III. 1685. The Parlia ment atteints the Duke of Thus did this poor abandon'd wretch, load himself with the TO M. guilt of endeavouring to confirme the blackest Calumnys, with the most horrid and blasphemous imprecations; but they who had made a propertie of him hithertoo, plaid him now as their last stake against the King and government, and as an ultimate Monmouth. efort for a Common wealth: but this bitter and false Invective made so little impression upon the sober part of the Nation, that it was hard to say, whether the Parliament which was then setting, or the King himself was more sencibly touched at these abominable Falshoods, and hellish Aspertions he cast upon him; the King issued out a Proclamation to declare him a Traitor, and the Parliament immediately upon the first notice assured his Majesty in an adress, they would stand by him with their liues and fortunes against the Duke of Monmouth and all his adherents, and against all Rebells and Traitors, and Enemys whatsoever of his governinent; and were so zealous in this matter, that within three days after the first notice, they had got an Act ready for attainting him, which on the 16th of the same month had the Royal assent. In the mean time the Duke of Monmouth advanced to Bridgwater and from thence to Taunton, his numbers increasing hugely notwithstanding the late Proclamation against dispersing his Declaration, and notwithstanding the vigilance of the Dukes of Albemarle and Somerset who were sent down upon the first notice, as well as the Duke of Beaufort, to raise and command the Militia of those Countys, whereof they were La Lieftenants ; not so much with intent to oppose him, as to hinder the Country from flocking in to him, for the King could have little confidence in the Militia of those parts, who were fram'd (to be sure) of the same mould and temper with their Neibours who so readily had join'd the Invader, notwithstanding his enterpris was discountenanced by all ranks of people in the government, and even the Parliament it self. TO M. III. 1685. The Earle of This great concours of people did so puff the Duke of Monmouth up, that he suffer'd himself not only to be proclamed King, but declar'd the Parliament a Seditious assembly and set a price upon the King's head; this unpolitick step would haue ruin'd him in the end, had he been more successfull in the begining (for besides that My Lord Argile who heard it before he suffer'd, complain'd of him for breach of promis, and a solemn engagement to set up for a Commonwealth) the Prince of Orange (to whom (as it was said) the Duke of Monmouth had promiss'd to let him take the Crown, when once he had dispossess'd the King of it) would never have pardon'd that infidelity but he had too many different intrests to satisfy, and such diversity of Councells to reconcile, that so weak a man could never have disintangled himself from all those tenter hooks that stuck in his way; which sooner or later was sure to stop his career, and make him of necessitie sink and perish under the burden. The few Troops his Majesty could assemble on so short a warning exceeded not the number of two thousand Foot and fiue hundred Horse, the command where of he had given to the Earle of Feversham; who marching with all immaginable expedition came to Somerset, and from thence to Weston, and finding the Enemy so far advanced haulted there, quartering his hors in the Village, and encamping his foot in a pretty advantagious post, haveing a ditch in his front betwixt him and a specious plain called Sedgmore, and within some three miles of Bridgwater where the Enemy now lay, and were encreas'd to near six thousand men; which being more than the Duke of Monmouth could well arme, and much more than he had mony and provisions to keep long together, his business was, assoon as possible, to push the matter to a decision: so on the 6th of July (haveing drawn out his forces the night before) he marched early with so much sylence and secresy, that thō III. My Lord Feversham had notice of his motion, and had sent TOM. out parties to gain intelligence, yet they came up to him before he was aware, and indeed before it was light enough to attack him, or pass the ditch without confusion. This gaue My Lord Feversham time to put himself in a condition to receiue the Enemy, who, assoon as it was light enough, came upon him in good order; the Duke of Monmouth at the head of his foot began the charge, which he mentain'd well enough for some time (by firing only cross the ditch which still remained betwixt them) and had his horse done their part as well, it might haue render'd the Success more doubtfull: but they were so well receiud at their first fire by Coll: Oglethorp and My Lord of Oxford's Regiment, that they immediately gaue way, and by this time the King's Cañon being brought up and the Horse flanking the foot, they were soon disorder'd too, and entirely broke, leaving three small pieces of Cannon, their bagage, and a good many dead upon the place. The Duke of Monmouth at first fled with some fifty horse, but not being able to keep them long together, was forced to take a Country man's coat, in which disguise he, and My Lord Gray skulked till next morning in the inclosures near Ringwood; but that Lord being then discover'd and seized, it occasion'd a more diligent search, in which the Duke of Monmouth likewise was found, under the hollow of a bank trembling with could and aprehention; My Lord Lumley who then was zealous in the King's seruice took charge of him and My Lord Gray, guarding them very strictly up to Town. Thō the Duke of Monmouth wanted not personal courage in the day of battle, yet his heart fail'd him, when in cold blood he was forced to look death in the face; that familiarity which men contract with danger, while they haue so many companions of it in the feild, is not always the same when they are to out braue it alone upon a Scaffold; of which he had now so liuely 1685. TOM. III. 1685. a representation, that there was nothing he would not haue done to saue his life, and haveing so oft experienced the Royal mercy for his former crimes, he dispar'd not of it now, so writ the following letter to the King. SR Your Majesty may think it is the misfortune I now ly under makes me make this aplication to you, but I do assure your Majesty, it is the remorse I now haue in me, of the wrong I haue done you in severall things, and now in taking up arms against you; for my taking up arms it never was in my thoughts since the King dy'd: The Prince and Princess of Orange will be witness for me of the assurance I gaue them, that I would never stir against you; but my misfortune was such, as to meet with some horrid people, that made me belieue things of your Majesty, and gaue me so many false arguments, that I was fully led away to belieue that it was a shame and sin before God not to doe it; but, S', I will not trouble your Majesty at present with many things I could say for my self, that I am sure would moue your compassion, the chief end of this letter being only to beg of you, that I may haue the happiness as to speak to your Majesty, for I haue that to say to you, Sĩ, that I hope may giue you a long and happy reign, I am sure, S', when you hear me, you will be convinced of the Zeal I haue for your preservation, and how heartely I repent of what I haue done; I can say no more to your Majesty now, being this letter must be seen by those that keep me, therefore, S', I shall make an end in begging of y' Maty to belieue so well of me, that I would rather die a thousand deaths than excuse any thing I haue done, if I did not realy think my self in the wrong the most that ever man was, and had not from the bottom of my heart an abhorrence of those that put me upon it, and for the action it self. I hope, S', God Almighty will stricke your heart with mercy, and compassion for me, as he has done mine with an abhorrence of what I haue done: wherefore, S', I hope I may liue to shew you how Zealous I shall ever be for your seruice; and could I say but * one word in this letter, you would be convinced of it, but it is of that consequence that I dare not doe it, therefore, S', I doe beg of you once more to let me speak to you, for then you will be convinced how much I shall ever be your Majestys most humble and dutyful MONMOUTH. Mr Fox, in his History of the early part of the Reign of JAMES THE Second, has introduced this Letter, and observes (page 269) " With respect to the mysterious part of the letter, where he speaks of one word, which would be of such infinite importance, it is difficult, if not rather utterly impossible, to explain it by any rational conjecture. Mr Macpherson's favourite hypothesis, that the PRINCE of Orange had been a party to the late attempt, and that Monmouth's intention, when he wrote the letter, was to disclose this important fact to the King, is totally destroyed by those expressions, in which the unfortunate prisoner tells his Majesty he had assured the Prince and Princess of Orange that he would never stir against him . . . The intriguing character of the Secretary of State, the Earl of Sunderland, whose duplicity in many instances cannot be doubted, and the mystery in which almost every thing relating to him is involved, might lead us to suspect that the expressions point at some discovery in which that nobleman was concerned; `and that Monmouth had it in his power to be of important service to James, by revealing to him the treachery of his Minister. Such a conjecture might be strengthened by an anecdote (Macpherson's State Papers, I. 146.) that has had some currency, and to the truth of which in part, KING JAMES'S MEMOIRS, if the extracts from them can be relied on, bear testimony.”. The Reader will find this Anecdote detailed in the following page, and at greater length than Macpherson had done. Mr Fox then continues : "It is to be remarked that in Sheldon's conversation, as alluded to by KING JAMES, the PRINCE OF ORANGE's name is not even mentioned, either as connected with Monmouth or with Sunderland. But on the other hand, the difficulties that stand in the way of our interpreting Monmouth's Letter as alluding to Sunderland, or of supposing that the writer of it had any well-founded accusation against that Minister, are insurmountable. . . . . . A third, and perhaps the most plausible, interpretation of the words in question is, that they point to a discovery of VOL. II. .... F TO M. III. 1685. |