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and sent down without communicating it to the earl 1660. of Midletoun or his party. But as soon as he heard of it, he thought Sharp had betrayed the design ; and sent for him, and charged him with it. Sharp said, in his own excuse, that somewhat must be done for quieting the presbyterians, who were beginning to take the alarm: that might have produced such applications, as would perhaps make some impression on the king: whereas now all was secured, and yet the king was engaged to nothing; for his confirming their government, as it was established by law, could bind him no longer than while that legal establishment was in force: so the reversing of that would release the king. This allayed the earl of Midletoun's displeasure a little. Yet Primerose told me, he spoke often of it with great indignation, since it seemed below the dignity of a king thus to equivocate with his people, and to deceive them. It seemed, that Sharp thought it not enough to cheat the party himself, but would have the king share with him in the fraud. This was no honourable step to be made by a king, and to be contrived by a clergyman. The letter was received with transports of joy the presbyterians reckoned they were safe, and began to proceed severely against the protesters; to which they were set on by some aspiring men, who hoped to merit by the heat expressed on this occasion. And if Sharp's impatience to get into the archbishopric of St. Andrews had not wrought too strong on him, it would have given a great advantage to the restitution of episcopacy, if a general assembly had been called, and the two parties had 110 been let loose on one another: that would have shewn the impossibility of maintaining the govern

1660. ment of the church in a parity, and the necessity of setting a superior order over them for keeping them in unity and peace.

A ministry

settled in Scotland.

The king settled the ministry in Scotland. The earl of Midletoun was declared the king's commissioner for holding the parliament, and general of the forces that were to be raised: the earl of Glencairn was made chancellor: the earl of Lauderdale was secretary of state: the earl of Rothes president of the council: the earl of Crawford was continued in the treasury Primerose was clerk register, which is very like the place of master of the rolls in England. The rest depended on these. But the earls of Midletoun and Lauderdale were the two heads of the parties. The earl of Midletoun had a private instruction, which, as Lauderdale told me, was not communicated to him, to try the inclinations of the nation for episcopacy, and to consider of the best method of setting it up. This was drawn from the king by the earl of Clarendon: for he himself was observed to be very cold in it, while these things were doing. Primerose got an order from the king to put up all the public registers of Scotland, which Cromwell had brought up, and lodged in the tower of London, as a pawn upon that kingdom, in imitation of what king Edward the first was said to have done when he subdued that nation. They were now put up in fifty hogsheads: and a ship was ready to carry them down. But it was suggested to lord Clarendon, that the original covenant, signed by the king, and some other declarations under his hand, were among them. And he, apprehending that at

* Dr. Montague shewed it me in the library belonging to Trinity college in Cambridge. D.

some time or other an ill use might have been made 1660. of these, would not suffer them to be shipped till they were visited: nor would he take Primerose's promise of searching for these carefully, and sending them up to him. So he ordered a search to be made. None of the papers he looked for were found. But so much time was lost, that the summer was spent: so they were sent down in winter: and by some easterly gusts the ship was cast away near Berwick. So we lost all our records. And we have nothing now but some fragments in private hands to rely on, having made at that time so great a shipwreck of all our authentic writings. This heightened the displeasure the nation had at the designs then on foot.

proposed to

for Scotish

The main thing, upon which all other matters de- A council pended, was the method in which the affairs of Scot-sit at court land were to be conducted. The earl of Clarendon affairs. moved, that there might be a council settled to sit regularly at Whitehall on Scotish affairs, to which 111 every one of the Scotch privy council that happened to be on the place should be admitted: but with this addition, that, as two Scotch lords were called to the English council, so six of the English were to be of the Scotch council. The effect of this would have been, that whereas the Scotch counsellors had no great force in English affairs, the English, as they were men of great credit with the king, and were always on the place, would have the government of the affairs of Scotland wholly in their hands. This probably would have saved that nation from much injustice and violence, when there was a certain method of laying their grievances before the king: complaints would have been heard, and matters well examined: Englishmen would not, and durst not,

1660. have given way to crying oppression and illegal proceedings: for though these matters did not fall under the cognizance of an English parliament, yet it would have very much blasted a man's credit, who should have concurred in such methods of government as were put in practice afterwards in that kingdom: therefore all people quickly saw how wise a project this was, and how happy it would have proved, if affairs had still gone in that channel. But the earl of Lauderdale opposed this with all his strength. He told the king, it would quite destroy the scheme he had laid before him, which must be managed secretly, and by men that were not in fear of the parliament of England, nor obnoxious to it. He said to all Scotchmen, this would make Scotland a province to England, and subject it to English counsellors, who knew neither the laws nor the interests of Scotland, and yet would determine every thing relating to it: and all the wealth of Scotland would be employed to bribe them, who, having no concern of their own in the affairs of that kingdom, must be supposed capable of being turned by private considerations. To the presbyterians he said, this would infallibly bring in, not only episcopacy, but every thing else from the English pattern. Men who had neither kindred nor estates in Scotland would be biased chiefly by that which was most in vogue in England, without any regard to the inclinations of the Scots. These things made great impressions on the Scotish nation. The king himself did not much like it. But the earl of Clarendon told him, Scotland, by a secret and ill management, had begun the embroilment in his father's affairs, which could never have happened, if the affairs of

that kingdom had been under a more equal inspec- 1660. tion: if Scotland should again fall into new disorders, he must have the help of England to quiet them and that could not be expected, if the English had no share in the conduct of matters there. 112 The king yielded to it: and this method was followed for two or three years; but was afterwards broke by the earl of Lauderdale, when he got into the chief management. He began early to observe some uneasiness in the king at the earl of Clarendon's positive way. He saw the mistress hated him: and he believed she would in time be too hard for him therefore he made great applications to her. But his conversation was too coarse: and he had not money enough to support himself by presents to her: so he could not be admitted into that cabal which was held in her lodgings. He saw, that in a council, where men of weight, who had much at stake in England, bore the chief sway, he durst not have proposed those things, by which he intended to establish his own interest with the king, and to govern that kingdom which way his pride or passion might guide him. Among others, he took great pains to persuade me of the great service he had done his country by breaking that method of governing it; though we had many occasions afterwards to see how fatal that proved, and how wicked his design in it was.

mittee of

meet in

I have thus opened with some copiousness the be-The comginnings of this reign; since, as they are little estates known, and I had them from the chief of both sides, so they may guide the reader to observe the progress of things better in the sequel than he could otherwise do. In August the earl of Glencairn was sent

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