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Lutheran and Calvinian Churches. In which service, as he wasted a great deal of time to little purpose; so he received as much encouragement from Canterbury, as he had reason to opposed to the removal of the Bishops out of the Church; and my wishes go with the King, that he may still retain the things which anciently belonged to him: Let the former usages be preserved. I have no doubt, that the King of Great Britain might receive assistance from this Court, if he could create a complete assurance that he will not Iberize, that is, become a partizan of Spain.'

The subjoined extracts from the letters of Grotius will illustrate the Queen Mother's visit to England and Holland, and will serve to shew the dread which was entertained of the presence of these two intermeddling females, by a great part of the English nation, by the King of France, Cardinal Richelieu, the Prince of Orange, &c. On the 26th of February, 1639, Grotius informs the Chancellor Oxtenstern: "The Queen of England is suffering from a premature birth, and is so infirm in health as to be threatened with a consumption. The advice of the medical attendants is a change of air; and her Majesty talks about a voyage to France. But her journey is suspected by this Court, lest she should advocate her mother's cause before the King; for she is a daughter whom her mother always loved, and who is in return much attached to her mother."-On the 12th of March, he again addresses the illustrious Chancellor: "A nobleman, whose name is Germain, has come again to Paris from the English Court to recommend the business of the Queen Dowager. He meets with little success; for the King is afraid not only of seeing his mother in France, because she is, in his opinion, addicted to revenge, but he is likewise timorous about affording her any support in the States contiguous to France, lest with his money she should encourage a faction. His Majesty is not ignorant, that the present state of public affairs is exceedingly displeasing to many people."-In a letter addressed to Camerarius, the Swedish Ambassador at the Hague, in March, 1641, Grotius says: "It is reported, that the Queen of England will come here in April: Apartments are prepared for her Majesty at Fontainbleau, at a sufficiently great distance from the King. Fears are entertained lest she should attempt something in favour of her mother [Mary De Medicis], who in a most sorrowful letter which she has sent, ad Egiloniam, deplores her deep poverty. The English are tired of the great charges, and the old Queen has not yet learnt to be frugal in her expences. But the Cardinal is afraid when she is present, lest she should raise tumults in France; and he is not without fears during her absence, lest, if she have a good supply of money, she should employ it in exciting factions."-In another to the same individual, a few days afterwards, he says: "It is here considered a certainty, that the Queen of England will come here. Her mother has written to the Cardinal and to Melleray. It will be a much easier matter for her to obtain a small supply of money, than permission to enter the kingdom."And in another: "I hear, that the Queen Dowager of Sweden will find no difficulty in obtaining leave to return to Sweden, as she suffers those to whom that office legally belongs to manage the public affairs of the kingdom: Bnt equal facilities are not granted to the Queen Dowager of France to return into this kingdom; for there is no scarcity of mischievous wits, who may point out to an irritated female several methods of revenge in a disturbed nation."-Iu June he says: "The Queen Mother is quitting England and proceeding to Holland; but it is uncertain whether she will remain in quiet at Liege, or among the Dutch."-On the 6th of July, he again writes: "It is believed, that the Queen Mother will retire to Brussels, to add fuel to the flames of discord which have already been kindled at Sedan. The person who transacts the Pope's business with the Queen of England, is not invested with the title of Nuncio, but with that of Agent."-On the 27th of the samè month, he says: "The Queen Dowager, it appears, is going to Cologne, where she is to be maintained ostensibly at the expence of the Queen of England, who is secretly refunded by her brother the King of France. Yet the old Queen will scarcely be able to keep her nails from meddling with the Sedan ulcer, if it continue unclosed."-On the 3d of August, Grotius writes

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expect. Welcome at all times to his table, and speaking honourably of him upon all occasions, till the times were changed; when either finding the impossibility of his undertaking, or

thus: "The Queen of England wishes much to go to drink the waters of the Spa. But the French Ambassador places as many impediments as possible in her way; for he is afraid that she will endeavour to foment the faction of the Sedan Princes, either on her mother's account, or for the sake of promoting peace."-A few days afterwards, he writes: "No one_prevents the departure of the Queen Mother from England: Neither do the French themselves care much about her, now that she is grown old and feeble. But the Queen of England seems to be induced, with the Parliament's consent, to abandon all thoughts of a transmarine excursion; for, if we may give credit to Majarmus, her sickness lies more in her mind than in her body. If her constitution be inclined to consumption, the waters of Spa are said not to be useful to those who are afflicted with that disorder.”—On the 17th of August, Grotius again addresses Camerarius: "The Queen Dowager of France, mother of his Majesty, will remain at Cologne at the charge of the King of Great Britain, who will endeavour to obtain some indemnity for this expence from the French monarch: But I would not venture to be his surety for the re-payment of that money. The Queen of England seems to remain, lest her departure should inflame the national enmities, which appear now to be subsiding."-On the 22d of February, 1642, he wrote to the same individual: "The more attentively I consider the affairs of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the more fears 1 feel lest they should have a bloody termination,which may God of his mercy avert! But I lament greatly the misfortune, which, in addition to many others, the Prince Elector [Palatine] has to endure, in the aversion which the Parliamentarians have manifested. At Dieppe, two regiments are embarked in ships: The conjectures about their destination are various; some think they are proceeding to re-inforce Count Guebrian; others, that they are sailing to the assistance of the King of Great Britain, who is believed still to retain in his possession Portsmouth and some other sea-port towns. This, however, is a certainty, that French assistance would not be with-held from the British Monarch, if the King of France could but be induced to divest himself of the opinion that the King of England has concluded a closer treaty with the Court of Spain.' The Queen of England has many persons here in her favour, not only because she is sister of the French Monarch, but because they believe her to have become an object of hatred to the English, solely on account of her religion, the free exercise of which was secured to her by the marriage treaty."-On the 8th of March, he writes thus to the same person: "If the report be correct which is circulated here, that the King of Great Britain has so far complied with the wishes of the Parliamentarians, as to have expressed his pleasure to eject the Bishops out of Parliament, and to place all the ports of the kingdom in the power of the Parliament,'-in this case, there will undoubtedly be peace in England. Yet suspicions will not be entirely hanished; these, however, his Majesty might most commodiously remove from the minds of his subjects, by shewing that he has the affairs of the Elector Palatine seriously at heart. (Page 611.) For composing those differences which relate to religion and ceremonies, a National Synod, it appears, is to be convened in England: But, I am afraid, new controversies will arise respecting the form and mode of holding it. If the populace be desirous of seeing the Bishops ejected out of the Church, [as well as out of Parliament,] after the example of the Scots, the event will possibly be-that those who are attached to Episcopacy may discover some way of restoring themselves to the communion of the Church of Rome, or of uniting their strength with that of the Romanists, which they have already begun to do in Ireland. Unless I am deceived, the Prince of Orange would prefer having his daughter-in-law [the Princess Royal of England] at his Court, without her mother [Queen Henrietta] and her grand-mother [Mary De Medicis]. But if the Hague is to be favoured with the sight of three Queens at one time, [the Queen of England, of France, and of Bohemia,] this will be truly a novel example.

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wanting a supply of that oil which maintained his lamp, he proved as true a Scot as the rest of the nation; laying the blame of his miscarriage in it, on the want of encouragement; and

I hear that the tumults at Cologne have subsided; and I think that city, which is a free one that avoids war, will obtain permission [from the belligerent powers] to continue in a state of tranquillity. It is not upon these considerations, I believe, that the Queen Dowager of France is endeavouring to migrate thither, but because she can there with greater facility procure necessaries for herself."

Two of the conjectures of Grotius in the last of these extracts, proved ultimately incorrect: (1.) "That his majesty's concession respecting the removal of the Bishops out of Parliament, would tend to secure the peace of the kingdom." On the contrary, Lord Clarendon has very clearly proved, in a preceding page, (317,) that the passing of that act was an introduction to the entire destruction of the government of the Church," &c. (2.) His other mistake was, that, "on the extirpation of Episcopacy, those who were attached to it would seek out some way of restoring themselves to the Church of Rome." But, whatever intimations of this kind might have been given by the two female members of the House de Medicis, who were complete dupes to the Popish priests with whom they were constantly surrounded, the event disproved all their prognostications. For Dr. Turner's just assertion, in page 679, which was corroborated by Mr. Evelyn, is that "Not five clergymen forsook our church and went over to that of Rome, during all the troubles and rebellion in England." The Protestants of the Church of England in that age, were far superior to the Nonconformists in possessing that genuine trait of British feeling which was well-defined by Archbishop Laud, when a Cardinal's hat was twice offered to him by the Court of Rome and manfully refused, "My answer again was, that something dwelt within me which would not suffer that, till Rome was other than it is!"This modest yet firm reply, so opposite to the inflated rhapsodies of the Puritans, will be duly appreciated by an unprejudiced posterity.

On the 15th of March, 1642, Grotius addressed the following lines to Camerarius: "The judgment formed by your Lordship is very true that in such a perturbed state of the English affairs no good hopes can be indulged respecting the business of the Palatinate.' But in the marriage of his daughter, and much more if there be any discussion about the marriage of his son, the king of England might add this condition-' that the Dutch shall engage to continue the war until the Electoral House be restored; which will be done with the good wishes of France for the purpose of increasing the impediments to peace. It is believed in Paris, that the British monarch will make several concessions, in hopes that the [Long] Parliament will some time or other discontinue its sittings, and afford his majesty an opportunity of gradually recovering what he has thus suddenly lost. But it is not to be doubted, that the Parliamentarians will imitate the Scots, in leaving some of their own body invested with authority_to_execute the acts and resolutions which they have unanimously passed: Such a proceeding will prostrate still more the power of the king, which is already low enough. All the accounts whatsoever, that are published here concerning these matters, serve to mitigate and support the cause of the Irish, and to bring the Parliamentarians into disrepute. But the king of France ought not to be considered so occupied with war, as to have no means remaining for affording his assistance to the Irish, or to the king of England in his difficulties. For in my opinion, the Prince of Orange will withhold his hand from touching that sore, lest he give offence to those among the Dutch who have the greatest influence over the people. The Queen of England will now be among you; and you will be at liberty to form some probable conjectures from her discourse and actions. The Medicëan Queen [Dowager of France], though advanced in age, cannot endure tranquillity; and the old lady, by frisking up and down, raises much dust."-The allusion in this extract to the temporizing policy of king Charles, will tend to confirm the opinion which I ventured to express in page 716, respecting the adoption of

speaking disgracefully of the man which had given him most. Had he intended any prejudice to the reformed religion, reformed according to the doctrine of Calvin, and the Genevian forms Amyraut's principle: And while the subjoined communication from Grotius to Camerarius, dated "March, 1641," exhibits the impartiality of the writer, it will prove still more clearly the close approximation which the English ministry made to French politics: "With regard to English affairs, I have no doubt whatever that the king does many things with a sorrowful heart for the sake of gaining time, particularly in the matter of triennial parliaments. This makes me still more apprehensive, that the Elector Palatine will gain no advantage in England, especially when I perceive a return made to the old procrastinating devices of wasting time in conferences with the Elector of Bavaria, who is a man most tenacious to his purpose. There are now better hopes, I find, concerning the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland [the Earl of Strafford], than were at first entertained. The danger of the Archbishop [Laud] is far greater, not only on account of the crime of his religion, which is always a powerful consideration with the people; but likewise because he is believed to have endeavoured to increase the regal power. The English are terrified with the example of such an augmentation in the royal prerogative as France presents, in which the supreme domination has no further boundaries beyond which it can now extend itself. For it has been determined here to arrest the Duke of Vendome, and, if that be impossible, to issue a citation against him,-not that he may be tried by the Parliament, or by his own chamber of Dukes and Peers, but by certain individuals selected from the list of Marshals and Presidents of Parliament."-The allusion to Archbishop Laud as a great defender of the king's prerogative, will receive a sufficient explanation in pages 653-656, 670, 680-684. Without any reference to the unprecedented circumstances of the Archbishop's own trial, the attentive reader will find ample materials, in the disclosures which were made on the trial of the Earl of Strafford, for convincing himself, that both the Earl and the Archbishop had been most unfortunately associated with an administration, some of the members of which were traitors to their sovereign, enemies to their country, and betrayers of their colleagues. Heylin has well remarked concerning one of these men, (p. 365,)" all matters of GRACE and FAVOUR were ascribed to him, matters of HARSHNESS or DISTASTE [were ascribed] to the king or Canterbury." The quotation from Dr. Heylin, at the commencement of this note, will shew the weight of unmerited opprobrium which Laud was compelled to endure on account of the Queen's Popery, and the fearless manner in which he discharged his duty in that delicate affair. If the Archbishop be accused of prodigality in bestowing his censures, the fact here recorded and others of a similar kind will shew that his reproofs were indiscriminate and given "without respect of persons, for neither peasant nor prince was exempted from their operation. The odium which he was doomed to bear in relation to the management of civil affairs, was that which belonged to the whole of his Majesty's Council; but, for party purposes, it was charged upon him alone." The circumstances of unexampled difficulty in which he was placed, have never received that notice to which they are entitled by their importance. A few of them are detailed in the preceding pages; but their complete developement would fill a large volume.

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The deterring example of France in the matter of the king's prerogative, to which Grotius alludes as producing a bad effect on Englishmen, and of the progress of which he gives a striking instance, may be said to have had its commencement in 1631, when Louis the Thirteenth, "having notice of the great preparations carrying on to raise a war in the Duke of Orleans' behalf, throughout the whole kingdom, and knowing that the province of Burgundy was to be the chief theatre of the rebellion, went thither with all speed. This great diligence of the king obliged the Duke to retire into the territories of Spain, with his abettors, who were proclaimed traitors. The proclamation being verified and recorded in the Parliament of Burgundy, was sent to the Parliament of Paris, where the members were so divided, that, instead of recording the Proclamation by a solemn act, they made only

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both of worship and government, he would not have so cordially advanced the general collection for the Palatine churches, or provided so heartily for the Rochellers and their religion. Had an act, whereby they declared that the house was divided. The king, on his return to Paris, would not leave such a disorder unpunished; and sent for the Parliament to wait upon him at the Louvre, with orders to come on foot like criminals, and in a condition to receive the censure they deserved, to give them to understand, that it was not their business to deliberate on matters of state; that he sent them his Proclamations upon those matters, only that they might publish and register them, and take care to have them obeyed by the people &c. This was performed at the Louvre, the king sitting in his Council, and the Parliament in a body on their knees before him; aud even after the Chancellor had told them, by the king's command, that they had no right to judge of the Proclamations, and other declarations relating to matters of state, which his Majesty sent them, the king tore off with his own hand the Act of Division, which had been written in the Register of the Parliament Rolls, and ordered to write down, instead of it, the Act of the Council by which the other was declared void; with a strict prohibition never to pretend for the future to deliberate on such declarations. And lastly, in order to punish the faults of the whole body on some particular members, the Presidents Gayan and Barillon, and the Sieur Lesné Counsellor, were, by his Majesty's order, commanded to retire for some time from Paris, and suspended from their functions, because they had spoken too disrespectfully of his Majesty's conduct and administration." On reading this account by Auberi in connection with the remarks of Grotius, and on tracing the gradual consummation of tyranny in France, no one will evince any surprize at finding several excellent men enlisted in the Parliamentary interest, when the first proper and constitutional opposition was made to the incroachments of power in England. In forming a correct estimate of the subsequent conduct of such men, they will be found entitled to much of our indulgence and commiseration, on account of having early committed themselves so far as not to be able to recede, after they saw and lamented the illegal and tyrannical method pursued by their own party, against which some of them strongly remonstrated, but did not possess the power of applying an adequate remedy.

Such were some of the evil consequences of the marriage of King Charles with a Popish Princess! How strongly soever Queen Henrietta's conduct as an affectionate daughter, wife and mother, may gain upon our esteem, we cannot, under the influence of a foolish and misplaced gallantry, pretend to overlook the confusion which she introduced into the national affairs, by her silly intermeddling, till her husband's cause was rendered irretrievable. In a preceding page, (343,) Lord Clarendon has described with much truth, yet in polite and measured language," the unlimited power" which the Queen had gained in "the disposal of all favours and preferments, and which in truth, what other unhappy circumstances soever concurred in "the mischief, was the foundation upon which the first and the utmost pre"judices to the King and his government were raised and prosecuted." What course could be more preposterous than that which the King pursuedto wait for the Queen's decisions whenever any important proposals of pacification were made to him by his rebellious subjects! Without divulging the true cause of his lengthened delays, he introduced frivolous distinctions into the negotiations which ought to have been promptly concluded; and when he ultimately received the Queen's replies on the matters under discussion, the whole had assumed a new aspect, and required fresh instructions from his head-quarters. How pure soever the intentions of King Charles might be, (and my belief is, that his native integrity was unimpeachable,) this want of promptitude and decision effected the ruin of his cause, which could not be averted by the able advice of his judicious and experienced counsellors: For, by his apparent unwillingness to conclude the war, and by the needless procrastination which he employed, his Majesty alienated the hearts of many persons, that may with propriety be said to have been till then a kind of neutral party. Such persons could account for the King's delays and subterfuges, only on the principle of his Popish connections; and on this point subsequent disclosures, from authentic docu

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