The Life, Times, and Scientific Labours of the Second Marquis of Worcester / To which is added a reprint of his Century of Inventions, 1663, with a Commentary thereon.

It is, throughout, very observable that the invention of the Water-commanding Engine was no imaginary scheme, no merely ingenious idea, but a realized fact, of the nature and importance of which the late Marquis had been fully sensible. And it affords a striking proof of his high estimation and correct knowledge of the magnitude of his discovery, that he should have bowed himself before his Maker in humble adoration, acknowledging in a simple yet solemnly sublime strain, his sense of obligation to the supreme Source of all intelligence, for permitting him to become instrumental in the development of so great a mystery of nature.

The following is from the original manuscript at Badminton:—

“The Lord Marquesse of Worcester’s Ejaculatory and extemporary thanksgiueing prayer when first with his corporall eyes, he did see finish’d a perfect tryall of his Water-commanding Engine delightfull and usefull to whomsoeuer hath in recomendation eyther knowledge, profit, or pleasure.

“Oh! infinitly omnipotent God whose mercyes are fathomlesse, and whose knowledge is immense and inexhaustible next to my Creation and Redemption I render thee most humble thanks even from the very bottome of my heart and bowells, for thy voutchchafeing me (the meanest in understanding), an insight in soe great a secret of nature beneficial to all mankind as this my Water-commanding Engine. Suffer me not to be puff’d upp, O Lord, by the knowing of it, and many more rare and unheard off, yea unparaleled Inventions, Tryals, and Experiments, but humble my haughty heart, by the true knowledge of myne owne ignorant, weak, and unworthy nature, proane to all euill O most mercifull Father my creator, most compassionatting Sonne my Redeemer, and Holyest of Spiritts, the sanctifier, three diuine persons and one God! grant me a further concurring grace with fortitude to take hould of thy goodnesse, to the end that whatever I doe, unanimously and courageously to serue my King and Countrey, to disabuse, rectifie, and convert my vndeserved yet wilfully incredulous[P] enemyes, to reimburse thankfully my creditors, to reimmunerate my benefactors, to reinhearten my distressed family, and with complacence to gratifie my suffering and confiding friends may, voyde of vanity or selfe ends, only be directed to thy honour and glory euerlastingly. Amen.”

With Caspar Kaltoff to superintend the work at Vauxhall, the engine would no doubt be kept in operation, for the benefit alike of the Dowager Marchioness and all interested, most likely including Colonel C. Copley.

In the travels of Cosmo de Medici the Third, Grand Duke of Tuscany,[30] through England,[Q] among other matters that attracted his attention in the metropolis, it is recorded that on the 23rd of May, 1669:—“His Highness went to see an hydraulic machine upon a wooden tower, in the neighbourhood of Somerset House,[R] which is used for conveying water of the river to the greater part of the City. It is put in motion by two horses, which are continually going round, it not being possible that it should receive its movement from the current of the river, as in many other places where the rivers never vary in their course; but this is not the case with the Thames, owing to the tide; consequently the wheels, which serve at the ebb, would not be able to do their office when the tide returns.”

On the 29th following, his Highness was entertained by the Earl of Devonshire, when a sumptuous banquet was provided.

“His Highness, that he might not lose the day uselessly, went again after dinner to the other side of the city, extending his excursion as far as Vauxhall, beyond the palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to see an hydraulic machine, invented by my Lord Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. It raises water more than forty geometrical feet by the power of one man only; and in a very short space of time will draw up four vessels of water through a tube or channel not more than a span in width; on which account it is considered to be of greater service to the public than the other machine near Somerset House.”

Up to September next year we still find the “Water-commanding Engine,” engaging the attention of the Dowager Marchioness, who was fully alive to the importance of so wonderful an invention; not only as enhancing her late husband’s fame, but also as affecting her own interest, with that of the other parties who had assisted in its promotion. She seems to have acted with a persevering and noble spirit under all the disadvantages of her situation, oppressed as she was in fortune, her heart lacerated by the accumulated wrongs she and her husband had through life endured, and now alone, neglected, and with but this one hope left, of which his prophetic views must have left a lively impression on her heart.

But the Marquis’s surprising invention was doomed to another, and a more novel persecution than could well be conceived possible, one which assuredly might very justly be doubted, had we not the written record before our eyes. Among the other manuscripts at Badminton House is the letter of a Roman Catholic priest, dated 6th of September, 1670, addressed to the Marchioness “at her house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.”[S]

As her spiritual adviser, he says:—“Almighty God hath, Madam, put you into a happy and flourishing condition, fit and able to serve God, and to do much good to yourself and others; and your Ladyship makes yourself unhappy, by seeming not to be contented with your condition, but troubling your spirits with many thoughts of attaining to greater dignities and riches.”

He next declares that she is in danger “to lose the right use of her reason,” all arising from disposing herself for great dignity and wealth—“by getting of great sums of money from the King to pay your deceased Lord’s debts, and enriching yourself by the great Machine [the Water-commanding Engine] and the like.”

To deter her from proceeding in this course, he points out, as ill effects, “the danger of losing her health and judgment,” and “the probability of offending Almighty God.” That she is under “great temptation” he considers certain, “yet I confess (he adds) that the devil, to make his suggestion the more prevalent, doth make use of some motives that seem plausible, as of paying your Lord’s debts, &c.” For her future government he recommends her Ladyship—“To seek after eternal riches and honours, which your age doth assure you are not far off; for which you may dispose yourself, before death comes, by retiring into the country for some time, from the distractions of the Court, where you may have the advice and directions of some learned priest, in whose virtue you may wholly confide, for your internal quiet and security.” With this view he recommends a lady’s house at Hammersmith, where, “by Almighty God’s blessing, you may recover from that most pernicious distemper of body and mind, into which every one sees you to be very near approaching.”[T]

He claims “the candour of his intentions,” as a plea for this extraordinary interference, in a matter of personal and strictly honourable conduct of a wholly private nature.[U]

We lose after this all intelligence regarding the Vauxhall Water Engine, and it is in vain to enter on mere conjectures as to what may have been its fate. It is certain, however, that great disadvantages in exhibiting, and in manufacturing or repairing, would ensue on the decease of the Marquis’s right hand man “both for trust and skill.”

In 1670–71, letters patent were granted to the late Marquis’s son, Henry, Marquis of Worcester, remitting payment of certain sums due to the Crown at the time of his father’s decease.[V]

And on the 1st of August, 1672, letters patent were obtained, in respect to property at Vauxhall, which state that the same are granted by Charles the Second “from grace and favour towards Jasper Calthoff and Martha Calthoff, lately deceased.” From the same document we learn in reference to their children, that there were then living, Catherine, married to Claude Denis,

Jasper Calthoff, and

Isabel Calthoff.

And we find from letters patent, bearing date 22nd March, 1667–8, that Peter Jacobson (married to another daughter) is named as the “son in law,” So that it would appear that, in 1672, four children were living, one son and three daughters. The Peter Jacobson, here named, was a sugar baker, holding a portion of the Vauxhall estate for carrying on his business, at a trifling rental, during the term of his natural life.[W]

Beyond all question the Marquis of Worcester’s prime invention, the Water-commanding Engine, was erected and at work from 1663, to the year 1670, during which time it had been made the subject of an Act of Parliament; had been published in the Century, in brief outline; also noticed in a separate pamphlet, copies of which are exceedingly rare; and likewise in large posting bills. Besides which a model was deposited with the Chancellor of the Exchequer as required by the Act. It was also the subject of much correspondence. That it excited the attention of intelligent sight-seeing travellers we ascertain from the Diaries published first by M. Sorbière, and five years later by Cosmo de Medici. And after the noble inventor’s decease, his warm-hearted and enthusiastic widow brought herself under priestly censure for her active endeavours “to enrich herself by the great Machine;” on which, alas! both had built reasonable, but such as were at that time considered extravagant, expectations of present fortune and future fame.

With the Marquis of Worcester this invention was no idle fancy, no mere experiment, no amateur work, no casual, doubtful trial, and was not lightly estimated by himself. He had by practice so thoroughly satisfied himself, that, long after 1655, amidst all his troubles, without his notes, and to oblige a friend, he wrote off, con amore, three distinct accounts of his invention, under the titles of, “A fire water-work;” “A semi-omnipotent engine;” and lastly, “A stupendous water-work.”

How it happens that the Marquis of Worcester should have been wholly unnoticed for his inventions by contemporaries it is difficult to offer anything like a sufficiently reasonable or satisfactory conjecture. But surprise might seem to vanish when such diarists as John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, with all their curiosity and all their apparent pleasure in recording scientific novelties, although they name the Marquis, notice Worcester House, and mention Vauxhall, never so much as hint at one invention by the Marquis of Worcester. When these gossips had nothing to say, conjecture may well cease to promise a satisfactory solution.

But it must be remembered that the means for giving publicity to any matter were then comparatively limited; and it is possible that the Water-commanding Engine was little known beyond a certain aristocratic circle, who afforded the chief support of the affair pending other arrangements. Even this supposition very indifferently accounts for the dead silence on the subject at home, when it seems apparent that the invention was looked on by foreigners as in striking contrast with a much inferior mode of raising water at Somerset House, performed by machinery worked by two horses. One would suppose that of all inventions an engine of superior capabilities for supplying the city with water, would have excited attention in every quarter. The inventor, and all concerned with him, might see certain difficulties in meeting any demand adequately remunerative, until works and machinery were provided; not so much to make the engines, but to provide certain requisite articles and materials, well understood in modern times, but wholly unknown two centuries ago. The Marquis was in fact creating a demand for iron plates, wrought and cast iron cylinders, metal rods, and all manner of tools and novel kinds of workmanship, so completely was this wonderful man in advance of the age he might have adorned.

Charles the Second, in the midst of all his gaiety and all his poverty, had it in his power to benefit the Marquis by, at least, affording him some countenance. He had every reason to be grateful to him, but his ruling passion gained the sway over all other considerations. What Samuel Pepys relates of him, as happening on the 1st of February, 1663–4, is characteristic of what may have been his utmost estimate of even the Marquis himself. He says:—“I to Whitehall, where, in the Duke’s chamber, the King came and stayed an hour or two, laughing at Sir W. Petty, who was then about his boat; and at Gresham College [the Royal Society] in general, which he mightily laughed at, for spending time only in weighing of air, and doing nothing else since they sat.”[78]

Our great historian has given a masterly miniature of the volatile monarch, observing:—“To do him justice his temper was good; his manners agreeable; his natural talents above mediocrity. But he was sensual, frivolous, false and cold-hearted, beyond almost any prince of whom history makes mention.”[X] His neglect of the Marquis of Worcester had the effect of retarding the full development of the Steam Engine in this country for above half a century; and thus he, who had never been known to say a foolish thing, lost the chance of performing a wise one, that would have evinced the existence of at least one redeeming quality in his character.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A BRIEF RETROSPECT OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER’s GENEALOGY, AND HIS PRIVATE, POLITICAL, AND PHILOSOPHICAL CHARACTER; INCLUDING HIS OWN STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

The ancient and Honourable family of Somerset is descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward the Third.

1. Charles,[A] the only natural son of Henry Beaufort, third Duke of Somerset, in that line (eldest son of Edmond, Duke of Somerset), assumed the surname of Somerset. He, in consequence of the devastating wars of the Roses, was, on the accession of Henry the Seventh to the throne, the only remaining representative of that monarch’s illustrious ancestors, and he, therefore, considerably distinguished him. In addition to his other honours, he was created a Knight of the Garter; and in the succeeding reign elevated to the dignity of Earl of Worcester, on the 1st of February, 1514.

In right of his first marriage with Elizabeth Herbert, only child of William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, he bore the titles of Baron Herbert, Lord Herbert of Raglan, Chepstow and Gower. After the decease of his first wife he was twice married; first, to Elizabeth West, daughter of Thomas, Lord la Warr; and on her decease to Eleanor Sutton, daughter of Edward Sutton, Lord Dudley. He died on the 15th of April, 1526, leaving her a widow.

2. He was succeeded by his eldest son Henry, second Earl of Worcester, who died 26th of November, 1549.

3. And he was succeeded by his eldest son, William, third Earl of Worcester, and a Knight of the Garter, who died the 21st of February, 1589.

4. Being succeeded by his only son, Edward, fourth Earl of Worcester, and a Knight of the Garter, who died 3rd of March, 1628.

5. And was succeeded by his second son, Henry (his eldest son William having died during his father’s lifetime). Charles the First created him Marquis of Worcester, by patent dated at Oxford, 2nd of November, 1642 (which dignity was repudiated by the Commonwealth Parliament). He was the fifth Earl and first Marquis of Worcester, and died December, 1646.

6. When he was succeeded in his honours by his eldest son, Edward, the subject of this memoir; but the latter never enjoyed any portion of the vast estates until after a lapse of fourteen years, when, at the Restoration in 1660, he recovered a large portion of his landed property, as already set forth.

He bore the second or family title of Lord Herbert, from March, 1628, to the end of March, 1643; being on the 1st of April following, created Earl of Glamorgan (during his father’s lifetime) by Charles the First, he was best known by that title, from the part he took in Irish affairs during the civil commotions from 1644, until the decease of his father in 1646; when, in consequence of the Cromwellian Parliament refusing to acknowledge any of the King’s later creations of Peers, he was uniformly styled Earl of Worcester; but at the Restoration in 1660, his proper style of Marquis of Worcester was fully recognized. These latter party distinctions now materially serve to fix or limit the dates of some documents, not otherwise to be approximated.

Until the 27th year of his age we meet with little respecting his education, travels, and pursuits. With his marriage commenced his engagement with that artificer Caspar Kaltoff, whom he employed in promoting his own practical course of studies in a branch of inquiry which had never before, and has never since, been so assiduously examined and tested. The pursuits then commenced and indefatigably pursued, as well for instruction as amusement, combined with a strong natural bias for such occupations, may have served at a later period, under less favourable circumstances, to lighten the tedium of exile and imprisonment.

He enjoyed but seven years of married life, being then left with three children, and remained a widower for three years; when, in 1639, he married a second time, having but one child by his second marriage, who died an infant. In the family group, painted by Hanneman (now first engraved), the artist has drawn him seated beside his wife and child; but when this work was executed is unknown, although it most likely dates between 1639 and 1641.

The breaking out of the Civil War would seriously interfere with the Marquis of Worcester’s scientific investigations; he would no longer be able to settle down to the serious study of his favourite authors; his models and mechanical experiments would be in abeyance; and there was no alternative left for him but to unite himself to the cause either of the King or the Parliament. His loyalty led him to choose the former course, and his association with Charles the First, combined with that unfortunate monarch’s unhappy situation and disposition, eventually worked the entire ruin of the Marquis of Worcester. But apart from the ordinary occurrences of the war, it was his misfortune to be selected by the King to act as his emissary in negotiating a peace with the Roman Catholic party in Ireland, on terms contrary to the established religion of the realm and irrespective of the laws. That he should have listened to the urgent demands of his sovereign is, under any circumstances, not very remarkable; and we are the less disposed to be surprised at his being won over by the King’s solicitations, considering that he was not a practised statesman, and that the proposed measure was preceded by his being created Earl of Glamorgan, and that it was represented as offering enlarged privileges to his own church and party, as well in Ireland as in England. A more cautious politician might have suspected some ulterior design beneath this promising external appearance, might have questioned the possibility of some extraordinary exercise of the royal prerogative, and at length concluded that no measure was safe, coming from a sovereign who actually seemed to imagine that divine right was delegated to him to annul any obligation whatever, however freely tendered by himself, provided he could satisfy his own conscience that his so acting would be to the advantage of the Crown. But the Marquis was no grovelling worldling; he had left the study for the battle-field, and for awhile abandoned the path of philosophy to become the King’s agent in Ireland. It was thus that his loyalty and his zeal, uniting with his religious sentiments and his sovereign’s gracious conduct toward him, and seeming sincerity, combined effectually to plunge himself, his family, and his posterity into a series of disastrous losses in fortune and property.

He had not been many months a refugee in France, when he received a very welcome and highly gratifying acknowledgment of his past services, from the exiled Queen, in a present of valuable jewels, accompanied with a testimonial, empowering him to make what use he might please of the regal gift. The original, written in French and sealed with the royal arms, is translated as follows:—

“Henrietta Maria R.,

“We, Henrietta Maria of Bourbon, Queen of Great Britain, have, by the order of the King our very honoured Lord and Husband, caused to be delivered into the hands of our dear and well beloved cousin, Edward Somerset, Count and Earl of Worcester, a necklace of Rubies, containing ten large Rubies and one hundred and sixty pearls set and strung together in gold; among the said Rubies are likewise two large diamonds called the Sancy and the Portugal, acknowledging that besides the great expenses made by him for the said King our very honoured Lord, he has supplied us with three hundred and seventy thousand Livres Tournois,[B] exclusive of the very great services at least of equal consequence, which up to the present time, even, he has rendered us, in regard to which we make known that the said necklace and diamonds belong entirely to him, so that he may either sell or engage them without any interference on our part, or that of any other, or seeking after or troubling any person, who may buy them, or lend money on the ten jewels heretofore mentioned, in faith of which we have signed this present and put thereto our Royal Seal in our Court at St. Germain en Laye, this 20th day of May, one thousand six hundred and forty-eight.”

(Royal Arms.)

The lamentable fate that befel Charles the First, effectually terminated all expectation of relief; and therefore, from the year 1647, when the Marquis left Ireland, to 1660 the period of the Restoration, about 13 years, was, if possible, the most unhappy and gloomy of his eventful life. He was about five years in exile, about two years and a quarter a prisoner in the Tower, and nearly six years a state prisoner at large, most likely under strict surveillance.

The year following his Lordship’s release from the Tower, 1655, will ever be memorable for his having then written his “Century of Inventions,” which was published eight years later.

There is every reason to believe that the Marquis of Worcester pursued his scientific inquiries both in secrecy and seclusion. This might arise from his early domestic habits, particularly during his married life, commencing in 1628, when he first engaged Caspar Kaltoff. We never find him associated with, or mentioned by, men of his time, which, therefore, leads to the supposition that he was naturally of a recluse and retiring disposition. But, on the other hand, we have nothing to guide us in forming an opinion of the origin, the nature, and the progress of his experimental operations. They may have been commenced for the simple gratification of a mind desirous to satisfy itself in every particular of whatever it undertakes. In his early travels, when at Venice, he had observed in the arsenal there a peculiar employment of the lever; and when at Rome his mathematical studies had led him to a knowledge of a particular kind of fountain. After his return he had undertaken the erection of water works at Raglan Castle, in connection also, no doubt, with the fountain set up in one of its adjacent courts. The young engineer may have been deeply read in Ramelli’s elaborate work, and may have determined, with the assistance of Kaltoff, to adopt, what he long after expressed, as “a humour I have, never to be contented to produce any invention the second time, without appearing refined.”[C] Once started on an inquiry so peculiarly suitable to his taste, he may have pursued it almost without design, and continued it only because it interfered with no more serious employment. Being drawn into the designing of novel inventions, and further encouraged by his workman’s production of excellent models, it seems natural enough that, in the seclusion of Raglan, immersed in the scientific literature then available, and possessing as he did a remarkably inquisitive and inventive genius, he should grow up an inventor almost without taking cognizance of his own progress. It is certain that it was peculiar to him to take nothing on trust, but to reduce everything to the test of absolute experiment. There was perhaps never any contrivance of which he thought or read, that he did not reduce to a model; and his was the experience of a great practical mechanic, whose information was founded on known results; whether of success or failure. It was thus that he required the services of Kaltoff through nearly forty years, together with many assistants employed under him. The great ingenuity, perfection, and variety of his Lordship’s inventions are traceable to this laborious and expensive practical process.

When at length, in 1655, he commenced in earnest to make known among a select number of persons his determination to bring out his inventions for public advantage, he had a difficult task before him. The recluse philosopher was about to assume a new character, offering to submit for approbation, to an ignorant and prejudiced public, his mechanical marvels, the product of nearly thirty years’ study! At fifty-four years of age, without the least practice in trading transactions, bred to no profession, and known only as a high-minded but ruined nobleman, he sues for public patronage!

Among his manuscripts we find a slip of paper which has all the appearance of having passed through many hands,[D] and suggests the idea that it was one of many similarly written, to enable others to make known among their friends what the Marquis had to offer, seeking their encouragement therein, of what they chose to select. It reads thus:—

1. Intelligence at a distance communicative & not limitted to distance, nor by it the time p’long’d.

2. Ffountaines of pleasure, with artificiall snow or haill or thunder, & quantity not limitted.

2. Oft suteing [shooting] peerds, controuleable, in one plane, either for number or time.

3. Discourse to be had by a Lamp.

4. A Brass head, capable to Receave at the Eare a Whisper & the mouth thereof to Render Answere in any Language to the Interrogator.

There is a somewhat similar but fuller MS. list of eight of his inventions, evidently issued between 1655 and 1660, from its being headed, “Inventions of y^e Earl of Worcester.”[E] as he only bore the title of Earl during the Commonwealth. By these means, a small select circle of friends would become acquainted with the singular mechanical skill of the Marquis; but, with what success for the desired end is problematical. He would unquestionably astonish all, while it is but too likely he would convince very few indeed. Besides, his ultimate views were beyond the scope of the ordinary trader, and could only be effectually realized through government influence; particularly in an age when the common manufacturing resources of the country were but sparingly developed, and when trading enterprise was monopolized by special corporate bodies. Here was a spectacle to behold; one of our country’s brightest ornaments, and its unquestionable glory, degraded to this hopeless drudgery; deprived of his princely property, and allowed a pittance of £3 per week!

When, in 1661, Parliament passed “An Act for distribution of £60,000 amongst the truly loyal and indigent commission-officers, &c.” the following was the appointment of Commissioners named therein for Monmouth:—“Henry, Lord Herbert[F] of Raglan, eldest son of Edward, Lord Marquis of Worcester; Sir Anthony Morgan, Sir George Probert, Knights; William Jones of Lanarth; Thomas Morgan of Lansoan; Miles Morgan; William Morgan, one of his Majesty’s household; Charles Hughes; Roger Williams of Kentild, Esquire; James Progers, Esquire.”

Also, “For the county of Gloucester, and the city and county of the city of Gloucester, Henry Lord Herbert of Raglan, &c.” along with 21 other Commissioners.

The Marquis of Worcester had every reason to expect an agreeable change of fortune on the accession of Charles the Second to the throne. He made a full declaration to Lord Clarendon of the powers under which he had acted for the late King in Ireland. He recovered a large portion of his estates. He had given up all claim to the promised title of Duke of Somerset. He was granted an Act of Parliament for his Water-commanding Engine, in 1663; and immediately after he printed the first edition of his “Century of Inventions.” But he was entirely neglected by the frivolous monarch on whose consideration and patronage he had calculated, with his usual confiding sincerity of heart.

Worn out by three years’ delay, without any prospect of improvement, he seems to have concluded on an appeal in person to the House of Lords. But his first course was to submit a draft of his proposed discourse to his Majesty, agreeable to an understanding at the Hague, when his Majesty was in exile, that he should so act, previous to consulting any of his ministers. The document now at Badminton, is most likely his Lordship’s own copy of the one forwarded to the King, who seems either to have discouraged its being brought forward, or to have given it no further attention. It is in every sense a remarkable production, whether as regards its matter, its style, or the extraordinary evidence it affords of his Lordship’s unbounded confidence in and devotion to Charles the First. The MS. is endorsed—

“Statement of the Marquis of Worcester’s expenses for his King and country;” and is as follows:—

“May it please your most excellent Majesty.

“Sire,

“To ease your mind of a trouble incident to the prolixity of speech, and a natural defect of utterance which I accuse myself of, I have presumed here to set down summarily in writing what I desire (if your Majesty approve thereof) to speak in the House of Lords, whereby your Majesty may gather how far (some things being rectified) I am confident of myself to serve you, praying your Majesty’s favourable construction of what I shall endeavour candidly to submit unto your Majesty.

“In the first place, according to your most gracious commands laid upon me at the Hague, when I offered to make my Lord Chancellor privy to what I should at any time presume to offer to your Majesty’s transcendent judgment, having sufficiently suffered for treating with the late King, of happy memory, alone; to which request of mine you were pleased to give this most gracious and never-to-be-forgotten reply, that, notwithstanding you would have me first to acquaint yourself therewith, and then only such as your Majesty should consent unto, and think proper for it: In pursuance whereof I most humbly offer this following discourse, which I shall with a most ready and implicit obedience augment, diminish, or alter, as your Majesty shall think fittest; disputing nothing, much less waiving anything, that your Majesty shall command either as to substance or circumstance.

“My Lords,

“Amongst Almighty God’s infinite mercies to me in this world, I account it one of the greatest that his Divine goodness vouchsafed me parents as well careful as able to give me virtuous education, and extraordinary breeding at home and abroad, in Germany, France, and Italy; allowing me abundantly in those parts, and since most plentifully at my master of happy memory, the late King’s Court, by which means, had it not been my own fault, I ought to have become better able and more capable to serve Almighty God, my King and country, which obligatory ends of theirs have I always had in my eyes, as drawing and sucking them thence, it being certainly the greatest and surest portions parents can leave to their children; since breeding and knowledge cannot be taken from them, when as riches and possessions are fading and perishable, witness my own case, my Lords. Yet, by dear-bought experience and their great expenses, for which I honour the happy memory of my most beloved parents, more than for my very life, drawn from them, they giving me by the one but my being, and by the other my bene esse. Whereby I find nothing more certain than that the way to make oneself considerably useful to his Prince and nation, is the surest means for him to become cherished by them, which they then do for their own sake, not his, though he had spent and lost above 7, or £800,000, sterling; and narrowly escaped several times, both by sea and land, imminent dangers, and long and close imprisonment, and a scaffold, threatening death, as I have done, Experte Crede Roberto, my Lords; yet happy is this day unto me, wherein I have the honour, sitting amongst your Lordships, to express from my heart that I have not the least repining thought within me, though I had suffered ten times more for so good a cause, and so gracious and obliging a master as the late King, of happy memory, was unto me. And for so majestical and promising a Prince as my new sovereign is, whom God long preserve; and, morally speaking, cannot do amiss, whilst he hearkens to so wise a great Council, and so tender of his good and welfare as your Lordships, assisted by so discreet, experienced, and well-affected persons as sit now in the honourable House of Commons, the whole kingdom’s representatives. And may your Lordships be ever as tender of your innate privileges, members, and birthrights, as they of theirs, and both of you equally likewise tender of his Majesty’s just and undoubted prerogatives, upon which two hinges, or rather bases (that is, our most gracious King’s prerogatives and the birthright of his subjects), this excellent government of King and Parliament outvies and excels all other in the world. Let them, therefore, my Lords, hold together as the surest props of a settled kingdom; his Majesty’s power consisting in nothing more than in the greatness of your Lordships, who are, as well by Divine Providence as human policy, allotted to be as it were the medium between the King and the people; that is, to interpose yourselves as mediators if the King’s supreme authority should become severe, which cannot be feared from so gracious a Prince; as also to be curbers of the people’s rustic stubbornness, if they should prove insolent, which cannot likewise happen to a nation that hath so lately smarted for such inconveniences, as, had the Lords’ former greatness and power been continued in them, could never have happened; for, as I hold with the old saying, No Bishops, no King, so may I boldly aver that no power of temporal Lords being extant, there will be neither Bishop nor King. But I am too tedious, my Lords; yet what I further shall presume to say, will need no eloquence, being upon a theme pleasing, as I humbly conceive, to the minds of all your Lordships, there being none of you whose birth brings you unto this place, but so much generosity possesses your hearts, that you conclude and harbour a firm resolution to believe and follow that noble and heroic maxim—Beatius est dare quam accipere, since Beneficium accipere est libertatem vendere, a thing beneath your Lordships. According, then, to which maxim, as having the honour to be a member of this House, esteeming in the first place the right of Peerage, even before the titles of Earl, Marquis, or Duke; as a Peer, therefore, I say of this House, I shall (with your Lordships’ approbation) humbly offer a present unto his most excellent Majesty, our most gracious Sovereign, a present, my Lords, which cannot be done without you, and fit to be owned by a House of Lords, it being no less than to raise an auxiliary troop for his Majesty’s Life-guard, of an hundred horse, and commonly called in France an hundred Meistres; [Reistres?] that is, each Cavalier to keep a servant with a led horse, as well as his own, and one of them to be worth £100. The whole troop shall amount the first day unto upwards of ten thousand pounds, besides arms and equipage accordingly; nay, my Lords, every one of this troop shall be of that quality and power as to be capable to raise at his Majesty’s command an hundred men in 14 days; and at the entering into the troop, shall furnish into his Majesty’s store-house a 100 foot arms, two parts fire-arms, and the third pikes, at his own proper cost and charges, and marked by him, there to be kept till his Majesty’s occasions be to raise men accordingly: but God long preserve his Majesty from needing of them; yet if, at any time, then will his Majesty have in readiness at a fortnight’s warning 10,000 men, without costing his Majesty or the kingdom sixpence, till they be raised and armed. And that most worthy nobleman, the Earl of Northampton, who, according to the Spanish saying, So many brothers united so many castles,[G] hath approved himself to be such in gallantry and strength for his King and kingdom’s defence, is desirous and willing through his zeal to his Majesty’s service, to be but lieutenant to the said troop. But the whole troop, consisting of such persons qualified as above-mentioned, volunteers, and not serving for pay or gain, will deservedly require not to be put upon common services, and not to be commanded but by his Majesty, or his most deserving general the Duke of Albemarle; and they themselves not to be tied to daily duties, but to have liberty to substitute some gentleman of quality, or an experienced officer, to serve for him at any time when his Majesty requires not his personal appearance, and that the Captain of the troop gives way unto it. I presume, my Lords, to nominate my Lord of Northampton but as second to me, because his goodness and zeal to his Majesty’s service makes his Lordship contented to give me the precedence as Captain, though far less worthy, and shall indeed be but a servant to his Lordship and the rest of the troop, in order to his Majesty’s command, and the welfare of his tenderly beloved people. The rest of the troop shall be nominated when your Lordships shall approve of the motion, and his Majesty vouchsafe an acceptance thereof. They shall all of them be approved persons in zeal, loyalty, and allowed by you, and do ambition the honour of being called a troop of the House of Lords, and being so termed, and most of them of your members, I dare without vanity affirm that no King in Christendom but may boast of such a troop; and it will not only be a safety to his Majesty’s person, but an honour to the whole nation; and an evident testimony of your Lordships’ constant loyalty and zeal to both King and kingdom, and will keep up the honour of this House, and not subject [it] again to be thrust out of doors; and I beseech your Lordships that I may be rightly understood, for it is my duty to his Majesty, and the honour I bear to this House, and not the ambition of being Captain of the said troop, that makes me to motion the raising thereof; for as I acknowledge that there are many greater persons in the House, as well titular as real, in merit and power, any of whom, if they please to undertake it, I shall with more joy and readiness serve as a trooper therein, than to have the command thereof.