1846.] THE LONG PARLIAMENT AND SIR SIMONDS D'EWES. 'I withdrew out of the house about twelve | against me to the full, which at first I verily of the clock, and returned a little while after. believed they had intended; for I expected This long, impertinent, and dangerous decla- nothing less than that, being caused unjustly ration was then read through, and one was to withdraw, they would either have sent me speaking to it as I came into the House. prisoner to the Tower, or discomposed me out Divers fiery spirits then called "to the Ques- of the House. But God, who restrained the tion;" and the Speaker was standing up to devil in the case of Job, did so far overawe put it, which made me ask him, sitting near them, as though the said Strode and Hollis, him, what question he meant to put? He and one Mr. Henry Martin, whom I had once answered me, whether it should pass or not. or twice brought off in the House, being quesWhereupon I stood up and spake in effect fol- tioned, for indiscreet words which deserved a lowing, being extremely provoked at their un-reproof far better than mine, did vent their just and violent proceeding.' [Here follows a scurrilous and windy wit upon me; yet the speech, in which D'Ewes advocates a second House agreed to have me speedily called down reading, and alleges that great part of the again, and to express an acknowledgment in proposed declaration is to be found in a my place for what I had said, and that the pamphlet already in print; adding, that in Speaker should admouish me for it. Being one place it doth lay a scandal on Queen thereupon called down to my place, and standElizabeth's reign.'] I have entered this ing up, the Speaker told me that the House speech at large, so far as I could call it to took offence at what I had said, and therefore memory; that so posterity to come may see, expected from me that I should acknowledge that when those furious spirits of the House of my fault and my sorrow for it; but I knowing Commons were irritated with my freedoms of the integrity and uprightness of mine own expression, that had for about four months last heart, and how unjustly I had been quespast resisted, and often also alone, without tioned, spake in effect following:-[That he being seconded by any (who were most of was very sorry for the manner of delivery, &c.] them overawed, as the king hath well, set out Having thus spoken I sat down in my place, in some of his late declarations and answers), and did put on my hat; whereupon that firetheir bitter and irreverential language towards brand Strode, who had first taken exception, his majesty, and their fierce and hot prepar- stood up and said, that he was altogether unations for a civil war, they took this frivolous satisfied with what I had done, for I had rather and unjust occasion to call in question what I justified myself in what I had delivered than said at this time. The first fiery tongue that acknowledged any fault; in which his malifell upon me was one Mr. William Strode, a cious heart did dictate mightily indeed to his notable profaner of the Scriptures, and a man tongue. But Mr. Nat. Fiennes stood up, and doubtless void of all truth of piety, whose did very nobly express himself, saying, that I vanity I had several times of late reproved had done enough, &c.; so the said Strode's publickly; and he said, that I had offered malicious motion came to nothing. The wrong to the committee whom the House had Speaker then spoke to me again, and I stood entrusted, in laying an accusation upon them, up, and told me that the House took it worse as if they had transcribed this declaration out from me, "in respect of my great learning and of a pamphlet in print, and desired that I knowledge "-such were the words he usedmight explain myself. Whereupon I stood that 1 should speak any thing which might up and said, that I had not alleged that the trench upon the actions of a committee, than committee had taken it out of a pamphlet in they would have done from another man, &c. ; .. This print, but that it was in a pamphlet in print, and so I sat down again in my place, and con&c. But notwithstanding the just apology I tinued there till the House rose.... had made, divers of the violent and fiery horrible ingratitude for all my services, and inspirits called upon me to withdraw; and one justice towards me, proceeding from divers Mr. Carew, my formerly seeming friend, Mr. who professed religion, made me resolve to Nathaniel Fiennes, and Mr. Denzil Hollis, a leave off further writing and speaking in the proud ambitious man, took other frivolous ex- House, and to come as seldom amongst them ceptions at what I had said, which I thought not as I could; seeing liberty of speech was taken worth the answering, but rather chose to with-away, hoping to spend my time much better draw into the committee chamber, although Mr. upon my invaluable studies. Nay, divers of Waller stood up and offered to speak against these men, forgetting the solemn protestation my withdrawing. Divers cried that I should they had made before God to preserve the not withdraw, and some catched at my cloak privileges of Parliament, would have excused to stay me, as I went along towards the com- this injury done unto me, by affirming that they mittee chamber. After I was withdrawn, did it only to be merry with me; others, who these fiery spirits, though I had always con- abhorred this action of theirs, observed, that by curred with them, hoping that their profession my vindicating and justifying myself after my of religion, at least of some of them, was un-return from the committee chamber, they refeigned, and oftentimes held up their cause ceived more dishonor by questioning me, than ever since the beginning of Parliament, except if they had been silent. in the matter of the triennial bill, and their last * Harl. MS., 163, fo. 676, b. ness. The following details regarding the proceedings of the hot spirits' are not a little 'Divers of the members of the House of Commons,' proceeds D'Ewes, 'being returned from the conference, notwithstanding it was so late, yet caused the door to be presently shut, so as those that would come in might, but no one could go out; and then the report being A proceeding which did such violence | ford, who had married the Earl of Essex's to D'Ewes's self-esteem, destroyed for a sister, had several children by her, and was time all his interest in parliamentary busi-like to be heir to the Earl of Essex himself, Thenceforth he went to the House who had no children.' late, sat there silent and chagrined, and stole away early. In his estimation, all freedom of debate, all chance of accommo-striking :dation with the King-every thing was lost, on that fatal Saturday. Malice and faction became triumphant. The men whom D'Ewes had previously followed, almost implicitly, were discovered to be hot and fiery spirits; Henry Martin was a fiery heathen;' Glyn a swearing profane fel-made, divers of the hotter spirits were not conlow; John Gurdon a violent, ignorant man, Henry Martin's ape;' and young Pye, a son of that Sir Robert whose praise had lately been so delightful in the ears of D'Ewes, was found to be a more simple fellow even than his father.' forth, D'Ewes's Diary became a Jeremiad; no longer the register of the great achievements of the Record Member-the ample chronicle of all he said and did, and how others flattered him-but a sorrowing and fragmentary memorial of the misdeeds of erring profligates, ruined by the rejection of their Mentor. Grieved and wounded by their ingratitude, D'Ewes shrouded himself in dignified sorrow, and sat by, a mere spectator of the great Drama that was playing out around him-save only when the course of events rendered it necessary for him either to relinquish his seat, or to lay aside for a moment his stern magnanimous reAn instance of that kind occurred serve. in August 1642. Thence The King having set up his standard, and the Parliament placed their troops under the command of the Earl of Essex, a royal proclamation was issued, declaring the parliamentary general to be a traitor. The House of Lords passed a vote, pledging the members of that assembly to maintain the Earl of Essex with their lives and fortunes; and at a conference between the two concurrence. Houses, this resolution was communicated to the Commons, with a desire for their D'Ewes tells us that the Earl of Essex, being present at the Conference, stood up and said, 'That he had not undertaken the command out of any ambition, and that, far from being disheartened by the king's proclamation, he should proceed with greater courage and alacrity.' He added, "That neither should he be afraid to meet a great man that was to be opposed against him; by which,' says D'Ewes,' he meant the Marquis of Hert tent to pass the vote which the Lords had Sir William Armin, Sir William Morley, | and several others. At length it came to the turn of Sir Thomas Bowyer, who was sitting next to D'Ewes, on his right hand. He said that he agreed with the declaration, in as far as it was consistent with his oath of allegiance to the King. The Speaker had already declared that every member should give an unqualified answer; and when Sir Thomas Bowyer resumed his seat, there was a great outcry of With-me;" and so, putting on his hat, made an end draw! Withdraw!' He rose as if to comply, but D'Ewes entreated him to remain, and he resumed his seat. The Speaker then told him, that if he were not satisfied to give his single "Aye," he might give his "No." He instantly did so. The House seemed upon the very verge of an uproar, when D'Ewes was appealed to by several members around him. 'I stood up,' records the indignant martyrmember, 'being the first time I had done so since the unjust proceedings against me on Saturday the 23d July last past, and I said, that I saw the p rticulars for the defence of which I was to declare myself were all conjoined, and therefore I might very well give my "Aye" to it, which I did. At which some snarling spirits began to take exception; but the Speaker, conceiving to himself how he had overdone his work on the said 23d July, stood up and said, that I had answered as fairly and fully as possibly could be desired, and that he himself had given his Aye in the same notion; and thereupon the House slighted those begun cavils, and I sat still. 'Sir Thomas Bowyer hearing what I had said, stood up again, desiring the favor of the House that he might not be surprised upon the sudden, this question being new to him; and that now, understanding from what had been last spoken, (by which he meant what I had answered,) that all those particulars were taken in a conjoined sense, he was ready to give his Aye for it, and so he did; which was accepted, though Mr. Strode and one or two more opposed it.'* "It is thus that with its conjoined sense,' and its 'non-natural sense,' and suchlike pitiful quibbles, sophistry has evaded the force of solemn obligations, in all ages of the world. The conclusion of D'Ewes's Notes respecting the departure of Essex upon his daring service, presents him to us, as treating his masters of the Commons in a very bluff and unceremonious manner. His eloquence was evidently to be found in his sword rather than in his tongue. "Harl. MS. 163, fo. 688. 'The greater part of the House went up to the Painted Chamber, conceiving that the Earl of Essex would have made some Lords coming out with the said Earl a little But the set speech at his departure after the committee of the House of Commons had placed themselves, he stood up and spoke only these words .. "My Lords, You have employed me about a service which I am very willing to undertake, and therefore I desire to know what you will please to command of speaking; and the company soon after departed, thinking this message somewhat ridiculous, that the Lords should send a solemn message for the members of the House of Commons to meet them in the Painted Chamber, because the said Earl might take his leave of them; and then, in that which he did speak, he did only apply himself to the Lords, and not so much as take notice of the House of Commons, or name them, which it seems was the reason that, as soon as the House of Commons was set, the Lords sent down a message ... that if the Speaker or any of the members of the House of Commons would be pleased to come and take their leaves of the said Earl of Essex, at Essex House in the afternoon, he would be very ready to give them entertainment and the House rising soon after, the Speaker and divers of the members of the House of Commons went into the court of wards to the said Earl, who, being then taking of Tobacco, did salute them with his hat in one hand, and the Pipe in the other. 'He went through London between two and three o'clock, going from Essex House with about three hundred horse, the trained bands of London standing in the streets, the pikemen on one side and the musqueteers on the other, to guard him as he went along; and, to make the solemnity the greater, he passed through Fleet Street, and so up Ludgate Hill into Cheapside, and so to Bishopgate, and so crossed over Moorfields up to Islington, and there, a little after he was past the Artillery Garden, lighted off his horse, and went into his coach with six horses, and having coaches layed by the way for him, went this night to Dunstable, thirty miles from London, in his way to Northampton, whither he got the next day, a great part of his army attending him there; and, amongst other particulars, he caused to be carried along with him his coffin and winding-sheet, and funeral escutcheons ready drawn.' many such instances. When Sir John Culpepper was sent from the King with a message to the House, D'Ewes gives the following account of his reception. After a debate as to the way in which he should be called in, the Sergeant was sent out for him, with the mace. 'Whether he were surprised with fear or astonishment, or the unexpectedness of his calling in, I know not; he followed the serjeant in, almost as speedily as he could return back again, and being come to the bar, and there standing bareheaded, looked so dejectedly as if he had been a delinquent rather than a member of the House, a privy counsellor, or a messenger from his Majesty. The Speaker, then sitting in his chair, and keeping his hat on, said, "Sir John Culpepper," without styling him Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, "the House understands that you have a message from his Majesty, which they give you liberty to perform." Whereupon he said only, that his Majesty had sent by him a message in writing, which he had ready to deliver to them, and so delivered it. And then the Speaker wished him to withdraw, which he did accordingly.'* Other appearances in the House, far more humiliating than that of Sir John Culpepper, are recorded by D'Ewes. Waller's conduct on his several examinations, in connexion with his plot, is very fully described-particularly his miserable, abject mien and aspect, before that very Assembly which had been many a time delighted by his eloquence, and enlivened by his wit. Such was the effect of his appearance upon his old associates, that many of them could not forbear shedding tears. Hotham, the man who had refused to admit his sove reign into Hull, was still more overpowered with grief; but in both, there was a mixture of sycophancy. Waller practised subtle adulation, whilst he expressed in his tone and gesture the lowest degree of a dejected spirit.' Hotham wept with such intensity and passion, as to deprive him of the very faculty of speaking, and he often struck his right hand upon the bar where he leaned, holding a walking-staff in his left, so as the Speaker, perceiving in what case he was, bade him withdraw.' And yet D'Ewes records of this same man: 'Mr. Pym then moved, that whereas it had been ordinarily reported that Sir John Hotham could discover something of his transporting money, he desired that he might be called in Harl. MS. 163 fo. 680 b. again, and the question asked of him. This was accordingly done. At which, looking on Mr. Pym, who sat next the bar on his right hand, he said in a fawning, flattering way, Truly I do not know whether you speak to me What! I, sir! I say any thing of Mr Pym! in jest or earnest, for I know nothing of it, more nor less.' The Speaker then asked, whether he had not formerly said that he did know? "No truly, sir," answered he; "for if I had said so, I had told a famous lie." At this latter carriage of his, all that wished him well were more ashamed than at his former." those which resulted from the failure of his D'Ewes had many other troubles besides parliamentary career. In July 1641, his wife was attacked with smallpox, following hard upon a confinement, and died on the 27th of that month, during his absence in London, and under circumstances extremely distressing. His grief was acute but transient. They had had many children, but she left no son surviving. The desire of perpetuating his noble name was too deeply rooted in the heart of Sir Simonds to allow him to remain long a widower. Guided by the same motives which influenced his former choice, he selected Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress, with only one sister, of Sir Henry Willoughby of Risley in Derbyshire. They were married on the 20th September, 1642; and on the afternoon of that same day, D'Ewes had the pleasure of introducing his bride to Mr. Speaker, who met them walking amongst the fashionables in St. James's Park. This second match was quickly followed by another attack upon D'Ewes, in the House of Commons, which we must allow him to describe. It is under the date of Thursday, 22d Se tember, 1642. 'I came in between 10 and 11 The Speaker delivered in a letter which had been lately sent him by Sir Roland St. John, Sir John Dryden, and others of the committee at Northampton, in which they sent an examination of one Roan... in which he confessed that he was employed in Staffordshire by Lieutenant-Colonel D'Ewes, to raise men for the regiment of Colonel Bolls... The House made some little stand at the clerk's pronouncing my brother's name; but the Speaker told them that it was my brother, and I acknowledged it; and the particulars having been read, the House was ready to lay it aside, but that Mr Henry Martin, who had long affected an infamous fame to make fiery and indiscreet motions, stood up and desired, that I being brother to him who raised men against the parliament, might declare what I would do for the defence of the parliament. After I had 1846.] THE LONG PARLIAMENT AND SIR SIMONDS D'EWES. sitten a pretty while, I stood up and said, that contend discreetly. His opposition was a perhaps he who last spake might have a bro- disputatious, quarrelsome altercation, which ther subject to error as well as myself (and annoyed without frustrating, and disposed he had a brother that was a very debauched spendthrift); but that neither himself nor his adversaries to take advantage of every could be called to answer for our brother's opportunity for retaliation. The position faults, and that, if it had been in my power to of his brother, no doubt, added to the jeadissuade him from going on this expedition, lousy which his own conduct inspired, but he had not been there now amongst them. that cause of quarrel was soon removed. And for my declaring myself, I should be This promising soldier, a young man," ready as soon as I knew how much of mine own I can be master of, to declare myself in says Clarendon, of notable courage and such way as to give satisfaction to this House. vivacity,' was wounded in the attack upon But one Glyn, a lawyer who had long sided Caversham bridge during the siege of Readwith the fiery spirits, and Sir William Armin, ing; and, being removed into the town, said that this was no satisfactory answer; died there very cheerfully.' The news whereupon divers near me desiring me to de-instantly produced another, and a very unclare myself, I stood up again and spake in feeling attack upon D'Ewes in the House. effect following, ...For Mr Glyn he Mr. John Gurdon, one of the representatives cannot know the state of my affairs, and for the other gentleman who said the county in for Ipswich, and member of a family bewhich my estate lies is in as good condition tween which and that of D'Ewes there had as any county in England, it is indeed very been a long-standing friendship, assailed true that we do as yet enjoy quiet there; but him in a way which he declares to have my tenants do learn wariness from other been as ungrateful, in respect of some places, and pay little rent, and I may truly say particular obligations from him to me,' as that for near upon two years that I have served it was certainly in bad taste, if not, as he in this House, and that with much diligence till I have had some diversion of late, (viz. in terms it, barbarous.' Gurdon would have prosecuting my second blessed match,) I have had D'Ewes instantly called to account for scarce looked into mine own estate, or know his brother's estate-some £4000 or £5000 much more of it than he doth. I shall therefore desire liberty to retire into the country for a month or two to get in my estate." That I would freely give them L.40 down presently, and would enlarge it according as I could get in that which belonged to me. I thought I should have given full content by this free offer; but some of the fiery spirits, grown into a real envy against me, because of the late great marriage God had vouchsafed me, began to cavil at my proffer; and Sir Robert Harley had so little wit as to desire that I should declare what I would do, which occasioned a further discussion, in which Glyn, Sir William Armin, and Sir Harbottle Grimstone took part, and,] in the issue, my offer was neither accepted nor rejected... only I still pressing the House for liberty to go into the country, the Speaker told them, that I had married a fair lady, and therefore they had great reason to give me leave to accompany her into the country . . . This motion also ... was neither granted nor rejected.' of ready money, as he alleged, besides lands-saying that the money would come very fitly to be sent for supply to the Lord Fairfax. Thus called upon, D'Ewes stood up, and though,' as he says, the business was very sudden and unexpected to him, being newly clad with a sad and mournful habit,' his crafty wit supplied him instantly with a miserable evasion. By assuring the House that his brother died in his bed at Reading, he would have led them to believe that he had not been killed in arms against from the parliament. If,' he continued with more truth, you will take his property me by force and violence, so you may deprive me also of the rest of my estate.' The greater part of the House was satisfied, and several exclaimed, God forbid we should take any thing away which was given you!' The Speaker echoed this sentiment, but Gurdon still persisted, exclaimOn the 11th of October Sir Gilbert Ger- ing several times aloud, I am sure he died rard renewed these motions on D'Ewes's a traitor to the parliament ?-Clownish behalf; and some of the fiery spirits words, says D'Ewes; but which the House being absent,' obtained for him the desired so far regarded as to refer the matter to the permission to retire for a month into Suf- Committee of Sequestration; notwithstandfolk. The difficulty he had found in pro- ing his declaration that although his brother curing this accustomed liberty, gives proof had once had £4000 or £5000, he had of the suspicion with which he was regarded. He had become, indeed, a constant opponent of the parliamentary leaders, and there never was a man who was less able to spent it all in foreign travel, and had left only fifteen shillings in ready money. Before the Sequestrators, D'Ewes's adroitness did not forsake him. I told them that I |