XIV. BOOK "he had received from a very good hande;" and then the marquis of Ormond made this and this 1655. objection, and others found this and that difficulty in the execution of the enterprise, all which the chancellor answered very clearly, and the king himself said very much of the easiness of the undertaking,) "there was one difficulty urged, that the king "himself appeared to be startled at, and looked upon "the chancellor; who arose from his place, and went "to the king's chair, and whispered somewhat in "his ear. Whereupon his majesty told the lords, "that he had indeed forgot somewhat that the chan"cellor put him in mind of, and for that particular 66 they should refer the care of it to him, who would "take it upon him; and so the matter was resolved, "and the earl of Rochester undertook for the five "hundred men, and their transportation." Manning concluded, "that if he had money, they should know "constantly how this design should be advanced, or 66 any other set on foot." Every body was exceedingly amazed at this relation, in which there was not one syllable of truth. There had never such a proposition been made, nor was there any such debate or discourse. There were in his letter many vain insinuations of his interest, as if he were never out of the king's company. Two of the king's servants were sent to seize upon his person and his papers; who found him in his chamber writing, and his cipher and papers before him; all which they possessed themselves of without any resistance. There were several letters prepared, and made up with the e from a very good hand] MS. adds: it was read twice XIV. dates proper for many posts to come, with infor- BOOK mation and intelligence of the same nature as the. former. The secretary of state and one of the lords of the council were sent to examine him; to whom he confessed, without any reserve, "that the necessity of "his fortune had exposed him to that base condition "of life; and, to make himself fit for it, he had dis“sembled his religion; for," he said, "he remained "still a catholic: that he was sent over by Thurlow "to be a spy wherever the king should be, and had "constantly sent him intelligence, for which he had "received good sums of money; yet, that he had "been so troubled in mind for the vileness of the "life he led, that he was resolved, by raising great "expectations in them, to draw a good sum of money "from them; and then to renounce farther corre"spondence, and to procure the king's pardon, and "faithfully to serve him." Being asked, why he made such relations, which had no truth in them, he answered, "that if he had come to the knowledge of "any thing which in truth had concerned the king, " he would never have discovered it; but he thought "it would do no prejudice to the king, if he got money from the rebels by sending them lies, which "could neither do them good, nor hurt his majesty'; " and therefore all his care was to amuse them with 66 66 66 particulars, which he knew would please them ; " and so when he was alone he always prepared let"ters containing such things as occurred to his invention, to be sent by the succeeding posts, and "that he had never written any thing that was true, "but of his majesty's being in Zealand; which, he believed, could produce no prejudice to him. 66 1655. XIV. BOOK The king now discerned from whence all the apprehensions of his friends proceeded; and that they 1655. had too much ground for their jealousies; for though none of his counsels had been discovered, they who had received those letters might reasonably think that none of them were concealed; and might well brag to their confidents of their knowing all that the king did. By this means, such particulars were transmitted to the king's friends, as could not but very much amuse them, and, no doubt, was the cause of the commitment of very many persons, and of some who had no purpose to suffer for their loyalty. His majesty took care to publish the transactions of this man, with the method of the intelligence he gave; by which his friends discerned with what shadows they had been affrighted, and his enemies likewise discovered what current ware they had received for their money: yet they endeavoured to have it believed that he was not a man sent over by them, but a secretary in great trust about some person employed, whom they had corrupted: in which men were likewise quickly undeceived, and knew that he was a man without any dependence or relation to, or countenance from the court: and the wretch soon after received the reward due to his treason f. As the king's hopes were much eclipsed in England by the late unseasonable attempt, and the loss of so many gallant persons, as perished, or were undone in it; so Cromwell advanced his own credit, vantage by and was very much enriched by it, and more conthe risings firmed with those who were of doubtful faith towards Crom well's ad of the XIV. 1655. him. He lay before under the reproach of devising BOOK plots himself, that the commonwealth might be. thought in danger, to the end he might have excuse to continue so vast forces still in pay. Whereas it now appeared how active and confident the king's party still was, and that they would not have had the presumption to make so bold an attempt in the middle of the kingdom, if they had not had good assurance of being seconded; and therefore they were to look upon the fire as only raked up, not extinguished. The success and triumph of a few desperate persons at Salisbury, that had produced such a consternation throughout the kingdom, and would have endangered the security of the whole west, if there had not happened some accidental confusion amongst the undertakers, was evidence enough that there was not yet force sufficient to provide for the safety of the kingdom; and therefore that it was necessary to make better provision for the quiet of every county, that it might not be endangered by every bold attempt: and the charge that this necessary defence would cause should in justice be borne by those who were the occasion of the expense. for deci party.. Thereupon he made by his own authority, and His order that of his council, an order, "that all those who mating the "had ever borne arms for the king, or had declared king's "themselves to be of the royal party, should be de"cimated, that is, pay a tenth part of all that estate "which they had left, to support the charge which "the commonwealth was put to, by the unquietness "of their temper, and the just cause of jealousy "which they had administered." And that the public might lose nothing of what he had so frankly given to it, commissioners were appointed in every BOOK County, to value what that tenth part of every such XIV. estate did amount to; and that no man might have 1655. too good a bargain of his own, every man was oblig His decla ration to ed to pay as much as those commissioners judged fit; and till he paid it, besides imprisonment, which was a judgment apart, and inflicted once or twice a year, as the jealousies wrought, his whole estate was sequestered. And in this decimation there was no consideration taken of former compositions, of any articles of war, or of any acts of pardon and indemnity, which had been granted under their great seal, without inquiry into their actions, or so much as accusing any of them of any crime or guilt, or of having any correspondence with the king or any body trusted by him; or that they were in any degree privy to the late designs or insurrection. That this order might be submitted to, and exejustify it. cuted, he published a declaration to make the justice as well as the necessity of that proceeding appear; in which he did not only set down the grounds of his present proceeding against the royal party, but the rules by which he meant to proceed against any other party that should provoke, or give him trouble. It was a declaration worded and digested with much more asperity against all who had served the king, than had ever been before published. Great caution had been hitherto used, as if nothing more had been designed than to unite the whole nation in the joint defence of the common interest, and as if a resolution had been taken to have abolished all marks of disunion and distinction of parties, and that all men, of what condition soever, (except h designed] desired |