THE Secret History OF K. JAMES I. AND K. CHARLES I. Compleating the Reigns OF THE Four last Monarchs By the Author of the Secret History of K. Charles II. and K. James II. Printed in the Year 1690. THE PREFACE THO' we ought not rashly to rake into the Ashes of Princes and expose either their Personal Miscarriages or their Failures in Management of the Government yet no doubt but the making them Publick may sometimes contribute not a little to the General Good This is evident from the Effects of our Secret History of the Two last Monarchs since by it the most wilfully Blind may be convinced how infinitely Happy we are under their present Majesty's Government beyond what we were in the late Reigns which were but a very inconsiderable matter if any thing below the French Tyranny and by setting the unparallel'd Vertues that are so Resplendent in our Gracious Soveraigns in opposition to those Ignominious Vices that reigned in the Other we may with all the reason in the World assure our selves of a lasting Peace and as much Happiness under Them Now as we had Troubles and Confusions under the Former For Their Religion Integrity and Moderation which must always be in conjunction with Princes that are truly Patres Patriae are as Notorious to the World so that Their greatest Enemies cannot deny them as were the Atheism and furious Bigottism of the Two former Reigns Vices much of the same pernicious Consequences to a Kingdom if the latter be not the more dangerous since the greatest Villanies that ever were perpetrated in the World have been Masqued with seeming Zeal for Religion But since there are not a few who tho' they seem to decry the Tyrannies of the Two late Kings yet approve of much the same Actions of the Two that Preceded Them One of whom some Men have Vainly if not Blasphemously compared to the King of Kings I thought it not amiss to Communicate a few Passages of Their Reigns that do not so commonly occur especially since they laid the Foundations of that Tyranny which the Others brought to so great a Perfection As to the former of Them viz. K. James I. it will easily appear from this following History what great steps He made towards Tyranny It is certain That the reason He gave for setting up Episcopacy in Scotland was That He might have so many Friends to rely upon in Parliament i. e. That by them as the Dead-Weight He might the better carry on His Designs there And herein His Politicks did not deceive Him for by their Means He and his Successors found it no hard matter to reduce that Kingdom to as great Slavery as any Europe hath groaned under of late Years How great a Proficient He was in the Art of Dissimulation or King-Craft will be no less apparent I shall only insert one Instance of it Here which I omitted in the History especially because I think it may not be ungrateful to the Reader viz. That after His return from Denmark to Scotland seeming mightily satisfied with the Care the Kirk-Party had taken to preserve the Kingdom in Peace during his Absence He was pleased to express himself thus in a general Assembly That He blest God that He was Born at sike a Time of the Gospel and to be King of sike a Kirk the purest Kirk in the World The Kirk of Geneva says He keep Yeul and Pasch What have they from the Word of God for that And for our Neighbour Kirk of England What is their Service but an ill said Mass in English And concluded with the Solemnest Promises to Maintain Preserve the Kirk when in the mean while He was taking all underhand Methods to Supplant it as He did a few Years after And as to His Successor tho' a Kalender'd Saint yet after all the lying Insinuations of Self-designing and ridden Persons of that Princes singular Religion that very Act of Instituting Plays and Sports on the Lord's-Day is no extraordinary Proof of it Nay it would be as easie to perswade a Person of any Religion to believe that the Alcharon is the Word of God as that a Prince of any Religion could be guilty of so Irreligious an Act as that was But I will not weary the Reader 's Patience with a large Preface since the very Subject of the following History will recommend it self sufficiently to the Perusal of all Lovers of ouâ— English Liberties THE Secret History c. QUEEN Elizabeth of Glorious and Happy Memory Dying the 24th of March 1602 about Three in the Morning to the great grief of all Her loving Subjects in general About Nine in the Morning of the same day was Proclaimed King James by the Name of JAMES the First And now many post into Scotland for to get Preferment by â—urchasing Friends with their Purses Gold and Silver being a precious Commodity in that Climate and would obtain any thing which did â—rocure Suits Honours and Offices â—o any that first came And now all Preparations was made to meet the KING in York that he might in that Northern Metropolis appear like a King of England and take that State on him there which was not known in Scotland There met Him all the Lords of the Council and there did they all make Court to the Scotch-Men that were most in Favour with the King and there did the Scotch Courtiers lay the first Foundation of their English Fortunes the chief of them was Sir George Hewme a kind of Favorite but not such as after appeared with young Faces and smooth Chins but one that for his Wisdom and Gravity had been in some Secret Counsels with his Master which created that dearness between them and the chief of those Secrets was that of Gowry's Conspiracy though that Nation gave little credit to the Story but would speak both slightly and despitefully of it and those the Wisest of that Nation knowing indeed there was no such Conspiracy yet that the World might be still abused they continued to Mock Almighty GOD by a Weekly Commemoration in the Tuesday's Sermon and an Anniversary-Feast as great as it was possible for the Kings Preservation ever on the Fifth of August And I wish the effects of those Sermons in the Father's time were not one cause of God's Anger towards the Son Sir Robert Cecil by the means of Sir George Hewme the Favorite contrary to most Peoples expectations not only gets into the Favour of King James but in such dearness and privacy with the King as if he had been his Faithful Servant for many Years his Friends Wit or Wealth did not raise him so much as some believ'd as the ill Offices done by him to this Nation in discovering the Nature of the People and shewing the King the way how to enhance his Prerogative so above the Laws that he might Enslave the Nation which though it took well then yet it hath been of sad and dangerous consequence in after-times for first he caused great
Advancing the King's Revenue First Levying of Customs and Impost on all Merchandize supposed to be settled to the King by the Two last Parliaments Privy Seals also were Issued out and Benevolence proposed and at length a Commission for a General Loan was Resolved on Sir Randolph Crew for not appearing Vigorous in promoting the Loan was Displaced from being Lord-Chief-Justice the Bishop of Lincoln was likewise Informed against in the Star-Chamber by Sir J. Lamb and Dr. Sibthorp for speaking against the Loan and seeming to Favour the Puritans and Non-Conformists The Assessment of the Loan was generally Opposed whereupon the People of the lower Rank were ordered to Appear in the Millitary-Yard next St. Martins in the Fields before the Lieutenant of the Tower to be Listed for Souldiers it being thought Necessary that those which refused to Assist with their Purses in Common Defence should be forced to Serve in their Persons Others of better Quality were bound to Appear at the Council-Table several of whom were Committed Prisoners to the Fleet Marshalsea Gate-house c. and among others Sir J. Elliot who Petitioned His Majesty and repeated many Precedents That all manner of Taxes in former King's Reigns were never Levied but by the General Consent of the Nobility and Commons Assembled in Parliament However he was Committed Prisoner to the Gate-House and upon the same account Sir P. Haymon was Commanded to Serve the King in the Palatinate which he did accordingly Doctor Sibthorp and Dr. Maynwaring two Eminent Preachers at Court about this time Preached up the Necessity and Duty of the Loan One of them Asserting That the Prince had Power to Direct his Council and make Laws and that Subjects if they cannot exhibit Active Obedience in case the Thing commanded should be against the Law of God or Nature or more impossible yet nevertheless they ought to yield Passive Obedience and in all other Cases they were bound to Active Obedience The other Affirmed That the King 's Royal Command in Imposing of Laws and Taxes though without Common Consent in Parliament did Oblige the Subject's Conscience upon Pain of Eternal Damnation Which Position being entertain'd by the Court with Applause the Sermon of Dr. Sibthorp's call'd Apostolick Obedience was Licensed by Doctor Laud Bishop of London And an express Command was sent from the King to Arch-Bishop Abbot to Licence it which he refused Whereupon he was Suspended from his Archiepiscopal-Sea In 1627. being the Third Year of His Majesty's Reign the Duke of Buckingham to clear his Reputation as to the Charge of Negligence in his Admiralship with much ado Compleated his Naval Forces consisting of Six thousand Horse and Foot in Ten Ships Royal and Ninety Merchant-Men with which he set Sail from Portsmouth June 27th and Published a Manifesto of the K.'s Affections to the Reformed Churches in France But by several Accidents this Great Design miscarried At this Time the Exchequer was very low and several late Enterprizes having miscarried it was Resolved That a Parliament should be immediately Called and Writs were accordingly Issued out A Commission likewise passed under the Great Seal for raising Moneys through the Kingdom in nature of an Excise There was some Discourse of Levying of Ship-Money but it was declined at that Time because of the Parliament's approaching Upon the 17th of March 1627 the Parliament Assembled and the King with the Lord-Keeper in two Speeches earnestly Pressed them to Consider of some speedy way for Supplying His Majesty's Necessities The first Thing taken into Consideration by the Commons was the Grievance of the Kingdom and the first Thing insisted on was the Case of those Gentlemen for refusing the Loan and who notwithstanding their Habeas Corpus were remanded to Prison and it was Resolved in the House Nemine contradicente That no Man ought to be Restrained by the King or Privy-Council without some Cause of the Commitment Secondly That the Writ of Habeas Corpus ought to be Granted upon Request to every Man that is Restrained though by the Command of the King and Privy-Council or any other Thirdly That if a Free-man be Imprisoned by the Command of the King c. and no Cause of such Commitment expressed and the same be Returned upon an Habeas Corpus granted for the said Party then he ought to be Delivered or Bailed Then the Parliament proceeded to draw up a Petition against Popish Recusants to which the King gave them a Satisfactory Answer After which Five Subsidies were granted to the K. which gave so great Satisfaction to His Majesty that He sent them word He would deny them nothing of their Liberties which any of his Predecessors had granted Whereupon the Commons fell upon the Memorable Petition of Right and was afterwards agreed to by both Houses that it should be settled to the King And when the Petition was Presented to His Majesty the Answer following was quickly returned The King willeth that Right be done according to Law and Customs of the Realm and the Statutes be put in due Execution that His Subjects may have no Cause to complain of any Wrongs or Oppressions contrary to their just Rights and Liberties to the Preservation whereof He holds Himself in Conscience as well Obliged as to that of his Prerogative This Answer being read in the House of Commons was not judged Satisfactory and therefore upon their humble Petition His Majesty to shew how Free and Candid His Concessions were to His Subjects sent them this short but full Answer Soit Droit Fait come il est desire Let it be done according to your Desire Which Answer mightily pleased both Houses and His Majesty for further Satisfaction suffered the Commission of Loan and Excise to be Cancelled and received Abbot and Williams into his Favour again so that all Discontents on every side seemed to be Banished In 1628. the Fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign the Parliament drew up a Remonstrance against Buckingham and against Bishop Neal and Bishop Laud which they Presented to the King with the Bill of Subsidies His Majesty telling them That He expected not such a Return for His favourable Answer to the Petition of Right and as for the Grievances He would take time to Consider An Information being likewise exhibited against the Duke in the Star-Chamber an Order was made in that Court That all Proceedings thereupon should be taken off the File by the King 's express Will and Pleasure And the King being resolved to hold up the Duke sent so brisk an Answer to their Remonstrances as provoked the Commons to question his taking Tunnage and Poundage which being of too valuable a consideration to be hazarded His Majesty Obviated by Adjourning the Parliament to the 20. of Octob. following The Earl of Danby having Sailed with Fifty Ships to the Relief of Rochel was repelled with much Loss so that despairing of Success he returned back to Plimouth Whereupon another Expedition was resolved on with a more considerable Navy and the Duke
numbers of Parliament Precedents concerning the Liberties of the Subject to be burnt next raising Two Hundred Thousand Pounds for making Two Hundred Baronets telling the King He should find his English Subjects like Asses on whom he might lay any Burthen but this Statesman died soon after very Miserable coming from Bath and was Buried on the top of a Mole-Hill near Marleborougâ— The principal Managers of the English Affairs were Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Buckhurst Egerton Lord-Keeper Worcester and the Old Admiral For the Scots Sir George Hewme now Earl of Dunbar Secretary Elfeston and the Lord of Kinloss Salisbury had now shaken off all those that were great with him in Queen Elizabeth's days as Sir Walter Rawleigh Sir G. Carew the Lord Grey and the Lord Cobham Now begins Ambassadors to appear from divers Princes the chief was Roney Duke of Sullia from the French King the Constable of Castile from the Spanish King the Count Arremburgh from the Arch-Duke To bring these Ambassadors over were appointed Sir Robert Mansel being Admiral and Sir J. Turner his Vice-Admiral to bring over the French and Spanish Ambassadors in which happened some Dispute The Constable of Castile so plyed his Masters business in which he spared for no cost that he procured a Peace so advantageous for Spain and so disadvantageous for England that It and all Christendome have since both seen and felt the lamentable effects thereof There was not one Courtier of note that tasted not of Spain's Bounty either in Gold or Jewels and among them not any in so large a proportion as the Countess of Suffolk who shared in her Lords Interest that in truth Audley-end that Famouâ— Structure had its Foundation of Spanish-Gold GOD for some secret Intent besâ— known to himself laid the Foundation of this King's Reign with thâ— greatest Plague or Mortality ever before heard of in this Kingdom and some by that judged what his futurâ— Reign would be He was forced bâ— that Contagion to leave the Metropolis and go into a by-corner in Wilt-shire in which time of his Abode there â— kind of Treason broke forth but whaâ— it was as no Man then could tell so it is left with so dark a Comment that Posterity will never understand the Text or remember any such Treason This pretended Plot consisted of Protestants Puritans Papists and Atheists a strange medly you will say to meet in one and the same Treason and keep Counsel which surely they did because they knew not of any The Protestants were the Lord Cobham and George Brook his Brother the one very Learned and Wise the other a most silly Lord The Puritan the Lord Grey of Walton a very hopeful Gentleman The Papists Watson and Clark Priests and Parham a Gentleman The Atheist Sir W. Rawleigh then generally so believed though after brought by Affliction the best School-Mistress to be and so Died a most Religious Gentleman This Sham-Plot was chiefly designed by Salisbury in which he has a double benefit first in riding himself of such as he feared would have been Thorns in his sides secondly by endearing himself to the King by shewing his diligence and vigilancy for his Safety They were all Araigned of Treason at Winchester whither the King sent some secretly to observe all Passages upon whose true and faithful Relations of the Innocency of the Persons Arraigned and slight proof upon which they were Condemned he would not be drawn to Sign any Warrant for the Execution of Rawleigh Cobham and Grey For Rawleigh's defence it was so brave and just as had he not wilfully Cast himself out of very weariness as unwilling to detain the Company any longer no Jury could ever have Cast him Yet Sir W. Rawleigh was Executed many years after for the same Treason as much against all Justice as beyond all Reason and Precedent Yea after he had been a General by the Kings Commission and had by that Power of the Lives of many others utterly against the Civil Law which saith He that hath Power of the Lives of others ought to be Master of his Own But the Spaniard was so Powerful at that time at Court as that Faction could command the Life of any Man that might prove dangerous to their Designs His Death was by him managed with so High Generous and Religious a Resolution as if a Roman had acted a Christian or rather a Christian a Roman During his Imprisonment he was Delivered of that Minerva The History of the World Now did the great Mannagers of the State of which Salisbury was Chief after they had Packed the Cards begin to deal the Government of the Kingdom among themselves yet for all their setting their Cards and playing their Games to their own advantages there was one Knave in the Pack would couzen their designs and Trump in their way if he might not share with them in their winning and that was one Lake a Clerk of the Signet afterwards made Secretary and after that turned out in disgrace This Lake was a fellow of mean Birth and meaner Breeding being an under Servant to make Fires in Secretary Walsingham's Chamber and there got some experience which afterwards in this King's Time made him appear an able Man which in Q. Eliz. Time when there was none in Court but Men of Eminency made him an inconsiderable Fellow This Lake had linked himself with the Scotch Nation helping them per fas aut nefas to fill their Purses c. For his good Service of abusing his Country and Countrymen he was made Clerk of the Signet to wait on the King in his Hunting Journies and in these Journies got all the Bills Signed even for the greatest Lords all Packets being addressed to him so that Salisbury and Northampton and the greatest Lords made Court to him By this means did he raise himself from a mean to a great Fortune but much over-awed by his Wife which after proved his overthrow besides he would tell Tales and let the King know the passages at Court and great Men as who was Salisbury's Mistress and who governed all who governed Northampton and discovered the Bawdery which did infinitely please the King's Humour and in truth had so much Craft as he served his turn upon all but was Ingrossed by none but by the Bed-Chamber who stuck so close to him that they could not yet remove him And now do the English Faction seeing they could not sever the Scots from him endeavour to raise a Mutiny against the Scots that were his Supporters their Agents divulging every where The Scots would get all and would Beggar the Kingdom The Scots on the other side complain to the King they were so poor they under-went the by-word of Beggarly-Scots To which the King returned this Answer Content your selves I will shortly make the English as Beggarly as you and so ended that Controversie This is as true as he truly performed it for however he enriched many in particular as Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Worcester Lake
Man tho' not the sole Favorite My Lord seemed averse Sir Humphry then told him in plain terms That he was sent by the King to advise it and that Villers would come to him to cast himself into his Protection to take his Rise under the shaddow of his Wings Sir Humphry May was not parted from my Lord half an hour but in comes Sir George Villers and used these very words My Lord I desire to be your Servant and your Creature and shall desire to take my Court-Preferment under your Favour and your Lordship shall find me as faithful a Servant unto you as ever did Serve you My Lord returned this quick and short Answer I will none of your Service nor you shall none of my Favour I will if I can break your Neck and of that be confident This was but a harsh Complement and favoured more of Spirit than Wisdom and since that time breaking each others Necks was their aims And it is verily believed had Somerset complyed with Villers Overbury's Death had still lain reaked up in his own Ashes but God who will never suffer Murther to go unpunished will have what He will maugre all the Wisdom of the World To Windsor doth the King return to end his Progress from thence to Hampton-Court then to White-Hall and shortly after to Royston to begin his Winter-Journey And now begins the Game to be plaid in which Somerset must be the Loser the Cards being shuffled cut and dealt between the King and Sir Edward Coke Chief Justice whose Daughter Purbeck Villers had Married and therefore a fit Instrument to ruine Somerset and Secretary Wynwood These all play'd the Stake Somerset's Life and his Ladie 's their Fortunes and the Family of Suffolk some of them played Booty and in truth the Game was not played above-board The Day the King went from White-Hall to Theobalds and so to Royston He sent for all the Judges his Lords and Servants encircling him where kneeling down in the midst he used these Words My Lords the Judges It is lately come to my hearing that you have now in examination a business of Poysoning Lord in what a most miserable Condition shall this Kingdom be the only famous Nation for Hospitality in the World if our Tables should become such a Snare as none could eat without danger of Life and the Italian Custom should be introduced among us Therefore my Lords I charge you as you will answer it at the great and dreadful Day of Judgment that you examine it strickly without Favour Affection or Partiality and if you shall spare any guilty of this Crime God's Curse light on you and your Posterity And if I spare any that are found guilty God's Curse light on Me and my Posterity for ever But how this dreadful Thunder-Curse or Imprecation was performed shall be shewed hereafter The King with this took his Farewel for a time of London and was accompanied with Somerset to Royston where no sooner he brought him but instantly took leave little imagining what Viper lay amongst the Herbs Nor must I forget to let you know how perfect the King was in the Art of Dissimulation or to give it his own Phrase King-Craft The Earl of Somerset never parted from him with more seeming Affection than at this time when he knew Somerset should never see him more The Earl when he kissed his Hand the King hang'd about his Neck flabbering his Cheeks saying When shall I see you again On my Soul I shall neither eat nor sleep until youâ— come again The Earl told him on Monday this being on the Friday For God's-sake let me said the King Shall I shall I Then lolled about his Neck Then for God's-sake give thy Lady this Kiss for me In the same manner at the Stairs-head at the middle of the Stairs and at the Stairs-foot the Earl was scarcely in his Coach when the King used these very words in the hearing of four Servants of whom one was Somerset's great Creature and of the Bed-Chamber who reported it afterwards to many about the Court I shall never see his Face more I appeal to the Reader whether this Motto of Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare was not as well performed in this Passage as his Beati Pacifici in the whole course of his Life and his Love to the latter made him be beaten with his own Weapon in the other by all Princes and States that had to do with him But before Somerset's Approach to London his Countess was apprehended at his Arrival himself And the King being that Night at Supper said to Sir Thomas Morson My Lord Chief Justice hath sent for you He asked the King when he should wait on him again who replyed You may come when you can And as in the Story of Byron and many others there have been many foolish Observations as presage so was there in this Gentleman who was the King's Master Faulconer and in truth for his extraordinary Dexterity and Skill no Prince in Christendom ever had the like So that you see the Plot was so well laid as they could be all within the Toil at one instant not knowing of each other Now are in Hold the Earl his Countess Sir Thomas Monson Mistress Turner a very lewd and infamous Woman of life Weston and Franklin with some others of less Note of which one Simon a Servant of Sir Thomas Monson's who was employed in carrying Jelly and Tart to the Tower who upon his Examination for his pleasant Answer was instantly dismissed My Lord told him Simon you have had a hand in this Poysoning Business No my good Lord I had but one Finger in it which almost cost me my Life and at the best cost me all my Hair and Nails for the truth was Simon was somewhat liquorish and finding the Syrrup swim from the top of a Tart as he carried it he did with his Finger skim it off and it was to be believed had he known what it had been he would not have been his Taster at so dear a Rate And now poor Mrs. Turner Weston and Franklin began the Tragedy Mrs. Turner's Day of Mourning being better than the Day of her Birth for she died very penitently and shewed much modesty in her last Act which is to be hoped was accepted of with God after that died Weston then was Franklin Arraigned who confessed that Overbury was smoothered to Death not poysoned to Death though he had Poyson given him In the next place came the Countess to her Tryal at whose Arraignment as also at Mrs. Turner's before were shewed many Pictures poppeâ—â— with some Exrocism and Magiâ—â— Spells which made them appear more odious as being known to converse with Witches and Wizards The next that came on the Stage was Sir Thomas Monson but the Night before he was to come to his Tryal the King being at the Game of Maw said To Morrow comes Tom Monson to his Tryal Yea said the King's Card-holder where if he do