Lives Of The Poets, Vol. 1 (fiscle part-III) - Samuel Johnson (classic books to read txt) 📗

The King, Whose Judgment Too Frequently Yielded to

Importunity, A Commission Of Array, Directed to Such As He Thought Proper

To Nominate, Which Was Sent To London By The Lady Aubigney. She Knew Not

What She Carried, But Was To Deliver It On The Communication Of A Certain

Token, Which Sir Nicholas Imparted.

 

 

 

This Commission Could Be Only Intended to Lie Ready, Till The Time Should

Require It. To Have Attempted to Raise Any Forces, Would Have Been

Certain Destruction; It Could Be Of Use Only When The Forces Should

Appear. This Was, However, An Act Preparatory To Martial Hostility.

Crispe Would, Undoubtedly, Have Put An End To The Session Of Parliament,

Had His Strength Been Equal To His Zeal: And Out Of The Design Of Crispe,

Which Involved very Little Danger, And That Of Waller, Which Was An Act

Purely Civil, They Compounded a Horrid And Dreadful Plot.

 

 

 

The Discovery Of Waller'S Design Is Variously Related. In clarendon'S

History, It Is Told, That A Servant Of Tomkyns, Lurking behind The

Hangings, When His Master Was In conference With Waller, Heard Enough

To Qualify Him For An Informer, And Carried his Intelligence To Pym. A

Manuscript, Quoted in the Life Of Waller, Relates, That "He Was Betrayed

By His Sister Price, And Her Presbyterian Chaplain, Mr. Goode, Who Stole

Some Of His Papers; And, If He Had Not Strangely Dreamed the Night

Before, That His Sister Had Betrayed him, And, Thereupon, Burnt The Rest

Of His Papers, By The Fire That Was In his Chimney, He Had Certainly Lost

His Life By It." The Question Cannot Be Decided. It Is Not Unreasonable

To Believe, That The Men In power, Receiving intelligence From The

Sister, Would Employ The Servant Of Tomkyns To Listen At The Conference,

That They Might Avoid An Act So Offensive As That Of Destroying the

Brother By The Sister'S Testimony.

 

 

 

The Plot Was Published in the Most Terrifick Manner. On The 31St Of

May, 1643, At A Solemn Fast, When They Were Listening to The Sermon, A

Messenger Entered the Church, And Communicated his Errand To Pym, Who

Whispered it To Others That Were Placed near Him, And Then Went With Them

Out Of The Church, Leaving the Rest In solicitude And Amazement. They

Immediately Sent Guards To Proper Places, And, That Night, Apprehended

Tomkyns And Waller; Having yet Traced nothing but That Letters Had Been

Intercepted, From Which It Appeared that The Parliament And The City Were

Soon To Be Delivered into The Hands Of The Cavaliers.

 

 

 

They, Perhaps, Yet Knew Little Themselves, Beyond Some General And

Indistinct Notices. "But Waller," Says Clarendon, "Was So Confounded with

Fear, That He Confessed whatever He Had Heard, Said, Thought, Or Seen;

All That He Knew Of Himself, And All That He Suspected of Others, Without

Concealing any Person Of What Degree Or Quality Soever, Or Any Discourse

Which He Had Ever Upon Any Occasion Entertained with Them; What Such And

Such Ladies Of Great Honour, To Whom, Upon The Credit Of His Wit And

Great Reputation, He Had Been Admitted, Had Spoke To Him In their

Chambers Upon The Proceedings In the Houses, And How They Had Encouraged

Him To Oppose Them; What Correspondence And Intercourse They Had With

Some Ministers Of State At Oxford, And How They Had Conveyed all

Intelligence Thither." He Accused the Earl Of Portland, And Lord Conway,

As Cooperating in the Transaction; And Testified, That The Earl Of

Northumberland Had Declared himself Disposed in favour Of Any Attempt,

That Might Check The Violence Of The Parliament, And Reconcile Them To

The King.

 

 

 

He, Undoubtedly, Confessed much Which They Could Never Have Discovered,

And, Perhaps, Somewhat Which They Would Wish To Have Been Suppressed;

For It Is Inconvenient, In the Conflict Of Factions, To Have That

Disaffection Known Which Cannot Safely Be Punished.

 

 

 

Tomkyns Was Seized on The Same Night With Waller, And Appears, Likewise,

To Have Partaken Of His Cowardice; For He Gave Notice Of Crispe'S

Commission Of Array, Of Which Clarendon Never Knew How It Was Discovered.

Tomkyns Had Been Sent With The Token Appointed, To Demand It From Lady

Aubigney, And Had Buried it In his Garden, Where, By His Direction, It

Was Dug Up; And Thus The Rebels Obtained, What Clarendon Confesses Them

To Have Had, The Original Copy.

 

 

 

It Can Raise No Wonder That They Formed one Plot Out Of These Two

Designs, However Remote From Each Other, When They Saw The Same Agent

Employed in both, And Found The Commission Of Array In the Hands Of Him,

Who Was Employed in collecting the Opinions And Affections Of The People.

 

 

 

Of The Plot, Thus Combined, They Took Care To Make The Most. They Sent

Pym Among The Citizens, To Tell Them Of Their Imminent Danger, And Happy

Escape; And Inform Them, That The Design Was, "To Seize The Lord Mayor,

And All The Committee Of Militia, And Would Not Spare One Of Them." They

Drew Up A Vow And Covenant, To Be Taken By Every Member Of Either House,

By Which He Declared his Detestation Of All Conspiracies Against The

Parliament, And His Resolution To Detect And Oppose Them. They Then

Appointed a Day Of Thanksgiving for This Wonderful Delivery; Which

Shut Out, Says Clarendon, All Doubts Whether There Had Been Such A

Deliverance, And Whether The Plot Was Real Or Fictitious.

 

 

 

On June 11, The Earl Of Portland And Lord Conway Were Committed, One To

The Custody Of The Mayor, And The Other Of The Sheriff; But Their Lands

And Goods Were Not Seized.

 

 

 

Waller Was Still To Immerse Himself Deeper In ignominy. The Earl Of

Portland And Lord Conway Denied the Charge; And There Was No Evidence

Against Them But The Confession Of Waller, Of Which, Undoubtedly, Many

Would Be Inclined to Question The Veracity. With These Doubts He Was So

Much Terrified, That He Endeavoured to Persuade Portland To A Declaration

Like His Own, By A Letter Extant In fenton'S Edition. "But For Me," Says

He, "You Had Never Known Any Thing of This Business, Which Was Prepared

For Another; And, Therefore, I Cannot Imagine Why You Should Hide It

So Far As To Contract Your Own Ruin By Concealing it, And Persisting

Unreasonably To Hide That Truth, Which Without You Already Is, And Will

Every Day Be Made More Manifest. Can You Imagine Yourself Bound In honour

To Keep That Secret, Which Is Already Revealed by Another? Or Possible It

Should Still Be A Secret, Which Is Known To One Of The Other Sex? If You

Persist To Be Cruel To Yourself, For Their Sakes Who Deserve It Not,

It Will, Nevertheless, Be Made Appear, Ere Long, I Fear, To Your Ruin.

Surely, If I Had The Happiness To Wait On You, I Could Move You To

Compassionate Both Yourself And Me, Who, Desperate As My Case Is, Am

Desirous To Die With The Honour Of Being known To Have Declared

The Truth. You Have No Reason To Contend To Hide What Is Already

Revealed--Inconsiderately To Throw Away Yourself, For The Interest Of

Others, To Whom You Are Less Obliged than You Are Aware Of."

 

 

 

This Persuasion Seems To Have Had Little Effect. Portland Sent, June

29, A Letter To The Lords, To Tell Them, That He "Is In custody, As

He Conceives, Without Any Charge; And That, By What Mr. Waller Hath

Threatened him With, Since He Was Imprisoned, He Doth Apprehend A Very

Cruel, Long, And Ruinous Restraint:--He, Therefore, Prays, That He

May Not Find The Effects Of Mr. Waller'S Threats, By A Long And Close

Imprisonment; But May Be Speedily Brought To A Legal Trial, And Then He

Is Confident The Vanity And Falsehood Of Those Informations Which Have

Been Given Against Him Will Appear."

 

 

 

In Consequence Of This Letter, The Lords Ordered portland And Waller

To Be Confronted; When The One Repeated his Charge, And The Other His

Denial. The Examination Of The Plot Being continued, July 1, Thinn, Usher

Of The House Of Lords, Deposed, That Mr. Waller Having had A Conference

With The Lord Portland In an Upper Room, Lord Portland Said, When He Came

Down, "Do Me The Favour To Tell My Lord Northumberland, That Mr. Waller

Has Extremely Pressed me To Save My Own Life And His, By Throwing the

Blame Upon The Lord Conway And The Earl Of Northumberland."

 

 

 

Waller, In his Letter To Portland, Tells Him Of The Reasons Which He

Could Urge With Resistless Efficacy In a Personal Conference; But He

Overrated his Own Oratory; His Vehemence, Whether Of Persuasion Or

Entreaty, Was Returned with Contempt.

 

 

 

One Of His Arguments With Portland Is, That The Plot Is Already Known

To A Woman. This Woman Was, Doubtless, Lady Aubigney, Who, Upon This

Occasion, Was Committed to Custody; But Who, In reality, When She

Delivered the Commission, Knew Not What It Was.

 

 

 

The Parliament Then Proceeded against The Conspirators, And Committed

Their Trial To A Council Of War. Tomkyns And Chaloner Were Hanged near

Their Own Doors. Tomkyns, When He Came To Die, Said It Was A "Foolish

Business;" And, Indeed, There Seems To Have Been No Hope That It Should

Escape Discovery; For, Though Never More Than Three Met At A Time, Yet

A Design So Extensive Must, By Necessity, Be Communicated to Many, Who

Could Not Be Expected to Be All Faithful, And All Prudent. Chaloner Was

Attended at His Execution By Hugh Peters. His Crime Was, That He Had

Commission To Raise Money For The King; But It Appears Not That The Money

Was To Be Expended upon The Advancement Of Either Crispe'S Or Waller'S

Plot.

 

 

 

The Earl Of Northumberland, Being too Great For Prosecution, Was Only

Once Examined before The Lords. The Earl Of Portland And Lord Conway,

Persisting to Deny The Charge, And No Testimony, But Waller'S, Yet

Appearing against Them, Were, After A Long Imprisonment, Admitted to

Bail. Hassel, The King'S Messenger, Who Carried the Letters To Oxford,

Died the Night Before His Trial. Hampden Escaped death, Perhaps, By The

Interest Of His Family; But Was Kept In prison To The End Of His Life.

They, Whose Names Were Inserted in the Commission Of Array, Were Not

Capitally Punished, As It Could Not Be Proved that They Had Consented to

Their Own Nomination; But They Were Considered as Malignants, And Their

Estates Were Seized.

 

 

 

"Waller, Though Confessedly," Says Clarendon, "The Most Guilty, With

Incredible Dissimulation, Affected such A Remorse Of Conscience, That His

Trial Was Put Off, Out Of Christian Compassion, Till He Might Recover His

Understanding." What Use He Made Of This Interval, With What Liberality

And Success He Distributed flattery And Money, And How, When He Was

Brought, July 4, Before The House, He Confessed and Lamented, And

Submitted and Implored, May Be Read In the History Of The Rebellion, (B.

Vii.) The Speech, To Which Clarendon Ascribes The Preservation Of His

"Dear-Bought Life," Is Inserted in his Works. The Great Historian,

However, Seems To Have Been Mistaken In relating that "He Prevailed" In

The Principal Part Of His Supplication, "Not To Be Tried by A Council Of

War;" For, According to Whitlock, He Was, By Expulsion From The House,

Abandoned to The Tribunal Which He So Much Dreaded, And, Being tried and

Condemned, Was Reprieved by Essex; But, After A Year'S Imprisonment,

In Which Time Resentment Grew Less Acrimonious, Paying a Fine Of Ten

Thousand Pounds, He Was Permitted to "Recollect Himself In another

Country."

 

 

 

Of His Behaviour In this Part Of His Life, It Is Not Necessary To

Direct The Reader'S Opinion. "Let Us Not," Says His Last Ingenious

Biographer[85], "Condemn Him With Untempered severity, Because He Was

Not A Prodigy Which The World Hath Seldom Seen, Because His Character

Included not The Poet, The Orator, And The Hero."

 

 

 

For The Place Of His Exile He Chose France, And Stayed some Time At Roan,

Where His Daughter Margaret Was Born, Who Was Afterwards His Favourite,

And His Amanuensis. He Then Removed to Paris, Where He Lived with Great

Splendour And Hospitality; And, From Time To Time, Amused himself With

Poetry, In which He Sometimes Speaks Of The Rebels, And Their Usurpation,

In The Natural Language Of An Honest Man.

 

 

 

At Last, It Became Necessary, For His Support, To Sell His Wife'S Jewels;

And Being reduced, As He Said, At Last "To The Rump-Jewel," He Solicited,

From Cromwell, Permission To Return, And Obtained it By The Interest Of

Colonel Scroop, To Whom His Sister Was Married. Upon The Remains Of A

Fortune Which The Danger Of His Life Had Very Much Diminished, He Lived

At Hall Barn, A House Built By Himself Very Near To Beaconsfield, Where

His Mother Resided. His Mother, Though Related to Cromwell And Hampden,

Was Zealous For The Royal Cause, And, When Cromwell Visited her, Used

To Reproach Him; He, In return, Would Throw A Napkin At Her, And Say He

Would Not Dispute With His Aunt; But Finding, In time, That She Acted for

The King, As Well As Talked, He Made Her A Prisoner To Her Own Daughter,

In Her Own House. If He Would Do Any Thing,