successor, is, that when the King's life was wholly despaired of,
and it was time to prepare for another world, two Bishops came to do
their function, who reading the prayers appointed in the Common
Prayer Book on that occasion, when they came to the place where
usually they exhort a sick person to make a confession of his sins,
the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who was one of them, advertised him,
IT WAS NOT OF OBLIGATION; and after a short exhortation, asked him
if he was sorry for his sins? which the King saying he was, the
Bishop pronounced the absolution, and then, asked him if he pleased
to receive the Sacrament? to which the King made no reply; and being
pressed by the Bishop several times, gave no other answer but that
it was time enough, or that he would think of it.
King James adds, that he stood all the while by the bedside, and
seeing the King would not receive the Sacrament from them, and
knowing his sentiments, he desired the company to stand a little
from the bed, and then asked the King whether he should send for a
priest, to which the King replied: "For God's sake, brother, do, and
lose no time." The Duke said he would bring one to him; but none
could be found except Father Huddleston, who had been so assistant
in the King's escape from Worcester; he was brought up a back
staircase, and the company were desired to withdraw, but he (the
Duke of York) not thinking fit that he should be left alone with the
King, desired the Earl of Bath, a Lord of the Bedchamber, and the
Earl of Feversham, Captain of the Guard, should stay; the rest being
gone, Father Huddleston was introduced, and administered the
Sacrament.--"Life of James II."]
Thus died King Charles II., of a vigorous and robust constitution, and
in all appearance promising a long life. He was a prince of many
virtues, and many great imperfections; debonair, easy of access, not
bloody nor cruel; his countenance fierce, his voice great, proper of
person, every motion became him; a lover of the sea, and skillful in
shipping; not affecting other studies, yet he had a laboratory, and knew
of many empirical medicines, and the easier mechanical mathematics; he
loved planting and building, and brought in a politer way of living,
which passed to luxury and intolerable expense. He had a particular
talent in telling a story, and facetious passages, of which he had
innumerable; this made some buffoons and vicious wretches too
presumptuous and familiar, not worthy the favor they abused. He took
delight in having a number of little spaniels follow him and lie in his
bedchamber, where he often suffered the bitches to puppy and give suck,
which rendered it very offensive, and indeed made the whole court nasty
and stinking. He would doubtless have been an excellent prince, had he
been less addicted to women, who made him uneasy, and always in want to
supply their immeasurable profusion, to the detriment of many indigent
persons who had signally served both him and his father. He frequently
and easily changed favorites to his great prejudice.
As to other public transactions, and unhappy miscarriages, 'tis not
here I intend to number them; but certainly never had King more glorious
opportunities to have made himself, his people, and all Europe happy,
and prevented innumerable mischiefs, had not his too easy nature
resigned him to be managed by crafty men, and some abandoned and profane
wretches who corrupted his otherwise sufficient parts, disciplined as he
had been by many afflictions during his banishment, which gave him much
experience and knowledge of men and things; but those wicked creatures
took him from off all application becoming so great a King. The history
of his reign will certainly be the most wonderful for the variety of
matter and accidents, above any extant in former ages: the sad tragical
death of his father, his banishment and hardships, his miraculous
restoration, conspiracies against him, parliaments, wars, plagues,
fires, comets, revolutions abroad happening in his time, with a thousand
other particulars. He was ever kind to me, and very gracious upon all
occasions, and therefore I cannot without ingratitude but deplore his
loss, which for many respects, as well as duty, I do with all my soul.
His Majesty being dead, the Duke, now King James II., went immediately
to Council, and before entering into any business, passionately
declaring his sorrow, told their Lordships, that since the succession
had fallen to him, he would endeavor to follow the example of his
predecessor in his clemency and tenderness to his people; that, however
he had been misrepresented as affecting arbitrary power, they should
find the contrary; for that the laws of England had made the King as
great a monarch as he could desire; that he would endeavor to maintain
the Government both in Church and State, as by law established, its
principles being so firm for monarchy, and the members of it showing
themselves so good and loyal subjects;[56] and that, as he would never
depart from the just rights and prerogatives of the Crown, so he would
never invade any man's property; but as he had often adventured his life
in defense of the nation, so he would still proceed, and preserve it in
all its lawful rights and liberties.
[Footnote 56: This is the substance (and very nearly the words
employed) of what is stated by King James II. in the MS. printed in
his life; but in that MS. are some words which Evelyn has omitted.
For example, after speaking of the members of the Church of England
as good and loyal subjects, the King adds, "AND THEREFORE I SHALL
ALWAYS TAKE CARE TO DEFEND AND SUPPORT IT." James then goes on to
say, that being desired by some present to allow copies to be taken,
he said he had not committed it to writing; on which Mr. Finch (then
Solicitor-General and afterward Earl of Aylesford) replied, that
what his Majesty had said had made so deep an impression on him,
that he believed he could repeat the very words, and if his Majesty
would permit him, he would write them down, which the King agreeing
to, he went to a table and wrote them down, and this being shown to
the King, he approved of it, and it was immediately published. The
King afterward proceeds to say: "No one can wonder that Mr. Finch
should word the speech as strong as he could in favor of the
Established Religion, nor that the King in such a hurry should pass
it over without reflection; for though his Majesty intended to
promise both security to their religion and protection to their
persons, he was afterward convinced it had been better expressed by
assuring them he never would endeavor to alter the Established
Religion, than that he would endeavor to preserve it, and that he
would rather support and defend the professors of it, than the
religion itself; they could not expect he should make a conscience
of supporting what in his conscience he thought erroneous: his
engaging not to molest the professors of it, nor to deprive them or
their successors of any spiritual dignity, revenue, or employment,
but to suffer the ecclesiastical affairs to go on in the track they
were in, was all they could wish or desire from a Prince of a
different persuasion; but having once approved that way of
expressing it which Mr. Finch had made choice of, he thought it
necessary not to vary from it in the declarations or speeches he
made afterward, not doubting but the world would understand it in
the meaning he intended.----'Tis true, afterward IT WAS pretended
he kept not up to this engagement; but had they deviated no further
from the duty and allegience which both nature and repeated oath
obliged them to, THAN HE DID FROM HIS WORD, they had still remained
as happy a people as they really were during his short reign in
England."--"Life of James II.," ii. 435. The words printed in small
caps in this extract are from the interlineations of the son of King
James II.]
This being the substance of what he said, the Lords desired it might be
published, as containing matter of great satisfaction to a jealous
people upon this change, which his Majesty consented to. Then were the
Council sworn, and a Proclamation ordered to be published that all
officers should continue in their stations, that there might be no
failure of public justice, till his further pleasure should be known.
Then the King rose, the Lords accompanying him to his bedchamber, where,
while he reposed himself, tired indeed as he was with grief and
watching, they returned again into the Council chamber to take order for
the PROCLAIMING his Majesty, which (after some debate) they consented
should be in the very form his grandfather, King James I., was, after
the death of Queen Elizabeth; as likewise that the Lords, etc., should
proceed in their coaches through the city for the more solemnity of it.
Upon this was I, and several other gentlemen waiting in the Privy
gallery, admitted into the Council chamber to be witness of what was
resolved on. Thence with the Lords, Lord Marshal and Heralds, and other
Crown officers being ready, we first went to Whitehall gate, where the
Lords stood on foot bareheaded, while the Herald proclaimed his
Majesty's title to the Imperial Crown and succession according to the
form, the trumpets and kettledrums having first sounded three times,
which ended with the people's acclamations. Then a herald called the
Lords' coaches according to rank, myself accompanying the solemnity in
my Lord Cornwallis's coach, first to Temple Bar, where the Lord Mayor
and his brethren met us on horseback, in all their formalities, and
proclaimed the King; hence to the Exchange in Cornhill, and so we
returned in the order we set forth. Being come to Whitehall, we all went
and kissed the King and Queen's hands. He had been on the bed, but was
now risen and in his undress. The Queen was in bed in her apartment, but
put forth her hand, seeming to be much afflicted, as I believe she was,
having deported herself so decently upon all occasions since she came
into England, which made her universally beloved.
Thus concluded this sad and not joyful day.
I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and profaneness, gaming, and
all dissoluteness, and as it were total forgetfulness of God (it being
Sunday evening), which this day se'nnight I was witness of, the King
sitting and toying with his concubines, Portsmouth, Cleveland, and
Mazarin, etc., a French boy singing love songs[57] in that glorious
gallery, while about twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute
persons were at Basset round a large table, a bank of at least 2,000 in
gold before them; upon which two gentlemen, who were with me, made
reflections with astonishment. Six days after, was all in the dust.
[Footnote 57: _Ante_, p. 204.]
It was enjoined that those who put on mourning should wear it as for a
father, in the most solemn manner.
10th February, 1685. Being sent to by the Sheriff of the County to
appear and assist in proclaiming the King, I went the next day to
Bromley, where I met the Sheriff and the Commander of the Kentish Troop,
with an appearance, I suppose, of about 500 horse, and innumerable
people, two of his Majesty's trumpets, and a Sergeant with other
officers, who having drawn up the horse in a large field near the town,
marched thence, with swords drawn, to the market place, where, making a
ring, after sound of trumpets and silence made, the High Sheriff read
the proclaiming titles to his bailiff, who repeated them aloud, and
then, after many shouts of the people, his Majesty's health being drunk
in a flint glass of a yard long, by the Sheriff, Commander, Officers,
and chief gentlemen, they all dispersed, and I returned.
13th February, 1685. I passed a fine on selling of Honson Grange in
Staffordshire, being about £20 per annum, which lying so great a
distance, I thought fit to part with it to one Burton, a farmer there.
It came to me as part of my daughter-in-law's portion, this being but a
fourth part of what was divided between the mother and three sisters.
14th February, 1685. The King was this night very obscurely buried in a
vault under Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster, without any manner of
pomp, and soon forgotten after all this vanity, and the face of the
whole Court was exceedingly changed into a more solemn and moral
behavior; the new King affecting neither profaneness nor buffoonery. All
the great officers broke their staves over the grave, according to form.
15th February, 1685. Dr. Tenison preached to the household. The second
sermon should have been before the King; but he, to the great grief of
his subjects, did now, for the first time, go to mass publicly in the
little Oratory at the Duke's lodgings, the doors being set wide open.
16th February, 1685. I dined at Sir Robert Howard's, auditor of the
exchequer, a gentleman pretending to all manner of arts and sciences,
for which he had been the subject of comedy, under the name of Sir
Positive; not ill-natured, but insufferably boasting. He was son to the
late Earl of Berkshire.
17th February, 1685. This morning his Majesty restored the staff and key
to Lord Arlington, Chamberlain; to Mr. Savell, Vice-chamberlain; to
Lords Newport and Maynard, Treasurer and Comptroller of the household.
Lord Godolphin made Chamberlain to the Queen; Lord Peterborough groom of
the stole, in place of the Earl of Bath; the Treasurer's staff to the
Earl of Rochester; and his brother, the Earl of Clarendon, Lord Privy
Seal, in the place of the Marquis of Halifax, who was made President of
the Council; the Secretaries of State remaining as before.
19th February, 1685. The Lord Treasurer and the other new officers were
sworn at the Chancery Bar and the exchequer.
The late King having the revenue of excise, customs, and other late
duties granted for his life only, they were now farmed and let to
several persons, upon an opinion that the late King might let them for
three years after his decease; some of the old commissioners refused to
act. The lease was made but the day before the King died;[58] the major
part of the Judges (but, as some think, not the best lawyers),
pronounced it legal, but four dissented.
[Footnote 58: James, in his Life, makes no mention of this lease,
but only says HE continued to collect them, which conduct was not
blamed; but, on the contrary, he was thanked for it, in an address
from the Middle Temple, penned by Sir Bartholomew Shore, and
presented by Sir Humphrey Mackworth, carrying great authority with
it; nor did the Parliament find fault.]
The clerk of the closet had shut up the late King's private oratory next
the Privy-chamber above, but the King caused it to be opened again, and
that prayers should be said as formerly.
22d February, 1685. Several most useful tracts against Dissenters,
Papists and Fanatics, and resolutions of cases were now published by the
London divines.
[Sidenote: LONDON]
4th March, 1685. ASH WEDNESDAY. After evening prayers, I went to London.
5th March, 1685. To my grief, I saw the new pulpit set up in the Popish
Oratory at Whitehall for the Lent preaching, mass being publicly said,
and the Romanists swarming at Court with greater confidence than had
ever been seen in England since the Reformation, so that everybody grew
jealous as to what this would tend.
A Parliament was now summoned, and great industry used to obtain
elections which might promote the Court interest, most of the
corporations being now, by their new charters, empowered to make what
returns of members they pleased.
There came over divers envoys and great persons to condole the death of
the late King, who were received by the Queen-Dowager on a bed of
mourning, the whole chamber, ceiling and floor, hung with black, and
tapers were lighted, so as nothing could be more lugubrious and solemn.
The Queen-Consort sat under a state on a black foot-cloth, to entertain
the circle (as the Queen used to do), and that very decently.
6th March, 1685. Lent preachers continued as formerly in the Royal
Chapel.
7th March, 1685. My daughter, Mary, was taken with smallpox, and there
soon was found no hope of her recovery. A great affliction to me: but
God's holy will be done!
10th March, 1685. She received the blessed sacrament; after which,
disposing herself to suffer what God should determine to inflict, she
bore the remainder of her sickness with extraordinary patience and
piety, and more than ordinary resignation and blessed frame of mind. She
died the 14th, to our unspeakable sorrow and affliction, and not to
our's only, but that of all who knew her, who were many of the best
quality, greatest and most virtuous persons. The justness of her
stature, person, comeliness of countenance, gracefulness of motion,
unaffected, though more than ordinarily beautiful, were the least of her
ornaments compared with those of her mind. Of early piety, singularly
religious, spending a part of every day in private devotion, reading,
and other virtuous exercises; she had collected and written out many of
the most useful and judicious periods of the books she read in a kind of
common-place, as out of Dr. Hammond on the New Testament, and most of
the best practical treatises. She had read and digested a considerable
deal of history, and of places. The French tongue was as familiar to her
as English; she understood Italian, and was able to render a laudable
account of what she read and observed, to which assisted a most faithful
memory and discernment; and she did make very prudent and discreet
reflections upon what she had observed of the conversations among which
she had at any time been, which being continually of persons of the best
quality, she thereby improved. She had an excellent voice, to which she
played a thorough-bass on the harpsichord, in both which she arrived to
that perfection, that of the scholars of those two famous masters,
Signors Pietro and Bartholomeo, she was esteemed the best; for the
sweetness of her voice and management of it added such an agreeableness
to her countenance, without any constraint or concern, that when she
sung, it was as charming to the eye as to the ear; this I rather note,
because it was a universal remark, and for which so many noble and
judicious persons in music desired to hear her, the last being at Lord
Arundel's, at Wardour.
What shall I say, or rather not say, of the cheerfulness and
agreeableness of her humor? condescending to the meanest servant in the
family, or others, she still kept up respect, without the least pride.
She would often read to them, examine, instruct, and pray with them if
they were sick, so as she was exceedingly beloved of everybody. Piety
was so prevalent an ingredient in her constitution (as I may say), that
even among equals and superiors she no sooner became intimately
acquainted, but she would endeavor to improve them, by insinuating
something religious, and that tended to bring them to a love of
devotion; she had one or two confidants with whom she used to pass whole
days in fasting, reading, and prayers, especially before the monthly
communion, and other solemn occasions. She abhorred flattery, and,
though she had abundance of wit, the raillery was so innocent and
ingenious that it was most agreeable; she sometimes would see a play,
but since the stage grew licentious, expressed herself weary of them,
and the time spent at the theater was an unaccountable vanity. She never
played at cards without extreme importunity and for the company; but
this was so very seldom, that I cannot number it among anything she
could name a fault.
No one could read prose or verse better or with more judgment; and as
she read, so she wrote, not only most correct orthography, with that
maturity of judgment and exactness of the periods, choice of
expressions, and familiarity of style, that some letters of hers have
astonished me and others, to whom she has occasionally written. She had
a talent of rehearsing any comical part or poem, as to them she might be
decently free with; was more pleasing than heard on the theater; she
danced with the greatest grace I had ever seen, and so would her master
say, who was Monsieur Isaac; but she seldom showed that perfection, save
in the gracefulness of her carriage, which was with an air of sprightly
modesty not easily to be described. Nothing affected, but natural and
easy as well in her deportment as in her discourse, which was always
material, not trifling, and to which the extraordinary sweetness of her
tone, even in familiar speaking, was very charming. Nothing was so
pretty as her descending to play with little children, whom she would
caress and humor with great delight. But she most affected to be with
grave and sober men, of whom she might learn something, and improve
herself. I have been assisted by her in reading and praying by me;
comprehensive of uncommon notions, curious of knowing everything to some
excess, had I not sometimes repressed it.
Nothing was so delightful to her as to go into my Study, where she would
willingly have spent whole days, for as I said she had read abundance of
history, and all the best poets, even Terence, Plautus, Homer, Virgil,
Horace, Ovid; all the best romancers and modern poems; she could compose
happily and put in pretty symbols, as in the "_Mundus Muliebris_,"
wherein is an enumeration of the immense variety of the modes and
ornaments belonging to the sex. But all these are vain trifles to the
virtues which adorned her soul; she was sincerely religious, most
dutiful to her parents, whom she loved with an affection tempered with
great esteem, so as we were easy and free, and never were so well
pleased as when she was with us, nor needed we other conversation; she
was kind to her sisters, and was still improving them by her constant
course of piety. Oh, dear, sweet, and desirable child, how shall I part
with all this goodness and virtue without the bitterness of sorrow and
reluctancy of a tender parent! Thy affection, duty and love to me was
that of a friend as well as a child. Nor less dear to thy mother, whose
example and tender care of thee was unparalleled, nor was thy return to
her less conspicuous. Oh! how she mourns thy loss! how desolate hast
thou left us! To the grave shall we both carry thy memory! God alone (in
whose bosom thou art at rest and happy!) give us to resign thee and all
our contentments (for thou indeed wert all in this world) to his blessed
pleasure! Let him be glorified by our submission, and give us grace to
bless him for the graces he implanted in thee, thy virtuous life, pious
and holy death, which is indeed the only comfort of our souls, hastening
through the infinite love and mercy of the Lord Jesus to be shortly with
thee, dear child, and with thee and those blessed saints like thee,
glorify the Redeemer of the world to all eternity! Amen.
It was in the 19th year of her age that this sickness happened to her.
An accident contributed to this disease; she had an apprehension of it
in particular, which struck her but two days before she came home, by an
imprudent gentlewoman whom she went with Lady Falkland to visit, who,
after they had been a good while in the house, told them she has a
servant sick of the smallpox (who indeed died the next day): this my
poor child acknowledged made an impression on her spirits. There were
four gentlemen of quality offering to treat with me about marriage, and
I freely gave her her own choice, knowing her discretion. She showed
great indifference to marrying at all, for truly, says she to her mother
(the other day), were I assured of your life and my dear father's, never
would I part from you; I love you and this home, where we serve God,
above all things, nor ever shall I be so happy; I know and consider the
vicissitudes of the world, I have some experience of its vanities, and
but for decency more than inclination, and that you judge it expedient
for me, I would not change my condition, but rather add the fortune you
design me to my sisters, and keep up the reputation of our family. This
was so discreetly and sincerely uttered that it could not but proceed
from an extraordinary child, and one who loved her parents beyond
example.