Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

clay, author of Argenis. In history, this period | tioned, whose Church History of Britain, from the was prolific not only of voluminous chroniclers Birth of Jesus Christ until the Year 1648, and his and learned laborious antiquaries, through whom History of the Worthies of England, are still read our knowledge of English history has been com- with profit and delight. pleted, but also of regular historians, at the head of whom may be placed Lord Bacon; Thomas May, the historian of the Long Parliament; Richard Knolles, author of a History of the Turks, which is still a valuable standard authority; and Sir Walter Raleigh, who after having acquired distinction as a scholar, soldier, courtier, navigator, poet, and chemist, sat down in his imprisonment in the Tower to write the History of the World, as if to console himself for being no longer able to explore its still undiscovered regions, or to take a part in its exciting movements.

In passing from England to Scotland during the present period, its condition may be mentioned in a very few words. As yet, the change that was finally to be accomplished upon its character by union, and ultimately by incorporation with England, had not visibly begun to operate; and therefore the manners and customs of the people were still as simple and rude as they had been during the preceding stage. In learning, also, the nation had rather retrograded than advanced, owing to that struggle in defence of its beloved church, by which its whole time and energies were fully occu pied. The distinguished Scottish characters of this period were therefore men of action rather than contemplation; and they are to be found in the public arena where great events were at issue, rather than the closet or the college. From this general criterion, however, two illustrious exceptions occurred in the cases of Drummond of Hawthornden and Napier of Merchiston.

Sir William Drummond was born on the 13th of December, 1585. His family seat of Hawthornden, now a place of pilgrimage to admiring tourists, was a fitting birth-place and home for a poet; while his studies, which were chiefly devo

As the present was a religious age, and as the Civil war partook as much of a religious as a political character, it is in theology, still more than in general science, that the master-spirits of the day are to be found. Next to the stage, therefore-although the transition is a strange oneit is to the pulpit that we must look for the highest manifestations of intellectual excellence during the first part of the seventeenth century. And here the name of Jeremy Taylor at once suggests itself as the Milton of preachers; of Joseph Hall, Bishop of Exeter and Norwich, who was not only a poet, but one of the most eloquent of preachers, and whose vigorous, sententious mode of illustrated to the writings of the great authors of Greece tion obtained for him the title of the "Christian Seneca;" of John Donne, dean of St. Paul's, a poet like Hall, and who, like him, also threw his whole poetical fervour into his ministrations as a teacher of righteousness. With these may be classed John Howe, the learned and eloquent chaplain of Cromwell, and whose sermons, independently of their sound Christian truthfulness, breathe the purest and most elevated spirit of Platonism. As the danger to which the English church was exposed by the growing power of the Puritans became daily more imminent, the necessity called forth learned and able controversialists in its behalf, the chief of whom were Dr. Lancelot Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, and the primitive Archbishop Usher. The same necessity ex-three years after, Ben Jonson resolved to pay a isted of defending the common Protestantism against the attacks of Popery, and in this department of theological controversy John Hales and William Chillingworth are still unrivalled. In ecclesiastical history, Thomas Fuller may be menwas afterwards occupied by Bacon himself on his attaining the dignity of lord-chancellor, and it was here that he was deprived of the great seal on his degradation. York House then passed

into the hands of the crown, and was bestowed by James I. on his favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, who altered it to the form represented in the woodcut. Nothing now remains of the

building but the beautiful water gate on the Thames, one of the finest works of Inigo Jones, at the end of Buckingham Street, and a portion of the old ceiling which is still preserved in a house at the corner of Villiers Street.

and Rome, elevated his taste, and refined his language beyond those of his contemporaries, not merely in Scotland but of England also. His sonnets, especially, were the admiration of the age, on account of their purity of style and melody of versification, so that he has been justly compared to the best of his Italian models. Instead of betaking himself to the profession of the law, for which, like the other jurisconsults of his country, he had studied four years in France, he retired, on the death of his father, to Hawthornden. His reputation as a poet, by the publication of several of his verses, and especially of "A Cypress Grove," which was printed at Edinburgh in 1616, so widely diffused his poetical reputation, that, only two or

visit to their author; and this he accomplished in his own rough bold fashion, by a journey on foot of 400 miles over moor and mountain, and among a people still dreaded as barbarians. The chief poetical works of Drummond were sonnets, madrigals, and religious poems, which, during his lifetime, were printed upon loose sheets, and were not collected until 1650, six years after his death, when they were published in one volume.

The other distinguished Scot of this periodJohn Napier of Merchiston, inventor of the logarithms-has secured for himself a name as imperishable as the invention upon which it is

founded. He was born in 1550, and although | ecclesiastical controversy. Another excellent wriaggrandized with the title of baron, which in ter, as well as accomplished scholar, was Robert England was one of nobility, in Scotland it indi-Baillie, principal of the university of Glasgow, who cated nothing more than a laird, whose ancestors understood thirteen languages, and wrote in Latin had held the power of fossa et furca within their with classical purity. His chief works were Opus own small domain. Little is known of the ear- Historicum et Chronologicum, published in folio at lier part of his life, except that he studied in the Amsterdam, and his Journal and Letters, which university of St. Andrews, and afterwards tra- contain a full and graphic account of Scottish velled on the Continent. On returning to Scot- affairs during the Civil war and the Commonland, his life was so studious and recluse, and his wealth, but which remained unpublished till 1775. evening walks so lonely, that the country people | Among the other distinguished Scottish churcheyed him at a distance, and with fear, as a magi- men of the period, may be mentioned Alexander cian, or at least as something "not canny;" and to Henderson, who, after John Knox and Andrew this he afforded some grounds by the nature of Melvil, is reckoned the third Scottish Reformer, his studies, several of which bordered on the mi- as under his able leading the prelacy imposed upon raculous. The chief of these were the discovery his country by James I. and Charles I. was overof concealed treasures by the divining rod, and the thrown;-and George Gillespie, one of the four invention of a warlike machine for the defence Scottish ministers deputed to attend the Westof Christendom, that would destroy 30,000 Turks minster Assembly of Divines, and whose scholarby a single volley. The same love of the wonder- ship as well as dialectic talent was so complete ful incited him to the study of the future, but in as, in one of the assembly's discussions, to have this he wisely confined himself to the Revelations completely nonplussed the learned Selden himself, of St. John, upon which he published a Commen- although he came fully armed with preparation, tary in 1593. It was not, however, till 1614 that while Gillespie entered booted and spurred from he burst upon the world in his true scientific his journey, and with the purpose of being only character, by the publication of his Book of Lo- a spectator. Equal to any of these was Hugh garithms; and in a short time this useful disco- Binning, whose early proficiency in scholarship very, by which the most laborious and abstruse was so remarkable, that at the age of nineteen calculations were simplified into short easy pro- he stood candidate for the chair of philosophy on cesses, was hailed as one of the most valuable the resignation of Mr. James Dalrymple, afterbenefits that had ever been rendered to science. wards Lord Stair, and gained it against every Still prosecuting these important investigations, competitor. From the university, where he was he published, in 1617, directions for the processes distinguished as one of the first emancipators of of multiplication and division by small graduated philosophy from the pedantry with which it was rods, which, from their inventor, were afterwards overlaid, he entered the church, and became one called "Napier's Bones." In the same year he of its most eloquent divines, and died while as yet died at Merchiston Castle. only in the twenty-sixth year of his age. His works were a treatise on Christian Love, a lesson of which the day was greatly in need, and many miscellaneous tracts and sermons, which have been collected into a large quarto volume. So superior is the style of Binning to that of his contemporaries, that while most of the productions of the latter have fallen out of sight, his sermons are still read with high relish even by the most critical and fastidious.

While the literary and scientific annals of Scotland could thus supply not more than two names of distinguished mark, its ecclesiastical history was scarcely more productive. During the reign of James the church was almost trodden under foot, and in the Civil wars even the best of its divines were employed as political negotiators or military chaplains. In spite of these disadvantages, however, so unfavourable to literary research, and the cultivation of taste and eloquence, this period produced David Calderwood, whose voluminous History of the Kirk of Scotland is a valuable record of Scottish events during the six teenth and seventeenth centuries, while his Altare Damascenum places him in the highest rank of

Such were the few eminent men whom Scotland at this period produced. A twilight had already commenced, and a dark and stormy night was to follow, before the land was fitted for that high intellectual position which she was destined finally to occupy.

BOOK VIII.

PERIOD FROM THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. TO THE

[blocks in formation]

CHAPTER I. CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY.-A.D. 1660-1661.

CHARLES II.-ACCESSION, A.D. 1660-DEATH, A.D. 1685.

Charles II. lands in England-His reception-Choice of his principal counsellors-His exercise of a royal attribute -First proceedings of the Restoration-Selection of regicides for punishment-Revenue assigned to the king -Unsatisfactory settlement of the question of toleration-Usher's scheme of union between Episcopalians and Presbyterians-Its unsatisfactory discussion before the king-Trial of the regicides-Trials of General Harrison, Colonel Carew, and Harry Martin-Trials of William Hewlet, Garland, and Hugh Peters-Execution of General Harrison-Execution of other regicides-Arrival of the queen-mother in England-Marriage of the Duke of York to the daughter of Lord Clarendon-Conformity to the Church of England enjoined-Violation of the graves of regicides, and execution of dead bodies-Venner's insurrection in London, and its suppression -New troops raised-Claims of Scotland on the gratitude of Charles II.-His hatred to the Kirk of Scotland -The Marquis of Argyle entrapped, tried, and executed-Other Scottish executions-Evil government of Scotland by Lauderdale and Middleton-Sharp made Archbishop of St. Andrews-His persecution of the Covenanters-The new or "Pension Parliament"-Its intolerant church measures-Persecution of eminent Commonwealth men-A rigorous conformity bill passed-Marriage of Charles II. to Catherine of BraganzaHe continues his open profligacies- Afflictions of the new queen-She threatens to return to Portugal-Trial of Sir Harry Vane-His defence-His sentence-His conduct on the scaffold, and execution-Assassination of Mr. Lisle at Lausanne.

[graphic]

N the 25th of May, Charles and his two brothers, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, landed near Dover, where Monk met them. The king embraced and kissed his restorer, calling him "Father." On the 29th, which was Charles's birthday, and that on which he completed his thirtieth year, he made his solemn entry into London, attended by the members of both houses, by bishops, ministers, knights of the Bath, lord-mayor and aldermen, kettle-drums and trumpets. All was joy and jubilee. And when Charles met the House of Lords, the Earl of Manchester hailed him as 66 great king," "dread sovereign," "native king," "son of the wise," &c., and prophesied to him that he would prove an example to all kings, of piety, justice,

VOL. II.

prudence, and power. Nor were the commons much behind the lords: their speaker, Sir Harbottle Grimston, told Charles that he was deservedly called the "king of hearts;" that he would receive from his people a crown of hearts; that he could not fail to be the happiest and most glorious king of the happiest people.

The king's principal adviser was, and for some time had been, the Earl of Clarendon-the reforming Edward Hyde of former days; but in the formation of a government or a ministry, Clarendon was obliged to consult the interest of Monk. In Charles's first privy council there were admitted almost as many Presbyterians as Church of England men and Cavaliers; but Clarendon evidently hoped to be able to displace these Presbyterians by degrees. Among the members of this new cabinet were the king's two brothers, the Marquis of Ormond, the Earl of

188

Lindsay, Lord Say and Sele, General Monk, the | Clarendon told them that his majesty would in Earl of Manchester, Mr. Denzil Hollis, and Sir all points make good his declaration from Breda; Antony Ashley Cooper. Monk was continued that he granted a free pardon to all except those captain-general of all the forces of the three whom the parliament might except; and that kingdoms, and he was soon gratified by a long no man should be disquieted for differences of list of titles of nobility, ending in that of Duke of opinion in matters of religion. Albemarle. The Duke of York was made lord high-admiral, lord-warden of the Cinque-ports, &c. The Earl of Southampton became lord hightreasurer; the high-church Marquis of Ormond, lord-steward of the household; and the Presbyterian Earl of Manchester, lord-chamberlain. Lord Clarendon, retaining the chancellorship, was intrusted with the chief management of affairs.

The Presbyterians were startled at the reproduction of the Thirty-nine Articles; but they were gratified by a royal proclamation against vice, debauchery, and profaneness, and by seeing one of the most debauched and profane of princes admit into the number of his chaplains Baxter and Calamy, two eloquent and famous Presbyterian preachers. To keep the lord-mayor, the aldermen, sheriffs, and principal officers of the city militia in good humour and loyalty, the honour of knighthood was showered upon them, and the king went into the city to feast with them. That none of the old attributes of royalty might remain in the shade, his majesty began to touch for the king's evil, sitting under his canopy of state with his surgeons and chaplains, and stroking the faces of all the sick that were brought to him, one of the chaplains saying at each touching -"He put his hands upon them and he healed them." This disgusting and even

blasphemous ceremony --this pretension to

Fifteen days before Charles's joyous entrance into London, the lords had caused the Book of Common Prayer to be read in their house; and at the same time they and the commons had begun to arrest as traitors all such as spoke amiss of his gracious majesty or of kingly government. They had also seized Clement, one of the late king's judges; and had ordered the seizure of the goods of all that sat as judges upon that memorable trial; thus plainly intimating, even before Charles's arrival, that vengeance was to be taken upon the regicides. And now the Presbyterian majority of the commons, led on by the noisy, hot-headed, and vindictive Denzil Hollis, voted that neither they themselves nor the people of England could be freed from the horrid guilt of the late unnatural rebellion, or from the punishment which that guilt merited, unless they

CHARLES II.-After Sir P. Lely.

formally availed them

selves of his majesty's grace and pardon, as set forth in the declaration of Breda; and they went in a body to the Banqueting House, and threw themselves at the feet of Charles, who recommended them to despatch what was called a bill of indemnity and oblivion. Clarendon had all along counted upon punishing with death all such as had been immediately concerned in the death of the late king. Monk, however, when arranging the Restoration, had advised that not more than four should be excepted; and now he stepped in to check the vindictive

[graphic]

an hereditary right of working miracles-greatly | fury of the commons, and prevailed upon them incensed the Puritans.

The lords and commons who, under Monk, had recalled the king, were not properly a parliament, but only a convention Therefore one of the first proceedings after his arrival was to pass an act constituting this convention a parliament. They then voted £70,000 a-month to the king for present necessities. The Chancellor

to limit the number of their victims to sevenScott, Holland, Lisle, Barkstead, Harrison, Say, and Jones-who, it was voted, should lose the benefit of the indemnity both as to life and estate. But the number of seven was presently raised to ten by the addition of Coke, the active solicitor; Broughton, clerk to the High Court of Justice; and Dendy, who had acted as serjeant-at-armis

sea.

[ocr errors]

during the trial. These ten, it was understood, the Earl of Denbigh being known to be a generwere all to suffer a horrible death. But without ous man and a lover of his country."2 After losing time, the commons proceeded to select a this return to the spirit of the execrable lex still larger number that were to suffer the minor talionis of the most barbarous times, the lords penalties of imprisonment for life, loss of pro- voted that all who had signed the death-warrant perty, and beggary to their posterity. They voted against Charles I., or sat when sentence was prothat a petition should be drawn and presented nounced upon him, and six others not in that to the king, begging him to issue a proclama- category-namely, Hacker, Vane, Lambert, Hation commanding all those who had been con- zlerig, Axtell, and Peters--should be excepted, cerned in managing his father's trial, or other- as capital traitors, from the indemnity. They wise forward in promoting his death, to surren- were going on to make the bill more severe, but der themselves within fourteen days. Charles the king was more eager for money than for issued this proclamation accordingly, and nine- revenge, and, after several messages had been teen individuals came in to stand their trial, sent from Whitehall by the Chancellor Clarenhoping that, as ten had been fixed upon already don and others, praying the lords to despatch for execution, their lives, at least, would be the bill, he himself, regardless of the constituspared; while nineteen or twenty, measuring more tional rule, which precluded the sovereign from accurately the vindictiveness of the Cavaliers taking any cognizance of a pending bill, sent and Presbyterians, hid themselves or fled beyond down a positive order to hasten their proceedings, in order that the commons might pass that for the grant of money. Hereupon the lords, without noticing the irregularity, returned the bill of indemnity to the commons with the alterations we have mentioned; and the commons adopted it in that form. They, however, were anxious to save the lives of Sir Harry Vane and General Lambert; and the lords joined with them in an address to the king, praying that if, after trial, these two should be attainted, execution should be remitted. The lords also agreed that Lenthall, who had intrigued with the royalists before the Restoration, and had offered the king a bribe of £3000, should be spared both in life and estate. That rash republican, Sir Arthur Hazlerig, who unwittingly had played into the hands of Monk, had a narrow escape; but the astucious general who had duped him stepped in considerately, and saved his life. Whitelock, that easy-tempered vassal of circumstances, was aimed at by the fanatic Presbyterians, who detested him because he had been active under Oliver Cromwell in promoting toleration; but it was found, on a vote, that he had more friends than enemies; and he, too, escaped,

Then the commons selected twenty more to be excepted out of the general act of oblivion, to suffer such penalties and forfeitures, not extending to life, as should be thought fit to be inflicted on them by an act to pass for that purpose. These twenty were-Sir Harry Vane, St. John, Hazlerig, Ireton, Desborough, Lambert, Fleetwood, Axtell, Sydenham, Lenthall, Burton, Keble, Pack, Blackwell, Pyne, Dean, Creed, Nye, Goodwin, and Cobbett. Nor did the commons stop here, going on to except from all benefit of the indemnity such of the late king's judges as had not surrendered upon the proclamation. And in this state the bill of indemnity and oblivion went up to the lords, who found it much too moderate and merciful. Their lordships began with a vote of the most fierce and barbarous kind. "The lords were inclined to revenge their own order on the persons of some in the High Court of Justice, by whom some of their number had been condemned, and to except one of the judges for every lord they had put to death; the nomination of the person to be excepted being referred to that lord who was most nearly related to the person that had suffered. According to this rule, Colonel Croxton was nominated by the next relation to the Earl of Derby, Major Waring by the kinsman of another, and Colonel Titchburn by a third: the Earl of Denbigh, whose sister had been married to the Duke of Hamilton, being desired by the lords to nominate one to be excepted in satisfaction for the death of his brother-in-law, named a person who had been some time dead, of which some of the house being informed, they called upon him to name another; but he said that since it had so fallen out, he desired to be excused from naming any more. This action, although seeming to proceed from chance, was generally esteemed to have been voluntary,

Kennet, Register.

[ocr errors]

As the principle that vengeance should be taken only upon the late king's judges was departed from, it was but natural to expect that they should fall upon him who had been the bosom friend of Cromwell, and who had defended, in the eyes of all Europe, the proceedings of the High Court of Justice. And the immortal John Milton was committed to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms, and threatened with destruction, for having written his Defence of the English People, and his Eikonoclastes. His glorious friend Andrew Marvel, and two other admirers of genius (and no more), raised their voices in the poet's favour. They were told that he had

2 Ludlow. For the infamous vote, see also the Lords' Journal,

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »