Wimbledon; which, after a fruitless expedi

tion

acceffion of king Charles, became incenfed, as they ⚫ difcovered more and more that the account given by the duke of Buckingham, in the reign of king James, and on which the refolutions of that parliament had been taken, was falfe in almost every point. A fyftem of lies, dreffed up to deceive the nation, and impofed on the parliament, could neither remain undifcovered, 6 nor escape the refentment and indignation it deferved, when difcovered. Befides, that parliament, and the nation too, when they expreffed fo much joy at the breach with Spain, flattered themfelves that, by preventing the marriage with the Infanta, they had prevented all the dangers which they apprehended from that marriage; whereas it appeared foon afterwards, that they flood expofed to the very fame dangers by the marriage concluded with France; nay, to greater; fince the education of the children by the mother, that is, in popery, had been confined to ten years by the former treaty, and was extended to thirteen by the lat6 ter. In fhort, it cannot be denied, and my lord Cla⚫rendon owns, that as the infolence of Buckingham caused the war with Spain, so his luft and his vanity alone ⚫ threw the nation into another with France. Spain was courted first without reason, and affronted afterwards ⚫ without provocation. Ships were lent to the king of France against his proteftant fubjects; and the perfecution of his proteftant fubjects was made the pretence of a rupture with him. Thus was the nation led from one extravagant project to another, at an immense charge, with great diminution of honour, and infinite lofs to trade, by the ignorance, private intereft, and paffion of one man. The conduct therefore of the parliament, who attacked this man, was perfectly confiftent with the conduct of that parliament who had fo much applauded him; and one cannot observe without aftonishment, the flip made by the noble hiftorian we have just quoted, when he affirms, that the fame men who had applauded him, attacked him, without im

tion to Cadiz, returned home most ignominiously;

< puting the leaft crime to him, that was not as much known when they applauded him, as when they attacked him. Now it is plain, that many of the crimes • imputed to him, in the reign of king Charles, when he was attacked, could not be known; and that many others had not been even committed in the reign of, king James, when he was, upon one fingle occafion, applauded (w).' This seems a fufficient reply to lord (w) CraftsClarendon.

man, vol. vii. p. 389,

12mo. Lond.

1731.

Mr. Hume indeed feems of Clarendon's mind: he calls the two fubfidies, amounting to 112,000 7. rather a cruel mockery of Charles, than any ferious defign of fupporting him; and he attributes this ufage not only to envy and hatred against Buckingham; the nation's being unused to the burthens of taxes; the difgufts of the puritans against the court, both by reason of the principles of civil liberty, effential to their party, and on account of the ❝ restraint under which they were held by the established hierarchy; and the match with France:' I fay, he attributes this behaviour of the parliament not only to these caufes, but likewife to the defign the principal men among the commons had to feize the opportunity, 'which the king's neceffities offered them, to reduce the prerogative within more reasonable bounds (x). But (x) Hume's history of this is refining too much. The parliament faw the war Great Briwas directed by wrong hands; they faw English fhips lent tain, vol. i. to the French king, in order to deftroy the proteftants of p. 144-147. his kingdom; and confequently they had little hopes that the Palatinate (the chief reafon of the war) would be recovered by the counfels of those, who were fo unconcerned about the proteftant cause. Add to this, that the parliament were out of humour at being adjourned to Oxford, when the peftilence had overspread the land, fo that no man that travelled knew where to lodge in fafety; and therefore might reasonably be fuppofed to (y) Philips's < have voted out of difcontent and difpleafure, as Wil- life of Williams thought they would (y).' Thefe confiderations, 161, 8vo. with those mentioned by lord Bolingbroke, abundantly Cambridge,

K 4

liams, p.

account 1700.

miniously; and nothing against that nation was afterwards attempted, though peace was not proclaimed till the middle of the year 1631. Nor was this prince more fortunate in the war (FF) which, by the inftigation of Buckingham, he made against France, at the

account for the behaviour of Charles's parliament, and are a juftification of it.

(FF) Nor was this prince more fortunate in the war, &c.] In the note (1) I have fhewn the real causes of this war, even the luft and revenge of Buckingham: but this was carefully to be concealed from the world, and Charles was made to believe that he had received injuries from France, and that his honour and intereft required him to revenge them.

Buckingham therefore prevailed on him to declare war against the French king, and, for the reafons of it, to alledge the influence of the house of Auftria on the councils of France, manifested in count Mansfield's being denied landing with his army there, in the conclufion of his father's reign; the injuries and oppreffions of the proteftants of France, though they had strictly adhered to the edict of peace concluded by his mediation; and the injuftice of his moft chriftian majefty, in feizing upon one hundred and twenty English fhips in time of full peace. Thefe were the pretences on which war against France was made, when Charles was unable to profecute that he was engaged in against Spain. However, a good fleet was equipped out, an army put on board, and Buckingham, who was ignorant of military affairs, conftituted admiral of the fleet, and commander in chief of the (*) See land-forces (z). On the 7th of June, 1627, he failed Rushworth, from Portsmouth; and having in vain attempted to get entrance into Rochelle, directed his courfe to the ifle of Rhee, where he landed his forces, and might eafily have made himself master of the fort de la Prée, and those who defended it. But he was dilatory; Thoiras, the French commander, was active, and kept him so well

vol. i. p.

424, 425.

2

em

the fame time that the Spanish breach was

un

employed, that time was given to the French court to raife forces, under the command of count Schomberg; who landed in the island without any moleftation from the English fleet, marched towards Buckingham, who was befieging St. Martin's, caufed him with precipitation to raife the fiege, and forced him to reimbark with great lofs of men and honour. The duke of Buckingham • loft in this expedition about fifty officers, near two ⚫ thousand common foldiers, five and thirty prisoners of note, and forty-four colours, which were carried to • Paris, and hung up as trophies in the cathedral there. And thus ended this expedition, with great dishonour to the English, and equal glory to the French; but in particular to monfieur Thoiras, who, for having fo bravely, with a handful of men, defended a small fort (for no other is it, tho' our journals and accounts dignify it with the title of a citadel) against a numerous fleet and army, was not long after advanced to the high

• dignity of a marefchal of France (a).'-In a letter from (4) Burchet's Denzill Holles, Efq; afterwards lord Holles, to fir Thomas naval hiftoWentworth, well known by the title of lord Strafforde, "Y, P. 377. dated Dorchester, Nov. 19, 1627, we have the following

account of this unhappy expedition.

• God hath bleffed us better than we deserve, or, • by our preparations, than we could expect, or else we had been in a far worse condition than now we are, though we be fufficiently bad; for it was a thousand to one we had loft all our fhips, to close up this unfortunate action, if a fair wind had not fo opportunely come to have brought them off; for they had but ten days • victuals left, which failing, they must have fubmitted themselves to the enemies mercy, who befides were preparing with long-boats to have come and fired them, which was marvellous feasible, if they had staid never fo little longer. For the particulars of their most fhameful deroute upon their retreat, which is, or will be, in every body's mouth, I doubt not but you know as well or better than myself. For the action in ge

•neral,

unclosed. Every one knows the shameful defcent

neral, one of themselves, who, for his underftanding and fincerity, I may term alfo a prophet of their own, has given me this cenfure of it; that it was ill begun, worfe ordered in every particular, and the fuccefs accordingly moft lamentable: nothing but difcontents ⚫ between the general and the most understanding of his < foldiers, as Burroughs, Courtney, Spry; every thing done against the hair, and attempted without probability of fuccefs, and there was no hopes of maftering the place from the very beginning, especially fince • Michaelmas, that a very great fupply came at once into the fort, and that fince they relieved it at their pleasure; C yet for all this the duke would stay, and would not stay, doing things by halves; for had he done either, and gone through with it, poffibly it could not have been fo ill as it is: for he removed his ordnance and fhipped it almost a month afore he raised his fiege; yet still ⚫ kept his army there, fit neither for offence nor defence; and at the laft, the Saturday before the unfortunate Monday he came away, would needs give a general affault, where many good men were loft, when there was no ordnance to protect them going on or coming off. Et qualis vita, finis ita, as they behaved themfelves while they were there, fo did they at their coming away; for though they knew two thousand French landed that morning in the island, and that there was at least three thousand in the two forts, the great one and the little one, (of which, by the way, we never heard; but they thought it not fit we should know all, perhaps because they knew fecrecy an effential part of war-policy) fo as they could not but expect to be a little troubled with them in their marching, yet made they no provifion to fecure themselves: for being to < pafs by a narrow caufey, (where more than fix or eight could not go in front, and which a very small number might have made good against a million) and fo by a bridge over a little paffage into an ifland, as it were,

6

こ

where once being, they would be safe, there was no • order