A. C. 1667. have been easily replanted, fo as in a few years to interfere with their fpice trade, and therefore tenaciously infifted upon retaining it in their own

The Dutch fleet borns

hards.

Charles, at length, relaxed in this article, and the English looked upon the peace as already concluded. He

fhips.

ordered all his large fhips to be unrigged, and kept
only a small squadron of cruifers in commiffios.
De Wit refolved to take the advantage of his negli
gence the preparations in Holland were continued
without ceafing; and De Ruyter, failing from the
Texel with fifty fhips of the line, fteered directly
to the river Thames, at the mouth of which he
arrived on the tenth day of June.
He attacked
Sheerness fort, which was eafily taken: he broke
down a strong chain drawn across the mouth of the
river Medway, and deftroyed three guardships
moored within fide for its protection. He cleared
a paffage through fome veffels which had been funk
in the channel by order of the duke of Albemarle :
then failed up the river as far as Upnore caftle,
which was reduced. Then they burned three fhips
of the line, after having met with a desperate refilt-
ance; and fell down the Medway, with a refolu-
tion to attempt the river Thames. By this time
the whole coaft was alarmed, and London filled
with confternation. Ships were funk at Woolwich
and Blackwall; platforms raised in different places,
and provided with artillery, the trained-bands
drawn out, and the city of London put into a
posture of defence. De Ruyter, feeing no profpect
of fucceeding in the Thames, fet fail for Porfmouth,
which he in vain attempted to reluce; then he
directed his courfe to Torbay, where he took fome
English veffels. He made an unsuccessful attempt
upon Plymouth: from thence he failed up the
channel; infulted Harwich, chaced a fquadron
commanded by Sir Edward Sprague, penetrated

once

once more into the river Thames, and kept all the A. C. 1667. fea ports on that fide of the inland in terror and confufion. The people were fired with indignation to see themselves expofed to the infult of an enemy whom they had formerly contemned. They loudly exclaimed against the king, who had converted the public money to his own private ufe, and left the nation defenceless.

De Ruyter, proceeded to alarm the whole coaft, Peace of and domineer at fea without oppofition, until the Breda. treaty was concluded at Breda. By this pacification Acadia was yielded to the French king, who agreed to restore St. Chriftophers and fome other islands which he had taken in the Weft-Indies; and the two principal contracting parties retained the acquifitions they had made; by which ftipulation the colony of New York in North-America remained with the English. The only gainers by this war were the two royal brothers. Charles had fold all the merchant fhips taken from the Dutch before and after the déclaration of war; and he pocketed the greater part of the late fupply; while his brother enjoyed a great fhare of the prizes as lord high admiral of England, exclufive of the prefent he had received from the parliament.

facrifice

murs of the

The king was no ftranger to the murmurs of the The king people, who complained bitterly of his conduct; refolves to not only on account of the late difgrace, but like- Clarendon, wife of his having concluded an inglorious peace, to the murafter the war had coft fuch immenfe fums of money. They accufed him of having deceived the parliament, in declaring he would never lay his arms afide until he fhould have received ample fatisfaction from the enemy: they taxed him with having embezzled the fupply: they blamed him for his partiality to catholics, and, in particular, for having bestowed the office of fecretary of ftate upon the earl of Arlington, a reputed papift: they

were

A. C. 1667. were fcandalized at his lewd life and the irregularities of his court, which was become a fcene of buf-fonery and intemperance. The king thought it was neceffary to make fome facrifice to the difcontents of the fubjects, and pitched upon Clarendon as a proper victim. Charles looked upon that nobleman as a troublesome cenfor, who difapproved of his conduct, and was a check upon his pleafures. The favourite miftrefs railed at the earl without ceafing the duke of Buckingham and other courtiers ridiculed his character and deportment. The king received intimation that the chancellor had oppofed a scheme projected by fome members of the lower houfe, for fettling a revenue of two millions upon his majefty; and this oppofition, which flowed from a love to his country, was conftrued into an unpardonable offence againft his fovereign. His gravity and inflexible virtue operated as a continual reproach upon the levity and diffolute morals of Charles, who had been long difgufted by his manners, even while he refpected his talents and fidelity: but what incenfed the king against him beyond all poffibility of forgiveness, was the part he acted in the marriage of the duke of Richmond. Charles was enamoured of Mrs. Stuart, whom he had tempted with all the allurements which a crown could enable him to exhibit; but, finding her chastity impregnable, he entertained thoughts of procuring a divorce from the queen, and raifing Mrs. Stuart to the place of his lawful confort. The earl of Clarendon, who knew his defign, is faid to have promoted a match between this young lady and the duke of Richmond, that his grand-children might not be excluded from the fucceffion to the throne, by the iffue of the king's fecond marriage. The duke of Richmond, who was captivated by the beauty of Mrs. Stuart, espoused her in private; and the king was fo exafpe

rated

rated at the match, that he not only banished the A. C, 1667. duke from court, but reviled Clarendon with the moit bitter reproaches. That nobleman had the misfortune to be very unpopular at this juncture; and his friend the earl of Southampton was lately dead. The prefbyterians, a powerful and numerous fect, hated Clarendon as the author of all the perfecution they had undergone. He was abhorred by the catholics as the great obstacle to all their hopes of favour and toleration; and the people, in general, blamed him for the fale of Dunkirk. He was employed in building an expenfive house, while the plague depopulated the city of London; and purchased fome ftones, which, before the fire of London, had been fet apart for rebuilding St. Paul's cathedral. The prejudiced vulgar bestowed the name of Dunkirk houfe on this new edifice: they looked upon the execution of his defign at that juncture, as an infult upon the calamities of the nation, and exclaimed against the impiety of ufing, in his own houfe, the materials which had been provided for the house of God. All these concurring caufes were more than fufficient to effect the difgrace of this minifter. The king, on pretence of fatisfying the people, deprived him of the office of chancellor, and Sir Orlando Bridgeman was appointed keeper of the great feal.

peach that

fon.

The parliament affembling in October, prefented The coman address to his majefty, thanking him for having mons imdifbanded the forces which had been levied for the nobleman of defence of the kingdom, when the Dutch fleet in- high-treafulted the coafts; for having difmiffed all the papifts from his guards, and other military employments; and in particular, for having taken the office of high chancellor from the earl of Clarendon. To this article he replied, that he would never employ him for the future in any public affair. He not only withdrew his protection from the earl, but

A. C. 1667 even influenced the commons to impeach him of high-treafon. They accufed him of having advised the king to maintain an army, diffolve the parliament, and render himself abfolute: of having faid the king was a papift of having fold illegal patents, and granted injunctions to ftop the ordinary course of juftice: of having banished feveral perfons in an unlawful manner of having received bribes on different occafions, and enriched his family, by obtaining grants for them of the crownlands of having fruftrated useful designs for the prefervation of English and the reduction of French colonies of having correfponded with Oliver Cromwell and his accomplices: of having advised and been inftrumental in the fale of Dunkirk: of having altered a patent after it had received the fanction of the great feal of having extorted money by writs of "Quo warranto" from many corporations, immediately after their charters had been confirmed by parliament: of having abufed and betrayed his majefty, by discovering his fecrets. to the enemy and of having advifed the fatal feparation of the fleet, which in the late war had well nigh been attended with the loss of one part of his majefty's navy.

He with

draws himfelf from

dom.

When the commons delivered thefe articles of accufation at the bar of the upper-houfe, they dethe king- fired that the earl of Clarendon might be taken into cuftody but the lords refufed to commit him upon fuch a general accufation. This refufal gave rife to a violent difpute between the two houfes, At length the commons voted that the lords, in refufing to commit the earl of Clarendon on their impeachment, had ftopped the courfe of juftice, and formed a precedent of evil and dangerous confequence. The earl knowing how obnoxious he was to the commons, and confcious that the court was determined on his ruin, refolved to withdraw himself