Earl of Essex received his nephew with great kindness; the King's letter was delivered to him; he read it, and Lord Beauchamp informed him that M. Richaute had something to say to him from the King. M. Richaute was called in, and in presence of Lord Beauchamp told the Earl that his mission "was to desire his permission "for Mr. Harding to wait upon him." This Lord Essex entirely declined. M. Richaute then endeavoured to state some of those arguments with which Mr. Harding was charged, but Lord Essex ended the interview by declaring that "he could have no treaty with the King, "having received no warrant for it from the Parlia"ment; that the best counsel he could give the King 2 was to go to his Parliament." Thus ended this 66 66 66 66 "The letter which his Majesty was graciously pleased to send unto the "Earl of Essex having been delivered him by my Lord Beauchamp, the "Earl of Essex, having read it, called me into his chamber in the presence "of the Lord Beauchamp, and asked me whether I had anything to say "to him. I told him that my chief errand unto him was to desire his permission for Mr. Harding to wait upon him, to declare unto him his 'Majesty's earnest and sincere desires of peace, and his resolution to procure it by all possible means of assurance to the public, and to his own particular, if he would consent to it and co-operate in it. To which his answer was, that he would not permit him to come, nor would he have any treaty with the King, having received no warrant for it from the "Parliament. Whereupon I declared unto him my general instructions, "which were to assure him of the King's, Prince Rupert's, and Prince "Maurice's, the Court's, his army's, and the Lords at Oxford's hearty and "unanimous concurrence in the earnest desires of a happy accommoda“tion, and of a friendly conjunction with him and his army, in this only "and common end of preserving this kingdom from a conquest by the Scots, and from utter ruin and desolation by this unnatural war; by a "settlement of the true Protestant religion, the laws of the land, the "liberties of the subject, the privileges of Parliament, and the undoubted "and unseparable rights of the Crown, in a full and free convention of 66 attempt to negotiate a treaty through the Earl of Essex, apart from those from whom he held his commission; and though the failure of the object may be regretted, Lord Essex's conduct showed that he was actuated by the feelings of a high-minded man of honour in rejecting every overture addressed to himself individually; and that, if he had just ground of complaint against the Parliament, he was wholly above being moved by any spirit of retaliation to deviate from his fidelity to the service. in which he was engaged.1 In addition to public anxieties Lord Hertford must have had to bear the burthen of domestic affliction not long after this time; and it seems probable that his son "Parliament. That his Majesty was resolved to give all the assurances, "and security of his real intentions herein that he could reasonably propose to himself; as well by the trust, power, and confidence which he "would put in himself as by any other most solemn way of engagement. "Unto all which his answer was, that, according to the commission which "he had received, he would defend the King's person and posterity; and "that the best counsel he could give him was to go to his Parliament. "When I saw I could draw no more from him, I desired an answer to his Majesty's letter, which the Lord Beauchamp brought him. To which he replied that he durst make no answer to it without leave from the Parliament, unto whom he would send it. Attested by Robert Beau"champ, John Richaute."-Walker's Historical Discourse,' p. 56. 66 Lord Essex fulfilled his promise of sending the King's letter to the Parliament, with an account of his own answer. The Parliament appreciated his conduct, and ordered thanks to be returned to the Lord General for his care and fidelity, and supplies to be made for his army.-Whitelock's Memorials,' p. 94. 1 It would require the partisan spirit of a contemporaneous writer to come to the conclusion of Sir Edward Walker, "that the conduct of the “Earl of Essex is a proof that, although for the present happiness and peace of this nation his Majesty desires not only to pardon but to advance such persons, yet God doth harden their hearts, and will not "admit them to receive that offered grace and favour."-Walker's torical Discourse,' p. 57. VOL. III. F His Robert either never returned, or returned without having gained the health he went to seek abroad; for at the age of twenty he died unmarried.1 2 Lord Essex's position with respect to his family must have made the part he had chosen in these troubled times peculiarly painful to his private feelings: not only had his sister Frances, by her marriage with the Marquis of Hertford, brought him into fraternal relationship with one of the leading men of the Royalist party, but his own marriage had also connected him with the Houses of Seymour and of Paulet; and the ties of family and connexion must often have pulled against those of political opinions and military service. The country seat of John Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, called Basing House, had been closely besieged for three months by a conjunction of the Parliament troops of Hampshire and Sussex. The Marchioness of Winchester was at this time at Oxford, imploring succour for her husband. In those earnest solicitations she was : 1 There seems no means of ascertaining the precise date of Lord Beauchamp's death he is stated in Sandford's Genealogical History' to have died at the age of twenty; he was a second son, his elder brother William being dead, and he was succeeded by the next brother, Henry, at this time (1644) sixteen years old. 2 Lord Essex married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Paulet, of Eddington, in Wiltshire, and of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Seymour. "The Earl of Essex saw this lady at the Earl of Hertford's, where he spent his Christmas in 1630, and was so charmed with her beauty and "the sweetness of her manners, that he became deeply enamoured with her, "and was married to her in the beginning of the following spring."Granger's Hist. of England,' vol. i. p. 546. The marriage proved unhappy, and ended in separation. 6 3.66 They were commanded by Norton, Onslow, Jarvis, Whitehead, and Morley, all colonels of regiments, and united under the command of "Norton."-Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 552. heartily joined by Lady Hertford, who succeeded in engaging Lord Hertford to share in her feelings, and to take the business to heart.1 The Council, both upon public and private grounds, were also anxious to effect this relief; but their wishes were thwarted by the new Governor of Oxford, Sir Arthur Aston, who saw only the dangers and difficulties of the attempt.2 At length Colonel Gage gallantly declared that, "though he thought the service full of hazard, especially for the return, yet, if the Lords would, by listing their own servants, persuade the gentlemen in the town to do the like, and engage their own persons . . . . he would willingly, if there 66 66 66 66 were nobody else thought fitter, undertake the "conduct of them himself."3 Such an offer, from a person whose prudence was equal to his courage, inspired confidence, and all resolved to do their utmost Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 552. Lord Clarendon commits the strange mistake of supposing that Lady Winchester and Lady Hertford were sisters. He speaks of her being at Oxford and making interest for her husband, and of the desire of everybody to gratify her, "being a lady of great honour and alliance, and sister to the Earl of Essex and to the Lady Marchioness of Hertford." Lord Essex had only one sister besides Lady Hertford, Dorothy, who married first Sir Henry Shirley, and afterwards William Stafford, Esq. 66 66 2 Sir Arthur Aston had been chosen to succeed Sir William Penniman as Governor of Oxford by the Queen's desire, who thought herself safer "for being under the charge of a Roman Catholic." This appointment appears to have been so justly unpopular, that the King gave an extraordinary "commission to the Lords of his Council, to whose authority he was to submit, and which obliged him to live with a little more respect "towards them than he desired to do; being a man of a rough nature, "and so given up to an immoderate love of money, that he cared not by "what unrighteous ways he exacted it."-Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 550. • Ibid., p. 554. to aid the enterprise. servants upon their own horses, and, with a force of about 650 men, Colonel Gage sallied forth to the relief of Basing House. Within two days of his quitting Oxford, and after some hours of hard fighting, he achieved the object of pouring supplies of ammunition and fresh stores of provisions into the house, and then effected a safe retreat to Oxford, having lost only two captains, and two or three other gentlemen and common men, in all to the number of eleven, and forty or fifty wounded. The relief of Basing House took place, The Lords mounted their According to Lord Clarendon's account these forces were made up of a regiment of 300, "to which as many others joined as made it up 400 "men." "The Lords mounted their servants upon their own horses, and "they, with the volunteers who frankly listed themselves, amounted to a body of 250 very good horse. They quitted Oxford on a Monday night, " and arrived on Wednesday by 4 o'clock A.M. within a mile of Basing." Lord Clarendon adds-" What number the enemy lost could not be "known; but it was believed they lost many, besides above 100 prisoners "that were taken; and it was confessed by enemies as well as friends that "it was as soldierly an action as had been performed in the war on either "side, and redounded very much to the credit of the commander."-Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iv. p. 559. The account of the relief of Basing House, as given by Whitelock and by Lord Clarendon, is a good example of the manner in which events were coloured according to the party to which the narrator belonged. In this case Lord Clarendon's account is, however, the most to be relied on, inasmuch as he was an eye-witness of the preparations for this enterprise and of the return of Colonel Gage to Oxford, whereas Whitelock was neither at Oxford nor at Basing House. "About 1500 of the King's foot, out of several garrisons mounted for dragoons, by night marched towards Basing House. Colonel Norton "and Colonel Morley took the alarm. Norton charged them, and brake through them, but they with great courage wheeled about and charged "Norton's whole body, who retreated unto Colonel Morley's quarters. In "the mean time they got some supplies of ammunition and provisions "into the house; Norton and Morley faced them, but they would not "fight, but retreated back again, and were pursued and 150 of them killed “and taken, one major with other inferior officers. Norton had a slight |