HIS RETURN TO ENGLAND--IMPRISONMENT, AND LIBERATION--HIS
“CENTURY”--PECUNIARY DIFFICULTIES--PETITIONS--AT CHARLES THE
SECOND’S CORONATION--LORD HERBERT.
We find that in the House of Commons, on the 14th of March, 1648, “The
persons reported to be banished, and their estates confiscated, being
fourteen in number, were every one particularly put to the question;”
when it was resolved, &c. “That Charles Stuart, eldest son of the late
King, be one of that number; also James Stuart, his second son;” then
follow the Earls of Bristol, and Newcastle, along with Witherington,
Digby, Musgrave, Langdale, Greenvill, and Dodington. After which it
was--
“Resolved, &c. That the Earl of Worcester be one other of that number.”
Likewise were added the names of Winter, Culpepper, Byron, the Duke of
Buckingham; and finally, “all that have been plotting, designing, or
assisting, in the Irish rebellion,” shall be proscribed, as enemies and
traitors to the Commonwealth; and shall “die without mercy, wherever
they shall be found within the limits of this nation; and their estates
employed for the use of the Commonwealth.”[57]
It appears, on the authority of Dr. White Kennet,[58] the historian,
that while Charles the Second was a refugee in the Court of France, the
King of France, Louis XIV., was in himself disposed not only to assist,
but if possible to restore the royal family of England. His commanding
minister, the Cardinal Mazarine, however, was always averse to any such
measure; so that all the exiled prince could do was to send abroad
his envoys and agents, to solicit for justice and relief, although
without effect, as the result proved. He sent to England, says Kennet,
“the noble Marquis of Worcester for private intelligence as well as
for supplies; but the Marquis was taken up prisoner in London, and
committed to the Tower in September[?]; where he was threatened with a
speedy trial, and worse punished with a long confinement.”
We are brought by this circumstance to an interesting period in the
adventurous life of the Marquis of Worcester. His visit to England was
every way extraordinary for its boldness or apparent recklessness; as
he was a marked man, one who could have no reason for expecting to be
able to conciliate the reigning power, which had already stigmatized
him as an “enemy and traitor to the Commonwealth,” his estates to be
confiscated, and himself, wherever taken, doomed to “die without any
mercy whatever.”
The Marquis’s son sat in the Cromwellian Parliament; Cromwell enjoyed
the Monmouthshire estates of the Marquis, to the value of £2500
per annum, and allowed Lord Herbert a pretty liberal income. From
Edinburgh, Cromwell wrote on the 12th of April, 1651, a letter to his
wife:--“My dearest, Beware of my Lord Herbert his resort to your house;
if he do so may occasion scandal, as if I were bargaining with him:
indeed be wise; you know my meaning.”[A][23]
The Marquis might have some private object in view, equally with that
of serving his prince, and might have been better assured than history
determines, that his life, at all events, would be safe. It is stated
in the History of the Tower,[6] in noticing the Marquis of Worcester
being added to the number of distinguished persons confined there in
1652, that the wants and distresses to which he had been subjected on
the continent had driven him to seek shelter in his own country.
[Illustration: The Tower, Map of London, 1658.]
BIRD’S-EYE VIEW FROM MAP OF LONDON, 1658.
On the 28th of July, 1652, the House of Commons, immediately after
prayers, “Resolved, That the Earl of Worcester do stand committed to
the Tower of London, in order to his trial.” And, “That it be referred
to the Council of State to consider, in what way the Earl of Worcester
may be tried, and who hath harboured him; and to consider of all
circumstances in his business, and to report their opinion thereon to
the House, on Friday morning next.”
A year later, being on the 29th of August, 1653, Colonel Rous reports
from the Committee of Petitions, “The most humble Petition of Edward
Somerset, Earl of Worcester, now prisoner in the Tower.
“As also, the humble Petition of Margaret, Countess of Worcester; which
were both read.”
Followed, on the 3rd of October, by repetitions of the same report,
when it was “Resolved that this Petition be laid aside.”
While, on the 5th of October, 1654, one year later, after other
business, the Earl’s petition was again read, and it was thereon
“Resolved, That the Earl of Worcester have his liberty for the present
upon bail, until the Parliament take further order. And that the
Lieutenant of the Tower do take sufficient bail: And that a Warrant do
issue under Mr. Speaker’s hand, to that purpose.”[57]
In Burton’s highly valuable and interesting Diary of Oliver Cromwell’s
Parliament, when noticing the foregoing business in respect to the
Marquis’s petition, it is added:--“The Petitioner was alleged to be a
papist, in arms in England, who had headed a party in Ireland, making
a most dishonourable peace there, and had done many other disservices,
for which he was excepted from all mercy and pardon; his whole estate
ordered to be sold, and all such to be banished. Yet, it was urged, he
was an old man, had lain long in prison, and the small-pox then raging
under the same roof where he lay. And he had not, as was said, done any
actions of hostility, but only as a soldier; and in that capacity had
always shown civilities to the English prisoners and protestants. It
was, therefore, ordered, that he should be bailed out of prison.”[22]
Consequently he was a close prisoner for at least two years and a
quarter, assuming that he was then liberated; which is the more likely,
as we find that a Warrant was given by Cromwell, dated the 26th of
June, 1655, to pay his Lordship the sum of three pounds a week, for
his better maintenance.[B] He would be about or verging on 53 years
of age, and must have suffered very seriously from fatigue, disease,
and severe mental disquietude, prolonged through at least eight years
passed in every diversity of honour and disgrace, wealth and poverty,
high hopes and aspirations, terminating in blank disappointment; he
thus united in his own person and history the most violent contrasts,
enough to have broken down and utterly destroyed any enthusiasm less
than is due to the conscious possession of surpassing mental wealth.
It would be difficult to find in the voluminous history of scientific
biography a parallel case of so much self-reliance on the promptings of
a great and noble mind, under anything like such an unmitigated burden
of uncontrollable evils, as fell to the share of this extraordinary man
in the very decline of life, when tired nature seeks calm, repose, and
competence.
It would seem as if, while still a prisoner, he was treating for
Vauxhall, where we shall find he was afterwards actively engaged with
his Water Engine; for Samuel Hartlib, well known from his acquaintance
with Milton, writes to the Honourable Robert Boyle on the 8th of
May, 1654, signifying that, the Marquis is buying Vauxhall from Mr.
Trenchard.[14]
The next incident we meet with, of which any record occurs, after his
enlargement, is a melancholy evidence of his extreme necessities and
indeed absolute poverty. It consists in the following, taken from the
original acknowledgment:--[C]
“Receaved and borrowed of my Honored friend Sr David Watkins the full
somme of Twenty pownds sterling wch I faythfully promise to repaye
at or before the second day of February next ensueing to wch I
oblige myselfe my Hayre Executor Administrator or assign in a dubble
somme or forfeiture Witnesse my hand and seale this eight of De: 1655.
“WORCESTER.
“Witnessed by LANCELOT HODSHON.”
We have thus far traced the career of the Marquis of Worcester from
youth to manhood; the scholar, husband, father, general of armies, a
wealthy nobleman, an impoverished exile, in danger of his life by war
and shipwreck, twice imprisoned, now a freeman, oppressed by pecuniary
difficulties and earnestly striving against the pressure of his own
misfortunes and the weight of public prejudice, to which his political
life and religious persuasion subjected him: sometimes through court
intrigue, but mostly from the rooted bigotry of those gloomy times.
Whatever interest the history of the life of the Marquis of Worcester
may derive from other sources, the philosopher will dwell alone with
delight on that period which divulged the extraordinary inventive
mental capabilities of such a singular scholar and early man of
science. He now first produced, as he himself states, his remarkable
little work, of which the full title runs thus:--“A century of the
names and scantlings of such Inventions, as at present I can call to
mind to have tried and perfected, which (my former notes being lost)
I have, at the instance of a powerful friend, endeavoured now, in
the year 1655, to set these down, in such a way as may sufficiently
instruct me to put any of them in practice.” That small book, then only
in manuscript, and not published until eight years afterwards, has
sealed his fame; for through all time the “Century” will be regarded
as a great curiosity in scientific literature, for its variety of
subjects, and its author’s versatility of genius in pursuits then but
little cultivated.
The first year of his release, appears, therefore, to have been mainly
distinguished by this valuable contribution, as he says, “at the
instance of a powerful friend.” We think that that _friend_ was no
other than Colonel Christopher Coppley, or Copley,[D] who had served
in the Parliamentary army of the North, under the command of General
Fairfax; a sufficient reason for the author omitting to particularize
him by name. That he and the Marquis were, however, on terms of close
friendship, is evident from the annexed letter;[98] alluding to
previous kind offices accorded by his “powerful” now his “dear” and his
“honoured friend.”
“DEAR FRIEND,
“I know not with what face to desire a courtesy from you, since I
have not yet paid you the five pounds, and the main business so long
protracted, whereby my reality and kindness should with thankfulness
appear; for though the least I intend you is to make up the sum already
promised, to a thousand pounds yearly, or a share amounting to far
more, which to nominate, before the perfection of the work, were but
an _individuum vagum_; and, therefore, I defer it, and upon no other
score. Yet, in this interim, my disappointments are so great as that
I am forced to beg if you could possibly, either to help me with ten
pounds to this bearer; or, to make use of the coach, and to go to Mr.
Clerke, and if he could this day help me to fifty pounds, then to
pay yourself the five pounds I owe you out of them. Either of these
will infinitely oblige me. The alderman has taken three days’ time to
consider of it. Pardon the great troubles I give you, which I doubt not
but in time to deserve by really appearing,
“Your most thankful friend,
“WORCESTER.
“28th of March, 1656. To my honoured friend,
“COLONEL CHRISTOPHER COPPLEY.”
This epistle the Colonel endorsed, “My Lord of Worcester’s letter about
my share in his engine.” What was the result of these negociations
remains untold; but eight months later it would seem that, for some
reason or other, he entered into a solemn obligation with the Colonel,
in the terms following:--[E]
“I, under written, do confess and acknowledge to have received of
Colonel Christopher Copley so great civilities and obligations as that
I do take him into so strict bonds of kindness, as that, if at any time
the adventure of my life and fortune may bestead him, I do, upon the
word of a gentleman, and the faith of a Christian, engage myself not
to stick thereat, but cheerfully to run the same fortune with him. And
upon the same ties I vow never to deceive or delude him in thought,
word, or deed; and to declare the truth at all times unto him, using
neither hyperbole nor equivocation concerning my water-work; or any
promise made or to be made between us; which, as I am a gentleman,
a Christian, and Roman Catholic, I will even keep inviolable, and
that (if I should do any thing to the contrary), I may appear a most
dishonest and perjured person; I have signed these with my hand, and
affixed on them my seal at Stems (?), the 18th day of November, 1656,
“WORCESTER.”
On the 28th of December, 1656, he wrote a short letter to Mr. Secretary
Thurloe. Politicians have generally supposed that it had reference to
some great state secret, which he was bargaining to disclose; while,
how contrary must have been his views is now transparent, from seeing
what really was the one absorbing subject of his daily meditation,
arising out of his arduous endeavours to obtain assistance, and to
carry out the working of his “water-commanding engine.” The letter is
in every sense remarkable and interesting, both from the mistiness that
has for so long a time clouded its meaning, and from the circumstances
under which it was dictated. The Marquis writes:--[F]
“28th of December, 1656.
“RIGHT HONOURABLE,
“I do confess, that the old saying is, that proffered service is not
valued, and in that respect I wonder not to have my endeavours so
little set by. In a word, I am very well pleased to acquiesce, if
his Highness nor your Honour think me not worthy of one quarter of
an hour’s audience; yet I must needs say, that if esteemed of, I am
able to do his Highness more service than any one subject of his three
nations; and though, after a message by Mr. Noell, and a letter of
mine delivered by my own hands to Mr. Owng, and as he told me, by
him to your Honour, I cannot get a time assigned me to wait upon you.
I here send you a true copy of Don Alonzo, his answer to me, and do
assure you, that I have in readiness a person whom you yourself will
confess Don Alonzo cannot except against: so that there only resteth
needful your approbation. When your Honour shall have read this, and
the copies of the Don’s letter, I have entreated and enjoined Mr. Noell
to bring them me back, and in his presence I will burn them, and remain
silent for the future in anything of this nature, but in all things
else, your Honour’s most affectionate friend and humble servant,
“WORCESTER.”[G]
The noble inventor’s proceedings could have been no secret at Court,
surrounded by spies of every description to report all his operations;
and his principal object being one of a large and costly character,
would be better known for its nature than its construction. It would
also become known from the manuscript of his Century, copies of
which seem to have been privately circulated, that his inventions
extended to improvements in fire-arms, cannon, and general naval and
military improvements. Now it is not in the least improbable that some
foreign party or parties communicated with him in reference to some
particular invention, but particularly his much commended novelty of a
“water-commanding engine,” while the Marquis might feel it a delicate
as well as an imprudent act on his part, to make arrangements with
foreigners before he had confided his secret and rendered it available
in his own country. That his object in desiring an interview with
Cromwell, or with his haughty Secretary, bore no political cast,
is next to self-evident, from their perfect indifference to his
communication; while for any political ends, either would have shown
some tokens of regard, and not have left the author of the slightest
thread of interested intelligence craving for a few minutes’ audience.
Besides, we have the inferential evidence that the communication
referred to scientific inventions, rather than to political intrigues,
from the context--“proffered service is not valued, and in that respect
(he says) I wonder not to have my endeavours so little set by.” And
what could those endeavours be, at that particular crisis more than any
other, but the possible requirement of patronage from the Protector,
and probably also the Parliament, before committing himself to
foreigners for that aid which he rightfully considered he would soon
merit from his countrymen. But he still further says, “I am able to do
his Highness more service than any one subject of his three nations.”
Will any one pretend to assume that such language had reference to
political plottings, of which he possessed the secret knowledge to
such an extent of national importance, without being either listened
to, or at once seized and consigned to the dreaded chambers of that
fortress, from which he had been only three years released? Admit that
the language is inflated, it still would be very significant if it
bore at all on the state of public affairs at home or abroad. But its
true significance may be found in its counterpart in the Dedications
appended to the first edition of the “Century,” printed in 1663. The
promise to burn the returned copies of papers, in the presence of Mr.
Noell, would seem merely another way of showing, that, come what might
of the matter, he would break off all negociations with others than
his countrymen. The communication can only be read as alluding to one
subject, and not as introducing anything forced and irrelevant. It
can only be reconciled as being wholly political, or wholly affecting
his special scientific engagements. Besides, had it been otherwise,
it would not have escaped the historian, or some court spy to record
the wonderful discovery of a plot of frightful magnitude, with all
particulars. But no plot ever came to light; and the Marquis never did
Cromwell or the Commonwealth any service beyond anything accomplished
by the humblest citizen. We must, therefore, for ever abandon the
opinion of there being any political character attached to this
supposed mysterious communication.
The Marquis of Worcester’s son and heir, Lord Herbert, married Mary,
Lady Beauchamp, on the 17th of August, 1657. The following certificate
on a small square piece of parchment is preserved among other family
documents at Badminton House:--
“These are to certifie: It being desired by the p’ties concerned,
that, Henry Somerset Lord Herbert and Mary Lady Bochampp, both of the
parish of St. Clements Danes, Middlesex, were Legally married before me
Richard Powell of Clerkenwell, Middle Sq: one of the Justices for the
said County, authorized soe to doe by vertue of an Act of Parliam_{t.}
bearing date the ffower and twentieth day of August 1653. There then
being pre’te Charles Price and Edward Gibbes, dated this Seaven tenth
day of August 1657.
“RICHARD POWELL.”
The Marquis of Worcester’s private affairs were year by year growing
more and more desperate, we continually find him and the Marchioness
petitioning the Parliament for pecuniary assistance out of the
confiscated estates. He seems to have been on friendly terms with
John Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons, from whom we find the
following letter:--[H]
“MY LORD,
“I will ever acknowledge that your Lordship hath dealt most honourably
with me, and with all hearti[ness] I will profess that to all; and
will endeavour to show my thankfulness to your Lordship, and to your
honourable Lady; and do assure you both that, if I may do you any
service to my brother speaker, about your business in Parliament, I
will endeavour my uttermost to act for you. My wife takes your promise
of half a buck exceeding thankfully, and also some great _belles_ here.
We shall all endeavour to make a requital; and I shall ever acknowledge
myself to be
“Your Honour’s most humble Servant,
“JOHN LENTHALL.
“8th July, 1659.
“I have received from your Lordship 20 marks in full of all your
Lordship’s fees, which I hereby acknowledge, and acquit your Lordship
of that and all other demands at this day.
“To the Right Honourable the
LORD MARQUIS OF WORCESTER--these presents.”
His manuscript of his wonderful “Century” had been four years
written, copies passing probably from hand to hand, and himself
urging the great and noble of the land to patronise his efforts. In
the British Museum is the only MS. of the Century extant, having on
the top of its title page the dates “From August ye 29th to Sep. ye
21st, 1659,” which may, however, merely refer to the date of copying,
or to a period granted for lending it. The 88th article alludes to a
_Stamping Engine_, while in the printed edition this is omitted and a
_Brazen Head_ substituted; there are also some slight verbal
differences; only an abbreviated title page; and no dedication.
Among other petitions a rough draft exists of one evidently prepared by
the Marchioness herself; whether sent or not cannot now be ascertained,
but of its authenticity as a family record of distress there can be no
doubt whatever. It is so negligently and imperfectly written, that an
entire copy cannot be advantageously given. It runs thus:--[I]
“Master Speaker, I beseech you not to stand so much upon an order of
the House as to forget God Almighty’s precepts, to do as you would be
done by. Most of the honourable House I conceive have wives, and if
any of you would be contented his wife should suffer as I do, then
let me still endure; if otherwise, be pleased to consider me, if not
according to my sex or quality”--yet, “in consideration of seven years
attendance, and millions of court sueings, and my heart almost broken
with supplications and vain promises to them, and at last instead
of many thousand pounds,” out of the estates, “all now ending in a
ruined house, and that but for an uncertain time, not for my own life,
rather but this poor pittance for his life, who is near three score.”
She also seems to allude to fever, and the breaking up of his health,
concluding, “I, therefore, most humbly seek this honourable House to
make an end of it.”
We find the Marquis with noble perseverance contending against every
difficulty, evincing an elasticity of mind that cannot but excite
surprise.
Writing to the Earl of Lotherdale,[J] he says:--
“MY THRICE HONOURABLE LORD,
“The two predominant powers which reign over my soul, and do chiefly
guide and govern my actions, are love and gratitude; the one begotten
in me towards your Lordship by the knowledge I had in the Tower of
the virtues and excellent parts, the other by a certain and most true
information of some passages vouchsafed by your Lordship in your
servant’s behalf, and even in his absence yesterday, before his Majesty
at Hampton Court. The particulars I set not down, because (?) they
seemed so obliging to me as that Colonel Charles Groger, telling them
me but at nine of the clock this night, yet I could not defer till
morning this most humble acknowledgment; but before I go to rest, as
a little token of great thankfulness, I promise your Lordship a box,
with such conveniences and rarities as that which you saw had, and
though it were presumptuous in me to say, I would give a subject a
better qualified present than I gave my Sovereign; yet the King must
pardon an humour I have, never to be contented to produce any invention
the second time without appearing refined; this doth not also content
me, but I do likewise engage myself that as soon as with security and
satisfaction, by Act of Parliament, I may put in practice the greatest
gift of invention for profit that I ever yet heard of vouchsafed
to a man, especially so unworthy and ignorant as I am (I mean my
water-commanding engine). I offer to your Lordship’s disposal the
accruing benefit of five hundred pounds; and that your Lordship may not
think it improbable to rise thence, I beseech you to vouchsafe to read
over, but to keep it to yourself, this enclosed, which shall be made
good to a tittle by me,
“My Lord,
“Your Lordship’s most really affectionate
“and ever obliged servant,
“WORCESTER.
“Saturday night, 26th of January, 1660, be therefore pleased to
pardon the scribbling, and regard but my real meaning. For the RIGHT
HON. THE EARL OF LOTHERDALE, &c. these.”
(_Copy of the enclosure._)
“The name and the truly significant definition of a most admirable and
most stupendous invention, through the providential dispensation of the
Almighty God’s infinite mercy and goodness, found out, and perfected
by the sole expenses, ingenuity, knowledge, and mathematical insight
of the Right Hon. Edward Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, and by his
Lordship deservedly termed, and pithily defined to be--
“An Imperial, or a Water-commanding Engine, boundless for height and
quantity, and requiring no external, nor even additional help, or force
to be set, or continued in motion, but what intrinsically is afforded
from its own operation, nor yet the twentieth part thereof, and the
engine consisteth of these following particulars:--
“1. A perfect counterpoise for what quantity of water soever.
“2. A perfect countervail for what height soever it is to be brought
unto.
“3. A primum mobile, commanding both height and quantity,
regulator-wise.
“4. A vice-gerent, or countervail, supplying the place, and performing
the full force of man, wind, beast, or mill.
“5. A holme, or stern, with bit and reins, wherewith any child may
guide, order, and control the whole operation.
“6. A particular magazine for water, according to the intended height
and quantity.
“7. An aqueduct, capable of any intended quantity, or height of water.
“8. A place for the original fountain, or even river, to run into,
and naturally of its own accord to incorporate itself with the rising
water, and at the very bottom of the same aqueduct, though never so big
or high.”
This communication affords the earliest distinct reference to the
Water-commanding Engine, and renders it reasonable to suppose that
similar written copies of the “Definition” were in circulation at the
same period, if not earlier.
The letter itself is peculiarly interesting for the insight it gives
us into a distinguishing trait in his mental constitution, when
he observes:--“a humour I have, never to be contented to produce
any invention the _second_ time _without appearing refined_.” He
seems to have had no idea of cessation in invention. It was in this
self-same spirit that he dedicated his “Century” to the Houses
of Parliament:--“The more you shall be pleased to make use of my
inventions, the more inventive shall you ever find me, one invention
begetting still another.”
It is rather remarkable that, with this exception, his inventions are
never named either in his own or his family’s correspondence; indeed
the latter may have considered the circumstance as more marking his
misfortune, than calculated to bring him enduring fame.
The death of Cromwell, the short reign of his son, and the proclamation
of Charles the Second on the 8th of May, 1660, followed by his
triumphal entry into the metropolis on his birth-day, the 29th of
the same month, must have had their influence on the Marquis in his
most distressing condition. He was, no doubt, one among the privileged
to congratulate his Majesty in private, at Whitehall, while bonfires
blazed, fireworks glared, and cannon roared; what conflicting emotions
must have revelled in his own breast, broken down as he was by
disasters on every hand, which through more than thirteen years he had
borne with magnanimous fortitude.
His son, Lord Herbert, resided at Badminton House, Gloucestershire, but
being in London, on his way to Dover, after the proclamation, he wrote
to his wife, as follows:--[K]
“MY DEAR HEART,
“We have this night received our instructions, and to-morrow begin
our journey towards the King, whom we are commanded to acquaint with
what great joy and acclamation he was here proclaimed; and to let him
know that the Parliament hath enjoined all ministers in England and
Ireland to pray for him, the Duke of York, and the rest of the Royal
progeny; and ordered that the Arms of the Commonwealth, wherever they
are standing, be taken down, and that his Majesty’s be set in the
place. We are further to beseech his Majesty to return with speed to
his dominions and government; and finally, to acquaint him that the
Parliament hath given order to the Admiral to obey his commands with
the navy, and to desire that he will please to signify to us when and
where he will land, and whether he will come from Dover by land, or to
London by water; where lodged, and how his pleasure is to be received.
“I hope we shall soon return with him we go for, and so have nothing
wanting for my particular satisfaction (as when he is here, there will
not be to the general). I desire you would begin and come this way some
time next week, that I may find you here at my return, in order to
which I have given order that lodgings, such as can be found, be taken,
where you may be till you can choose yourself a house to your mind, for
I cannot be anywhere with my contentment without you,
“Your most affectionate husband,
“HERBERT.
“London, the 9th of May.”
Charles the Second had not been many days on the throne, when the
Marquis of Worcester wrote a long letter to Lord Clarendon,[* 26]
explanatory of his instructions from his late Majesty, and the powers
he granted to him to negotiate with the Irish Roman Catholics. It
very fully and lucidly explains the whole of that affair, showing how
completely he was in the King’s confidence; and it was, no doubt,
written to answer all doubts that his Lordship might entertain. It
bears internal evidence of coming from a strictly conscientious
character, and its truthfulness has never been disproved.
“The Marquis of Worcester (late Earl of Glamorgan), to the Earl of
Clarendon.
“MY LORD CHANCELLOR,
“For his Majesty’s better information, through your favour, and by
the channel of your Lordship’s understanding things rightly, give me
leave to acquaint you with one chief key, wherewith to open the secret
passages between his late Majesty and myself, in order to his service;
which was no other than a real exposing of myself to any expense or
difficulty, rather than his just design should not take place; or,
in taking effect, that his honour should suffer. An effect, you may
justly say, relishing more of a passionate and blind affection to his
Majesty’s service, than of discretion and care of myself. This made
me take a resolution that he should have seemed angry with me at my
return out of Ireland, until I had brought him into a posture and power
to own his commands, to make good his instructions, and to reward my
faithfulness and zeal therein.
“Your Lordship may well wonder, and the King too, at the amplitude
of my commission. But when you have understood the height of his
Majesty’s design you will soon be satisfied that nothing less could
have made me capable to effect it; being that one army of ten thousand
men was to have come out of Ireland through North Wales; another, of
a like number at least, under my command-in-chief, have expected my
return in South Wales, which Sir Henry Gage was to have commanded as
Lieutenant-General; and a third should have consisted of a matter of
six thousand men, two thousand of which were to have been Liegois,
commanded by Sir Francis Edmonds, two thousand Lorrainers to have been
commanded by Colonel Browne, and two thousand of such English, French,
Scots, and Irish as could be drawn out of Flanders and Holland. And the
six thousand were to have been, by the Prince of Orange’s assistance,
in the associated counties; and the Governor of Lyne, cousin-german to
Major Bacon, major of my own regiment, was to have delivered the town
unto them.
“The maintenance of this army of foreigners was to have come from
the Pope and such Catholic Princes as he should draw into it, having
engaged to afford and procure £30,000 a month; out of which the foreign
army was first to be provided for; and the remainder to be divided
among other armies. And for this purpose had I power to treat with
the Pope and Catholic Princes, with particular advantages promised
to Catholics, for the quiet enjoying their religion, without the
penalties which the statutes in force had power to inflict upon them.
And my instructions for this purpose, and my powers to conclude and
treat thereupon, were signed by the King under his pocket signet,
with blanks for me to put in the names of Pope or Princes, to the end
the King might have a starting hole to deny the having given me such
commissions, if excepted against by his own subjects; leaving me as it
were at stake, who for his Majesty’s sake was willing to undergo it,
trusting to his word alone.
“In like manner did I not stick upon having this Commission inrolled or
assented unto by his Council, nor indeed the seal to be put upon it in
an ordinary manner, but as Mr. Endymion Porter[L] and I could perform
it, with rollers and no screw-press.
“One thing I beseech your Lordship to observe, that though I had power
by it to erect a mint any where, and to dispose of his Majesty’s
revenues and delinquents’ estates, yet I never did either to the value
of a farthing, notwithstanding my own necessities, acknowledging that
the intention of those powers given me, was to make use of them when
the armies should be afoot; which design being broken by my commitment
in Ireland, I made no use of those powers; and consequently, repaying
now whatever was disbursed by any for patents of honour, as now I am
contented to do, it will evidently appear that nothing hath stuck to my
fingers, in order to benefit or self-interest; which I humbly submit
to his Majesty’s princely consideration, and the management of my
concerns therein to your Lordship’s grave judgment, and to the care of
me, which your Lordship was pleased to own was recommended unto you
by the late King, my most gracious Master, of glorious memory: And the
continuance thereof is most humbly implored and begged by me, who am
really and freely at your Lordship’s disposal, first, in order to his
Majesty’s service, and next to the approving myself,
“My Lord,
“Your Lordship’s most really affectionate,
“and most humble servant,
“WORCESTER.
“June, 11th, 1660.”
Within a fortnight after writing this letter, no doubt encouraged by
the Lord Chancellor’s reception of it, he petitioned the Crown as
follows:--[M]
“TO HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, &c.
“The most humble petition of Edward Somerset, Earl and Marquis of
Worcester, &c.
“Sheweth,--That your Petitioner’s father and himself, having in ready
money expended incomparably more for the service of the Crown than any
subject of England, for which your Petitioner is possessed of sundry
promises of extraordinary reward and satisfaction, as well under
the Great Seal of England, as likewise voluntarily under his late
Majesty the King, your Majesty’s father of blessed memory, his own
handwriting and private signet set down in a most gracious ample and
kind manner, it being all that in those necessitous times his Majesty,
your Petitioner’s most graciously obliging master, could afford or be
rationally demanded from him, yet in these perhaps may not be so fit
to be ratified, lest they should draw upon your Petitioner the envy of
others, and prove prejudicial to your Majesty.
“Your Petitioner, therefore, most willingly layeth all these grants
and promises to his father, or to your Majesty’s Petitioner made (as
far as they concern himself) at your Majesty’s feet, without any
the least capitulation, expecting no more in his own behalf for his
loyalty therein than that your Majesty will be graciously pleased (in
consideration of his dutiful zeal thereby manifested) effectually and
through your Majesty’s innate and transcending goodness, feelingly
to recommend to your Majesty’s most dutiful Houses of Parliament
the speedy re-investing of your Petitioner in his due and proper
estate, according unto the laws of the land, and so by your Majesty’s
most gracious assistance, this his Petition of right (as he humbly
conceives) shall be by your Petitioner most really acknowledged as a
grant of favour and remunerating grace from your sacred Majesty.
“And he shall ever pray,” &c.
The Marquis, in November, 1660, signed what appears to be a circular
note to certain of his creditors, of which the following is one
written in an official hand, but concludes, “Your most humble servant,
Worcester,” in his own handwriting:--
“MADAME,
“Those Commissioners whom I have appoynted to take care of my
affayres are now enquiringe into ye state of my debts, and I have
given directions to the bearer to wayte upon you and receive your
propositions about what is due unto you from him who is,
“Madame, Your most humble servant,
“WORCESTER.
“November 22, 1660.”
Mr. Secretary Nicholas, writing to Sir Henry Bennet, 3rd of January,
1660, states: “The King joins the Queen and Princess at Guildford,
and in two days they go to Portsmouth. On New Year’s day, the ceremony
of christening the young Earl of Cambridge--for this is to be his
title--was performed at Worcester House; the King and Duke of Albemarle
godfathers; the Queen and Marchioness of Ormond godmothers. The Duke
and his Duchess then came to Court, and the Queen received them very
affectionately. The Coronation is deferred to St. George’s day.”[N]
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough,[79] in his ecclesiastical and civil
register and chronicle of the period, records the following particulars
in reference to the order of proceedings at the Coronation of Charles
the Second, April the 23rd, 1661: “The Marquis of Dorchester, the
Marquis of Worcester, in their robes, with their coronets in their
hands.”
Then as to the homage paid by the nobles; after the oath given by the
Archbishop of Canterbury; and other Bishops, saluting the King; among
others came up the Marquises of Worcester and Dorchester.
That even at the Restoration the Marquis’s religion presented some
obstacles to his progress may be inferred from the resolution of
the House of Lords, that the indulgence to be granted to the Roman
Catholics should not be extended to the Jesuits. Whereupon that Society
drew up a paper, entitled, “Reasons why the Jesuits hope that they
should partake of the favours shown to other priests, in taking away
the sanguinary laws.” And it is noticed that, “As for noble persons
who lost great estates, and endured much hardship for his Majesty, the
late Duchess of Buckingham, the late Marquis of Worcester,[O] and the
late Earl of Shrewsbury were Penitents of the Society, as other prime
nobility yet in being.”[79]
For some reason or other it now became the son’s lot to be committed
to the Tower, of which, however, he makes very light, as will be seen
by his letter to his Lady announcing his position; which, however, has
no other immediate interest than as making us acquainted with the last
occurrence of the kind affecting this noble family. He writes:--[P]
“MY DEAR,
“I have now sent according to your desire to let you know of my being
safely arrived at London. I was last night examined, and am now in the
Tower. I have already so well satisfied you of my innocence that I am
sure my being lodged here cannot fright you, neither can I imagine my
restraint should be long, for I think I only owe it to my Lordship. I
desire you would not resolve upon your journey hither till you hear
further from me, for I hope yet you may lie in, in the country, and not
have the trouble of any journey to bring us together. If these hopes
fail me, and that I see myself like to continue longer than I can yet
fancy, I will let you know it, and send the coach down for your women,
and (if you think fit) your children to come up in; to whom in the
meantime I send my blessing, and remain
“Your most affectionate husband,
“HERBERT.
“Aug. the 20th.
“For my dear wife the Lady Herbert.”
It does not fall within our province to enter particularly into any
circumstances relating to Lord Herbert, but it may not be out of place
to mention here that, he was then about 23 years of age, and had not
long been constituted Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire.
Footnotes
[57] Jo. H. C. Vol. vi. p. 165.
[58] Kennet.
[A] Brit. Mus. Cole MSS. Vol. xxxiii. p. 37.
[23] Carlyle.
[6] Bayley.
[57] Jo. H. C. Vol. vii. pp. 309, 373.
[22] Burton.
[B] Appendix F.
[14] Boyle, Vol. v. p. 264.
[C] Robert Cole, Esq. had the original receipt lithographed in
facsimile.
[D] See Appendix E.
[98] Walpole. Mr. Bliss’ states that he discovered the MS. among the
papers of Wm. Wilcox of St. John’s College, Oxford.
[E] From MS. collection of the late Dawson Turner, Esq., of Yarmouth.
[F] Bod. Lib. “Thurloe’s Papers, Vol. xlv.”--“Rawl. MS. A. 45.”
[G] This letter is dated 28th of December, but might be mistaken for
18th. See Thurloe’s Papers.
[H] From MSS. Badminton.
[I] Brit. Mus. Harleian MS. No. 2428.
[J] From MS. collection of the late Dawson Turner, Esq. of Yarmouth.
[K] From MSS. Badminton.
[* 26] Clarendon, Vol. ii. p. 201.
[L] One of the King’s attendants, who had formerly accompanied him to
Spain. Clayton’s Charles II. Vol. i. p. 136. 1859.
[M] Cal. of State Papers, Dom. Series, 1660–61. Edited by Mrs. M. A.
E. Green, 8vo. 1860.
[N] Cal. State Papers, Dom. Series, Charles II. 1660–1661,
Vol. xxviii. p. 466.
[79] Peterborough.
[O] Henry Somerset.
[P] From MSS. Badminton.