The Life, Times and Scientific Labours of the Second Marquis of Worcester. Also His Century of Inventions 1663. by Henry Dircks

“I have this long time expected your commands, which to receive, having sent two expresses, I verily believed would have come ere this into my hands; trusting likewise to Mr. Walsingham’s solicitations; but as yet I have neither heard from him nor your Excellency, one word since his departure, and receiving an earnest desire from the Nuncio to speak with me; as understanding likewise how prejudicial it might be to me, and especially to my brother who is in Italy, if the dean whom he hath sent thither, should depart without satisfaction from me of so pressing an occasion, as was by my Lord Nuncio pretended unto me. I repaired thither on Saturday last, with so much the more contentment as that I persuaded myself that your Excellency would be at Kilkenny, and I so much the nearer to kiss your hands; but I now return to the county of Clare, there to expect your commands. Yet let me not forget to give you an account of the business I was sent for. The rumour being spread that the Concessions (which some call mine) were to be printed and published at Kilkenny, as I have absolutely disowned any such thing to my Lord Nuncio, and denied to patronise the same; so I think myself bound to acquaint your Excellency, and by your means the Council Table, how mindful I am of the favours I there received, so as not to incur the least censure of yours and theirs by enacting anything, for which I had already a check. And certainly it cannot be imagined that the Supreme Council which was, could expect or desire any such thing at my hands, since they never urged to take off my recognizance, which through innocency I also neglected, and I joy to be disengaged from so perilous a business, protesting before Almighty God, that since that time I have entered into no new engagements unto them; and what hath passed before (conditions not having been held with me), none of the Commissioners themselves can think them obligatory, all other reasons also considered. Besides, when they had first thought to make use of them, it was resolved, that after the completing of conditions with your Excellency, they might bear a true date subsequent thereunto; and how invalid they are without the same is sufficiently evident, abstracting from the King’s declaration, which (though enforced upon him), I esteem it yet a warning for further proceedings therein, and fit only for great persons, who can maintain the same, to go contrary to the intimation of his Majesty’s pleasure, though never so compulsorily granted. For as I never have, nor will esteem, and be frighted at the contradiction of any others, when the intimation of his Majesty’s pleasure continues to me in any particular unrevoked; so, on the contrary, can I never be drawn, for any man’s pleasure, to go immediately contrary to what proceedeth from him, deeming it not my part to enter into dispute which way his Majesty is induced, when I see his positive act extant. Let this, therefore (I beseech your Excellency), give you and the world satisfaction, that I no ways countenance the standing upon any articles heretofore treated of by me, who am no more tied to make anything thereof good, than any man is to deliver up the possession of his lands for which he never received the consideration agreed upon. Besides, in order to the King’s subsistence, one man was then more considerable than three now. In fine, having washed my hands of that business, verify I will that proverb that the Child burned dreads the fire. And those noble Lords, who stand my bail, may be confident, I shall never deservedly put them in fright, or myself in danger to save them further harmless; or to show such ingratitude to your Excelleney and the Council as to own those concessions which they so much endeavoured to prevent. And thus fearing to have been too tedious, I abruptly kiss your Lordship’s hands and ever remain

Ormond replied under date, Dublin Castle, the 2nd of September, 1646, saying—“I must profess myself exceedingly satisfied with the prudence of your Lordship’s carriage at Waterford, and with the wisdom of the resolution you have taken in the particular of those things now endeavoured to be fastened upon you;” ... and which course he designates “a thing so much to your Lordship’s honour and advantage.”

Under date of 11th of September, the Earl again addressed the Lord Lieutenant:[H]

“I think myself very happy in that the resolution which appeared in my letter unto you proved so acceptable, as by the noble expressions of your letter and of my Lord Digby’s I find it is, and do humbly acknowledge infinite thanks for your Excellency’s great desire of seeing me; and had the self-same letter informed me of any service I could have done you, I should have been far from taking the resolution which I now have put on, correspondent unto my expressions in my last unto your Excellency, and unto the sense for which the commendations given me by you (I conceive) do proceed: which was to keep myself free from having any part in those most unfortunate and newly occasioned distractions, from which the further I withdraw myself, and the sooner, suits best with my disposition. Besides, my intentions wherewith I came into this kingdom were first to serve his Majesty and it; and next to serve your Excellency above all his subjects, and my own friends, which being now frustrated, that part only remains which can only die with myself, which is Omnibus viis et modis, to endeavour to promote his Majesty’s service, finding myself more capable and more probable for to do it elsewhere for this present, than in this kingdom. I hasten towards the sea-side, where I am informed some conveniency of shipping will afford; ... yet I could not omit to send a person of trust and confidence, by whom your Excellency may send unto me before my departure such notions as perhaps you may think not fit to put to paper. And if, either by word of mouth or writing sent by so trusty a person as Mr. Joyner (by whom I have sent you the reasons, that debar me of the happiness to kiss your Excellency’s hands in transitu), I find myself thought capable by you to serve his Majesty or your Excellency longer in these parts, and more advantageously than what I am now going about, you may be confident to receive such a return from me as may best stand with my duty to his Majesty and my affection to your person, to whom my professions have been ever real; and had my ambition and only thoughts taken place, I dare boldly say, I should have vied with the nearest person in blood or affection you have in Ireland, in the reality of being ever,

Among the Carte MSS. in the Bodleian Library, from which the foregoing letter is taken, there occurs a curious undated letter written in cipher, which it is just possible may be the writing above named “sent by so trusty a person as Mr. Joyner.” The annexed engraving is a facsimile of an endorsement at the back of it in the Earl’s own hand-writing, affording the only specimen approaching to an autograph exemplifying his use of the title of Glamorgan[I] yet made public: every effort to obtain it in any other form having proved unavailing. And on page 180, an exact copy is given of the letter itself, as traced from the original.

The Nuncio wrote from Kilkenny on the 21st of September, 1646, to Cardinal Pamphilio at Rome,[J] as follows:—

“Among other patents and commissions signed by the King, and brought by the Earl of Glamorgan from England, there is one, appointing him Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon the expiration of the Marquis of Ormond’s term of holding that post, or in case the Marquis should, by any fault, deserve to be removed from it. For this reason, I was of opinion, that the Earl, who had designed to go to Rome, should stay for the present in this kingdom, imagining, that a way might perhaps be opened for accomplishing this affair. And in fact the way seems open for us, since the Marquis of Ormond is now publicly negotiating with the Parliamentarians, and consequently making a treaty with the King’s enemies. Upon which occasion, the Earl, being desirous of advancing himself to the Marquis’s post, has begun to solicit the consent of the kingdom, and believes, that he has the interest of the two Generals, and all the Congregation of the Clergy and the New Council. I have thought it the more proper to promote this affair, since when Dublin shall be taken, it will be immediately necessary for the kingdom to provide a Lord Lieutenant. And it is a point of no small importance to the present situation of affairs, to begin with appointing to that post a Catholic, so highly beloved by this kingdom and the King himself. Besides it is to be considered, that the King’s inclination and pleasure concurs with this design; for though his Majesty has appointed the Earl by his lesser seal only, yet that is sufficient for the Irish, since they have just reason to consider that appointment as legal and valid. Add to this, that as the Confederates of Ireland have it in their view to transport the Holy Faith into England by their arms, no person appears to be more fit for the execution of such a purpose, than the Earl, in whom two characters are united, that of a faithful servant to the King, and a perfect Catholic; and who, the winter before, was ready to carry over to the King from that country ten thousand men for the same purposes. Some, and those but a few, oppose this design, upon this single consideration, that the Earl being both an Englishman and of a very mild temper, will not be favourable enough to Ireland, nor exert the firmness necessary in this case. But I believe no better choice can now possibly be made, and that the appointment of a Catholic Lord Lieutenant, who is in so many respects attached to the Apostolical See, and bound to it by oath and promises, which the Earl has a hundred times repeated to me, is sufficient to weigh down every other doubt.”

And about the 28th of the same month the Earl took the following Oath[K] to the Nuncio:—

“I, Edward Earl of Glamorgan, &c. faithfully promise and swear, that I will do nothing of moment without the consent and approbation of the most illustrious Nuncio; and if I shall happen to do anything imprudently, which shall not be approved by him, I will correct my error upon the first intimation of his pleasure, and obey his commands. If it should be more conducive to the praise and glory of God, the splendour of the Catholic Church, and the happiness of this kingdom, that the post of Lord Lieutenant be conferred upon another person rather than myself; I swear, that I will readily and without reluctance resign it, at the command of the most illustrious Nuncio. And in all things I vow a perfect, voluntary, and religious obedience to his Holiness, saving any secular obligations towards my most serene King. And if I fail in any part of the oath taken by me, I consent, that the said oath be published, and myself exposed; otherwise the said oath shall be communicated only to the Bishop of Fernes, Chancellor of the Congregation, and Father Robert Nugent, Superior of the Jesuits in Ireland. In confirmation of this oath voluntarily taken by me, I have written all this with my own hand, subscribed my name, and affixed my seal, the 28th of September, 1646.

These various letters and documents make us familiar with the Earl of Glamorgan’s Irish treaties,[L] and to a great extent with the cause of their failure: a most happy and provident circumstance for himself, his family, and above all for his country. His conduct throughout, notwithstanding the many temptations in his way, and his own naturally enthusiastic conduct in every enterprise in which he engaged, bears none of the distinguishing traits of intolerant bigotry. The King had already sapped the Earl’s available property, and was continually tantalising him with the prospect of coming fortune and ample honours. He fawned on the old Marquis and flattered his son; inducing the one to place his wealth, and the other his honour and happiness at his disposal. Perhaps in the whole course of his political scheming he never succeeded so completely, as in this instance, in thoroughly victimising any single noble family.

On the 1st of October, 1646, the House of Lords ordered, That a pass be granted to the Lady Herbert, Countess of Glamorgan, into Ireland, with thirty of her menial servants, etc.[M][74] So that from August, when she left Raglan Castle, with the other inmates, to this period, she must have been a wanderer.

Towards the close of the year 1646, it was decided between the Earl and his own party, to send his brother, the Lord John Somerset, a zealous Catholic, on a mission to the Pope. The Earl’s complicity with the clergy in these affairs, which had been conducted with great secrecy, occasioned much suspicion, creating for him many enemies among the Protestant party.

In August, 1647, the Marquis of Ormond, leaving Ireland, waited on Charles the First at Hampton Court: Dublin being besieged, and likely to fall into possession of the English Parliament.

While affairs were in this distracted state the Earl was apprised of his father’s decease, in December, 1646; and as Marquis of Worcester, he wrote from Galway to the titular Bishop of Fernes:—[26]

“Although the place whither I go be now changed upon serious consideration, and my Lord Nuncio’s concurrence therein, as most advantageous super totam materiam, yet are my intentions the same they were when I left your Lordship; and I hope a shorter way contrived to them than I then imagined, having found a probable (I may call it even a certain) way to bring the Queen about to befriend this nation. In the interim, I beseech your Lordship, together with the Lord Bishop of Clogher and Mr. Rochfort, to be mindful of your promises to me, and to be sure that General O’Neile dissent not from the letter which you approved; the contents whereof I have not failed accordingly to recommend to his Majesty: and if I should deceive him therein, I must betake myself unto your Lordship’s advice and approbation, given thereupon. The copy of the original letter, together with the Nuncio’s recommendation, are to be delivered to General O’Neile by Father Definitor; and I have no more to say than that your Lordships (as I have said before), with Mr. Rochfort are the Triumvirate and the pillars upon whom I build, making no question of the goodness of that foundation; and I hope none of you do of my affection, which is not only devoted to yourselves, but as you shall further apply it to such persons as may be useful to God’s service, the King my master’s, and the good of this kingdom. And so, with my service to you all, I ever remain,

His Lordship ultimately left Ireland in company with Father George Leyburn, a Roman Catholic priest, with whom he went to France in March, 1647–8.[61]

Footnotes

[13] Birch, p. 175.

[13] Birch, p. 182; Nuncio’s Memoirs; and Siri, Mercurio, Vol. viii.

[87] Rushworth, Part IV. vol. I. p. 249.

[13] Birch, Inq. p. 184.

[13] Birch, p. 188.

[13] Birch, p. 192.

[A] Bod. Lib. “Carte Papers, 1634–1657, Ireland, 63.” No. 172.

[B] See page 124.

[C] This statement agrees pretty nearly with that occurring at page 160, and in “The Earl of Glamorgan’s instructions to me, to be presented to your Majesty,” signed by Edward Bosden, 21st of March, 1644, viz.:—

“That, God willing, by the end of May or beginning of June, he will land with 6000 Irish, &c. &c.

“That to advance these his undertakings, he hath £30,000 ready, 10,000 muskets, 2000 case of pistols, 800 barrels of powder, besides his own artillery; and is ascertained of £30,000 more, which will be ready upon his return.” See the “King’s Cabinet opened,” 4to. 1645. And Birch’s Inquiry, 1756, p. 57.

[D] Bod. Lib. “Carte Papers, 1634–1657, Ireland, 63.” No. 175.

[E] A Latin copy is in the Nuncio’s Memoirs, and in Italian in Vittorio Liri’s Mercurio, Vol. vii. p. 97, 98. Translation in Birch’s Inquiry, 8vo. 1756, p. 244.

[F] Being empowered by the King’s Commission of the 1st April, 1644

[G] Bod. Lib. “Carte Papers, 1634–1657, Ireland, 63.” No. 202.

[H] Bod. Lib. “Carte Papers, 1634–1657, Ireland, 63.” No. 207.

[I] The autograph of Glamorgan is said by Dr. Lingard to have attested a copy of his Warrant of 12th January, 1644; possibly the one originally handed by him to the Marquis of Ormond. It is not, however, among his papers at St. Cuthbert’s College, Durham.

[J] Nuncio’s Memoirs, fol. 1376–1379. Birch, Inq. p. 253–256.

[K] See his previous Oath, page 159.

[L] See his own explanations, given in a letter to the Earl of Clarendon, dated 11th June, 1660.

[M] Lords’ Jour. VIII. 507.

[74] Nichols.

[26] Clarendon, vol. ii. p. 380.

[61] Leyburn, p. 61.

CHAPTER XI.

The Earl of Glamorgan, succeeding to his father’s title and honours in December, 1646, while he was yet in Ireland, very soon after, as we have seen, went to France, a voluntary exile. His countrymen had heaped on him (in common with the entire Roman Catholic adherents to the royal cause) all the acrimonious abuse which political and religious intolerance is always too ready to disseminate, with a zealous ardour which defies discrimination. His fate, it is true, was the general fate of hundreds of noble families, condemned in like manner to suffer for their loyalty. While we are prone to praise what is gained by a rebellion, we are apt to overlook whether the civil war entered upon for effecting it, might not have been avoided; and while lauding times which bring to light some great military and naval spirits or still greater statesmen, we overlook entirely the possibility of altogether destroying the mental energies of men of brighter intellects, doomed to fall in the flower of their age on the field of battle. The blessings of good government all readily admit, but sad indeed is it, when wholesome changes in a state have to be effected through convulsions that paralyse a nation’s advance in civilization.

It is clear, on a retrospect, that much has been delayed, much missed, and more possibly lost that otherwise might have arisen from energies sacrificed, alas! to the sword, and fortunes turned into other and wasteful channels. In this nineteenth century we can calmly look with some wonder and astonishment on the indifference of the seventeenth, in failing to realize at least some of the Marquis of Worcester’s remarkable Inventions, of which we shall shortly have to treat more at large.

On the 18th of September, 1646, the House of Commons “Ordered, That the Lady Herbert, wife of the Lord Herbert of Raglan, shall have Mr. Speaker’s pass to go into France, only according to the pass given her by Sir Thomas Fairfax.”

Mr. Carte,[24] in his life of the Duke of Ormond, incidentally alludes to the Marquis of Worcester, as being at Paris a few months before March, 1648; he says:—

“In 1648, the Duke of Ormond considered the Parliament was grown jealous of him, and wanted a pretext to seize his person. He had notice likewise given him, that a warrant was actually issued out for that purpose, though in breach of the articles.[A] Upon this advertisement, he quitted Acton—ten miles from Bristol, where he was then residing,—and crossing the country to Hastings in Sussex, he took shipping for France, and landed happily at Dieppe in Normandy. From thence he went in the beginning of March [1648] to Paris, there to wait upon the Queen and Prince, and assist with his advice in the present conjuncture of affairs, when matters of the greatest consequence, the most intricate nature, and the most embroiled circumstances, were under their consideration, and resolutions to be taken therein for his Majesty’s service:”—he having just previously escaped from the Isle of Wight.

“The Earl of Glamorgan[B] had come to Paris a few months before him, recommended by the Nuncio Rinuccini to Cardinal Mazarine, and to the Pope’s Nuncio in that place, on account of his attachment to the Holy See, though unfortunate in all his undertakings, and not endued with that prudence which was necessary to the post he desired. His business there was to solicit the Queen to make him Governor of Ireland, but he met with so ill a reception at Court, that he soon despaired of succeeding. His Lady, to whom the Marquis of Ormond had once made his addresses, (before he had hopes of marrying his cousin, and uniting the estate of his family) resented the neglect shewed of her Lord, and imputed it, as well as his imprisonment at Dublin, to the influence and power of the Marquis. She carried her resentment so far, that when he waited upon her after his arrival at Paris, and offered to salute her, she turned away her face with great disdain. The Marquis thereupon made her a reverence, and with great presence of mind, said, ‘Really, Madam, this would have troubled me eighteen years ago;’[C] and then went to the next, the company present being of his acquaintance, and much pleased with what he had said.”

We may here pause to remark that, from the close of the year 1640, when the Long Parliament commenced its memorable sittings, the prominent events affecting the history of art and science in England are comparatively meagre, as might be expected, while the public mind was being perpetually distracted and disturbed not by intestine war alone, but also by plague and pestilence in fearful forms.

Of remarkable events of the period we especially notice the fortifying of London in 1643, and the delivering up of Charles the First to the Parliament by the Scots in January 1647, followed by his execution on the 30th of January 1649, the establishment of the Commonwealth on the 6th of February following, and of the Protectorate under Cromwell in 1654.

Under the new regime, public taste either was greatly changed, or was to be compulsorily directed into new channels, for, in 1647, theatrical performances were prohibited, actors were declared rogues and vagabonds, and all places usually employed for theatrical performances were ordered to be demolished. Such was the narrow-minded and furious puritanical zeal of the then governing power.

Charles the Second held his Court at Paris, where alone the Marquis of Worcester associated with the libertine monarch; at least no circumstance occurs to show that he ever removed with the Court in its several changes to Cologne, Bruges, Brussels, and other continental towns.

Sir Richard Browne, ambassador at Paris, in his correspondence with John Evelyn, when writing from Paris, the 3rd of August, 1648, incidentally observes in a postscript:—“Our Court wants money, and lives very quietly at St. Germains: where no peer appears but my Lord Jermin. The Marquis of Worcester, the Lords Digby and Hatton, though yet in France, yet live for the most part in Paris.”[37]

The Marquis had been little more than a year in France, when he seems to have written to the exiled King, then at Jersey, for some confirmation of his titles; to which request he received the following courtly compliments and vain empty promises:—[D]

I am truly sensible of your great merit and sufferings in the service of the King my father, and I shall never be wanting to reward and encourage as well that kindness to his person as that zeal to his service which you have expressed in all your actions, and which I doubt not but you will still continue to me. I fear that in this conjuncture of time it will not be seasonable for me to grant, nor for you to receive the addition of honour you desire; neither can I at this time send the order you mention concerning the Garter, but be confident that I will in due time give you such satisfaction in these particulars and in all other things that you can reasonably expect from me, as shall let you see with how much truth and kindness I am

“I do not send the letter to Monsieur Monbrun till I understand more particularly from you what the intention of it is, which I do not yet well understand.

The Marquis was probably for four or five years a refugee in France, intimately associated with the exiled Court; “Paris and indeed all France (says Evelyn[37]), being full of loyal fugitives,” in 1650. Many vague surmises have originated with different writers to account for the manner in which he passed his time abroad, all alike fallacious, being inconsistent with facts. It is certain that his finances were equally straitened with those, not only of the nobility around him, but likewise of the King himself. He could have had but few, if any, opportunities for leisurely engaging in his usual studies, much less for any practical pursuits in experimental natural philosophy. That he was not wholly idle, however, we may well conceive; yet it is more consistent to suppose that it was a period in his life which he would most likely employ to investigate the works of those writers whose labours he most affected, rather than engage himself in productions which might only add to the danger as well as the difficulties of his uncertain journeyings, surrounded as the Court was with political spies.

During the Marquis’s absence on the continent, we proceed to trace the progress of events at home.

Footnotes

[24] Carte, vol. 2. p. 16.

[A] He had liberty by his articles to stay twelve months in England—but the Parliament was jealous of his doing them a disservice.

[B] See Nuncio’s Memoirs, fol. 1818. Ireland, iii. 100.

[C] See her Marriage in 1639, page 30.

[37] Evelyn. The Editor of the Diary erroneously indexes the Marquis as—“Henry Somerset, &c.,” instead of “Edward Somerset, &c.”

[D] From MSS. Badminton.

[37] Evelyn.

CHAPTER XII.

AFFAIRS AFFECTING THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER’s FAMILY, IN RESPECT OF WORCESTER HOUSE AND OTHER PROPERTY IN AND NEAR LONDON.

Worcester House, in the Strand, was of course early in possession of the Parliament, who used it for the state paper and other public offices. The mansion had gardens to the water-side.[A] In the reign of Henry VIII. it had belonged to the see of Carlisle; it was afterwards inhabited by the Earls of Bedford, being then known as Bedford and Russell House, from whom it came to the Earls of Worcester, when it assumed their name. It also figured as the temporary residence of the great Earl of Clarendon,[37] who is represented to have paid for it a rental of £500[2] per annum, probably taking it furnished.

On the 21st of April, 1643, the House of Commons had[57] ordered, “That the iron seized in Worcester House, be forthwith sold; and the proceeds delivered to the collectors in the county of Middlesex, appointed by the ordinance for seizing the estates of Papists, and notorious malignants; to the end that they may be accountable to the Committee for it: And that no Committee, or other person, do grant out Warrants for seizing the estates of malignants, without the knowledge of that Committee; in regard there is an ordinance settled to that purpose, and a Committee armed with power for the execution of the said Ordinance, in all the points and circumstances hereof.”

In pursuance of an Ordinance of Parliament,[B] passed the 11th of September, 1646, contracts were concluded by the Government with various purchasers of houses, stables, sheds and plots of ground, the joint property of the Marquis of Worcester and his brother, Sir John Somerset, some situated in the parish of Clements Danes in the Strand, a part in Drury Lane, and smaller tenements in Fish-Street Hill, Cross Lane, and Coppings Court, in the City; together with a house, farm and land in Stepney, “alias Stebunheath;” also the manor of Acton, with its farm-house, buildings, and 805 acres of land; the whole for the sum of £12,584. 12s.—Nearly half this amount arose from the purchases of “William Pennoyer and Richard Hill of London, merchants,” to whom the Government was indebted in the sum of £9,402. 5s.—which was to be paid out of such sales of this property, and any amount remaining was to bear “interest after the rate of £8. per centum for a year.” And they had further the option of claiming any purchases of the property not paid for within ten days; so that either out of purchases or by forfeitures they were secured for their balance of £3,199. 13s. over and above their own purchases.[C]

That Worcester House became a depot for the security of treasure seized by the Parliament, we learn from a Resolution passed by the Commons [57] on the 10th of January, 1650.

“Resolved, That Colonel Berksted be, and is hereby, required to appoint four of his soldiers to lodge every night at Worcester House; and four other of his soldiers to lodge every night at Guildhall; for the better securing the treasuries there, from time to time, as the Treasurers at War shall appoint.”

“Ordered, That it be referred to the Council of State, to dispose of Worcester House, and the yards and gardens thereunto belonging, for the best carrying on of the public service of the Commonwealth.”

The Marchioness of Worcester, being deprived of other sources of property, petitioned the Parliament in respect to the only likely means of obtaining pecuniary consideration. A copy of her petition, being a printed folio fly-leaf, probably as then in use for members of the House, preserved in the Library of the British Museum, has upon it the MS. date “October 1654,” but it is more probable that it was not presented to Parliament before the end of 1656 or early in 1657. It is as follows:—

“That your Petitioner having been married to Edward, now Earl of Worcester, in the year 1639, with a considerable portion, to the value of twenty thousand pounds, and not having received out of the whole estate but four hundred pounds these nine neares [years], in lieu of jointure, fifths, or thirds. Notwithstanding her claim and four years’ attendance: and finding now only Worcester House unsold, and in pursuit to discover some other little thing.

“Your Petitioner humbly prayeth your Honours, to grant her the benefit of the said House, and such other things as may be discovered.

Every circumstance connected with this petition acquires interest from the peculiar position of the times, and of all parties interested. The Marquis of Worcester had rendered himself highly obnoxious to the dominant party, he was beyond their power, a recusant and a papist, and here was his noble Lady petitioning the Cromwellian Parliament in respect to her rights, a papist demanding her fifths at the hands of her husband’s bitterest enemies. We need, therefore, offer no apology for tracing rather more particularly than might otherwise seem requisite, the course pursued in this simple affair.

On Monday, the 30th of March, 1657, Mr. Burton[22] reports from the Committee, to whom the Petition of Margaret Countess of Worcester was referred;

“A Bill for settling the messuage in the Strand, called Worcester House, on Trustees, for the life of Edward, Earl of Worcester, in trust, for Margaret, Countess of Worcester, in lieu and satisfaction of the arrears of her fifths, was this day read the first time; and, upon the question, ordered to be read the second time, on Thursday morning next.”

“The Bill for settling Worcester House upon Margaret Countess of Worcester, and some discoveries, in lieu of the arrears of her fifths, was this day read the second time; and, upon the question, committed to Mr. Nath. Bacon, Mr. Franc. Bacon, Mr. Burton, and 29 other members, to meet on Tuesday next.”

On Friday, the 16th of June, 1657, “a Bill for settling of Worcester House upon Christofer Copley, Esquire, and William Hawley, Esquire, during the life of Edward, Earl of Worcester, and also such monies as were due to the said Earl or Margaret his Countess, from Barnaby, Earl of Thomond; in trust for the said Countess, was this day read the third time.

“A Proviso was tendered to this Bill, in these words; viz. ‘Provided that this shall not impeach or invalid the sale of the Gate-house of the said Worcester House, by the trustees appointed for the sale thereof.’

“Which was read the first and second time; and, upon the question, agreed to be part of the Bill.

“And the said Bill, with the Schedule annexed, being put to the question, passed.

“Ordered, That this Bill be tendered to the Lord Protector, for his consent.”

After other business, the Speaker, with the whole House, repaired to the Painted Chamber, to present the Bills to his Highness, who gave his assent to this, along with other Bills.[57]

After much delay, from unexplained postponements and references, it was at length, on the 24th of March, 1658–9, resolved, to agree with the Committee’s recommendation.[22] We, therefore, find on the 14th of April, 1659,[57] after prayers—

“Mr. Terill reports from the Grand Committee of the House of Grievances, the state of the case, upon the petition of Margaret, Countess of Worcester, concerning her interest in Worcester House in the Strand.

“Resolved, &c. That Margaret, Countess of Worcester, have the actual possession of Worcester House in the Strand delivered up to her on the 25th day of March next: and that, in the meantime, the rent of £300 be paid to her for the said house, for this year, commencing from the 25th day of March last, out of the receipt of the Exchequer, half yearly, by equal portions, if her interest therein shall so long continue.

“Resolved, &c. That the sum of £400 be paid to Margaret, Countess of Worcester, or her assignees, out of the receipt of the Exchequer, in recompense of all demands for the detaining of Worcester House from her since her title thereto, by virtue of the late act of Parliament, until the 25th day of March last.

“Sir George Booth, Sir William Wheeler, Mr. Raleigh, Sir William Doyley, Mr. Annesley, or any three of them, are appointed a Committee to wait on his Highness, the Lord Protector, from this House, to desire his Highness to give direction for a Privy-Seal to be issued for the payment, as well of £400 allowed to the Countess of Worcester, for her recompense of all demands for detaining of Worcester House from her since her title thereunto, by the late act of Parliament; as of the rent of £300 appointed to be paid to her for this present year, for the said house, to end on the 25th of March next.

“Resolved, &c. That it be referred to a Committee, to consider how to remove, and where to place, the conveyances, records, and other writings, now remaining at Worcester House, so as they may be disposed for their safety, and the service of the Commonwealth. “A Committee accordingly appointed.”

“Mr. Annesley reports from the Committee appointed to attend his Highness about the payment of £400 to the Countess of Worcester, in satisfaction of all demands due to her, for the use of Worcester House, till the 25th day of March last; and of £300 more for the rent of the said house for this present year, to end the 25th day of March next; that the Committee had attended his Highness, and acquainted him with the Orders of this House in that behalf: that his Highness was pleased to give the Committee this answer, That he assured himself the House had considered of her interest; and that himself was therewith satisfied; and did take notice of the Orders; and would give speedy direction for her satisfaction accordingly.”

“Ordered, That the sum of £6 by the week shall be paid unto Margaret, Countess of Worcester, or her assigns, so long as Worcester House shall be made use of by the Commonwealth; to be paid to her, or her assigns, out of the contingencies of the Council of State: and the acquittance of the said Margaret, Countess of Worcester, testifying the receipt thereof, shall be a sufficient discharge in that behalf.

“Ordered, That the Commissioners for removing of obstructions, trustees, contractors, and other officers, at Worcester House, do quit the said house, as soon as they can conveniently, without prejudice to the service of the Commonwealth: and that when the said house shall be quitted, that the same shall be settled upon the Countess of Worcester, or upon trustees to her use, during the life of Edward, Earl of Worcester: And it is “Ordered, That it be referred to a Committee, to set out some rooms in Worcester House, for the use of the said Countess of Worcester in the meantime: And it is further—

“Ordered, That the said Committee do also examine whether it is necessary for the Commonwealth to continue to make use of Worcester House for the service of the Commonwealth; or whether it be best to take some other course for the accommodation of the said Commissioners, &c. at Worcester House, &c.”

“An act for settling Worcester House in the Strand upon trustees, for the use of Margaret, Countess of Worcester, during the life of Edward, Earl of Worcester; and also such monies as are due to the said Earl or Countess, from Barnaby, Earl of Thomond, was this day read the first time.

“Ordered, That the pension of six pounds a week formerly ordered to Margaret, Countess of Worcester, be continued until the Parliament take further order; and that the same be forthwith paid, with all arrears thereof, from the time of the granting thereof unto her the said Margaret, Countess of Worcester, or her assigns, out of the contingencies of the Council of State: And that the Council of State be, and are hereby, authorized and required forthwith to pay the same, accordingly: And that the Council of State be repaid the same money out of the public revenue of the Exchequer.

“Ordered, That the possession of Worcester House in the Strand, in the county of Middlesex, be forthwith delivered up to Margaret, Countess of Worcester: And the Council of State are hereby authorized and required, to take care, that the possession of the said house be delivered up to her, or her assigns, accordingly.”

“A Bill empowering the trustees for sale of lands forfeited to the Commonwealth for treason, to convey Worcester House to trustees in trust for Margaret, Countess of Worcester, was this day read the first and second time; and, upon the question, passed.”

Thus it occupied above two years to obtain anything approaching an equitable arrangement of the Countess’ very obvious claim, concluding at last with a “pension of six pounds a week,”—a pension in arrear in March, 1659, but to be “continued until the Parliament take further order.”