The Hartlib Papers

May it please your Lordships

I cannot expresse the insupportable trouble & grief of mind I sustaine under the apprehensions of being misrepresented to your Lordships, & when I heare how much of your Lordships time hath been spent in the mentioning of me, as it is attended with more publick consequences, & of the differences in Opinion which how already or may probably arise between your Lordships, & the Honorable House of Commons, wherein the great & mighty affairs of the Kingdom may be obstructed, in a time of so generall dissatisfaction, I am very unfortunate to find myself to suffer so much disadvantageous reflections which are in no degree applicable to me.

The first from the greatnesse of my Estate & fortune collected in so few yeares, which if it were proportional to what it is reported, may very reasonably cause my integrity to be suspected.

The second that I have been the sole Mannager, & chief Minister in all transactions of State since the Kings Returne into England to August last, & therefore that all miscarriages & misfortunes ought to be reputed to me & my Counsells. Concerning my Estate your Lordships may believe that after Malice & Envy have been so inquisitive & sharpsighted I will not offer any thing to your Lordship that in the <but what is exactly true. I doe assure your Lordships that in the> first place excepting from the Kings Bounty, I never received one penny, but what generally understood to be the Iust & Lawfull perquisites of my place, but what was the constant president of the best times, which I did in my own Iudgment conceive to be that of My Lord Coventry, & My Lord Ellesmere, & practise of which I constantly observed although the office in both their times was double to what it was to me. And I believe now that all courtesies or favours that I have been able to obtaine from the King for other persons in church or state or in Westminster-hall have nowayes been worth to me 5^lb. So that your Lordships may be confident that I am as innocent from corruption as from any disloyaltie, which now after near 30 yeares service to the Crowne & some difficulties & distresses, I did never suspect would have been objected against me in my old age. I doe assure your Lordships I shall make it very manifest that the severall summs of money & some parcels of land which his Majestie has bountifully bestowed upon me, since his returne into England, are worth more then all I have amounts to, so farre j am <from> [deletion] advancing my Estate by any indirect meanes; and though the bounty of his Majestie hath farre exceeded my meritt or my exspectations, yett some others have been as fortunate at least in the same bounty who had as small pretences to it as I, & have no great reason to envie my condition, & concerning the other objection of the credit & power of being chief Minister, & so causing <all> to be done all that I had a mind to, I have no more to say but that I had the fortune to serve a Master of very great Iudgment & understanding & to be alwayes joyned with persons of very great abilitie & experience, without whose advice & concurrence never went anything that hath been done before his Majesties comming into England. He was constantly attended by the then Marquess of Ormond & late Lord Culpeper, & Mr Secretary Nicholas, who were alwayes intrusted with myselfe, without whose advice & concurrence when they were all present as some of them always were I never gave any Counsell. Assoone as it pleased God to bring his Majestie into England, he established his privie-Counsell, & shortly out of them a number of Honourable Persons of great reputation, all which or the most [part MS corner damaged] are alive still, as a Committee for forraigne affaires & consideration for the charge, as the Nature of them requires much secrecy, & with these persons he vouchsafed to joyne me,

I am confident this Committie never transacted any thing of moment, his Majestie being always present, without presenting the same first to the Counsell-Board; & I must appeale to them concerning my carriage, & whether wee were not all of one minde of all matters of Importance for more then 27 yeares I never knew any difference in the Counsells, or that there were any Complaints in the Kingdome, which I wholly imputed to his Majesties great Wisdome, & the entire concurrence of his Counsell without the vanity of assuming to myself, & therefore I shall not be singly charged with any thing that hath since fallen out amisse. And from the time that Mr Secretary Nicholas was removed from his place, there were great alterations, & whosoever knows anything of the Court or Counsell, knows well how much my Credit hath since that time been diminished, though his Majestie vouchsafed still to heare my advice in most of his affaires. Nor hath there been from that time till this above 1 or 2 persons brought to the Counsell, or preferred to any considerable Office in church or state Court, who have been of my intimate acquaintance, or suspected to have any kindness for me, & most of them notoriously known to have been very long my Enemies & of different Iudgments & principles from me both in Church & State, & who have taken all opportunitie to lessen my credit with the King, & with all other persons, by misrepresenting or misreporting all that I have sayd or done, perswading Men that I have done them prejudice with his Majestie or crost them in some of their proceedings though his Majesties goodness & Iustice was such that it made little impression upon him. In my humble opinion, the great misfortunes of the Kingdome have proceeded from the warre, to which it is notoriously knowne I have been alwayes most averse, & may without vanitie say that i did not onely foresee, but did declare the mischief wee should runne into by entring into a warre before any alliance with the neighbour princes; And that it may not be imputed to his Majesties want of Care, or the negligence of his Counsellors that no such alliances were entred into, I must take the boldness to saye that his Majestie left nothing unattempted in order thereunto, & knowing very well that France resolved to beginne a Warre upon Spaine, so soon as his Catholick Majestie should depart this world, which being much sooner exspected by them, they had in the 2 winters before been at great charges in providing plentifull Magazines of all provisions upon the frontieres that they might be ready for the warre. His Majestie used all meanes probable to prepare & dispose the Spaniards with what apprehensions he could offering his friendship to that degree as might be for the security & benefitt of both crowns. But Spaine flattering itself that France would not break with them, at least that they would not give them any cause by administring matter of Iealousie to them, never made an approach towards a friendship with his Majestie but both by their Embassador here, & to his Majesties Ambassadour at Madrid always insisted as preliminaries to giving up of Dunkirk, Tangier & Iamaica,, though France had an Ambassadour here to whom a prospect for Treaty was offered, and the Lord Hollis, his Majesties Ambassadour at Paris used all endeavours to perswade & prosecute the sayd Treaty, yett it was quickly discovered that the principall designe of France was to drawe his Majestie into such nearer alliance, as might advance their designes, without which they had no mind to enter into the Treaty proposed. And this was the State of France when the Warre was entred into with the Dutch, from which time neither Crowne considered much the making of an alliance with England. As I did from my soul abhorre the entring into this warre, so I never presumed to give any advice or counsell for the way of mannagement of it but by opposing many propositions, which seemed to the late Lord Treasurer & myself to be unreasonable as the payment of Seamen by Tickets & many other Particulars, which added to the expence, my enemies took all occasion to envie against me, & making friendship with others out of the Counsell of more licentious principles, & who <know> well enough how I disliked & complained of the libertie they took to themselves of reviling all counsells [catchword: &]

Nor have I in my life upon all Treaties or otherwise received the value of 1^sh from all the Kings & princes in the world, except the book of the lower princes sent me by the chancellor of France by the Kings command, but from my owne Master, to whose entire service, the good & welfare of my Countrey no mans heart was ever more devoted. This being my present condition, I doe most humbly beseech Your Lordships to continue a Favourable Opinion of me & believe me to be innocent from those foule aspersions till the contrary shall be proved, which I am [MS torn, words missing] never be by any Men worthy to be believed, & since the [dis^...MS torn]

                                        Clarendon/.

This letter was sent by the Earl of Clarendon

to the House of Lords, & by them to the Commons,

who after reading thereof posted these 2 Resolves

                   Resolved

That the Paper sent by the Earle of Clarendon,

to the Lords & by them sent downe to this House, is

scandalous & seditious, & doth reproach the King,

& Publick Iustice of the Nation.

                   Resolved

That the Lords be desired that the sayd Paper be

burned by the hand of the Hangman

               This to be burned on thursday next.

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