Pub May 20.1806. by J. Scott, N442, Strand

THE

NOBLE AUTHORS

OF

ENGLAND.

FORD GREY,

EARL OF TANKERVILLE,

A MAN, converted into an author, as any malefactor might be, if his crimes soared high enough to make him of consequence to history. The confession of his share in a plot and in a rebellion, happening to be preserved, has been given to the public. Where found, or by whom published, is not known; but universally believed genuine. If genuine, authenticating remarkably the Rye-house conspiracy; which, exploded at the time of its existence, seems to have taken its place in credit, in the room of the popish plot; so firmly the belief of all good Whigs in the reign of Charles II.

I shall say no more of this worthless man, but that he is the hero of those love-letters which the tender heart of Mrs. Manley or Mrs. Heywood lamented the loss of, and supplied, between him and his sister-in-law; and that he was made earl of Tankerville by king William. His book is called

"The secret History of the Rye-house Plot, and of Monmouth's Rebellion, written by Ford Lord Grey, in 1685. Now first published from a MS. signed by himself, before the Earl of Sunderland." 1754.

[This son of Ralph, second lord Grey of Werk, after being concerned in a conspiracy against Charles the second, was created an earl by William the third in 16952, and in 1700 was appointed first lord-commissioner of the treasury, and soon after, lord privyseal; which office he held till his death, on the 25th of June, 1701.

He has been described, by an anonymous pen, as a person of excellent parts, who delivered his sentiments to admiration, and appeared zealous for the interest of his country, as well as of reformed man

2 Bolton's Extinct Peerage, p. 133. Macky, in his Characters, calls him governor of Barbadoes; but he has mistaken Ford for his brother Ralph Grey, who succeeded to the barony of Werk.

ners in his latter years3: but I gather, from another source, that he was a man of the most dissolute character.

5

This lord was in danger of losing his head for the share he had taken in the conspiracy described in "The secret History of the Rye-house Plot 6," &c. To this secret history, or political confession, which

Hist. of Europe for the year 1701.

Burnet scruples not to say, that he was saved by his great estate, and by becoming a witness in order to the conviction of others, but with this assurance, that nobody should die upon his evidence. Hist. of the Reign of James II. vol. ii. p. 332.

5 The following stanza may allude to his lordship, in Loyal Songs, vol. ii. p. 12.

Oh, welcome, Dr. Peters,

And cornet Joyce also,

One of these twain

Was worse than Cain,
That gave the deadly blow;
One of those cursed rogues
Was he that did the feat;

But some men say

"T was that LORD GRAY

That made the work compleat."

6 The Rye-house is a farm near Hoddesdon in Herts, which the king usually passed in his way from Newmarket, and belonged to Rumbold, a maltster, one of the intended assassins. Here, therefore, it was proposed to attack the king and his guards, in June 1683, by firing from the out-houses, while another party should assault them during their embarrassment : but a fire happening at Newmarket, his majesty returned to London sooner than he had intended, and before the conspirators were prepared to put their design in execution. See a fuller account of this affair in Burnet's Hist. vol. ii.

runs on to 124 pages, a conciliatory letter is prefixed, which may furnish a specimen of his lordship's literary address.

"Lord Grey's Letter to King James the second.

"May it please your majesty,

"Having received your majesty's command by my lord Lumley, that I should in writing acquaint you with all I know of the designed rebellion in your majesty's brother's time, the late king, and with the correspondence of the late duke of Monmouth, held in England, in order to his rebellion against your majesty (in which I was unfortunately engaged, and in my heart do sincerely repent of), I have, in obedience to your majesty, given you the fullest account I can and call God to witness (in whose hands I am), that I have not wilfully concealed any thing from you, that I think of the least importance for your majesty to know. Had the fear of death been an inducement to me, I should have followed the example of those who have made discoveries: but I did not think it became me to treat with your majesty, nor to ask that of you which I could have no pretensions to. If the shedding my blood can be for your majesty's interest, I shall be very willing to part with it, and only desire to know that it will be an atonement for the crimes I have committed against you: but if your majesty, out of your great clemency, shall think fit to save me, I hope you will believe that (besides the ties of honour, justice, and gratitude) my own inclination will ever