Prince Rupert and Lord Hertford as to the appointment of the new governor to the conquered town, which called forth an unfortunate display of the arrogance of the Prince, and the misplaced partiality of the King.

The royal pride of the two Princes had been offended from the first that a nephew of the King's should be acting as Lieutenant-General under Lord Hertford.' Lord Hertford had in consequence been subjected to constant vexations by Prince Maurice's improper assumption of power, and by his attempts to cross and thwart his government and disposition of the country over which he was appointed. Lord Hertford, who was "of the "most gentle nature to the gentle, and as rough and "resolute to the imperious," had resisted these encroachments on his authority, and would not suffer the young Prince to interfere with the performance of duties in which he was necessarily far better versed than any stranger could be, even if his military genius or high rank could have entitled him to superior command. The conduct of Prince Rupert to Lord Hertford regarding the treaty was the same in spirit, and even an exaggeration of the arrogance and disrespect, that had been often exhibited towards him by Prince

1

Bishop Warburton thus comments, with some force, on this imaginary cause of affront:-" How could it possibly be thought that a mere soldier "of fortune, a foreigner, scarce of age, was hardly dealt with or degraded "in being appointed lieutenant-general to an English nobleman of the "first quality and credit, who was made general of an army that was to "be raised and kept together by his own interest in the country, and much "at the expense of his own noble fortune ?"-Warburton's note: Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. vii. p. 581.

Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 162.

Maurice, and neither of the Princes were entitled to expect that Lord Hertford should in return treat them with such ceremony as they might deem due to their rank, but which was not required by their position in the service of the King.

At Bristol, says Lord Clarendon, "the Marquis "took himself to command in chief, being a town par

ticularly within his command, and of which he was besides Lord Lieutenant." He used his right accordingly, and without communicating his intentions to the Princes declared his appointment of Sir Ralph Hopton as governor of the city. Prince Rupert, however, claimed for himself the right of disposing of this governorship. The town had been successfully entered on the side on which he commanded, whilst the Cornish army had been repulsed, and on this circumstance he grounded his pretensions "that the disposi"tion of the command and government of it wholly "belonged to him." Much might have been said in answer even to the justice of this ground of pretension; for the mode of attack had been determined on by Prince Rupert in consequence of its being practicable to take the city by assault on the side on which he was encamped, whilst Lord Hertford had but reluctantly yielded to his impetuous counsels, it being equally obvious that from the side on which the Cornish army was placed it was almost hopeless to succeed by that mode of attack. But neither these considerations nor the support he received from the Cornish foot in entering the town interfered with the pretensions which Prince 'Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 163.

2 Ibid.

Rupert founded on the merits of his own success.

He

was conscious, however, that the appointment of Sir Ralph Hopton would be too popular with the army to allow of his being "put into the scale with any private "man," and he therefore determined upon soliciting the honour for himself. By the same messenger who

1

conveyed to Oxford the welcome news of the taking of Bristol, he desired that the King "would bestow "the government of that city reduced by him upon him"self." The King immediately acceded to his wishes. He was not then aware of there being any dispute between Prince Rupert and Lord Hertford, but his ready consent to his nephew's request betrayed too great indifference to the exercise of the powers with which he had himself invested Lord Hertford to act in certain counties. No sooner had the promise been written to the Prince than an express from Lord Hertford arrived with the detailed account of the taking of Bristol, in which he failed not to give Prince Rupert all the merit that was his due, and at the same time informed the King that he designed Sir Ralph Hopton to be "governor of the new-got city." The King now felt the difficulty into which he had been drawn by his own hasty consent to Prince Ru

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Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 163.

2 Prince Rupert's intention had been "to confer it upon Sir Arthur Aston, who had been governor of Reading, and lost much reputation "there in respect of his nature and manners, not of his soldiery, which "stood as it did before."--Appendix C of Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 616. "Sir Arthur Aston, who had been at Reading, had the fortune "to be very much esteemed where he was not known, and very much dis"liked where he was."-Ibid., p. 550.

pert's demands. Lord Clarendon gives in some detail the various arguments and motives by which the King's conduct and opinions were swayed. "He had," says

he, "passed his word to his nephew, of whom he was very tender,' and did in truth believe that his title "to dispose the government was very just; he had "likewise a very just esteem of the Marquis, who had "served him with all fidelity, and had clearly declared "himself for him when the doing otherwise would have "been most prejudicial to his Majesty; and it could "not be denied no subject's affection and loyalty gave a greater lustre to the King's cause than that of the

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Marquis." The appointment of Sir Ralph Hopton was also a matter of great importance; he was a person of high merit, "and the most gracious and

popular to that city and the country adjacent; and "after so great service and suffering in the service, "to expose him to a refusal was both against the kindness and goodness of the King's nature, and his politic "foresight into his affairs."

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The question between the rights of the Prince and the Marquis agitated the Court and Council in no common degree, and in the eagerness and diversity of their opinions the King saw "how various the inter"pretation would be abroad of whatsoever he should "determine."4 It is curious, however, to see how

"Had the King been always as tender of his word as he was of the "follies of those nearest to him, he had never been reduced to these "straits."-Bishop Warburton's notes on Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. vii. p. 581.

Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 164.

much less occupied the Court and Council appear to have been with the real merits of the question than with the policy that should direct the King's judgment and decision. "For the Marquis it was to be said "that he was generally loved, and, where he was not "enough known to be so, his interest and reputation in "the kingdom was thought of wonderful consideration "in the King's business." Many who considered the activity and courage of Prince Rupert in the field as useful to the King's cause by no means liked “to see "him get the possession of the second city of the king"dom into his hands, or engage himself so much in the “civil government as such a command soberly executed "must necessarily comprehend; and this as it were in contempt of one of the prime noblemen of the kingdom, to which order the Prince had not expressed "himself very debonnair." In favour of Prince

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Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. pp. 164-5. Sir Philip Warwick's account of Prince Rupert, though couched in somewhat courtly terms, confirms Lord Clarendon's description both of his character and the feelings entertained towards him by the leaders of the Royalist party :

"He showed a great and exemplary temperance, which fitted him to undergo the fatigue of a war, so as he deserved the character of a sol"dier: il était toujours soldat, for he was not negligent by indulgences to "his pleasures, or apt to lose his advantages; yet his eagerness to fight, "and that with a well-armed army, who afterwards grew to be well-dis"ciplined, turned to prejudice. And a little sharpness of temper of body, " and uncommunicableness in society or council (by seeming with a pish to "neglect all another said, and he approved not), made him less grateful than "his friends wished; and this humour soured him towards the counsellors "of civil affairs, who were necessarily to intermix with him in martial "councils. And these great men often distrusted such downright soldiers as the Prince was, though a prince of the blood, lest he should be too apt to prolong the war, and to obtain that by a pure victory which they "wished to be got by a dutiful submission, upon modest, speedy, and "peaceable terms, or by addresses of the two Houses to the King. And,

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VOL. III.

D