 1641: 'In equity Lord Strafford
deserves to die' as a subverter of fundamental laws--'Ingeniosissime
nequam et in malo publico facundus,' Falkland's minute book in Lady
Theresa Lewis's _Friends of Clarendon_, i. 207.
[266] _Lords' Journals_, May 10, 1641. 'The Primate of Ireland, who
is no complimenter, reported afterwards to the King that he had then
first learned to make supplications aright to Godward, and withal told
his Majesty that he had seen many die, but never such a white soul
(this was his own expression) return to his maker. At which words
the King was pleased to turn himself about and offer a tear to his
memory--tantorum mercede bonorum'--_Brief and Perfect Relation_, p. 97.
[267] Sir P. Warwick's _Memoirs_, p. 110. Clarendon's _Hist. of the
Rebellion_, ii. 101; iii. 204. 'A wise and promising face ... yet a
dark and promiscuous countenance, clouded, unlovely, and presaging an
envious and cruel disposition,' The Earl of Strafford Characterised,
1641, _Somers Tracts_, iv. 231; and the often printed lines 'Here lies
wise and valiant dust,' etc., _ib._ 297. Strafford is at his best in
the beautiful letter to Lady Clare, August 10, 1639, and in that to his
son from the Tower, April 23, 1641, _Strafford Letters_, ii. 381, 416;
and see his character by Radcliffe, _ib._ p. 433.