Literature of the Stuart successions: An anthology [1 ed.] 1526104628, 9781526104625

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By gathering together some of the very best Stuart succession writing, Literature of the Stuart successions offers new and enlightening perspectives on the history and culture of the period. It includes fifty texts (or extracts), selected to demonstrate the breadth and significance of succession writing. Additional material guides readers through the period and supports them in their engagement with particular pieces. The texts are modernised, and are preceded by a substantial general introduction, while each section has an additional introduction, and each text is preceded by a headnote. Textual annotation aims to explain and contextualise this rich and complex collection of material. Designed for use by students, Literature of the Stuart successions will also appeal to readers with a general interest in the Stuarts.

John West is Assistant Professor of Seventeenth-Century Literature and Culture at the University of Warwick

Front cover: ‘The Progenie of the Most Renowned Prince James King of Great Britaine France and Ireland’, 1624–35. Print made by Gerrit Mountin, published by William Riddiard. © The Trustees of the British Museum

An anthology

ANDREW McRAE & JOHN WEST

Andrew McRae is Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Exeter

Literature of the Stuart successions

This volume presents an anthology of primary material relating to the six Stuart successions (1603, 1625, 1660, 1685, 1688–9, 1702), which punctuated a turbulent and pivotal hundred years of British history. This period also included two accessions to the role of Lord Protector: those of Oliver and Richard Cromwell. Each succession generated an outpouring of publications in a wide range of forms and genres, including speeches, diary entries, news reports, letters and sermons. Above all, successions were marked by a wealth of poetry, by writers including Ben Jonson, Andrew Marvell, Aphra Behn and John Dryden. This important material reflects in fascinating ways upon both the particular moments of transition, and the contested and changing political values of the Stuart century.

ISBN 978-1-5261-0462-5

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ANDREW McRAE & JOHN WEST

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Literature of the Stuart successions

Literature of the Stuart successions An anthology

Edited by Andrew McRae and John West

Manchester University Press

Editorial matter copyright © Andrew McRae and John West 2017 All other matter copyright © as acknowledged The right of Andrew McRae and John West to be identified as the editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 5261 0463 2 hardback ISBN 978 1 5261 0462 5 paperback First published 2017 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Contents

List of figures page ix Acknowledgements and conventionsx List of abbreviationsxi General introduction

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Part I: 1603 Introduction29 I.1 A Proclamation Declaring the Undoubted Right of our Sovereign Lord King James, to the Crown of the Realms of England, France and Ireland (1603) 32 I.2 Richard Niccols, ‘A True Subject’s Sorrow, for the Loss of his Late Sovereign’ (1603) 35 I.3 Michael Drayton, To the Majesty of King James (1603) 38 I.4 Sir John Davies, ‘The King’s Welcome’ and ‘To the Queen at the Same Time’ (1603) 46 I.5 A New Song to the Great Comfort and Rejoicing of All True English Hearts, at our Most Gracious King James his Proclamation, upon the 24 of March Last Past in the City of London (1603) 51 I.6 Thomas Dekker, from The Whole Magnificent Entertainment: Given to King James, Queen Anne his Wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, upon the Day of His Majesty’s Triumphant Passage (from the Tower) through his Honourable Citie (and Chamber) of London (1604) 55 I.7 Ben Jonson, ‘A Panegyre on the Happy Entrance of James our Sovereign to his First High Session of Parliament’ (1604) 62

vi I.8

Contents King James, from The Kings Majesty’s Speech, as it was Delivered by him in the Upper House of the Parliament (1604) 68

Part II: 1625 Introduction 77 II.1 John Rous, from his diary (27 March 1625) 79 II.2 James Shirley, ‘Upon the Death of King James’ (1646) 81 II.3 John Donne, from The First Sermon Preached to King Charles (1625) 84 II.4 From A True Discourse of All the Royal Passages, Triumphs and Ceremonies, Observed at the Contract and Marriage of the High and Mighty Charles, King of Great Britain, and the Most Excellentest of Ladies, the Lady Henrietta Maria of Bourbon (1625) 90 II.5 George Eglisham, from The Forerunner of Revenge. Upon the Duke of Buckingham, for the Poisoning of the Most Potent King James of Happy Memory King of Great Britain, and the Lord Marquis of Hamilton, and Others of the Nobility (1626) 93 II.6 William Drummond of Hawthornden, from The Entertainment of the High and Mighty Monarch Charles (1633) 98 Part III: 1653 and 1658 Introduction 105 III.1 [Marchamont Nedham], from Mercurius Politicus, 184 (December 1653) 107 III.2 ‘The Character of a Protector’ (c. 1654) 111 III.3 Andrew Marvell, The First Anniversary of the Government under his Highness the Lord Protector (1655) 113 III.4 From The Public Intelligencer, 152 (November 1658) 128 III.5 John Dryden, Heroic Stanzas, Consecrated to the Glorious Memory of his Most Serene and Renowned Highness Oliver Late Lord Protector of this Commonwealth, &c. Written after the Celebration of his Funeral (1659) 132 III.6 The World in a Maze, or, Oliver’s Ghost (1659) 141 Part IV: 1660 Introduction 149 IV.1 The Declaration of Breda (1660) 151 IV.2 John Milton, from The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660) 154



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IV.3 Samuel Pepys, from his diary (25 May 1660) IV.4 Martin Parker, The King Enjoys his Own Again. To be Joyfully Sung, with its Own Proper Tune (c. 1660) IV.5 John Dryden, Astraea Redux. A Poem on the Happy Restoration and Return of his Sacred Majesty Charles the Second (1660) IV.6 Rachel Jevon, Exultationis Carmen: To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty upon his Most Desired Return (1660) IV.7 John Crouch, The Muses’ Joy for the Happy Arrival and Recovery of that Weeping Vine Henrietta-Maria, the Most Illustrious Queen-Mother, and her Royal Branches (1660) IV.8 Edmund Waller, A Poem on St James’s Park as Lately Improved by His Majesty (1661)

vii 160 163 167 179

186 193

Part V: 1685 Introduction 201 V.1 John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis: A Funeral-Pindaric Poem Sacred to the Happy Memory of King Charles II (1685) 204 V.2 James II, An Account of What His Majesty Said at his First Coming to Council (1685) 224 V.3 Elinor James, The Humble Petition of Elinor James (1685) 226 V.4 W[illiam] P[enn] (?), Tears Wiped Off, or The Second Essay of the Quakers by Way of Poetry: Occasioned by the Coronation of James and 229 Mary (1685) V.5 Francis Turner, from A Sermon Preached before their Majesties K. James II and Queen Mary at their Coronation in Westminster Abbey, April 23, 1685 235 V.6 England’s Royal Renown, in the Coronation of our Gracious Sovereign King James the 2nd. and his Royal Consort Queen Mary, who were Both Crowned at Westminster, the Twenty-Third of April, 1685. To the Tune of, The Cannons Roar (1685) 240 V.7 Aphra Behn, A Poem Humbly Dedicated to the Great Pattern of Piety and Virtue Catherine Queen Dowager. On the Death of her Dear Lord and Husband King Charles II (1685) 243 Part VI: 1688–89 Introduction 251 VI.1 John Evelyn, from his diary (8 November 1688) 254

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VI.2 Gilbert Burnet, from A Sermon Preached in the Chapel of St James’s, before his Highness the Prince of Orange, the 23d of December, 1688 (1689) 256 VI.3 Aphra Behn, A Pindaric Poem to the Reverend Doctor Burnet, on the Honour he did me of Enquiring after me and my Muse (1689) 259 VI.4 Thomas Shadwell, The Address of John Dryden, Laureate to his Highness the Prince of Orange (1689) 264 VI.5 Elkanah Settle, ‘Britain’s Address to the Prince of Orange’ (1689) 271 VI.6 On the Occasion of the Descent of his Highness the Prince of Orange into England, and their Highnesses Accession to the Crown. A Pindaric Ode (1689) 274 VI.7 The Protestant’s Ave Mary, on the Arrival of her Most Gracious Majesty, Mary, Queen of England (1689) 280 VI.8 A Letter from a Gentleman in the Country to his Correspondent in the City, Concerning the Coronation Medal, Distributed April 11. 1689 (1689) 285 Part VII: 1702 Introduction 293 VII.1 Queen Anne, from ‘The Queen’s Speech in Parliament’ (1702) 295 VII.2 England’s Triumph, in the Joyful Coronation of a Protestant Queen: Or, an Acrostic upon Anne, Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland (1702) 297 VII.3 The English Muse: Or, a Congratulatory Poem (1702) 299 VII.4 From Albina, or The Coronation (1702) 311 VII.5 John Tutchin, from The Observator (22 April 1702) 317 VII.6 Bevil Higgons (?), ‘The Mourners’ (1703) 320 VII.7 William Walsh, To the Queen on her Coronation Day (1706) 322

Figures

1 Frontispiece to Konincklijcke beeltenis, ofte Waerachtige historie van Karel de II. koninck van Groot Britannien (1661); reproduced by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library page 5 2 Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Charles I and Henrietta Maria with their Two Eldest Children, Prince Charles and Princess Mary (1631–32); reproduced by permission of Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016 6 3 Frontispiece to John Gauden, Eikon Basilike (1649); reproduced by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library 11 4 Image from Some Farther Intelligence of the Affairs of England. The Death of the Renowned Oliver Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1659); reproduced by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library 12 5 Image from Stephen Harrison, The Arches of Triumph Erected in Honor of the High and Mighty Prince James I (1604); reproduced by permission of the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford 15 6 Image from Francis Sandford, The History of the Coronation of the Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch, James II (1687); reproduced by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library 16 7 HCR9649 1689 coronation medal for William III and Mary II, silver; image © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford 18

Acknowledgements and conventions

This book was produced as a result of the Stuart Successions Project, a collaboration between the universities of Exeter and Oxford, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. We wish to thank the universities, and especially the AHRC, for their support. We also acknowledge the contributions of other project team members: Paulina Kewes, Joseph Hone and Anna-Marie Linnell. And we note that the Stuart Successions Project was conceived and developed in collaboration with the late Kevin Sharpe. Although Kevin died – too young – shortly after the grant was awarded, the project was greatly indebted to his work. As a friend and colleague, he is greatly missed. In our annotation of the texts, we benefited from generous advice from a number of people, including Alastair Bellany, Daniel Cattell, David Colclough, Karen Edwards, Neil Guthrie, Joseph Hone, Paulina Kewes, Gerald Maclean and Philip Schwyzer. This anthology is designed to be compatible with other outputs from the Stuart Successions Project. These include a volume of essays, Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Paulina Kewes and Andrew McRae (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming); and an open-access database of Stuart succession literature, http://stuarts.exeter.ac.uk/database/. We have also developed the website ‘Stuarts Online’ (http://stuarts-online.com/) to support education in this rich field. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized lightly in all texts, in order to improve the experience of reading but with a view to retaining the authors’ original intentions. All references to the Bible are to the Authorized (King James) Version.

Abbreviations

Hammond

ODNB

OED POAS

The Poems of John Dryden, vol. 1: 1650–1681, ed. Paul Hammond (London: Longman, 1995); vol. 2: 1682–1685, ed. Paul Hammond (London: Longman, 1995) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004); online edn, January 2008, http://www.oxforddnb. com (accessed 1 February 2017) Oxford English Dictionary Online, http://www.oed.com/ (accessed 1 February 2017) Poems on Affairs of State: Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660–1714, 7 vols (New Haven and London, 1963–75), vol. 6, ed. F. H. Ellis

General introduction

Royal successions are moments of national transition. The shift from one reign to another can invoke uncertainty and anxiety, anticipation and hope. Successions will prompt observers of all kinds to look back at the reign that has passed, and also forward to that which is dawning. They are occasions that concentrate minds on the values and structures of the nation. Succession literature, as presented in this anthology, includes all types of writing that respond to these moments. It is a category that includes a lot of material that we might readily identify as literature, most notably various kinds of poetry. But it also includes other types of writing and performance, including news reports, proclamations, speeches, pageantry, pamphlets and sermons. It is therefore generically diverse, though highly concentrated in terms of its occasion and subject-matter. The aim of this anthology is to represent both the breadth and the quality of this writing across the Stuart era (1603–1714). This was the great age of succession literature. While earlier successions certainly generated responses from writers, the conditions of publication were considerably less advanced. The technology of print was introduced into England in the late fifteenth century, but the business of printed publication advanced rapidly from the latter decades of the sixteenth century. Across the Stuart century, print was ubiquitous, reaching all geographical regions and social levels. While some writers, especially within the court, still preferred to circulate their works in manuscript form among coteries of readers, the vast majority of material produced in response to successions was printed. At the other end of the Stuart era, successions tended to generate less material in part because the monarchy itself was by then less powerful a force, and in part because observers were choosing different ways of responding to such events. The growth of the newspaper, from its infancy in the seventeenth century, is relevant in this regard. The gradual decline of poetry as a public form of writing, powerfully engaged

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with national debates, was also a factor. By the twentieth century, only a handful of people would respond to royal successions by writing poems. In this introduction, we want to provide a richly informed context for the material that follows. While introductions to particular reigns and headnotes to texts will be provided in the body of the book, our goal at the outset is to establish an overview of the period, the nature of royal succession and the various kinds of succession literature. The material in this volume is compelling and fascinating, but can also be challenging and opaque to non-specialist readers. We aim, here and throughout, to provide the framework and support necessary to facilitate productive reading experiences. The Stuart monarchs and their nations This volume focuses on the period when the Stuarts ruled in England, Scotland and Ireland, subsequent to the arrival in London of James VI of Scotland in 1603 after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. The rule of Stuarts (or ‘Stewarts’) in Scotland stretched back to 1371, while James himself had held the throne from 1567, his first year of life. He was, he reflected many years later, ‘a cradle king’.1 James was not the only candidate for the English throne in 1603, nor could anybody in the country be sure that he would succeed peacefully. Elizabeth, who had ordered the execution of James’s mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587, notoriously refused to address the question of succession, which consequently festered in the public consciousness throughout the final years of her life.2 But when the time came, the succession was surprisingly peaceful and decisive, establishing a dynasty that would only be brought to an end 111 years later. The Stuarts ruled multiple nations. Wales had been incorporated into England by the Tudors, but Scotland and Ireland remained distinct entities. While James’s accession unified the English and Scottish crowns, his expectation that he would as a result be able to unify the nations of England and Scotland was frustrated by entrenched differences. This goal would elude him, and all subsequent Stuart monarchs, until Queen Anne established the nation of Great Britain in 1707. Throughout the dynasty, then, the different structures and interests of each nation placed competing demands on the Stuart monarchs. Ireland remained, in   1 James VI and I, ‘O Stay your Teares yow who Complaine’, line 135; in ‘Early Stuart Libels: An Edition of Poetry from Manuscript Sources’, ed. Alastair Bellany and Andrew McRae, Early Modern Literary Studies Text Series, 1 (2005), http://www.early​ stuartlibels.net, Nvi1 (accessed 1 February 2017).   2 On the late Elizabethan context see Doubtful and Dangerous: The Question of Succession in Late Elizabethan England, ed. Susan Doran and Paulina Kewes (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2014).



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practice, virtually a colonial outpost, subject on occasion to brutal repression. It was also feared as a gateway to sympathetic Catholic forces from the continent, as for example when James II brought French troops to Dublin in 1689 in an effort to launch a war designed to reclaim his throne. Scotland sustained a distinct parliament (until 1707), and retained even beyond that date a different Church and legal system. Significantly, in the century’s two great revolutions Scotland asserted a unique set of interests and tensions by comparison with those in England, and also expressed different allegiances at key moments. The Scots civil wars, in particular, had a markedly different character to those in England, while in 1651 Prince Charles was embraced briefly as King of Scotland: crowned on 1 January, but driven out of the British Isles altogether later that year after defeat at Worcester. Although all the Stuarts established their base in London, and this anthology concentrates largely on the huge volume of material generated in England, the complex dynamics of their three kingdoms helped to define the era.3 The passage of power through the generations of Stuarts was also more complicated than it may appear from a position of historical distance. James’s first son, Henry, died at the age of eighteen in 1612, after promising in his short life a bold model of chivalric and militant authority at odds with his father’s own image. His second son, Charles, acceded in 1625 as Charles I, and ruled until 1649. In his final seven years of power, his realms were ravaged by civil war, which broke out after intense confrontations between his supporters and the English parliament. Having lost the wars, and failed in efforts to negotiate a settlement, Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. His oldest son, the future Charles II, always dated his reign from the moment of his father’s death. He wanted the nation to forget the preceding years; he even passed an ‘Act of Oblivion’, instructing his subjects to take the same approach.4 But the Stuart dynasty contains nonetheless an intriguing gap: the eleven years between 1649 and 1660 in which the British nations first adopted republican structures (from 1649 to 1653), then established the parliamentary general Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. After Cromwell’s death in 1658 power passed to his son, Richard, briefly raising expectations

  3 On the Stuart monarchs and the three kingdoms, see esp. Tim Harris, Rebellion: Britain’s First Stuart Kings, 1567–1642 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685–1720 (London: Penguin, 2006) and Restoration: Charles II and his Kingdoms (London: Penguin, 2005).  4 See Paulina Kewes, ‘Acts of Remembrance, Acts of Oblivion: Rhetoric, Law, and National Memory in Early Restoration England’, in Ritual, Routine, and Regime: Institutions of Repetition in Euro-American Cultures, 1650–1832, ed. Lorna Clymer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006), pp. 103–31.

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of a new, non-monarchical dynasty. Throughout this period, however, Prince Charles presented from exile a continuing Stuart claim to the throne.5 The Stuarts returned to power in 1660, when Charles was invited back to Britain to assume the throne as Charles II. Since he produced no legitimate heirs in his marriage to Catherine of Braganza, it became increasingly apparent through the course of his reign that his most likely successor was his younger brother, James, who was openly Catholic. Despite efforts to exclude him from the line of succession on account of his religion, James succeeded Charles on the latter’s death in 1685. After just three years in power, however, James was overthrown in late 1688 by an invasion from the Low Countries, supported by senior p­ oliticians and clergymen in England and Scotland and led by the King’s son-in-law, the Protestant William of Orange. After a short but intense period of uncertainty, William was invited to take the throne jointly with his wife, James’s daughter, Mary, in February 1689. They ruled as William III and Mary II. While their authority was secure, both they and their successor nonetheless faced constant challenge from the ‘Jacobites’: supporters of the deposed James II and, after his death in 1701, of his son James Francis Edward, living in exile in France. The settlement of the crown on William and Mary stipulated that only children borne by Mary could inherit the title after their deaths. When she died childless in 1694, therefore, it became apparent that her younger sister, Anne, would probably take the throne after William’s death. This occurred in 1702. Childless herself, despite numerous pregnancies and a son who died aged eleven in 1700, Anne was likely even from the outset of her reign to be the last Stuart monarch. Her death in 1714 marked the end of the Stuart dynasty. Although royal power lay (with the exception of William and Mary) in the hands of one person, family was crucial to the Stuarts. One of the key attractions of James to the English, after they had lived through decades of uncertainty on the question of who would succeed the Virgin Queen, was that he brought with him from Scotland a wife and three children. Even the death of Prince Henry was thus not enough to unsettle the dynasty. Similarly, in 1660 the British celebrated the return not just of one king but of a family, including Charles I’s widow and the three royal brothers (Figure 1). Across the seventeenth century, royal marriages were seized upon as valuable ways through which to manage diplomatic alliances. In the weeks immediately following his father’s death Charles I married the French princess Henrietta Maria; although this became possible only after the Prince’s infamous trip to Spain in 1623 – slipping out of England in disguise, accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham – failed to secure a contract with the Infanta Maria.   5 On Cromwell and the Stuart monarchy, see esp. Benjamin Woodford, Perceptions of a Monarchy without a King: Reactions to Oliver Cromwell’s Power (Ithaca: Queen’s-McGill University Press, 2013).



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Figure 1  Frontispiece to Konincklijcke beeltenis, ofte Waerachtige historie van Karel de II. koninck van Groot Britannien (1661)

The French match proved fruitful; Henrietta gave birth to six children between 1630 and 1644, including the future kings Charles II and James II. Charles I promoted images of the growing royal family through a number of portraits, including some by the Dutch artist Anthony Van Dyck (Figure 2), while poets in the 1630s focused their attention on images of love and ­marriage.6  Marriage was also an   6 On literature and the royal family in the 1630s, see Anne Baynes Coiro, ‘“A ball of strife”: Caroline Poetry and Royal Marriage’, in The Royal Image: Representations of Charles I, ed. Thomas N. Corns (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 26–46.

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Figure 2  Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Charles I and Henrietta Maria with their Two Eldest Children, Prince Charles and Princess Mary (1631–32)

immediate question for Charles II upon his restoration to the throne in 1660. The Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza was attractive in part because of the wealth and international trading concessions that she brought with her as a dowry. But when she failed to produce children, much attention focused on James, Duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s oldest illegitimate child. Monmouth stood briefly as a rival to James II, but his 1685 rebellion was defeated and he was executed. For James II, by contrast, reproduction precipitated crisis. He succeeded to the throne with two Protestant daughters – the future queens Mary and Anne – from his first marriage to the Englishwoman Anne Hyde, who died in 1671. But the birth of a son, James Francis Edward, who would be raised a Catholic, to his second wife,



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Mary of Modena, in 1688 presented the English with the spectre of a Catholic dynasty. It was this event that in part prompted prominent political figures to issue an invitation to William of Orange to come to England and thus contributed to James’s overthrow later that year. For his successors, marriage remained important: critical, indeed, to William III, whose claim to the throne was considerably less secure than that of his wife. But reproduction, and as a result the continuation of the dynasty, proved altogether more challenging. Although the dynasty claimed a continuity of rule for over one hundred years, the nature and power of monarchy across the Stuart era was neither stable nor uncontested. From the beginning, under James I, relations between the king and his parliaments were often fraught. James himself maintained a view of parliaments as merely advisory bodies, with no authority to intervene in some of the most important matters of state. But parliament, from the earliest Stuart sessions, proved more assertive, and at times even confrontational. Charles I’s rejection of parliaments – the period of ‘Personal Rule’, from 1629 to 1640 – was effective in underwriting his commitment to an absolutist theory of kingship, but proved constitutionally unsustainable. It came to an end with the explosive ‘Long Parliament’ that began its long session in 1640, along the way helping to pitch the British nations headlong into civil war. After the intense and sophisticated debates over the nature of authority and role of a monarch that were produced in the middle decades of the century, the later Stuart period was marked by further renegotiations of the power of the monarch. In this regard it is often argued that the revolution of 1688–89 had a greater long-term effect than that of 1649, since it established principles of limited constitutional monarchy that survive to the present day.7 Moreover, the emergence of party politics, which would rapidly come to dominate political life, was itself the product of debate over succession: the Whigs favoured the exclusion of the future James II from the line, while the Tories opposed them. While these debates would in time be forgotten, the structure of political parties stands as one of the great legacies of the Stuart era. The Stuart monarchs also assumed control, like all Tudor predecessors since Henry VIII, of the national Church. Throughout the century, this remained arguably the single most controversial aspect of their role, within nations that were fractured on religious lines. The principal division was between Catholics – a small yet influential minority in England and Scotland for much of the period – and Protestants. The English had bitter memories of the bloody reign of the Catholic Mary I (1553–58), and therefore had good cause to fear any return of Catholic influence. Yet there were also voices of toleration throughout the period. When  7 See, for example, Tim Harris, Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, ­1685–1720 (London: Penguin, 2006), pp. 34–5, 512–16.

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James I came to the throne some Catholics in England were hopeful that he might offer them greater toleration; however, after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, when a group of Catholic plotters planned but failed to assassinate James as he sat in ­parliament, this proved to be a fruitless hope. It also remains notable that James II’s Catholicism did not ultimately prevent him from assuming the throne; indeed, in the months following his accession James enjoyed broad support. Catholicism in Ireland, however, remained a different matter. The heavily Catholic Irish population troubled the English across the period, and both Cromwell and William III led savage military assaults on them. Protestantism itself, meanwhile, was never a stable entity. The authority of the English Church, with its hierarchical (‘episcopal’) structures headed by bishops and archbishops, was repeatedly challenged by groups that became loosely labelled as ‘puritans’. These influences were critical to the breakdown of order in the 1640s, a decade of extraordinary political and religious radicalism, when sects like the Ranters, the Fifth Monarchists and the Quakers claimed to prophesy the coming of the apocalypse and the everlasting rule of King Jesus. Religion, at this moment, offered a gateway to the questioning of some of the basic structures of social and political life. In the later Stuart era, the question of religious identity was reframed in terms of conformity. To what extent, monarchs and parliaments asked repeatedly, might the state require its citizens to conform to the religion and authority of the authorized Church? This question led to a series of uneasy and controversial compromises in England and Wales across the latter decades of Stuart rule. In Scotland, meanwhile, the equation was always different. The Scots defeated the imposition of episcopacy in the Civil Wars of the 1640s, and reasserted in the later Stuart decades their distinctive presbyterian structures of Church government, whereby local churches had significant power over matters such as the appointment of clergy. The creation of Great Britain, in the reign of Anne, thus masked fundamental facts of national difference which remain to this day. In the cultural life of their nations, the Stuarts played leading roles throughout the period. The court was arguably the most important centre for cultural and artistic production. The personal influence of individual monarchs was evident in areas including the visual arts, literature, architecture and fashion. James I, for instance, patronized the work of writers and helped to nurture the unique performances of court masques. Ben Jonson rose to national prominence as a favoured court poet and author of masques, while William Shakespeare’s company became the ‘King’s Men’ in 1603 and performed a number of important plays at James’s court in the following years, including Macbeth and Hamlet. Charles I, by comparison, clearly preferred the visual arts, and encouraged leading continental painters, such as Van Dyck, to spend time in England. At the Restoration court, Charles II’s



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liberal attitudes to sexuality and expression, influenced by his time in exile, shaped the development of a different kind of court culture. Libertinism, a philosophical outlook that prized the hedonistic pursuit of individual sexual appetite, generated fresh kinds of artistic expression, as is perhaps best represented by the dissolute and outspoken writer John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. The expansion of cultural activity beyond the court, meanwhile, is one of the underlying narratives of the Stuart era. Despite efforts by the crown to assert censorship over the press, the century was characterized by a substantial growth of printed publication, which in turn enabled new kinds of writing. Cheap and popular texts proliferated, while the influence of genres based on performance – from drama to sermons – was amplified by printed dissemination. Most notably, in the 1640s and 1650s the explosion of popular writing of all kinds, including expressions of political and religious radicalism, was without precedent. For a relatively brief period readers were exposed to a remarkable range of fresh and challenging ideas, as also to an environment characterized by conflict and discord. Although censorship was re-established, the sphere of public discourse was decisively stretched by this experience. In 1660 one observer hoped that newspapers would become redundant; however, this was to misread not only the nature of the times but also the power of the form.8 Newspapers in fact went from strength to strength in the later Stuart decades, while pamphlets and ballads also proliferated. Much of such popular literature was relatively ephemeral, yet through the course of the century increasing numbers of people were as a result involved in cultural and political discourse. In the towns and cities, the coffee houses of the Restoration decades provided a physical space for open debate where the latest pamphlets or newspapers might be read, ensuring that members of the public could be abreast of current affairs.9 Historians have identified, across the century, the emergence of a ‘public sphere’ of political engagement. While there have been disagreements about the date of this development, and also about the precise nature of the public sphere, these changes undoubtedly exposed the monarchy across the Stuart era to greater levels of public scrutiny.10   8 Richard Brathwaite, To His Majesty (1660), p. 10. On newspapers, see Joad Raymond, The Invention of the Newspaper: English Newsbooks 1641–1649 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).  9 See Steve Pincus, ‘“Coffee Politicians does Create”: Coffeehouses and Restoration Political Culture’, The Journal of Modern History, 67:4 (1995), 807–34. 10 This argument was first made by of Jürgen Habermas, in The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, trans. Thomas Burger (Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1991). For more recent interventions, see esp. The Politics of the Public Sphere in Early Modern England, ed. Peter Lake and Steven Pincus (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007).

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These cultural shifts are evident in the material published to mark the succession of Anne. Although there were still limits on what could be said, it is immediately striking how the last Stuart monarch was drawn into the arena of political debate. Some writers took the opportunity to criticize her predecessor, others questioned her politics, while others still looked hopefully to the exiled Jacobite Pretender. For all the trappings of continuity and conventional expressions of loyalty, Anne assumed power in an era of party politics and a fiercely partisan press. The cultural and political environment had shifted around the Stuarts, repositioning them and consistently forcing them to adapt. The practice of succession Questions of succession always impressed themselves upon the minds of men and women in Stuart Britain. When would the next succession occur? Who would succeed? What effect would the new monarch have on the nation? Even at times when the line of succession was secure and uncontested, as in the case of Charles I’s transition to the throne, people speculated nonetheless about possible shifts of policy. Given the authority of monarchs over diplomatic relations and military ventures, and their direct influence over the Church, a new monarch could have a material impact on the lives of their people. And at other times – most notably in 1649, 1660 and 1688–89 – subjects intervened more directly in the matter of succession. This anthology, however, focuses on literature produced in direct  response to successions, as opposed to the ongoing debates associated with monarchy. In this context, it is worth outlining what these events entailed, moving chronologically through the process as it was usually expected to transpire. The death of a monarch is a liminal moment, bearing a considerable element of risk for the nation. No Stuart ruler endured a long period of terminal illness or mental decline, of the kind that might create a hiatus in authority, but courtiers were nonetheless always anxious to establish control over the narrative of royal death. The most stunning case-study of these struggles is provided by the months and years after the execution of Charles I, as his supporters and opponents contested the legitimacy of his death. The regicides arguably thought too little about how to handle the aftermath of the execution, while the lack of censorship gave licence to the Royalists. As a result, their tenacious efforts to position him as a godly martyr – in texts such as the hugely successful Eikon Basilike (1649), probably written by John Gauden but presented as the words of Charles himself – ­unquestionably contributed to the failures of the republic and Protectorate. The national memory of monarchy, as captured in the frontispiece to Eikon Basilike (Figure 3), held strong through the Interregnum.



General introduction 

Figure 3  Frontispiece to John Gauden, Eikon Basilike (1649)

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Figure 4  Image from Some Farther Intelligence of the Affairs of England. The Death of the Renowned Oliver Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1659)

Other royal deaths were less violent, but still carried the threat of instability. Cromwell’s own death is notable for the extent to which his supporters tried to lay upon him the trappings of monarchy, which he had resisted most of his life (Figure  4). The succession to the protectorship of his son was undermined not merely by Richard’s unsuitability, but also by the lack of recognizable ceremony. Among the Stuarts themselves, the death of James I was dogged by rumours that he had been murdered, and these posed a threat to the authority of Charles I and his most trusted courtiers.11 When Charles II died, in 1685, similar rumours were powerfully countered by poets who emphasized his younger brother’s sorrow and loyalty at the death-scene. James II desperately needed to control public p­ erceptions at this moment of transition.12 As with all subjects, writers were at this point faced with a dilemma, needing to balance a degree of regret for the monarch who had passed with an overriding celebration of the incoming ruler. At some moments of succession this was less of a problem. In 1660, for example, endorsement of 11 Alastair Bellany and Thomas Cogswell, The Murder of King James I (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015). 12 See John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis, V.1 below.



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Charles II was inseparable from a rejection of the attempt to rule without monarchy, while in 1689 there was almost no place in succession literature for expressions of sympathy for the deposed James II.13 But in other succession years, this became more challenging. In 1603, most interestingly, expression of dismay at the loss of the long-serving Elizabeth was virtually required of poets as a pre-requisite to their panegyrics on the incoming king. Poets were quick to criticize Michael Drayton when he failed to mention Elizabeth in his panegyric to James.14 The stability of rule, at such a crucial moment, depended upon looking backward as well as forward. News of successions was spread quickly and efficiently. James I learned of his elevation to the English throne after the courtier Robert Carey rode non-stop from Elizabeth’s death-bed in London to hail the new King of England in Edinburgh.15 Subjects across the British nations relied on the dissemination of information, in written and oral form. Official proclamations, announcing the change of reign, were important vehicles through which the central government could assert control over the message. These were circulated methodically across the British nations, and read publicly for the benefit of those who could not read themselves. This was critical in 1603, when many subjects remained unsure who would succeed. It was also vital to the success of regime change at two points later in the century, when men arrived from continental Europe in order to claim the throne: in 1660, when the path was cleared for Charles by the publication of key official documents, such as his Declaration of Breda;16 and in 1688–89, when William had first to justify his invasion17 and then his assumption of the crown. The Church also played an important role at such moments, as both a source of reliable information and a voice of trusted authority. Prayers for the deceased monarch and the one succeeding to the throne provided a simple ritual of transition within every church in the land. Stuart monarchs, after all, were perceived as being ordained by God, to govern by divine right, and so religious affirmation of their reigns served a basic yet vital function. The initial phase of a reign was dominated by ceremony. Some of this was informal; the journeys to London taken by James I (from Edinburgh) and Charles II (from his landing in Dover), for instance, were closely observed by thousands of 13 One panegyrist for William and Mary departed from this pattern, also writing ‘An Elegy for the Late King’. This poem promises: ‘I ne’er rejoiced with those that sing thy shame, | Nor will I ever persecute thy name’ (Lux Occidentalis, or Providence Displayed in the Coronation of King William and Queen Mary, and their happy accession to the crown of England (London, 1689), p. 10). 14 See Michael Drayton, To the Majesty of King James, I.3 below. 15 A. J. Loomie, ‘Carey, Robert, First Earl of Monmouth (1560–1639)’, ODNB. 16 See IV.1 below. 17 The Declaration of his Highness William Henry, by the Grace of God Prince of Orange, &c. of the Reasons Inducing him to Appear in Arms in the Kingdom of England (The Hague, 1688).

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supportive subjects, and recorded in news reports and poems. But much was more formal, whether stipulated by the law of Church and state or simply expected by subjects as a matter of convention. In theory, monarchs were expected to make a formal entrance to London on the day before their coronation. In 1603 this event was postponed on account of plague until 1604, and in similar circumstances in 1625 it was in fact never rescheduled. But the principle of these events was important, recognizing the bond between London citizens and their monarch, and they could be lavish spectacles, marked by visual display and dramatic performance.18 The triumphal arches erected for 1604, images of which were published by their designer, Stephen Harrison, expressed the city’s levels of ambition and commitment, while bearing in their details a wealth of allegory (Figure 5). The coronation was an even more formal and powerfully religious event, indispensable to the transfer of royal authority.19 Appearances mattered; when joint monarchs were crowned in 1689, and again in 1702 when a married woman was crowned, the positioning of the main figures was critical in order to represent power relations to the many observers.20 Equally, Charles I’s decision to hold an unusually private coronation ceremony was surely influenced to a considerable degree by his bride’s refusal to take part in a Protestant ceremony. Charles could hardly afford a public show of dissent. By the later Stuart era, by contrast, coronations had become public events, with tickets for sale and scaffolding erected for seats. Printed images, depicting the majesty of monarchy and the unity of the nation’s elite at these key moments, were circulated across the land (Figure 6). And the final ceremonial occasion, embraced to differing degrees by all the Stuarts, was the monarch’s appearance at his or her first parliament. This event offered an opportunity to assert bonds between the nation – represented by the members of the House of Lords and House of Commons – and the monarch. It also provided a chance to set an agenda for the reign. 18 See Thomas Dekker, The Whole Magnificent Entertainment, excerpted in I.6 below; and Ian Archer, ‘Royal Entries, the City of London and the Politics of Stuart Successions’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Paulina Kewes and Andrew McRae (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming). 19 On Charles II, see Lorraine Madway, ‘“The Most Conspicuous Solemnity”: The Coronation of Charles II’, in The Stuart Courts, ed. Eveline Cruickshanks (Stroud: The History Press, 2000), pp. 141–57. On Tudor coronations, see Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008). 20 Lois G. Schwoerer, ‘The Coronation of William and Mary, April 11, 1689’, in The Revolution of 1688–1689: Changing Perspectives, ed. Lois G. Schwoerer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 107–30; Joseph Hone, ‘The Last Stuart Coronation’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Kewes and McRae.

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Figure 5  Image from Stephen Harrison, The Arches of Triumph Erected in Honor of the High and Mighty Prince James I (1604)

Changes in direction intended by an incoming monarch could be signalled directly or indirectly. Speeches in parliament, such as the ambition to unite Scotland and England announced by James I in 1603 and again by Anne in 1702, could provide some of the clearest statements of intent.21 As James discovered, however, this approach also bore risks, since it exposed the monarch to criticism and judgement. The union policy became one of the most unpopular of his reign, and was quietly shelved within a few years of his accession. Monarch after monarch would also be judged on her or his success in managing relations – and also the almost inevitable conflicts, given the prevailing diplomatic turmoil of the 21 See I.8 and VII.1 below.

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Figure 6  Image from Francis Sandford, The History of the Coronation of the Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch, James II (1687)

period – with other countries in Europe. Charles I’s efforts to present himself as a Protestant military leader, foreshadowed from the years before his accession, in fact amounted to very little in the years that followed. At the end of the century, William and Anne could lay claim, with some cause, to greater success. Meanwhile only James I, of all the Stuarts, overtly presented the values of a diplomacy based upon a commitment to peace, as he began his reign by negotiating a conclusion to conflict with Spain and presented a blueprint in his writings on kingship for non-military forms of influence. Other shifts were signalled more subtly, but were equally significant. While no incoming monarch was reckless enough to make bold claims about shifts in religious direction, people of all religious persuasions studied the early signals of a reign. For instance, choices of preachers for early sermons or initial appointments to clerical offices could send messages about intentions. In the case of James II, despite an early speech to the Privy Council in which he vowed to protect the Church of England, fevered speculation over the likely consequences of his own Catholicism began years before his succession and continued until his overthrow.22 Indeed historians still puzzle over the multiple paradoxes of the Catholic king who was briefly head of the English Protestant 22 See James’s first speech to parliament, I.8 below.



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Church, pursuing policies of religious toleration while promoting Catholics to senior roles in the state.23 Succession also provided opportunities to establish a new royal image. Elizabeth I had constructed over several decades a compelling and authoritative image of royal authority. She was remembered by writers across the Stuart era: she was occasionally invoked by disgruntled subjects as a benchmark against which to judge the present moment, and finally seized upon by Anne as a positive model of female rule.24 All the Stuarts, albeit to differing degrees, accepted the importance of image. Soon after his accession to the English throne, James I’s own writings on kingship were printed in England, thereby presenting him to his new subjects as an intellectual leader. Others encouraged established writers and artists to shape authoritative images of them. For Charles II this matter was particularly pressing, given widespread public uncertainty about his character, interests and religion.25 Hence the extraordinary outpouring of celebratory writing that flowed from the presses in 1660 clearly mattered, helping to impress in the minds of his subjects positive and reassuring impressions of their new king. Twenty-five years later, when James II succeeded to the crown, he had the service of two of the most accomplished poets of the land, John Dryden and Aphra Behn, who were already closely associated with him and ready to present him as a powerful, fair, compassionate leader. Meanwhile, printed images of new monarchs, including engraved portraits and cruder woodcuts on ballads, spread quickly across the country. In addition, medals bearing images of the incoming ruler were commonly distributed at coronations, while new coins were generally minted soon after a succession. The imagery on both sides of such items was closely observed, as is evident in discussion of a medal from 1689 (Figure 7).26 Charles II, in particular, was particularly anxious to expedite a fresh coinage, which would eradicate as soon as possible all remaining trappings of the republic and Protectorate.27 23 For the argument that James’s policies of toleration were sincerely held, see Scott Sowerby, Making Toleration: The Repealers and the Glorious Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013). Steve Pincus argues to the contrary, that James’s tolerationist policies were ‘a means to an end, not a deeply felt principle’ (1688: The First Modern Revolution (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), p. 137). 24 John Watkins, Representing Elizabeth in Stuart England: Literature, History, Sovereignty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). 25 Christopher Highley, ‘Charles Stuart: ‘A Wanderer of Uncertain Religion’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Kewes and McRae. 26 See the discussion of this medal in the introduction to VI.8 below. 27 B. J. Cook, ‘“Stampt with your own image”: The Numismatic Dimension of Two Stuart Successions’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Kewes and McRae.

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Figure 7  1689 coronation medal for William III and Mary II, silver

Successions happened in the instant that a monarch’s heart ceased to beat, yet the observance of these various rituals and ceremonies could stretch the period of transition over months. James I delayed his royal entry for twelve months on account of plague in the capital, while Charles II arrived in England on 25 May 1660 but postponed his coronation until 23 April 1661 in order for it to coincide with St George’s Day. But succession was typically a somewhat more condensed process. Succession literature was also an ephemeral phenomenon, produced in considerable volumes and at great speed, yet then set aside. Several poets wrote for successive successions. A few, including Dryden in 1660 and 1661 and Behn in 1685, attempted more than one piece to mark an individual moment of transition. But most would turn their attention swiftly to other matters; George Wither’s Britain’s Remembrancer (1628), one of the longest poems of the entire seventeenth century, is a notable exception, taking the accession of Charles I as a catalyst for a rambling meditation on the state of the nation.28 Of those who produced more conventional succession poems, Michael Drayton was unquestionably unusual in publishing an anti-court satire, The Owle, the year after producing a panegyric on James I. That was a rapid about-face by a notoriously irascible poet, yet it ­underscores the point that across the Stuart era the pressure of business rapidly turned any successor into an incumbent.

28 See Andrew McRae, ‘Remembering 1625: George Wither’s Britain’s Remembrancer and the Condition of Early Caroline England’, English Literary Renaissance, 46.3 (2016), 433–56.



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The literature of succession This anthology is derived from a research project in which we surveyed all texts published in either the year of a succession or the year following one.29 Our goals were to understand more fully the nature of succession literature and – by creating an online bibliographical database listing the works printed in response to each succession – to provide a map of the field for subsequent researchers. On the one hand, this research demonstrated a wide range of responses to successions, in forms that remain relatively consistent across the Stuart era. In every succession verse panegyrics, sermons and proclamations were printed to herald the arrival of the new monarch. On the other hand, it revealed points of distinction, succession by succession, and also underlying trends across the entire period. Succession literature, at any time, must find a balance between adherence to convention and attention to the particularity of the moment. Perhaps the most conventional form of succession literature, heavily represented in this volume, is the poem. By contrast with the modern era, the seventeenth century was a time in which poetry mattered as a form of public, and often political, expression. The classic response to a succession took the form of poetry of praise, affirming in verse the authority of the incoming monarch. Interestingly, the term ‘panegyric’, used to describe this kind of poetry, was introduced into England in 1603, heralding its one great century in terms of both quantity and quality of output.30 Panegyrics could vary considerably in length, but were most commonly published as independent pieces, often running into several hundred lines. They used various approaches to praise, and never entirely precluded forms of counsel, or even careful notes of criticism.31 While most panegyrics operated on the principle of address to the monarch, and were aimed at a relatively well-off and literate readership, other pieces aimed more directly at a popular audience. Ballads, most notably, had become established in the sixteenth century as a staple of the market in cheap printed texts. While succession ballads invariably praised, they were arguably most powerful in helping to articulate a popular response to the transition of authority. Like a range of other poetry, ballads also tended to be descriptive, fulfilling an appetite for political information and impressions. The authors of succession poems ranged from renowned professionals through to unknown amateurs. Some of the authors were men and women carving out 29 On the Stuart Successions Project, see http://stuarts.exeter.ac.uk/ (accessed 1 February 2017). 30 James D. Garrison, Dryden and the Tradition of Panegyric (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975). 31 Andrew McRae, ‘Welcoming the King: The Politics of Stuart Succession Panegyric’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Kewes and McRae.

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careers as writers, ranging from those like Jonson and Dryden, who moved easily within the corridors of power, down to hack writers who churned out ballads and pamphlets for the press. Other authors were usually involved in different kinds of activities – for instance, as clergymen, statesmen or simply educated members of the landed gentry – and were drawn into print by the occasion. It was conventional, for instance, for England’s two universities to publish volumes of verse to mark major royal occasions, with individual pieces, often in classical languages, written by fellows and students.32 Many writers of succession poetry would never publish another word. While the convention in such verse was to present it as a free expression of loyalty, most writers had at least one eye on personal ­advancement, since this was a time in which poets relied heavily upon support from those with wealth and authority. Such patronage might come in the form of direct payments, though it could equally take the form of housing or other kinds of hospitality, advancement to positions within a household or at court or simply the degree of authorization to speak that comes with acceptance from above. Jonson managed this system adeptly in the reign of James I, emerging from social obscurity to become the leading court poet of the age. Later in the century, writers were faced with more challenging circumstances and urgent decisions, as power shifted hands rapidly. The young Dryden, for instance, wrote an elegy in praise of Cromwell; however, when he switched his allegiance to Charles in 1660, and later converted to Catholicism and supported James II, that youthful poem was referenced and reprinted by those seeking to paint him as a craven opportunist. But even Dryden had his limits. After a long career as a public poet, he marked 1688–89 with a meaningful silence, and in 1690 produced a play, Don Sebastian, that looked obliquely and critically upon events of the previous two years. Incapable of endorsing this final dynastic shift, Dryden, like so many of his fellow poets, was negotiating a pathway between his interests as a professional writer and his convictions as a citizen. Beyond poetry, there were numerous other kinds of succession writing. Many were overtly religious in nature, ranging from tracts advocating changes in direction for the Church under the new monarch through to the many sermons that were delivered to mark successions. Though not commonly studied today, the sermon demands recognition as one of the most ubiquitous and influential of all textual forms in early modern Britain. Funeral sermons for a deceased monarch, coronation sermons and the first sermon delivered before a new ruler were all important events. The opportunity to preach before a new king – as granted, unexpectedly, to John Donne in 1625 – was particularly prized. Such works can 32 Henry Power, ‘“Eyes Without Light”: University Volumes and the Politics of Succession’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Kewes and McRae.



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appear bland, since a sermon before a new king was hardly an obvious vehicle for fresh argument; however, their profile was high and they could even be an opportunity for loyalists to air warnings or suggest caution to a new monarch.33 Other kinds of religious texts sought variously to seize an opportunity to influence the new monarch or to inform public perceptions. Successions provided not only the hope for change but the opportunity for speech. Many other succession texts, less overtly religious in character, sought simply to explain or contextualize the momentous events of their time. The British people were understandably hungry for information about affairs of state, especially at pivotal moments such as 1660 and 1688–89. Many texts worked on a purely descriptive basis; indeed in 1603 and 1625, a time when the publishing of news of domestic political affairs was outlawed, pamphlets describing the early days of a reign were nonetheless allowed and served a valuable purpose. For later successions, newspapers assumed this burden, tracing the transition of authority in detail. Other texts, though essentially descriptive, sought to explain or justify such changes, perhaps by looking for historical precedents or framing positions in terms of political theory. This was particularly the case in 1688–89. Many pamphleteers in these years debated whether James II’s flight from the country represented a voluntary act of abdication or a forceful deposition, and considered what either explanation might mean for the future of hereditary monarchy. Others looked back to the medieval reigns of Richard II and Edward II, both to justify and to contest James’s forcible removal from the throne. Drama, meanwhile, has a curiously tangential relation to the category of succession literature. Some of the period’s most powerful literary representations of succession were dramatic, yet they are virtually never directly concerned with the successions of Stuarts, and were only rarely staged at moments of transition.34 Shakespeare’s history plays, most notably of all, repeatedly centre attention on succession in its various forms, from the natural death of Henry IV which passed power to the anxiously hovering Prince Hal, through the violent overthrow of Richard III in the Wars of the Roses, to the mystery of the deposition of Richard II. What does it mean, Shakespeare’s Richard II asks, for both the state and the ­individuals when a divinely ordained king passes his crown to another man? The relation between these plays and prevailing public anxiety over succession in the final years of Elizabeth is undeniable. There are also instances of plays that, at least in part, were written in response to a succession. Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with 33 See the extracts from Francis Turner’s coronation sermon for James II, V.5 below. 34 On drama see Martin Wiggins, Drama and the Transfer of Power in Renaissance England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), and Lisa Hopkins, Drama and the Succession to the Crown, 1561–1633 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009).

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its interest in Scottish history and nods towards the new king’s ancestry, probably staged for the first time early in James’s reign, is an obvious example.35 Yet even here the engagement with the Stuart succession is indirect, whereas one of the main characteristics of the vast majority of succession literature is its explicit focus upon the moment. By comparison, the only kind of drama that operates in such a manner is the strictly occasional form of dramatic pageantry linked to the monarch’s royal entry into the capital, an example of which is provided in our selection of material from 1603–04. While there was a considerable degree of continuity in succession literature across the Stuart era, some of the identifiable changes reflect in valuable ways upon wider political and cultural shifts. It is perhaps unsurprising that there should have been a greater volume of material published for some successions than others. The years 1603, 1660 and 1688–89, moments when kings entered England from beyond its borders, their legitimacy heavily dependent upon an outpouring of popular support, stand out as those of greatest volume. For the Cromwells, by contrast, surprisingly little was written about their accessions to the role of Lord Protector; although those who did contribute, including Dryden, John Milton and Andrew Marvell, were among the most important authors of their century. The overwhelming lack of comment on Richard’s assumption of the Protectorate in 1658 makes his downfall, in retrospect, appear almost inevitable. With other successions, one is struck less by the volume and more by the nature of publications. In 1688–89, for instance, there was a significant quantity of pamphlets engaged in detailed questions of political theory, concerned as much with the nature of British kingship as with the particular individual – or individuals – occupying the role. In 1702, finally, conventional panegyric was read alongside freshly divisive forms of political writing, including satirical reflections on William and openly sceptical assessments of Anne herself. Such writing was not entirely without precedent, especially in light of the confrontational pamphlet exchanges of the 1640s and 1650s. But it would have been unthinkable – or, certainly, unpublishable – at the accession of James I, ninety-nine years earlier. Studying the Stuart successions Historical reflection upon the Stuarts and their successions began almost as soon as the events had lapsed into the past. The most determined such effort 35 Malcolm Smuts, ‘Banquo’s Progeny: Hereditary Monarchy, the Stuart Lineage, and Macbeth’, in Renaissance Historicisms: Essays in Honour of Arthur F. Kinney, ed. James M. Dutcher and Anne Lake Prescott (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2008), pp. 225–46.



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took the form of The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England (1702–04) by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, describing the events of the 1640s and 1650s. This was a classic work of conservatism; it was important for the later Stuart monarchs to be able set the momentous upheavals of the mid-seventeenth century in place as an isolated act of ‘rebellion’ rather than considering the possibility that the experiments in governing Britain without monarchy might be replicated. But there were other, more critical approaches. ‘Secret histories’, concerned  with exposing illicit and scandalous truths about the recent past, emerged in the  middle decades of the seventeenth century as a sub-genre of history writing.36 And by  the  end of the century, when Jacobites were trying constantly to position the pretenders as the true Stuart monarchs, control over historical narratives could feel almost as important as the shaping of the present and future.37 In the centuries that have passed since the end of the Stuart era, the study of Britain’s most turbulent royal dynasty has never lost its appeal. But such work has most commonly been conducted quite narrowly within existing paradigms, such as biography, political history and the history of political thought. It is only in relatively recent decades that researchers have turned their attention  to  the literature of power and the representation of monarchy. Such approaches, indebted to new forms of cultural history and literary analysis, are evident across a wide range of recent studies. Political history, in the skilful hands of authors such as Alastair Bellany, Thomas Cogswell, Tim Harris, Mark Knights and Steven Pincus, almost routinely now acknowledges the importance of literary and cultural production as evidence with which to paint a complex picture of early modern politics and religion. Ever since the pioneering work of Quentin Skinner and J. G. A. Pocock, meanwhile, historians of political thought can now hardly fail to recognize the textuality – the literariness – with which crucial debates about monarchy, sovereignty and power were articulated in works by key thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as a host of other theorists. And just as historians have become more adept in their reading of literature, so literary scholars have become more sophisticated in their engagement with history. Major publications have attended, for instance, to the impact of James I’s accession on authorship at the turn of the seventeenth century, or the ways in which the restoration of the monarchy was welcomed by poets in terms that addressed and 36 Rebecca Bullard, The Politics of Disclosure, 1674–1725: Secret History Narratives (London: Pickering and Chatto, 2009). 37 On Jacobitism, see Murray Pittock, Poetry and Jacobite Politics in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

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occluded in equal measure the political uncertainties of the moment.38 Studies of the Cromwells, attending particularly to their uncertain relation with the imagery of monarchy, have thrown valuable fresh light not only on the crucial decades of the 1640s and 1650s, but also on their efforts to create new images of authority after the suppression of monarchy.39 Political literature in the latter decades of the Stuart era has also been the subject of important recent studies that have addressed topics including the culture of the court, the fault-lines between political authority and religious commitment, and the emergence of partisan identities.40 And drama, as we have already argued, has been the focus of some important work on the idea of kingship and the nature of succession. Dramatists, particularly in the age of Shakespeare, Jonson and Christopher Marlowe, were deeply engaged with political theory and arguments of their time. But the cultural turn in political history is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the work of Kevin Sharpe. A major study of Charles I’s Personal Rule from the early 1990s was noteworthy for its embrace of the cultural dimensions of power.41 His more recent three-volume study of images and representations of authority, across the Tudor and Stuart eras, meanwhile, now stands as the major reference work in this field.42 In this trilogy Sharpe argued that it had not sufficiently been noted how early modern English monarchs mediated their power through written and visual media, just as much as they sought to establish themselves in battles or through acts of diplomacy. Sharpe aimed to write a history of the arts of early modern ‘spin’, showing how monarchy was sustained by recurrent sets of images but also how such images could become a source of criticism. While in this context Sharpe surveyed some material produced when new rulers came to 38 Curtis Perry, The Making of Jacobean Religious Culture: James I and the Renegotiation of Elizabethan Literary Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Nicholas Jose, Ideas of Restoration in English Literature, 1660–71 (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1984). 39 Laura Knoppers, Constructing Cromwell: Ceremony, Portrait, and Print, 1645–1661 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). 40 See, for example, Steven N. Zwicker, Lines of Authority: Politics and English Literary Culture, 1649–1689 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993); Philip Connell, Secular Chains: Poetry and the Politics of Religion from Milton to Pope (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016); Matthew Jenkinson, Culture and Politics at the Court of Charles II, 1660–1685 (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2010); Abigail Williams, Poetry and the Creation of a Whig Literary Culture, 1680–1714 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). 41 Kevin Sharpe, The Personal Rule of Charles I (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992). 42 Kevin Sharpe, Selling the Tudor Monarchy: Authority and Image in Sixteenth-Century England (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009); Image Wars: Promoting Kings and Commonwealths in England, 1603–1660 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010); Rebranding Rule: Images of Restoration and Revolution Monarchy, 1660–1714 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013).



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power, he felt a need for more concentrated attention to the matter of succession. Before his untimely death in 2011 he was committed to taking a leading role in the research project that has led to the present anthology. The companion volume to this anthology, Literature of the Stuart Successions, aims to extend and consolidate the kinds of investigation that Sharpe envisaged. It includes a chapter on each succession, aiming in every case to take a specific and fresh angle of analysis, and a number of chapters considering different kinds of writing and representation across the period. But there remains scope for much more research. It is hoped that the joint publication of this anthology, the volume of essays and the online ‘Stuart Successions Database’ will inject fresh life into this field by opening up multiple new lines of enquiry.43 The anthology The texts in this anthology have been selected in order to demonstrate the wide range of succession writing, and also the remarkable quality of some pieces. We have tried to include at least one example of each significant kind of writing: a proclamation announcing a change of reign, diary entries, sermons, a newspaper report, two speeches by incoming monarchs and so forth. But there is also a consistent focus on poetry. In our selection, from many hundreds of possible pieces, we have represented the different approaches to succession poetry, from ballads to satires, but the volume returns repeatedly to panegyric, the genre of praise. Readers can study individual pieces by some of the greatest writers of the age, and can also consider changes in approach and emphasis across the period. We contend that the volume demonstrates the sophistication and breadth of this genre, which has too often been dismissed as bland and highly conventional. The texts are presented in full wherever possible, and in extracts where their length simply makes full reproduction unfeasible. Parts I, II and IV–VII each cover one of the successions, while Part III covers the respective investitures to the lord protectorship of Oliver and Richard Cromwell. Although the Cromwells were manifestly not Stuarts, it would seem perverse to omit them from the story of succession literature in the Stuart era. At the same time, it would seem equally perverse to devote a whole part to Richard, given how little attention his accession in 1658 was accorded. Each part begins with an introduction, while each text is given a headnote and an additional note on its source. All texts are annotated in order to explain historical and literary references and clarify meanings that may be opaque simply because of the age of the literature. Our aim, throughout, is to make this material as accessible as possible, to as wide a range of readers as possible. 43 http://stuarts.exeter.ac.uk/database/.

Part I: 1603

Part I: 1603

Introduction

When Queen Elizabeth I died, on 24 March 1603, the line of succession was by no means settled. James was unquestionably Elizabeth’s nearest royal relative. Like her, he was a direct descendant of Henry VII of England, and had been installed himself as King of Scotland since his infancy. But he faced multiple rivals, as well as various technical arguments against him, including a legal bar on foreigners inheriting the English throne. Elizabeth herself had not greatly helped, never having made a public declaration on the vexed question of succession. Across the country, the majority of English men and women lived with a sense of this uncertainty hanging heavily upon the realm. But James himself had worked tirelessly to position himself for the role, and had secured crucial support from within Elizabeth’s Privy Council. Within hours of the Queen’s death, as a result, plans were in place to proclaim James king and to bring him into the country. A letter was rushed north, offering him the crown. The proclamation, printed below, was signed by a range of men occupying prominent positions in the state, including several members of Elizabeth’s Privy Council. It declared James king by ‘law, by lineal succession, and undoubted right’: a statement with an authoritative air, though technically sketchy. Despite lingering questions surrounding the succession, a potentially tense period of transition passed relatively smoothly. As the material collected below indicates, there were several very good reasons why the English people would have welcomed the new king. Firstly, he was a Protestant, and therefore spared the nation from the violent upheavals of the mid-Tudor years, when the Protestant Edward VI was succeeded by the Catholic Mary I, and she in turn was succeeded by the Protestant Elizabeth. Secondly, he had three children, including the boys Prince Henry (who died in 1612) and Prince Charles. As a result, he offered the

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stability of dynastic succession. Thirdly, he was already known to many men and women at court, who had been cultivating his favour through the preceding years. Almost immediately upon him being proclaimed king, significant numbers of courtiers travelled north to greet him. In due course, in April and May, he ­travelled to London, followed and observed by thousands of his new subjects (events quickly recorded in a newsbook, The True Narration of the Entertainment of his Royal Majesty, from the time of his Departure from Edinbrough; til his Receiving at London). Literature played a part in these festivities. Sir John Davies’s poem ‘The King’s Welcome’ (I.4), to take just one example, was probably recited to James in the course of his journey, after Davies himself had travelled to Scotland. Samuel Daniel’s Panegyrike Congratulatory, not reproduced here, was similarly declared on its title page to have been ‘delivered’ to James in the course of his journey. Meanwhile, in both London and Edinburgh, a wealth of texts was being rushed into print to mark the occasion. Not the least significant were editions of James’s own works of political theory, including The True Law of Free Monarchies, and his book of advice to his son and heir, Basilikon Doron. Many English writers paused to elegize Elizabeth, who was the only monarch many of her subjects had ever known and had established a state of peace in the nation, with some exceptions, for several decades. Others dwelled upon the contradictory emotions of grief and joy, while still others rushed headlong into poetry of praise. Indeed the first recorded use in English of the term ‘panegyric’, meaning a poem of praise, dates from 1603. Some poets squabbled over questions of propriety: Michael Drayton, for instance, was one of several authors taken to task by Henry Chettle for praising the King before the people had properly ‘mourned the Queen’.1 Other poets were noted for their silence; one commentator, for instance, asked why ‘brave Shakespeare’ did not ‘Bestow [his] time’ upon the subject of the Stuart succession.2 Shakespeare’s response was arguably more oblique and was registered in plays from a prolific period in the early years of the seventeenth century, such as Macbeth and Hamlet. The ceremonies in London to mark James’s accession were cut short on account of a summer outbreak of plague. In the following March, however, he made a grand royal entry into the capital and opened his first parliament. As demonstrated in the selection of texts below, these twinned events generated still more material, documenting a king seeking to establish his reign and set an   1 Henry Chettle, Englandes Mourning Garment (London, 1603), sig. D3r. See Drayton’s poem at I.3 below.  2 A Mournefull Dittie Entituled Elizabeths Losse, Together with a Welcome for King James (London, 1603?).



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agenda for the years ahead. Some of his policies, such as his dream of uniting the kingdoms of England and Scotland, would prove impossible to implement, and would undermine his reputation in years to come. But the succession literature, in general, captures a moment in which voices of celebration and hope predominated.

I.1 A Proclamation Declaring the Undoubted Right of our Sovereign Lord King James, to the Crown of the Realms of England, France and Ireland (1603)

Since proclamations were by nature royal texts, published in the name of the sovereign, a succession proclamation was at once necessary and anomalous. This proclamation was signed by thirty-seven men, including members of Elizabeth’s Privy Council and other prominent figures within the state. The Jacobean regime was not guaranteed success; indeed it faced a number of threats in its first years (not least the Gunpowder Plot of 1605), only gradually establishing political stability. In this context, this single-sheet document may be seen as an exercise in justifying and legitimizing the new king, leaning heavily in the process on genealogical and historical information. Source: The proclamation was published in two editions in 1603, both issued in London by Elizabeth’s printer, Robert Barker. The text below is from the second edition. Forasmuch as it hath pleased almighty God to call to his mercy out of this transitory life our Sovereign Lady, the high and mighty princess, Elizabeth late Queen of England, France,1 and Ireland, by whose death and dissolution, the imperial crown of these realms aforesaid are now absolutely, wholly, and solely come to the high and mighty prince, James the Sixth King of Scotland, who is lineally and lawfully descended from the body of Margaret, daughter to the high and renowned prince, Henry the Seventh2 King of England, France and Ireland, his great-grandfather, the said Lady Margaret being lawfully begotten of the body of Elizabeth, daughter  1 France] Although English monarchs had held no control over territories in France since the mid-fifteenth century, the formal claim to sovereignty was maintained until 1801.  2 Margaret … Seventh] i.e. Henry VII’s eldest daughter, Margaret Tudor, who married James IV of Scotland.



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to King Edward the Fourth3 (by which happy conjunction both the houses of York and Lancaster were united, to the joy unspeakable of this kingdom, formerly rent and torn by the long dissention of bloody and civil wars), the same Lady Margaret being also the eldest sister of Henry the Eighth, of famous memory King of England as aforesaid. We therefore the lords spiritual and temporal of this realm,4 being here assembled, united and assisted with those of her late Majesty’s Privy Council,5 and with great numbers of other principal gentlemen of quality in the kingdom, with the Lord Mayor, aldermen,6 and citizens of London, and a multitude of other good subjects and commons7 of this realm, thirsting now after nothing so much as to make it known to all persons, who it is that by law, by lineal succession, and undoubted right is now become the only sovereign lord and king of these imperial crowns (to the intent that by virtue of his power, wisdom and godly courage, all things may be provided for, and executed, which may prevent or resist either foreign attempts, or popular disorder, tending to the breach of the present peace, or to the prejudice of his Majesty’s future quiet) do now hereby with one full voice and consent of tongue and heart, publish and proclaim, that the high and mighty prince, James the Sixth, King of Scotland, is now by the death of our late sovereign, Queen of England of famous memory, become also our only, lawful, lineal and rightful liege lord,8 James the First of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, to whom as to our only just prince, adorned (besides his undoubted right) with all the rarest gifts of mind and body, to the infinite comfort of all his people and subjects that shall live under him, we do acknowledge all faith and constant obedience, with all hearty and humble affections, both during our natural lives for ourselves, and in the behalf of our posterity. Hereby protesting and denouncing to all persons whatsoever, that in this just and lawful act of ours, we are resolved by the favour of God’s holy assistance, and in the zeal of our own conscience (warranted by certain knowledge of his manifest and undoubted right, as hath been said before) to maintain and uphold His Majesty’s person and estate, as our only undoubted sovereign lord and king, with the sacrifice of our lives, lands, goods, friends, and adherents, against all power, force, or practice, that shall go about by word or deed, to interrupt, contradict, or impugn his just claims, his entry into this kingdom, or any part thereof, at his good pleasure, or disobey such royal directions as shall come from him. To all which we are resolved only to yield ourselves, until the last drop of  3 Elizabeth … Fourth] i.e. Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV.  4 lords … realm] i.e. the composition of the House of Lords: bishops (‘lords spiritual’) and others who assumed their seats on the basis of social or political status (‘lords temporal’).  5 Privy Council] the principal policy-making and executive body, technically designed to advise the monarch.  6 aldermen] civic officers; next in dignity to the Lord Mayor.  7 commons] i.e. commoners.  8 liege lord] one entitled to feudal allegiance.

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our bloods be spent for his service. Hereby willing and commanding, in the name of our sovereign lord James the First, King of all the foresaid kingdoms, all the late lieutenants, ­deputy-lieutenants, sheriffs, justices, and all mayors, bailiffs, constables, headboroughs,9 and all other officers and ministers whatsoever, that they be aiding and assisting from time to time in all things that are or shall be necessary for the preventing, resisting, and suppressing of any disorderly assemblies, or other unlawful act or attempt, either in word or deed, against the public peace of the realm, or any way prejudicial to the right, honour, state or person, of our only undoubted and dear lord and sovereign that now is, James the first King of all the said kingdoms, as they will avoid the peril of his Majesty’s heavy indignation, and their own utter ruin and confusion. Beseeching God to bless his Majesty and his royal posterity with long and happy years to reign over us.

 9 lieutenants … headboroughs] The list aims to encompass all those with authority in the complex socio-political order of England, from lieutenants (technically the king’s personal representatives, typically operating at a county level) down to those with day-to-day responsibilities within towns (mayors), estates (bailiffs) and parishes (headboroughs, constables).

I.2 Richard Niccols, ‘A True Subject’s Sorrow, for the Loss of his Late Sovereign’ (1603)

Richard Niccols (1583/84–1616) was an undergraduate at Oxford when Queen Elizabeth died. His response was a volume published anonymously, Expicedium: A Funeral Oration, Upon the Death of the Late Deceased Princess of Famous Memory, Elizabeth. Along with the poem below, this volume included a prose ‘oration’ and a description of the ‘true order and formal proceeding’ at Elizabeth’s funeral. (The latter item was also tacked onto poems in two other memorial publications, by Henry Chettle and Henry Petowe, in all cases lending a degree of documentary authority to the works.) Niccols was probably the son of a London lawyer, and was evidently developing connections of his own at court. Over the subsequent years he became an industrious author, often working to the model of his poetic hero, Edmund Spenser, and producing some sharp critiques of politics at the court of King James. Source: Expicedium was published in one edition, from London, in 1603. I join not hands with sorrow for a while, To sooth the time, or please the hungry cares; Nor do enforce my mercenary style, No feigned livery my invention wears. 5

Nor do I ground my fabulous discourse On what before hath usually been seen; My grief doth flow from a more plenteous source, From her that died a virgin and a queen.

3–4] Niccols opens with a profession of sincerity for his poetic ‘invention’, rejecting the ‘mercenary style’ and ‘feigned livery’ (i.e. the distinguishing dress worn by a servant or retainer) of a poet seeking patronage. 

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Part I: 1603 You crystal nymphs that haunt the banks of Thames, Tune your sad timbrils in this woeful day: And force the swift winds and the sliding streams To stand a while and listen to your lay. Your fading temples bound about with yewe, At every step your hands devoutly wring, Let one note’s fall another’s height renew, And with compassion your sad Naenia sing. Graces and muses wait upon her hearse: Three are the first, the last the sacred nine: The sad’st of which, in a black tragic verse, Shall sing the requiem passing to her shrine. An ebon chariot to support the bier, Drawn with the black steeds of the gloomy night: Stooping their stiff crests, with a heavy cheer, Stirring compassion in the people’s sight.

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The pile prepared whereon her body lies, In cypress shadows sit you down forlorn: Whose boughs be dewed with plenty of your eyes, (For her with grief) the branches shall adorn.

9] Niccols adopts for his native city the common classical notion that mythological figures (‘nymphs’) inhabit its river.  10 timbrils] percussive instruments, similar to tambourines.  12 lay] song.  13 yewe] i.e. yew, a tree traditionally associated with death and sadness.  16 Naenia] Naenia, or Nenia Dea, was the goddess of Roman funerary lament; here, the name stands for the lament itself.  17–18] The three graces, figures from Greek mythology, are regarded as givers of beauty and charm; the classical nine muses are regarded as inspiring learning and the arts.  20 requiem] Used as a technical description of a religious ceremony, this term is specifically associated with Catholicism rather than Elizabeth’s Protestantism; however, the word was used in Niccols’s day in more figurative terms, to suggest a dirge or solemn prayer for the soul of a dead person (OED, n.1 3a).  21 ebon] the colour of ebony; black, dark, sombre (OED, n. and adj. B3).  25 pile] presumably a ‘heap of wood or similar material on which a corpse, sacrifice, etc., is burnt; a pyre’ (OED, n.5 1c); although the usage is consequently figurative, since Elizabeth was interred, not cremated. 26 cypress] a tree commonly associated with mourning.



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Niccols, ‘A True Subject’s Sorrow’

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Let fall your eye-lids like the sun’s clear set, When your pale hands put to the vestal flame: And from your breasts, your sorrows freely let, Crying one Beta and Eliza’s name. Upon the altar, place your virgin spoils, And one by one with comeliness bestow: Diana’s buskins and her hunting toils, Her empty quiver and her stringless bow. Let every virgin offer up a tear, The richest incense nature can allow: And at her tomb (for ever year by year) Pay the oblation of a maiden vow. And the truest vestal the most sacred liver, That ever harboured an unspotted spirit, Retain thy virtues, and thy name for ever, To tell the world thy beauty and thy merit.

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Where’s Colin Clout, or Rowland now become, That wont to lead our shepherds in a ring? (Ah me) the first, pale death hath strooken dumb, The latter, none encourageth to sing. But I unskilful, a poor shepherd’s lad, That the high knowledge only do adore: Would offer more, if I more plenty had, But coming short, of their abundant store, A willing heart that on thy fame could dwell, Thus bids Eliza happily farewell.

34 comeliness] beauty, grace. 35 Diana’s buskins] high-legged leather boots worn by the Roman goddess of hunting. 35 toils] nets used in hunting. 40 oblation] specifically an offering or sacrifice to a god or goddess; figurative uses, as here, were common in poetry of praise. 45 Colin … Rowland] the personae adopted in pastoral poetry by, respectively, Edmund Spenser (1552? –1599) and Michael Drayton (1563–1631). 47 strooken] i.e. struck; Niccols perhaps intends an air of archaism, in the manner often favoured by Spenser. 48] The supposed lack of patronage, or ‘encouragement’, received by Drayton became a leitmotif of his long career; in 1603, however, Drayton turned his attention to the new king rather than the dead queen, as evident in To the Majesty of King James, I.3 below.

Drayton, To the Majesty of King James

I.3 Michael Drayton, To the Majesty of King James (1603)

Michael Drayton (1563–1631) was one of the most prominent and prolific poets of his time, and he maintained throughout his career a commitment to the public function of poetry. Like the great Elizabethan Edmund Spenser, Drayton perceived poetry as having an influential, and often prophetic, role within the nation. These perceptions are evident in this poem, with its learned rehearsal of history and its bold advocacy for a united British nation. Though often perceived in later decades as an ‘Elizabethan’ writer, nostalgic for the values and culture of a bygone age, Drayton had high hopes for the new king. In being one of the first poets to celebrate James’s accession, Drayton aimed for patronage and recognition; however, he was quickly disillusioned. He wasted no time in his reaction: in the year after the succession, he published The Owle, a satire on the Jacobean court. Source: To the Majesty of King James was published in London in two editions in 1603, accompanied by a genealogical chart tracing James’s ancestry (which Drayton appears to have amended in the course of the printing). We reproduce the second edition. The hopeful reign of a most happy king, Lo thus excites our early muse to sing, Of her own strength which boldly thus presumes, That’s yet unimpt with any borrowed plumes, 2 our early muse] Drayton (his ‘muse’, or poetic invention, personified and feminized) was one of the first poets to publish a poem in praise of James. 4 unimpt … plumes] In falconry, to ‘imp’ is to engraft feathers into the wings of a bird, in order to improve the powers of flight; hence Drayton stresses his originality as one of the earliest poets to praise James.

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Drayton, To the Majesty of King James

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A council’s wisdom, and their grave foresight, Lends me this lustre, and resplendent light: Whose well-prepared policy, and care, For their indoubted sovereign so prepare, Other vain titles strongly to withstand, Placed in the bosom of a peaceful land: That black destruction which now many a day, Had fixed her stern eye for a violent prey, Frustrate by their great providence and power, Her very nerves is ready to devour, And even for grief down sinking in a swound Beats her snaked head against the verdant ground. But whilst the air thus thunders with the noise, Perhaps unheard, why should I strain my voice? When stirs, and tumults have been hot’st and proudest, The noble muse hath sung the stern’st and loudest; And know great prince, that muse thy glory sings, (What ere detraction snarl) was made for kings. The neighing courser in this time of mirth, That with his armed hoof beats th’re-echoing earth, The trumpets’ clangour, and the people’s cry, Not like the muse can strike the burnished sky, Which should heaven quench th’eternal quicking springs The stars put out, could light them with her wings. What though perhaps myself I not intrude Amongst th’unsteady wond’ring multitude, The tedious tumults, and the boisetrous throng, That press to view thee as thou com’st along,

5 A council’s] the Privy Council’s; unusually for royal panegyric, Drayton acknowledges the political processes that brought about a succession.  8 indoubted] obsolete form of ‘undoubted’.  9 Other vain titles] i.e. the competing claims to the throne after Elizabeth’s death, ‘vain’ suggesting not only lack of success but moral inadequacy.  11 black destruction] ‘Destruction’ is allegorized, as a figure poised over England in the period preceding the succession, in anticipation of conflict.  15 swound] swoon, fainting-fit.  23 courser] a large, powerful horse, ridden in battle or a tournament.  24 th’re-echoing] the reverberating (as with repeated echoes).  25–8] These complex lines present a rhetorically elaborated claim for the power of poetry (‘the muse’): it could, Drayton claims, light the stars even if heaven should first extinguish them. 27 quicking] i.e. quickening: bringing to life.

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Part I: 1603 The praise I give thee shall thy welcome keep, When all these rude crowds in the dust shall sleep, And when applause and shouts are hushed and still Then shall my smooth verse chant thee clear and shrill. With thy beginning, doth the spring begin, And as thy usher gently brings thee in, Which in consent doth happily accord With the year kept to the incarnate Word, And in that month (cohering by a fate) By the old world to wisdom dedicate, Thy prophet thus doth seriously apply, As by a strong unfailing augury, That as the fruitful, and full-bosomed spring, So shall thy reign be rich and flourishing: The month thy conquests, and achievements great By those shall sit on thy imperial seat, And by the year I seriously divine The crown for ever settled in thy line. From Cornwall now past Calidon’s proud strength, Thy empire bears eight hundred miles in length: Half which in breadth her bosom forth doth lay From the fair German to th’Vergivian sea:

36 shrill] high-pitched, loud. 37] Elizabeth’s death on 24 March 1603 and James’s arrival in London the following month prompted numerous poets to claim a new ‘spring’ arriving for the nation. 38 usher] court officer whose duty is to walk before a person of high rank; for James the spring will perform this function. 39–40] In this period of history the start of a year was dated not from 1 January but from 25 March, the date also of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (i.e. the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, informing her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the ‘incarnate Word’). 41–2] The Romans celebrated the festival of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, on 19–23 March (Michael Drayton, Works, ed. J. William Hebel, 5 vols (Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1931–41), vol. 5, p. 54). 41 cohering by a fate] a coincidence as though ordained by fate. 43 Thy prophet] i.e. Drayton, assuming here the voice of prophecy. 44 augury] the skill of divining; prophecy. 47–50] ‘Referring to Mars, and to the number 1603: 6 was the number of justice, and 3 of perfect harmony’ (Drayton, Works, ed. Hebel, vol. 5, p. 54). 51 Calidon’s] Scotland’s. 53–4] Having measured the length of Britain (i.e. north to south), Drayton assesses the breadth: from the ‘German’ or North Sea to the east, to the ‘Vergivian’ or Irish Sea to the west’. (Drayton identifies the latter in a marginal note.)

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Thy realm of Ireland, a most fertile land, Brought in subjection to thy glorious hand, And all the isles their chalky tops advance To the sun setting from the coast of France. Saturn to thee his sovereignty resigns, Op’ning the locked way to the wealthy mines: And ’til thy reign fame all this while did hover, The North-West passage that thou might’st discover Unto the Indies, where that treasure lies Whose plenty might ten other worlds suffice. Neptune and Jove together do conspire, This gives his trident, that his three-forked fire, And to thy hand do give the keys to keep, Of the profound immeasurable deep.   But soft my muse, check thy abundant strain To the conceiving of th’unskilful brain, That whilst thy true descent I do rehearse, Th’unlearned’st soul may sweetly taste my verse: Which now in order let me first dispose, And tell the union of the blessed rose, That to thy grandsire Henry I may bring thee, (From whom I after to thy birth may sing thee.) That Tudor’s blood did worthily prefer, From the great queen that beauteous dowager,

55–6] allusion to the military campaigns, and plantation programme, pursued by England under Elizabeth. An uprising supported by Spanish soldiers had been suppressed in the months before Elizabeth’s death. 59 Saturn] classical god associated, among other things, with wealth. 61 fame … hover] The image is of fame waiting (‘hovering’) until the accession of James. 62 North-West passage] The search for a ‘North-West Passage’, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the northern coast of North America, fascinated explorers (often with fatal consequences) for centuries. The route was not properly identified until early in the twentieth century. 65 Neptune and Jove] gods of the sea and earth. 74 union … rose] i.e. union of the houses of Lancaster and York (associated respectively with the red and white roses) at the end of the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses. 75 thy grandsire Henry] Henry VII. 78 great … dowager] ‘Katherine wife to Henry the fifth’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Catherine of Valois, consort to Henry V, who outlived her husband, therefore attaining the status of dowager.

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Part I: 1603 Whose son brave Richmond from the Britons fet, Graft in the stock of princely Somerset, The third fair scion, the sweet roseate plant, Sprung from the root of the Lancastrian Gant, Which had seventh Henry, that of royal blood By his dear mother, is the red-rose bud, As their great Merlin prophesied before Should the old Britons regalty restore, Which Henry reigning by th’usurpers death, Married the princess fair Elizabeth Fourth Edward’s daughter, whose predest’nate bed Did thus conjoin the white-rose, and the red: These roseal branches as I thus entwine, In curious trails embellishing thy line, To thy blest cradle let me bring thee on, Rightly derived from thy great grandsire’s throne. Who holding Scotland’s amity in worth, Strongly to link him with King James the fourth,

79 brave Richmond] ‘Edmund Tudor Earl of Richmond, son of Owen Tudor by the Queen’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. the first-born son of Catherine of Valois’s second ­marriage.  79 from … fet] ‘fetched’ (i.e. derived, by virtue of his father) from the Welsh (associated by Drayton with the ancient Britons). 80–2] ‘The daughter of John Duke of Somerset, son of John, Earl of Somerset, the son of John of Gaunt’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Margaret Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and grand-daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Margaret was thus the third-generation heir (‘scion’) to a patriarch of the House of Lancaster (associated with the red rose); Gaunt was father of Edward III and grandfather of Richard II. 83 seventh Henry] Henry VII, who seized the throne at the end of the Wars of the Roses in 1485, was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort. 85–6] Drayton adhered throughout his career to the narratives of the ‘British history’, derived from the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, in which Merlin stands as a key figure of British (and hence modern Welsh) nationalism. History here, from the establishment of the Tudor dynasty through to that of the Stuart, becomes a progression towards a new British ‘regalty’ (i.e. regality, rule). 88] Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, eldest child of Edward IV. 89 predest’nate bed] recalling the prophecy of Merlin, and thereby claiming divine legitimacy for an act of usurpation. 91 roseal] characteristic of a rose. 92 trails] a training tendril or branch; the OED’s first recorded usage (‘trail’, n.1 2b) is in Drayton’s England’s Heroical Epistles (1597). 95 amity] friendship.



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His eldest daughter did to him unite, Th’unparalleled bright lovely Margarite, Which to that husband prosperously did bring, The fifth of that name, Scotland’s lawful king, Father to Mary (long in England seen) The dauphin’s dowager, the late Scottish queen.   But now to Margarite back again to come, From whose so fruitful, and most blessed womb We bring our full joy, James her husband dead, Took gallant Anguish to a second bed, To whom ere long she bare a princely girl, Married to Lennox, that brave-issued earl, This beauteous Dowglass, as the powers imply, Brought that Prince Henry, Duke of Albany, Who in the prime of strength, in youth’s ’sum’d pride Married the Scotch queen on the other side, Whose happy bed to that sweet lord did bring, This Britain hope, James our undoubted king, In true succession, as the first of other Of Henry’s line by father, and by mother. Thus from the old stock showing thee sprung to be,

97–8] Henry VII’s eldest daughter, Margaret Tudor, married James IV of Scotland. 101 Mary … seen] allusion to the extended imprisonment in England of Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, mother of the poem’s subject; Drayton tactfully omits her execution at the hands of Elizabeth I. 102 dauphin’s dowager] ‘married whilst he was dauphin’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Mary married the dauphin (i.e. heir to the throne) of France, the future François II, returning to Scotland after his death (which left her, technically, his dowager) in 1560. 106 Anguish] ‘Archibald Dowglasse Earl of Anguish’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, who married the widowed Margaret in 1514. 108 Married to Lennox] ‘The Countess of Lennox’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Margaret Douglas, first-born child of the marriage of Archibald Douglas and Margaret Tudor, became Countess of Lennox when she married Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox. 110 Prince … Albany] ‘Henry Lord Darly’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. Henry Stewart, Duke of Albany (known as Lord Darnley), the second but elder surviving son of Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, and Lady Margaret Douglas. 111 ’sum’d] i.e. ‘assumed’ (abbreviation). 112 Scotch queen] Mary, Queen of Scots; she married Lord Darnley in 1565. 114 Britain hope] Drayton introduces the concept of a modern Britain as soon as he comes, in his historical narrative, to the birth of James VI and I. 116] Drayton possibly intends Henry VII, as the originator of the Tudor line, rather than Henry VIII; James was the great-grandson of Henry VII on his mother’s side and greatgreat-grandson on his father’s side.

44

120

125

130

135

140

145

Part I: 1603 Grafting the pure white, with the red-rose tree, By mixture made vermilion as they meet, For in that colour is the rose most sweet: So in thy crown the precious flower that grows Be it the damask, or vermilion rose, Amongst those relics, that victorious king, Edward called Longshanks, did from Scotland bring, And as a trophy royally prefer To the rich shrine in famous Westminster, That stone reserved in England many a day, On which great Jacob his grave head did lay, And saw descending angels whilst he slept: Which since that time by sundry nations kept, (From age to age I could recite you how, Could I my pen that liberty allow.) An ancient prophet long ago foretold, (Though fools their saws for vanities doe hold) A king of Scotland, ages coming on, Where it was found, be crowned upon that stone. Two famous kingdoms separate thus long, Within one island, and that speak one tongue, Since Brute first reigned (if men of Brute allow) Never before united until now, What power, nor war could do, nor time expected, Thy blessed birth hath happily effected. Oh now revive that noble Britain’s name, From which at first our ancient honours came, Which with both nations fitly doth agree That Scotch and English without difference be, And in that place where feuds were wont to spring

122 damask … rose] ‘damask’ suggests a blush-coloured rose, vermilion more a scarlet; it is not clear what distinction Drayton is drawing. 123–8] ‘Recorded to be that stone whereon Jacob slept’ (Drayton’s note); i.e. the Stone of Scone, captured from Scotland in 1296 by Edward I (‘Edward called Longshanks’) and fitted into a wooden chair upon which most English monarchs were thereafter crowned. This traditional symbol of Scottish sovereignty was popularly associated with ‘Jacob’s Stone’, on which the founder of Israel slept. 133–6] ‘A prophecy belonging to that stone’ (Drayton’s note). 134 saws] sayings, maxims. 139 Brute] mythical founder of Britain; descendant of Aeneas. Although Drayton recognized that this ‘British history’ narrative was rapidly losing credibility, it suited his purposes when celebrating a renewed vision of British unity, and he relied upon it throughout his masterwork, Poly-Olbion (1612–22).



150

155

160

165

170

175

Drayton, To the Majesty of King James

45

Let us light jigs, and joyful paeans sing. Whilst such as rightly prophesied thy reign, Deride those idiots held their words for vain. Had not my soul been proof ’gainst envy’s spite I had not breathed thy memory to write: Nor had my zealous, and religious lays Told thy rare virtues, and thy glorious days. Renowned prince, when all these tumults cease, Even in the calm, and music of thy peace, If in thy grace thou deign to favour us, And to the muses be propitious, Caesar himself, Rome’s glorious wits among, Was not so highly, nor divinely sung.   The very earthl’est and degenerat’st spirit, That is most void of virtue, and of merit, With the auster’st, and impudentest face, Will thrust himself the foremost to thy grace; Those silken, laced, and perfumed hinds, That have rich bodies, but poor wretched minds, But from thy court (oh worthy) banish quite The fool, the pander, and the parasite, And call thyself most happy (then be bold) When worthy places, worthi’st men do hold, The servile clown for shame shall hide his head, His ignorance, and baseness frustrated, Set lovely virtue ever in thy view, And love them most, that most do her pursue, So shalt thou add renown unto thy state, A king most great, most wise, most fortunate.

148 jigs] most commonly, dances; here, light and jocular songs or ballads. 148 paeans] songs of celebration and praise. 149–50] Drayton shifts from ancient prophecies to an allusion to the debates over the succession that had troubled the final years of Elizabeth’s reign. 153 lays] songs. 159 Rome’s glorious wits among] among the greatest poets of Rome (i.e. predicting for James poetic endorsements, from Drayton and his peers, to compare with the highest achievements of classical authors). 165] Drayton’s targets are courtiers seeking advancement under the new king; ‘hinds’ is socially loaded, positioning such people (specifically men) as base and contemptible. 168 pander] pimp, procurer. 171 clown] rustic, countryman.

I.4 Sir John Davies, ‘The King’s Welcome’ and ‘To the Queen at the Same Time’ (1603)

Like many others of his generation, the lawyer and poet Sir John Davies (1569– 1626) perceived the accession of James as an opportunity to press his claims for advancement. Davies had met James in 1594 when he travelled to Scotland as a member of an official party to mark the birth of Prince Henry. As he discovered on that occasion, James was an admirer of his poem Nosce Teipsum, on the immortality of the soul and its relation to the body. In 1603 Davies probably accompanied the courtier Sir Robert Carey on his journey north to inform James of the death of his Elizabeth, and may also have recited his panegyric to the King on the subsequent journey to London. (Less is known of the accompanying poem – a sonnet  – to Queen Anne.) The strategy worked: later in 1603 Davies was appointed solicitorgeneral for Ireland and was knighted. The poem plays on the fact that James is entering England for the first time, hitherto unseen by the majority of his new subjects. Source: Davies never printed his poems. ‘The King’s Welcome’ is quite likely to have been presented to the King in manuscript, and two known copies survive. We take our version from All Souls’ College, Oxford, MS 155, which is the longer of the two known versions. ‘To the Queen at the Same Time’ survives only in Edinburgh University Library (MS La. III 444), with the second known copy of ‘The King’s Welcome’. We use this version here. ‘The King’s Welcome’ Oh now or never gentle muse, be gay, And mount up higher on thy paper wings Than doth the lark, when he salutes the day, And to the morn a merry welcome sings.

5

10

15

20

Davies, ‘The King’s Welcome’ 

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Fly swifter than the eagle sent by art From Nuremberg to th’Almaine emperor; A hand less cunning, but as true a heart, Sends thee to a prince of greater worth and power. Rencounter him thou shalt upon the way, Like Phoebus midst of all his golden train; And know him too thou shalt at first survey, By proper notes, and by distinctions plain. By his fair outward forms and princely port, By honours done to him with cap and knee, He is deciphered by the vulgar sort, But truer characters will rise to thee. Thy sight had once an influence divine Which gave it power the soul of man to view; Wipe and make clear that dazzled eye of thine, And thou shalt see his real marks and true. Look over all that diverse troop, and find Who hath his spirits most jovial and free, Whose body is best tempered, and whose mind Is ever best in tune, and that is he.

25

30

See who it is, whose actions do bewray That threefold power, which rarely mixed we see: A judgement grave, and yet a fancy gay, Joined with a rich remembrance, that is he. Mark who it is, that hath all noble skill Which may to public good referred be;

5–6] The instrument-maker Johannes Müller von Königsberg, or ‘Regiomontanus’ (1436– 76), was reputed to have made a mechanical eagle, which he sent to meet the German emperor as he approached the city of Nuremberg (Henry Layton, Observations upon a Treatise (London, 1697), p. 34). The identity of the emperor is unclear: Layton dates the event to the time of Henry VIII, but Henry’s reign (1491–1547) did not overlap with Regiomontanus’s life. 9 Rencounter] encounter, chance upon. 10 Phoebus] (god of) the sun. 15 deciphered] i.e. recognized. 17–18] probably referring to the reputation of Davies’s Nosce Teipsum (1599). 25 bewray] reveal, disclose. 28 remembrance] memory, recollection.

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Part I: 1603 The quickest wit, and best affected will, Whence flows a stream of virtues, that is he.

35

40

If any more than other clearly wise, Or wisely just, or justly valiant be, If any do faint pleasures more despise, Or be more master of himself, ’tis he. But soft, thine eaglet’s eye will soon be dim, If thou this rising sun directly view; Look sideways on the beams that spread from him, Fair peace, rich plenty, and religion true. Besides a guard of blessed angels hover About his sacred person, day and night, And with invisible wings his head do cover, That dangers darts thereon may never light.

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50

55

When by these proper notes thou shalt him ken, Fly towards him with wings of love and fear; Like fire which most doth wave and tremble then, When it doth mount most high, and burn most clear. Yet on; for winged time with thee goes on, Which like old Aeson hath his youth renewed; His hourglass turned, and his sickle gone, And all his grey and broken feathers mewed. On, for the brave young son above his head Comes northward, that he may his glory meet, Whilst the fresh earth in all her pride doth spread Green velvet carpets underneath his feet. On, for the birds will help to fill thy song, Whereto all English heart-strings do agree;

45 ken] know. 50 Aeson] Thessalian prince; in one version of his life, Medea, his daughter-in-law, rejuvenates him at the point of death (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7.159–293). 52 mewed] renewed (used of feathers and plumage). 53 son] ‘Sun’ would appear a more obvious reading, but this is not supported by either manuscript. 58 heart-strings] cord-like structure believed to support the heart; hence the site of a person’s most intense emotions.



60

Davies, ‘The King’s Welcome’ 

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And th’Irish harp strings that did jar so long, To make the music full, now tuned be. There is no eye cast down, there is no voice That to pronounce the heart’s assent is dumb; The world of things doth everywhere rejoice, In certain hope of blessed times to come.

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70

Thousands while they possess and fill the ways, Doth both desire, and hinder his repair; They fill the empty heaven with prayer and praise, Which he requites with demonstrations fair. Then what hast thou to do, and what remains? Pray as the people doth, and add but this, This little wish: that whiles he lives and reigns, He may be still the same, that now he is.

‘To the Queen at the Same Time’ If we in peace had not received the King, We see we had been conquered, since we see The Queen such armies doth of beauties bring As all our eyes and hearts her vassals be. 5

10

The Danish armies once great honour won Upon this land, yet conquered but a part, But you great lady more alone hath done For at first sight you conquered every heart. Star of the north, upon these northern realms Long may your virtues, and your beauty reign,

59–60] allusion to the fact that James was also assuming control of Ireland, which the English had battled to pacify in the reign of Elizabeth. 65 ways] roads. 66 repair] journey. 72] The closing line contains a possible allusion to Queen Elizabeth’s motto, semper eadem (‘always the same’). 5–6] referring to the successful Danish (or Viking) military in Britain in the eighth to eleventh centuries, as a way of praising the Danish Queen Anne. The Danes imposed rule (‘Danelaw’) across substantial parts of northern and eastern England at this time.

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Part I: 1603 Beyond our Cynthia’s years, whose golden beams Are set with us and cannot shine again. Well may it be though sun and moon go down, Seas have no power the North Pole Star to drown.

10–12] allusion to Elizabeth (often associated with Cynthia, virgin goddess of the hunt). 14 North Pole Star] i.e. Polaris, which appears to hold still while the northern sky moves around it; here associated with Denmark.

A New Song

I.5 A New Song to the Great Comfort and Rejoicing of All True English Hearts, at our Most Gracious King James his Proclamation, upon the 24 of March Last Past in the City of London (1603)

The publication of popular songs and ballads – often, like this one, without named authors – flourished through the late sixteenth century, and many took the form of responses to topical events. The celebration of the new king fitted easily into this emergent tradition, and would become a staple of Stuart succession literature. This song hits the keynotes of the moment: elegiac remarks on Elizabeth, endorsement of the greatness of James’s ‘four kingdoms’ and finally delight at the continuation of Protestantism. Source: A New Song was published in just one edition. Although addressed to James’s English subjects, it was printed in Edinburgh by the King’s printer, Robert Waldegrave. This fact suggests a possible effort to manipulate popular opinion, rather than a more genuine expression of the public’s joy.

5

Sweet England rejoice and sing, Lovingly: lovingly: God hath sent us now a king, Praised be him. Of King Henry’s linage is he Princely born by degree. A braver prince cannot be, Then is noble King James.

Queen Elizabeth she is gone, 10 Gloriously: Gloriously:

5 linage] common sixteenth-century form of ‘lineage’.

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15

Part I: 1603 Up to an angel’s throne, Ever to dwell. So prudent was her mind, So careful and so kind: All her state she hath assigned, To our noble King James.

Long ruled she this land, Virtuously: Virtuously: King James now takes in hand, 20 All the like care. He is our royal king, And our country will defend. A peaceful reign sweet Jesus send To our noble King James. 25

30

The nobles of this our land, Faithfully: faithfully: Have set to their willing hands, All in dear love. Giving him his lawful right, Sweet England’s crown so bright, Which makes our hearts delight, To say ‘God save King James’.

Ring out your bells apace, Merrily: merrily, 35 Make bonfires in every place, Signs of true-love. For England doth now possess, A king of true nobleness: Oh, let us love express, 40 To our noble King James. Four kingdoms now are known, Rightfully: rightfully: To be King James his own, Peacefully still. 27] specific reference to those who appended their names to the proclamation (see I.1 above). 41 Four kingdoms] the kingdoms of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, claimed for James in the proclamation.



A New Song 

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45

Then what prince or potentate, With him dare make debate, Or envy at the state, Of our noble King James. Other lands will stand in fear, 50 Dreadfully, dreadfully, When they his name shall hear All the world over. All countries well may sing England hath now a king 55 Whose name doth honour win That’s noble King James. England’s fair rose’s bud, Gallantly: gallantly: Long may his princely blood, 60 Reign in this land. Then popery comes not here, Hated of prince and peer; All England loves thee dear, Noble King James. 65

God’s gospel thou dost maintain, Zealously: zealously: And all untruths wilt disdain Virtuously still. Flourish fair England then 70 And all true Englishmen: Joys are now come again With noble King James. Gallant king, come apace, Speedily: speedily: 75 Thy subjects would see thy face Shining in court. Thy nobles here shalt thou find Faithful and true of mind 45 potentate] monarch or ruler. 61 popery] Catholicism (derogatory); the poem’s assessment prejudges James’s position on religion and toleration, which remained matters of contention in the early months of his reign.

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And all thy commons kind, 80 Noble King James. England now lives in peace, Thankfully, thankfully, Good Lord the same increase Evermore still. 85 Love we our king and queen, Then shall our days be seen Ever to flourish green Under King James. Pray we for his council grave, 90 Zealously, zealously, That they may true knowledge have, Concord and love. So shall our country be, Graced with victory: 95 Thus love we loyally, Noble King James.

I.6 Thomas Dekker, from The Whole Magnificent Entertainment: Given to King James, Queen Anne his Wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, upon the Day of His Majesty’s Triumphant Passage (from the Tower) through his Honourable Citie (and Chamber) of London (1604) Pageantry was an established part of the life of early modern London. The Jacobean succession was therefore always likely to be marked by the citizens, in the form of a ceremonial royal entry. Owing to the outbreak of plague in 1603, however, the entry was postponed, to coincide with James’s opening of his first parliament on 15 March 1604. By this time there were two authors involved: Thomas Dekker (c. 1572–1632), who had been recruited as sole author in 1603, and Ben Jonson. In addition, Thomas Middleton (1580–1627) contributed the speech of Zeal, reproduced in full here. Tensions between Dekker and Jonson led to the production of an event with divergent conceptions of its function, and subsequently to the publication of rival texts. But the royal entry otherwise passed successfully, enhanced by the series of triumphal arches created by Stephen Harrison (see Figure 5). Source: The section of the pageant selected for publication here was written by Dekker, and is taken from his Whole Magnificent Entertainment, the revised second edition of the Magnificent Entertainment. Both editions were published in London in 1604. For a reliable modern edition, combining the contributions of Dekker and Jonson, see Jacobean Civic Pageants, ed. Richard Dutton (Keele: Keele University Press, 1995), pp. 19–115.

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Our next arch of triumph,1 was erected above the Conduit in Fleet Street,2 into which (as into the long and beauteous gallery of the City) his Majesty being entered; a far off (as if it had been some swelling promontory, or rather some enchanted castle guarded by ten thousand harmless spirits) did his eye encounter another tower of pleasure. Presenting itself. Four score and ten foot in height, and fifty in breadth; the gate twenty foot in the perpendicular line,3 and fourteen in the ground line.4 The two posterns5 were answerable to these that are set down before:6 over the posterns riz7 up in proportionable measures, two turrets, with battlements on the tops. The middest of the building was laid open to the world, and great reason it should be so, for the globe of the world, was there seen to move, being filled with all the degrees, and states8 that are in the land: and these were the mechanical and dead limbs of this carved body. As touching those that had the use of motion in it, and for a need durst9 have spoken, but that there was no stuff fit for their mouths. The principal and worthiest was Astraea10 (Justice) sitting aloft, as being newly descended from heaven, gloriously attired; all her garments being thickly strewed with stars: a crown of stars on her head; a silver veil covering her eyes. Having told you that her name was Justice, I hope you will not put me to describe what  properties she held in her hands, sithence every painted cloth can inform you.11 Directly under her, in a cant12 by herself, was Arete13 (virtue) enthroned, her garments white, her head crowned, and under her Fortuna; her foot treading on the

 1 arch of triumph] Harrison labelled this arch, which straddled Fleet Street, ‘New World’.  2 Conduit in Fleet Street] As the main sources of fresh water for citizens of London, the city’s ‘conduits’ often featured in civic pageantry.  3 perpendicular line] i.e. vertical line.  4 ground line] i.e. horizontal line.  5 posterns] side entrances.  6 answerable … before] possibly referring to arches described earlier in the text, to which this one is similar (‘answerable’).  7 riz] rose.  8 degrees, and states] i.e. people of different social ranks.  9 durst] dared (to), would. 10 Astraea] goddess of justice; commonly associated with Elizabeth I. 11 properties … inform you] The image of justice, blindfolded and carrying a sword and scales, was common on tapestries and cheaper cloth wall-hangings of the period. sithence] since. 12 cant] niche. 13 Arete] personification of virtue.



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globe, that moved beneath her: intimating, that his Majesty’s fortune, was above the world, but his virtues above his fortune. Invidia. Envy, unhandsomely attired all in black, her hair of the same colour, filleted about with snakes,14 stood in a dark and obscure place by herself, near unto Virtue, but making show of a fearfulness to approach her and the light: yet still and anon, casting her eyes, sometimes to the one side beneath, whereon several greces15 sat the four cardinal virtues:

  

Justicia  16 Viz. Fortitudo  In habiliments, fitting Temperantia to their natures.  Prudentia And sometimes throwing a distorted and repining countenance to the other opposite seat, on which, his Majesty’s four kingdoms were advanced.

  

Viz.

England  Scotland France  Ireland 

All of them, in rich robes and mantles;17 crowns on their heads, and sceptres18 with pencilled scutchions19 in their hands, lined with the coats20 of the particular kingdoms: for very madness, that she beheld these glorious objects, she stood feeding on the heads of adders. The four elements21 in proper shapes (artificially and aptly expressing their qualities) upon the approach of his Majesty, went round in a proportionable and even circle, touching that cantle22 of the globe (which was open) to the full view of his

14 Envy … snakes] The representation of envy is traditional, perhaps most directly informed by Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene (see esp. 1.4.30–2; 5.12.27–43). The association with snakes (here ‘filleted’, or bound with them; later gnawing on their heads) is suggestive of envy’s association with evil, poisonous speech. 15 greces] steps. 16 habiliments] outfits. 17 mantles] cloaks. 18 sceptres] ornamental rods; symbols of regal authority. 19 pencilled scutchions] i.e. escutcheons (shields on which a coat of arms is depicted) intricately decorated (probably with fine brushes rather than modern pencils). 20 coats] i.e. coats of arms. 21 four elements] The four elements of early modern thought, as identified subsequently in Zeal’s speech, were earth, air, fire and water. 22 cantle] corner; nook.

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Majesty, which being done, they bestowed themselves in such comely order, and stood so, as if the engine23 had been held up on the tops of their fingers. Upon distinct ascensions24 (neatly raised within the hollow womb of the globe) were placed all the states of the land, from the nobleman to the ploughman, among whom there was not one word to be heard, for you must imagine as Virgil saith: Eclogue 4. M  agnus ab integro seclorum nascitur ordo. Iam redit at virgo* redeunt Saturnia regna.25 *Astraea That it was now the golden world, in which there were few praters.26 All the tongues that went in this place, was the tongue of Zeal, whose personage was put on by W. Bourne,27 one of the servants to the young prince. And thus went his speech. The populous globe of this our English isle, Seemed to move backward, at the funeral pile,28 Of her dead female majesty. All states From nobles down to spirits of meaner fates, Moved opposite to nature and to peace, As if these men had been th’Antipodes,29 But see, the virtue of a regal eye, Th’attractive wonder of man’s majesty, Our globe is drawn in a right line again, And now appear new faces, and new men. The elements, earth, water, air, and fire, (Which ever clipped30 a natural desire, To combat each with other, being at first,) Created enemies to fight their worst, See at the peaceful presence of their king, How quietly they moved, without their sting: 23 engine] design; product of ingenuity (i.e. the globe). 24 ascensions] levels; practically, here, steps. 25 Magnus … regna] ‘the great line of the centuries begins anew. Now the Virgin (i.e. Astraea) returns, the reign of Saturn returns’ (Virgil, Eclogue 4, lines 5–6). Virgil’s ‘Messianic Eclogue’, prophesying the birth of a child who would usher in a new golden age (‘reign of Saturn’), was very popular in the seventeenth century, amenable in particular to Christian interpretations. 26 praters] mere talkers, chatterers; possibly with an implication of (political) gossipers. 27 W. Bourne] also known as William Bird; member of Prince Henry’s (formerly the Admiral’s) Men since 1597 (Jacobean Civic Pageants, ed. Richard Dutton (Keele: Keele University Press, 1995), p. 91). 28 pile] i.e. pyre (used figuratively, since Elizabeth was buried). 29 th’Antipodes] figurative: the exact opposites of true men. 30 clipped] embraced.



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Earth not devouring, fire not defacing, Water not drowning, and the air not chasing: But propping the quaint fabric that here stands, Without the violence of their wrathful hands. Mirror of times, lo where thy fortune sits, Above the world, and all our human wits, But thy high virtue above that: what pen, Or art, or brain can reach thy virtue then? At whose immortal brightness and true light, Envy’s infectious eyes have lost their sight, Her snakes (not daring to shoot forth their stings ’Gainst such a glorious object) down she flings Their forks of venom into her own maw,31 Whilst her rank teeth the glittering poisons chaw,32 For ’tis the property of Envy’s blood, To dry away at every kingdom’s good,33 Especially when she had eyes to view, These four main virtues figured all in you, Justice in causes, fortitude ’gainst foes, Temp’rance in spleen,34 and prudence in all those, And then so rich an empire, whose fair breast, Contains four kingdoms by your entrance blest By Brute divided,35 but by you alone, All are again united and made one, Whose fruitful glories shine so far and even, They touch not only earth, but they kiss heaven, From whence Astraea is descended hither, Who with our last Queen’s spirit, fled up thither, Fore-knowing on the earth, she could not rest, Till you had locked her in your rightful breast. And therefore all estates, whose proper arts,36 31 maw] stomach. 32 chaw] chew (roughly). 33 For … good] Audiences were perhaps familiar with images of Envy drenched in blood; see the opening of the Elizabethan play Mucedorus. The drying of the blood in a ‘good’, well-managed state is perhaps Middleton’s conceit. 34 spleen] probably mirth; however, the spleen was also regarded as the seat of melancholy. 35 By Brute divided] Brute (or Brut) was the legendary founder of Britain, who later divided the kingdom among his children. Interest in ancient British narratives of national division and re-unification flourished around the accession of James, the most notable example being Shakespeare’s King Lear. 36 proper arts] i.e. the legitimate skills and practices of each social degree or type.

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Live by the breath of majesty, had hearts Burning in holy Zeal’s immaculate fires, With quenchless ardours, and unstained desires, To see what they now see, your powerful Grace, Reflecting joys on every subject’s face: These painted flames and yellow burning stripes, Upon this robe,37 being but as shows and types, Of that great Zeal. And therefore in the name Of this glad City, whither no prince ever came, More loved, more longed for, lowly I entreat, You’ld be to her as gracious as y’are great: So with reverberate shouts our globe shall ring, The music’s close being thus: God save our King. If there be any glory to be won by writing these lines, I do freely bestow it (as his due) on Thomas Middleton,38 in whose brain they were begotten, though they were delivered here: Quae nos non fecimus ipsi, vix ea nostra voco.39 But having pieced up our wings now again with our own feathers; suffer us awhile to be pruning them, and to lay them smooth, whilst this song, which went forth at the sound of haut-boys,40 and other loud instruments, flies along with the train. Cant. Where are all these honours owing? Why are seas of people flowing?     Tell me, tell me Rumour,     Though it be thy humour     More often to be lying, Than from thy breath to have truth flying:     Yet alter, now that fashion,     And without the stream of passion,     Let thy voice swim smooth and clear, When words want gilding,41 then they are most dear. 37 These … robe] Zeal refers here to his clothes, bearing ‘stripes’ and ‘flames’ often associated with the characteristic. 38 Thomas Middleton] The young Middleton was best known at this stage as a poet, though he had been collaborating with Dekker in the theatre for about two years (  Jacobean Civic Pageants, ed. Dutton, p. 93). 39 Quae … voco] ‘That which we ourselves do not make we will never call ours’ (Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Frank Justus Miller (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1916), 13.140–1). 40 haut-boys] oboes. 41 want gilding] lack decoration, elaboration.



Dekker, The Whole Magnificent Entertainment Behold where Jove and all the states, Of Heav’n, through Heav’ns seven silver gates,      All in glory riding      (Backs of clouds bestriding)      The Milky Way do cover, With starry path being measured over,     The deities convent,42      In Jove’s high court of parliament.      Rumour thou dost lose thine aims, This is not Jove, but one as great, King James.

42 convent] assemble.

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I.7 Ben Jonson, ‘A Panegyre on the Happy Entrance of James our Sovereign to his First High Session of Parliament’ (1604)

Ben Jonson (1572–1637) would become the great court poet of the Jacobean period, but in 1603 he was one of many young poets and playwrights desperate for preferment under the new regime. In this poem he draws upon literary models for the poetry of praise (i.e. ‘panegyric’) that date back to classical times and had been introduced to the England of Henry VIII by Sir Thomas More. But the poem is more than mere sycophancy. By focusing on James’s first parliament, rather than his accession, Jonson draws attention to the forum that would bring James into conflict with the views of many of his subjects. Moreover, the poem boldly engages with James’s own writing on the arts of government, and confronts also the possibility of corruption and poor government. Kings, Jonson notes, may prove to be ‘evil’. Source: The ‘Panegyre’ was first published in 1604 in B. Ion: His Part of King James his Royal and Magnificent Entertainment through his Honorable City of London, Jonson’s account of his contributions to the royal entry pageant. It was reprinted (with minor corrections) with the author’s Works (London, 1616). This text is based on the latter. Martial, Licet toto nunc Helicone frui Heav’n now not strives, alone, our breasts to fill With joys: but urgeth his full favours still. Again, the glory of our western world Unfolds himself: and from his eyes are hurled Epigraph] ‘We may now enjoy the full draughts of Helicon’ (Martial, Epigrams, 12.5). 3–4 Again … himself] Jonson compares James, entering parliament four days after his ceremonial entry into London, with the regularly unfolding glory of the sun. James had been greeted as ‘monarch of the west’ in the London entry pageant (‘A Panegyre on

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(Today) a thousand radiant lights, that stream To every nook and angle of his realm. His former rays did only clear the sky; But these his searching beams are cast, to pry Into those dark and deep concealed vaults, Where men commit black incest with their faults; And snore supinely in the stall of sin: Where Murder, Rapine, Lust, do sit within, Carousing human blood in iron bowls, And make their den the slaughter-house of souls: From whose foul reeking caverns first arise Those damps, that so offend all good men’s eyes; And would (if not dispersed) infect the crown, And in their vapour her bright metal drown. To this so clear and sanctified an end, I saw, when reverend Themis did descend Upon his state; let down in that rich chain, That fast’neth heavenly power to earthly reign: Beside her, stooped on either hand, a maid, Faire Dice, and Eunomia; who were said To be her daughters: and but faintly known On earth, ’til now, they came to grace his throne. Her third, Irene, helped to bear his train; And in her office vowed she would remain, ’Til foreign malice, or unnatural spite (Which Fates avert) should force her from her right. With these he passed, and with his people’s hearts Breathed in his way; and souls (their better parts)

the Happy Entrance of James … to his First High Session of Parliament’, ed. Martin Butler, in The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson, 7 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), vol. 2, p. 475). 11 stall] cattle-shed. 12 Rapine] seizing the property of another by force. 16 damps] noxious vapours or gases. 20 Themis] goddess of justice. 21–2 that rich … reign] The image, derived from classical sources, is of a chain connecting the earth with the heavens; here it endorses the principle of the monarch’s divine right to rule. 24 Dice, and Eunomia] Right and Government; daughters of Themis. 27 Irene] Peace, the third daughter of Themis. 30 Fates] the three goddesses supposed to determine the course of human life.

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Part I: 1603 Hasting to follow forth in shouts, and cries. Upon his face all threw their covetous eyes, As on a wonder: some amazed stood, As if they felt, but had not known their good: Others would fain have shown it in their words: But, when their speech so poor a help affords Unto their zeal’s expression; they are mute: And only with red silence him salute. Some cry from tops of houses, thinking noise The fittest herald to proclaim true joys: Others on ground run gazing by his side, All, as unwearied, as unsatisfied: And every windore grieved it could not move Along with him, and the same trouble prove. They that had seen, but four short days before, His gladding look, now longed to see it more. And as of late, when he through London went, The amorous City spared no ornament, That might her beauties heighten; but so dressed, As our ambitious dames, when they make feast, And would be courted: so this town put on Her brightest tyre; and, in it, equal shone To her great sister: save that modesty, Her place, and years, gave her precedency. The joy of either was alike, and full; No age, nor sex, so weak, or strongly dull, That did not bear a part in this concent Of hearts, and voices. All the air was rent, As with the murmur of a moving wood; The ground beneath did seem a moving flood: Walls, windores, roofs, towers, steeples, all were set With several eyes, that in this object met.

34 covetous] ardently desiring. 37 fain] gladly. 40 red silence] i.e. blushing, embarrassed into silence. 45 windore] window. 48 gladding] i.e. that which makes glad. 53 this town] Westminster; i.e. distinct from the City of London, which had previously welcomed James. Jonson subsequently represents London and Westminster as sisters. 54 tyre] attire, appearance. 59 concent] harmony, concord. 62 flood] body of flowing water; river.

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Jonson, ‘A Panegyre’ Old men were glad, their fates ’til now did last; And infants, that the hours had made such haste To bring them forth: whilst riper aged, and apt To understand the more, the more were rapt. This was the people’s love, with which did strive The nobles’ zeal, yet either kept alive The others flame, as doth the wick and wax, That friendly tempered, one pure taper makes. Meanwhile, the reverend Themis draws aside The King’s obeying will, from taking pride In these vain stirs, and to his mind suggests How he may triumph in his subjects’ breasts, With better pomp. She tells him first, that kings Are here on earth the most conspicuous things: That they, by heaven, are placed upon his throne, To rule like heaven; and have no more, their own, As they are men, then men. That all they do Though hid at home, abroad is searched into: And, being once found out, discovered lies Unto as many envies, there, as eyes. That princes, since they know it is their fate, Oft-times, to have the secrets of their state Betrayed to fame, should take more care, and fear In public acts what face and form they bear. She then remembered to his thought the place Where he was going; and the upward race Of kings, preceding him in that high court; Their laws, their ends; the men she did report: And all so justly, as his care was joyed To hear the truth, from spite, or flattery void. She showed him, who made wise, who honest acts; Who both, who neither: all the cunning tracts, And thriving statutes she could promptly note; The bloody, base, and barbarous she did quote; Where laws were made to serve the tyran’ will; Where sleeping they could save, and waking kill; Where acts gave licence to impetuous lust

72 tempered] combined. 72 taper] candle. 91 that high court] i.e. parliament. 96 tracts] treaties; negotiations. 99 tyran’] i.e. tyrant’s.

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Part I: 1603 To bury churches, in forgotten dust, And with their ruins raise the pander’s bowers: When, public justice borrowed all her powers From private chambers; that could then create Laws, judges, counsellors, yea prince, and state. All this she told, and more, with bleeding eyes; For right is as compassionate as wise. Nor did he seem their vices so to love, As once defend, what Themis did reprove. For though by right, and benefit of times, He owned their crowns, he would not so their crimes. He knew that princes, who had sold their fame To their voluptuous lusts, had lost their name; And that no wretch was more unblessed then he, Whose necessary good ’twas now to be An evil king: and so must such be still, Who once have got the habit to do ill. One wickedness another must defend; For vice is safe, while she hath vice to friend. He knew, that those, who would, with love, command, Must with a tender (yet a steadfast) hand Sustain the reins, and in the check forbear To offer cause of injury, or fear. That kings, by their example, more do sway Then by their power; and men do more obey When they are led, then when they are compelled. In all these knowing arts our prince excelled. And now the dame had dried her dropping eyne, When, like an April Iris, flew her shine About the streets, as it would force a spring From out the stones, to gratulate the king. She blessed the people, that in shoals did swim To hear her speech; which still began in him

112 owned] inherited. 119] ‘i.e. Once one evil is deliberately embarked on, more will inevitably follow in their wake’ (‘A Panegyre on the Happy Entrance of James’, ed. Butler, p. 480). 125–6 kings … power] this axiom is derived from James’s Basilikon Doron. 129 dropping eyne] weeping eyes (Themis was depicted as crying at line 107). 130 Iris] (goddess of the) rainbow. 130 flew her shine] ‘her shining face flew’ (‘A Panegyre on the Happy Entrance of James’, ed. Butler, p. 480).

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Jonson, ‘A Panegyre’ And ceased in them. She told them, what a fate Was gently fall’n from heaven upon this state; How dear a father they did now enjoy That came to save, what discord would destroy: And ent’ring with the power of a king, The temp’rance of a private man did bring, That won affections, ere his steps won ground; And was not hot, or covetous to be crowned Before men’s hearts had crowned him. Who (unlike Those greater bodies of the sky, that strike The lesser fires dim) in his access Brighter than all, hath yet made no-one less; Though many greater: and the most, the best. Wherein, his choice was happy with the rest Of his great actions, first to see, and do What all men’s wishes did aspire unto. Hereat, the people could no longer hold Their bursting joys; but through the air was rolled The lengthened shout, as when th’artillery Of heaven is discharged along the sky: And this confession flew from every voice: Never had land more reason to rejoice. Nor to her bliss, could ought now added be, Save, that she might the same perpetual see. Which when time, nature, and the fates denied, With a twice louder shout again they cried, Yet, let blessed Britain aske (without your wrong) Still to have such a king, and this king long. Solus Rex, & Poeta non quotannis nascitur.

163] ‘Only kings and poets are not born every year.’

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I.8 King James, from The Kings Majesty’s Speech, as it was Delivered by him in the Upper House of the Parliament (1604)

The respective roles of monarchs and parliaments was a topic of fierce debate in the seventeenth century, and relations between the two sources of authority were frequently uneasy. Later in his reign, James (1566–1625) would peremptorily close parliaments and rule for years at a time without calling one. In 1604, however, the mood was optimistic. James used this speech to introduce himself to the representative body of his new realm, presenting himself as learned and godly. He also introduced his grand vision for the union of England and Scotland, a policy that would soon collapse in the face of trenchant opposition. The establishment of Great Britain was not achieved until 1707, at the tail-end of the Stuart era. Source: James’s speech was printed in the year of its delivery in both London and Edinburgh. It was reprinted in his Workes (1616). The extract here, from the beginning of the speech, is taken from the 1604 London edition. It did no sooner please God to lighten his hand, and relent the violence of his devouring angel against the poor people of this city,1 but as soon did I resolve to call this Parliament, and that for three chief and principal reasons. The first whereof is (and which of itself, although there were no more, is not only a sufficient, but a most full and necessary ground and reason for convening of this assembly); this first reason I say is, that you who are here presently assembled to represent the body of this whole kingdom, and of all sorts of people within the same, may with your own ears hear, and that I out of mine own mouth may deliver unto you the assurance of my due thankfulness for your so joyful and general applause to the declaring and receiving of me in this seat (which God by my birthright and lineal descent had in the fullness  1 It … city] James’s first parliament was delayed until 1604 on account of the outbreak of plague in London in 1603.



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of time provided for me), and that, immediately after it pleased God to call your late sovereign of famous memory, full of days,2 but fuller of immortal trophies of honour, out of this transitory life. Not that I am able to express by words, or utter by eloquence the vive3 image of mine inward thankfulness, but only that out of mine own mouth you may rest assured to expect that measure of thankfulness at my hands, which is according to the infiniteness of your deserts, and to my inclination and ability for requital of the same. Shall I ever? Nay, can I ever be able, or rather so unable in memory, as to forget your unexpected readiness and alacrity, your ever memorable resolution, and your most wonderful conjunction and harmony of your hearts in declaring and embracing me as your undoubted and lawful king and governor? Or shall it ever be blotted out of my mind, how at my first entry into this kingdom, the people of all sorts rid4 and ran, nay rather flew to meet me, their eyes flaming nothing but sparkles of affection, their mouths and tongues uttering nothing but sounds of joy, their hands, feet, and all the rest of their members in their gestures discovering a passionate longing and earnestness to meet and embrace their new sovereign? Quid ergo retribuam?5 Shall I allow in myself, that which I could never bear with in another? No I must plainly and freely confess here in all your audiences, that I did ever naturally so far mislike a tongue too smooth, and diligent in paying their creditors with lip payment and verbal thanks, as I ever suspected that sort of people meant not to pay their debtors in more substantial sort of coin. And therefore for expressing of my thankfulness, I must resort unto the other two reasons of my convening of this Parliament, by them in action to utter my thankfulness: both the said reasons having but one ground, which is the deeds, whereby all the days of my life I am by God’s grace to express my said thankfulness towards you, but divided in this, that in the first of these two mine actions of thanks, are so inseparably conjoined with my person, as they are in a manner become individually annexed to the same. In the other reason, mine actions are such, as I may either do them or leave them undone, although by God’s grace I hope never to be weary of the doing of them. As to the first, it is the blessings which God hath in my person bestowed upon you all, wherein I protest, I do more glory at the same for your weal,6 then for any particular respect of mine own reputation or advantage therein. The first then of these blessings, which God hath jointly with my person sent unto you, is outward peace: that is, peace abroad with all foreign neighbours. For I thank God I may justly say, that never since I was a king, I either received wrong  2 full of days] ‘So Job died, being old and full of days’ (Job 42:17; the final verse of the Book of Job).  3 vive] lively, vigorous.  4 rid] i.e. rode (on horseback).  5 Quid ergo retribuam?] ‘what, therefore, shall I give in return?’ (King James VI and I, Political Writings, ed. Johann P. Sommerville (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 292).  6 weal] welfare.

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of any other Christian prince or state, or did wrong to any. I have ever, I praise God, yet kept peace and amity7 with all, which hath been so far tied to my person, as at my coming here you are witnesses I found the state embarked in a great and tedious war, and only by mine arrival here, and by the peace in my person, is now amity kept, where war was before,8 which is no small blessing to a Christian commonwealth: for by peace abroad with their neighbours the towns flourish, the merchants become rich, the trade doth increase, and the people of all sorts of the land enjoy free liberty to exercise themselves in their several vocations without peril or disturbance. Not that I think this outward peace so unseparably tied to my person, as I dare assuredly promise to myself and to you the certain continuance thereof; but thus far I can very well assure you, and in the word of a king promise unto you, that I shall never give the first occasion of the breach thereof, neither shall I ever be moved for any p­ articular or private passion of mind to interrupt your public peace, except I be forced thereunto, either for reparation of the honour of the kingdom, or else by necessity for the weal and preservation of the same; in which case, a secure and honourable war must be preferred to an unsecure and dishonourable peace. Yet do I hope by my experience of the by-past blessings of peace, which God hath so long ever since my birth bestowed upon me, that he will not be weary to continue the same, nor repent him of his grace towards me, transferring that sentence of King David’s, upon his by-past victories of war, to mine of peace, that that God who preserved me from the devouring jaws of the bear and of the lion, and delivered them into my hands, shall also now grant me victory over that uncircumcised Philistine.9 But although outward peace be a great blessing, yet is it as far inferior to peace within, as civil wars are more cruel and unnatural than wars abroad. And therefore the second great blessing that God hath with my person sent unto you, is peace within, and that in a double form. First, by my descent lineally out of the loins of Henry the Seventh, is reunited and confirmed in me the union of the two princely roses of the two houses of Lancaster and York, whereof that king of happy memory was the first uniter, as he was also the first ground-layer of the other peace. The lamentable and miserable events by the civil and bloody dissention betwixt these two

 7 amity] friendship.  8 is now … before] At the time he delivered the speech, James was in the process of negotiating an end to a period of conflict with Spain that had endured since 1585.  9 that God … Philistine] ‘And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee’ (1 Samuel 17:34–7).



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houses was so great and so late,10 as it need not be renewed unto your memories: which as it was first settled and united in him, so is it now reunited and confirmed in me, being justly and lineally descended not only of that happy conjunction, but of both the branches thereof many times before. But the union of these two princely houses, is nothing comparable to the union of two ancient and famous kingdoms, which is the other inward peace annexed to my person. And here I must crave your patiences for a little space to give me leave to discourse more particularly of the benefits that do arise of that union which is made in my blood, being a matter that most properly belongeth to me to speak of, as the head wherein that great body is united. And first, if we were to look no higher than to natural and physical reasons, we may easily be persuaded of the great benefits that by that union do redound to the whole island. For if twenty thousand men be a strong army, is not the double thereof, forty thousand, a double the stronger army? If a baron enricheth himself with double as many lands as he had before, is he not double the greater? Nature teacheth us that mountains are made of motes,11 and that at the first, kingdoms being divided, and every particular town or little county, as tyrants or usurpers could obtain the possession, a seigniory12 apart; many of these little kingdoms are now in process of time by the ordinance of God joined into great monarchies, whereby they are become powerful within themselves to defend themselves from all outward invasions, and their head and governor thereby enabled to redeem them from foreign assaults, and punish private transgressions within. Do we not yet remember, that this kingdom was divided into seven little kingdoms,13 besides Wales? And is it not now the stronger by their union? And hath not the union of Wales to England,14 added a greater strength thereto? Which though it was a great principality, was nothing comparable in greatness and power, to the ancient and famous kingdom of Scotland. But what should we stick upon any natural appearance, when it is manifest, that God by his almighty providence hath preordained it so to be? Hath not God first united these two kingdoms, both in language, religion, and similitude of manners? Yea, hath He not made us all in one island, compassed with one sea, and of itself by nature so indivisible, as almost those that were borderers themselves on the late borders, cannot distinguish nor know or discern their own limits? These two countries being separated neither by sea, nor great river, mountain, nor other strength of nature, but only by little small brooks, or demolished little walls, so as rather they were divided in apprehension, then in effect, and now in the end late] recently. motes] particles of dust. seigniory] lordship, (feudal) territory. seven little kingdoms] The prevailing historical narratives of James’s time maintained that in Anglo-Saxon times England had been divided into seven kingdoms (‘the Heptarchy’). 14 union … England] The union of England and Wales had been effected by legislation in 1536. 10 11 12 13

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and ­fullness of time united, the right and title of both in my person, alike lineally descended of both the crowns, whereby it is now become like a little world within itself, being entrenched and fortified round about with a natural, and yet admirable strong pond or ditch, whereby all the former fears of this nation are now quite cut off: the other part of the island being ever before now, not only the place of landing to all strangers that was to make invasion here, but likewise moved by the enemies of this state, by untimely incursions, to make enforced diversion from their conquests, for defending themselves at home, and keeping sure their back-door, as then it was called, which was the greatest hindrance and let15 that ever my predecessors of this nation got in disturbing them from their many famous and glorious conquests abroad. What God hath conjoined then, let no man separate.16 I am the husband, and all the whole isle is my lawful wife; I am the head, and it is my body; I am the shepherd, and it is my flock. I hope therefore no man will be so unreasonable as to think, that I that am a Christian king under the gospel, should be a polygamist, and husband to two wives, that I being the head, should have a divided and monstrous body, or that being the shepherd to so fair a flock, whose fold hath no wall to hedge it but the four seas, should have my flock parted in two. But as I am assured, that no honest subject of whatsoever degree within my whole dominions, is less glad of this joyful union, then I am; so may the frivolous objection of any that would be hinderers of this work, which God hath in my person already established, be easily answered, which can be none, except such as are either blinded with ignorance, or else transported with malice, being unable to live in a well governed commonwealth, and only delighting to fish in troubled waters. For if they would stand upon their reputation and privileges of any of the kingdoms, I pray you, was not both the kingdoms monarchies from the beginning, and consequently could ever the body be counted without the head, which was ever unseparably joined thereunto? So that as honour and privileges of any of the kingdoms could not be divided from their sovereign, so are they now confounded and joined in my person, who am equal and alike kindly head to you both. When this kingdom of England was divided into so many little kingdoms, as I told before, one of them behoved to eat up another, ’til they were all united in one: and yet can Wiltshire or Devonshire, which were of the West Saxons, although their kingdom was of longest durance, and did by conquest overcome diverse of the rest of the little kingdoms, make claim to priority of place or honour before Sussex, Essex, or other shires which were conquered by them? And have we not the like experience in the kingdom of France, being composed of diverse duchies,17 and one after another conquered by the sword? For even as little brooks lose their names by their running and fall into great rivers, and the very name and memory of the great rivers swallowed up in the ocean: so by the conjunction of diverse little kingdoms in one 15 let] obstruction; most commonly used, as here, in conjunction with ‘hindrance’. 16 What … separate] ‘Those whom God hath joined together: let no man put asunder’ (from the marriage service in The Book of Common Prayer, 1549). 17 duchies] territories ruled by dukes or duchesses.



King James, The Kings Majesty’s Speech are all these private differences and questions swallowed up. And since the success was happy of the Saxons’ kingdoms being conquered by the spear of Bellona;18 how much greater reason have we to expect a happy issue of this greater union which is only fastened and bound up by the wedding ring of Astraea?19 And as God hath made Scotland the one half of this isle to enjoy my birth, and the first and most unperfect half of my life, and you here to enjoy the perfect and the last half thereof: so can I not think that any would be so injurious to me, no not in their thoughts and wishes, as to cut asunder the one half of me from the other. But in this matter I have far enough insisted, resting assured, that in your hearts and minds you all applaud this my discourse. Now although these blessings before rehearsed of inward and outward peace be great; yet seeing that in all good things, a great part of their goodness and estimation is lost, if they have not appearance of perpetuity or long continuance; so hath it pleased Almighty God to accompany my person also with that favour, having healthful and hopeful issue of my body, whereof some are here present, for continuance and propagation of that undoubted right which is in my person, under whom I doubt not but it will please God to prosper and continue for many years this union, and all other blessings of inward and outward peace which I have brought with me.

18 Bellona] goddess of war. 19 Astraea] goddess of justice.

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Part II: 1625

Introduction

The succession of 1625 was in most respects extremely – and, by the standards of the Stuarts, unusually – straightforward. Indeed one of the great attractions of the Stuarts in 1603 was that James had three children, including two boys, as a result virtually securing a clear dynastic line of succession. Although his eldest son, Prince Henry, died in 1612, the unproblematic transition of the throne of England to an adult male heir, for the first time in over one hundred years, was in due course secured. This was also the first time one person had inherited, at the same time, the sovereignty of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles himself sought to stress continuity. He invested heavily in James’s funeral service, at which he assumed the role of chief mourner. As James Shirley’s poem ‘Upon the Death of King James’ (II.2 below) indicates, the elaborate and novel funerary rites attracted considerable interest, perhaps at the expense of the new king’s own accession ceremonies. The fact that negotiations for Charles to marry Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri IV of France, were reaching a successful conclusion further reinforced the narrative of dynastic stability. As the fourth text below illustrates, the arrival of Henrietta Maria and her passage with Charles to the capital were closely observed by the nation’s subjects, playing into a narrative of a reign in its formative days. The ease of the transition helps to explain the remarkably low volume of royal panegyric in 1625. By comparison with 1603 and 1660, in particular, there was less at stake for the new monarch’s nations. His reign did not require the outpouring of affirmative voices that marked the accession of James and the restoration of Charles II; nor, perhaps, did poets feel they had much to gain from celebrating him. Charles himself did little to affect this situation. By contrast with his younger brother, who had cultivated from a young age an image of chivalric militancy, Charles was not well known by his subjects. Nor did he ever assert himself as

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a patron of poets; instead his interests, as expressed in the years after his accession, leaned much more towards the visual arts. Notably, when his royal entry to London was delayed on account of an outbreak of plague, he never rescheduled it. Instead the playwright Thomas Middleton, who had been involved with the Jacobean pageants, was quietly decommissioned. The poet George Wither later recalled walking the streets of his plague-stricken city and seeing the ‘half-built’ arches, abandoned and never to be put to their intended uses.1 The smooth transition also masked tensions within the state. In the series of conflicts that would become known in retrospect as the Thirty Years War (1618–48), James I had positioned himself as a monarch committed to peace. But Charles was determined to take a different stance. After the embarrassing collapse in 1623 of his negotiations to marry to the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna, he was keen to declare war on Spain. In due course a series of failed military ventures would undermine the reputation of his regime, while the costs of warfare would exacerbate financial tensions between the court and parliament. Religious tensions were also pressing upon the country. These were not between the Protestant Church and the Catholic Church, but rather internal struggles within English and Scottish Protestantism. At the death of James, observers watched keenly for signs of Charles’s intentions; and his shift in subsequent years away from his father’s Calvinism, towards doctrines loosely labelled ‘Arminian’, in many respects precipitated the national divisions of the 1630s and 1640s. These various tensions created a fraught environment at court, and this in turn helped to fuel lurid rumours surrounding James’s death. The notorious pamphlet The Forerunner of Revenge by George Eglisham, an extract of which is printed below (II.5), imagined a murderous conspiracy centred on the over-mighty court favourite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. As various commentators have noted, Charles’s royal image only really started to assume recognizable and meaningful form in the years after his accession. The assassination of Buckingham in 1628, followed by the birth of a succession of royal children from 1630, enabled commentators to focus afresh on the King and his family as sources of authority and stability. His decision to rule from 1629 without recourse to a parliament caused him some financial problems, yet underscored his cultivated image of calm and untroubled authority. This is evident in court masques and pageantry of the 1630s, and also in the ceremonies produced to mark his Scottish coronation in 1633. The poem reproduced below by William Drummond (II.6), a man steeped in Jacobean literary traditions on both sides of the border, stands as one of the very best pieces of Caroline panegyric.

 1 Britain’s Remembrancer (1628), fol. 109v.

II.1 John Rous, from his diary (27 March 1625)

A number of men and women in early Stuart England maintained manuscript diaries of news, in which they recorded and analysed information and rumours about political and diplomatic affairs. The surviving examples provide some of our best evidence of how contemporaries made sense of affairs of state. These sources are particularly valuable for the 1620s, a decade shaped by court scandal and fevered debates over England’s position in relation to the Thirty Years War. In this context, some diarists found little room for the 1625 succession. John Rous (1584–1644), a clergyman based in Suffolk, gives little detail, though he is notable for beginning his diary with the change of reign and Charles’s marriage to Henrietta Maria. Source: John Rous’s diary for the years 1625–43 is held in the British Library (Additional MS 22959), and was edited for publication in 1856 by M. A. E. Green. What appears to be an earlier portion of the diary has since been identified (British Library, Additional MS 28640). KING CHARLES, MARCH 27, 1625 (Crowned Feb. 2, following) His coming to the crown was very joyous to the well-affected, but to the papists not very welcome. Of the match with France then on foot, rumours were diverse, yet at length  arrived  in England Mary sister to Lewes XIII of France,1 about

 1 Lewes … France] Louis XIII had assumed the French throne in 1610, aged nine.

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Whitsuntide.2 News of her arrival, and the occurrences thereof, was very little and very u­ ncertain  in  Norfolk, by the reason of the plague beginning to be hot in London, so that the parliament assembled was kept in Oxford, and travel was dangerous.3

 2 about Whitsuntide] Whitsuntide is the week of Pentecost in the Church calendar, falling in late spring or early summer; Henrietta Maria in fact landed in England on 9 June.  3 News … dangerous] Rous’s frustration at the delays in the circulation of news on account of the plague demonstrates at once the hunger for information and one reason for the relative lack of detail in reports on the early months of Charles’s reign. the parliament … Oxford] The first parliament of Charles’s reign was convened in Oxford, on account of the plague in London.

II.2 James Shirley, ‘Upon the Death of King James’ (1646)

At the time of James’s death, James Shirley (1596–1666) was at the very beginning of his career as a playwright. His poem on the occasion was perhaps intended to position him as a poet worthy of recognition; however, there is little evidence of its circulation in advance of publication with the author’s Poems in 1646. The poem attends more to the death of James than to the accession of Charles. Indeed its description of a search for proof of the King’s death, and its fascination with the rituals established to mark the occasion, position the reader firmly within the context of the days immediately following this momentous event.1 Correlation between the poem and what we know of the events is not exact, nor can we be sure that Shirley would have had access to the places that he describes. Nonetheless the poem offers a remarkably detailed account of the aftermath of James’s death. Source: Like many poets of his time, Shirley was not committed to printed publication of his work. This poem would have been circulated among a coterie of associates before its eventual publication in Shirley’s Poems (London, 1646). We use this source. When busy Fame was almost out of breath, With telling to the world King James his death, I gave the voice no credit; not that I Believed in law, that kings can never die:

  1 See Alastair Bellany, ‘Writing the King’s Death: The Case of James I’, in Literature of the Stuart Successions, ed. Paulina Kewes and Andrew McRae (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

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Part II: 1625 For though of purer mould, at last they must Resolve to their cold principle, the dust, Distinguished only from the common men, That being dead, their dust is royal then. What though the King were old? As soon must they Be at home, whose journey’s down-hill all the way. But I would trust my eye, not every sound, The ear oft catches things at false rebound. To clear my doubts, some told me, that did bring By torch-light, the dead body of the King: When every star, like kinsmen to the dead, That night close-mourners, hid their golden head, And had reposed that royal burden, where His people might embalm him with their tear. Sorrow finds quick direction: I came To a fair house, I cannot giv’t a name, It had so many, only this I know, It might be aptly called the house of woe, Death’s inn of late for princes, who there lay, As taking but a lodging in their way To the dark grave. Entered the court, I see Many attired in black, but this might be Their abstinence for Lent, for who is there That cannot fast from colours once a year? After some jostling with the guard, I came To th’presence, which but mocked me with a name, For it presented nothing to my eye But blacks, and tears for absent majesty.

5 mould] the distinctive nature of a person. 6 principle] origin, source. 16 close-mourners] This phrase principally indicates close relatives of the deceased, though may also suggest (as here, where the principal referents are the stars, shrouded in cloud) seclusion. 17 reposed] given rest to; as throughout this passage, the poem overlays the actions of the stars (the grammatical subject of this verb) with those of James’s ‘kinsmen’ or ‘closemourners’ handling his corpse. 20 a fair house] i.e. Denmark House, to which James’s corpse was taken after his death, to lie in state until his funeral. 26–8] play on the coincidence of the death with the period of Lent, when Christians commonly forgo certain pleasures (here, the poem suggests, colourful clothing). 30 th’presence] i.e. the presence chamber, Denmark House. 32 blacks] clothes of mourning.



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Thence to the privy-chamber I did pass, In hope to find him there, but there, alas! I found new shapes of sorrow, men whose eyes Drunk up by tears, showed life in a disguise: The mourning state here did renew my woe For the lost presence, velvet hangings too Made sorrow of more value, which beheld The ’scutcheon royal in a sable field. To the bed-chamber, then (the shrine some said, Where the pale body of the King was laid) My wild devotion brought me. This sad room At first did fright me, opening like a tomb, To show me death, where tapers round about Flameless, would tell me that our light was out: But by that melancholy day was lent I might discover on his monument A king, with subtle artifice so set, My sense did stagger at the counterfeit. Alas, was this the way to gain belief That he was dead, to paint him now to life? As if, when we had lost him, it had been Enough to have thought him but alive again. But to these sad remonstrances I give No faith, the king I sought, might be alive, For all these figures, and their makers be (At least as my soul wished) more dead than he. From thence to Whitehall, when I came, with wing Nimble as fear could make, I found the King, I triumphed here, and boldly did revive, King James not dead, he was in Charles alive.

33 privy-chamber] The poet has now reached the apartment where the King’s corpse lay in state. 40] The image is heraldic: an escutcheon is ‘the shield or shield-shaped surface on which a coat of arms is depicted’ (OED, 1a); a field is the escutcheon’s surface; sable is black, as a heraldic colour. For Shirley the conventional imagery of royalty is replaced by the colour of mourning. 48–50] Shirley refers to a lifelike effigy of James, laid over the corpse, serving at once as a ‘counterfeit’ of the living monarch and a ‘monument’ to him. 55 remonstrances] demonstrations; suggestive of grievance or protest.

II.3 John Donne, from The First Sermon Preached to King Charles (1625)

John Donne (1572–1631), who was Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1625, was given only one day’s notice that he would be required to preach the first sermon to Charles as king. The date was 3 April 1625, a week after James’s death. His response is scholarly and reflective rather than an attempt to counsel Charles; indeed the sermon does not directly address the King at any point, preferring to consider the situation of a collective ‘we’, former subjects of the deceased monarch. Taking its lead from Donne’s chosen text, Psalm 11:3, the sermon considers the value of ‘foundations’ of various kinds. For the nation, those foundations are being tested – and proving themselves sound – in the course of a peaceful, Protestant succession. The extract below is from the beginning of the sermon. Source: This sermon was printed in only one edition, soon after its delivery in 1625, and again in collected sets of sermons later that year and the following year. It has recently been published in an authoritative modern edition, which has been consulted for the annotations below (The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, vol. 3: Sermons Preached at the Court of Charles I, ed. David Colclough (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)). Psalm 11.3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? We are still in the season of mortification; in Lent.1 But we search no longer for texts of mortification; the almighty hand of God hath shed and spread a text of  1 season … Lent] ‘combining religious and medical senses, referring to the disciplines of Lent and the death of James VI and I: “the action of mortifying the body, its appetites, etc.; the subjection or bringing under control of one’s appetites and passions by the practice of austere living …” (OED, 1); “death of part of the body …” (OED, 2)’ (The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, vol. 3, ed. Colclough, p. 261).



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­ ortification over all the land. The last Sabbath day, was his Sabbath who entered m then into his everlasting rest. Be this our Sabbath, to enter into a holy and thankful acknowledgement of that rest, which God affords us, in continuing to us our ­foundations; for, If foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? I scarce know any word in the Word of God, in which the original is more ambiguous, and consequently the translations more various, and therefore, necessarily also, the expositions more diverse, than in these words. There is one thing, in which all agree, that is, the argument, and purpose, and scope of the Psalm; and then, in what sense the words of the text may conduce to the scope of the Psalm. We rest in this translation, which our Church hath accepted and authorized,2 and which agrees with the first translation known to us, by way of exposition, that is the Chaldee Paraphrase,3 If foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Church of God ever delighted herself in a holy officiousness4 in the commemoration of martyrs. Almost all their solemn and extraordinary meetings, and congregations, in the Primitive Church,5 were for that, for the honourable commemoration of martyrs. And for that, they came soon to institute and appoint certain liturgies, certain offices (as they called them), certain services in the Church, which should have reference to that, to the commemoration of martyrs; as we have in our Book of Common Prayer,6 certain services for marriage, for burial, and for such other holy celebrations. And in the office and service of a martyr, the Church did use this Psalm; this Psalm which is in general a protestation of David, that though he were so vehemently pursued by Saul,7 as that all that wished him well, said to his soul, Fly as a bird to the mountain, as it is in the first verse;8 though he saw, That the wicked had bent their bows, and made ready their arrows, upon the string, that they might privily shoot at the upright in heart, as it is in the second verse;9 though he take it almost as granted, that foundations are destroyed (And then, what can the righteous do?), as it is in the third verse which is our text, yet in this distress he finds what to do. For as he begun in the first verse, In thee Lord, put I my trust, so after he had passed the enumeration of his dangers, in the second and third verses, in the fourth he pursues it as he begun,

 2 this translation … authorized] Donne routinely quotes (albeit occasionally loosely) from the Authorized (or ‘King James’) Version of 1611.  3 Chaldee Paraphrase] or ‘Targum’: early Aramaic translations of the Old Testament.  4 officiousness] diligence; dutifulness.  5 Primitive Church] i.e. early Christian Church.  6 Book … Prayer] the book that stipulated forms of liturgy for the Church of England; introduced after the Reformation in 1549 and regularly revised thereafter.  7 a protestation … Saul] i.e. a declaration (in response to accusation or doubt) of David, at a time when he was resented and victimized by Saul, the first King of Israel, who saw the younger man as a rival for his throne. vehemently] with violence or impetuosity.  8 Fly … verse] Psalm 11:1.  9 That … verse] Psalm 11:2.

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The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven.10 And in the fifth he fixes it thus, The Lord tryeth the righteous (he may suffer much to be done for their trial) but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth.11 This then is the syllogism, this is the argumentation of the righteous man. In collateral things, in circumstantial things, in things that are not fundamental, a righteous man, a constant man should not be shaked at all, not at all scandalized. That’s true; but then (in a second place) sometimes it comes to that, That foundations are destroyed, and what can the righteous do then? Why even then, this is a question, not of desperation, that nothing can be done, but of consultation with God, what should be done. I know, says David, I should not be, and thou knowest, Oh God, I have not been moved with ordinary trials. Not though my friends have disavowed me, and bid me fly to the Mountain as a Bird, not though mine enemies prepare, and prepare Arrows, and shoot, and shoot privily (bestow their labour, and their cost, and their wits, to ruin me), yet these have not moved me, because I had fixed myself upon certain foundations, confidences, and assurances of deliverance from thee. But if, Oh Lord, I see these foundations destroyed, if thou put me into mine enemies’ hand, if thou make them thy sword, if their fury draw that sword, and then, thy almighty arm, sinewed12 even with thine own indignation, strike with that sword, what can I, how righteous soever I were, do? So then, for the explication, and application of these words, there will need no more, but to spread them by way of paraphrase upon these three considerations: first, that the righteous is bold as a lion, not easily shaked; but then, foundations themselves may be destroyed, and so he may be shaked; if he be, yet he knows what to do, or where to ask counsel, for these are not words of desperation, but of consultation, If foundations be destroyed, etc. First then, we fix ourselves upon this consideration, that the prophet in proposing this thus, If foundations be destroyed, intimates pregnantly,13 that except there be danger of destroying foundations, it is the part of the righteous man, the godly man to be quiet. Study to be quiet, says the apostle.14 Study, that is an action of the mind; and then, Oporam detis, says the Vulgate Edition, Labour to be quiet,15 and labour is an action of the body. Indeed it is the proper business of the mind and body too, of thoughts and actions too, to be quiet. And yet, alas, how many break their sleep in the night, about things that disquiet them in the day too, and trouble themselves in the day, about things that disquiet them all night too? We disquiet ourselves too much, in being over tender, over sensible of imaginary injuries. Transeant injuriae, 10 The Lord … heaven] Psalm 11:4. 11 The Lord … hateth] Psalm 11:5 (with Donne’s parenthetical comment). suffer] allow, permit. 12 sinewed] strengthened with sinews; powerful. 13 pregnantly] convincingly. 14 Study … apostle] i.e. the apostle St Paul; 1 Thessalonians 4:11. 15 Oporam … quiet] Donne compares the standard Latin version, the ‘Vulgate’, preferred by the Catholic Church, translating the verb himself.



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says the moral man; Let many injuries pass over. For, Plaerasque non accipit, qui nescit; He that knows not of an injury, or takes no knowledge of it, for the most part, hath no injury. Qui inquirunt, quid in se dictum est, says he, They that are too inquisitive, what other men say of them, they disquiet themselves; for that which others would but whisper, they publish. And therefore that which he adds there, for moral, and civil matters, holds in a good proportion, in things of a more divine nature, in such parts of the religious worship and service of God, as concern not foundations, Non expedit omnia videre, non omnia audire;16 we must not too jealously suspect, not too bitterly condemn, not too peremptorily conclude, that whatsoever is not done, as we would have it done, or as we have seen it done in former times, is not well done. For there is a large latitude, and, by necessity of circumstances, much may be admitted, and yet no foundations destroyed; and ’til foundations be destroyed, the righteous should be quiet. Now this should not prepare, this should not incline any man, to such an indifferency,17 as that it should be all one to him, what became of all things; all one, whether we had one, or two, or ten, or no religion; or that he should not be awake, and active, and diligent, in assisting truth, and resisting all approaches of error. For God hath said of all, into whose hand he hath committed power, ‘You are gods’.18 Now, they are not gods, but idols, if, as the prophet says, They have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, hands and strike not. Nay (as he adds there) if they have noses and smell not;19 if they smell not out a mischievous practice, before it come to execution. For, God’s eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his goings.20 Those, who are in the number of them, of whom God hath said, they are gods, must have their eyes upon the ways of men, and not upon their ends only; upon the paths of mischief, and not upon the bed of mischief only; upon the actors of mischief, and not upon the act only. God’s eye sees our ways, says David21 too; that is, he can see them, when he will. But there is more in the other prophet: God’s eyes are open upon all our ways;22 always open, and he cannot choose but see, so that a wilful shutting of the eye, a winking, a connivency,23 is not an assimilation24 to God. And then, God’s eyes are purer, then to behold evil, and they cannot look 16 Transeant … audire] ‘It is not well to see everything, nor to hear everything.’ Donne is here quoting, translating and commenting on Seneca (‘the moral man’), ‘De ira’ (‘Of Anger’) (Moral Essays, trans. John William Basore, 3 vols (Cambridge, Mass., 1928–35), 3.11.1). 17 indifferency] lack of feeling or interest; apathy. 18 You are gods] Psalm 82:6 (God addressing rightful rulers). 19 They have … not] Psalm 115:5–7. 20 God’s … goings] Job 34:21. 21 God’s eye … David] Not an exact translation. See ‘The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good’ (Proverbs 15:3); ‘all my ways are before thee’ (Psalm 119:168). 22 God’s eyes…ways] Jeremiah 32:19. 23 connivency] obsolete form of ‘connivence’: the action of winking at, overlooking, or ignoring (an offence, fault, etc.). 24 assimilation] the action of making or becoming like.

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upon iniquity:25 so that in an indifferency, whether times, or persons be good or bad, there is not this assimilation to God. Again, All things are naked and open to the eyes of God:26 so that in the disguising, and palliating,27 and extenuating the faults of men, there is not this assimilation to God. Thus far they falsify God’s Word, who hath said, They are gods; for they are idols; and not gods, if they have eyes, and see not. So is it also in the consideration of the ear too for, as David says, Shall not he that planted the ear, hear?28 So we may say, shall he upon whom God hath planted an ear, be deaf? God’s ears are so open, so tender, so sensible of any motion, as that David forms one prayer thus, Auribus percipe lachrimas meas; Oh Lord, hear my tears.29 He puts the office of the eye too, upon the ear. And then, if the magistrate stop his ears with wool (with staple bribes,30 profitable bribes) and with civet31 in his wool (perfumes of pleasure and preferment in his bribes) he falsifies God’s Word, who hath said, they are gods, for they are idols, and not gods, if they have ears, and hear not. And so it is also of the hand too; in all that Job suffered, he says no more, but that the hand of God had touched him;32 but touched him, in respect of that he could have done. For, when Job says to men, ‘Why persecute you me, as God?’,33 he means, as God could do, so vehemently, so ruinously, so destructively, so irreparably. There is no phrase oftner in the scriptures, than that God delivered his people, in the hand of Moses, and the hand of David, and the hand of the prophets: all their ministerial office is called the hand. And therefore, as David prays to God, That he would pull his hand out of his bosom, and strike:34 so must we ever exhort the magistrate, that he would pluck his hand out of his pocket, and forget what is there, and execute the cause committed to him. For, as we, at last, shall commend our spirits, into the hands of God, God hath commended our spirits, not only our civil peace, but our religion too, into the hand of the magistrate. And therefore, when the apostle says, Study to be quiet,35 it is not quiet in the blindness of the eye, nor quiet in the deafness of the ear, nor quiet in the lameness of the hand; the just discharge of the duties of our several places, is no dis25 26 27 28 29

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God’s eyes … iniquity] Habakkuk 1:13. All … God] Hebrews 4:13. palliating] alleviating, relieving. Shall … hear] Psalm 94:9. Auribus … tears] Donne gives a literal translation of Psalm 39:12 from the Vulgate’s Latin; the Authorized Version loses the play on the senses (‘Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears’). staple bribes] Donne plays on ‘staple’, a word used widely at this time to describe the principal product (or item of consumption) of a region or country; hence the corrupt magistrate’s dependence upon bribes. civet] (constituent ingredient of) perfume. the hand … him] Job 19:21. Why … God] Job 19:22. That he … strike] elaboration on Psalm 74:11: ‘Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.’ Study … quiet] 1 Thessalonians 4:11.



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quieting to any man. But when private men will spend all their thoughts upon their superior’s actions, this must necessarily disquiet them; for they are off of their own centre, and they are extra sphaeram activitatis, out of their own distance and compass,36 and they cannot possibly discern the end, to which their superiors go. And to such a jealous man, when his jealousy is not a tenderness towards his own actions, which is a holy and a wholesome jealousy, but a suspicion of his superior’s actions, to this man, every wheel is a drum, and every drum a thunder, and every thunder-clap a dissolution of the whole frame of the world. If there fall a broken tile from the house, he thinks foundations are destroyed; if a crazy woman, or a disobedient child, or a needy servant fall from our religion, from our Church, he thinks the whole Church must necessarily fall, when all this while there are no foundations destroyed; and ’til foundations be destroyed, the righteous should be quiet. Hence have we just occasion, first to condole37 amongst ourselves, who, for matters of foundations profess one and the same religion, and then to complain of our adversaries,38 who are of another. First, that amongst ourselves, for matters not doctrinal, or if doctrinal, yet not fundamental, only because we are sub-divided in diverse names, there should be such exasperations, such exacerbations,39 such vociferations,40 such ejulations,41 such defamations of one another, as if all foundations were destroyed. Who would not tremble, to hear those infernal words, spoken by men, to men, of one and the same religion fundamentally, as indiabolificata, perdiabolificata and superdiabolificata,42 that the devil and all the devils in hell, and worse then the devil is in their doctrine, and in their divinity, when, God in heaven knows, if their own uncharitableness did not exclude him, there were room enough for the Holy Ghost, on both, and on either side, in those fundamental things, which are unanimely43 professed by both. And yet every mart,44 we see more books written by these men against one another, then by them both, for Christ.

36 extra … compass] Donne’s translation of the Latin (more accurately, ‘beyond their sphere of influence’) stretches his own language. For ‘distance’, he presumably means ‘lineal extent’ (OED, ‘distance’, n. 4b); cf. ‘compass’, ‘bounds or limits’ (OED, ‘compass’, n.1, adj. and adv. 9). 37 condole] grieve, lament. 38 our adversaries] i.e. Catholics. 39 exacerbations] actions of exacerbating to anger or hatred. 40 vociferations] loud outcries or shouts. 41 ejulations] wailings, lamentations. 42 indiabolificata … superdiabolificata] ‘made in devils, made by devils, made above devils’ (The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, vol. 3, ed. Colclough, p. 264). 43 unanimely] i.e. unanimously. 44 mart] market.

II.4 From A True Discourse of All the Royal Passages, Triumphs and Ceremonies, Observed at the Contract and Marriage of the High and Mighty Charles, King of Great Britain, and the Most Excellentest of Ladies, the Lady Henrietta Maria of Bourbon (1625) This anonymously authored news report, running to thirty-six pages, offers great detail of the royal couple and the English court in the days surrounding the marriage. It also includes two speeches delivered to Charles in Canterbury, a point which may offer a hint towards the identity of the author. Given the lack of public ceremony connected to Charles’s coronation, this text gives the impression of the marriage celebrations assuming much of the burden of national celebration. Given also a degree of sensitivity over Henrietta Maria’s Catholicism, the text is perhaps also working hard to present an image of a nation united in celebration. Source: This text was published in London in one version only, in 1625. On Wednesday the King and Queen departed from Canterbury, and rode in the most triumphant manner that might be to Cobham Hall,1 finding (as before I said) all the highways strewed with roses, and all manner of sweet flowers, and here at Cobham they lodged all that night, where there was all plentiful entertainment, and nothing wanting that might add any honour either to the King or kingdom. On Thursday being the sixteenth of June according to our computation the King and Queen departed from Cobham Hall, the ways prepared as hath been before showed, and so in most glorious manner came to the city of Rochester where there was expectation of some stay, but the day being spent too far they rid through the city, notwithstanding the mayor, magistrates and citizens of that city gave both the King and Queen a noble and most hearty welcome, and the Recorder of the city2 made unto them a most learned and eloquent oration, for which both the King and Queen returned back their royal thanks and so passing away from the city a

 1 Cobham Hall] the manor house of Cobham Hall, Kent.  2 Recorder of the city] senior legal official.



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brave volley of shot and great ordnance3 was delivered from the ships which lay upon the river. From the city of Rochester the King and Queen came to the town of Gravesend, where whether it was the ignorance of the porter-reeve4 or the over-ruling power of weak (but imagined wise) counsel, or that the privilege of old rusty custom, or some other knot which my weak brain is not able to untie I know not, but most assured it is, that neither the porter-reeve nor any of his brethren gave the King or Queen any entertainment or tender of service until their highnesses were come into the very midst and as it were the very centre of their town, and there they made tender of their service and obedience, which was received with royal alacrity both of the King and Queen, and so they passed away in state towards the bridge, where the barges of state attended their approach. Here they dismounted, and all the nobility attending on each side of the bridge, with a world of ladies and gentlemen: here they took solemn leave of the King and Queen, and kissed both their hands, but such was the excellent disposition of the Queen, and so royal and bountiful her grace and favour, that to every lady that came to kiss her hand, she bowed herself down and kissed their cheeks. As soon as the King and Queen were entered into their barge of estate, and had a little put off from the shore, the blockhouse5 which standeth upon the Kentish shore6 first let fly all her ordnance, and sent forth a peal, that the rocks and chalky cliffs resounded again, which was no sooner finished, but immediately the blockhouse which standeth on the Essex shore made answer with the like music, and discharged all her ordnance; so that the smoke mixing and meeting together, made a cloud which interposed between the earth and the sun’s brightness, making an evening at noon-day. After the blockhouses had thus discharged all their ordnance, then as the King and Queen passed along, the ships which lay and anchored in the way, discharged their volleys distinctly after one another; insomuch that the volley was hardly ever found to cease for the passage of twelve or fifteen rails together.7 And the nearer the King and Queen came to the City of London, the greater and greater still the volley increased. Lastly, a little before the King and Queen had shot the bridge,8 the Tower of London let fly her ordnance, which did so thunder and rattle in the air, that nothing could be heard for the terror of the noise. The throng of spectators was so great, that about two hundred being in a ship that lay almost dry, and leaning  3 ordnance] artillery; cannons and guns.  4 porter-reeve] or portreeve, chief magistrate of a town.  5 blockhouse] a detached fort, covering access to a landing.  6 Kentish shore] i.e. the shore of Kent, on the south side of the River Thames; as is made clear subsequently, the Thames forms the border with Essex.  7 for the passage … together] unclear; possibly indicating distanced travelled (‘rail’ was occasionally used as a distance of six feet or more (OED, ‘rail’, n.2 4c)) as the ­ordnance was firing.  8 shot the bridge] passed under London Bridge.

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against the wharf, they with their weight and motion overthrew the ship into the Thames. And by the way during all this long passage, both the King and Queen stood publically in the open barge, and not only discovered themselves to every honest and cheerful beholder, but also with all royal affability and grace distributed their favours to all those which came to admire them, so that there was not a living soul which did not in heart conclude and say with the poet, Quam bene conveniunt et in una sede morantur Majestas & Amor9 And thus at last the King and Queen came to the King’s palace at Whitehall, where they were received with all the acclamations of joy that might be, and where I am now enforced to leave them with this true and ever hearty prayer, that it would please God to bless them together with days of the longest extent that ever made happy any mortal creature, to send them fair and flourishing issue,10 and when they shall of necessity be translated from this life, that they may reign with God in glory everlasting. Amen.

 9 Quam … Amor] presumably adapting Ovid: ‘non bene conveniunt nec in una sede ­morantur / majestas et amor’ (‘Majesty and love do not go well together, nor tarry long in the same dwelling-place’): Metamorphoses, trans. Frank Justus Miller (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1916), 2.84. 10 issue] offspring.

II.5 George Eglisham, from The Forerunner of Revenge. Upon the Duke of Buckingham, for the Poisoning of the Most Potent King James of Happy Memory King of Great Britain, and the Lord Marquis of Hamilton, and Others of the Nobility (1626) George Eglisham (fl. 1601–42), physician to King James, is our principal source for the rumour that he was murdered. Eglisham’s inflammatory pamphlet accuses George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, of direct involvement in poisoning the King. Buckingham, the powerful court favourite who had risen to become the most powerful English statesman of the age, associated himself increasingly closely with Charles in early years of the 1620s. Crucially, he travelled with the Prince to Spain in 1623 in an effort to negotiate a marriage with the Spanish Infanta Maria. This unsuccessful venture became notorious in English political culture, and provoked fevered debate among political commentators. Some saw Charles and Buckingham as heroes resisting what would have been an unpopular match; others, including Eglisham, fretted over apparent improprieties and tensions within the English party. There is nonetheless very little evidence to suggest what might have driven Eglisham to his reckless and apparently unfounded accusations. Yet they attracted attention, fuelling attacks on Buckingham that continued through the subsequent years until his assassination at the hands of a disaffected army officer in 1628. Source: Like many inflammatory texts in the seventeenth century, The Forerunner found its way around the tough English censorship regime. It was first published in Latin, from Augsburg, Germany (1626). The English translation was also published on the continent; it bears a ‘Frankfort’ imprint, but is believed to have been printed in the Netherlands, from where copies were smuggled into England. When censorship collapsed in the 1640s it gained a fresh audience, running through several editions between 1642 and 1648. The humble complaint of George Eglisham Doctor of Physic, and lately one of King James his physicians for his Majesty’s person above the space of ten years.

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Sir, no better motive there is for a safe government, than the sincere meditation of death (equalling kings to beggars) and of the severe and exact justice of God, requiring of him, that the good suffering misery in this life, should receive joy in the other, and the wicked flourishing securely in this, might be punished in the other. That which pleaseth lasteth but a moment, which tormenteth is everlasting. Many  things we see unrewarded or unpunished in this inferior world, which in the universal weights of God’s justice must be counterpoised elsewhere, but wilful and secret murder hath seldom been observed to escape undiscovered or unpunished even in this life, such a particular and notable revenge perpetually followeth it; to the end that they who are either atheists, Lucianists,1 or Machiavellists2 may not trust too much to their own wits in doing so horrible injustice. Would to God your Majesty would well consider what I have often said to my Master King James. The greatest policy is honesty, and howsoever any man seem to himself wise in compassing3 his desires by tricks, yet in the end he will prove a fool, for falsehood ever deceiveth her own master at length, as the devil author of all falsehood always doth, leaving his adherents desolate, when they have greatest need of his help. No falsehood without injustice, no injustice without falsehood albeit it were in the person of a king. There is no judge in the world more tied to do justice than a king, whose coronation tieth him unto it by solemn oath, which if he violate he is false and perjured. It is justice that maketh kings, justice that maintaineth kings, and injustice that bringeth both kingdoms and kings to destruction to fall in misery, to die like asses in ditches or more beastly deaths, with eternal infamy after death, as all histories from time to time do clearly testify. What need hath mankind of kings, but for justice? Men are not born for them, but they for men. What greater, what more royal occasion in the world could be offered unto your Majesty to show your unpartial disposition in matter of justice at the first entree of your reign than this which I offer my just complaint against Buckingham; by whom your majesty suffereth your self so far to be led, that your best subjects are in doubt, whether he is your king or you his. If your majesty know and consider how he hath tyrannized over his lord and master, King James, the worldly creator of his fortunes, how ­insolent, how ingrate an oppressor, what a murderer and traitor he hath proved himself towards him, how treacherous to his upholding friend the Marquis of Hamilton4 and others, your Majesty may think the giving way to the laws demanded  1 Lucianists] technically, followers of the second-century heretic Lucian; however, by the seventeenth century the term was used more loosely as a term of abuse for anyone suspected of straying from Christian orthodoxy.  2 Machiavellists] adherents of the sixteenth-century political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli; however, like ‘Lucianist’, the term was used widely and loosely to attack political opponents.  3 compassing] contriving, devising.  4 Marquis of Hamilton] James Hamilton, Second Marquess of Hamilton, a courtier and close associate of King James, died a few weeks before the king.



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against him, to yield a most glorious field for your Majesty to walk in, and display the banner of your royal virtues. […] Concerning the poisoning of King James of happy memory, King of Great Britain The Duke of Buckingham being in Spain advertised5 by letters, how that the King begoud6 to censure him in his absence freely, and that many spoke boldly to the King against him, and how the King had intelligence from Spain of his unworthy carriage7 in Spain, and how the Marquis of Hamilton upon the sudden news of the Prince his departure, had nobly reprehended the King, for sending the Prince with such a young man without experience, and in such a private and sudden manner, without acquainting the nobility or Council therewith, wrote a very bitter letter to the Lord Marquis of Hamilton, conceived new ambitious courses of his own, and used all the devices he could to disgust the Prince his mind of the match with Spain so far intended by the King.8 Made haste home, where when he came he so carried himself that whatsoever the King commanded in his bedchamber he controlled in the next chamber. Yea received packets to the King from foreign princes and dispatched answers without acquainting the King therewith not in a great time thereafter. Whereas perceiving the King highly offended and that the King’s mind was beginning to alter towards him, suffering him to be quarrelled and affronted in his Majesty’s presence, and observing that the King reserved my Lord of Bristol9 to be a rod for him, urging daily his dispatch for France, and expecting the Earl of Gondomar his coming to England in his absence, feared much that the Earl of Gondomar, who as it seemed was greatly esteemed and wonderfully credited by the King, would second my Lord of Bristol’s accusations against him.10 He knew also that  5 advertised] was notified.  6 begoud] i.e. began; the dialect form is perhaps attributable to Eglisham’s Scottish origins.  7 carriage] bearing, conduct.  8 wrote … King] Eglisham is determined to present Buckingham’s erratic behaviour (‘new ambitious courses’) as the primary reason for the collapse of the negotiations. While there is no evidence of the letter to Hamilton, the allegation accords with Eglisham’s effort to endorse his actions as opposed to those of Buckingham.  9 Lord of Bristol] John Digby, Earl of Bristol; involved in the Spanish marriage negotiations as an ambassador to Spain, and subsequently targeted by Buckingham for criticism in the parliament of 1624. 10 urging … him] Eglisham is referring to the situation in 1624–25 in which the English were negotiating a marriage alliance with France. He suggests that Buckingham feared being sent on a diplomatic mission lest in his absence James might take counsel from the Hispanophiles (especially Bristol), and thus take heed of allegations about his own behaviour in Madrid. Earl of Gondomar] Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Count of Gondomar; prominent and widely unpopular Spanish ambassador. Though he had left England in 1622, he did (as Eglishan suggests) seek to return in 1625, a move that caused panic among the ­anti-Spanish faction at court.

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the King had vowed, that in despite of all the devils of hell he would bring the Spanish match about again, and that the Marquis of Enechosa had given the King bad impressions of him, by whose articles of accusation the King himself had examined some of the nobility and Privy Council, and found out in the examination that Buckingham had said after his coming from Spain that the King was an old man, it was now time for him to be at his rest, and to be confined to some park to pass the rest of his time in hunting, and the Prince to be crowned.11 The more the King urged him to be gone to France the more shifts he made to stay, for he did evidently see that the King was fully resolved to rid himself of the oppression wherein he held him. The King being sick of a tertian ague,12 and that in the spring which was of itself never found deadly, the Duke took his opportunity when all the King’s doctors of physic were at dinner upon the Monday before the King died, without their knowledge or consent, offered to the King a white powder to take, the which the King long-time refused, but overcome by his flattering importunity at length took it, drunk it in wine, and immediately became worse and worse, falling into many soundings and pains, and violent fluxes of the belly so tormented, that his Majesty cried out aloud, ‘Oh this white powder! This white powder! Would to God I had never taken it; it will cost me my life.’ In like manner the Countess of Buckingham, my Lord of Buckingham’s mother upon the Friday thereafter, the physicians also being absent and at dinner, and not made acquainted with her doings, applied a plaster to the King’s heart and breast, whereupon his Majesty grew faint, shortbreathed and in great agony. Some of the physicians after dinner returning to see the King, by the offensive smell of the plaster perceived some thing to be about the King hurtful to him, and searched what it could be, found it out and exclaimed that the King was poisoned. Then Buckingham entering commanded the physicians out of the room, caused one to be committed prisoner to his own chamber, and another to remove from court, quarrelled others of the King’s servants in the sick King’s own presence, so far that he offered to draw his sword against them in the King’s sight. And Buckingham’s mother kneeling before the King, with a brazen face cried out, ‘Justice, justice, Sir I demand justice of your Majesty’. The King asking, ‘for what?’, she answered, ‘For that which their lives is no sufficient satisfaction, for saying, that my son and I have poisoned your Majesty.’ ‘Poisoned me,’ said the King. With that he turning himself sounded,13 and she was removed. The Sunday thereafter the King died, and Buckingham desired the

11 Marquis … crowned] Eglisham alludes to attempts made by the Marquis of Hinijosa (for Eglisham, ‘Enechosa’), Spanish envoy in 1624, to bring down Buckingham by alleging that he was plotting to depose James and install Charles as king. James seemed to take these allegations seriously, causing a breach between king and favourite in the spring of 1624. 12 tertian ague] fever, possibly malarial. 13 sounded] fainted.



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physicians who attended the King, to sign with their hand-writs14 a testimony that the powder which he gave the King was a good and a safe medicine, which they refused to do. Buckingham’s creatures15 did spread abroad a rumour in London that Buckingham was so sorry at the King’s death, that he would have died, that he would have killed himself, if they had not hindered him. Which your petitioner purposely enquired of them that were near him at that time, who said that neither in the time of the King’s sickness nor after his death, he was more moved than if there had never happened either sickness or death to the King. One day when the King was in great extremity he rode post to London to pursue his sister-in-law to have her stand in sackcloth at Paul’s for adultery,16 another time of the King’s agony he was busy contriving and concluding a marriage for one of his cousins.17 Immediately after the King’s death the physician who was commanded to his chamber, was set at liberty with a caveat to hold his peace, the others threatened if they kept not good tongues in their heads. But in the meantime the King’s body and head swelled above measure, his hair with the skin of his head stuck to the pillow, his nails became loose upon his fingers and toes.18 Your petitioner needeth to say no more to understanding men. Only one thing he beseecheth that taking the traitor who ought to be taken without any fear of his greatness, the other matters be examined, the accessories with the guilty punished.

14 hand-writs] handwritten documents with legal force. 15 Buckingham’s creatures] those owing their position to Buckingham; hence ­suggesting dependency and corruption. 16 One … adultery] allusion to the prosecution for adultery of Frances Villiers (née Coke), Lady Purbeck, who was married to Buckingham’s unstable brother John, Viscount Purbeck. Buckingham allegedly intends a public shaming ritual at St Paul’s. 17 he was … cousins] Buckingham was notorious for seeking to arrange propitious marriages at court for members of his family; indeed the murder plot against Hamilton, which dominates the The Forerunner of Revenge, hinges on his desire to marry his niece to Hamilton’s son. 18 But … toes] James is thought to have died from a combination of ‘kidney problems and arthritis’, compounded in his final days by ‘a fever, to be followed by a stroke and severe dysentery’ (Jenny Wormald, ‘James VI and I (1566–1625)’, ODNB). These symptoms match the ones detailed at length in Eglisham’s account of Hamilton’s death, and some were popularly assumed to indicate poisoning.

Drummond,

II.6 William Drummond of Hawthornden, from The Entertainment of the High and Mighty Monarch Charles (1633)

William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649) was a Scottish gentleman and writer who had long-standing links with the Stuarts. Although he did not follow James to London in 1603, he maintained connections with the political and cultural worlds of England. He wrote in praise of both James and Charles, prompted by their respective visits to Scotland. In 1617 he published Forth Feasting: A Panegyricke to the Kings Most Excellent Majestie; in 1633, when Charles travelled north for a delayed Scottish coronation, he wrote The Entertainment of the High and Mighty Monarch Charles. The extract published here is the address of the personified figure of Caledonia (i.e. Scotland). The text describes her appearance: ‘a Lady attired in tissue [i.e. a rich kind of cloth, often interwoven with gold or silver], her hair was dressed like a cornucopia, two chains, one of gold, another of pearl baldric ways [i.e. like a baldric: a belt or girdle, usually of leather, worn from one shoulder across the breast and under the opposite arm], hung down her shoulders, a crown of gold hung from the arch before her’. Source: The Entertainment of the High and Mighty Monarch Charles was printed in Edinburgh in the year of the Scottish coronation, and we use this text here. It was reprinted with Drummond’s Poems, published in London in 1656.

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The heavens have heard our vows, our just desires Obtained are, no higher now aspires Our wishing thoughts, since to his native clime The flower of princes, honour of his time, Encheering all our dales, hills, forests, streams,

3 his native clime] Charles was born in Scotland in 1600, moving south as an infant when his father assumed the English throne in 1603.



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(As Phoebus doth the summer with his beams) Is come, and radiant to us in his train The golden age and virtues brings again; Prince so much longed for, how thou becalm’st Mind’s easeless anguish, every care embalm’st With the sweet odours of thy presence! Now In swelling tides joys everywhere do flow By thine approach, and that the world may see What unthought wonders do attend on thee, This kingdom’s angel I, who since that day That ruthless fate thy parent wrest away, And made a star, appeared not anywhere, To gratulate thy coming saving here.   Hail prince’s phoenix, monarch of all hearts, Sovereign of love and justice, who imparts More than thou canst receive; to thee this crown Is due by birth; but more, it is thine own By just desert; and ere another brow Then thine should reach the same, my flood should flow With hot vermillion gore, and every plain Level the hills with carcasses of slain, This isle become a red sea. Now how sweet Is it to me, when love and laws thus meet To girt thy temples with this diadem, My nurselings’ sacred fear, and dearest gem. No Roman, Saxon, Pict by sad alarms Could this acquire and keep; the heavens in arms From us repelled all perils, nor by wars Ought here was won but gaping wounds and scars,

6 Phoebus] i.e. the sun. 16 wrest] plucked away, with a violent wrenching. 19 prince’s phoenix] As the son of James, born into rule at the death of his father, Charles is likened by Drummond to the legendary phoenix which would periodically self-immolate, then rise afresh from its ashes. 24–5 my flood … gore] i.e. my tide shall be stained with blood (of civil war); echoing the tidal imagery of line 12, above. 29] i.e. to encircle your head with this crown. 30 nurselings’] native people’s (i.e. of Scotland); though the original gives no ­apostrophe,  it is clear enough in context that Drummond intends the plural rather than singular. 31–2 No Roman … keep] alluding to the famed capacity of Scotland to resist the successive forces that conquered England throughout its history. 34 Ought] nothing.

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Part II: 1625 Our lion’s climateric now is past, And crowned with bays, he rampants free at last.   Here are no Serean fleeces, Peru gold, Aurora’s gems, nor wares by Tyrians sold; Towns swell not here with Babylonian walls, Nor Nero’s sky-resembling gold-ceiled halls, Nor Memphis spires, nor Quinzay’s arched frames, Captiving seas, and giving lands their names: Faith (milk-white Faith) of old belov’d so well, Yet in this corner of the world doth dwell With her pure sisters, Truth, Simplicity; Here banished Honour bears them company, A Mars-adorning brood is here, their wealth Sound minds and bodies, and of as sound a health. Walls here are men, who fence their cities more Then Neptune when he doth in mountains roar, Doth guard this isle, or all those forts and towers Amphion’s harp raised about Thebes’ bowers, Heaven’s arch is of their roof, the pleasant shed Of oak and plain oft serves them for a bed. To suffer want, soft pleasure to despise, Run over panting mountains crowned with ice, Rivers o’ercome, the wasteth lakes appal (Being to themselves, oars, steerers, ship and all) As their renown; a brave all-daring race

35–6] obscure: the lion perhaps signifies Charles, the Stuart monarchy, or the Scottish people, having survived a crucial or epochal moment (‘climacteric’); now, bearing a crown of bay-leaves, symbolizing victory, it roams freely (‘rampants’, here used as a verb: a usage not recorded in the OED). 37–42] Drummond distinguishes Scotland’s virtues from a series of indices of luxury and excess: the legendary golden fleece of Syria; the gold of the Americas; the gems of the east (signified by Aurora, or the dawn); the halls of the notoriously tyrannical Roman Emperor Nero, bedecked with gold; the pyramids of Memphis in ancient Egypt; and the bridges of Quinzay (modern Hangchow, China), reputedly arched high and wide to allow large ships to pass underneath. 47 Mars-adorning brood] i.e. martial; primed for warfare. 50] alluding to the sea, with its roar of mountainous waves. 51–2 all those … bowers] Amphion, son of Zeus and founder (with his twin brother) of Thebes, was reputed to have caused the stones of that city to move miraculously into place as he played his golden lyre. 57 wasteth] Drummond possibly intends ‘vasteth’ (i.e. huge, immense); however, a sense of ‘waste’, as a wild and desolate region, may also be intended.

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Courageous, prudent, doth this climate grace. Yet the firm base on which their glory stands, In peace true hearts, in wars is valiant hands, Which here (great king) they offer up to thee, Thy worth respecting as thy pedigree: Though much it be to come of princely stem, More is it to deserve a diadem.   Vouchsafe blest people, ravish here with me, To think my thoughts, and see what I do see, A prince all gracious, affable, divine, Meek, wise, just, valiant, whose radiant shine Of virtues (like the stars about the pole Gilding the night) enlight’neth every soul Your sceptre sways, a prince born in this age To guard the innocents from tyrant’s rage, To make peace prosper, justice to reflower, In desert hamlet as in lordly bower; A prince, that though of none he stand in awe, Yet first subjects himself to his own law, Who joys in good, and still as right directs His greatness measures by his good effects, His people’s pedestal, who rising high To grace this throne make Scotland’s name to fly On halcyon’s wings (her glory which restores) Beyond the ocean to Columbus’ shores. God’s sacred picture in this man adore, Honour his valour, zeal, his piety more, High value what ye hold him, deep ingrave In your heart’s heart, from whom all good ye have: For as moon’s splendour from her brother springs, The people’s welfare streameth from their kings. Since your love’s object doth immortal prove,

67 ravish] presumably ‘be ravished’, i.e. be transported with intense emotion. 76 desert] desolate, lonely. 76 bower] dwelling, abode. 81 His people’s pedestal] The image, albeit grammatically ambiguous, is of the King’s loyal subjects providing a solid supporting structure for his rule. 83 halcyon’s] of the kingfisher; although the classical usage, a mythical bird that could charm with wind and waves, is doubtless also invoked. 84 Columbus’ shores] i.e. the shores of America, discovered to Europeans by Christopher Columbus.

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Part II: 1625 Oh love this prince with an eternal love.   Pray that those crowns his ancestors did wear, His temples long (more orient) may bear. That good he reach by sweetness of his sway, That even his shadow may the bad affray, That heaven on him what he desires bestow, That still the glory of his greatness grow, That your begun felicities may last, That no Orion do with storms them blast, That victory his brave exploits attend, East, west, or south do he his forces bend, ’Til his great deeds all former deeds surmount, And quail the Nimbrot of the Hellespont; That when his well-spent care all care becalms, He may in peace sleep in a shade of palms; And rearing up fair trophies, that heavens may Extend his life to world’s extremest day.

94 orient] brilliant, radiant. 96 affray] frighten, terrify. 100] The constellation of Orion, conceived as a hunter, was commonly represented as the originator of stormy weather. 103 surmount] surpass. 104] While ‘Nimbrot’ is obscure, the meaning of this line is roughly identifiable. Drummond asserts that the great achievements of Charles will depress, or overcome, even that of Leander, who swam the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) in his legendary love for Hero.

Part III: 1653 and 1658

Introduction

The installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland was a key event amid one of the most unpredictable periods in British political history. On 30 January 1649, Charles I was executed after a trial in which he was condemned as a tyrant, traitor and murderer. Shortly afterwards the monarchy was abolished and a republic was declared. Cromwell, who saw the trial and execution of the King as an act of divine justice, was Lord General of the army in these years, and he led the republic’s fight against Royalist insurgency in Ireland, Scotland, and England. The ruthlessness with which he prosecuted some of these campaigns, especially in Ireland, remains controversial to this day. Victories over Charles Stuart’s forces at Dunbar on 3 September 1650 and at Worcester on the same date in 1651, however, dashed Royalist hopes of a swift Stuart restoration. From this point, attention shifted from military to political matters and in particular the question of how to secure a lasting settlement. The life of the republic was characterized by frictions between moderate MPs and the reformist zeal of the army. Frustrated by the Rump Parliament’s resistance to reform, Cromwell expelled it in April 1653. It was replaced in July by the Nominated Assembly, a group of 140 new MPs selected by Cromwell and his Council of Officers. As with the Rump before it, however, divisions between moderates and radicals over political and religious reform led to its downfall. On the morning of 12 December 1653, MPs voted to yield their authority to Cromwell. Four days later he took the title of Protector at a ceremony at Whitehall, described in the newsbook Mercurius Politicus below (III.1). The Protectorate faced a number of immediate challenges. England was at war with the Dutch. Royalist plots were a constant threat. The Protectorate also faced opposition from republicans and radical religious groups for whom Oliver’s

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acceptance of the title of Protector elevated him to a position of quasi-regal authority. This was perceived as a betrayal of everything that had been fought for in the past decade. Attacks on Cromwell proliferated, from both Royalists and republicans. He was condemned as a tyrant, mocked as a false king and ridiculed for his appearance: Cromwell’s nose was one of the most common features of satirical verse in the 1650s. But there were, equally, defences of him as an active ruler guided by providence far beyond what any king could be. As Andrew Marvell put it: ‘For to be Cromwell was a greater thing, | Than ought below, or yet above, a king’ (see III.3). Cromwell, for his part, always refused to take the crown or the title of king despite its being offered to him first in 1653 and again in 1657. Critics and historians have disagreed over whether a specifically protectoral style evolved in these years or whether the regime always remained in thrall to Stuart ceremony and art. What does appear to be the case, however, is that by the end of his rule, Cromwell was being imagined as a monarch. He was occasionally styled Oliver I. After his death, at his lying in state, his effigy was stood up on display, adorned in robes, holding a sceptre and wearing a crown. Cromwell’s death on 3 September 1658 did briefly bring the succession into question. Was the protectorship, after all, a nominated position or a new hereditary dynasty? Oliver named his eldest son, Richard, his successor in the last days of his life and the succession passed off smoothly. Yet Richard’s rule would last only a matter of eight months from September 1658 to May 1659. Republican MPs opposed Richard, but crucial to his downfall was the lack of trust from the army, a point which comes through in the dialogue The World in a Maze, reprinted below (III.6). Whereas Oliver had been a victorious general, Richard had never been a military figure. When discussions about the reorganization of the army began in April, soldiers deserted en masse. Parliament was dissolved and the Protectorate was abolished on 7 May. Richard resigned his office on 25 May 1659 but lived until well into the eighteenth century, dying in 1712 at the age of eighty-five. Exactly one year later Charles II entered London to reclaim his throne. The image of the 1650s propagated by much of the Stuart literature after the Restoration was of a culturally regressive age when the muses suffered in silence before their glorious restoration alongside the monarchy. And yet succession writing in the 1650s was among the most experimental of the century. Newspapers flourished; inventive forms of satire were produced; and, as the poems of Marvell and Dryden in this part of the book show (see III.3 and III.5), traditional forms of royal panegyric and elegy were put to work in new ways. The Cromwellian Protectorate was a crucible in which succession writing could be redefined for new, entirely unprecedented political times.

[Nedham],

III.1 [Marchamont Nedham], from Mercurius Politicus, 184 (December 1653)

In the early seventeenth century, a number of writers kept manuscript diaries of news (see the excerpt from John Rous’s diary, II.1 above). One of the major cultural consequences of the Civil Wars, however, was the proliferation of printed newsbooks. The first of these appeared in late 1641, and over the following two decades hundreds of new titles were printed. Usually issued weekly, newsbooks offered information to an increasingly literate reading public, and took sides on the politics of the day. Rival Royalist and Parliamentarian newsbooks vied to express conflicting visions of the nation’s future. The extract below comes from a newsbook edited by Marchamont Nedham. Nedham’s political allegiances were famously fluid. Starting out in 1643 as the editor of the Parliamentarian Mercurius Britanicus, he shifted to the Royalist side in 1647. In 1650, however, Nedham again switched sides to support the new republican regime. Mercurius Politicus began in June 1650 and continued until 1660. This account of Oliver’s inauguration as Protector offers a wealth of detail about the ceremonial proceedings. It also articulates the constitutional basis upon which this new form of government rested. Source: Mercurius Politicus, 184 (16–22 December 1653). Westminster, December 16 The late Parliament1 having upon their dissolution delivered up the power which they received from his excellency2 at their first sitting by a writing under their

 1 late Parliament] The nominated assembly, also known as ‘Barebones Parliament’, was dissolved on 12 December 1653 having been formed the previous April after Cromwell’s expulsion of the Rump Parliament.  2 his excellency] i.e. Oliver Cromwell.

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hands and seals, his excellency thereupon called a council of officers,3 and advised with  other persons of interest in the nation how this great burden of governing England, Scotland and Ireland, with the armies therein, and navy at sea, should be  borne, and by whom. Who, after several days seeking of God, and advising therein, it was resolved that a council of godly, able and discreet persons should  be  named, consisting of 21,4 and that his excellency should be chosen Lord Protector of the three nations. In pursuance hereof several persons of eminency and worth are already made choice of to be the said council, which are not fit to be mentioned in this time. And this day his excellency came down to Westminster, and was installed Lord Protector of the three nations, the manner whereof was thus. His excellency, about one of the clock in the afternoon, came from Whitehall to Westminster, to the Chancery Court,5 attended by the Lords Commissioners of the great seal of England,6 Barons of the Exchequer,7 and judges in their robes. After them, the Council of the Commonwealth,8 and the Lord Mayor, aldermen,9 and Recorder of the City of London,10 in their scarlet gowns. Then came his excellency, attended with many of the chief officers of the army. A chair of state being set in the said Court of Chancery, his excellency stood on the left hand thereof, uncovered,11 till a large writing in parchment in the nature of an oath was read, there being the power with which his excellency was invested, and how his excellency is to govern the three nations, which his excellency accepted of, and subscribed in the face of the Court, and immediately hereupon sat down covered in the chair. The Lords Commissioners then delivered up the Great Seal of England12 to his excellency,

 3 council of officers] formed after Cromwell had expelled the Rump Parliament. It was headed by Cromwell and was responsible for running the government on a day-today basis and overseeing constitutional reform.  4 council … 21] the Council of State. This was essentially the Lord Protector’s Privy Council. It consisted of between thirteen and twenty-one members and could in theory constrain Cromwell’s power.  5 Chancery Court] the court of the Lord Chancellor.  6 Lords … England] those who were charged with the physical protection of the Great Seal (see n. 12 below). In 1653 there were three commissioners: John Lisle, Bulstrode Whitelocke and Richard Keble.  7 Barons of the Exchequer] judges of the Exchequer of Pleas, a law court that dealt with matters of equity.  8 Council of the Commonwealth] i.e. the Council of State.  9 aldermen] chief officers of wards in the City of London. 10 Recorder of the City of London] William Steele (1610–80). The Recorder was a senior legal official. He had criminal and civil jurisdiction in London. 11 uncovered] i.e. bare-headed. 12 Great Seal of England] seal used for the authentication of documents by a sovereign or supreme ruler.



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and the Lord Mayor his Sword and Cap of Maintenance,13 all which his excellency returned immediately to them again. The Court then rose, and his excellency was attended back as aforesaid to the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the Lord Mayor, himself uncovered, carrying the Sword before the Protector all the way. And coming into the Banqueting House, an exhortation was made by Mr. Lockyer,14 after which the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Judges departed. Thus far things have been communicated already in print. To which may be added as touching the frame and constitution of the Government established:15 that we shall have triennial Parliaments, and the first to begin on the third of September next, and so from three years to three years; that Parliaments shall be chosen by the people, according to certain qualifications set down in the said parchment; that the time of their sitting shall be for five months; that such laws as shall be agreed on in Parliament shall be presented to the Lord Protector for his assent, which if it be not obtained within twenty days, then those bills shall pass notwithstanding, and become laws in full force and virtue.16 Strict provision is made also for the succession of Parliaments, the management of elections, and of returns to be made by the several sheriffs17 of the persons elected. That the Lord Protector shall govern with the advice and consent of his Council, the number of whom shall not be less than 13 and not exceed 21. This is the form of government in general, particulars having slipped my memory. Only thus much farther, that all writs, processes, etc. shall issue forth in the name of the Lord Protector; that articles of war shall be made good; that the ministry of the Gospel shall be maintained, and the present way of their maintenance continued till some other way more convenient shall be found out and provided. These are some few passages set down so near as I can remember since the day that they were read in public. Many other particulars there are of great importance, which you may hear of in due time. December 19. His excellency the Lord General was proclaimed Lord Protector by sound of trumpet in the palace yard Westminster, and at the Old Exchange.18 Diverse of the 13 Sword and Cap of Maintenance] constituting the insignia of office borne before a ruler at their coronation or installation. 14 Mr. Lockyer] Nicholas Lockyer (1611–85), chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. 15 frame … established] the Instrument of Government. Drafted by John Lambert in autumn of 1653, the Instrument was adopted by the Council of Officers as a written constitution that outlined the powers of the Protectorate. 16 that such … virtue] The powers of the Protector were bounded by the Council and parliament. The Instrument of Government did not include a protectoral veto over legislation, and the Protector was not allowed to prevent bills from being passed. The Instrument was thus meant to provide checks and balances against the potential for tyranny under government by a single person. 17 sheriffs] responsible for several areas of national and local government administration, including collecting royal dues and supervising elections to parliament. 18 Old Exchange] i.e. the Royal Exchange.

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Council, and the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen in their robes, together with the three sergeants at arms19 with their maces, and the heralds in their ornaments,20 attending. The tenor of the proclamation was as followeth: By the Council. Whereas the late Parliament dissolving themselves, and resigning their powers and authorities, the Government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by a Lord Protector, and successive triennial Parliaments, is now established. And whereas Oliver Cromwell, Captain General of all the forces of this Commonwealth, is declared Lord Protector of the said nations, and hath accepted thereof, we have therefore thought it necessary (as we hereby do) to make publication of the premises, and strictly to charge and command all and every person and persons of what quality and condition soever in any of the said three nations to take notice hereof, and to conform and submit themselves to the Government so established. And all sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, and other public ministers and officers whom this may concern, are required to cause this proclamation to be forthwith published in their respective counties, cities, corporations, and market towns, to the end none may have cause to pretend ignorance in this behalf.21 Given at Whitehall this sixteenth day of December, 1653.

19 sergeants at arms] the body of knights who attended upon a king or ruler. 20 ornaments] decoration, embellishment. 21 Whereas … behalf] This proclamation was also printed separately in 1653 by Henry Hills, the printer to the Council of State.

III.2 ‘The Character of a Protector’ (c. 1654)

The authorship of the following satire remains unknown, but it seems to have spoken to both Royalist and republican readers opposed to the Protectorate. The Leveller Richard Overton was imprisoned after being found in possession of a copy. In Ireland, another copy was presented to the Royalist James Butler, Duke of Ormond. Yet another version appeared in print in a 1687 edition of poems by the Royalist John Cleveland, who died in 1658. Whatever its precise origin, the libel is one of the best examples of anti-Cromwellian satire from the 1650s. Its attacks on Cromwell’s low social origins and supposedly tyrannical rule would become commonplaces. The witty paralleling of protectoral and monarchical government makes it stand out as a reflection on the changing nature of supreme political authority after the Civil Wars. Source: A number of manuscript variants exist, suggesting that the poem had a wide circulation.1 The following text is based on that held in the British Library (E.743[2] (Thomason)), written in the hand of the bibliophile George Thomason and dated June 1654. What’s a Protector? ’Tis a stately thing That apes it in the nonage of a king. A tragic actor: Caesar in the clown; 1 For details see Laura Knoppers, Constructing Cromwell: Ceremony, Portrait, and Print, 1645–1661 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 207. 2 nonage] early stage in the growth or development of something (OED, n.1 2). 3 Caesar in the clown] This unusual phrase suggests that Cromwell has pretensions above his social status: he is a clown (probably mixing the meanings of ‘a rustic’ and ‘an ill-bred man’: OED, ‘clown’, n. 1a and 2) pretending to the position of Caesar, which

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 He is a brass farthing stamped with a crown. A fop’s proud ass masked in a lion’s skin; An outside saint with a white devil within. A bladder blown with others’ breath puffed full, Both Phalaris and Phalaris his bull; Fantastic shadow of the royal head, The brewer’s with the king’s arms quartered; In fine he is one whom we Protector call, From whom the King of Kings protect us all.

here probably carries the general meaning of an emperor rather than being a reference to a specific historical figure. The preceding designation of Cromwell as a tragic actor overlays the phrase with a theatrical metaphor where the serious genre of tragedy, concerned with the actions of great statesmen, is undermined by the low comedy of clowning. There are also echoes and inversions of Andrew Marvell’s An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland (1650), where Cromwell blasts ‘Caesar’s head’ and Charles I is described as a ‘royal actor’ on the ‘tragic scaffold’. 4 farthing] low-value coin, minted in silver until the seventeenth century but thereafter in copper alloys like brass. It could also mean ‘very little’ (OED, 2b). In both senses the  incongruity of Cromwell’s lowly status with the grandeur of kingship is being mocked. 5] In Aesop’s Fables, the ass wears a lion’s skin and delights in scaring local villagers but his braying ultimately betrays his true identity. Other manuscript versions of this poem give the beginning of the line as ‘Aesop’s proud ass’. 5 fop’s] of a foolish person. 8 Phalaris … bull] Phalaris was a Greek tyrant who ruled over Acragus in the fifth century BC. Phalaris’s Bull was a method of execution devised and used under his rule. Victims were placed inside a hollowed-out bronze chamber shaped like a bull. A fire was lit underneath that heated up the bull, slowly roasting the victim inside. 10 brewer’s] Cromwell’s great-grandfather Morgan Williams was an innkeeper and a brewer. This feature of Oliver’s family led his enemies frequently to liken him to a brewer, thus highlighting his artisanal ancestry. 11 In fine] i.e. in conclusion.

III.3 Andrew Marvell, The First Anniversary of the Government under his Highness the Lord Protector (1655)

In An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland (1650, printed 1681), Andrew Marvell (1621–78) had depicted Cromwell as an active, almost elemental force. In The First Anniversary, printed in January 1655, the same imagery is repeated as part of a multi-faceted celebration of the Lord Protector’s first year in power. Beginning with a meditation on mortality, Marvell presents Cromwell as a figure who operates in defiance of time and in contradistinction to the authority of ‘heavy monarchs’. More than celebrating the anniversary of the Protectorate’s establishment, this poem describes the novelty of Oliver’s authority in response to ongoing Royalist and radical criticisms of the regime. Marvell’s main target in the latter case is the millenarian Fifth Monarchists, whose apocalyptic rhetoric, based on biblical prophecy, is adapted to describe Cromwell’s advancement. Marvell’s poem is a complex attempt to find a new vocabulary of praise for a new form of political power. Marvell himself went on to work for the protectoral government before becoming an MP. Source: The poem was printed anonymously in London in January 1655. It was reprinted in the 1681 edition of Marvell’s poems but was cancelled (that is, the leaves on which the poem was printed were removed) in all but a handful of copies. The 1655 edition provides our copy-text.

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Like the vain curlings of the watery maze, Which in smooth streams a sinking weight does raise; So man, declining always, disappears In the weak circles of increasing years; And his short tumults of themselves compose, While flowing time above his head does close.

5 compose] settle.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 Cromwell alone with greater vigour runs, (Sun-like) the stages of succeeding suns: And still the day which he doth next restore, Is the just wonder of the day before. Cromwell alone doth with new lustre spring, And shines the jewel of the yearly ring. ’Tis he the force of scattered time contracts, And in one year the work of ages acts: While heavy monarchs make a wide return, Longer, and more malignant than Saturn: And though they all Platonic years should reign, In the same posture would be found again. Their earthy projects underground they lay, More slow and brittle than the China clay: Well may they strive to leave them to their son, For one thing never was by one king done. Yet some more active for a frontier town Took in by proxy, begs a false renown; Another triumphs at the public cost, And will have won, if he no more have lost; They fight by others, but in person wrong, And only are against their subjects strong; Their other wars seem but a feigned contest, This common enemy is still oppressed; If conquerors, on them they turn their might; If conquered, on them they wreak their spite: They neither build the temple in their days, Nor matter for succeeding founders raise;

15–16 heavy monarchs … Saturn] in the seventeenth century, Saturn was thought to be the planet furthest from the sun, hence the planet with the widest orbit. It was also associated with lead, the heaviest metal. 16 malignant] in astrology, exercising a malign influence (OED, adj. 5b). The word was also used pejoratively by Royalists and Parliamentarians to describe one another (OED, adj. 1b). 17 Platonic years] a cycle in which all celestial objects go through all their possible movements and return to where they began, thereby inaugurating the repetition of all history. 20 China clay] Chinese porcelain was believed to be hardened by being buried underground for a hundred years. 23–4] Marvell is referring to the French victory over the Spanish at Arras in September 1654 led by Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne. 24 proxy] deputy. 27 wrong] do that which is unjust. 33–4] See 1 Chronicles 28, where David instructs his son Solomon to build the temple.



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Nor sacred prophecies consult within, Much less themselves to perfect them begin; No other care they bear of things above, But with astrologers divine, and Jove, To know how long their planet yet reprieves 40 From the deserved fate their guilty lives: Thus (image-like) an useless time they tell, And with vain sceptre strike the hourly bell; Nor more contribute to the state of things, Than wooden heads unto the viol’s strings. 45 While indefatigable Cromwell hies, And cuts his way still nearer to the skies, Learning a music in the region clear, To tune this lower to that higher sphere. So when Amphion did the lute command, 50 Which the god gave him; with his gentle hand, The rougher stones, unto his measures hewed, Danced up in order from the quarries rude; This took a lower, that an higher place, As he the treble altered, or the bass: 55 No note he struck, but a new story laid, And the great work ascended while he played. The listening structures he with wonder eyed, And still new stops to various time applied: Now through the strings a martial rage he throws, 36 perfect] complete or improve upon. 41 image-like] like the mechanical features on clock faces. 44 wooden … strings] A viol is a musical instrument of five, six or seven strings played with a bow. The carved wooden head is where the tuning pegs are fixed. 45 hies] hastens or speeds. 47–8] According to Plato, the music of the spheres resulted from their orderly motion. Marvell describes Cromwell establishing earthly order and unity based upon that celestial example. 49–56] Amphion was a singer and poet in Greek mythology whose song was thought to be capable of moving inanimate objects like rocks and stones. He built the walls of Thebes with the power of his music (see Waller, A Poem on St James’s Park as Lately Improved by His Majesty, IV.8 below, line 15). 51 hewed] to strike something in order to shape or smooth. Marvell describes Amphion hewing the stones with his music, or ‘measures’. 58 new … applied] Marvell is describing Amphion continuing to play a musical instrument. 58 stops] acts of pressing a finger on the neck of a stringed instrument to change the note produced.

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And joining straight the Theban tower arose; Then as he strokes them with a touch more sweet, The flocking marbles in a palace meet; But, for he most the graver notes did try, Therefore the temples reared their columns high: 65 Thus, ere he ceased, his sacred lute creates Th’ harmonious city of the seven gates. Such was that wondrous order and consent, When Cromwell tuned the ruling Instrument; While tedious statesmen many years did hack, 70 Framing a liberty that still went back; Whose numerous gorge could swallow in an hour That island, which the sea cannot devour: Then our Amphion issues out and sings, And once he struck, and twice, the powerful strings. 75 The Commonwealth then first together came, And each one entered in the willing frame; All other matter yields, and may be ruled; But who the minds of stubborn men can build? No quarry bears a stone so hardly wrought, 80 Nor with such labour from its centre brought; None to be sunk in the foundation bends, Each in the house the highest place contends, And each the hand that lays him will direct, And some fall back upon the architect; 85 Yet all composed by his attractive song, Into the animated city throng. The Commonwealth does through their centres all Draw the circumference of the public wall; The crossest spirits here do take their part, 90 Fastening the contignation which they thwart; 66] Thebes had seven gates, and there are also seven notes in an octave. 68 Instrument] pun on the Instrument of Government, the written constitution of the Protectorate drawn up by John Lambert (see the excerpt from Mercurius Politicus, III.1 above). 69 hack] to break a note into a series of smaller notes (OED, v.1 1c). 71 numerous] extensive. 79 hardly] vigorously. 89–90] i.e. even the most quarrelsome elements play their part in the structure of the Commonwealth by their transverse position within it. 89 crossest] parts lying athwart or crossing the main direction of a structure (OED, ‘cross’, adj. 1a); the most inclined to disagree (OED, ‘cross’, adj. 5a). 90 contignation] a structure formed by joining timbers together.



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And they, whose nature leads them to divide, Uphold, this one, and that the other side; But the most equal still sustain the height, And they as pillars keep the work upright; While the resistance of opposed minds, The fabric as with arches stronger binds, Which on the basis of a senate free, Knit by the roofs protecting weight agree. When for his foot he thus a place had found, He hurls e’er since the world about him round; And in his several aspects, like a star, Here shines in peace, and thither shoots a war: While by his beams observing princes steer, And wisely court the influence they fear; O would they rather by his pattern won, Kiss the approaching, nor yet angry Son; And in their numbered footsteps humbly tread The path where holy oracles do lead; How might they under such a captain raise The great designs kept for the latter days! But mad with reason, so miscalled, of state They know them not, and what they know not hate. Hence still they sing Hosanna to the whore, And her whom they should massacre adore: But Indians whom they should convert, subdue;

97 senate free] The First Protectorate Parliament convened on 3 September 1654. Divisions soon opened up on issues such as the size of the army, religious toleration and the legality of the dissolution of the Rump Parliament in April 1653. Cromwell ­dissolved the parliament on 22 January 1655, after the publication of Marvell’s poem. 103–4] By the end of 1654 Cromwell had helped to negotiate a peace with the Dutch, while movement towards an alliance with France had forced the exiled Stuart court into the German principalities. 106] See Psalm 2:12: ‘Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.’ 106 Son] Jesus Christ. 110 the latter days] the Second Coming and end of time, as foretold in the Book of Revelation. There was much speculation in the mid-1650s about Christ’s imminent Second Coming, which some prophets, including members of the Fifth Monarchists, believed would happen in 1656. 111 reason … state] ‘Reason of state’ theory was commonly understood as purely political action on the part of a ruler or government, especially that which involves departing from justice, honesty or openness. Marvell’s point is that such action lacks true reason. 113 whore] i.e. the Whore of Babylon from Revelation 17.

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Nor teach, but traffic with, or burn the Jew. Unhappy princes, ignorantly bred, By malice some, by error more misled; If gracious heaven to my life give length, 120 Leisure to time, and to my weakness strength, Then shall I once with graver accents shake Your regal sloth, and your long slumbers wake: Like the shrill huntsman that prevents the east, Winding his horn to kings that chase the beast. 125 Till then my muse shall hollow far behind Angelic Cromwell who outwings the wind; And in dark nights, and in cold days alone Pursues the monster through every throne: Which shrinking to her Roman den impure, 130 Gnashes her gory teeth; nor there secure. Hence oft I think, if in some happy hour High grace should meet in one with highest power, And then a seasonable people still Should bend to his, as he to heaven’s will, 135 What we might hope, what wonderful effect From such a wished conjuncture might reflect. Sure, the mysterious work, where none withstand, Would forthwith finish under such a hand: Foreshortened time its useless course would stay, 140 And soon precipitate the latest day. But a thick cloud about that morning lies, And intercepts the beams of mortal eyes, That ’tis the most which we determine can, If these the times, then this must be the man. 145 And well he therefore does, and well has guessed, Who in his age has always forward pressed: And knowing not where heaven’s choice may light, 123 huntsman] Nimrod, the hunter of Genesis 10:8–9. 123 prevents the east] ‘To prevent’ means ‘to appear before’ (OED, v. 5a), and the east is the direction from which the sun rises, so the phrase means that the huntsman will appear before the dawn. 125 hollow] call, particularly to hounds during hunts. 128–9 monster … den] Antichrist, often associated by Protestants with the Church of Rome. 132 High grace] in the Calvinist sense, being of God’s elect (see line 156). 141–4] Whereas the Fifth Monarchists argued that the apocalypse was imminent, Marvell here suggests that the precise date of its occurrence remains obscure to human understanding.



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Girds yet his sword, and ready stands to fight; But men alas, as if they nothing cared, 150 Look on, all unconcerned, or unprepared; And stars still fall, and still the dragon’s tail Swinges the volumes of its horrid flail. For the great justice that did first suspend The world by sin, does by the same extend. 155 Hence that blessed day still counterpoised wastes, The ill delaying, what th’ elected hastes; Hence landing nature to new seas is tossed, And good designs still with their authors lost. And thou, great Cromwell, for whose happy birth 160 A mould was chosen out of better earth; Whose saint-like mother we did lately see Live out an age, long as a pedigree; That she might seem, could we the Fall dispute, T’have smelt the blossom, and not eat the fruit; 165 Though none does of more lasting parents grow, But never any did them honour so; Though thou thine heart from evil still unstained, And always hast thy tongue from fraud refrained; Thou, who so oft through storms of thundering lead 170 Hast borne securely thine undaunted head, Thy breast through poniarding conspiracies, Drawn from the sheath of lying prophecies; The proof beyond all other force or skill, Our sins endanger, and shall one day kill. 175 How near they failed, and in thy sudden fall At once assayed to overturn us all. Our brutish fury struggling to be free, 151–2] See Revelation 12:3–4, where the seven-headed dragon’s tail casts the stars of heaven to the earth. 152 Swinges] either to lash a tail or to lash something with a tail. 153–4] i.e. sin led God to send a flood to destroy the world, and sin also causes the apocalypse to be delayed. 155 counterpoised] kept in the balance. 155 wastes] uses up. 161–2] Elizabeth Cromwell, Oliver’s mother, died on 16 November 1654, aged ninety-three. 162 pedigree] line of ancestors. 171–2] There were a number of assassination attempts on and conspiracies against Cromwell in the first year of the Protectorate. 171 poniarding] lethal. A poniard is a small dagger used for assassinations. 176 assayed] attempted.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 Hurried thy horses while they hurried thee. When thou hadst almost quit thy mortal cares, And soiled in dust thy crown of silver hairs. Let this one sorrow interweave among The other glories of our yearly song. Like skilful looms which through the costly thread Of purling ore, a shining wave do shed: So shall the tears we on past grief employ, Still as they trickle, glitter in our joy. So with more modesty we may be true, And speak as of the dead the praises due: While impious men deceived with pleasure short, On their own hopes shall find the fall retort. But the poor beasts wanting their noble guide, (What could they more?) shrunk guiltily aside. First winged fear transports them far away, And leaden sorrow then their flight did stay. See how they each his towering crest abate, And the green grass, and their known mangers hate, Nor through wide nostrils snuff the wanton air, Nor their round hoofs, or curled manes compare; With wandering eyes, and restless ears they stood, And with shrill neighings asked him of the wood. Thou Cromwell falling, not a stupid tree, Or rock so savage, but it mourned for thee: And all about was heard a panic groan, As if that nature’s self were overthrown. It seemed the earth did from the centre tear; It seemed the sun was fallen out of the sphere: Justice obstructed lay, and reason fooled; Courage disheartened, and religion cooled. A dismal silence through the palace went, And then loud shrieks the vaulted marbles rent.

177–80] On 29 September 1654, Cromwell’s coach overturned in Hyde Park while he was driving. 183–6] The simile compares the tears shed at Cromwell’s coach crash and the thought of his death to the intricate threads woven into a costly embroidery. They glitter in ‘joy’ in relief at the news of Cromwell’s survival. 183 looms] machines through which thread is woven into fabric. 184 purling ore] gold or silver thread. 191–200] Marvell describes the horses that drove the coach that crashed with Cromwell in it. 195 abate] lower. 200 him of the wood] i.e. Pan.



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Such as the dying chorus sings by turns, And to deaf seas, and ruthless tempests mourns, When now they sink, and now the plundering streams Break up each deck, and rip the oaken seams. 215 But thee triumphant hence the fiery car, And fiery steeds had borne out of the war, From the low world, and thankless men above, Unto the kingdom blest of peace and love: We only mourned ourselves, in thine ascent, 220 Whom thou hadst left beneath with mantle rent. For all delight of life thou then didst lose, When to command, thou didst thyself depose; Resigning up thy privacy so dear, To turn the headstrong people’s charioteer; 225 For to be Cromwell was a greater thing, Than ought below, or yet above, a king: Therefore thou rather didst thyself depress, Yielding to rule, because it made thee less. For, neither didst thou from the first apply 230 Thy sober spirit unto things too high, But in thine own fields exercisedst long, An healthful mind within a body strong; Till at the seventh time thou in the skies, As a small cloud, like a man’s hand didst rise; 235 Then did thick mists and winds the air deform, And down at last thou poweredst the fertile storm; Which to the thirsty land did plenty bring, But, though forewarned, overtook and wet the king. What since he did, an higher force him pushed 240 Still from behind, and it before him rushed, 211 dying chorus] perhaps a reference to the chorus in Greek tragedy. Even though Cromwell survived the coach crash, Marvell is imagining the impact of the Lord Protector’s death on the natural world. 215–20] See 2 Kings 2 11–13, where a chariot and horses of fire herald a whirlwind that lifts Elijah up to heaven. All of this is witnessed by Elisha, who rents his clothes in two and takes up the mantle of Elijah that has been left behind. 222 depose] i.e. on taking command, Cromwell deposed himself of his own privacy. 226 ought] anything. 227 depress] move to a lower station. 233–8] See 1 Kings 18:43–5, where Elijah’s servant witnesses at the seventh time of looking a cloud appear from the sea in the shape of a man’s hand. A storm follows. 238 though … king] The servant warns Ahab to prepare for rain when riding to Jezreel (1 Kings 18:44). Marvell may be paralleling Ahab with Charles I.

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Though undiscerned among the tumult blind, Who think those high decrees by man designed. ’Twas heaven would not that his power should cease, But walk still middle betwixt war and peace; 245 Choosing each stone, and poising every weight, Trying the measures of the breadth and height; Here pulling down, and there erecting new, Founding a firm state by proportions true. When Gideon so did from the war retreat, 250 Yet by the conquest of two kings grown great, He on the peace extends a warlike power, And Israel silent saw him raise the tower; And how he Succoth’s Elders durst suppress, With thorns and briars of the wilderness. 255 No king might ever such a force have done; Yet would not he be Lord, nor yet his son. Thou with the same strength, and an heart as plain, Didst (like thine olive) still refuse to reign; Though why should others all thy labour spoil, 260 And brambles be anointed with thine oil, Whose climbing flame, without a timely stop, Had quickly levelled every cedar’s top. Therefore first growing to thyself a law, Th’ambitious shrubs thou in just time didst awe. 265 So have I seen at sea, when whirling winds, Hurry the bark, but more the seamen’s minds,

241 tumult] crowd. 249–6] See Judges 8:1–23, where Gideon refuses the crown of Israel after defeating Zebah and Zalmuna, arguing that God is the true ruler. When the Instrument was being drawn up, Cromwell had insisted that the head of government should not be called king. A proposal to offer the crown was made in late 1653 but withdrawn (see below, line 258) Cromwell formally refused another offer of the crown in May 1657. 250 two kings] Cromwell had conquered both Charles I and Charles II, the latter of whom was crowned King of Scotland on 1 January 1650. 253–4 Succoth’s … wilderness] See Judges 8:16: ‘And [Gideon] took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.’ 260–2] See Judges 9:7–15, where Jotham tells the fable of the trees who seek a ruler and are eventually forced to accept the bramble. For Marvell, Cromwell is the olive tree that refuses to reign (Judges 9:9) but the brambles are the sectarian and radical groups that the Protectorate was designed to stop. 264 awe] restrain.



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Who with mistaken course salute the sand, And threatening rocks misapprehend for land; While baleful Tritons to the shipwreck guide, And corposants along the tacklings slide. The passengers all wearied out before, Giddy, and wishing for the fatal shore; Some lusty mate, who with more careful eye Counted the hours, and every star did spy, The helm does from the artless steersman strain, And doubles back unto the safer main. What though a while they grumble discontent, Saving himself he does their loss prevent. ’Tis not a freedom, that where all command; Nor tyranny, where one does them withstand: But who of both the bounders knows to lay Him as their father must the state obey: Thou, and thine house, like Noah’s eight did rest, Left by the wars’ flood on the mountain’s crest: And the large vale lay subject to thy will, Which thou but as an husbandman wouldst till: And only didst for others plant the vine Of liberty, not drunken with its wine. That sober liberty which men may have, That they enjoy, but more they vainly crave: And such as to their parents’ tents do press, May show their own, not see his nakedness. Yet such a Chammish issue still does rage, The shame and plague both of the land and age, Who watched thy halting, and thy fall deride,

267 salute] incline towards. 269 Tritons] sea deities or monsters. 270 corposants] balls of light sometimes seen on a ship; also called St Elmo’s Fire. 270 tacklings] rigging on a ship. 281 bounders] limits. 283–92] See Genesis 9:20–5, where Noah, having landed with his family after the Flood, becomes a husbandman, plants a vineyard and becomes drunk. Ham sees his naked father and tells his brothers Shem and Japeth, who cover Noah with a garment. Ham’s descendants are cursed for their impropriety. Unlike Noah, Cromwell here remains sober. 283 Noah’s eight] Cromwell, his wife and his six children are here compared to Noah’s family. 286 husbandman] one who tills and cultivates soil. 293 Chammish issue] i.e. of Ham’s lineage. Marvell here uses the term to describe the Fifth Monarchists.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 Rejoicing when thy foot had slipped aside; That their new king might the fifth sceptre shake, And make the world, by his example, quake: Whose frantic army should they want for men Might muster heresies, so one were ten. What thy misfortune, they the spirit call, And their religion only is to fall. Oh Mahomet! now couldst thou rise again, Thy falling-sickness should have made thee reign, While Feake and Simpson would in many a tome, Have writ the comments of thy sacred foam: For soon thou mightst have past among their rant Were’t but for thine unmoved tulipant; As thou must needs have owned them of thy band For prophecies fit to be Alcorand. Accursed locusts, whom your king does spit Out of the centre of th’ unbottomed pit; Wanderers, adulterers, liars, Munser’s rest, Sorcerers, atheists, Jesuits, possessed; You who the scriptures and the laws deface With the same liberty as points and lace; Oh race most hypocritically strict!

297] On the basis of an interpretation of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, the Fifth Monarchists believed that the four kingdoms of Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome would be followed by the fifth kingdom marked by the Second Coming of Christ and his thousand-year reign on earth. 303–4] The Fifth Monarchist prophets are compared to Muhammad, who reputedly prophesied while suffering epileptic fits (The Poems of Andrew Marvell, ed. Nigel Smith (London: Longman, 2003), p. 295). 304 falling-sickness] epilepsy, with a possible pun on Cromwell’s fall from the coach. 305 Feake and Simpson] Christopher Feake (1612–83) and John Simpson (d. 1662), Fifth Monarchist leaders. 306 sacred foam] saliva produced during an epileptic fit, which Marvell collates with the frantic prophesying of the Fifth Monarchists. 308 tulipant] turban. 310 Alcorand] to put into the Qur’an (OED, v., citing this line as the only example). 313 Munser’s rest] i.e. the remainders of the Anabaptist sect set up in Munster in 1534 and led by Thomas Muzer. 315–16] Point lace is made by fastening a pattern to a backing fabric, onto which a series of threads are passed with a needle. Marvell appears to be likening the puncturing of the fabric to the defacement of scripture. 316 points] thread lace made wholly with a needle.



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Bent to reduce us to the ancient Pict; Well may you act the Adam and the Eve; 320 Aye, and the serpent too that did deceive. But the great captain, now the danger’s o’er, Makes you for his sake tremble one fit more; And, to your spite, returning yet alive Does with himself all that is good revive. 325 So when first man did through the morning new See the bright sun his shining race pursue, All day he followed with unwearied sight, Pleased with that other world of moving light; But thought him when he missed his setting beams, 330 Sunk in the hills, or plunged below the streams. While dismal blacks hung round the universe, And stars (like tapers) burned upon his hearse: And owls and ravens with their screeching noise Did make the funerals sadder by their joys, 335 His weeping eyes the doleful vigils keep, Not knowing yet the night was made for sleep: Still to the west, where he him lost, he turned, And with such accents, as despairing, mourned: Why did mine eyes once see so bright a ray; 340 Or why day last no longer than a day? When straight the sun behind him he descried, Smiling serenely from the further side. So while our star that gives us light and heat, Seemed now a long and gloomy night to threat, 345 Up from the other world his flame he darts, And princes, shining through their windows, starts; Who their suspected counsellors refuse, And credulous ambassadors accuse. ‘Is this’, saith one, ‘the nation that we read 350 Spent with both wars, under a captain dead? Yet rig a navy while we dress us late; 331 blacks] funeral hangings. 341 descried] caught sight of. 349 one] i.e. one of the princes that Marvell describes starting at Cromwell’s resurgent strength. The voice could be that of the King of Spain (The Poems of Andrew Marvell, ed. Smith, p. 297). Cromwell’s foreign policy was hostile to Spain (see note to line 351 below). 350 both wars] the Civil Wars and the First Anglo-Dutch War. 351 rig a navy] After the end of the war with the Dutch, the British Navy was refurbished in preparation for what became known as the Western Design, an attempt to

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 And ere we dine, raze and rebuild our state. What oaken forests, and what golden mines! What mints of men, what union of designs! Unless their ships, do, as their fowl proceed Of shedding leaves, that with their ocean breed. Theirs are not ships, but rather arks of war, And beaked promontories sailed from far; Of floating islands a new hatched nest; A fleet of worlds, of other worlds in quest; An hideous shoal of wood-leviathans, Armed with three tire of brazen hurricanes; That through the centre shoot their thundering side And sink the earth that does at anchor ride. What refuge to escape them can be found, Whose watery leaguers all the world surround? Needs must we all their tributaries be, Whose navies hold the sluices of the sea. The ocean is the fountain of command, But that once took, we captives are on land. And those that have the waters for their share, Can quickly leave us neither earth nor air. Yet if through these our fears could find a pass; Through double oak, and lined with treble brass; That one man still, although but named, alarms More than all men, all navies, and all arms. Him, all the day, him, in late nights I dread, And still his sword seems hanging o’er my head. The nation had been ours, but his one soul Moves the great bulk, and animates the whole.

seize Spanish possessions in the Caribbean (see also Dryden, Heroic Stanzas, III.5 below, lines 121–4). 354 mints] sources or founts of something (OED, ‘mint’, n.1 3). 355–6] Solan geese were thought to breed out of the leaves that fell into the water. Marvell’s prince is speculating that the rebuilt navy has bred out of the ocean. 362 tire] discharge of a battery of ordinance. 366 leaguers] camp engaged in a siege or something that prosecutes a siege. Marvell is imagining the Cromwellian navy laying siege to others. 368 sluices] gates or barriers to hold water back. 374 double … brass] Marvell is describing the nearly impenetrable material make-up of the warships. 378 his sword … my head] The tyrant of Syracuse hung a sword over the head of Damocles.



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He secrecy with number hath enchased, Courage with age, maturity with haste: The valiant’s terror, riddle of the wise; And still his falchion all our knots unties. 385 Where did he learn those arts that cost us dear? Where below earth, or where above the sphere? He seems a king by long succession born, And yet the same to be a king does scorn. Abroad a king he seems, and something more, 390 At home a subject on the equal floor. O could I once him with our title see, So should I hope yet he might die as we. But let them write his praise that love him best, It grieves me sore to have thus much confessed.’ 395 Pardon, great prince, if thus their fear or spite More than our love and duty do thee right. I yield, nor further will the prize contend; So that we both alike may miss our end: While thou thy venerable head dost raise 400 As far above their malice as my praise. And as the angel of our commonweal, Troubling the waters, yearly mak’st them heal.

381 enchased] inlaid. 384 falchian] sword with a curved edge. 384 knots unties] reference to the Gordian Knot; whoever untied the knot was said to be able to rule over the world. Some versions of the legend describe how Alexander the Great sliced through the knot. 389–90] Cromwell cultivated a non-monarchical image at home. His foreign image did adopt regal forms. 390 equal floor] possibly referring to parliament. Cromwell ‘stressed the legislative power of the Protectorate Parliament’ (The Poems of Andrew Marvell, ed. Smith, p. 297). 401–2] See John 5:4: ‘For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.’ 402 heal] become calm.

III.4 From The Public Intelligencer, 152 (November 1658)

Oliver Cromwell died on 3 September 1658, probably from a chest infection and pneumonia. An inadequate embalming process meant that the corpse began to putrefy soon afterwards, leading to its hasty interment in Westminster Abbey just a few days later. It was therefore a wooden effigy with a wax mask that substituted for Cromwell at the lying in state and the funeral procession, which took place on 23 November. Both events are described in this extract from The Public Intelligencer, one of the Protectorate’s two official newsbooks alongside Mercurius Politicus (see III.1 above). The lying in state was closely modelled on that of James I, whose own wax effigy was put on display in 1625 (see James Shirley’s poem, II.2 above). Moreover, the effigy itself appeared in regal accoutrements, robes, sceptre and crown. The title of king that Cromwell rejected in life seems to have been bestowed upon him in death. Source: The Public Intelligencer, 152 (November 1658). Somerset House, Novemb. 23. This being the day appointed for the solemn funerals of the most serene and renowned Oliver Lord Protector, and all things being ready prepared, the effigies of his Highness standing1 under a rich cloth of state, having been beheld by those persons of honour and quality which came to attend it, was afterwards removed, and placed on a hearse, richly adorned and set forth with escutcheons2 and other orna 1 standing] Before 10 November the effigy was laid down; from 10 November onwards, it was stood upright, and its glass eyes, which had been closed, were opened. The poet George Wither noted that this movement from a prone to an upright position was part of the Catholic funerary ritual representing the soul passing through purgatory (Laura Knoppers, Constructing Cromwell: Ceremony, Portrait, and Print, 1645–1661 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 141).  2 escutcheons] shield-shaped surface on which a coat of arms is depicted.



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ments, the effigies itself being vested with royal robes, a sceptre in one hand, a globe in the other, and a crown on the head.3 After it had been a while thus placed in the middle of the room, when the time came that it was to be removed to the carriage, it was carried on the hearse by ten of the gentlemen of his Highness forth into the court, where a canopy of state very rich, was borne over it, by six other gentlemen of his Highness, till it was brought and placed on the carriage, at each end whereof was a seat wherein sat two of the gentlemen of his Highness’ bedchamber, the one at the head, the other at the feet of the effigies. The pall4 being made of velvet and fine linen, was very large, extending on each side of the carriage, to be borne by persons of honour appointed for that purpose. The carriage itself was adorned with plumes and escutcheons, and was drawn by six horses covered with black velvet, each of them likewise adorned with plumes of feathers. The manner of the proceeding from hence along the Strand, towards Westminster we cannot (by reason of the shortness of time) give information of, in all its particulars, but must refer the reader to another opportunity.5 All along the way, on each side the streets, the soldiers were placed without the rails.6 A Knight Marshal7 on horseback, with his black truncheon,8 tipped at both ends with gold, attended by his deputy and thirteen men on horseback. The persons in mourning which attended this solemnity were very numerous. There were servants to persons of all qualities; also all the servants of his Highness, as well inferior and superior, as well those within his household as without; the servants and officers of the Lord Mayor of the City of London; gentlemen attendants on public ministers and ambassadors; poor knights9 of Windsor; secretaries, clerks, and other officers belonging to the army, admiralty, treasury, navy and exchequer; officers in command in the fleet; officers in command in the army; commissioners for excise, and of the army; committee of the navy; commissioners for approbation of preachers;10 officers and clerks belonging to the Privy Council; clerks of the  3 crown on the head] Whilst the effigy was lying in state, the crown was placed beside it. From 10 November, when the effigy was stood upright, the crown was placed upon its head.  4 pall] cloth spread over a coffin or a hearse.  5 proceeding … opportunity] The procession took seven hours to travel the short distance from Somerset House in The Strand to Westminster Abby. Thousands of ­spectators lined the route (see below).  6 rails] horizontal barriers.  7 Knight Marshal] an officer of the royal household who organized occasions such as entries and processions.  8 black truncheon] staff carried as a symbol of office, command or authority (OED, n. 3a).  9 poor knights] impoverished military veterans who were appointed by the ruler or sovereign to become members of the Order of the Garter. 10 approbation of preachers] In March 1654 Cromwell issued an ordinance commanding that any person admitted to a benefice must first be judged and approved fit to

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Council; clerks of both Houses of Parliament; his Highness’ physicians; head officers of the army; the chief officers and aldermen of London; masters of the Chancery; his Highness’ learned council at law; judges of the admiralty; masters of requests; judges in Wales; barons of the exchequer; judges of both benches; Lord Mayor of London; persons allied in blood to his late Highness; the members of the Lords house;11 public ministers and ambassadors of foreign states and princes; lords commissioners of the Great Seal; lords commissioners of the treasury; the lords of his Highness’ Privy Council; the chief mourner12 and those persons of honour that were his assistants. The reader is to excuse the not naming these in order, the purpose being only to declare the quality of the persons that attended. A great part of those of the nobler sort were in close mourning, the rest in ordinary.13 They were diverse hours in passing, and in their passage disposed into several divisions, each division being distinguished by drums and trumpets, a standard or a banner, borne by a person of honour and his assistant, and a horse covered and led, of which horses four were covered with black cloth, and seven with velvet. These being passed in their order, at length followed the carriage with the effigies. On each side of the carriage were borne the banner rolls,14 being twelve in number by twelve persons of honour; and several pieces of his Highness’ armour were borne by honourable persons, officers of the army eight in number. After those noble persons that supported the pall followed Garter principal King of Arms15 attended with a gentleman on each side bareheaded. Next him the chief mourner, and those lords and noble persons that were supporters and assistants to the chief mourner. Next followed the horse of honour in very rich equipage, led in a long rein by the Master of the Horse. In the close followed his Highness’ Guard of Halberdiers,16 and the warders of the Tower.17

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preach the gospel by an appointed body of commissioners. These included Independent ministers such as John Owen and Thomas Goodwin, both of whom walked in the funeral procession. members … house] The House of Lords was abolished in 1649. In 1657 the Humble Petition and Advice reintroduced an upper chamber of around seventy members selected by the Protector but approved by the elected House of Commons. This upper chamber was usually referred to as the Upper or Other House. chief mourner] Charles Fleetwood, to whom Cromwell had entrusted command of the army in 1651 and who became commander of Ireland in July 1652. close mourning … ordinary] Close mourning was performed by close relatives of the deceased (see Shirley, ‘Upon the Death of King James’, II.2 above, line 16 n. 3); ordinary mourning was performed by others in attendance. banner rolls] large banners, about a yard square, borne at the funerals of great people and placed over their tombs (OED, ‘banderol’, n. 5). Garter … Arms] an office of the Order of the Garter. The Garter King of Arms was responsible for marshalling processions, and with the designs of banners, crests, etc. Halberdiers] soldiers armed with halberds: weapons with sharp-edged blades ending in a curved point. warders of the Tower] i.e. watchmen of the Tower of London.



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The whole ceremony was managed with very great state to Westminster, many thousands of people being spectators. At the west gate of the Abbey Church, the hearse with the effigies thereon, was taken off the carriage by those ten gentlemen who removed it before, who passing on to enter the Church, the canopy of state was by the same persons borne over it again, and in this magnificent manner they carried it up to the east end of the Abbey and placed it in that noble structure which was raised there on purpose to receive it, where it is to remain for some time, exposed to public view. This is the last ceremony of honour, and less could not be performed to the memory of him, to whom posterity will pay (when envy is laid asleep by time) more honour than we are able to express.

III.5 John Dryden, Heroic Stanzas, Consecrated to the Glorious Memory of his Most Serene and Renowned Highness Oliver Late Lord Protector of this Commonwealth, &c. Written after the Celebration of his Funeral (1659)

As is demonstrated in later parts of this anthology, John Dryden (1631–1700) became the foremost apologist of the Stuart regime in the later seventeenth century. One of his first forays into public poetry, however, was this elegy for Cromwell. Dryden worked for the protectoral government from at least 1657, and he walked in Cromwell’s funeral procession with his colleagues Andrew Marvell and John Milton. Heroic Stanzas appeared in early 1659, somewhat late in the day even by Dryden’s admission, by which time Richard Cromwell’s own rule was slowly beginning to unravel. None of that is registered here. Dryden’s Oliver is in some ways similar to Marvell’s, a figure of action whose virtue lies in his rejection of a crown. Yet there is also a hesitancy in assessing his legacy, shown in the circularity of the poem’s beginnings and re-beginnings, or in the suggestion that military action made him only seem great (lines 23–4). The poem haunted Dryden in his later career. Reprints of, and allusions to, Heroic Stanzas were frequently used to expose Dryden’s loyalty to the Stuart dynasty as mere time-serving (see, for example, Thomas Shadwell’s The Address of John Dryden, VI.4 below). Source: Heroic Stanzas was first printed in Three Poems upon the Death of his Late Highness Oliver Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland alongside elegies by Edmund Waller and Thomas Sprat in London in 1659. This version provides our text. 1 And now ’tis time; for their officious haste, Who would before have borne him to the sky, Like eager Romans ere all rites were past Did let too soon the sacred eagle fly. 1–4] The opening stanza appears to refer to the late publication of Dryden’s poem several months after the death of Cromwell and after the appearance of a number of other



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2 Though our best notes are treason to his fame Joined with the loud applause of public voice; Since heaven, what praise we offer to his name, Hath rendered too authentic by its choice: 3 Though in his praise no arts can liberal be, Since they whose muses have the highest flown Add not to his immortal memory, But do an act of friendship to their own. 4 Yet ’tis our duty and our interest too Such monuments as we can build to raise; Lest all the world prevent what we should do And claim a title in him by their praise. 5 How shall I then begin, or where conclude To draw a fame so truly circular? For in a round what order can be shewed, Where all the parts so equal perfect are? 6 His grandeur he derived from heaven alone, For he was great ere fortune made him so; And wars like mists that rise against the sun Made him but greater seem, not greater grow.

elegies. The reasons for this delay are most likely to have been due to complications in the printing of Three Poems, which was advertised in January 1659 but then saw a change of publisher and one poem, Andrew Marvell’s ‘A Poem upon the Death of his Late Highness the Lord Protector’, replaced by Edmund Waller’s ‘Upon the Storm and the Death of his Late Highness’ before publication in spring. Dryden’s poem was listed in the original advertisement, so was possibly ready in January. He argues that, rather than being late, the poem has been well timed. 3–4] An eagle was released from the top of the funeral pile of a Roman emperor to carry his soul to heaven. 8 authentic] authoritative. 16 title] legal right. 18 circular] The circle was a common image of perfection in the seventeenth century.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 7 No borrowed bays his temples did adorn, But to our crown he did fresh jewels bring, Nor was his virtue poisoned soon as born With the too early thoughts of being king. 8 Fortune (that easy mistress of the young But to her ancient servants coy and hard) Him at that age her favourites ranked among When she her best-loved Pompey did discard. 9 He, private, marked the faults of others’ sway, And set as sea-marks for himself to shun; Not like rash monarchs who their youth betray By acts their age too late would wish undone. 10 And yet dominion was not his design, We owe that blessing not to him but heaven, Which to fair acts unsought rewards did join, Rewards that lesse to him than us were given. 11 Our former chiefs like sticklers of the war First sought t’inflame the parties, then to poise;

25–8] Cromwell rejected an offer of the crown in 1657 (see Marvell, The First Anniversary, III.3 above, line 258). 25 bays] leaves or sprigs of the bay tree woven into a garland to reward a conqueror or a poet (OED, ‘bay’, n.1 3). Dryden is saying that Cromwell’s greatness lies partly in his refusal of such reward, though Dryden himself would go on to become Poet Laureate in 1668. 31–2] The Roman general Pompey was forty-five when he returned to Rome from the east, after which time his fortunes declined until his death at the age of fifty-nine. Cromwell was forty-five when he led the Parliamentarian army to victory at Marston Moor. He was also fifty-nine when he died but, in the time between, his fame had risen, not declined (see line 129–30). 33 sway] rule or dominion. 34 sea-marks] object distinguishable from sea that guides or warns sailors. 41 former chiefs] Dryden is referring to those Parliamentarians who, during the Civil Wars, were reluctant to press home victory against the King, preferring instead to seek further negotiations. Cromwell opposed this strategy. 41 sticklers] moderators or umpires.



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The quarrel loved, but did the cause abhor, And did not strike to hurt but make a noise.

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12 War, our consumption, was their gainful trade, We inward bled whilst they prolonged our pain: He fought to end our fighting, and essayed To staunch the blood by breathing of the vein. 13 Swift and resistless through the land he passed Like that bold Greek who did the east subdue; And made to battles such heroic haste As if on wings of victory he flew. 14 He fought secure of fortune as of fame, Till by new maps the island might be shown, Of conquests which he strewed where e’er he came Thick as the galaxy with stars is sown. 15 His palms though under weights they did not stand, Still thrived; no winter could his laurels fade; Heaven in his portrait showed a workman’s hand And drew it perfect yet without a shade.

45 consumption] the action of being destroyed (OED, n. 1) but, given the medical imagery of this stanza, also shading into the loss of humours that resulted in the wasting of the body (OED, n. 2). 48] Breathing a vein means opening it up in order to let blood (OED, ‘breathing’, n. 8). The practice was rooted in Galenic theory and was intended to rebalance the four humours  in  the patient’s body. The line thus continues the medical imagery of this stanza to present a paradoxical image of Cromwell seeking to put an end to the bloodshed of civil war by bleeding the body politic and rebalancing its humours. This line was also seen by some later seventeenth-century readers, hostile to Dryden, as a defence of the execution of Charles I: only Charles’s beheading salves the wounds of the Civil Wars. 50 that bold Greek] Alexander the Great. 58 His palms … thrived] The palm tree was meant to thrive when weighted down; hence the palm tree with weights attached to it was an emblem of virtue overcoming hardship, as used in the background of the frontispiece to Eikon Basilike (see Figure 3).

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 16 Peace was the prize of all his toils and care, Which war had banished and did now restore; Bologna’s wall thus mounted in the air To seat themselves more surely then before.

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17 Her safety rescued Ireland to him owes And treacherous Scotland to no interest true, Yet blessed that fate which did his arms dispose Her land to civilize as to subdue. 18 Nor was he like those stars which only shine When to pale mariners they storms portend, He had his calmer influence; and his mine Did love and majesty together blend. 19 ’Tis true, his countenance did imprint an awe, And naturally all souls to his did bow; As wands of divination downward draw And point to beds where sovereign gold doth grow. 20 When past all offerings to Feretrian Jove He Mars deposed, and arms to gowns made yield,

63–4] During the siege of Bologna by the Spanish in 1512 a mine blew up part of a  chapel  dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The chapel was lifted into the air by the ­explosion but fell into its original place so that the breach was filled (Hammond, vol. 1, p. 8). 65–6] The native Irish had risen up against Protestant settlers in 1641. Cromwell’s Irish campaign took place in 1649–50. Scotland had given up Charles I to parliament in 1647. After 1649, Charles Stuart (the future Charles II) was declared King of Scotland. He was crowned in 1650. 71 mine] variant spelling of ‘mien’, i.e. the look, bearing or manner of a person. 75–6] A divining wand is supposed to help identify subterraneous supplies of water or treasure. 77–8] When arms were taken personally by a Roman general from an enemy commander, they were offered to Feretrian Jove, king of the gods (Hammond, vol. 1, p. 9). Dryden is suggesting that by ending the war (i.e. by deposing Mars, the god of war) he has surpassed all previous offerings and made arms yield to peace, here represented by gowns, or togas, the dress of peace.



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Successful counsels did him soon approve As fit for close intrigues, as open field. 21 To suppliant Holland he vouchsafed a peace, Our once bold rival in the British main Now tamely glad her unjust claim to cease, And buy our friendship with her idol gain.

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22 Fame of th’asserted sea through Europe blown Made France and Spain ambitious of his love; Each knew that side must conquer he would own And for him fiercely as for empire strove. 23 No sooner was the Frenchman’s cause embraced Than the light Monsieur the grave Don outweighed, His fortune turned the scale where it was cast, Though Indian mines were in the other laid. 24 When absent, yet we conquered in his right; For though some meaner artist’s skill were shown In mingling colours, or in placing light, Yet still the fair designment was his own. 25 For from all tempers he could service draw, The worth of each with its alloy he knew;

81–4] The First Anglo-Dutch War was fought in 1652–54. On taking power as Protector in December 1653, Cromwell sought to negotiate a peace. The peace treaty that was signed between the two nations in April 1654 stipulated that Dutch sailors had to salute the Commonwealth flag and pay compensation for damage done to English trade. 89–90] The 1655 Treaty of Westminster saw a rapprochement between France and England.  In 1656 the two nations agreed to launch a joint attack on Flanders, then a part of the Spanish Netherlands. This ultimately led to Dunkirk being ceded to the English in 1658. 92 Indian mines] referring to Spanish colonies in Central and South America, from whence their supplies of gold came. 96 designment] drawing, sketch or outline. 98 alloy] a less valuable element mixed with, and which consequently diminishes, something of greater value.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 And as the confidant of Nature saw How she complexions did divide and brew. 26 Or he their single virtues did survey By intuition in his own large breast, Where all the rich ideas of them lay, That were the rule and measure to the rest.

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27 When such heroic virtue heaven sets out, The stars like commons sullenly obey; Because it drains them when it comes about, And therefore is a tax they seldom pay. 28 From this high spring our foreign conquests flow Which yet more glorious triumphs do portend, Since their commencement to his arms they owe, If springs as high as fountains may ascend. 29 He made us freemen of the continent Whom Nature did like captives treat before, To nobler preys the English lion sent, And taught him first in Belgian walks to roar. 30 That old unquestioned pirate of the land, Proud Rome, with dread, the fate of Dunkirk heard; And trembling wished behind more Alps to stand, Although an Alexander were her guard. 31 By his command we boldly crossed the line And bravely fought where southern stars arise;

100 complexions] a word to describe the four bodily humours. 103 ideas] abstract and eternally existing patterns or archetypes (OED, ‘idea’, n. 1a); conceptions of anything in its highest perfection (OED, ‘idea’, n. 3a). 116 Belgian walks] referring to Franco-English defeat of the Spanish at Dunkirk in 1658. 120 Alexander] Pope Alexander VII, implicitly contrasting with the image of Cromwell as Alexander the Great (line 50).



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We traced the far-fetched gold unto the mine And that which bribed our fathers made our prize.

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32 Such was our Prince; yet owned a soul above The highest acts it could produce to show: Thus poor mechanic arts in public move Whilst the deep secrets beyond practice go. 33 Nor died he when his ebbing fame went less, But when fresh laurels courted him to live; He seemed but to prevent some new success; As if above what triumphs earth could give. 34 His latest victories still thickest came As, near the centre, motion does increase; Till he, pressed down by his own weighty name, Did, like the vestal, under spoils decease. 35 But first the ocean as a tribute sent That giant prince of all her watery herd And th’isle when her protecting genius went Upon his obsequies loud sighs conferred.

121–4] In 1655 the English planned to attack the Spanish West Indies in a strategy that came to be known as the Western Design. The aim was to challenge Spanish trade in gold, but the design was ultimately a failure. The expedition did, however, lead to the capture of Jamaica. 127 mechanic] practical application of a theory. 129–30] In June 1658, three months before Cromwell’s death, a Spanish attempt to retake Jamaica was defeated by the English navy. 131 prevent] anticipate. 136 like … decease] In Roman mythology, the vestal virgin Tarpeia offered the Sabines  entry to the city of Rome in exchange for the gold bracelets they wore. Instead of giving Tarpeia their bracelets, the Sabines piled their bucklers upon her and killed her. 137–8] In June 1658 a whale swam up the Thames. Some preachers interpreted it as a portent of Cromwell’s death. 139 genius] guardian spirit.

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37 His ashes in a peaceful urn shall rest, His name a great example stands to show How strangely high endeavours may be blessed, Where piety and valour jointly go.

144 halcyons … sea] Halcyons were fabled birds thought to breed during the winter solstice in nests that floated on the sea and to have the power to charm the wind and the waves so that the sea would remain calm during this period. 147 strangely] very greatly; extremely.

III.6 The World in a Maze, or, Oliver’s Ghost (1659)

This was one of a number of satirical dialogues printed in 1659–60. Most of these imagined conversations between the ghosts of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. This dialogue is the only one to imagine the ghost of Oliver visiting his son. Its immediate literary antecedent is the opening scene of Hamlet. Oliver’s ghost questions Richard about his rule. The portrayal of Oliver as a Machiavellian figure pursuing personal ‘honour’ is one that would continue after the Restoration. Perhaps more fascinating, though, is the portrayal of Richard. While appearing weak and ineffectual to begin with, he develops into a figure with a sense of morality and justice. The key topical theme is the payment of arrears to the army. Richard’s apparent suggestion that he might have restored Charles Stuart had he been in his father’s position may suggest, however, that this anti-Cromwellian satire was produced by a Royalist already foreseeing the opportunity for the return of the Stuarts. Source: The only edition was printed in London in 1659 and provides the text here. It was dated 21 May by George Thomason, so must have been printed before Richard officially resigned the protectorship on 25 May but after his rule had become untenable. oliver p.:1 Richard, Richard, Richard, Richard! rich: Who calls Richard? ’Tis a hallow2 voice, and yet perhaps it may be mine own thoughts. oliver: No, ’tis thy father risen from the grave, Nor would I have thee fooled, or yet turn knave.

 1 oli ver p.] i.e. Oliver Protector.  2 hallow] a call for attracting attention (OED, n.2), though there is no precedent for using the word as an adjective. The author may perhaps intend a pun on ‘hollow’.

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rich: I could not help it father, they outwitted my proceedings.3 oliver: Did not I leave the government to thee? richard: Father, they put me on it to agree, To keep the nation quiet. o: Not meaning thou shouldst rule long. rich: I never desired it. o: Then thou wast not ambitious of honour.4 rich: No, honour is but a bauble,5 And to keep it is but a trouble, Only they that be well descended, They shall ever be commended, and befriended. o: What doest thou tell me of that, we have won all by the sword, and so we’ll keep it. rich: What, whether we can or no? o: ’Tis true, Dick, I must confess I have been somewhat ambitious of honour thou knowest, now I commend thy modesty all this while; but privy, Dick, tell me one thing because my conscience accused me before I died, concerning the paying of the soldiers.6 rich: That thing was questioned by a Parliament too good to hold long.7 o: Who turned them out. rich: Not I. o: Who then? rich: The sword men.8 o: Then they overpowered thee, They could never do so with me. rich: Mistake me not, you overpowered a king, From whence this mischief all this while doth spring, He gave the staff out of his hand ’tis known, And then at last you made the power your own. The people of the land doth find it so,

 3 they … proceedings] probably a reference to the army, which had forced Richard to dissolve parliament in April 1659 owing to increasing concerns that members of the Commons were going to force through further reorganizations and not support laws relating to toleration.  4 honour] A derogatory meaning of seeking personal glory rather than achieving virtue or distinction is implied in Oliver’s use of the word.  5 bauble] piece of finery of little worth.  6 paying of the soldiers] In 1659 payments to the army were nearly forty weeks overdue.  7 Parliament … long] Richard called his first and only parliament in January 1659. The army’s continued demands for payment of arrears combined with the influence of a republican faction in parliament ultimately led to its fall in April.  8 The sword men] presumably the army.



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From whence proceeds their misery and woe, Sir, can you deny it? o: No? rich: Then, Sir, I’ll speak for myself, not dishonouring you, for you won your honour in the field by your sword, by overpowering him that had a power in his hands, and you took it from him. But had I been Oliver Crumwell, I know what I would have done; I would have set the saddle upon the right horse,9 mistake me not you ghost, if you be my father’s ghost, I know not ye or no. o: I tell thee I am. But now I remember I have not done just things, for though I was wittier10 than thee, yet thou art a thousand times honester than I. But privy, Dick, tell this riddle concerning setting the saddle upon the right horse. rich: To have had the soldiers paid that ventured their lives for you, and the nation. o: I thought you had meant Charles Steward.11 rich: I told you before whom I meant, unless you would bring me into a praemunire,12 although the poor keep a kind of a grumbling, and say they never lived so happily as when they lived under a kingly government. Every man may keep his own thoughts to himself and say nothing. o: Indeed Dick, I have done unjust things, I was both a politician and a Machivillan,13 I made Lambert14 believe I loved him and as how, only for my own ends. And for Harrison,15 I used him as I did please, And when with him had done gave him a Writ of Ease.16  9 set … horse] proverbial, meaning blame those who deserve blame, not those who do not. As becomes clear later in the pamphlet, Richard means he would have settled disputes with the army. Oliver’s response, however, suggests that Richard may mean that he would have restored Charles Stuart, in which case there may be a pun on ‘right’. 10 wittier] more crafty or cunning. 11 Charles Steward] i.e. Charles Stuart, the future Charles II. 12 praemunire] writ summoning one who asserts the papal jurisdiction in England and thus denies the authority of the monarch. The link between Catholic resistance theory and republicanism was commonly made by Royalists in the second half of the seventeenth century. 13 Machivillan] follower of the Italian political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, though in general a term denoting one who follows expediency rather than morality in her or his political dealings. 14 Lambert] John Lambert (1619–84), soldier in the Parliamentarian army. In July 1657, Lambert refused to take the oath of loyalty required by the new constitution and was dismissed by Cromwell from his position on the Council of State. 15 Harrison] Thomas Harrison (1616–60), soldier in the Parliamentarian army and regicide. Despite fighting for Cromwell in the early 1650s, Harrison opposed the dissolution of the Nominated Assembly in December 1653 and thereafter became a figure of opposition to the Protectorate, often linked with the Fifth Monarchists. 16 Writ of Ease] writ ordering one to quit all public service. At the end of 1653, Harrison went into effective political exile.

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rich: And what say you, Sir, to Okey?17 o.p: Truly I say by him as I say by the rest, I made them my slaves, when they were at the best, And truly Overton18 I made him believe, He should not have any cause for to grieve, And Bradshaw19 was my Instrument to rise, By cutting one off, we did win the prize. And privy, Dick, canst not thou act these things? rich: Sir, I am not so witty as you would have me to be concerning these things, yet I would be loathe to want so much wit as not to guide my conscience.20 o: He that minds honour needs not mind conscience. rich: Then we shall live without the rule of reason. o: Privy tell not me of reason, ’tis honour you should aim at. rich: And lose my conscience and the love of the people. o: Privy, Dick, tell not me of the love of the people, ’tis honour Dick, ’tis honour. rich: The complaints of the commons is great and who shall stay21 their cries. o: The man that hath no deceit, and when will he arise. rich: If you be my father’s ghost answer me this, Who cut the man off that did not amiss.22 o: That riddle, if I be not mistaken, is concerning the Jews putting Christ to death who had no sin or guile found in him. rich: Sure thou art not my father’s ghost that cannot unfold this riddle. o: I am thy father’s ghost. rich: Thou liest, thou art some fiend sent from hell to disturb my thoughts. Who altered the government of the Commonwealth? 17 Okey] John Okey (1606–62), Parliamentarian soldier and regicide. Okey was in the service of the Scottish army in the late 1640s and early 1650s. His opposition to the Protectorate and demands for a free parliament, however, saw him dismissed, tried and sentenced to execution in November 1654, only for Cromwell to commute the sentence. In the later decade he associated with radical Fifth Monarchists and republicans. 18 Overton] Richard Overton (fl. 1640–63), Leveller pamphleteer who criticized Cromwell for aspiring to replace the monarchy with a new regal structure. Evidence of a payment he received in 1653 from the Protectorate suggests that he may have become a double agent. 19 Bradshaw] John Bradshaw (1602–59), lawyer and regicide. He was a chief republican critic of Oliver’s Protectorate although he was elected to Richard’s first parliament in January 1659. 20 yet … conscience] i.e. I would not want to have so much wit that it would prevent me being guided by my conscience. 21 stay] stop. 22 Who cut … amiss] The answer is Oliver Cromwell, and the man that ‘did not amiss’ is Charles I, whose execution in 1649 was frequently compared to the crucifixion by Royalists.



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oliver: Themselves. rich: Would themselves bring themselves to ruin. oliver: Who says so? rich: The cries of the Commonwealth, especially the poor, and who do more repent themselves of what they have done, but them that were the occasion of it. And now because you have disturbed me of my rest, and my quiet thoughts, I will end this discourse in a civil song, set to a mad tune, Tom of Bedlam.23 When the world was once distracted, And people out of fashion: They could not tell, then very well To bridle their own passion: Still did they cry bonny boys, bonny mad boys We should be ruled by reason, If reason say we Should bear the sway I hope ’twill be counted no treason. And since the sword hath power, Alas, who can deny it, The sword is ours, ’tis in our powers, ’Twill keep you all in quiet, Still did they cry bonny boys, &c. The commons must be contented With what they have provided, What difference is, and what’s amiss By the sword must be decided: Still did they cry bonny boys, &c. Now in my mind I’m quiet, I have sung my ghost away Sirs, Who aims at a crown, Shall tumble down, I care not who bears sway Sirs, Still did they cry bonny boys, &c.

23 Tom of Bedlam] proverbial name for a madman. Also a famous seventeenth-century folksong sung by the character Tom o’Bedlam, a homeless madman from the asylum at the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London, popularly known as Bedlam. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Edgar disguises himself as Tom o’Bedlam. This concluding song thus adds another possible Shakespearean allusion to the pamphlet.

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Part III: 1653 and 1658 This is my resolution So far I have been civil, Them that will not agree, In their thoughts with me, Let them go to the devil: Still did they cry bonny boys, bonny mad boys, We should be ruled by reason If reason say we, Shall bear the sway, I hope ’twill be counted no treason.

Part IV: 1660

Introduction

When the Convention Parliament voted on 1 May 1660 to recall Charles Stuart to the throne, nearly nine years after he fled into exile following defeat at the Battle of Worcester, the news was widely celebrated. Bonfires and bell-ringing marked the occasion. In the streets of London, people drank to the King’s health. According to Pepys, this was the ‘happiest May-day that hath been’. Similar scenes followed at Dover on 25 May, the day on which Charles returned to England, and on 29 May, when he and his two brothers, James and Henry, made their entry into the capital. The celebrations of those weeks and months are reflected in the overwhelming volume of writing about the Restoration that was printed throughout the year. Hundreds of books, including histories, sermons, news reports and accounts of Charles’s landing and progress commemorated the events from a wide variety of perspectives. Poetry in particular – ballads and panegyrics – praised the restoration of the Stuarts. Few other political events in seventeenth-century Britain prompted the volume of literature that anticipated and greeted the return of the King in 1660. Yet this was also an uncertain succession. In the year before Charles’s return, politics in Britain was hugely complex. The fall of Richard Cromwell in May 1659 led to the reconvening of the Rump Parliament that had been expelled by Oliver Cromwell in 1653. In October a republican army led by John Lambert seized power only for the Rump to reconvene in December. In January, General George Monck, the head of the Scottish army, marched towards London, and his intervention into this political turmoil proved decisive. In February, he oversaw the re-admission of MPs to parliament who had been excluded in Pride’s Purge in 1648. The subsequent dissolution of parliament paved the way for the meeting of the Convention, which would recall Charles. As is demonstrated in many of the pieces presented here, Monck’s role in bringing about the Restoration was widely praised. But even his intentions were not immediately clear. In a letter

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dated 21 January, for example, the man who would two months later orchestrate Charles’s return wrote that ‘Monarchy cannot possibly be admitted for the future in these nations’. It was therefore by no means a foregone conclusion in 1660 that the rule of Charles II was going to enjoy any greater longevity than the governments that preceded it. While undoubtedly celebratory, the literature that responded to the Restoration was also instrumental in shoring up the security of a young regime in unpredictable times. Writers could claim that the legitimate king was now seated in his rightful throne. The trials that Charles had undergone in exile during the 1650s – most imaginatively retold here by Rachel Jevon (see IV.6) – were presented as having provided an education in good governance that prepared him for power. His arrival in England alongside his brothers and the return of the Queen Mother, Henrietta Maria, served as reminders that the Restoration marked the return of a dynasty that might secure the nation’s government for years to come. Writers were also required to meditate on how hereditary rule was represented and justified after the experiments in non-monarchical government of the previous decade. In his Declaration from Breda (IV.1), Charles’s solution to dealing with the memories of those years was to forgive and forget. Backdating his accession to 1649 was just one attempt to relegate republican and Cromwellian rule to a parenthesis in history, to render it, in the words of John Crouch, ‘but a dream at best’ (see IV.7). The complex imagery of time and chronology in Dryden’s Astraea Redux (IV.5), however, emerges from a sense of the disruption to which the Stuart lineage in general and Charles’s succession in particular had been subject. New languages of royal power needed to be created for a new series of time. Waller’s sweeping and stately descriptions of the London skyline in his poem on the redesigned St James’s Park (IV.8) suggest the marriage of political, poetic and civic order that the Restoration had brought about. Not everything from the mid-century, however, could be consigned to oblivion. The Restoration enjoyed popular but not ubiquitous support. The republican case against monarchy was articulated most clearly by Milton, for whom the Restoration epitomized a nation backsliding into servitude. His pamphlet The Ready and Easy Way (see IV.2) sounds on occasion like the last stand of someone who knows he is writing from the wrong side of history. And yet his fierce criticism of the Stuarts was peculiarly prescient. His warnings that Charles would marry a Catholic came to pass in 1662 when the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza was welcomed to England. And the images of a dissolute and debauched court seem to anticipate the raucous culture of gambling, drinking and sex for which the restored regime would become infamous in the decade that followed.

The Declaration of Breda

IV.1 The Declaration of Breda (1660)

Drawn up by Charles along with several of his advisors, the Declaration of Breda laid the groundwork for the monarchy’s restoration in England. The Declaration’s conciliatory tone and its emphasis on unity, forgiveness and forgetting would recur in a number of Charles’s public statements throughout 1660. Yet these terms would be challenged by former Cavaliers who favoured the punishment of political enemies, persecution of religious sects and a more authoritarian model of governance in Church and state. Although it was an attempt to heal the wounds of the past, the Declaration also therefore highlights the policies that would continue to divide the political nation during Charles’s reign. Source: The Declaration was written from the city of Breda, in the Netherlands, where Charles spent most of his period of exile. It was signed on 4 April 1660 and read in the Convention Parliament on 1 May, after which the Commons and Lords voted to restore Charles to the throne. The text must have been printed in London shortly afterwards, as the bibliophile George Thomason dated his copy 2 May. It is this edition that provides our text here. Another London edition, plus an edition from Edinburgh, also appeared in 1660. The Declaration. Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, to all our loving subjects of what degree or quality soever, greeting. If the general distraction and confusion which is spread over the whole kingdom doth not awaken all men to a desire and longing that these wounds, which have so many years together been kept bleeding, may be bound up, all we can say will be to no purpose. However, after this long silence, we have thought it our duty to declare how much we desire to contribute thereunto; and that, as we can never give over hope in good time to obtain the possession of that right which God and

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nature hath made our due, so we do make it our daily suit to the divine providence that He will in compassion to us and our subjects (after so long misery and sufferings) remit us and put us into a quiet and peaceable possession of that our right with as little blood and damage to our people as is possible. Nor do we desire more to enjoy what is ours, than that all our subjects may enjoy what by law is theirs by a full and entire administration of justice throughout the land, and by extending our mercy where it is wanting and deserved. And to the end that the fear of punishment may not engage any conscious to themselves of what is past to a perseverance in guilt for the future by opposing the quiet and happiness of their country in the restoration both of king, peers and people to their just ancient and fundamental rights, we do by these presents1 declare that we do grant a full and general pardon, which we are ready to pass under our Great Seal2 of England, to all our subjects of what degree or quality soever who within forty days after the publication hereof shall lay hold upon this our grace and favour and shall by any public act declare their doing so. And that they return to the loyalty and obedience of good subjects, excepting only such persons as shall hereafter be excepted by Parliament, those only excepted,3 let our subjects how faulty soever rely upon the word of a king, solemnly given by this present declaration, that no crime whatsoever committed against us or our royal father before the publication of this shall ever rise in judgement or be brought in question against any of them to the least endamagement either in their lives, liberties or estates or (as far forth lies in our power) so much as to the prejudice of their reputation by any reproach or term of distinction from the rest of our best subjects. We desiring and ordaining that henceforward all notes of discord, separation and difference of parties be utterly abolished among all our subjects, whom we invite and conjure to a perfect union among themselves under our protection for the resettlement of our just rights and theirs in a free Parliament, by which upon the word of a king we will be advised. And because the passion and uncharitableness of the times have produced several opinions in religion,4 by which men are engaged in parties and animosities against each other which when they shall hereafter unite in a freedom of conversation will be composed or better understood, we do declare a liberty to tender consciences and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion  1 these presents] i.e. the present document and its contents.  2 Great Seal] the seal used to authenticate constitutional documents in the name of the sovereign.  3 excepting … excepted] Thirty-three men – mainly people who had been involved in Charles I’s trial – were excepted from this pardon, although it became clear who they were only after Charles returned to England.  4 several opinions in religion] The later 1640s and 1650s witnessed the proliferation of religious sects. Charles’s offer of freedom of conscience was probably designed to appeal to Presbyterians who were likely to be the dominant group in any new parliament.



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in matters of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom; and that we shall be ready to consent to such an Act of Parliament as upon mature deliberation shall be offered to us for the full granting that indulgence.5 And because in the continued distractions of so many years and so many great revolutions, many grants and purchases of estates have been made to and by many officers and soldiers and others who are now possessed of the same, and who may be liable to actions at law upon several titles, we are likewise willing that all such differences and all things relating to such grants, sales and purchases shall be determined in Parliament, which can best provide for the just satisfaction of all men who are concerned. And we do further declare that we will be ready to consent to any Act or Acts of Parliament to the purposes aforesaid and for the full satisfaction of all arrears due to the officers and soldiers of the army under the command of General Monck,6 and that they shall be received into our service upon as good pay and conditions as they now enjoy. Given under our sign manuel7 and privy signet8 at our court at Breda9 this fourteenth day of April 1660. In the twelfth year of our reign.10 Received11 the first of May, 1660.

 5 indulgence] loosely, a relaxation of constraints (OED, n. 1a); specifically, a relaxation of ecclesiastical law or obligation (OED, n. 3c). Contrary to this declaration, the Cavalier Parliament that came to power in 1661 legislated for the persecution of Protestant dissenters (those who refused to worship within the restored Anglican Church). Charles II issued declarations of indulgence for dissenters and Catholics in 1662 and 1672. On both occasions parliament forced him to rescind them.  6 General Monck] George Monck (1608–70), head of the army. From March 1660, Monck had been in negotiation with Charles to ensure the latter’s restoration. It was Monck who asked for the guarantees of indemnity, liberty of conscience, confirmation of lands and payment of arrears outlined in the Declaration.  7 sign manuel] an autograph signature, especially that of a sovereign, serving to authenticate a document.  8 privy signet] office in which royal documents were prepared, or a document issued under this signet.  9 our court at Breda] Charles left Brussels in the Spanish Netherlands for Breda on 4 April. 10 In the … reign] Charles dated his accession from 30 January 1649, the day of his father’s execution, so April 1660 was regarded as the twelfth year of his reign. 11 Received] i.e. by parliament. The Declaration was presented to both Houses of Parliament on 1 May.

IV.2 John Milton, from The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660)

During the 1650s, John Milton (1608–74) composed some of the most strident defences of the execution of Charles I and of republican forms of government. In several pamphlets published in the year leading up to the Restoration he held fast to the views of that earlier work, and in The Ready and Easy Way produced a powerful statement opposing the Stuart monarchy as debauched, extravagant, ungodly, popish and tyrannical. The commonwealth he envisages, by contrast, is run by an elected council for the good of the people. His intervention was made at some personal risk. In August 1660, the Convention Parliament ordered that copies of his earlier republican writings be burnt. He was forced into hiding and spent a brief spell in custody. The following years, however, would see the completion and publication of his great epic poem, Paradise Lost. Perhaps ironically, Milton’s poetic reputation was cemented in the face of the political disappointment of 1660. Source: The first edition of The Ready and Easy Way was printed in London in February 1660. The author was given simply as ‘J.M.’, though it appears that the tract’s authorship was widely known: Thomason wrote ‘Milton’ on his copy. A second, much expanded, London edition, also attributed to ‘J.M.’ on the title page, appeared in April, and in this the attack on the Stuart dynasty was amplified. We use the second edition here. [I]f we return to kingship, and soon repent, as undoubtedly we shall, when we begin to find the old encroachments coming on by little and little upon our consciences, which must necessarily proceed from king and bishop united inseparably in one interest,1 we may be forced perhaps to fight over again all that we have fought, and  1 king … interest] The close alliance between monarchy and episcopacy (government of the Church by bishops) was for republicans epitomized by the government of Charles I and the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, before the Civil Wars.



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spend over again all that we have spent, but are never like to attain thus far as we are now advanced to the recovery of our freedom, never to have it in possession as we now have it, never to be vouchsafed hereafter the like mercies and signal assistances from heaven in our cause, if by our ingrateful backsliding we make these fruitless; flying now to regal concessions2 from his divine condescensions and gracious answers to our once importuning prayers against the tyranny which we then groaned under: making vain and viler than dirt the blood of so many thousand faithful and valiant English men, who left us in this liberty, bought with their lives; losing by a strange after game of folly, all the battles we have won, together with all Scotland as to our conquest,3 hereby lost, which never any of our kings could conquer, all the treasure we have spent, not that corruptible treasure only, but that far more precious of all our late miraculous deliverances; treading back again with lost labour all our happy steps in the progress of reformation; and most pitifully depriving ourselves the instant fruition of that free government which we have so dearly purchased, a free Commonwealth,4 not only held by wisest men in all ages the noblest, the manliest, the equallest,5 the justest government, the most agreeable to all due liberty and proportioned equality, both human, civil, and Christian, most cherishing to virtue and true religion, but also (I may say it with greatest probability) plainly commended, or rather enjoined by our Saviour himself, to all Christians, not without remarkable disallowance, and the brand of gentilism6 upon kingship. God in much displeasure gave a king to the Israelites, and imputed it a sin to them that they sought one:7 but Christ apparently forbids his disciples to admit of any such heathenish government: the kings of the gentiles, saith he, exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them, are called benefactors: but ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that serveth.8 The occasion of these his words was the ambitious desire of Zebede’s  2 regal concessions] added to the second edition, perhaps in response to Charles’s offer of indemnity to former opponents in the Declaration of Breda (see IV.1 above).  3 all … conquest] added to the second edition. Oliver Cromwell’s campaign of 1650–51 defeated the Scots, who had declared Charles II king on 1 January 1650.  4 Commonwealth] generally, the body politic (OED, n. 2), but here specifically a republic (OED, n. 3a).  5 equallest] unlisted in the OED; Keeble aligns the usage with ‘fairest, most equitable (OED, ‘equal’, adj. and n. A.5)’. The Complete Works of John Milton, vol. 6: Vernacular Regicide and Republican Writings, ed. N. H. Keeble and N. McDowell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 733.  6 gentilism] heathenism or paganism.  7 God … one] See 1 Samuel 8:7, where, after the elders of Israel asked Samuel for a king to reign over them, ‘the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.’  8 the … serveth] direct quotation of Luke 22:24–5.

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two sons, to be exalted above their brethren in his kingdom, which they thought was to be ere long upon earth.9 That he speaks of civil government, is manifest by the former part of the comparison, which infers the other part to be always in the same kind. And what government comes nearer to this precept of Christ, than a free Commonwealth; wherein they who are greatest, are perpetual servants and drudges10 to the public at their own cost and charges, neglect their own affairs; yet are not elevated above their brethren; live soberly in their families, walk the streets as other men, may be spoken to freely, familiarly, friendly, without adoration. Whereas a king must be adored like a demigod, with a dissolute and haughty court about him, of vast expense and luxury, masques and revels, to the debauching of our prime gentry both male and female; not in their pastimes only, but in earnest, by the loose employments of court service, which will be then thought honourable. There will be a queen also of no less charge; in most likelihood outlandish and a papist;11 besides a Queen Mother12 such already; together with both their courts and numerous train: then a royal issue, and ere long severally their sumptuous courts; to the multiplying of a servile crew, not of servants only, but of nobility and gentry, bred up then to the hopes not of public, but of court offices; to be stewards, chamberlains, ushers, grooms, even of the close-stool;13 and the lower their minds debased with court opinions, contrary to all virtue and reformation, the haughtier will be their pride and profuseness: we may well remember this not long since at home; or need but look at present into the French court,14 where enticements and preferments daily draw away and pervert the Protestant nobility. As to the burden of expense, to our cost we shall soon know it; for any good to us, deserving to be termed no better  9 The … earth] See Mark 10:35–7, where James and John, the sons of Zebedee, ask that they might sit alongside Jesus in his glory. Jesus’s response is a version of the passage cited above from Luke 22:24–5 (Mark 10:42–4). 10 drudges] those employed in servile work (OED, ‘drudge’, n. 1). For Royalist usage see Crouch, The Muses’ Joy, IV.7 below, line 100. 11 There … papist] Charles was unmarried when he returned to England in 1660. In 1661 plans were made for him to marry the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. Their wedding took place in 1662. True to Milton’s prediction, Catherine was both foreign and Catholic. outlandish] foreign. 12 Queen Mother] Henrietta Maria (1609–69), consort to Charles I and mother of Charles II, was a French Catholic. 13 close-stool] portable chamber pot stored in a wooden box. The groom of the stool was generally responsible for looking after the king’s bedchamber, but Milton alludes more specifically to the role’s more ‘practical origins’ (Gordon Campbell and Thomas N. Corns, John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 300). 14 the French court] i.e. of Louis XIV (1638–1715), King of France from 1643. His lavish style of rule was seen as the epitome of absolutist government in seventeenthcentury Europe.



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than the vast and lavish price of our subjection and their debauchery; which we are now so greedily cheapening, and would so fain be paying most inconsiderately to a single person; who for anything wherein the public really needs him, will have little else to do, but to bestow the eating and drinking of excessive dainties, to set a pompous face upon the superficial actings of state, to pageant himself up and down in progress among the perpetual bowings and cringings of an abject people, on either side deifying and adoring him for nothing done that can deserve it.15 For what can he more than another man, who even in the expression of a late court poet,16 sits only like a great cipher17 set to no purpose before a long row of other significant figures? Nay it is well and happy for the people if their king be but a cipher, being oft times a mischief, a pest, a scourge of the nation, and which is worse, not to be removed, not to be controlled, much less accused or brought to punishment, without the danger of a common ruin, without the shaking and almost subversion of the whole land. Whereas in a free Commonwealth, any governor or chief counsellor offending may be removed and punished without the least commotion. Certainly then that people must needs be mad or strangely infatuated that build the chief hope of their common happiness or safety on a single person who, if he happen to be good, can do no more than another man, if to be bad, hath in his hands to do more evil without check than millions of other men. The happiness of a nation must needs be firmest and certainest in a full and free Council18 of their own electing, where no single person, but reason only sways. And what madness is it, for them who might manage nobly their own affairs themselves, sluggishly and weakly to devolve all on a single person; and more like boys under age than men, to commit all to his patronage and disposal, who neither can perform what he undertakes, and yet for undertaking it, though royally paid, will not be their servant, but their lord? How unmanly must it needs be, to count such a one the breath of our nostrils,19 to hang all our felicity on him, all our safety, our well-being, for which if we were aught else but sluggards or babies, we need depend on none but God and our own counsels, our own active virtue and 15 for nothing … it] This is a significant hardening of the sentiment of the first edition, where Milton had written: ‘for the most part deserves none of this by any good done to the people’. 16 late court poet] See William Davenant, Gondibert, book II,ii.14: ‘Courts by weak Counc’lers err, | In adding Cyphers where she made but one’ (Elsie Duncan-Jones, ‘Milton’s “Late Court Poet”’, Notes and Queries, 199 (1954), 473). 17 cipher] person who fills a place, but is of no importance or worth (OED, n. 2a). 18 full and free Council] Elsewhere in the pamphlet, Milton elaborates on what such a council may look like. He argues that it must be perpetual rather than, like parliament, successive, and that its members, once elected, should preferably hold their positions for life. He does, however, begrudgingly accept that a rotation system may be preferred by others. 19 breath of our nostrils] See Lamentations 4:20: ‘The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in the pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.’

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industry; Go to the ant, thou sluggard, saith Solomon; consider her ways, and be wise; which having no prince, ruler, or lord, provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.20 Which evidently shows us, that they who think the nation undone without a king, though they look grave or haughty, have not so much true spirit and understanding in them as a pismire:21 neither are these diligent creatures hence concluded to live in lawless anarchy, or that commended, but are set the examples to imprudent and ungoverned men, of a frugal and self-governing democracy or Commonwealth; safer and more thriving in the joint providence and counsel of many industrious equals, than under the single domination of one imperious Lord. It may be well wondered that any nation styling themselves free, can suffer any man to pretend hereditary22 right over them as their lord; when as by acknowledging that right, they conclude themselves his servants and his vassals, and so renounce their own freedom. Which how a people and their leaders especially23 can do, who have fought so gloriously for liberty, how they can change their noble words and actions, heretofore so becoming the majesty of a free people, into the base necessity of court flatteries and prostrations, is not only strange and admirable,24 but lamentable to think on. That a nation should be so valorous and courageous to win their liberty in the field, and when they have won it, should be so heartless and unwise in their counsels, as not to know how to use it, value it, what to do with it or with themselves; but after ten or twelve years prosperous war and contestation with tyranny, basely and besottedly to run their necks again into the yoke which they have broken, and prostrate all the fruits of their victory for naught at the feet of the vanquished, besides our loss of glory, and such an example as kings or tyrants never yet had the like to boast of, will be an ignominy if it befall us, that never yet befell any nation possessed of their liberty; worthy indeed themselves, whatsoever they be, to be for ever slaves: but that part of the nation which consents not with them, as I persuade me of a great number, far worthier then by their means to be brought into the same bondage. Considering these things so plain, so rational, I cannot but yet further admire on the other side, how any man who hath the true principles of justice 20 Go … harvest] See Proverbs 6:6–8. The Authorized (or ‘King James’) Version gives ‘guide, overseer, or ruler’ rather than ‘prince, ruler or lord’. 21 pismire] ant. 22 hereditary] added to the second edition. This sharpens Milton’s attack on dynastic rule like that of the Stuarts ‘and perhaps distinguishes the monarchy Milton opposes from other forms of single-person rule that might be acceptable’ (The Complete Works of John Milton, vol. 6: Vernacular Regicide and Republican Writings, ed. N. H. Keeble and N. H. McDowell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 754). Later in the pamphlet, he concedes that a king in an elective monarchy ‘may regard the common good before his own’. 23 and their leaders especially] added to the second edition. This shifts the pamphlet’s focus to the largely Presbyterian MPs re-admitted to parliament in February 1660 who may have sympathized with the monarchy. 24 admirable] amazing.



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and religion in him, can presume or take upon him to be a king and lord over his brethren, whom he cannot but know whether as men or Christians, to be for the most part every way equal or superior to himself: how he can display with such vanity and ostentation his regal splendour so supereminently above other mortal men; or being a Christian, can assume such extraordinary honour and worship to himself, while the kingdom of Christ our common King and Lord, is hid to this world, and such gentilish imitation forbid in express words by himself to all his disciples. All Protestants hold that Christ in his church hath left no vicegerent25 of his power, but himself without deputy, is the only head thereof, governing it from heaven: how then can any Christian man derive his kingship from Christ, but with worse usurpation than the Pope his headship over the Church,26 since Christ not only hath not left the least shadow of a command for any such vicegerence from him in the state, as the Pope pretends for his in the Church, but hath expressly declared, that such regal dominion is from the gentiles, not from him, and hath strictly charged us, not to imitate them therein.

25 vicegerent] one who is appointed to rule as the representative of another. 26 headship over the Church] The papacy’s claim to supreme headship over the Church is here linked to the theory of the divine right of kings, cementing the links established earlier in the pamphlet between the restored Stuart monarchy and Catholicism.

Pepys, diary

IV.3 Samuel Pepys, from his diary (25 May 1660)

The diary of Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) is one of the most important records of English society in the years following the Restoration, and Pepys himself was closely involved in the events surrounding Charles’s return. As secretary to Edward Montagu, whom he referred to in the diary as ‘My Lord’, Pepys set out for the Netherlands on board the Naseby (soon to be renamed the Royal Charles), part of an expedition to collect the three Stuart brothers, Charles, James and Henry, and bring them back to England. In this entry, he recounts their return to Dover and describes the formal ceremonies that greeted Charles there. Yet the smaller details arising from Pepys’s proximity to unfolding events and the returning Stuart brothers add a human touch to this account that is largely absent from many printed sources. Source: Pepys kept his diary from January 1660 to May 1669. It is kept with the rest of his library at Magdelene College, Cambridge. The modern edition, based a full transcription of the Magdelene College papers, is The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A New and Complete Transcription, ed. Robert Latham and William Matthews, 11 vols (London: Bell & Hyman, 1970–83), vol. 1, pp. 157–9. We follow this authoritative edition for our text. By the morning we were come close to the land and everybody made ready to get on shore. The King and the two Dukes did eat their breakfast before they went, and there being set some ship’s diet before them, only to show them the manner of the ship’s diet, they eat of nothing else but peas and pork and boiled beef.



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I had Mr. Darcy1 at my cabin and Dr. Clarke,2 who eat with me and told me how the King had given £50 to Mr. Shipley3 for my Lord’s4 servants, and £500 among the officers and common men of the ship. I spoke with the Duke of York about business, who called me Pepys by name, and upon my desire did promise me his future favour.5 Great expectation of the King’s making some knights, but there was none. About noon (though the brigantine6 that Beale7 made was there ready to carry him), yet he would go in my Lord’s barge with the two Dukes; our captain steered, and my Lord went along bare8 with him. I went, and Mr. Mansell9 and one of the King’s footmen, with a dog that the King loved (which shit in the boat, which made us laugh and me think that a king and all that belong to him are but just as others are) went in a boat by ourselves; and so got on shore when the King did, who was received by General Monck10 with all imaginable love and respect at his entrance upon the land of Dover. Infinite the crowd of people and the gallantry of the horsemen, citizens, and noblemen of all sorts. The mayor of the town came and gave him his white staff, the badge of his place, which the King did give him again. The mayor also presented him from the town a very rich Bible, which he took and said it was the thing that he loved above all things in the world.11  1 Mr. Darcy] Marmaduke Darcy (d. 1687), a companion of Charles in exile. Darcy became Gentleman Usher to the Privy Chamber after 1660.  2 Dr. Clarke] Timothy Clarke (d. 1672), physician and, from 1667, physician-in-­ ordinary to Charles II.  3 Mr. Shipley] Edward Shipley, steward to Edward Montagu.  4 my Lord’s] of Edward Montagu (or Mountagu), later First Earl of Sandwich, Pepys’s patron. Though he fought on the side of parliament in the Civil Wars and performed high-profile political and diplomatic roles for the Protectorate in the 1650s, by early 1660 he supported the restoration of the monarchy. In that year he was appointed general at sea, and he commanded the fleet that escorted the Stuarts back to England.  5 I spoke … favour] Pepys continued to receive the favour of James, Duke of York, the future James II, until the latter’s removal from the throne in 1688–89.  6 brigantine] a small vessel employed particularly as an attendant on larger ships for landing purposes.  7 Beale] Simon Beale, a shipbuilder.  8 bare] bare-headed.  9 Mr. Mansell] Although a precise identification remains uncertain, this man is likely to have been Francis Mansell, a Royalist who helped Charles to escape after the Battle of Worcester in 1651 (The Diary of Samuel Pepys, ed. Latham and Matthews, vol. 10, p. 239). 10 General Monck] George Monck (1608–70). Alongside Montagu, he was appointed general at sea in 1660, but his key presence in London during the spring meant that he did not join the expedition to the Netherlands. 11 The mayor … world] Thomas Broome, mayor of Dover, met Charles when he landed. He was accompanied by the minister John Reading, who presented Charles

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A canopy was provided for him to stand under, which he did; and talked awhile with General Monk and others; and so into a stately coach there set for him; and so away straight through the town toward Canterbury without making any stay at Dover. The shouting and joy expressed by all is past imagination.12 I seeing that my Lord did not stir out of his barge, I got into a boat and so into his barge, whither Mr. John Crew13 stepped and spoke a word or two to my Lord; and so returned. We back to the ship; and going, did see a man almost drowned, that fell out of his boat into the sea but with much ado was got out. My Lord almost transported with joy that he hath done all this without any of the least blur and obstruction in the world that would give an offence to any, and with the great honour that he thought it would be to him. Being overtook by the brigantine, my Lord and we went out of our barge into it; and so went on board with Sir W. Batten14 and the Vice- and Rear-Admirals. At night my Lord supped, and Mr. Tho. Crew,15 with Captain Stoakes.16 I supped with the Captain, who told me what the King had given us. My Lord returned late and at his coming did give me order to cause the mark to be gilded, and a crown and C.R. to be made at the head of the coach table,17 where the King today with his own hand did mark his height – which accordingly I caused the painter to do; and is now done, as is to be seen.18

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with the Bible on behalf of Broome and the inhabitants of the town. Broadside and pamphlet accounts of this episode and of Reading’s speech to Charles were printed in 1660. The shouting … imagination] A printed account of the landing by John Price ­similarly describes the crowd’s ‘joyful shoutings and acclamations’. Mr. John Crew] John Crew, first Baron Crew (1597/98–1679), father-in-law of Montagu and MP from 1624 to 1648. Although critical of Charles I, he opposed extreme policies and on his re-admission to parliament in February 1660 he led moves to condemn the regicide. He was created Baron Crew of Steane in Charles II’s coronation honours of 1661. Sir W. Batten] Sir William Batten (1600/01–67), naval officer and Surveyor of the Navy in 1638–48, a post he took up again in 1660. He wrote to Charles on 28 March 1660 offering to arrange transport back to England in the event of his restoration. Mr. Tho. Crew] Thomas Crew (c. 1624–1697), eldest son of John Crew. Captain Stoakes] John Stoakes (d. 1665), naval officer. coach table] the table in the ‘coach’ (i.e. the apartment near the stern of a man of war usually occupied by the captain). My Lord … seen] Charles apparently banged his head against a beam on board ship a few hours before it landed at Dover and marked the spot with a knife.

IV.4 Martin Parker, The King Enjoys his Own Again. To be Joyfully Sung, with its Own Proper Tune (c. 1660)

The original version of this Royalist ballad was written by Martin Parker (fl. 1624– 47) probably around 1643, but is not extant. The text presented here is a revised and updated version, printed without a date or place of publication but probably from the months just before Charles II’s return in May 1660. Its references to reform of the universities and of the Church, and the return of prosperous trade, all speak to Royalist hopes on the eve of the king’s return. While it began life as an attempt to revive the hopes of the ailing war effort in the mid-1640s, the ballad’s promise of the king’s return had by 1660 been spectacularly fulfilled, lending the text a powerful prophetic authority to put alongside its rousing celebration of Royalist triumph. The opening allusions to astrology and the repeated refrain were recycled in other ballads that celebrated the Restoration and are testament to this work’s popularity in and after 1660. Source: Our text is based on the surviving version of the ballad. It remains undated but, as explained above, it appears to have been produced in expectation of Charles’s return.

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What Booker can prognosticate Or speak of our kingdom’s present state? I think myself to be as wise, As he that most looks in the skies: My skill goes beyond the depths of the Pond,

1 Booker] John Booker, astrologer (1602–67); produced Parliamentarian almanacs in the 1640s predicting the downfall of popery and monarchy. 5 Pond] Edward Pond, almanac maker (d. 1629). Pond’s Almanac was first printed in 1601 and continued to be produced throughout the seventeenth century.

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Part IV: 1660 Or River in the greatest rain: By thee which I can tell, that all things will be well, When the King comes home in peace again.

There is no astrologer, then I say, 10 Can search more deep in this than I, To give you a reason from the stars, What causeth peace, or civil wars: The man in the moon, may wear out his shoone, In running after Charles his Wain, 15 But all to no end, for the times they will mend When the King comes home in peace again. Though for a time you may see Whitehall, With cobwebs hanging over the wall, Instead of silk, and silver brave, 20 As formerly it used to have: In every room, the sweet perfume, Delightful for that princely train, The which you shall see, when the time it shall be, That the King comes home in peace again. 25

Full forty years the royal crown, Hath been his father’s and his own, And I am sure there’s none but he Hath right to that sovereignty: Then who better may the sceptre to sway, 30 Than he that hath such right to reign: The hopes of your peace, for the wars will then cease, When the King comes home in peace again.

6 River] Almanacs published under the name of Peregrine Rivers were first printed at Cambridge in 1629 and continued to be produced until 1640. Rivers was probably a fictitious author created in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Pond. 13 shoone] i.e. shoes. 14 Charles his Wain] the constellation of seven stars in Ursa Minor, also known as the Plough. 17 Whitehall] the main residence for English monarchs until the end of the seventeenth century. 25–6] Charles I’s father, James VI of Scotland, acceded to the English throne in 1603. ‘Full forty years’ suggests that this part of the poem was written after 1643.



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Till then upon Ararat’s hill My hopes shall cast her anchor still: 35 Until I see some peaceful dove, Bring home the branch, which I do love; Still will I wait till the waters abate Which most disturbs my troubled brain, For I’ll never rejoice, till I hear that voice, 40 That the King comes home in peace again.

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Oxford and Cambridge shall agree, Crowned with honour and dignity, Learned men shall them take place, And bad men silenced with disgrace: They’ll know it then to be a shameful strain, That hath so long disturbed their brain. For I can surely tell, that all things shall go well When the King comes home in peace again.

Church government shall settled be, 50 And then I hope we shall agree; Without their help whose high-brain zeal Have long disturbed our Common-well: Greed out of date, and cobblers that do prate, Of wars that still disturbed their brain, 55 The which you shall see when the time it shall be That the King comes home in peace again. Though many men are much in debt, And many shops are to be set; A golden time is drawing near, 60 Men shall take shops to hold their ware: 33 Ararat’s hill] Mount Ararat, where Noah’s ark came to rest after the Flood (see Genesis 8:4). 41–6] During the 1640s Oxford and Cambridge universities were purged by Parliamentarian forces: heads of colleges and fellows who had aided the King or who were considered ungodly were ejected from their positions. Many of those ejected were restored to their positions after 1660. 52 Common-well] probably meaning ‘common-weal’, which would maintain the rhyme scheme. ‘Common-well’ is kept here, however, in order to preserve the double meaning of ‘common well-being’ and ‘the body politic’ more generally (OED, ‘commonweal’, n. 1, 2a). 53 cobblers] allusion to John Hewson, a target of Royalist satire because of his artisanal background. Hewson fought on parliament’s side in the Civil Wars and signed Charles I’s death warrant in 1649.

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Part IV: 1660 And then all our trade shall flourish a la mode, The which ere long we shall obtain: By the which I can tell, all things will be well, When the King comes home in peace again.

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Maidens shall enjoy their milk, And honest men their lost estates Women shall have what they do lack, Their husbands who are coming back. When the wars have an end, then I and my friend 70 All subjects’ freedom shall obtain, By the which I can tell, all things will be well, When we enjoy sweet peace again. Though people now walk in great fear, Alongst the country everywhere, 75 Thieves shall then tremble at the law, And justice shall keep them in awe; The Frenches shall flee with their treachery, And the King’s foes ashamed remain, The which you shall see, when the time it shall be, 80 That the King comes home in peace again.

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The parliament must willing be, That all the world may plainly see, How they do labour still for peace, That now these bloody wars may cease: For they will gladly spend their lives, to defend The King in all his right to reign, So then I can tell, all things will be well, When we enjoy sweet peace again.

When all these things to pass shall come, 90 Then farewell musket, pike and drum, The lamb shall with the lion feed, Which were a happy time indeed; O let us all pray, we may see the day, That peace may govern in his name, 95 For then I can tell all things will be well, When the King comes home in peace again. GOD SAVE THE KING, AMEN. 91] See Isaiah 11:6: ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb’.

IV.5 John Dryden, Astraea Redux. A Poem on the Happy Restoration and Return of his Sacred Majesty Charles the Second (1660)

Awarded with the posts of Poet Laureate in 1668 and Historiographer Royal in 1671, John Dryden (1631–1700) was one of the foremost defenders of the restored Stuart monarchy. In 1660, however, he was still a relative unknown. When Astraea Redux appeared in July 1660, only four of his poems had been printed, and one of those – Heroic Stanzas on the death of Cromwell (III.5 above) – is a reminder that the return of the Stuarts involved potentially awkward shifts in allegiance. ‘Astraea Redux’ means ‘justice revived’ (Astraea was a goddess of justice in Greek mythology). The poem praises Charles in the grand terms of classical and Christian prophecy. Yet it also gestures towards the political uncertainties of the Restoration. Dryden dwells on the run-up to Charles’s return and turns to celebrate the present only in the poem’s final seventy lines. In so doing, he magnifies the complex political manoeuvring of 1659–60 and presents the Restoration as brought about by a tangled interaction of providence and policy. Source: Astraea Redux was printed for Henry Herringman in London in 1660. Thomason dated his copy 19 June. We follow this edition. The poem was reprinted in 1688 alongside a reprint of Dryden’s 1667 poem Annus Mirabilis. Iam Redit & Virgo, Redeunt Saturnia Regna. Virgil. Now with a general peace the world was blessed, While ours, a world divided from the rest, A dreadful quiet felt, and worser far Than arms, a sullen interval of war:

Epigraph] ‘Now the Virgin returns, the reign of Saturn returns’ (Virgil, Eclogue 4, line 6).

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Part IV: 1660 Thus when black clouds draw down the labouring skies, Ere yet abroad the winged thunder flies An horrid stillness first invades the ear, And in that silence we the tempest fear. Th’ambitious Swede like restless billows tossed, On this hand gaining what on that he lost, Though in his life he blood and ruin breathed To his now guideless kingdom peace bequeathed. And heaven that seemed regardless of our fate, For France and Spain did miracles create, Such mortal quarrels to compose in peace As nature bred and interest did increase. We sighed to hear the fair Iberian bride Must grow a lily to the lilies side, While our cross stars denied us Charles his bed Whom our first flames and virgin love did wed. For his long absence Church and State did groan; Madness the pulpit, faction seized the throne: Experienced age in deep despair was lost To see the rebel thrive, the loyal crossed: Youth that with joys had unacquainted been Envied grey hairs that once good days had seen: We thought our sires, not with their own content, Had ere we came to age our portion spent. Nor could our nobles hope their bold attempt Who ruined crowns would coronets exempt: For when by their designing leaders taught To strike at power which for themselves they sought, The vulgar gulled into rebellion, armed,

9–10] Charles X, King of Sweden, led an attack against Poland in 1655 but did  not  secure  victory. In 1657–58 he invaded Denmark and gained Danish territories  but  renounced his claims in Prussia. In 1659 an attack on Copenhagen was repelled. 11–12] Charles X died in February 1660. Before his death, he appointed regents to his fiveyear old son and heir, Charles XI, recommending that they pursue peace. Treaties were struck between Sweden and other states in the region later in 1660. 14] The Franco-Spanish War, begun in 1635 after French intervention in the Thirty Years War, was ended by the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed on 7 November 1659. 17–18] As part of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, Philip IV’s eldest daughter Maria Theresa was betrothed to Louis XIV. They were married in June 1660. 18 lily … lilies] the fleur-de-lis, a symbol of France. 30 crowns … coronets] A coronet is an inferior type of crown, often worn by the nobility and denoting an authority below that of the sovereign.



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Their blood to action by the prize was warmed. The sacred purple then and scarlet gown Like sanguine dye to elephants was shown. Thus when the bold Typhoeus scaled the sky, And forced great Jove from his own heaven to fly, (What king, what crown from treasons reach is free, If Jove and heaven can violated be?) The lesser gods that shared his prosperous state All suffered in the exiled thunderer’s fate. The rabble now such freedom did enjoy, As winds at sea that use it to destroy: Blind as the Cyclops, and as wild as he, They owned a lawless savage liberty, Like that our painted ancestors so prized Ere empire’s arts their breasts had civilized. How great were then our Charles his woes, who thus Was forced to suffer for himself and us! He tossed by fate, and hurried up and down, Heir to his father’s sorrows, with his crown, Could taste no sweets of youth’s desired age, But found his life too true a pilgrimage. Unconquered yet in that forlorn estate His manly courage overcame his fate. His wounds he took like Romans on his breast, Which by his virtue were with laurels dressed. As souls reach heaven while yet in bodies pent, So did he live above his banishment. That sun which we beheld with cozened eyes

35–6] ‘And to the end they might provoke the elephants to fight, they showed them the blood of grapes and mulberries’ (Maccabees 6:34). Dryden suggests that the animalistic common people are provoked by the hierarchies of the Church (‘sacred purple’) and the House of Lords (‘scarlet gown’). 37–8] In Greek mythology, Typhoeus or Typhon was the monstrous son of Gaia (Earth) and Tartarus (Hell). Gaia ordered Typhoeus to destroy Zeus for imprisoning the Titans. Typhoeus forced Zeus to flee from Mount Olympus, but Zeus eventually struck Typhoeus down with a thunderbolt. 45 Cyclops] Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant blinded by Odysseus in the Odyssey. 51] See Aeneas in Virgil’s Aeneid, book 1, who is ‘toss’d by Fate’ (line 1 in Dryden’s 1697 translation, ‘The First Book of the Aenieis’, line 1). Charles was often depicted as the wanderer Aeneas in Restoration panegyric. 57] ‘Roman soldiers considered it a dishonour to receive wounds behind’ (Hammond, vol. 1, p. 40). 61 cozened] deceived. See also line 128.

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Part IV: 1660 Within the water, moved along the skies. How easy ’tis when destiny proves kind With full spread sails to run before the wind, But those that ’gainst stiff gales laveering go Must be at once resolved and skilful too. He would not like soft Otho hope prevent But stayed and suffered fortune to repent. These virtues Galba in a stranger sought; And Piso to adopted empire brought. How shall I then my doubtful thoughts express That must his sufferings both regret and bless! For when his early valour heaven had crossed, And all at Worcester but the honour lost, Forced into exile from his rightful throne He made all countries where he came his own. And viewing monarchs’ secret arts of sway A royal factor for their kingdoms lay. Thus banished David spent abroad his time When to be God’s anointed was his crime And when restored made his proud neighbours rue Those choice remarks he from his travels drew, Nor is he only by afflictions shown To conquer others’ realms but rule his own: Recovering hardly what he lost before His right endears it much, his purchase more. Inured to suffer ere he came to reign No rash procedure will his actions stain. To business ripened by digestive thought

65 laveering] tacking. 67–70] Galba, Emperor of Rome, adopted Piso as his son and heir, overlooking Otho, who was considered effeminate. Otho, who believed that his loyalty to Galba made him the best successor, rebelled, had Galba and Piso killed and seized power. His reign lasted only three months before he was overthrown by Aulus Vitellius. Otho committed suicide shortly afterwards. 74 Worcester] Charles was defeated at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. He fled to Europe after the defeat and remained in exile until 25 May 1660. 78 factor] deputy (OED, n. 2a). 79] In 2 Samuel, David goes into exile after Absalom’s rebellion. 82 remarks] observations (OED, ‘remark’, n.1 1a). 86 purchase] the action of attempting to bring about or cause something (OED, n. 3a, citing this line). That Charles’s succession was achieved by both right and acquisition represents Charles as a man of action and implies that a claim from hereditary lineage may not have been enough on its own to secure the throne.



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His future rule is into method brought: As they who first proportion understand With easy practice reach a master’s hand. Well might the ancient poets then confer On night the honoured name of counsellor, 95 Since struck with rays of prosperous fortune blind We light alone in dark afflictions find. In such adversities to sceptres trained The name of great his famous grandsire gained: Who yet a king alone in name and right, 100 With hunger, cold and angry Jove did fight; Shocked by a covenanting leagues vast powers As holy and as catholic as ours: Till fortune’s fruitless spite had made it known Her blows not shook but riveted his throne. 105   Some lazy ages lost in sleep and ease No action leave to busy chronicles; Such whose supine felicity but makes In story chasms, in epochs mistakes; O’er whom Time gently shakes his wings of down 110 Till with his silent sickle they are mown: Such is not Charles his too too active age, Which governed by the wild distempered rage Of some black star infecting all the skies, Made him at his own cost like Adam wise. 115 Tremble ye nations who secure before Laughed at those arms that ’gainst ourselves we bore; Roused by the lash of his own stubborn tail Our lion now will foreign foes assail. With alga who the sacred altar strews? 120 To all the sea gods Charles an offering owes: A bull to thee Portunus shall be slain A lamb to you the tempests of the main: 98–104] Dryden is referring to Charles’s maternal grandfather, Henri IV (1553–1610). He became King of France in 1589 but, as a Protestant, faced opposition from the Catholic League. 101–2] This parallels the Catholic League with the Solemn League and Covenant (1643), an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and English Parliamentarians to promote reformed Protestantism. Dryden collates the beliefs of English Protestant republicans with the Catholic tenet, held particularly by Jesuits, that the Pope had the power to depose earthly monarchs. 119 alga] seaweed. 121 Portunus] Roman god of harbours.

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Part IV: 1660 For those loud storms that did against him roar Have cast his shipwrecked vessel on the shore. Yet as wise artists mix their colours so That by degrees they from each other go, Black steals unheeded from the neighbouring white Without offending the well-cozened sight: So on us stole our blessed change; while we Th’effect did feel but scarce the manner see. Frosts that constrain the ground, and birth deny To flowers, that in its womb expecting lie, Do seldom their usurping power withdraw, But raging floods pursue their hasty thaw: Our thaw was mild, the cold not chased away But lost in kindly heat of lengthened day. Heaven would no bargain for its blessings drive But what we could not pay for, freely give. The Prince of Peace would like himself confer A gift unhoped without the price of war. Yet as he knew his blessings’ worth, took care That we should know it by repeated prayer; Which stormed the skies and ravished Charles from thence As heaven itself is took by violence. Booth’s forward valour only served to show He durst that duty pay we all did owe: Th’attempt was fair; but heaven’s prefixed hour Not come; so like the watchful traveller That by the moon’s mistaken light did rise, Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. ’Twas Monck whom providence designed to loose Those real bonds false freedom did impose.

136 kindly] pertaining to the weather, genial, benign or favourable to growth (OED, adj. 9b). 144 heaven … violence] ‘heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force’ (Matthew 11:12). 145 Booth’s forward valour] On 5 August 1659, Charles Booth (1622–84) led an armed Royalist insurrection. He seized Chester but was defeated in a clash at Northwich with Republican forces led by John Lambert. 151 Monck] George Monck (1608–70), commander of the Scottish army, led his troops into England on 3 January 1660. On 3 February he reached London, and on 21 February he re-admitted the MPs who had been excluded in Pride’s Purge in 1648. The resulting elections led to the meeting of a Convention Parliament on 25 April that would recall Charles Stuart to the throne. After the Restoration, Monck was created Duke of Albermarle.



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The blessed saints that watched this turning scene Did from their stars with joyful wonder lean, To see small clues draw vastest weights along, Not in their bulk but in their order strong. Thus pencils can by one slight touch restore Smiles to that changed face that wept before. With ease such fond chimeras we pursue As fancy frames for fancy to subdue, But when ourselves to action we betake It shuns the mint like gold that chymists make: How hard was then his task, at once to be What in the body natural we see Man’s architect distinctly did ordain The charge of muscles, nerves, and of the brain; Through viewless conduits spirits to dispense, The springs of motion from the seat of sense. ’Twas not the hasty product of a day, But the well ripened fruit of wise delay. He like a patient angler, ere he strook Would let them play a while upon the hook. Our healthful food the stomach labours thus At first embracing what it strait doth crush. Wise leeches will not vain receipts obtrude, While growing pains pronounce the humours crude; Deaf to complaints they wait upon the ill Till some safe crisis authorise their skill. Nor could his acts too close a vizard wear To scape their eyes whom guilt had taught to fear, And guard with caution that polluted nest

155 clues] threads or chords. 159 chimeras] i.e. wild fancy. 163–8] i.e. how hard it was for Monck to perform all at once the operation that, in the natural body, God has ordained to take place separately through muscles, nerves and brain: that is, the communication of impulses through invisible channels to generate action. 175–8] i.e. doctors will not prescribe a recipe if the humours in the stomach are not fully digested; they will not listen to complaints, preferring to wait for an illness to develop before acting. 175 leeches] physicians. 175 receipts] recipes. 176 humours] bodily fluids thought to determine health. 176 crude] undigested.

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Part IV: 1660 Whence legion twice before was dispossessed. Once sacred house which when they entered in They thought the place could sanctify a sin; Like those that vainly hoped kind heaven would wink While to excess on martyrs’ tombs they drink. And as devouter Turks first warn their souls To part, before they taste forbidden bowls, So these when their black crimes they went about First timely charmed their useless conscience out. Religion’s name against itself was made; The shadow served the substance to invade: Like zealous missions they did care pretend Of souls in shew, but made the gold their end. Th’incensed powers beheld with scorn from high An heaven so far distant from the sky, Which durst with horses’ hoofs that beat the ground And martial brass bely the thunder’s sound. ’Twas hence at length just vengeance thought it fit To speed their ruin by their impious wit. Thus Sforza cursed with a too fertile brain Lost by his wiles the power his wit did gain. Henceforth their fogue must spend at lesser rate Than in its flames to wrap a nation’s fate. Suffered to live, they are like helots set A virtuous shame within us to beget. For by example most we sinned before, And glass-like clearness mixed with frailty bore. But since reformed by what we did amiss, We by our sufferings learn to prize our bliss. Like early lovers whose unpractised hearts Were long the May-game of malicious arts, When once they find their jealousies were vain With double heat renew their fires again.

181–2] The ‘polluted nest’ is parliament, dissolved twice in the 1650s (once by Cromwell in 1653; once by Lambert in 1659). ‘Legion’ is the name of the devils exorcized by Christ: ‘And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many’ (Mark 5:9). 185 wink] close its eyes. 201–2] Lodovico Sforza (1451–1508) poisoned his nephew to become Duke of Milan. He was later betrayed to Louis XII of France and died a prisoner. 203 fogue] fury, passion (OED, n., citing this line as the first usage). 205 helots] a class of slave in ancient Sparta. 212 May-game] object of jest (OED, ‘May game’, n. 2a).

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’Twas this produced the joy that hurried o’er Such swarms of English to the neighbouring shore, To fetch that prize, by which Batavia made So rich amends for our impoverished trade. Oh had you seen from Scheveline’s barren shore (Crowded with troops, and barren now no more) Afflicted Holland to his farewell bring True sorrow, Holland to regret a king; While waiting him his royal fleet did ride And willing winds to their lowerd sails denied. The wavering streamers, flags, and standard out The merry seamen’s rude but cheerful shout, And last the cannons’ voice that shook the skies And, as it fares in sudden ecstasies At once bereft us both of ears and eyes. The Naseby now no longer England’s shame But better to be lost in Charles his name (Like some unequal bride in nobler sheets) Receives her lord: the joyful London meets The princely York, himself alone a freight; The Swiftsure groans beneath great Gloucester’s weight. Secure as when the halcyon breeds, with these He that was born to drown might cross the seas. Heaven could not own a providence and take The wealth three nations ventured at a stake. The same indulgence Charles his voyage blessed Which in his right had miracles confessed.

215–18] Many Englishmen travelled to Breda in the Netherlands, from whence Charles issued his declaration commanding forgiveness for those who had opposed him over the previous twenty years (see IV.1 above). 217 Batavia] the Netherlands. 218 impoverished trade] England’s trade was depressed in 1660, partly owing to competition from the Netherlands. 219 Scheveline’s barren shore] Charles departed from Scheveningen harbour at The Hague on 23 May 1660. 230–1] Charles renamed some of the ships in his fleet on his return. Naseby in Northamptonshire had been the site of one of Charles I’s most comprehensive defeats during the First Civil War (hence ‘England’s shame’). 233–5 the joyful … weight] James, Duke of York, and Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Charles’s younger brothers, also returned in May 1660. York’s ship was called the London; Gloucester’s, the Swiftsure. 236 halcyon] bird fabled to breed during the winter in a nest that floated above the sea.

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Part IV: 1660 The winds that never moderation knew Afraid to blow too much, too faintly blew; Or out of breath with joy could not enlarge Their straightened lungs, or conscious of their charge. The British Amphitrite smooth and clear In richer azure never did appear; Proud her returning prince to entertain With the submitted fasces of the main. And welcome now (great monarch) to your own; Behold th’approaching cliffs of Albion; It is no longer motion cheats your view, As you meet it, the land approacheth you. The land returns, and in the white it wears The marks of penitence and sorrow bears. But you, whose goodness your descent doth show, Your heavenly parentage and earthly too; By that same mildness which your father’s crown Before did ravish, shall secure your own. Not tied to rules of policy, you find Revenge less sweet then a forgiving mind. Thus when th’Almighty would to Moses give A sight of all he could behold and live; A voice before his entry did proclaim Long-suffering, goodness, mercy in his name. Your power to justice doth submit your cause, Your goodness only is above the laws; Whose rigid letter while pronounced by you Is softer made. So winds that tempests brew When through Arabian groves they take their flight

246 Amphitryte] wife of Neptune and goddess of the sea; here, the English Channel. 249 submitted fasces] Fasces are bundles of rods bound together and carried by the officers (or lictors) who attended on Roman magistrates as a sign of their authority. Dryden’s reference is to the story of the consul Publius Valerius, who, when answering allegations of ambition before the people, ordered the lictors to walk with lowered fasces as a sign of the people’s authority. 258–9] i.e. Charles II inherits the mildness of his father. While that quality helped bring about the downfall of Charles I, it will be for Charles II a source of security. 261] In the Declaration of Breda (IV.1 above), Charles urged clemency in dealing with those who had opposed his father and himself during the 1640s and 1650s. 262–5] See Exodus 33:19: ‘And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.’



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Made wanton with rich odours, lose their spite. And as those lees that trouble it, refine The agitated soul of generous wine, So tears of joy for your returning spilt, Work out and expiate our former guilt. Methinks I see those crowds on Dover’s strand Who in their haste to welcome you to land Choked up the beach with their still growing store, And made a wilder torrent on the shore. While spurred with eager thoughts of past delight Those who had seen you, court a second sight; Preventing still your steps, and making haste To meet you often where so e’er you past. How shall I speak of that triumphant day When you renewed the expiring pomp of May! (A Month that owns an interest in your name: You and the flowers are its peculiar claim.) That star that at your birth shone out so bright It stained the duller sun’s meridian light, Did once again its potent fires renew Guiding our eyes to find and worship you.   And now time’s whiter series is begun Which in soft centuries shall smoothly run; Those clouds that overcast your morn shall fly Dispelled to farthest corners of the sky. Our nation with united interest blessed Not now content to poise, shall sway the rest. Abroad your empire shall no limits know, But like the sea in boundless circles flow. Your much loved fleet shall with a wide command Besiege the petty monarchs of the land: And as old Time his offspring swallowed down

272 lees] sediment deposited from wine (OED, ‘lee’, n. 2a). 286–7] 29 May was Charles’s birthday. It was also the day he entered London. 288–91] A diurnal star was believed to have shone in the sky on the date of Charles’s birth in 1630 and to have reappeared as an omen of the Restoration. 292 time’s whiter series] The motif of time’s new beginning harks back to Virgil, Eclogue 4. 292 whiter] more pure. 292 series] an onward progression of time (OED, n. 5a). 293 soft] characterized by ease and quiet enjoyment (OED, adj. 1). 302] Chronos (Time) swallowed his own children because of a prophecy that one of them would overthrow him.

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Part IV: 1660 Our ocean in its depths all seas shall drown. Their wealthy trade from pirates’ rapine free Our merchants shall no more adventurers be: Nor in the farthest East those dangers fear Which humble Holland must dissemble here. Spain to your gift alone her Indies owes; For what the powerful takes not he bestows. And France that did an exile’s presence fear May justly apprehend you still too near. At home the hateful names of parties cease And factious souls are wearied into peace. The discontented now are only they Whose crimes before did your just cause betray: Of those your edicts some reclaim from sins, But most your life and blessed example wins. Oh happy prince whom heaven hath taught the way By paying vows, to have more vows to pay! Oh happy age! Oh times like those alone By fate reserved for great Augustus’ throne! When the joint growth of arms and arts foreshow The world a monarch, and that monarch you.

305 merchants … adventurers] Merchants engage in financial enterprise but do so without hazard or waging war at their own risk as adventurers do. 306–7] ‘The Dutch had a virtual monopoly of the spice trade with the Far East; now they will humbly have to pretend not to notice (dissemble, OED 3) the threats to their ­economic survival posed by English naval dominance in the Channel’ (Hammond, vol. 1, p. 53). 320–3] See Anchises’s prophecy in Virgil’s Aeneid, book 6, lines 791–4. 321 Augustus] first Emperor of Rome. Charles was frequently figured as a new Augustus.

IV.6 Rachel Jevon, Exultationis Carmen: To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty upon his Most Desired Return (1660)

Rachel Jevon (baptized 1627) was the only woman to have a panegyric on the Restoration printed and published in 1660: Katherine Philips’s manuscript poetry on the occasion was printed only later in the decade. The modesty claims in the poem’s opening lines (e.g. lines 9–10 and 24) suggest that Jevon was keenly aware of the cultural restrictions still in place on a woman printing her works. Yet her ambitions were not at all modest. The poem is an enthusiastic display of loyalty and diverse learning. This work may have been part of a strategy to gain a position at court, since two petitions from 1662 find Jevon requesting employment at the court of Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s new queen. It is unknown whether these petitions were successful. Source: The English text of Exultationis Carmen was printed in London in 1660. In the title Jevon claimed to have delivered the poem to the King in person on 16 August 1660. The English poem is a translation of Jevon’s own Latin panegyric, Carmen Thriambeutikon, which was also printed in 1660. We follow the English text. Carolus En rediit, redeunt Saturnia regna. Dread sovereign Charles! Oh king of most renown! Your country’s father; and your kingdom’s crown; More splendid made by dark afflictions night; Live ever monarch in celestial light: 5 Before your sacred feet these lines I lay, Epigraph] See Virgil, Eclogue 4, line 6: ‘Iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna’ (‘Now the Virgin returns, the reign of Saturn returns’). Jevon’s appropriation translates as: ‘Charles returns, the reign of Saturn returns.’ 5] The poem’s title page claimed that Jevon had ‘Presented [it] with her own Hand, Aug. 16th’. 

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Part IV: 1660 Humbly imploring that, with gracious ray, You’ll deign these first unworthy fruits to view, Of my dead muse, which from her urn you drew. Though for my sexes sake I should deny, Yet exultation makes the verse, not I; And shouting cries, live ever Charles, and be Most dear unto thy people, they to thee. Welcome mild Caesar, born of heavenly race, A branch most worthy of your stock and place, The splendour of your ancestors, whose star Long since out-shined the golden Phoebus far; The living image of our martyred King, For us his people freely suffering; Sprung from the rose and flower-de-luce most fair, The spacious world ne’er boasted such an heir. Ye pious pens, plucked from a seraph’s wing, Of his high fame, teach future times to sing. Ye lofty muses of Parnassus hill, Auspicious be to my unlearned quill, Vouchsafing leave the travels to recite Of this great prince, long banished from his right; Which valiant he, did stoutly undertake For his religion, and his country’s sake. After the murder of our Charlemagne, (Whose lasting honour ne’er shall know a wane, But to the skies triumphantly ascend, As his bright soul did to Elysium tend,) The Scots our Charles th’ undoubted heir recall, And with his grandsire’s glory him install; But after this (O cruel fates!) betrayed He was to th’ English, who with rage assayed

16 Phoebus] i.e. the sun. In Greek mythology Phoebus was God of the sun.  19 the rose and flower-de-luce] alluding to the marriage of Charles I and Princess Henrietta Maria in 1625. One emblem from that year figured the marriage as the entwining of the rose and the fleur-de-lis.  21 seraph’s] referring to one of the Seraphim, biblical creatures with six wings (see Isaiah 6:2).  23 Parnassus hill] in classical mythology thought to be a source of poetic inspiration.  29 Charlemagne] founder of the Carolingian Empire. Here, a figure for Charles I.  33–4] Charles II was crowned King of Scotland on 1 January 1651. 34 His grandsire’s] referring to James VI of Scotland and I of England; Charles II’s ­paternal grandfather. 



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Him to accost, throughout this British isle; Could ever rebels act a part so vile? Hence, hence sad sorrows, and all past annoys, Let nought approach you but triumphant joys; And let us now remember with delight Your strange escape from Worcester’s bloody fight, Through thundering troops of armed foes, whose strife Was to bereave you of your sacred life. Where many thousand Britains spilt their blood, Weltering in gore, for King and country’s good: How oft have I your cruel fates bewailed? How oft to heaven have our devotions sailed, Through tides of briny tears, and blown with gales Of mournful sighs, which daily filled the sails? That heaven its sacred offspring would defend, And to their sorrows put a joyful end. Propitious were the heavens to our just prayer: You on their wings the blessed angels bear Through thousand dangers, which by land you passed, Till suddenly into the sea being cast, The deities of Pontus’ flowing stream, Did unto you than men far milder seem. Great Aeolus himself hastes you to meet, Prostrates the winds before your sacred feet; Then with his power commands the fiercer gales, Into their den, lest they disturb your sails: Neptune straight calms the raging of the sea,

36–7 assayed … accost] i.e. attempted to apprehend him [Charles].  41–6] Jevon here describes the Battle of Worcester, which took place on 3 September 1651. The battle ended in defeat for Charles’s Royalist army at the hands of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model. Charles escaped and was taken in and hidden by local families. The occasion where he hid in an oak tree to escape Parliamentarian soldiers led to the image of the oak becoming synonymous with Charles; Jevon uses the image several times from this point in the poem. On 14 October Charles fled into exile in France. 42 strange] unfamiliar, abnormal or exceptional to the degree of prompting astonishment (OED, adj. 10a). Histories of the battle often attribute the escape from Worcester to providence. 45 many thousand] Most of the men of the Royalist army, numbering around 12,000, were imprisoned or killed at Worcester, so Jevon’s figures are unlikely to be ­exaggerated.  57 of Pontus’] one of the sea gods in Greek mythology. 59 Aeolus] god of the winds in Greek mythology. 63 Neptune] god of the sea in Roman mythology.

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Part IV: 1660 Before your stem the pleasant dolphins play; The surly waves appeased, most gladly bore, The happy vessel to the happier shore. Then wandering through inhospitable lands, Still seeking rest, the world amazed stands To see him banished from every part Of its great orb, yet from his faith not start; Nor to regain his father’s rights would he, From th’ ancient worship of his fathers flee, For every kingdom he subdued by charms, Of love and piety, more strong than arms. France with her hair dishevelled, torn and sad, With bloody robes of civil war beclad, With joy receives this deity of peace, Who having caused those civil wars to cease, The barbarous vine the royal oak refused, To please the tyrants, nature’s bands she loosed; But he unmoved in faith their lilies fled, And to th’ unstable willows wandered. Who most ungratefully did him reject, That them the rebel brambles might protect. The royal oak by storms of leaves bereaved, The generous olive to its soil received; Straight follows peace, its deity being come, Aside they lay their arms, sword, pike and drum; The other trees all shivering as a reed, To make a league with th’ royal oak agreed;

64 stem] curved upright timber at the bow of a vessel (OED, n.2 2a). 75–80] Charles lived in exile in Paris from October 1651 to July 1654. 76 bloody … beclad] allusion to the Fronde, a series of civil wars that took place in France from 1648 to 1653. 79–80] Charles left France in July 1654 partly in anticipation of a rapprochement between France and England, now governed by the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. The Treaty of Westminster (1655) confirmed that France would not shelter Charles. 82 the unstable willows] The United Provinces of the Netherlands. Jevon describes them as unstable because of the fighting of the First Anglo-Dutch War from 1652 to 1654.  83–4] The United Provinces of the Netherlands might have welcomed Charles since his sister, Mary, was the widow of the recently deceased stadholder Willem II. However, the peace treaty between the United Provinces and England that ended the First AngloDutch War in April 1654 committed the Dutch not to shelter Charles. 86 generous olive] the Spanish Netherlands, constituting modern-day Belgium and Luxembourg. Charles settled his court at Bruges in 1656.



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At length Druina ravished with love, Humbly recalls him to his native grove, In peace to triumph, and to reign a lord O’er hearts subdued by love, not by the sword. 95 His native country faint and languishing, Humbly implores the presence of her king: Lo how the late revolted sea obeys, How gladly it the billows prostrate lays Before your royal navy, proud to bring 100 Three widowed kingdoms their espoused king! How do the winds contend, the spreading sails Of your blessed ships, to fill with prosperous gales; The fates are kind; conduct you to the shore, To welcome you the thundering cannons roar; 105 Your ravished subjects overjoyed do stand, To see the stranger (Peace) with you to land, With you to earth Astraea fair is come, And golden times in iron ages room: Much honour hath both church and state adorned, 110 Since you, our faith’s defender, are returned; For of the Church the honour and renown, Are unto kings the strongest tower and crown.   Behold how Thames doth smooth her silver waves! How gladly she, your gilded bark receives; 115 Mark how the courteous stream her arms doth spread, Proud to receive you to her watery bed. The old metropolis by tyrants torn, Your presence doth with beauteous youth adorn. On you how do the ravished people gaze? 120 How do the thronging troops all in amaze Shout loud for joy, their king to entertain, How do their streets with triumphs ring again. Great Charles, terrestrial god, offspring of heaven, You we adore, to us poor mortals given, 125 That you (our life) may quicken us again, Who by our royal martyr’s death were slain; For we on earth as corpse inanimate lay, 91 Druina] i.e. England. The use of Druina as a name for England was not uncommon in the mid-seventeenth century. Jevon’s source here, though, may be James Howell, Dendrologia, Dodona’s Grove (1640), a prose work in which England and her continental neighbours are personified as trees. In Howell, the forest of Druina is ruled over by the royal oak. 107 Astraea] goddess of justice in Greek mythology.

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Part IV: 1660 Till you (our breath) repaired our decay: Lo how old Tellus courts your sacred feet, Arrayed with flowery carpets peace to greet; As Phoebus when with glorious lamp he views, Earth after winter, tender grass renews; So through the world your radiant virtues shine, Enlightning all to bring forth fruits divine: Or as the drops distilled by April showers, Produce from driest earth imprisoned flowers; So your sad fates sprinkled with holy eyes, Plunged in your kingly tears, have reached the skies, And from the appeased deity brought down; T’adorn your sacred temples many a crown. The first of glory which shall ever last, In heaven of heavens, when all the rest are past; The second shines with virtues richly wrought Upon your soul, with graces wholly fraught. The third resplendent with your people’s loves, Their hearts by joy being knit like turtle doves. The fourth’s complete by your high charity, Which hath subdued and pardoned th’enemy. The fifth shall shine with gold and jewels bright, Upon your head, O monarch! our delight; Where the Almighty grant it flourish may, Until in heaven you shine with glorious ray. Who doth not stand amazed thus to see The spotless turtle dove espoused to be Unto a bride whose robes with blood are foul; Lo lovely Charles with dove-like galless soul, (Coming to th’ark of his blood deluged land, With peaceful olive in his sacred hand) Espoused is to Albion dyed in gore And to her princely beauty doth restore; Then celebrate the espousals of our king, With us let far and near all nations sing; Let all the world shout loud perpetually, Let Charles live loved unto eternity.

129 Tellus] goddess of the earth in Roman mythology. 153–64] These lines borrow from the vocabulary of the biblical Song of Songs, in which the Church is figured as the bride of Christ. 154 turtle dove] See Song of Songs 6:9: ‘My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her,

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Rejoice ye forests, your choice pleasures yield, The royal hunter crowns the verdant field: And leap for joy ye beasts of every plain, Behold your King (the lion) comes to reign. Let shady woods and groves together dance To see the royal oak to them advance, Whilst nymphs resound, O thrice, thrice happy they! Who have the honour, their faint limbs to lay Under the shadow of th’illustrious oak Expanded, to dispel from saints the stroke Of tyrants’ tempests, and a pillar (squared By crosses) for the Church of God prepared; Where we may live to sing aloud his praise, With heart and voice, and organs’ sweetest lays, Who hath our David’s prayer not withstood, But made his offspring, Charles the Great, and Good; And banishing all sorrow from his seed, Highly enthroned him in his father’s stead; That he may shine a splendid star to damp Throughout the world at noon bright Phoebus lamp, And trample down those tyrants with his might, Who dare contemn his universal right; At length your ripened years being crowned with glory, Justice and peace, unparalleled by story: Celestial Charles triumphantly ascend T’enjoy the heavens in bliss without all end. Glory to God alone, Thrice blessed three in one.

and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.’ See also Song of Songs 2:12 and 5:12. 156 galless] without gall, so without bitterness or anger. 157–8] See Genesis 8:11: ‘And the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.’ 179 our David’s] referring to Charles I, father of Charles II. Jevon may be recalling the image from the Eikon Basilike (1649) that depicts Charles I in prayer (see Figure 3). 183–4] A diurnal star was said to have shone on the day of Charles II’s birth in 1630. 186 contemn] regard with contempt. 191–2] See George Herbert, ‘L’Envoy’: ‘Blessed be God alone, | Thrice Blessed Three in One.’

IV.7 John Crouch, The Muses’ Joy for the Happy Arrival and Recovery of that Weeping Vine Henrietta-Maria, the Most Illustrious Queen-Mother, and her Royal Branches (1660)

1660 heralded not only the restoration of King Charles II but also the return of the Stuart dynasty. Charles’s brothers, James and Henry (see Figure 1), entered the kingdom alongside him; their mother, Henrietta Maria, returned from exile in France in October. The return of this Catholic queen posed problems, however, for a monarchy needing to reassure the English population of its commitment to Protestantism. Although this poem by John Crouch (c. 1615–c. 1680) is one of only a few works printed to welcome her return, it offers valuable reflections upon this episode in the year’s political events. The displacement of a language of Catholic theology into a mode of elaborate praise (line 4) artfully handles the delicate subject of religion, allowing Crouch elsewhere to emphasize Henrietta’s heroic perseverance. The poem appears to be part of efforts by Crouch to secure royal patronage. Having already written a panegyric for Charles and an elegy for Henry, who died in September 1660, he went on to write poems on the death of Mary of Orange, the coronation and Charles’s marriage to Catherine of Braganza. Henrietta stayed in England until 1665, when she returned to France because of ill health. Source: The first edition of The Muses’ Joy was printed in London in 1660. Another London edition appeared with a date of 1661 on the imprint. Thomason dated his copy of the latter 23 November. The poem appeared again, alongside several other poems by Crouch on royal occasions, in the 1663 volume Census Poeticus. The text in Census Poeticus contains a number of variants from earlier editions suggestive of authorial corrections or emendations. On this basis we follow the 1663 volume for our current text.



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The Queen returned! More wonders still! A Troy Of spoils and blood has raised a Greece of joy! Dull age! Thy long imprisoned faith release, Believe, nay see, that miracles do not cease: Heaven’s arm has burst the cloud, made bare and bright Hath eased our faith, turned vision into sight. But is the Queen arrived? Come safely over? Then Calais mingle cliffs, and kiss thy Dover; Then France and Christendom be joined to Kent, Not by a fast league, but firm continent. The waves wrought not this wonder, there hath stood Twixt her and us a wider sea of blood: Which once dried up, the Queen might freely pass, Her ship moved on a pavement, smooth as glass: While waters sensible (like those we please) Smile to transport the Queen of th’ narrow seas! Phoebus if ever thou deserved a bow, Or occidental sacrifice, ’tis now; The east-world to thy perfumed rising kneels, But now the west thy healing virtue feels: The glorious splendour of thy golden rays Has winged the hours, and hastened happy days:

1–2] Henrietta Maria (1609–69), consort to Charles I and mother of Charles II, returned to England from France in October 1660 having fled in 1644 during the First Civil War. Crouch likens the conflicts of the 1640s to the Trojan War, fought between the city of Troy and the ancient Greeks over the abduction of Helen, wife of the Greek Menelaus, by the Trojan Paris. Poets in 1660 often compared the exiled Stuarts to the wandering Trojan Aeneas and paralleled the Restoration monarchy to the founding of the Roman Empire. Crouch prefers a more unusual parallel with classical Athens.  4] The opinion that miracles had ceased with the Apostles was generally associated with Protestantism, whereas in Catholic theology miracles were thought to have persisted to the present day.  10 fast league] fixed distance. A league is a measure of distance, of roughly three miles (OED, n.1); the author is possibly also punning on an alliance of states or persons (OED, n.2 1a)  16 th’ narrow seas] the seas separating the British Isles from continental Europe.  17–18] i.e. the West, the direction in which the sun sets, will offer a sacrifice to the sun to ensure that it remains in the sky rather than go down again. 17 Phoebus] god of the sun in Greek mythology. 17 bow] rainbow, with a possible echo of Genesis 9:13 where God says to Noah after the Flood ‘I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.’ 18 occidental] of, situated in or characteristic of the West (OED, adj. 2). 

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Part IV: 1660 All ominous meteors spent, this sixtieth year The stars drop honey in our hemisphere! Never was spring so verdant, spruce, and gay; For mildews, manna fell last month of May. Three sent from heaven to curb unbridled men: One out of gratitude went to heaven again: Resolved, what careless subjects left undone, The father’s funeral should be his son: But the auspicious powers above, conclude To mollify this hard vicissitude: Send us fresh balm to heal that sharp rebuke, Mother for son, a queen instead of duke. Venus her golden apple sent before, A pledge of her arrival on our shore: Brings in her arms Henretta too the fair; Princes and Princesses a double pair; Exeter’s saint who breathed here but a while, Babe, Jesus-like, an infant in exile! Is this that Queen whom a rebellious crew Sent bullets after for a kind adieu? One bored the place where majesty did sit, And came as near as heaven would suffer it:

24 stars drop honey] the bread God sent the Israelites in the desert is said to taste like honey (Exodus 16:31).  26 manna] the name given by the Israelites to the bread sent to them by God (Exodus 16:31).  27] the three Stuart brothers who returned from exile in May 1660: Charles, King of England; James, Duke of York; and Henry, Duke of Gloucester.  2 8–30] On 13 September 1660 Henry, Duke of Gloucester, died of smallpox, aged twenty. Crouch depicts Henry’s death as a chance for England to perform the royal funeral that it had refused to hold for Henry’s father, Charles I, after his execution.  31–4] Henrietta Maria arrived in England a month after Henry’s death. Her arrival is figured as part of a divine exchange: while providence takes Henry from England, it delivers Henrietta in his place. 37 Henretta] Princess Henriette Anne (1644–70), sixth and final child of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. 39–40] Henriette Anne was born in Bedford House, Exeter, on 16 June 1644. Shortly after her birth she was taken to France to re-join her mother, who had fled England after giving birth. 43] Accounts from 1644 of Henrietta’s escape from Falmouth to France describe the ship she boarded being shot upon. These accounts are repeated in John Dauncey’s b­ iography of Henrietta that was printed in 1660.

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Had you been present there you might have seen The king of terrors prostrate to a Queen: Such iron pills the sons of death and fate, Prescribed to cure the fevers of a state! Is this that living martyr so hard pressed With injuries, would split a vulgar breast? Wh’ endured affronts, indignities and force, An unjust exile, more unjust divorce? Such a divorce the world’s great eye ne’er saw, Writ by the sword, and sealed by canon law; Whose act might past, and future times out do, When law and gospel were divorced too: A strange divorce! Where the whole guilt was love, And constancy the cause of such remove! Divorce more monstrous yet which rends the wife, Not from her husband’s bosom, but his life! You loyal shepherdesses, who these floods, Have lived ’mongst wolves and satyrs in the woods; ’Mongst ladies of all trades, without respect, Compelled to use their ruder dialect; Spring out with your Diana, oh break forth, And shew the blessed world, not your height, but worth. To your long clouded firmament resort, And shine like bright stars in the British court: You’ve now a mistress, an auspicious guide, To teach you modes of modesty, not pride: To make you wise, not in a narrow sense, But measured by a queen’s circumference. Like your rich gems, not sleeked up for near sight, But influential too, as well as bright!

46 king of terrors] personification of death; see Job 18:14: ‘His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.’ 61 floods] bodies of water (OED, ‘flood’, n. 2), thus contributing to the pastoral imagery of lines 61–2. A figurative allusion to the Civil Wars could also be intended, especially given the echo of Genesis in the image of the rainbow earlier in the poem (see line 17). 65 Diana] in Roman mythology, the goddess of the hunt. 66 not … worth] Henrietta was only around 1.4 m tall. In his diary, Pepys also described her as ‘a very little plain old woman’ (22 November 1660; The Diary of Samuel Pepys, ed. Latham and Matthews, vol. 1, p. 299). Crouch deflects judgements on her physical stature by emphasizing her moral character.

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Part IV: 1660 Welcome great princess, by good providence sent Home to us, from your native banishment! Delight to see your royal branches twine Their arms about you, their maternal vine; (That fruitful vine, whose goodness made it smart; That lives, and yet so long has bled at heart!) On your just throne in serene safety sit; Forget all past, except the benefit. The heavens and earth rejoice at your return. You cannot gratify their joys, and mourn! Madam, let no past sufferings make you sad, When three realms now conspire to make you glad, Your triumphs bound not here; the general voice Of more than Christian world echoes, rejoice. London (long widow) was espoused last May, But till you came, kept not her nuptial day. Share empire with your sons, our king, and brother; They shall command one sex, and you the other. And now since Cromwell (by a fatal boon) Gasped in his bed (too late, and yet too soon!) Since Bradshaw could not so much mercy win To live to hang, and suffer for his sin: (Though both these serpents blood together spilt Were both too black to expiate their guilt) Since divine justice (so severely kind) Has scourged their drudges, too long left behind!

76 native banishment] France (Crouch’s marginal note). 86 three realms] the three kingdoms of the British Isles: England, Scotland and Ireland.  93–6] John Bradshaw (1575–1659) sentenced Charles I to death in 1649 and, in the 1650s, was a member of the Commonwealth’s Council of State. Both he and Cromwell died before they could be tried for their roles in the trial and execution of Charles I. In January 1661 their bodies, along with those of two other regicides, were exhumed and hung, drawn and quartered. Crouch’s poem was written before this act of retrospective justice. 93 boon] favour or gift bestowed (OED, n.1 4a). 99–100] The trials of the regicides took place in October 1660, the same month as Henrietta Maria arrived and, it may be assumed, when Crouch was writing this poem. Crouch suggests that providence has now punished the regicides who were, unlike Cromwell and Bradshaw, ‘left behind’ in 1660. 100 scourged their drudges] punished or chastised their servants (OED, ‘scourge’, v. 2; ‘drudge’, n. 1). If ‘their’ refers to Cromwell and Bradshaw, then Crouch portrays the surviving regicides as mere slaves to earthly power, inverting the image,­



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Since Noll’s whole reign was but a dream at best, We’ll wind his story up into a jest.

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When this swollen Phaeton in the full career Of his usurped dominion ’mongst us here, Must in a brave his foreign prancers rule, (As if an ass grown proud would guide a mule) When this sun’s son fell from his hot caroach, Then the blessed hours prepared the King’s approach. His panting heart presaged his tumbling down, Not from his chariot, but a triple crown, I say a triple crown, for that was all, (He gave the other to the cardinal:) Whose diadem ne’er girt his brow, till dead; Oh thus may death still crown a traitor’s head! He’s now below the earth, there let him lie, There rot, and once more in our memories die. While our full joys bless heaven for this rich change,

particularly loved by Cromwell, of the Commonwealth as an instrument of providence, which is in turn depicted punishing figures from 1650s rather than acting through them.  101 Noll’s] Oliver Cromwell’s. The name was used pejoratively by Cromwell’s Royalist opponents. 103 Phaeton] in Greek mythology, the son of Helios (the sun god), who lost control of his father’s chariot and was struck down by Zeus with a thunderbolt. 103 full career] full speed, impetus (OED, ‘career’, n. 3a). Behind this may also lie a secondary meaning of galloping at full speed (OED, ‘career’, v. 2), and thus the sense, linking back to Phaeton, of careering out of control. 105 prancers] spirited or prancing horses (OED, ‘prancer’, n. 2a). 107 caroach] seventeenth-century name for a coach or chariot of a stately kind (OED, ‘caroche’, n. a). On 29 September 1654 Cromwell was nearly killed when he lost control of a coach and horses that he was riding through Hyde Park. 111 triple crown] associated with the Whore of Babylon from Revelation 17, depicted in much Protestant imagery wearing a triple crown, after the papal tiara worn by the Pope.  Crouch is depicting Cromwell as Antichrist. Similar imagery is found in an anonymous manuscript satire from the 1650s that urged Cromwell to take ‘Antichrists three Crownes, for they are thyne’ (quoted in Laura Knoppers, Constructing Cromwell: Ceremony, Portrait, and Print, 1645–1661 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 67). 113] A crown was laid on a velvet cushion above the effigy of Oliver Cromwell displayed at Somerset House on 18 September 1658. During his life, Cromwell had refused offers to take the crown.

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Part IV: 1660 A king, queen, duke, and virtuous Orange, Henretta too; who left her native air, Not to be greater, but more debonair: Wh’ abroad like injured pilgrims did converse, Neglected tenants of the universe! Great England! Great, not in thy breadth or length; Protected more by providence than strength! Thou in thy little circle dost contain Spirits would animate both France and Spain, Oh may thy people washed in so much blood, Be humble, thankful, loyal, wise and good! May our restored vine never weep again, Unless it be for joy she once had pain; That once her blessed womb with a Charles did teem, Should both a crown inherit and redeem! And let rebellion, sunk as low as hell, Forever there, in its own region dwell!

118 virtuous Orange] Mary, Princess of Orange (1631–60): Henrietta Maria’s second child and eldest daughter and consort to William II, Prince of Orange, from their marriage in 1641. 120 debonair] of gentle disposition, courteous.

IV.8 Edmund Waller, A Poem on St James’s Park as Lately Improved by His Majesty (1661)

St James’s Park was designed in the sixteenth century during the reign of Henry VIII. On his restoration, Charles II ordered its redesign having been impressed by the ornate gardens he saw at Versailles during his continental exile. In this poem, the park provides a vantage point from which Charles surveys his new kingdom, which is imagined as a seat of future empire. Contrary to the portrayal by Edmund Waller (1606–87) of a monarch who sacrifices private pleasure for public good, however, Charles was frequently to be found courting some of his many mistresses within the park’s grounds. In the Earl of Rochester’s poem ‘A Ramble in St James’s Park’, the park indeed becomes a pleasure garden for the use of the hedonistic rakes of the Restoration court. Both life and art placed the symbolism of Waller’s poem under strain. Source: The poem was first printed in 1660 in an unauthorized edition. An authorized edition, printed for Gabriel Bedel and Thomas Collins, was printed in London in 1661, and was followed by another edition in the same year. The current text is based on the Bedel and Collins edition. Of the first paradise there’s nothing found, Plants set by heaven are vanished, and the ground; Yet the description lasts, who knows the fate Of lines that shall this paradise relate? 5 Instead of rivers rolling by the side Of Eden’s garden, here flows in the tide; The sea which always served his empire, now Pays tribute to our Prince’s pleasure too. 6 here … tide] A straight canal ran through the middle of the redesigned park.

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Part IV: 1660 Of famous cities we the founders know: But rivers, old as seas, to which they go, Are nature’s bounty; ’tis of more renown To make a river than to build a town. For future shade young trees upon the banks Of the new stream appear in even ranks: The voice of Orpheus or Amphion’s hand In better order could not make them stand. May they increase as fast, and spread their boughs, As the high fame of their great owner grows! May he live long enough to see them all Dark shadows cast, and as his palace tall. Methinks I see the love that shall be made, The lovers walking in that amorous shade, The gallants dancing by the river’s side, They bathe in summer, and in winter slide. Methinks I hear the music in the boats, And the loud echo which returns the notes, Whilst over head a flock of new sprung fowl Hangs in the air, and does the sun control: Darkening the air they hover o’er, and shroud The wanton sailors with a feathered cloud. The ladies angling in the crystal lake, Feast on the water with the prey they take. A thousand Cupids on the billows ride, And sea-nymphs enter with the swelling tide: From Thetis sent as spies to make report, And tell the wonders of her sovereign’s court. All that can living feed the greedy eye, Or dead the palate here you may descry, The choicest things that furnished Noah’s ark,

15 Orpheus] legendary Greek poet and musician whose song was said to bring rocks and stones to life. 15 Amphion] like Orpheus, a singer and poet of Greek mythology whose song was thought capable of controlling inanimate objects. 24 and in winter slide] The canal froze over on 1 December 1662. John Evelyn noted in his diary that the skaters performed ‘before their Majesties’ (The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. E. S. de Beer, 6 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), vol. 3, p. 347). 35 Thetis] in Greek mythology, the queen of the fifty sea-nymphs known as the Nereids and the mother of Achilles.



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Or Peter’s sheet, inhabiting this park: All with a border of rich fruit-trees crowned, Whose loaded branches hide the lofty mound. Such various ways the spacious alleys lead, My doubtful muse knows not what path to tread. 45 Yonder the harvest of cold months laid up, Gives a fresh coolness to the royal cup; There ice-like crystal, firm and never lost, Tempers hot July with December’s frost, Winter’s dark prison; whence he cannot fly, 50 Though the warm Spring, his enemy grows nigh: Strange that extremes should thus preserve the snow, High on the Alps, and in deep caves below. Here a well-polished mall gives us the joy To see our Prince his matchless force employ; 55 His manly posture and his graceful mien Vigour and youth in all his motion seen, His shape so comely and his limbs so strong Confirm our hopes we shall obey him long. No sooner has he touched the flying ball, 60 But ’tis already more than half the mall, And such a fury from his arm has got As from a smoking culverin ’twere shot: May that ill fate my enemies befall To stand before his anger or his ball. 65 Near this my muse, what most delights her sees, A living gallery of aged trees; Bold sons of earth that thrust their arms so high As if once more they would invade the sky. In such green palaces the first kings reigned, 70 Slept in their shades, and angels entertained: With such old counsellors they did advise And by frequenting sacred groves grew wise;

40 Peter’s sheet] See Acts 10:11–12, where St Peter sees a vision of ‘a great sheet knit at the four corners’ descending to earth on which are ‘all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts’. 45–52] An ice-house was constructed in the north end of the park. 53 well-polished mall] a long court intersecting the redesigned park, on which the ball game Pelle Melle – a cross between golf and croquet – was played and from whence the present-day Pall Mall derives its name. 62 culverin] a cannon or large gun.

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Part IV: 1660 Free from th’impediments of light and noise Man thus retired his nobler thoughts employs: Here Charles contrives the ordering of his states, Here he resolves his neighbouring princes’ fates: What nation shall have peace, where war be made, Determined is in this oraculous shade: The world, from India to the frozen north, Concerned in what this solitude brings forth. His fancy objects from his view receives, The prospect thought and contemplation gives: That seat of empire here salutes his eye, To which three kingdoms do themselves apply. The structure by a prelate raised, Whitehall, Built with the fortune of Rome’s capitol; Both disproportioned to the present states Of their proud founders, were approved by fate’s. From hence he does that antique pile behold, Where royal heads receive the sacred gold; It gives them crowns, and does their ashes keep; There made like gods, like mortals there they sleep: When others fell, this standing did presage, The crown should triumph over popular rage: Hard by that House where all ours ills were shaped; Th’auspicious temple stood, and yet escaped. So snow on Etna does unmelted lie, Whence rolling flames and scattered cinders fly; The distant country in the ruin shares, What falls from heaven the burning mountain spares. Next that capacious Hall, he sees the room, Where the whole nation does for justice come: Under whose large roof flourishes the gown, And judges grave on high tribunals frown.

78 oraculous] of or relating to an ancient oracle (OED, adj. 1). 85–8] Waller here describes the Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of English monarchs in this period, which was located to the west of St James’s Park. 85 prelate] i.e. Cardinal Wolsey. Whitehall stood where York Palace, Wolsey’s London residence, had been. 89–100] Waller here describes Westminster Abbey, which was the site of both royal coronations and monarchical funerals. 95 that House] the House of Commons. The reference to the nation’s ‘ills’ glances back to the conflicts between the crown and parliament in the 1640s. 101–4] probably a description of Westminster Hall, part of the Palace of Westminster and in the seventeenth century mainly used for judicial purposes.

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Here he does like the peoples’ pastor go, His flock subjected to his view below: On which reflecting in his mighty mind, No private passion does indulgence find; The pleasures of his youth suspended are, And make a sacrifice to public care. Here free from court compliances he walks, And with himself, his best adviser, talks; How peaceful olive may his temples shade, For mending laws, and for restoring trade: Or how his brows may be with laurel charged. For nations conquered, and our bounds inlarged: Of ancient prudence here he meditates, Of rising kingdoms and of falling states: What ruling arts gave great Augustus fame, And how Alcides purchased such a name: His eyes upon his native palace bent Close by, suggest a greater argument, His thoughts rise higher when he does reflect, On what the world may from that star expect Which at his birth appeared to let us see Day for his sake could with the night agree; A prince on whom such different lights did smile, Born the divided world to reconcile: Whatever heaven or high extracted blood, Could promise or foretell, he will make good: Reform these nations, and improve them more, Than this fair park from what it was before.

111 compliances] complaisant or deferential agreement with a person (OED, ‘compliance’, n. 4). The word is used pejoratively here to describe the servile flattery of the court from which Charles escapes in the park. 119 Augustus] the first Emperor of Rome (63 BC – 14 AD). 120 Alcides] i.e. Hercules, the mythical Greek hero. 124–5 star … appeared] Charles’s birth in 1630 was said to have been accompanied by a diurnal star. It was interpreted as an omen of his future prosperity.

Part V: 1685

Introduction

The accession of James II was an event that many had feared for a long time, and that some had actively sought to prevent. James had converted to Catholicism in the early 1670s. As it became clear over the course of that decade that Charles was not going to father a legitimate heir, the prospect of a Catholic succession began to look ever more likely. For a Protestant nation, that was a source of extreme anxiety. The last Catholic to sit on the English throne had been Mary I, and during her reign hundreds of Protestants had been executed. Further examples of Catholic hostility, like the Armada in 1588 and the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, were commemorated in sermons throughout the seventeenth century. Even the Great Fire of London in 1666 was seen by some as a Catholic conspiracy. Anti-popery powerfully shaped early modern perceptions of history and politics. This began to have an impact on James’s future in 1678. That summer, Titus Oates, a former Church of England minister, revealed details of a Catholic plot to invade England, assassinate Charles II, kill thousands of Protestants and forcibly re-establish the Roman faith in England. Details of this so-called Popish Plot were  recorded by Oates in several narratives and debated in numerous pamphlets. A number of Catholics were executed because of the revelations. Some of the most powerful people in the land were implicated in the plot, among them Charles’s Catholic queen Catherine of Braganza (see V.7 below). The political reaction to the plot from 1679 to 1681, meanwhile, focused on James. A large group of MPs began to demand his exclusion from the line of succession and argued that one of Charles’s illegitimate Protestant sons, James, Duke of Monmouth, should become heir. Other MPs and Lords, however, rejected such calls as dangerous incursions on the divine right of the Stuart line. This crisis over the succession helped shape party politics, as pro-Exclusionist Whigs and anti-Exclusionist Tories confronted one another. What was also troubling for

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contemporaries was the resemblance of this crisis to the clash between parliament and the monarchy nearly forty years earlier that had led to the Civil Wars and, ultimately, regicide. In the end no such historical repetition occurred. Oates was proven to have fabricated the plot. By the time Charles died in 1685, some Whig leaders had been executed and others, including Monmouth, had gone into exile. On the face of it, James acceded to the throne in an atmosphere of surprising calm. The memory of the Popish Plot and the Exclusion Crisis looms large in the succession literature of 1685, but it does so to convey James’s triumph over adversity. By suffering these trials, James, like his brother in the 1650s, was better equipped to rule. As Dryden saw it in Threnodia Augustalis (V.1), a period of patient waiting had prepared James, the ‘warlike prince’ (line 429), for power. One early demonstration of the new king’s authority came in summer 1685 when Monmouth launched an invasion force to take the throne. Poorly organized and failing to muster popular support, the rebellion was defeated by James’s army. Many of Monmouth’s followers were tortured and executed; Monmouth himself was beheaded. The failure of the Monmouth Rebellion poses an important question: how did  a  Protestant claimant who had once been so popular fail to attract sufficient  levels of support to prosecute a successful rebellion against a monarch whose  faith still scared many people? At least part of the answer lies in the way  James managed expectations in the immediate aftermath of his accession. In his first speech to the Privy Council, reproduced here (V.2), James recognized and, crucially, sought to allay fears about his intentions, insisting that he would govern fairly and protect the Anglican Church from harm. Such an act of accommodation seems to anticipate the policies of religious toleration James pursued later on in his reign. One of the most striking accession poems of 1685 (V.5), indeed, professes to come from  the pen of the Quaker leader William Penn. Although the attribution is doubtful, the possibility that Penn could have been the target of mimicry reveals both how James cultivated allies among Protestant religious dissenters and how that policy was likely to be received by Anglicans. While some historians have seen James’s pursuit of toleration as the sign of an enlightened politician, others have questioned the political tact of forging alliances with dissenters and of his elevation of Catholics to positions of power, policies that risked isolating the Anglican loyalists he had successfully courted at the start of his reign. It has also been argued, quite contrary to his own protestations, that James sought to follow a brand of aggressive absolutist kingship practised by Louis XIV in France. The succession literature that welcomed him to the throne did not fail to recognize the challenges James would face in keeping support. Francis Turner’s coronation sermon (excerpted in V.5) implies in its discussion of contract theory



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that even as James was a rightful ruler he still needed to be wary of losing the ­people’s trust. Somewhat more transparent and forceful in her advice, Elinor James urged the new king to abandon a faith that could only be ‘the occasion of all your troubles’ (see V.3). When James fled the country in 1688 after another Protestant invasion, this time led by his own brother-in-law William of Orange, some of his allies might have looked back on such advice as prescient. James himself, though, never renounced his faith, choosing to live out a life of austere, almost ascetic exile in France until his death in 1701.

V.1 John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis: A Funeral-Pindaric Poem Sacred to the Happy Memory of King Charles II (1685)

Charles II died on 6 February 1685. His death was unexpected, even prompting some speculation of foul play (see n. 44 below). For the poet who had risen to prominence as the major panegyrist of restored Stuart power, Charles’s death inevitably prompted reflections on the origins of the dynasty and on its future. The longest verse panegyric written by John Dryden (1631–1700), Threnodia Augustalis, dwells mostly on Charles’s death and legacy.1 Its focus on the medical treatments the King endured in his final days is a particularly interesting feature that juxtaposes the suffering physical body of the King with his eternal sacred body. The repetitions and echoes of Dryden’s Astraea Redux (see IV.5) that creep in as the poem unfolds, meanwhile, suggest that Charles’s death might not be the end of the Restoration achieved in 1660 so much as an opportunity for its new beginning in James’s accession. Source: Threnodia Augustalis was printed in London in early March 1685. It went into a second edition shortly afterwards in late March, and a reprint also appeared later in the year. The poem was also reprinted in Dublin in 1685. The current text is based on the first edition. The line indentations stop between stanzas 4 and 17 in this edition. For this text, we have introduced them following the pattern used in Hammond, vol. 2, pp. 398–417. fortunati ambo, si quid mea carmina possunt, nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet aevo! 1 Threnodia is a lament for the dead; Augustalis means relating to the Roman Emperor Augustus. Epigraph] ‘O happy Friends! For if my verse can give | Immortal Life, your Fame shall ever live’ (Virgil, Aeneid, book 9, lines 446–7; Dryden’s translation, ‘The Ninth Book of the Aeneis’ (1697), lines 597–8). The friends whom Virgil describes are Nisus and Euryalus.



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1     Thus long my grief has kept me dumb:    Sure there’s a lethargy in mighty woe,     Tears stand congealed, and cannot flow;   And the sad soul retires into her inmost room: 5    Tears for a stroke foreseen afford relief;   But unprovided for a sudden blow,    Like Niobe we marble grow,     And petrify with grief.     Our British heaven was all serene, 10      No threatening cloud was nigh,    Not the least wrinkle to deform the sky;    We lived as unconcerned and happily    As the first age in nature’s golden scene;     Supine amidst our flowing store, 15    We slept securely, and we dreamt of more:    When suddenly the thunderclap was heard,    It took us unprepared and out of guard,     Already lost before we feared.    Th’amazing news of Charles at once were spread, 20     At once the general voice declared      Our gracious prince was dead.    No sickness known before, no slow disease,     To soften grief by just degrees:    But, like an hurricane on Indian seas, 25      The tempest rose;     An unexpected burst of woes,     With scarce a breathing space betwixt,    This now becalmed, and perishing the next.     As if great Atlas from his height 1] Threnodia Augustalis was printed in early to mid-March, about a month after Charles II’s death.  6 unprovided] unprepared.  7 Niobe] After the death of her children, Niobe turned into marble that continued to weep (see Ovid, Metamorphoses, 6.306–12).  13 nature’s golden scene] In Astraea Redux Dryden had imagined the restoration of Charles II inaugurating a new golden age (see IV.5 above, lines 320–3).  24–8] These lines appear to be based on the well-worn image of the ship of state on stormy seas. Although Dryden does not actually mention a ship, the use of experiencing a storm as a way of figuring the nation’s confusion in the aftermath of Charles’s death seems to derive from the trope. 24 hurricane] violent storm with cyclone winds that blows around a central calm space. 25 tempest] used figuratively to mean a violent commotion or disturbance (OED, n. 2a).

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30     Should sink beneath his heavenly weight,    And, with a mighty flaw, the flaming wall      (As once it shall) Should gape immense and rushing down, o’erwhelm this nether ball;    So swift and so surprising was our fear: 35   Our Atlas fell indeed, but Hercules was near. 2     His pious brother, sure the best      Who ever bore that name,     Was newly risen from his rest,      And, with a fervent flame, 40    His usual morning vows had just addressed      For his dear sovereign’s health,      And hoped to have ’em heard      In long increase of years,      In honour, fame and wealth. 45    Guiltless of greatness thus he always prayed,     Nor knew nor wished those vows he made,     On his own head should be repaid.    Soon as th’ill omened rumour reached his ear    (Ill news is winged with fate, and flies apace), 50    Who can describe th’amazement in his face!     Horror in all his pomp was there,    Mute and magnificent without a tear:    And then the hero first was seen to fear.   Half unarrayed he ran to his relief,

29–30 Atlas … heavenly weight] In Greek mythology, Atlas supported the heavens on his shoulders.  31 flaw] sudden blast or tumult.  31 flaming wall] See Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, line 73, where the flaming wall demarcates the limits of the known universe. 32 once] one day in the future. 33 this nether ball] i.e. the earth. 35 Hercules] Hercules relieved Atlas of his burden while the latter retrieved the apples of the Hesperides. Hercules here represents James II taking over the burdens of kingship, and the image anticipates the depiction of the ‘warlike prince’ (line 429). 45 Guiltless of greatness] i.e. in preferring private devotion, James eschews his own greatness. Dryden’s implication appears to be that James is thus guiltless because he does not pursue his own self-glorification. 54 Half unarrayed] not fully dressed. James rushed to Charles’s bedchamber with a shoe on one foot and a slipper on the other (Hammond, vol. 2, p. 394).



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55    So hasty and so artless was his grief:    Approaching greatness met him with her charms      Of power and future state;    But looked so ghastly in a brother’s fate,      He shook her from his arms. 60    Arrived within the mournful room, he saw     A wild distraction, void of awe,   And arbitrary grief unbounded by a law.     God’s image, God’s anointed lay     Without motion, pulse or breath, 65     A senseless lump of sacred clay,      An image, now, of death.    Amidst his sad attendants’ groans and cries,    The lines of that adored, forgiving face,     Distorted from their native grace; 70   An iron slumber sat on his majestic eyes.    The pious duke – forbear audacious muse,     No terms thy feeble art can use    Are able to adorn so vast a woe:   The grief of all the rest like subject-grief did show, 75     His like a sovereign did transcend;    No wife, no brother, such a grief could know,      Nor any name, but friend. 3    Oh wondrous changes of a fatal scene,      Still varying to the last! 55 artless] without guile, sincere (OED, adj. 2b). 61 void] empty or deprived of something desirable (OED, adj. and n.1 3a, 13b). The line could thus be read either as referring to a dreadful emptiness left by Charles’s apparent death or that the dread normally associated with being in the presence of a monarch is rendered absent in the panic caused by that monarch’s illness. 62 arbitrary … law] During the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, Charles was accused of exercising arbitrary power, that is, uncontrolled power (OED, ‘arbitrary’, adj. 4). On his accession James was also suspected of seeking to rule arbitrarily (see V.2, below, n. 2). Dryden uses the same meaning when describing grief as arbitrary (i.e. unrestrained) but thereby displaces one contentious political meaning with an image of the unbounded sadness that loyal subjects feel at Charles II’s death. 71 duke] i.e. James, who was styled Duke of York before his accession. 78–9] Charles fell ill on 2 February. On the following day his condition improved and he was thought to be recovering; however, he suffered a sudden relapse on 4 February before dying at around noon on 6 February. Stanzas 3 and 4 describe the fluctuating fortunes of the King’s final five days.

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80     Heaven, though its hard decree was past,    Seemed pointing to a gracious turn again:   And death’s up-lifted arm arrested in its haste.     Heaven half repented of the doom,     And almost grieved it had foreseen 85   What by foresight it willed eternally to come.     Mercy above did hourly plead     For her resemblance here below;     And mild Forgiveness intercede      To stop the coming blow. 90    New miracles approached th’ethereal throne,   Such as his wondrous life had oft and lately known,     And urged that still they might be shown.    On earth his pious brother prayed and vowed,    Renouncing greatness at so dear a rate, 95     Himself defending what he could,    From all the glories of his future fate.     With him th’innumerable crowd,      Of armed prayers   Knocked at the gates of heaven, and knocked aloud; 100   The first, well-meaning rude petitioners.    All for his life assailed the throne,   All would have bribed the skies by offering up their own.    So great a throng not heaven itself could bar;   ’Twas almost borne by force as in the giants’ war. 105    The prayers, at least, for his reprieve were heard;    His death, like Hezekiah’s, was deferred.     Against the sun the shadow went;     Five days, those five degrees, were lent 83 doom] judgement (OED, n. 2); fate (OED, n. 4). 97–9] John Evelyn noted in his diary that ‘Prayers were solemnly made in all the Churches especially in both the Court Chapells, where the Chaplaines relieved one another every half quarter of an hour, from the time he began to be in danger, ’til he expired’ (The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. E. S. de Beer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), vol. 4, p. 407). For the image of prayers assaulting heaven see Dryden, Astraea Redux, IV.5 above, lines 143–4. 100 rude] unskilled. 104 the giants’ war] In revenge for Zeus’s confinement of the Titans, the giants besieged Mount Olympus. 106–8] When he was ‘sick unto death’, Hezekiah’s prayers were answered by God, who granted him fifteen more years of life. The sign of God’s mercy was the shadow on the sundial moving backward by ten degrees (2 Kings 20:1–11). Charles was taken ill on Monday morning and died on the following Friday: Dryden thus likens the five extra days Charles lived to the degrees on the sundial.



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   To form our patience and prepare th’event. 110    The second causes took the swift command,    The medicinal head, the ready hand,     All eager to perform their part,   All but eternal doom was conquered by their art.     Once more the fleeting soul came back 115     T’inspire the mortal frame,    And in the body took a doubtful stand,    Doubtful and hovering like expiring flame,   That mounts and falls by turns, and trembles o’er the brand. 4    The joyful short-lived news soon spread around, 120    Took the same train, the same impetuous bound:    The drooping town in smiles again was dressed,     Gladness in every face expressed,     Their eyes before their tongues confessed.    Men met each other with erected look, 125     The steps were higher that they took;    Each to congratulate his friend made haste,   And long inveterate foes saluted as they past.    Above the rest heroic James appeared    Exalted more, because he more had feared: 130     His manly heart, whose noble pride      Was still above     Dissembled hate or varnished love,    Its more than common transport could not hide;   But like an eagre rode in triumph o’er the tide. 135     Thus in alternate course,     The tyrant passions, hope and fear,     Did in extremes appear,    And flashed upon the soul with equal force.     Thus, at half ebb, a rolling sea 109 event] outcome. 111 medicinal] relating to the practice of medicine. Dryden is describing the doctors who attended Charles on his deathbed (see line 170). 118 brand] piece of wood burning on a hearth, a torch. 120 train] course. 124 erected look] i.e. looking up; opposite of downcast. 132 varnished] pretended. 133 transport] vehement emotion of a pleasurable kind. 134 eagre] ‘An eagre is a tide swelling above another tide, which I have myself observed on the River Trent’ (Dryden’s note).

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140    Returns and wins upon the shore;    The watery herd, affrighted at the roar,     Rest on their fins a while and stay,     Then backward take their wondering way.     The prophet wonders more than they 145    At prodigies but rarely seen before,   And cries, ‘A king must fall, or kingdoms change their sway.’    Such were our counter-tides at land, and so     Presaging of the fatal blow,     In their prodigious ebb and flow. 150    The royal soul, that like the labouring moon     By charms of art was hurried down,    Forced with regret to leave her native sphere,     Came but a while on liking here:     Soon weary of the painful strife, 155     And made but faint essays of life:      An evening light      Soon shut in night;    A strong distemper, and a weak relief,   Short intervals of joy, and long returns of grief. 5 160     The sons of art all medicines tried    And every noble remedy applied;     With emulation each essayed     His utmost skill, nay more they prayed:   Was never losing game with better conduct played. 165    Death never won a stake with greater toil,     Nor ere was fate so near a foil:     But like a fortress on a rock,   Th’impregnable disease their vain attempts did mock;    They mined it near, they battered from afar, 170    With all the cannon of the medicinal war;     No gentle means could be essayed,

140 wins] gains advantage over or encroaches upon (OED, ‘win’, v.1 10a, citing this line). 141 watery herd] whales (see Dryden, Heroic Stanzas, III.5 above, line 138.) 153 liking] approval. 155 essays] attempts. 158 distemper] illness. 166 foil] defeat.



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   ’Twas beyond parley when the siege was laid.     Th’extremest ways they first ordain,    Prescribing such intolerable pain 175     As none but Caesar could sustain;    Undaunted Caesar underwent     The malice of their art, nor bent   Beneath what e’er their pious rigour could invent:     In five such days he suffered more 180    Than any suffered in his reign before;     More, infinitely more, than he    Against the worst of rebels could decree,    A traitor or twice pardoned enemy.     Now art was tired without success, 185   No racks could make the stubborn malady confess.    The vain insurancers of life,    And he who most performed and promised less,   Even Short himself forsook th’unequal strife.     Death and despair was in their looks, 190   No longer they consult their memories or books;     Like helpless friends, who view from shore    The labouring ship, and hear the tempest roar,     So stood they with their arms across,     Not to assist, but to deplore 195     Th’inevitable loss. 6    Death was denounced; that frightful sound     Which even the best can hardly bear;    He took the summons void of fear;    And unconcernedly cast his eyes around,

172 parley] meeting of opposing sides in a dispute. 173–4] The remedies included bleeding, administering of purgatives and blistering. 185] Dryden continues the simile of the illness as a traitor by imagining it resisting even the rack, an instrument of torture by which victims were stretched by the hands and feet in order to extract confessions. 186 insurancers] those who give insurance or assurance. 188 Short] Thomas Short, Catholic physician. Short died in September 1685. The Anglican minister Gilbert Burnet suggested that Charles had been poisoned by Catholics who had then also killed Short. 194 deplore] weep for, bewail. 196 denounced] proclaimed; usually reserved for events of a calamitous nature. 198 He] i.e. Charles.

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200   As if to find and dare the grisly challenger.     What death could do he lately tried,     When in four days he more than died.    The same assurance all his words did grace,    The same majestic mildness held its place, 205    Nor lost the monarch in his dying face.    Intrepid, pious, merciful, and brave,    He looked as when he conquered and forgave. 7     As if some angel had been sent     To lengthen out his government, 210    And to foretell as many years again,    As he had numbered in his happy reign,     So cheerfully he took the doom     Of his departing breath;     Nor shrunk nor stepped aside for death, 215     But with unaltered pace kept on,     Providing for events to come,     When he resigned the throne.     Still he maintained his kingly state,     And grew familiar with his fate. 220     Kind, good and gracious to the last,   On all he loved before, his dying beams he cast.     Oh truly good, and truly great,   For glorious as he rose, benignly so he set!     All that on earth he held most dear, 225     He recommended to his care,      To whom both heaven      The right had given    And his own love bequeathed supreme command.    He took and pressed that ever loyal hand, 201 tried] ascertained. 207] Dryden is referring to Charles II on the occasion of his restoration in 1660, when he was invited back to England (here rendered as an act of benevolent conquest) and when he issued the Declaration of Breda that forgave his enemies (see IV.1 above). 217 resigned] relinquished a claim (OED, ‘resign’, v. 1a); also shading into a suggestion of having resigned one’s life (OED, ‘resign’, v. 2c). While the usage might suggest defeat or yielding to another claimant, Dryden is showing how Charles retains control over his rule to the last: he resigns the throne, and death does not take it from him. 225–8] Charles requested of James that he take care of his children except for the Duke of Monmouth, who was exiled in the Netherlands in 1685. 225 his] James’s.



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230     Which could in peace secure his reign,     Which could in wars his power maintain,   That hand on which no plighted vows were ever vain.     Well for so great a trust, he chose     A prince who never disobeyed, 235    Not when the most severe commands were laid;    Nor want, nor exile with his duty weighed:    A prince on whom, if heaven its eyes could close,   The welfare of the world it safely might repose. 8     That King who lived to God’s own heart, 240     Yet less serenely died than he,     Charles left behind no harsh decree    For schoolmen with laborious art     To salve from cruelty:    Those for whom love could no excuses frame, 245     He graciously forgot to name.    Thus far my Muse, though rudely, has designed    Some faint resemblance of his godlike mind,    But neither pen nor pencil can express     The parting brothers’ tenderness: 250     Though that’s a term too mean and low    (The blessed above a kinder word may know);     But what they did, and what they said,     The monarch who triumphant went,     The militant who stayed, 236 exile] During the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, Charles insisted that James leave England in order to calm the political situation (see below, line 265). James was exiled in Brussels from March to September 1679, when he returned to England on the news that Charles was seriously ill. Charles recovered by the time James arrived. James was then banished to Edinburgh, where he remained from October 1679 to March 1682, at which point he returned to England (Paul Seaward, ‘Charles II (1630–1685)’, ODNB). 239–40] Dryden contrasts Charles’s peaceable death with that of the biblical King David, who commanded his son Solomon to exact vengeance on Joab and Shimei (1 Kings 2:1–9). 242 schoolmen] (biblical) scholars. 243 salve] excuse. 244–5] The reference is to Charles’s illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth, who the Whigs argued should be next in line to throne on account of James’s Catholicism (see lines 225–9 and n. 50 above). 253–254 triumphant … militant] Dryden contrasts the positions of Charles and James according to religious discourse: the Church ‘triumphant’ is Christians in heaven, while the Church ‘militant’ is those who remain on earth.

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255    Like painters when their heightening arts are spent,      I cast into a shade.     That all forgiving king,     The type of him above,     That inexhausted spring 260     Of clemency and love;     Himself to his next self accused,    And asked that pardon which he ne’er refused:     For faults not his, for guilt and crimes    Of godless men, and of rebellious times: 265     For an hard exile, kindly meant,     When his ungrateful country sent    Their best Camillus into banishment:   And forced their sovereign’s act, they could not his consent.    Oh how much rather had that injured chief 270     Repeated all his sufferings past,     Than hear a pardon begged at last    Which given could give the dying no relief.     He bent, he sunk beneath his grief,     His dauntless heart would fain have held 275     From weeping, but his eyes rebelled.    Perhaps the godlike hero in his breast     Disdained, or was ashamed to show     So weak, so womanish a woe, Which yet the brother and the friend so plenteously confessed. 9 280    Amidst that silent shower, the royal mind     An easy passage found,     And left its sacred earth behind:    Nor murmuring groan expressed, nor labouring sound,     Nor any least tumultuous breath; 285    Calm was his life, and quiet was his death.     Soft as those gentle whispers were,     In which th’Almighty did appear; 258 type] in a theological sense, a symbol prefiguring something that is later revealed. 261–7] Charles is addressing James (‘his next self’). He accuses himself of crimes, relating to the banishment of James in 1679, and asks for forgiveness. Dryden is showing Charles’s humility. 267 Camillus] Dryden positions James at the time of the Popish Plot as M. Furius Camillus, a Roman general who went into voluntary exile rather than pay an unjust fine. 269 injured chief] i.e. James.

      290      

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By the still sound the prophet knew him there. That peace which made thy prosperous reign to shine, That peace thou leav’st to thy imperial line, That peace, oh happy shade, be ever thine!

10    For all those joys thy restoration brought,     For all the miracles it wrought,    For all the healing balm thy mercy poured 295     Into the nation’s bleeding wound,     And care that after kept it sound,     For numerous blessings yearly showered,     And property with plenty crowned;    For freedom, still maintained alive, 300    Freedom which in no other land will thrive,   Freedom an English subject’s sole prerogative,     Without whose charms ev’n peace would be     But a dull quiet slavery;    For these and more, accept our pious praise: 305     ’Tis all the subsidy      The present age can raise,    The rest is charged on late posterity.     Posterity is charged the more     Because the large abounding store 310   To them and to their heirs is still entailed by thee.     Succession, of a long descent    Which chastely in the channels ran,

286–8] See the First Book of Kings, in which God speaks to Elijah in ‘a still small voice’ (1 Kings 19:12). 298–9 property … freedom] Dryden appropriates to his cause keywords (‘property’, ‘freedom’) from Whig discourse of the 1680s. Whigs believed that private lands would be reclaimed for the Church and liberty threatened by the accession of a Catholic monarch.  301 prerogative] another keyword in late seventeenth-century politics. Charles had used his prerogative to pass some legislation without consulting parliament, which led some to believe he was infringing on the nation’s liberties. Dryden argues in response that prerogative was used only to ensure the subjects’ liberties. 310 entailed] ‘i.e. the blessings conferred by Charles’s reign are to be passed on inalienably to subsequent generations, like an estate which is entailed so that it cannot be split up or passed out of the direct line of descent’ (Hammond, vol. 2, p. 408). 312 chastely] purely. 312 channels] courses through which anything moves onwards.

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    And from our demigods began,    Equal almost to time in its extent, 315    Through hazards numberless and great,    Thou hast derived this mighty blessing down,   And fixed the fairest gem that decks th’imperial crown.    Not faction, when it shook thy regal seat,    Not senates, insolently loud, 320     (Those echoes of a thoughtless crowd),    Not foreign or domestic treachery,    Could warp thy soul to their unjust decree.    So much thy foes thy manly mind mistook,    Who judged it by the mildness of thy look: 325    Like a well-tempered sword it bent at will,    But kept the native toughness of the steel. 11    Be true, O Clio, to thy hero’s name!     But draw him strictly, so     That all who view the piece may know 330    He needs no trappings of fictitious fame.     The load’s too weighty: thou may’st choose     Some parts of praise, and some refuse: Write, that his annals may be thought more lavish than the Muse.    In scanty truth thou hast confined 335     The virtues of a royal mind,    Forgiving, bounteous, humble, just and kind;     His conversation, wit, and parts, 313 from … began] The lineage of the British monarchy was traditionally traced back to the mythical Brutus, supposedly the great-grandson of Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus and the mortal Anchises and thus a demigod. 315 hazards numberless] The Stuart lineage had been threatened during the Civil Wars, when Charles I was executed and Charles II was forced into exile, during the Exclusion Crisis (1679–81), when the Whigs who sought to exclude James, Duke of York, from the line of succession were thought by some Tories to harbour more radical intentions of toppling the monarchy, and by the Rye House Plot, an assassination attempt on Charles II in 1683 planned by radical Whigs. 319 senates] parliaments. 327 Clio] the muse of history. 328 strictly] with attention to detail. 333] i.e. the history of Charles’s reign, when accurately written, will still appear more incredible than fiction. 334 annals] history. 334 scanty] slender, meagre.



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   His knowledge in the noblest, useful arts,     Were such dead authors could not give, 340    But habitudes of those who live;    Who, lighting him, did greater lights receive:     He drained from all, and all they knew;    His apprehension quick, his judgment true,     That the most learned with shame confess 345    His knowledge more, his reading only less. 12    Amidst the peaceful triumphs of his reign,    What wonder if the kindly beams he shed     Revived the drooping arts again,     If Science raised her head, 350   And soft Humanity that from rebellion fled;    Our isle, indeed, too fruitful was before,     But all uncultivated lay,    Out of the solar walk and heaven’s high way;    With rank Geneva weeds run o’er, 355   And cockle, at the best, amidst the corn it bore:     The royal husbandman appeared,      And ploughed, and sowed, and tilled,    The thorns he rooted out, the rubbish cleared,     And blessed th’obedient field. 360     When straight a double harvest rose,     Such as the swarthy Indian mows,     Or happier climates near the line,   Or paradise manured and dressed by hands divine.

340 habitudes] associations; i.e. Charles did not gain his intelligence from books by ‘dead authors’ but by associating with other people. 341 lighting … lights] coming across (OED, v.1 10d); and mental illumination (OED, n.1 6b). 349 Science] philosophy. 350 Humanity] literary learning and scholarship. 354 Geneva] the city of the Protestant reformer Jean Calvin. Dryden was consistently hostile to Calvinist theology, especially its emphasis on predestination, and often associated it with political rebellion, hence its derogatory representation here as filling England with ‘rank … weeds’. 355 cockle] a plant that grows in cornfields. 362 the line] the equator. 363 paradise … divine] Eden.

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13    As when the new-born phoenix takes his way, 365    His rich paternal regions to survey,   Of airy choristers a numerous train   Attend his wondrous progress o’er the plain;     So rising from his father’s urn,     So glorious did our Charles return; 370    Th’officious muses came along,   A gay harmonious choir of angels ever young.   (The Muse that mourns him now his happy triumph sung.)    Even they could thrive in his auspicious reign,     And such a plenteous crop they bore 375     Of purest and well-winnowed grain,     As Britain never knew before.    Though little was their hire, and light their gain,     Yet somewhat to their share he threw;     Fed from his hand, they sung and flew, 380   Like birds of paradise that lived on morning dew.    Oh never let their lays his name forget!    The pension of a prince’s praise is great.    Live then, thou great encourager of arts,     Live ever in our thankful hearts; 385    Live blessed above, almost invoked below;     Live and receive this pious vow,    Our patron once, our guardian angel now.

364 new-born phoenix] The phoenix was a common image for the monarch, and one suggesting the continuity of lineal succession: ‘The King of England is immortal; and the young Phoenix stays not to rise from the spicy ashes of the old one, but the soul of royalty by a kind of metempsychosis passes immediately out of one body into another’ (John Nalson, The Common Interest of King and People (1677), pp. 117–18, quoted in Hammond, vol. 2, p. 411). 370 officious] active and zealous in the performance of a duty. 372 Muse … triumph sung] Dryden wrote Astraea Redux in response to Charles’s restoration (see IV.5 above). 377 little … gain] as Poet Laureate Dryden received a pension which was paid by the king, but it was fairly small and often late. 380 birds … dew] The bird of paradise was thought to have no limbs and thus could never stop flying, living only off the falling dew. 382] i.e. the praise of a prince is enough reward for a poet. The line glances back ironically to line 381 above. 385 almost invoked below] Invocation of the saints for aid is part of Catholic ritual but not Protestant. Hence Charles is only ‘almost invoked’ in a Protestant nation.



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   Thou Fabius of a sinking state,    Who didst by wise delays divert our fate, 390     When faction like a tempest rose      In death’s most hideous form,     Then art to rage thou didst oppose,      To weather out the storm:     Not quitting thy supreme command, 395    Thou held’st the rudder with a steady hand,    Till safely on the shore the bark did land:     The bark that all our blessings brought,   Charged with thy self and James, a doubly royal fraught. 14     Oh frail estate of human things, 400     And slippery hopes below!    Now to our cost your emptiness we know,     (For ’tis a lesson dearly bought)    Assurance here is never to be sought.     The best, and best beloved of kings, 405     And best deserving to be so,    When scarce he had escaped the fatal blow     Of faction and conspiracy,     Death did his promised hopes destroy:    He toiled, he gained, but lived not to enjoy. 410     What mists of providence are these      Through which we cannot see!    So saints by supernatural power set free,    Are left at last in martyrdom to die;   Such is the end of oft-repeated miracles. 415     Forgive me heaven that impious thought,     ’Twas grief for Charles to madness wrought,     That questioned thy supreme decree! 388 Fabius] Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (d. 203 BC), dictator of Rome. He was elected after Hannibal defeated the Romans at Lake Trasinmene. He believed that the defeat was a consequence of neglecting the gods, so his rule emphasized religious observance. He also developed the strategy of wearing down Hannibal’s army and defeating it through exhaustion. 396 bark] boat. 398 fraught] cargo (i.e. ‘freight’). 406 scarce … escaped] In 1683 Charles had escaped assassination in the Rye House Plot.  412–17] The narrator questions why providence, having rescued Charles so recently, takes him away so soon. The thought is then retracted (because it seems impious to question

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    Thou didst his gracious reign prolong,     Even in thy saints’ and angels’ wrong, 420   His fellow citizens of immortality:     For twelve long years of exile borne    Twice twelve we numbered since his blessed return:     So strictly wert thou just to pay,     Even to the driblet of a day. 425     Yet still we murmur and complain    The quails and manna should no longer rain;    Those miracles ’twas needless to renew:   The chosen flock has now the promised land in view. 15    A warlike prince ascends the regal state, 430     A prince long exercised by fate;    Long may he keep, though he obtains it late.    Heroes in heaven’s peculiar mould are cast,    They and their poets are not formed in haste; Man was the first in God’s design, and man was made the last. 435     False heroes made by flattery so,    Heaven can strike out, like sparkles, at a blow;    But ere a prince is to perfection brought,    He costs omnipotence a second thought.      With toil and sweat, 440     With hardening cold and forming heat     The Cyclops did their strokes repeat,    Before th’impenetrable shield was wrought.    It looks as if the maker would not own      The noble work for his, 445    Before ’twas tried and found a masterpiece. God’s motives) and explained away as the product of extreme grief that has briefly hindered rational thought. 423–4] Charles was proclaimed King of Scotland on 4 February 1649. His death on 6 February 1685 came two days after the thirty-sixth anniversary of his Scottish accession. Dryden is saying that Charles’s reign lasted a stretch of time almost exactly (strictly) to a day. 424 driblet] a small debt. 426 quails and manna] In Exodus 16, the Israelites, who are journeying in the wilderness, are sustained by the miraculous appearance of quails and manna. 431 late] James ascended the throne at the age of fifty-one, having been heir for nearly twenty-five years. 432 peculiar] particular, special. 439–42] In Virgil’s Aeneid the Cyclops forge a shield for Aeneas.



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16    View then a monarch ripened for a throne.     Alcides thus his race began,     O’er infancy he swiftly ran;    The future god at first was more than man. 450     Dangers and toils, and Juno’s hate     Even o’er his cradle lay in wait;     And there he grappled first with fate:    In his young hands the hissing snakes he pressed,    So early was the deity confessed; 455   Thus by degrees he rose to Jove’s imperial seat. Thus difficulties prove a soul legitimately great.    Like his, our hero’s infancy was tried;    Betimes the furies did their snakes provide,     And to his infant arms oppose 460    His father’s rebels and his brother’s foes.    The more oppressed the higher still he rose.     Those were the preludes of his fate     That formed his manhood to subdue   The hydra of the many-headed, hissing crew. 17 465     As after Numa’s peaceful reign    The martial Ancus did the sceptre wield,    Furbished the rusty sword again,     Resumed the long forgotten shield, 447–55] Alcides (i.e. Hercules) was son of Jupiter. Juno’s jealousy led her to prevent him from becoming a god. Jove persuaded her, however, that if Alcides completed twelve labours he would become a god. Juno also sent two snakes to kill Alcides in his cradle but the infant strangled them both. 457–64] As Hercules was threatened in his infancy, so James was opposed by the Parliamentarian army that fought against his father (James was eight years old when the Civil Wars began in August 1642). Dryden positions James as a conquering hero by suggesting that this was a prelude to the opposition from the Whigs he faced during the Exclusion Crisis in the late 1670s and early 1680s. 458 Betimes] soon. 464 hydra] a mythological many-headed snake that was a common seventeenth-century image of popular rebellion. 465–6 Numa … Ancus] Numa was the second King of Rome, elected after Romulus disappeared in a thunderstorm. His rule was generally recognized as peaceful. Ancus, the fourth King of Rome, waged war against the Latins, the natives of Latium, the region where the city of Rome was founded. 467 Furbished] removed rust from a weapon.

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   And led the Latins to the dusty field; 470     So James the drowsy genius wakes     Of Britain, long entranced in charms,     Restive and slumbering on its arms: ’Tis rowsed, and with a new strung nerve the spear already shakes.     No neighing of the warrior steeds, 475     No drum or louder trumpet needs     T’inspire the coward, warm the cold,    His voice, his sole appearance makes ’em bold.    Gaul and Batavia dread th’impending blow;    Too well the vigour of that arm they know; 480   They lick the dust and crouch beneath their fatal foe.     Long may they fear this awful prince,     And not provoke his lingering sword;     Peace is their only sure defence,     Their best security his word: 485    In all the changes of his doubtful state,    His truth, like heaven’s, was kept inviolate,    For him to promise is to make it fate.    His valour can triumph o’er land and main;    With broken oaths his fame he will not stain, 490   With conquest basely bought, and with inglorious gain. 18   For once, oh heaven, unfold thy adamantine book,     And let his wondering senate see,    If not thy firm immutable decree,   At least the second page of great contingency, 495   Such as consists with wills originally free:     Let them with glad amazement look     On what their happiness may be;    Let them not still be obstinately blind,    Still to divert the good thou hast designed, 500     Or with malignant penury,

478 Gaul … Batavia] France and the Netherlands. Rather than wage war against either, James actually maintained close relations with Louis XIV of France and corresponded with William of Orange. 481 awful] i.e. awe-inspiring. 491 adamantine] unalterable. 494 second … contingency] the possible chances of things occurring in the future, as opposed to God’s ‘firm immutable decree’.



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   To starve the royal virtues of his mind.    Faith is a Christian’s and a subject’s test,   Oh give them to believe, and they are surely blessed!    They do, and with a distant view I see 505    Th’amended vows of English loyalty.    And all beyond that object there appears    The long retinue of a prosperous reign,     A series of successful years   In orderly array, a martial, manly train. 510     Behold ev’n to remoter shores     A conquering navy proudly spread;    The British cannon formidably roars,     While starting from his oozy bed   Th’asserted ocean rears his reverend head, 515   To view and recognize his ancient lord again:     And with a willing hand restores      The fasces of the main.

500–1] Many confrontations between Crown and parliament in the seventeenth century revolved around the latter’s refusal to grant a supply of money to the former. Dryden urges the ‘senate’ not to pursue similar tactics with James. 508 series … years] See Astraea Redux, IV.5 above, line 292. 514 asserted] claimed or maintained (OED, adj., citing this as the first usage). 517 fasces of the main] See Astraea Redux, IV.5 above, lines 248–9 and n. 43.

V.2 James II, An Account of What His Majesty Said at his First Coming to Council (1685)

James (1633–1701) held his first meeting with the Privy Council on 7 February, one day after Charles’s death. He addressed all the members, assuring them that, contrary to popular opinion, he would protect the Church of England. James apparently delivered the speech extempore and it was never meant to be printed, but members of the Privy Council who had made notes requested that they be made public and James agreed. In some respects, this was a shrewd move on James’s part since the speech was crucial to the initial acceptance of him as king. Yet it also set the terms on which his reign would be judged, so that when James did begin to place Catholics in positions of power he could be accused of reneging on his pact with the nation. A speech he delivered on the first day of his reign, then, may ultimately have been instrumental in sealing James’s fate. Source: James’s speech was printed in a single sheet in London in 1685, on which the current text is based. A Dublin imprint also appeared in 1685. His Majesty at his first sitting in his Privy Council1 was graciously pleased to express himself in this manner. My Lords, Before I enter upon any other business, I think fit to say something to you. Since it hath pleased almighty God to place me in this station, and I am now to succeed so good and so gracious a king, as well as so very kind a brother, I think it fit to declare to you that I will endeavour to follow his example, and most especially in that of his great clemency and tenderness to his people. I have been reported to be a man for arbitrary power,2 but that is not the only story has been made of me, and I shall make  1 Privy Council] body of advisors appointed by a monarch.  2 I have … power] Catholicism and arbitrary power were commonly linked. From the 1670s nonconformists and their supporters in parliament argued that while denying



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it my endeavours to preserve this government both in Church and state as it is now by law established. I know the principles of the Church of England are for monarchy, and the members of it have showed themselves good and loyal subjects; therefore I shall always take care to defend and support it. I know too that the laws of England are sufficient to make the king as great a monarch as I can wish. And as I shall never depart from the just rights and prerogative of the crown, so I shall never invade any man’s property. I have often heretofore ventured my life in defence of this nation,3 and I shall still go as far as any man in preserving it in all its just rights and liberties. Whereupon the Lords of the Council were humble suitors4 to his Majesty that these his gracious expressions might be made public, which his Majesty did order accordingly.

religious toleration, the Stuart monarchy had forged alliances with Catholic France under Louis XIV, who ruled as an absolute monarch. During the final four years of his reign, Charles appeared to adopt a French model of absolute rule as he did not call a parliament and harshly suppressed supporters of Exclusion. The fear in 1685 was that James would continue this French-style of absolutism and force through the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in England.  3 I have … nation] James was Lord High Admiral of the Navy from 1660 to 1673 and was present at the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–67) and the Battle of Southwold Bay (1672) during the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74).  4 suitors] those who sue or petition for a particular outcome.

V.3 Elinor James, The Humble Petition of Elinor James (1685)

The petition, much used in the middle decades of the seventeenth century, gave ordinary people a legitimate vehicle for addressing those in power. It was used in particular by marginalized groups, such as religious dissenters. Elinor James (1644/45–1719), an Anglican practitioner of the form, was one of the most prolific petitioners of the Stuart period. She began petitioning in the early 1680s and continued to do so well into the 1690s, addressing Charles II, James II and William and Mary. She was also a printer and distributor of her own work. While her manner and her mobilization of biblical examples to counter the new king’s religion are plain and uncompromising, James nonetheless positions herself first and foremost as a Stuart loyalist. True to these principles, she would petition William of Orange in 1689, telling him not to take the throne from the rightful king. Source: The Humble Petition of Elinor James appeared in one edition without a date or place of publication. The petition is commonly dated to 1685. To the King’s most excellent Majesty. The Humble Petition of Elinor James Humbly sheweth, That your poor petitioner hath been always very zealous for your Majesty’s interest both spiritual and temporal,1 and the peace of your kingdoms; but I never was for popery2 (as your Majesty well knows)3 because I know to advance it is not  1 temporal] secular, earthly.  2 popery] a derogatory term referring to the practices of Catholicism and what was perceived by Protestants to be the threat of papal domination.  3 as your … knows] possibly referring to another petition that Elinor James addressed to James II in 1685, in which she also described her loyalty to the Church of England



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for your present and eternal happiness, and it hath been the occasion of all your troubles, and kingdoms’ too. Neither is it for the good of the Roman Catholics, but it will be a great disturbance to the peace of all because it is that worship that is not true neither in faith nor practice. For your Majesty well knows that a mother hath no power over her son no longer than he is a child,4 for when he grows up to manhood he then governs himself according to his own wisdom and discretion, though sometimes they may yield to their mother’s persuasions, but generally they fail, as Solomon did his mother.5 And would your Majesty have Christ as a child to be commanded by his mother now he hath triumphed over death, hell, and judgement, and hath taken possession in heaven and sits at the right hand of his Father in his eternal kingdom of glory, there to hear the sighs and the groans of them that hath true faith in him to make intercession for them, for he is the only sacrifice acceptable to God?6 Therefore I humbly beseech your Majesty not to promote anything that robs God of his honour and degrades the Son, for that will be high ingratitude to the most high, since his providence hath defended you from all your dangers, and hath anointed you king. And how can your Majesty be so unkind as to decline from him7 in believing of those things that God never intended? For God never intended that the Virgin Mary should be as a god, to have prayers made to her, for God hath commanded us to pray unto him in the time of our trouble, and he will hear, and Christ says, ask the Father in my name, and he will give you whatever is needful for you.8 And Christ never intended that his natural body should be eaten and drunk, but his spiritual body and blood that they might by faith eat and overcome their sins.9 And moreover, God hath declared that all souls are his, and that soul that sins shall die, and without charity we cannot be Christians, and what is more uncharitable than to and opposition to the Catholic Church, although it is unclear whether it was printed before the one reproduced here.  4 For your … child] maybe an allusion to James II’s mother, Henrietta Maria, who attempted to convert his younger brother Henry to Catholicism during the 1650s.  5 Solomon … mother] See 1 Kings 2:13–25, in which Bathsheba petitions her son Solomon on behalf of his elder brother Adonijah, who wishes to marry Abishag the Shunammite. Solomon refuses the request and condemns Adonijah to death.  6 Christ … to God?] James is criticizing the veneration of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church. Christ was the only object of worship for Protestants, who saw the praise of saints in Catholic ritual and theology as superstition that distracted from true religion. intercession] prayer intervening on behalf of another.  7 decline from him] i.e. decline from Christ (by believing things God did not intend).  8 ask the … you] See John 16:23: ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.’  9 And Christ … sins] According to Catholic doctrine, the bread and wine of the Eucharist converted into the actual body and blood of Christ. The doctrine is based on a literal interpretation of Christ’s words at the Last Supper where he claimed that the bread was his body and the wine his blood (see Matthew 26:26–8). Protestants interpreted Christ’s words figuratively, seeing them as referring to spiritual nourishment.

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judge the soul.10 Therefore your petitioner sees plainly that it is perfect rebellion to pray to anything but to God alone, through the merits of Christ, the premises considered. I humbly beseech your Majesty to use all pious endeavours for the preventing of popery, for the love of God, and the good of your own soul, and the happiness of your children, and the peace of your kingdoms. And in so doing, your Majesty will be the most glorious and happiest prince in the world, and they will be blessed that promotes it, but unhappiness will attend them that hinders it; for truth shall overcome the world. The Lord grant that your majesty may yield to truth, for that will make you free; for to serve God is perfect freedom, but to serve popery is perfect thraldom, which the Lord deliver your Majesty from, is the prayer of Your Majesty’s poor petitioner, subject, servant, and soul’s well-wisher, Elinor James. O eternal creator and preserver of all things, grant me favour in thy sight, and accept of all my weak endeavours, for thou alone knows the sincerity of my heart. Therefore I humbly beseech thy divine Majesty to make me instrumental to turn away thy anger, because thy wrath is a consuming fire, that all may praise thee, and glorify thee to all eternity.

10 And moreover… soul] James is referring to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, where the souls of the dead were purified in preparation for heaven. soul … die] See Ezekiel 18:20: ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die’.

V.4 W[illiam] P[enn] (?), Tears Wiped Off, or The Second Essay of the Quakers by Way of Poetry: Occasioned by the Coronation of James and Mary (1685)

This is a curious, confusing, piece of succession verse. In 1685 two poems by ‘W.P.’ were printed, one on the death of Charles II and the other, reproduced here, on the coronation of James and Mary of Modena. The titles of both poems declared that they were written by a member of the Quakers, a Protestant sect formed in the 1650s whose belief that they were guided by the ‘Inner Light’ drew much condemnation. Each poem was attributed to William Penn, Quaker leader, founder of Pennsylvania and one of James II’s closest advisors during the late 1680s when Catholics and some dissenters joined forces to promote liberty of conscience. In a single-sheet pamphlet dated 30 April 1685, however, Penn denied any involvement in either of the poems, insisting that he would never join the company of dull, poetic flatterers. The poem’s professions of support, coupled with its apologies for past transgressions, may therefore be an ironic comment on the flimsiness of Quaker loyalty and a warning to James to be careful of the company he kept. Source: Tears Wiped Off was printed in one edition in London in 1685; the current text is based on this.

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Sound loud ye trumpets, now the Spirit move! Of James and Mary’s coronation speak: Yea – let it be the boundless spirit of love, That doth all discord in a land forsake. Therefore prepare your well-tuned instruments, To awe the minds of all our malcontents; Join holy David’s harp, ye loyal choir,

1 Spirit move] Quakers believed that the in-dwelling Holy Spirit moved them to prophesy.  6 malcontents] discontented people, especially those inclined to rebellion. 

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To greet wise Solomon our new crowned king, Stifle, with heavenly joy, rebellion’s fire, 10 And songs of triumph always to him sing. Consider how wise James hath harassed been By murdering swearers; such ungodly men As would, in James, kill Charles the First again. Echo ye heavens! And powerful lights display, 15 To make more great thy coronation day; Amazing all that dare such truth gainsay. For we have now the fullness of the Light, Who long (like sullen Jews) were veiled in night; But, for the time to come, for thee we’ll fight: 20 Yea – girt a carnal weapon to our side, To chastise him shall thee oh King deride. Joash was saved from Athaliah’s rage, And by Jehoiada the priest was crowned, Which in Judea then was just presage, 25 Plentiful peace should mightily abound. James, now the only ruler of this land, Was long preserved from plotters’ murdering hand; Both of Achitophel’s and Belial’s band. 8 Solomon] in the Old Testament, the son of David and King of Israel. James II’s grandfather James I was frequently likened to Solomon.  12 swearers] people who use profane language (OED, ‘swearer’, n. 2).  16 gainsay] deny or oppose.  17 Light] Quakers often referred to the influence of the Holy Spirit as the ‘Inner Light’. 18 sullen Jews] the author may be referring to the Jews who followed Moses into the wilderness. ‘Sullen’ would in this case carry a sense of mournful and melancholy.  20 girt] i.e. gird; equip oneself with a sword suspended from a belt fastened to the body. 20 carnal] worldly or earthly.  22–5] See 2 Kings 11. After Ahaziah, the King of Judah, was killed, his mother, Athaliah, took the throne and attempted to kill all heirs. However, Joash, the one-year-old son of Ahaziah, was rescued and hidden away. At the age of seven, Joash was proclaimed king by the priest Jehoiada. 28 Achitophel] In 2 Samuel 15–17 Achitophel is a counsellor who deserts King David to support Absalom’s rebellion. In polemical writing of the early 1680s Achitophel was widely used as a type for rebellion. In Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel (1681), he represents the prominent Whig Anthony Ashley Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury, who supported the exclusion of James from the line of succession. 28 Belial] used in the Bible to refer to: rebels from God (e.g. Deuteronomy 13:13), false witnesses (e.g. 1 Kings 21) and those who commit acts of debauchery (e.g. Judges 19:22). In the 1680s the term was often used by Tories to describe Whigs who supported James’s exclusion.



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What mighty joy ought we thy Friends to show, That still we have thee James, our king below. Inspire me now thou mighty Spirit of truth, That in some measure we may here set forth The gracious blessings we enjoy in James, Whom all the world with us aloud proclaims. Had that corrupted senate Charles o’erswayed, To push thee James besides thy lawful throne, All thy whole land had been to blood betrayed; Conquering for thee, that sits in peace thereon. We therefore wish that disobedient crew May see their error, and for pardon sue: And we will learn, that anthems we may sing With hymns of joy, for second James our king. I do confess I’ve heard fanatic slaves Sorry that thee oh King escap’st with life, (Where many in the ocean found their graves) When that great ship struck on the sandy shelf. But heaven (that has a more than common care Of such as thee, who his vicegerents are) Secured thee from the surges of the sea, That thou might’st healer of our breaches be. Foreseeing then, this day’s solemnity: That since no monarch from the grave is free, We should great James rejoice in sacred thee; And (though unusual) shout our praise to heaven, That has a king so potent to us given. One that hath David’s valour and success, Solomon’s wisdom, Hezekiah’s grace; And may thy reign with theirs take equal place. Yea, let the prophet’s prayer ’gainst wicked men,

29 Friends] The Quaker sect was also known as the Society of Friends. 35] referring to the so-called Exclusion Parliaments of 1679 and 1680 that tried to force Charles II to exclude James from the line of succession. 35 corrupted senate] parliament. 35 o’erswayed] overpowered; parliament is the subject of the verb, Charles is the object.  37 betrayed] treacherously given up or exposed (OED, adj.). 44–6 escap’st … shelf] In May 1682 the HMS Gloucester sank off Great Yarmouth with James on board. He escaped but around 120 passengers and crew drowned. 56 David] biblical King of Israel, famous for defeating the Philistine giant Goliath. 57 Hezekiah] biblical King of Judah, known for godliness and opposition to idolatry (e.g. 2 Kings 18:3–8).

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60 Which Psalm the hundred and ninth doth plainly speak, Be all thy enemies’ reward and gain; Nay more, the mark of Cain upon ’em break. Not, but thy frown will awe thy worst of foes, And then thy smiles will make ’em crouch with shame, 65 But thy word past is every man’s repose; Nay, he that doubts and knows thee, wants a name. All this, and more, than we can e’er hold forth, Or words can frame, oh King, in thee is found; Time wants a precedent to show thy worth, 70 Yea, languages a style, and sense a sound. In all the holy writ we do not find Where to compare thy consort equally, As Ruth to Boaz, the same constant mind, Mary to James; but greater the degree. 75 In every trouble which thou bar’st from men, Whose faith in things invisible did lie; How then was Mary, with a face serene, Partner in all thy worst extremity? When strange commissions never seen nor read, 80 Armed with black bills in Spanish pilgrims’ hands; 60–1] Psalm 109 is a prayer by David asking the Lord to punish his adversaries. See ‘Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul’ (Psalm 109:20). 62 mark of Cain] After Cain killed his brother Abel, he was marked by God to prevent his being slain by others: ‘And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him’ (Genesis 4:15). 72 consort] i.e. Mary of Modena, the Italian princess whom James married in 1673. 73 Ruth … Boaz] The Book of Ruth describes the relationship between Ruth, a widow, and Boaz, a landowner, and their eventual marriage. 75 bar’st] i.e. bear, endure. 77–8] i.e. Mary remained by your (James’s) side through the worst of trials. 79] As part of his claims about an imminent Popish Plot against the English monarchy and Church, Titus Oates argued that members of the army and navy had received commissions from the Jesuits to prepare for a Catholic rebellion in England (see his A True Narrative of the Horrid Plot and Conspiracy of the Popish Party (London, 1679), p. 63). 80 black bills] A bill is a bladed weapon used chiefly by infantry. Oates claimed that in order to support a rising of Irish Catholics, ‘there were forty thousand black bills provided to furnish the Irish souldiers withal’ (A True Narrative, p. 7). 80 Spanish pilgrims] During the trials of suspected Catholic conspirators in 1679–80, it was claimed that an army of Spanish pilgrims was preparing to invade England (see James Maurus Corker, Stafford’s Memoires (London, 1680), p. 5).



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When truth invisible with Oates did plead, Purbeck invaders did infest our lands: Thou James with Mary now our present queen, Did’st reign secure, as on the throne thoud’st been, 85 Beauty and honour still did guard thee then. Mary to either fitly is compared, Because in goodness something they agree, But we from truth will never be debarred; For there’s between ’em inequality: 90 Which must with Mary’s crown be now put on, The best of queens that ever graced a throne. Zadock the priest the holy oil has used, The sight was grateful to thy servants – King; We have the temple of the Lord abused; 95 Now, we rejoice to hear ’em shout and sing. Yea, then I said! how have we gone astray? Misled by darkness from the light of day; Then thus for James and Mary did I pray. That God would great increase unto ’em give, 100 That a long race of kings might them survive; That from their loins a Prince of Wales may come, To conquer foes abroad; win them at home: That here, not one disloyal heart may be; But all might own and bless this monarchy. 105 Let thy great act of grace those people free Whose light was dim, for now the sun they see;

81 Oates] Titus Oates (1649–1705), key informant of the so-called Popish Plot (see Introduction and n. 25 and 26 above). 82 Purbeck invaders] In December 1678 reports circulated that up to 1,500 Frenchmen had landed on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The reports tapped into increased anxiety about French invasion during the Popish Plot, though they ultimately proved a false alarm.  92] See 1 Kings 1:39: ‘And Zadock the Priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.’ 105–6 Let … was dim] In the aftermath of the Exclusion Crisis a strict enforcement of laws against dissenters was put in place that led many to be imprisoned. While Charles approved of this process, James did not, and on acceding to the throne he released many Quakers from jail.

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Part V: 1685 But let plot-vouchers grace the triple tree. We unacquainted are with mighty show, But if our sense of this thou wilt allow, We could dispense had it been greater now. We foolish faults had, James, and not a few; But ’mongst the kings the Bible doth afford, More than their greatest glory is thy due; For a king’s splendour speaks him like his word. We ne’er shall poets for description grow, We leave all that to authors that bestow On kings their talent, and usurpers too. Walk with the people, and the rebels guide; And then the godlike royal ones deride: Though now they faun and flatter on their side. We say, preserve thee James, thy consort so, From such timeservers, bowing but for show, We from great nature’s Light are loyal now.

107 plot-vouchers] i.e. people who asserted the truth of a plot. The author could be referring to people who maintained a key aspect of the Popish Plot, that James sought to re-establish the Catholic Church in England. 107 triple tree] gallows. 115] i.e. we will never become (grow into) poets in order to describe James (because kingly splendour is enough by itself and does not require embellishment).

V.5 Francis Turner, from A Sermon Preached before their Majesties K. James II and Queen Mary at their Coronation in Westminster Abbey, April 23, 1685

Francis Turner (1637–1700) was a prominent figure in the late seventeenth-century Anglican Church and an ally of James. When the latter was in exile in Scotland in the early 1680s, Turner was selected as chaplain to the Anglicans in James’s household. His rise in James’s favour was confirmed when he delivered the coronation sermon for James and Mary, from which two extracts are presented here. The coronation sermon was an important opportunity to emphasize the legitimacy and power of a new monarch, and this was especially important in James’s case given the crisis over his succession in the early 1680s. Turner preached on 1 Chronicles 29:23: ‘Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord, as king, instead of David his father, and prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.’ The following extracts come from Turner’s discussion of Solomon’s title and his consideration of the relationship between Solomon and the nation of Israel. Turner reflects on the challenges James had faced a few years earlier and warns him of dangers that he would still have to negotiate as a monarch. Source: This sermon was printed in London in 1685. It was subsequently reprinted in Edinburgh and Dublin in the same year. A French translation also appeared in 1685. The current text is based on the London edition. In the first place for his title to make that good; if this be not argument enough that ’tis said here, ‘He sat on the throne of the Lord’, and that he sat there ‘as king, instead of David his father’, let me farther observe to you that he was a king of God’s own nomination to prevent dispute among the sons of David. 1 Chron. 22.9: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to thee, his name shall be Solomon, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom’.1 His brother Adonijah, after his vain attempt to seize  1 Behold … kingdom] an abridged version of 1 Chronicles 22:9–10, where David explains to Solomon that the Lord told him: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who

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the crown, makes this express acknowledgement of King Solomon’s right to the kingdom: ‘Though it were mine from the people, yet it was his from the Lord.’2 For God’s choice and the people’s are not always the same. But if this were the case that he was raised to the throne not properly by the king, his father, much less by the people, but by God himself, how comes it to be said here: ‘They made him king’?3 They, that is, all the congregation. Were they the king-makers then? Were they the original of regal power?4 Had they it first in themselves? Else how could they impart it? Toward the clearing of this, be pleased to compare the story of another king’s coronation in the Book of Kings with that self same story in the Book of Chronicles. And whereas in one place we read ‘the people anointed Joash’,5 we find in the other place that ‘Jehojadah, the High Priest, and his sons anointed him’,6 so not the people’s anointed but the Lord’s anointed. Only the people stood by, as they do here, and express their unanimous good will with such loud acclamations as you heard even now, not that we imagine our united voices contribute anything of right to our hereditary prince, but to show that if the kingdom were elective we think him most worthy to be king. But ’tis most plain and most evident that God by his special appointment set over his people the first three shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’  2 Adonijah … Lord] Adonijah was the fourth son of David. He attempted to seize the throne when David was dying despite the latter having decreed that Solomon would rule after him. To put an end to Adonijah’s claim, David anointed Solomon king (1 Kings 1). Turner’s quotation alludes to the following chapter, in which Adonijah tells Bathsheba: ‘thou knoweth the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the Lord’ (1 Kings 2:15). Turner appears to take ‘all Israel’ to mean ‘the people’.  3 They … king] Turner is referring to 1 Chronicles 29:22, the verse before that on which the sermon is preached, which contains the passage ‘And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time’.  4 original … power] Some Whigs argued for a version of contract theory whereby power originated in the people, and regal power was granted to a monarch by the people. Some indeed argued that if a monarch broke this contract by pursuing policies that were detrimental to the people then the people were legitimized in seeking to take back power. Here, Turner is preparing to refute that position.  5 people … Joash] See 2 Kings 11:12: ‘And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.’  6 we find … him] See 2 Chronicles 23:11: ‘Then thy brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.’



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succeeding kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, and wherever ’tis said the people made them (or any other) kings, no more is meant but that the people owned them as kings of God’s making. But that immediate designation of their kings from heaven was to cease one day, and the kingdom was to be hereditary. This appears from the conclusion of those provisional statutes, Deut.17. those precepts for the king that should be set over them that he may prolong his days in the kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.7 […] What obligations then are upon us all of this happy island (as it has been styled of old) not to interrupt the blessings which this day seems to prepare for us, if we do our parts to make ourselves fit to receive them? We have been the care of heaven in all those three great instances of my text: the title to the crown being unquestionable; the king born for empire, by nature and education fitted for government; the people having now showed themselves obedient and willing to be governed. For the first, no title by God’s immediate designation (as it was in Solomon’s case) is now to be expected; no prophet or vision to be looked for; nothing but ordinary providence.8 But by this providence we that are subjects believe ourselves entitled to whatever we call ours in this world. The best title to any inheritance of ours is from our ancestors, and the best of that kind is from times beyond memory. But who can pretend such a successive title to his estate as his majesty can show to his crown? How many ages of our ancestors have wanted such a title as this? How are some other nations like to be embroiled with their neighbours about their succession to the crown for want of this blessing of a clear title? A blessing signally bequeathed to us by our late sovereign lord9 of blessed memory. For I must needs put you in mind, you that had the honour to attend him on his deathbed, how did we see him like David bowing upon the bed to his successor, embracing his royal brother as his beloved undoubted heir, resigning all to him (that was the kind word) to him that was more ready to die with grief than to take that affectionate resignation.10 And as his majesty’s title is most firm, so secondly we have very promising hopes from his gracious and glorious beginnings of a steady government. We have a king that has not been bred up at ease in the court of his father but in the school of hardship and affliction; and affliction (as the Apostle tells us) worketh patience, and patience, experience.’11 Sure I may say without imputation of flattery, no prince  7 he … Israel] See Deuteronomy 17:20.  8 ordinary providence] God’s work as manifest in secondary causes; as distinct from extraordinary providence, which refers to God’s direct intervention in worldly affairs through miracles or prodigies.  9 late sovereign lord] i.e. Charles II. 10 bowing … resignation] On Charles’s passing the throne to James and James’s distress at the illness and death of his brother see Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis, V.1 above. 11 affliction … experience] See Romans 5:3–4: ‘And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.’

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within the memory of man has come to a crown with so vast a stock of experience. We have a king who understands and considers that in an hereditary monarchy ’tis the great peculiar advantage of the prince as well as people that their interest is one and the same, their happiness so closely united, that, if I may apply the Apostle’s expression to this case, ‘whether the body suffer, the head suffers with it; or the head be honoured, all the members rejoice with it’.12 We have a king whom greatness of mind has seated as much above fear as all the hard-hearted impotent passions which commonly fear produces are beneath him, and is himself so incapable of dissimulation that he would naturally despise those strange children, as David calls them,13 that should dissemble with him. As Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, generously disdained and disgraced some servants of his for being too good courtiers, who, as Eusebius relates, upon a certain trial which the Emperor put upon them on purpose to find who were honest, quitted their Christian profession for fear of losing their places. But he retained and exalted those who scorned to prevaricate with their God; for he judged aright that such only would be faithful to their king.14 Lastly, we have a king who, though I will not say he was the partner of the empire while he was but a subject (and yet I am not afraid of envy if I own how much he governed, since at the same time he knew so well how to obey and set us all that perfect example of submission) yet I may say he was particeps curarum,15 the sharer of his royal brother’s cares; that he felt the thorns in his crown; that he was all that while habitually practising justice with equity, governing according to law, yet with tender mercy, as the royal chief minister of Charles the merciful. And I presume to style him the very similitude and picture of Charles the martyr. With such love as casts out fear we see in the serene aspect of our sovereign, every line of his blessed father’s gracious visage. As Trajan the emperor triumphed in effigy after his death;16 so does that glorified prince in his living sacred image on this day. 12 Apostle’s … it] See 1 Corinthians 12:26: ‘And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.’ 13 strange … them] ‘Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood’ (Psalm 144:11). 14 As Constantius … king] Constantius II, Roman Emperor from 337 AD until his death in 361, in an effort to distinguish pious from self-serving advisors, said that he would retain those who sacrificed offerings to demons but would eject those who refused to do so. When the various advisors had made their choices, Constantius revealed the true aim of the test and promptly ejected those who had chosen to offer sacrifices to save their position and retained those who had chosen not to, believing that their fidelity to God would be matched by fidelity to a ruler (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, chapter 16). 15 particeps curarum] partner of cares. 16 Trajan … death] Trajan was Emperor of Rome from 98 AD until his death in 117. His successor, Hadrian, arranged that an effigy of Trajan would be paraded around the streets of Rome in his memory. In his funeral sermon for James I delivered in 1625, John Williams wrote that after his death Trajan ‘triumphed openly in the city of Rome,



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And thirdly, God has blessed the king with an obedient people. After he might say with David in the most literal sense ‘that the waves and the storms had gone over him’;17 after that also is overpassed which David joins with the raging of the sea and the noise of its waves, that is, the madness of the people; in plain terms, after his majesty’s deliverance, as well as ours, from that abominable excluding bill,18 as great a deliverance as that from the sinking Gloucester frigate (for both which preservations we must always bless God) after all this, his majesty’s peaceful entrance upon his government is a sufficient, real, happy proof of an obedient people. And as I must vehemently exhort you to perseverance in that which is not only your duty but your practice, so I do in effect commend your strict adherence to your former protestations and to your oaths of allegiance.

in imagine, in a lively statue, or representation invented by Adrian for that purpose. So shall this Salomon of Israel do at this time in the statue, and representation of our British Salomon’ (John Williams, Great Britain’s Salomon: A Sermon Preached at the Magnificent Funeral of the most High and Mighty King James (London, 1625), p. 36). 17 David … him] See Psalm 42:7. The psalm uses the phrase figuratively, as does Turner elsewhere in this extract. But Turner sometimes uses a literal sense presumably because of James’s experience in the navy and the episode where he escaped drowning on board the Gloucester (V.4 above). 18 excluding bill] i.e. the bill that sought to exclude James from the line of succession. There were in fact two such bills. The first was passed in the House of Commons in May 1679; but Charles prorogued parliament, preventing the bill from going to the Lords. A second Exclusion Bill was produced in November 1680 but was rejected by the Lords.

V.6 England’s Royal Renown, in the Coronation of our Gracious Sovereign King James the 2nd. and his Royal Consort Queen Mary, who were Both Crowned at Westminster, the Twenty-Third of April, 1685. To the Tune of, The Cannons Roar (1685) The previous two pieces show some of the different, and not always straightforwardly celebratory, responses to James’s coronation. This ballad, however, is an enjoyable and refreshingly compact depiction of the event that contrasts with some of the long, elaborate verse that James’s accession provoked. James’s accession is depicted receiving extensive popular support and being celebrated across all strata of society. The martial imagery of stanza 3, however, maybe warns that despite widespread adoration, James may yet suffer setbacks that will require a loyal nation to step up and fight on his behalf. The Monmouth Rebellion later in the summer of 1685 proved that this was indeed a pertinent warning. Source: The ballad appeared as a broadside in 1685, published in London by J. Deacon. Another edition, without a date or place of publication, also survives. The current text is based on the former.

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Noble hearted English boys, Fill the air with music noise, James the fountain of our joys, The nation’s sole defender, He’s the monarch of the land, We’ll obey his great command, ’Tis but duty, heart and hand, When we do all surrender.

May the nation now obey 10 James who does the sceptre sway, Let his power ne’r decay, But ever be increased:



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Now the storm is over-blown, Royal James enjoys his own, In the glory of his throne, Since Charles the great’s deceased.

If occasion serves we’ll fight, In the field with armour bright, To maintain great James’s right, 20 Most royally descended: Britain from sedition wean, Since the famous sight was seen, Of our gracious king and queen, Most nobly attended. 25

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Now the bells of London ring, Whigs be wise, obey your king, While the loyal-hearted sing, And banish all vexation: That our joys may more abound, Let the glass go freely round, Since our king and queen is crowned, The glory of the nation.

Now let all united be, In the band of loyalty: 35 To great James and Queen Mary, Alas why should we sever: May they with the royal crown, Flourish here in high renown, Many blessings now pour down, 40 Upon them both forever. Loyal hearts both rich and poor, Now our gracious prince adore, Drink his health boys ten times o’er, In claret, sack, and sherry: 14 enjoys his own] echoing the Civil War and Restoration ballad The King Enjoys his Own Again (IV.4 above). 26 Whigs] those who, in the early 1680s, supported the exclusion of James Stuart from the succession on account of his Catholicism, as opposed to Tories, who defended James’s right to succeed. 44 sack] a kind of white wine, from Spain and the Canary Islands. 

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Part V: 1685 As for gold and such like wealth, We will spend that Oram pelf, For to drink a loyal health, To gracious good queen Mary. From the palace all along, Guineas subjects gave ding dong, That they might the windows throng, Up to the highest storey: Every place which they did build, With beholders then they filled, Many hundreds there beheld The king in all his glory.

Now let subjects’ hearts incline, To the race and royal line, Since the heaven so divine, 60 And reason us engages, Let it be the subjects’ prayer, That our gracious queen may bear, To great James a princely heir, To reign in after ages.

46 Oram pelf] obscure. The poet seems to have in mind the money spent by people celebrating the coronation. In this context, ‘pelf’ probably means property, material possessions and objects of worth (OED, n. 2); while ‘oram’ is maybe an unusual derivation of ‘ore’ meaning precious metal, or perhaps a copper coin (OED, n.2 1; n.9 1). 50 Guineas subjects gave] A guinea was an English gold coin with a value of 20 shillings. In the later seventeenth century tickets could be bought for royal coronations. 49–56] ‘All the way from the church to the hall … the vast multitude of beholders, filling the air with loud acclamations and shouts, and hearty prayers for their majesties’ long life and prosperity, expressed not only the most ardent and dutiful affections, but also the utmost height of joy and satisfaction’ (Francis Sandford, The History of the Coronation of the Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch, James II (London, 1687), p. 107). 

V.7 Aphra Behn, A Poem Humbly Dedicated to the Great Pattern of Piety and Virtue Catherine Queen Dowager. On the Death of her Dear Lord and Husband King Charles II (1685)

The playwright and poet Aphra Behn (1640?–1689) was one of the most prolific panegyrists of the later Stuart period. In 1685 she wrote poems on Charles II’s death and James’s coronation. This poem to Charles II’s widow, the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, is the most striking, however. Catherine married Charles in 1662, and his death was a terrible blow to her, leaving her depressed and physically weakened. After a slow recovery, she established her own court at Somerset House before returning to Portugal in 1692. Behn’s poem is consolatory, praising Catherine’s steadfastness in the face of attack, especially during the Popish Plot, by figuring her in heavily Catholicized Marian imagery. Its conclusion, though, remains mournful. Contrary to a king’s elegy that could turn to a new monarch as a source of future hope, Behn’s poem to Catherine is a reminder that such moments of loss may not, for all people, be overcome through the process and ceremony of succession. Source: The poem was printed in 1685 in London for the brothers Henry and John Playford. A Dublin reprint followed later the same year. The current text is based on the London edition.

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Pardon! Oh sacred mourner! that we paid Our first sad tributes to the royal dead; Which did our souls to rending sighs convert, Drained our fixed eyes, and pierced the bleeding heart; And for a loss that heaven can ne’re redress,

2 first … tributes] Behn’s elegy on the death of Charles II was printed in mid- to late February 1685, about two months before this poem was printed in early April. 

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Part V: 1685 Our raging griefs were rude in their excess: Which, while with wild devotion we pursue Even heaven neglected lay, even sacred you: Our own dire fates did all our tears employ, Griefs have self-interest too as well as joy. But when such sacrifice from us is due, What must the mighty loss exact from you, Who mourn a king, and dear loved husband too! How shall we measure that vast tide of woe, That did your royal breaking heart o’erflow? And almost, with a high imperious force, Bore down the banks of life in its too rapid course. Your languishments and sorrows, who repeats, Or by his own, on yours a value sets, Compares deep seas to wandering rivulets, Who though a while in their own meads they stray, Lose their young streams at last in the unbounded sea. Should all the nation’s tenderest griefs combine, And all our pangs in one vast body join, They could not sigh with agonies like thine. That you survive, is heaven’s peculiar care, To charm our grief, and heal our wild despair; While we to Charles’ sacred relict bow, Half the great monarch we adore in you: The rest, our natural devotions grant; We bless the queen, and we invoke the saint: Nor fades your light with England’s worshipped sun, Your joys were set, but still your glory shone: And with a lustre that shall still increase, When worlds shall be no more, and nature’s self shall cease; For never in one mortal frame did join A fortitude and virtue more divine: Witness the steady graces of your soul

6 rude] inexperienced or unskilled, with perhaps also a sense of unkind treatment of someone, in this case Catherine, whose predicament was overlooked by the poet’s focus on Charles (OED, adj. 3, adj. 2). 18 languishments] grief. 21 meads] meadows. 26 peculiar] special. 28 relict] archaic word for a widow.



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When charged by perjuries so black and foul, As did all laws, both human and divine, control. When heaven (to make the heroine understood, And hell itself permitted loose abroad,) Gave you the patience of a suffering god. So our blessed saviour his reproaches bore, When piercing thorns his sacred temples wore, And stripes compelled the rich redeeming gore. Your precious life alone, the fiends disdained, To murder home, your virtue they prophaned; By plots so rude, so hellish a pretence, As even would call in question providence: Or why avenging thunder did not strike Those cursed hands durst touch the sacred ark; But as where long the sun is set in night, They with more joy salute the breaking light, Heaven cast this cloud before your radiant beams, To prove their force by contrary extremes; The nations all with new devotion bow, To glories never understood till now: ’Twas majesty and beauty awed before, But now the brighter virtue they adore. This the great lord of all your vows beheld, And with disdain hell’s baffled rage repelled; He knew your soul and the soft angel there, And long (kind rivals) did that empire share; And all your tears, your pleading eloquence, Were needless treasures, lavished to convince Th’ adorer of your known, and sacred innocence. When not for life the royal suppliant moved, But his belief, whom more than life she loved; From whom, if e’er a frown she could receive, ’Twas when she doubted that he could believe;

39 perjuries] Catherine’s household was suspected of involvement in the Popish Plot. Her servants were accused of murdering Edmund Bury Godfrey, while Titus Oates accused Catherine of involvement in and approving of the plot. All accusations turned out to be false. 40 control] call to account. 46 stripes] strokes or lashes of a whip. 46 compelled] forced. 52 sacred ark] the Ark of the Covenant that was believed to contain the presence of God. To touch the ark was punishable by death (e.g. 2 Samuel 6:6–7).

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By your reflecting smiles the world was gay, Faction was fled, and universal joy Made the glad business of the welcome day. Ah! too secure we basked beneath the sun, And little thought his race so near was run, But as if Phaeton had usurped its rule, In the full brightness of its course it fell, Whilst all the frighted world with wonder gazed, And Nature at her own disorder stood amazed: While you, ah pious mourner, did prepare To offer up to heaven your early prayer; You little thought ’twould meet your dear-loved monarch there: But on the wings of death the news approached, And e’en destroyed the wondering sense it touched; Oh mighty heaven-born soul! that could support So like a god! this cruel first effort! Without the feebler sex’s mean replies, The April tributes of their tears and cries. Your valued loss a noisy grief disdained Fixed in the heart, no outward sign remained; Though the soft woman bowed and died within; Without, majestic grace maintained the Queen! Yet swiftly to the royal bed you fly, Like short-lived lightning from the parted sky;

61–73] When Catherine was accused of involvement in the Popish Plot, Charles was put under pressure from Whigs to seek a divorce. He resisted this and seems always to have believed Catherine’s innocence. 61 great lord] i.e. Charles II. 79 Phaeton] son of Helios, the sun god. Phaeton persuaded Helios to let him ride the sun chariot for one day. Phaeton was unable to control the horses, and Zeus was forced to destroy him with a thunderbolt to prevent the earth from being burnt up. 88 support] undergo with fortitude. 89 effort] struggle. 91 April … cries] Behn appears to be overlaying the depiction of crying courtly women with an image of the rainy and changeable weather of April, thus furthering the contrast with Catherine, who steadfastly does not participate in such passionate displays of sorrow and grief (see lines 92–3). 96 swiftly … fly] Catherine stayed by Charles’s bedside through most of his final illness, until the night before his death, when she was taken back to her rooms (Paul Seaward, ‘Charles II (1630–1685)’, ODNB).



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Whose new-born motions do but flash and die. Such vigorous life ne’er moved your steps before, But here they sunk beneath the weight they bore. Princes we more than human do allow, You must have been above an angel too, Had you resisted this sad scene of woe; So the blessed virgin at the world’s great loss, Came, and beheld, then fainted at the cross. Methinks I see you like the queen of heaven, To whom all patience and all grace was given; When the great Lord of life Himself was laid Upon her lap, all wounded, pale, and dead; Transpierced with anguish, even to death transformed, So she bewailed her God! so sighed, so mourned; So His blessed image in her heart remained, So His blessed memory o’er her soul still reigned! She lived the sacred victim to deplore, And never knew, or wished a pleasure more. But when to your apartment you were brought, And grief was fortified with second thought, Oh how it burst what e’er its force withstood, Sight to a storm, and swelled into a flood; Courage, which is but a peculiar art By honour taught; where nature has no part: When e’er the soul to fiercer passions yield, It ceases to be brave and quits the field; Does the abandoned sinking heart expose Amidst ten thousand griefs, its worst of foes. Your court, what dismal majesty it wears, Infecting all around with sighs and tears; No soul so dull, so insensible is found, Without concern to tread the hallowed ground; Awful, and silent, all the rooms of state, And emptiness is solemn there, and great;

104–15] Behn likens Catherine to Mary, mother of Jesus, who, in the account of the crucifixion in John 19, is described as being present at the foot of the cross. The images of Mary fainting at the cross and holding the body of Jesus are not biblical. 110 Transpierced] pierced from side to side. 114 deplore] weep for, bewail.

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Part V: 1685 No more recesses of the sprightly gay, But a retreat for death, from noise and day: Echoes from room to room we may pursue, Soft sighs may hear, but nothing is in view; Like groves enchanted, where wrecked lovers lie, And breathe their moans to all the passers-by; Who no kind aids to their relief can bring, But echo back their pitying sighs again. But the mysterious sanctum is concealed, To vulgar eyes that must not be revealed; To your alcove your splendours you confine, Like a bright saint veiled in a sable shrine; As the chaste goddess of the silent night, You reign alone, retired from gaudy light; So mourning Cynthia with her starry train, Wept the sad fate of her loved sleeping swain.

140 sanctum] holy place within a temple. 143 sable] black. 144–7] Cynthia was one of the names for the Roman goddess of the moon. She fell in love with a mortal, Endymion, a shepherd. At her request, Zeus granted him one wish, and he wished for eternal sleep. 147 swain] shepherd.

Part VI: 1688–89

Introduction

In autumn 1688 William of Orange, the Dutch stadholder (a title bestowed on the rulers of the Dutch Republic), issued a declaration stating his reasons for leading a fleet from the Netherlands to England. William was responding to an invitation from several prominent English churchmen and politicians who saw William’s intervention as the only way to prevent James II from drifting further into tyrannical rule. James’s promise to protect the Church of England (see V.2 above) had been compromised in many people’s eyes by his promotion of Catholics to senior positions at court and in other institutions. When a group of Anglican bishops refused to read publicly James’s Declaration of Indulgence, which gave liberty of conscience to Protestant dissenters and Catholics, they were tried for sedition. They were found not guilty but the trial crystallized what many regarded as a tangible threat of Catholic tyranny in England. The birth of a son to James and Mary of Modena in 1688, though widely, and erroneously, believed to have been a fraud, exacerbated fears of a permanent Catholic dynasty. William’s stated aim, then, was to rescue liberty, law and religion from the threats posed by James’s corrupt, Catholic advisors. He did not lay out a claim to the throne. William’s journey over was not a smooth one. The fleet was initially launched in October but had to turn back because of storms. An unexpected change in the weather in early November, however, saw the fleet set off again and land successfully on the south-west coast of England on 5 November, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. In Williamite literature of the following few months this change in the weather, coupled with the auspicious date, was often seen as evidence of providential intervention to save Protestant England. William’s army of around 15,000 men took Exeter on 9 November and, in a sign of a well-organized propaganda campaign, set up a printing press from which pamphlets were distributed defending the invasion. James’s response was erratic. He initially set up an army

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at Salisbury to contain William in the south-west. But with pro-William uprisings in the north of England and anti-Catholic riots breaking out in London, the situation spun out of James’s control. He retreated from a military confrontation on 23 November. When William’s army marched into London on 10 December, James attempted to flee the country. His wife and child escaped to France but he was caught. A second flight on 23 December was successful, however, and James landed in France on Christmas Day 1688. He would never return to England. Spelled out like this, William’s invasion looks eminently straightforward. But it was not inevitable that the people would flock to his side. The impulse for many may have been to side with James, the hereditary king. Elkanah Settle’s ‘Britain’s Address to the Prince of Orange’ (VI.5) carefully articulates that loyalist sentiment, while Aphra Behn’s ode to Gilbert Burnet (VI.3) also resists being corralled into a defence of the Dutch ruler. The future of the Stuart dynasty was seen to be at stake. Yet, gradually, over the course of November and December the army, churchmen, MPs and the public defected in significant numbers to William. Some cited resistance to tyrants as a motive for deserting James, while others argued that William’s army was only defending the preservation of lawful government. Either way, by Christmas 1688, with James absent, the Dutch stadholder found himself in London with a foothold on power. But how was the vacuum at the heart of government to be filled? By this stage William fully expected to be made king. From his point of view the matter was urgent since by taking power in England he would gain a key strategic stronghold against the Catholic Louis XIV of France, whose expansionist ambitions were threatening the Franco-Dutch border. But parliament needed to offer the crown, and whether there was a crown to offer was a point of contention. The debates in the Convention Parliament of late January and early February 1689 are a fascinating record of the constitutional confusion facing the country. For some MPs James’s flight was a demise; that is to say, it had the same constitutional effect as it would have had if he had died. Others maintained he had been forced to flee and should be recalled. There was a small constituency of so-called ‘true Whigs’ arguing for a limited monarchy or even its abolition altogether. After much debate, it was agreed that James had abdicated. But who should take the throne? At this point, some MPs turned to William’s wife, Mary. She was James II’s eldest daughter by his first marriage. If James had abdicated, and if his son was illegitimate, then Mary was the rightful heir. This was unacceptable to William, however, and Mary herself had apparently said she did not want to rule alone. It was finally decided to offer William and Mary the crown as joint monarchs, with executive power placed in William alone. The events of late 1688 and early 1689 may sound stranger than fiction. Indeed, that was a trope that Williamite writers returned to time and again (see Gilbert



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Burnet’s sermon, VI.2 below, for instance). The 1688–89 succession did set out revolutionary changes. What emerged from 1688–89 was a monarchy that had moved far from the personal style of rule practised by Charles I and, arguably, by his two sons, towards something that was more limited and parliamentary. While Burnet’s argument that William was justified by providence was influential, the fact that William and Mary had in effect been appointed by parliament seemed to challenge ideas of divine right that had been crucial to the power of previous Stuart kings. The literary response to the succession in some ways reflects a country that was not simply celebrating events but trying to make sense of them. Writers competed to strike a definitive interpretation of 1688–89. Here, an anonymous pamphlet (VI.7) argues that William usurped a true king, while Behn mimics and mocks Burnet’s language of the succession. Celebratory panegyrics for both William and Mary tried to cement their authority by presenting them as God’s chosen rulers and defenders of a nation’s law and religion as well as purveyors of a new empire abroad. But there is a sense that this most controversial of successions, far from being met with literature that sought to consolidate and stabilize power, created conditions that enabled more sceptical and dissenting voices to emerge around the Stuart monarchy.

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VI.1 John Evelyn, from his diary (8 November 1688)

John Evelyn (1620–1706) was a seventeenth-century intellectual whose interests ranged across many subjects, from botany to translation, physics to theology and poetry to mathematics. He also occupied several political positions in his lifetime. He worked on committees for the licensing of coaches and the re-planning of London after the Great Fire. Under James II he became a Commissioner of the Privy Seal, and was thus in close proximity to the court as James’s rule unravelled. The following diary entry was written shortly after William of Orange’s army landed. It captures the sense of confusion in the immediate aftermath of the invasion and reveals James’s attempts to command obedience from members of the Anglican hierarchy, many of whom would desert him in the following weeks. Source: Evelyn began his diary at the age of eleven and kept it until a few weeks before his death in 1706. The autograph manuscript of the diary is held by the British Library, and it is on this that the modern edition is based. Our text is based on this authoritative edition, The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. E. S. de Beer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), vol. 4, pp. 605–6. I went to London [and] heard the news of the Prince of Orange’s being landed at Torbay1 with a fleet of near 700 sail, so dreadful a sight passing through the Channel with so favourable a wind2 as our navy could by no means intercept or molest them. This put the King and court into great consternation, now employed in forming an  1 Torbay] borough on the south Devon coast where William of Orange landed with his forces.  2 favourable a wind] William of Orange’s fleet was initially delayed in leaving the Netherlands because of poor weather. However, a change in the wind’s direction helped it to reach Torbay. This piece of good fortune was frequently interpreted as an act of providence (see Behn, A Pindaric Poem, VI.3 below).



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army to encounter their farther progress, for they were gotten already into Exeter,3 and the season and ways very improper for his majesty’s forces to march so great a distance. The Archbishop of Canterbury4 and some few other bishops and lords in London were sent for to Whitehall, and required to set forth their abhorrency of this invasion. They assured his majesty they had never invited any of the Prince’s party or were in the least privy to this invasion,5 and would be ready to show all testimonies of their loyalty etc. But as to a public declaration, they being so few,6 desired that his majesty would call the rest of their brethren and peers, that they might consult what was fit to do on this occasion, not thinking it convenient to publish anything without them, and until they had themselves seen the Prince’s manifest,7 in which it was pretended he was invited in by the Lords spiritual and temporal. This did not please his Majesty, so they departed. There came now out a declaration prohibiting all people to see or read the Prince’s manifest, in which was at large set forth the cause of his expedition, as there had been one before from the States.8 These are the beginnings of sorrows unless God in his mercy prevent it by some happy reconciliation of all dissentions amongst us, which nothing in likelihood can effect but a free parliament, but which we cannot hope to see whilst there are any forces on either side. I pray God protect and direct the King for the best and truest interest of his people.

 3 Exeter] William of Orange’s army took Exeter on 9 November 1688, setting up a printing press to distribute literature supporting his invasion.  4 Archbishop of Canterbury] William Sancroft (1617–93).  5 They … invasion] Sancroft denied ever having invited William or encouraged his invasion; however, he did not repudiate William’s manifesto.  6 they being so few] i.e. there being so few of them present.  7 the Prince’s manifest] In October 1688 William of Orange’s declaration was printed in England. In it he explained his reasons for coming to England and claimed he had been invited to do so by Anglican bishops.  8 the States] i.e. the United Provinces. William’s manifesto was first printed at The Hague.

Burnet A Sermon

VI.2 Gilbert Burnet, from A Sermon Preached in the Chapel of St James’s, before his Highness the Prince of Orange, the 23d of December, 1688 (1689)

Gilbert Burnet (1643–1715) was one of the most prominent defenders of William’s invasion. A Scottish minister, he was fiercely anti-Catholic and supported the attempts to exclude James from the throne. At James’s accession he went into exile in France before settling in The Hague at the invitation of William and Mary of Orange. In July 1688 Burnet translated into English William’s declaration explaining his reasons for coming to England. Later in the year he joined the invasion force as William’s chaplain. The following extract is taken from  the beginning of a sermon that Burnet preached in late 1688 around the time  of James II’s flight to France. Its claim that recent events were guided by providence  would become a common trope of Williamite literature. But Burnet  marshals  his arguments with noticeable care: providence is not a rhetorical tool with which to justify earthly success but a real and amazing sign of God’s will.  This is  a  powerful piece of preaching that, in looking forward to yet  greater  transactions,  anticipates William’s rise to power in the succeeding weeks. Source: The sermon was preached on 23 December 1688. The printed text appeared in 1689 in a London edition, published by Richard Chiswell. This went into a second edition in the same year, and there was also a reprint that appeared at Edinburgh. Our text is based on the first edition. Psalm 118:23. It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Things do sometimes speak, and times call aloud; and as all men are beforehand with me, in the choice of this text, at least in applying it to the present time, so that amazing concurrence of providences, which have conspired to hatch and bring forth,



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and perfect this extraordinary revolution,1 would lead one very naturally to use these words, even though we had no such verse in scripture; for we have before us a work, that seems to ourselves a dream, and that will appear to posterity a fiction: a work about which providence has watched in so peculiar a manner, that a mind must be far gone into atheism, that can resist so full a conviction as this offers us in favour of that truth. And if a thread of happy steps of the one hand, and of mistaken ones on the other, can upon any occasion be made an argument, we have it here in its utmost force. It is the Lord’s doing, not as the heavens and the earth, as the revolutions of day and night, and the whole chain of second causes2 are his work: the whole springs of nature are wound up by him, so that all things are in some sort his doing. He gives also a secret direction to all second causes to accomplish his eternal purposes. He knows all the foldings3 of our hearts, and the composition of our natures so well, that without putting us under a force, he can bring about whatsoever pleases him. He also on some great occasions does violence to nature, and puts her out of her channel in those extraordinary productions that are called miracles.4 But besides all these, there are times in which the great governor of heaven and earth will convince the world, that he is not an unconcerned spectator of human affairs: but because men are apt to be so partial to themselves, and to their own opinions, as to look on every favourable accident as a smile from heaven, and that sanguine people are as ready on the one hand to think themselves God’s favourites, and the special objects of his care, as melancholy men on the other, in the sourness of thought that oppresses them, construe everything that succeeds not according to their wishes, as the effect of some cross aspect5 on them; it is necessary to find the true temper between flattering ourselves  1 revolution] The meaning here pertains to a dramatic reversal of fortunes (OED, n. 7a); the word is used later in the extract in one of its astronomical senses to describe a cyclical occurrence (OED, n. 4a).  2 second causes] Early modern theological discourse distinguished between primary and secondary causes in the workings of providence. The former were God’s direct interventions in the world through, for example, miracles; the latter were indirect interventions through natural phenomena. It was generally believed by Protestants that God rarely intervened directly in human affairs. Burnet is arguing that 1688 is an exception.  3 foldings] the folds of a garment or flesh. Burnet appears to be using the word figuratively to describe secrets folded within the heart.  4 He also … miracles] Burnet is describing examples of primary causation, God’s direct intervention into the world, most clearly seen through miracles; these are distinct from secondary causes (see n. 2 above). channel] figurative term to describe a course through which anything moves onwards (OED, n.1 7). extraordinary] referring to extraordinary providence, another term for primary causation.  5 cross aspect] astrological term describing an alignment of the heavenly bodies, as they appear to an observer on the earth’s surface, that is deemed to be unpropitious.

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too much, and the charging ourselves too severely; and to examine providence by such equal and just measures, that we may neither put too much on the common course of second causes, nor ascribe too much to such specialties as our partialities may incline us to imagine appear in our favours: for because we are always kind to ourselves, we are very apt to believe that heaven is so too. But to come closer. All signal6 and eminent things are by the common phrase of scripture ascribed to God; and therefore every event that is great in itself, and may become yet much greater in its consequences, ought to be imputed to an immediate hand of heaven: some that have judged that a special direction of all things was too great a distraction to his divine being, and a trouble unworthy of it, have yet thought that its care extended to great matters.7 If then this may be laid down for a rule, we must conclude that this transaction now before us, is God’s doing, since the vast importance of it is so visible, that it may be perhaps lessened rather than aggravated, if one would attempt to set it forth. You all know what you both felt and feared: the overturning this Church, and the subverting of this Government, must in consequence have brought on the ruin both of the Protestant religion and the public liberty all Europe over. When all this is stopped, and a happy crisis8 appears, that gives us the fairest hopes not only of the securing our religion, together with our other temporal concerns, but of putting a check to the spirit of persecution, which has of late raged so furiously against our brethren in so many different places of Europe, and that the persecutor of religion, and the ravisher of liberty, and the scourge of the age, after his having been so long a plague to all his neighbours, may probably be brought to feel a little of those miseries which he has laid on others;9 so great a transaction as this, which is perhaps the forerunner of a greater, may upon very just grounds be called the Lord’s doing, if everything that is great is so.

 6 signal] notable, remarkable.  7 some that … matters] Anglican theologians and churchmen in the Restoration tended to counsel caution when it came to the interpretation of providential actions. special] like ‘extraordinary’, an adjective used to describe God’s direct intervention into the world.  8 crisis] turning-point.  9 spirit … others] Burnet is referring to Louis XIV, the French king. In 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had limited the persecution of Protestants in Catholic France for nearly a century. Many French Calvinists, also known as Huguenots, were newly subject to persecution, and many fled to England. Burnet witnessed some of this persecution while in France during 1685–86 (Martin Greig, ‘Burnet, Gilbert (1643–1715)’, ODNB).

VI.3 Aphra Behn, A Pindaric Poem to the Reverend Doctor Burnet, on the Honour he did me of Enquiring after me and my Muse (1689)

By the beginning of 1689, Aphra Behn (1640?–1689) was one of the most prolific political poets in the country. Over the preceding years she had written odes on the death of Charles II, the 1685 coronation and the birth of James II’s son in 1688. In this poem she explores the potentially tenuous state of her loyalty to the Stuart cause. Gilbert Burnet had apparently approached Behn and asked her to pen an ode in praise of William of Orange. If this was a sincere invitation it was a sign of the high esteem in which Behn was held as a political writer. Her response, though, was to write a poem about why she would not write a poem for William. It can be read as a deliberation on the temptation of switching allegiances in a moment of political crisis. Yet the way the poem echoes the language of providence and conquest used by Burnet in his sermons suggests a more satirical intention where Behn scrutinizes and undermines the rhetoric upon which the revolution was based. Source: The poem was printed in one edition in London in 1689 for the publisher Richard Bentley. No further editions appeared, and the poem was not printed in a posthumous collection of Behn’s verse published in 1697. 1      When old Rome’s candidates aspired to fame,        And did the people’s suffrages obtain     For some great consul, or a Caesar’s name;    The victor was not half so pleased and vain,

2 suffrages] votes. 3 consul] title of the two annually elected officers in the Roman Republic who jointly held supreme authority.

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Part VI: 1688–89 As I, when given the honour of your choice, And preference had in that one single voice; That voice, from whence immortal wit still flows; Wit that at once is solemn all and sweet, Where noblest eloquence and judgement shows The inspiring mind illustrious, rich, and great; A mind that can inform your wondrous pen In all that’s perfect and sublime: And with an art beyond the wit of men, On what e’er theme, on what e’er great design, It carries a commanding force, like that of writ divine. 2 With powerful reasoning dressed in finest sense, A thousand ways my soul you can invade, And spite of my opinion’s weak defence, Against my will, you conquer and persuade. Your language soft as love, betrays the heart, And at each period fixes a resistless dart, While the fond listener, like a maid undone, Inspired with tenderness she fears to own; In vain essays her freedom to regain: The fine ideas in her soul remain, And please, and charm, even while they grieve and pain.

3 But yet how well this praise can recompense For all the welcome wounds (before) you’d given! Scarce anything but you and heaven 30 Such grateful bounties can dispense, As that eternity of life can give; So famed by you my verse eternally shall live: Till now, my careless muse no higher strove T’enlarge her glory, and extend her wings;

24 essays] attempts. 27–8] In a letter to the poet Anne Wharton, Burnet had described Behn as ‘abominably vile’ and someone who mocked religion in an ‘odious and obscene’ manner. Wharton also corresponded with Behn and may have told her about Burnet’s opinions (Maureen Duffy, The Passionate Shepherdess: The Life of Aphra Behn 1640–1689 (London: Phoenix Press, 1977), p. 205).



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35 Than underneath Parnassus grove, To sing of shepherds, and their humble love; But never durst, like Cowley, tune her strings, To sing of heroes and of kings. But since by an authority divine, 40 She is allowed a more exalted thought; She will be valued now as current coin, Whose stamp alone gives it the estimate, Though out of an inferior metal wrought. 4 But oh! if from your praise I feel 45 A joy that has no parallel! What must I suffer when I cannot pay Your goodness, your own generous way? And make my stubborn muse your just commands obey. My muse that would endeavour fain to glide 50 With the fair prosperous gale, and the full driving tide But loyalty commands with pious force, That stops me in the thriving course, The breeze that wafts the crowding nations o’er, Leaves me unpitied far behind 55 On the forsaken barren shore, To sigh with Echo, and the murmuring wind; While all the inviting prospect I survey, With melancholy eyes I view the plains, Where all I see is ravishing and gay, 35 Parnassus] Mount Parnassus, regarded in classical mythology as the source of literary inspiration. 37–8] Behn had written many poems on ‘heroes’ and ‘kings’, including an elegy for Charles II, a coronation ode for James II and Mary of Modena, and a poem to Catherine of Braganza (see V.7 above). The speaker’s modesty is feigned. 37 Cowley] Abraham Cowley (1618–67), poet and dramatist. In 1660 Cowley wrote an ode on the restoration of Charles II. 41–3] i.e. Burnet’s praise will increase the value of Behn’s poetry just as the value of basest metal is increased when the image of the sovereign’s head is stamped on it. 49 fain] content to take a course if there were no better opportunity available. 50 fair prosperous gale] Supporters of William argued that the favourable winds that his fleet enjoyed on its journey from the Netherlands to England proved that the mission was providentially guided. It was hence often said that William had arrived on ‘Protestant winds’. 56 Echo] In Greek mythology, Echo could only repeat the final words of anything that was spoken to her.

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Part VI: 1688–89 And all I hear is mirth in loudest strains; Thus while the chosen seed possess the promised land, I like the excluded prophet stand, The fruitful happy soil can only see, But am forbid by fate’s decree To share the triumph of the joyful victory.

5 ’Tis to your pen, great Sir, the nation owes For all the good this mighty change has wrought; ’Twas that the wondrous method did dispose, Ere the vast work was to perfection brought. 70 Oh strange effect of a seraphic quill! That can by unperceptable degrees Change every notion, every principle To any form, its great dictator please: The sword a feeble power, compared to that, 75 And to the nobler pen subordinate; And of less use in bravest turns of state: While that to blood and slaughter has recourse, This conquers hearts with soft prevailing force: So when the wiser Greeks o’ercame their foes, 80 It was not by the barbarous force of blows. When a long ten years’ fatal war had failed, With luckier wisdom they at last assailed, Wisdom and counsel which alone prevailed. Not all their numbers the famed town could win, 85 ’Twas nobler stratagem that let the conqueror in.

61–5 chosen … victory] Moses guided the Israelites to the promised land but was not allowed to enter it himself (Deuteronomy 34:1–5). 70 seraphic] showing ecstasy of devout contemplation (OED, adj. 3b). 73 dictator] one who dictates what the ‘seraphic quill’ writes. But the word also shades into the sense of one who asserts absolute authority. Although Whigs associated absolutism with Catholicism, Tories and Jacobites like Behn often reversed this rhetoric to claim that William was more of a tyrant than James could ever have been. See also Milton’s description of the rebel angels allowing Satan to take on the task of tempting Jesus in the wilderness: ‘they all commit their care | And management of this great enterprise | To him their great dictator’ (Paradise Regained, book 1, lines 111–13). 79–85] After ten years besieging the city of Troy, the Greek army pretended to retreat and left a giant wooden horse behind supposedly as a gift. The Trojans took it inside their city but once night fell, the Greeks, who were hidden inside, left the horse and sacked the city. 



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Behn, ABehn, Pindaric  Poem 6 Though I the wondrous change deplore, That makes me useless and forlorn, Yet I the great design adore, Though ruined in the universal turn. Nor can my indigence and lost repose, Those meagre furies that surround me close, Convert my sense and reason more To this unprecedented enterprise, Than that a man so great, so learned, so wise, The brave achievement owns and nobly justifies. ’Tis you, great Sir, alone, by heaven preserved, Whose conduct has so well the nation served, ’Tis you that to posterity shall give This age’s wonders, and its history. And great Nassau shall in your annals live To all futurity: Your pen shall more immortalise his name, Than even his own renowned and celebrated fame.

86 deplore] regret, mourn. 90 indigence] poverty, penury. 90 repose] tranquillity, peace of mind. 100 Nassau] i.e. William of Orange, who was also Count of Nassau.

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VI.4 Thomas Shadwell, The Address of John Dryden, Laureate to his Highness the Prince of Orange (1689)

John Dryden did not write a poem on the 1688–89 succession. Indeed, because he remained loyal to James II and refused to pledge allegiance to William III and Mary II he lost his position as Poet Laureate. Dryden’s silence, and the reversal of his political and poetic fortunes, was a cause for gleeful satire from Williamite poets. Among them, Thomas Shadwell (c. 1640–1692) probably had greatest reason to celebrate, having been portrayed as a mere dunce in Dryden’s satirical poem MacFlecknoe (1676). In The Address of John Dryden, Shadwell mimics Dryden’s voice and depicts the former laureate as willing to abandon James II. The attack on Dryden as fawning and unprincipled was a common one given his shift from Cromwellian to Stuart poet earlier in the century. The references to Dryden’s verse in this poem, though, also display Shadwell’s keen knowledge of his opponent’s writing. That knowledge is used to lend power and humour to this satirical take-down of a poet who had been the main defender of the Stuart monarchy for over a quarter of a century. Source: The poem was printed anonymously in 1689 but is widely attributed to Shadwell. It appeared in two editions: one without a title page but with a colophon (that is, an imprint at the end of the printed text) that gives no printer or publisher; and one with a full title page naming Randal Taylor of London as the printer and bookseller. The present text is based on the latter.

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In all the hosannas, our whole world’s applause, Illustrious champion of our Church and laws, Accept, great Nassau, from unworthy me, Amongst the adoring crowd, a bended knee; Nor scruple, Sir, to hear my echoing lyre,



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Strung, tuned, and joined to th’universal choir: For my suspected mouth thy glories told, A known outlier from the English fold, Rome’s votary, the Protestant’s sworn foe, Rome my religion half an hour ago. My Roman Dagon’s by thy arm o’erthrown, And now my prostituted soul’s thy own: Thy glory could convert that infidel That had whole ages stood immovable; No wonder then thou could’st affections sway In tender breasts, like mine, such pliant clay, As could even bear new moulding every day; Nor doubt thy convert true, I who could raise Immortal trophies, even to Cromwell’s praise; I who my muse’s infant quill could fledge, With high-sung murder, treason, sacrilege. A martyred monarch and an enslaved nation, A kingdom’s shame the whole world’s execration, By me translated even to a constellation. If thus all this I could unblushing write, Fear not that pen that shall thy praise indite, When high-born blood my adoration draws, Exalted glory and unblemished cause: A theme so all divine my Muse shall wing, What is’t for thee, great Prince, I will not sing?

5–6 echoing … choir] See Dryden, ‘To the Memory of Anne Killigrew’ (1686): ‘Thy brother-angels at thy birth | Strung each his lyre, and tuned it high, | That all the people of the sky | Might know a poetess was born on earth’. 8 outlier] nonconformist; outsider. 9 votary] devotee. 11 Dagon’s] of Dagon; fish-god idolized by the Philistines in the Old Testament. The Temple of Dagon was destroyed by Samson when he pulled down the two pillars supporting it (Judges 16:25). 19 trophies … praise] Heroic Stanzas, Dryden’s elegy on the death of Oliver Cromwell, was first printed in 1659 (see III.5 above). The poem was reprinted several times during the 1680s to attack and discredit Dryden, who had switched allegiances to the restored Stuart monarchy. 23 execration] act of cursing or denouncing. Shadwell has Dryden suggest that the execution of Charles I is the object of the world’s execration, though this may be meant to recall Heroic Stanzas, lines 47–8, which were interpreted as a justification of the r­ egicide (see III.5 above). 26 indite] put into words.

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Part VI: 1688–89 No bounds shall stop my Pegasean flight, I’ll spot my hind, and make my panther white. Against the seven proud hills I’ll muster all My keen poetic rage, and rhyme with all The vengeance of a second Hannibal. The papal chair by dint of verse o’erturn, My molten gods, like Israel’s calf, I’ll burn. Copes, crosiers, all the trumpery of Rome, Down to great Waller’s blazing hecatomb. I’ll pound my beads to dust, and wear no more Those pagan bracelets of the scarlet whore. But whither am I wrapt! for oh my fears!

31 Pegasean] Pegasus was the winged horse of classical mythology. To be Pegasean is to bear resemblance to Pegasus, especially in a capacity for winged flight, and the word is hence associated with poetic inspiration. 32 hind … panther] Dryden’s poem The Hind and the Panther was published in 1687. In it, Dryden announced his conversion to Catholicism in the form of a beast fable where the Hind, who represents the Catholic Church, discourses at length with the Panther, who represents the Anglican Church, on theological matters such as the location of spiritual authority and the doctrine of transubstantiation (the Catholic belief that bread and wine turned into the body and blood of Christ during the ceremony of the sacrament). Dryden describes the Hind as ‘unspotted’ (The Hind and the Panther, book I, line 3) while the Panther is black. Shadwell has Dryden reverse that description, thus drawing attention to the purported flexibilities of the laureate’s allegiance.  33 seven … hills] Seven hills surround the city of Rome. In Revelation 17:9, the seven heads of the beast on which the Whore of Babylon sits are said to symbolize seven hills. The beast was hence associated by Protestants with Catholicism. 35 Hannibal] Carthaginian general of the third century BC. He challenged the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War but was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Zama. 37 Israel’s calf] While Moses was collecting the Ten Commandments, the Israelites fashioned a golden calf that they worshipped and to which they made sacrifices (see Exodus 32). 38 Copes] long cloaks worn during some religious ceremonies. 38 crosiers] staffs or crooks carried by an abbot or a bishop. 38 trumpery] worthless trinkets; used contemptuously to describe religious practices considered superstitious. 39 Waller’s] referring to Sir William Waller (c. 1639–99), politician. Waller was a fervently anti-Catholic Justice of the Peace who headed hunts for hidden Catholics during the Popish Plot. Having spent the period 1682–88 in Europe, he returned to England after the revolution and continued to seize suspected Catholics. 39 hecatomb] religious sacrifice.



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I bend beneath the weight of sixty years; Low runs my glass, more low my aged muse, And to my will, alas! does power refuse. But if, great Prince, my feeble strength shall fail, Thy theme I’ll to my successors entail; My heirs th’unfinished subject shall complete: I have a son, and he, by all that’s great, That very son (and trust my oaths, I swore As much to my great master James before), Shall by his sire’s example, Rome renounce, For he, young stripling, yet has turned but once. That Oxford nursling, that sweet hopeful boy, His father’s, and that once Ignatian joy; Designed for a new Bellarmine Goliah, Under the great Gamaliel Obadiah. This youth, great Sir, shall your fame’s trumpet blow, And soar when my dull wings shall flag below. A Protestant Herculean column stand When I, a poor weak pillar of the land, Now growing old, and crumbling into sand. But hark! Methinks, I hear the buzzing crowd At my conversion dare to laugh aloud. Let censuring fops, and snarling envy grin, Tickled and pleased with my chameleon skin.

43 sixty years] Dryden was born on 9 August 1631, so was fifty-seven years old in early to mid-1689 when Shadwell probably wrote this poem. 49–53 Shadwell is referring to the second of Dryden’s three sons, John Dryden Jr (1668– 1701), who was taught at Oxford by Obadiah Walker (see n. 25 below). 54 nursling] baby or young child, or person bred in a particular place or under certain conditions (OED, adj. 2b, adj. 2a). Shadwell is describing both Dryden Jr’s youth and the effects of his Oxford education on his character. 55 Ignatian] pertaining to Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), who founded the Society or Order of Jesus (i.e. the Jesuits). 56 Bellarmine] Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621), Jesuit theologian and cardinal. 56 Goliah] i.e. Goliath, the biblical giant slain by David. 57 Gamaliel] a Pharisee and doctor of the law (Acts 5:34) who was supposed to have taught the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:3). 57 Obadiah] Obadiah Walker (1616–99), Catholic head of University College, Oxford. In 1686–87, Walker started to use parts of the college to host Catholic services and was supported by James II in doing so. He was arrested after the revolution but eventually released. 63 buzzing] whispering, muttering. 65 fops] foolish people.

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Part VI: 1688–89 No senseless fools my true dimensions scan, And know the laureate’s a leviathan. Now Tiber’s mouth ebbs low, and on that shore My rolling bulk, alas, can sport no more: Down the full tide I scour, to take a loose In the more swelling surge of Helvert sluice. Let chattering daws, and every senseless widgeon, Their descant pass on that great name, Religion. Religion, by true politician rules, The wise man’s strength, and the weak pride of fools. For we, who godliness for gain, support Heaven’s votaries for candidates at court, Makes our church walls, our rampart, sconce and fort. Our masses, dirges, vespers, orisons, Our counterscarps, our ravelins, and half moons. And now our Ave Mary’s put to th’ rout, And from that bastion I am beaten out,

68 leviathan] In the Old Testament, Leviathan was a huge aquatic animal. In seventeenth-century usage the word could mean both a man possessing huge authority and something that is huge or monstrous. Shadwell may be playing on the two meanings to suggest that Dryden’s self-aggrandizement leaves him unable to recognize his own ­monstrousness. Dryden’s weight may also be the subject of satire here. But Shadwell is also referring to Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, a controversial work of political philosophy published in 1651 in which Hobbes argued that allegiance should be given to any ruler who preserves the peace in the nation regardless of what kind of a ruler he or she is. This is, therefore, another reference to Dryden’s reputation for switching political sides.  69 Tiber] river running through Rome. 71 take a loose] give oneself up to indulgence. 72 Helvert sluice] i.e. Hellevoetsluis, a port town in the Netherlands from which William of Orange’s fleet set sail in October 1688. 73 daws] small birds otherwise known as jackdaws; used contemptuously to describe a silly person. 73 widgeon] a wild duck; like ‘daw’, also used contemptuously to describe a silly person. 74 descant] comment. 79 rampart] defensive wall. 79 sconce] small fort built as a form of defence. 80 orisons] prayers. 81 counterscarps] outer walls or slopes of a ditch. 81 ravelins] outworks of a fortification constructed beyond a main ditch. 81 half moons] outworks of a fortification with a crescent-shaped gorge.



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I’m but retiring to a new redoubt. Why should I blush to turn, when my defence And plea’s so plain? For if omnipotence Be th’highest attribute that heaven can boast, That’s the truest church, that heaven resembles most. The tables then are turned; and ’tis confessed The strongest and the mightiest is the best. In all my changes I’m on the right side, And by the same great reason justified. When the bold crescent lately attacked the cross, Resolved the empire of the world t’engross, Had tottering Vienna’s walls but failed, And Turkey over Christendom prevailed, Long e’re this I had crossed the Dardanello, And sate the mighty Mahomet’s hail fellow, Quitting my duller hopes, the poor renown Of Eton College, or a Dublin gown, And commenced graduate in the great divan, Had reigned a more immortal Musselman. No art, pain, labour, toil, too much t’assail Heaven’s towery battlements. By heaven I’d sail Through all religions, church o’er churches mounted, More than the rounds that Jacob’s ladder counted. Has this stupendious revolution past A change so quick, and I not turn as fast? Let boggling conscience shock the squeamish fool, Poor crazy animals, whose stomachs pule.

84 redoubt] small work projecting from a bastion. 93–6 In 1683 the forces of the Ottoman Empire laid siege to Vienna. The city was on the verge of falling when the army of the Holy Roman Empire in conjunction with the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth arrived and defeated the Ottoman forces. 97 Dardanello] i.e. Dardanelles, a thin strait formerly known as the Hellespont. 100] Rumours circulated in the late 1680s that Dryden sought a position either as provost of Eton or in some capacity as part of the ministry. 101 divan] Oriental Council of State. 102 Musselman] Muslim. 106 Jacob’s ladder] In Genesis 28:10–15, Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching from the earth up to heaven. 107 stupendious] obsolete form of ‘stupendous’. 109 boggling] starting with a fright. 110 pule] whine.

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Part VI: 1688–89 Shall scrupulous Test disgust their Paschal stickle, Whether true dressed, in souse, in broth, or pickle? If muscadine runs low, I’m not so dull, But I can pledge salvation in lambs-wool: And if salvation to one Church is bound, So much the rather would I change all round. Change then can be no fault; a whole life long Kept in one Church, may always be i’th’wrong: But there where conscience circles in her flight, He who’s of all sides, must be once i’th’right.

111 Test] i.e. the Test Act (1673), by which those who refused to deny Catholicism and pledge allegiance to the Church of England were denied positions of high office. 111 Paschal stickle] obscure. Shadwell possibly has in mind the French theologian Blaise Pascal, while ‘stickle’ may mean strife or contention (OED, n.2 2). If this is the case then the line may allude to Pascal’s wager, the argument that an astute gambler would believe in God because he or she has nothing to lose if proved wrong but eternal salvation to gain if proved right. This somewhat pragmatic view of religious faith would fit with Shadwell’s presentation of Dryden’s vacillating spiritual allegiances. 112 souse] liquid used as a pickle. 113 muscadine] wine made from muscat grapes. 114 lambs-wool] hot ale mixed with the pulp of roasted apples, which is sugared and spiced.

Settle, ‘Britain’s Address’

VI.5 Elkanah Settle, ‘Britain’s Address to the Prince of Orange’ (1689)

Elkanah Settle (1648–1724) was a poet, dramatist and pamphleteer who was notorious for his shifting political allegiances. During the succession crisis of the early 1680s he was a prominent supporter of the Exclusionist cause that sought to bar James II from the throne. But he published a recantation of this position in 1683, and in 1685 wrote a coronation ode celebrating James’s accession. These changes seem like political opportunism. But ‘Britain’s Address’, printed anonymously in early 1689, tells a slightly different story. It responds to the confusion in the aftermath of James’s flight, before William and Mary became joint monarchs. The praise it offers William is extravagant but it is also conditional on his ability to restore ‘great Caesar to his rightful throne’. Rather than just celebrate William as a deliverer, in other words, this poem advises him to restore James to power. It is a rare example of a poet attempting to intervene in favour of James during the uncertain political events of early 1689. Source: ‘Britain’s Address to the Prince of Orange’ was printed at the end of a longer poem, A View of the Times. It was printed anonymously though it is widely attributed to Settle, by writers including his most recent biographer.1 The poem appeared in only one edition in London early in 1689.    To you, great Prince, three prostrate nations come    To ease their fears, and to expect their doom;     Oh! Hero, more than half divine! Whose glories, and replenished virtues first

1 See Abigail Williams, ‘Settle, Elkanah (1648–1724)’, ODNB. 2 doom] sentence or fate.

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5     Made me my willing shores resign     Up to your conquering hands in trust. Not Caesar’s promise, nor the word of God Could calm the trembling fevers in my blood; ’Twas yours, great Sir, on whom I did depend, 10 My laws, and just religion to defend; ’Twas that, that did assist your glory’s rise, ’Twas that, that made you Britain’s noblest choice, And gave you all the applauses of my people’s voice: Then (as your gracious declarations speak) 15 My king and people once more happy make. My people whom no more words or oaths can bind, Yet strictly will exact this truth from you, As their own right, their property and due; But to that justice will not be confined. 20     The mighty work’s but half yet done,     Your glories cannot be complete, Till by a justice more illustrious yet, You bring great Caesar to his rightful throne. Brave offspring of the royal martyr’s blood, 25 By nature pious, merciful and good, Maintain this empire in its lawful line;     This empire, which succeeding time, By right of birth heaven may to you resign. Content you with the glories you have won, 30 Such as no hero yet did e’er renown; Nor let your nobler quiet be undone With the too restless burden of a crown. Nor you, illustrious Mary, can receive What heaven denies, and justice cannot give: 35 Your virtues are too eminently great,

7 Caesar’s] i.e. of James II. 14–15 In his October Declaration, William had claimed that his aim was to maintain the people’s happiness. 17 strictly] with unrelaxed care or attention to detail; without letting particulars escape notice (OED, adv. 6a). 24 royal martyr’s] i.e. of Charles I. 33 ‘The Princess of Orange’ (Settle’s marginal note). Settle is referring to Mary, William of Orange’s wife and James II’s daughter.



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    To rob a father’s head to adorn your own; And that bright angel’s face, with every charm replete,     Needs not th’addition of a lawless crown: Leave it to heaven! Since you’ve too lately seen The faith false Britain paid an injured queen.

36 father’s head] Mary was the eldest daughter of James II by his first wife, Anne Hyde (1637–71). 40 injured queen] i.e. Mary of Modena, James II’s second wife, who fled England for France on 10 December 1688. She would remain an exile in Saint-Germain for the rest of her life.

VI.6 On the Occasion of the Descent of his Highness the Prince of Orange into England, and their Highnesses Accession to the Crown. A Pindaric Ode (1689)

William and Mary’s accession to the throne was celebrated by many poets. This anonymous example reveals a number of the key tropes of such verse. William is a providential hero, delivering the nation from Stuart indolence and Catholic plotting. The events of 1688–89 are set in a historical context of Whig political failure and success from the previous decade. William’s arrival is thus seen as the triumph of a political cause that began in the early 1680s. He is also presented as a martial figure who will restore Britain’s position in Europe by challenging the Catholic superpower of France. The poem also turns its attention to Mary in the concluding stanza, depicting her as the other half of a Protestant union that would safeguard the nation for years to come. In its blend of Protestant zeal and militaristic rhetoric, this ode is exemplary of the kind of verse panegyric that greeted William and Mary’s accession. Source: The poem was printed in one edition. It appeared without an imprint, so details the precise place and date of publication are unknown, though the title suggests a date after 12 February 1689, when William and Mary acceded to the throne.

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1     Virtue, how weak is thy defence!      How weak thy guards of innocence! When giddy power has but a weak pretence;   A weak pretence too strong will prove For all thy mighty, humble bonds of love;   The poison of a weak pretence

3 pretence] assertion of a right or title.



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  Will stain thy bright obedience;   Though passive ’tis, and ’tis refined,     Beyond the common kind; 10      Though free From the blind bigot, and hypocrisy. 2   In the warm close   Of sacred Charles’s easy reign,   The truth too lucidly arose 15   To be suspected vain; Dissolved in ease, and weakened with delight, The trust of power was in the Jesuit;   The Jesuit profoundly knew The arts to huddle up old plots, by forging new, 20 From out the noose his neck he swiftly drew; For aversion some, and some for gain,     Would the old truth maintain; Too eagerly they hurried on     The after-game, 25 And wrought their heedless zeal into a flame, That served to shape their own; Some justly for their folly fell: Yet why should pious Russell bear a part?     Who ne’r knew art, 30 But to oblige his country’s king and God: 7–8 obedience … passive] The doctrine of passive obedience meant that the crown should be obeyed at all times. Many Anglicans in the late 1680s who disapproved of James’s religion nonetheless argued they must remain loyal under the precepts of passive obedience. This poet argues that such obedience will leave the country open to attack from Catholics. 11 bigot] religious hypocrite or follower of superstition. The author is using the word to attack Catholicism. 13 easy] comfortable, luxurious; but shading into a more pejorative sense of indolent. 18 profoundly] with deep penetration into a subject. 19 huddle] conceal, keep out of sight. 21 aversion] estrangement. 21 gain] increase of advantage. 28 Russell] William Russell (1639–83), politician and conspirator. Russell was a Whig politician who was arrested in June 1683 under suspicion of planning the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and James, Duke of York. Russell was executed on 21 July 1683. Along with several other Whigs executed in the aftermath of the Exclusion Crisis, including Essex (see lines 31–3), he became a Whig martyr after 1688.

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3     Yet, glorious soul, from thee 35 Far be the specious villainy: Thy errors only were too kind, For plenty, and for ease designed; Thy thoughts employed in love, and peace; And all thy genuine acts were acts of grace; 40 Thy justice did to all afford The balance, very few the sword:     But thus misled Thy Judas in the kiss betrayed, And in our temples’ rended veils we needs must read, 45 How their great saviour died. 4 ’Tis done, and ’tis a Roman deed, The day now openly they claim; Numerous unerring tragedies succeed, The sanction of a Roman aim; 50 And virtue languishes at best,     Or only for design, Or by oppression is confessed: The sacred fence of law goes down, And nothing’s left us but the gown: 55 The Gospel should the turn pursue, If wolves disguised amongst the sheep could do: All faith by precedents denied,     To heaven ’tis scarce allied; 31 Essex] Arthur Capel, First Earl of Essex (1632–83), politician and conspirator. Along with Russell, Essex was involved in the Rye House Plot in 1683. He died while imprisoned in the Tower of London on 13 July 1683, having had his throat slashed with a razor. Suicide was suspected, although some Whigs (including, it appears, the author of this poem) believed he had been murdered as part of a Catholic conspiracy. 40–1] The image is of the figure of Justice, who holds a pair of balancing scales in one hand and a sword in the other. 43] At the Last Supper, Judas betrayed Jesus to the guards of the high priests by kissing him (see Matthew 26:48–9). 44 rended] torn. 46 Roman] i.e. Catholic.



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And hope can on her anchor hardly stem the tide: 60 Unmasked the Jesuit appears, Unmasked the reverend villainy he bears; For hell the tool to nothing else intends     But ruin to his friends: Ah! Royal James, thou might’st have known 65 Thy pleasant Eden yet thy own; Thy power next heaven, thy actions free, And all thy creatures fond of thee; Had not thy woman’s vicious appetite Been cheated by the devil, the Jesuit. 5 70 But purging remedies must ease     The heats of a disease: And though the devil, and woman fixed the vice     On vain,     Deluded man, 75 ’Twas heaven expelled him paradise; Heaven saw the clog his people drew From woman, and the bigot too; He saw the conscientious arts begun, And lavishly he saw them carried on; 80 He saw the flesh-pots dressed, t’incite His Israel to drudge with appetite; But when once bound to slavery, he knew, That leeks and onions would profusely do; He saw, and heard at length the cries 59 hope … anchor] See Hebrews 6:19: ‘Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.’ 61 reverend] awe-inspiring. The poet is ironically claiming that the Jesuits’ villainy is so great that it demands reverence. 68 vicious] immoral, depraved. 68 appetite] inclination, desire; associated in the seventeenth century especially with the passions. 76 clog] hindrance. 80 flesh-pots] places providing sexual pleasure and hedonism. The usage here seems to equate women to fleshpots, i.e. merely vessels of sexual and hedonistic temptation. 81 drudge with appetite] To drudge is to work laboriously or slavishly; the phrase appears to suggest that the Israelites had become slaves to their passions. 83 leeks and onions] In the wilderness, the Israelites, starving and not content with the manna provided from heaven, dream of the leeks and onions they had before their exile (see Numbers 11:5).

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85 They offered for their miseries; And Orange, Moses-like ordained, T’expunge the faithless king, and purge th’infected land. 6 He comes, he comes, th’Almighty’s choice! The winds, and seas obey his voice! 90 ’Twas heaven the mighty work begun,     For every act of thine, Almighty hero, is divine; For heaven are all the conquests thou hast won: To thy commission who would not submit! 95 Whose victories are in the gaining sweet; And in fruition sure must be divinely great. Those noble searching souls, who early knew     The miseries that would ensue;     And early were oppressed, 100     For turning evils to the best, Heaven’s gracious care at thy approach confessed; On thee their faith, and hope securely placed: Nor flattering honour, vicious gain, Nor influence, the rest could chain, 105 On thee to trust ’tis safe, on them ’tis vain: But Churchill let me ever name; Churchill, the muses’ happy claim! Churchill, the precedent of fame! His virtue, no prevailing ease, 110 No weakening honours e’er could lessen to degrees; Nor court, nor camp, but by deserts could please.    Betimes he to his God intends, His cause (he knew) deserved before his friends;     Betimes the glorious course pursued, 115 He knew, that to be great was to be good, And scorned the specious murmurs of the crowd;

94 commission] order, command. 106 Churchill] John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), army officer. He remained loyal to James II until late November 1688, when he defected to William of Orange’s army. 112 Betimes] in good time but also before it is too late (OED, adv. 3), the latter meaning carrying the urgent sense of peril averted that is important in the poem’s celebration of William.



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     He truly knew, That heaven was won by loss, and scandal too. 7     Io Triumphe! be your song, 120     That to the house of God belong;     Such holy ecstasies are due, Oh Albion, from all thy laymen too: For where does heaven’s prevailing mercies shine,     With greater lustre, than on thine? 125     Would you conquer heaven, prevent     The wretched ills your sins have meant?     This conquest is your precedent:     Would you all the beauties know,     That peace and lovesome ease can show? 130     Obey and love the mighty two. Love and obedience, are the sweetest fruit     Of heaven, the pleasing attribute.     Hail! sacred hero, blessed the crown     That heaven and merit makes thy own: 135     May all thy genial kingdoms prove,     As easy as thy royal love; And may thy sceptre still possess the dove.     Ave Maria! full of grace,     And all as charming as thy face; 140     For thus religiously to thee     We bow from superstition free:     May all thy hours be crowned with bliss,     Sweet as thy thoughts, and great as his;     May constant love, and useful war, 145     Attend your service everywhere;     And still may your auspicious rule Extend o’er all, enlarge in every soul.

118 scandal] damage to reputation (OED, n. 2a). The author suggests that Churchill risked loss of position and damage to his reputation at court by deserting James and joining William. 119 Io Triumphe] public expression of pleasure at a triumph. 138] The ‘Ave Maria’ was a Catholic song of adoration to the Virgin Mary. Here, it is appropriated as a celebration of the new Protestant queen Mary II. ‘Grace’ in this context takes on a more Calvinistic sense of God’s grace for the elect: William of Orange held Calvinistic theological views. See also The Protestant’s Ave Mary (VI.7 below).

VI.7 The Protestant’s Ave Mary, on the Arrival of her Most Gracious Majesty, Mary, Queen of England (1689)

Queen Mary was often praised within poems addressed to her husband. But she was also the subject of a number of poems in her own right. This poem appropriates the ‘Ave Maria’, a Catholic song of adoration for the Virgin Mary, in order to praise the Protestant virtues of Queen Mary (see also VI.6, n. 28). What marks it out, however, is how Mary is seen as a militaristic figure. In many panegyrics in 1689 and after, William was represented as a military hero. Here, Mary is also urged to spearhead a newly confident Britain’s expansion into overseas territory, to oversee new trade and to quash foreign, irreligious opposition. As well as being an example of how Mary was represented in verse, then, this poem also shows the changing place of Britain in a global context. Source: The poem appeared in one edition in 1689, printed in London for Richard Baldwin.

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Hail all that’s great or good! and let the hail O’er spread three kingdoms, and like truth prevail: Hail Mary! ’Twas of old the voice of heaven; Nor are we mortals of our share bereaven. Hail Mary full of grace! speaks yet more clear, Since every virtue is constellate here. And all the graces so entirely meet, That nothing less could such a princess greet. Nor rest we here: the Lord is with thee too: Or thy great Lord could ne’er such wonders do.

4 bereaven] bereaved.  6 constellate] clustered like stars in a constellation. 



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Wonders! may well th’alarumed world surprise; It was of God, and marvellous in our eyes! Wonders! as put its motion to a stand, And not His finger speaks, but mighty hand. 15 Advance yet higher, and pursue the hind; Blessed art thou amongst all womankind: Since thou com’st clothed with innocence and peace, And bring’st the charms, to make our tempests cease: Since by thy virtues we shall now retrieve 20 Our gasping laws, and gain them a reprieve. Thy William’s maintained ray will restore, England the lustre it enjoyed before; Our shattered liberties and laws maintain, And calmly anchor Church and state again. 25 But oh! We grieve, that yet, we can’t apply, The last division of that rosary. We wish, we hope, we pray, and will pray on, Till we have gained heaven’s favour in a son: That then we may the whole salute repeat, 30 And make our joys, as well as that complete. Ye mitred heads assist, call to assize, Your strongest zeals, and with them storm the skies; We know, that fervent prayer did never fail, And let Rome know, such heretics can prevail, 35 And with a holy violence pluck down, A real issue to support the Crown, Whilst their addresses to Loreto made, Did only gain a son in masquerade. Thus we, to our great Mary, pay our hails, 40 With hearts as full, and swelling as her sails; 11 alarumed] alarmed. 12] ‘This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes’ (Psalm 118:23). Gilbert Burnet used this as the text for the sermon he delivered before William of Orange at St James’s Palace on 23 December 1688 (see VI.2 above). 16] See Elizabeth to Mary in Luke 1:42: ‘And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb’. 31 assize] sitting of a legislative body. 32 storm the skies] See Dryden, Astraea Redux, IV.5 above, line 143. 37–8] Mary of Modena’s pregnancy was announced in 1688 when her mother, the Duchess of Modena, was on pilgrimage to the church of Loreto, supposedly the house where Mary, mother of Jesus, was born and which was believed to have been transported by angels to Italy. Mary of Modena’s pregnancy was thus presented by her supporters as the result of a blessing from the Virgin.

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Part VI: 1688–89 Thanks winds, and seas, and ships, that wafted o’er, Our blessed Lady to the British shore. But above all, thanks be to heaven alone, That led her from a state, unto a throne; Where she will hold (guided by th’hand of God) The dovelike sceptre, not an iron rod: So our late model, she may them reform, And with true English interest perform, What James first promised; and advance our glory, Beyond the limits of ancestral story: For what can’t England do, would she awake? Give laws to Europe, and make empires shake. Keep mistress of the undisputed main, And hold the balance just ’twixt France, and Spain; And once more make her useless cannons roar, Through both the Indies, and bring back their ore. Search out new world, and conquer old ones too, Bomb Mexico, and subjugate Peru: Beard the proud Sophy, and the grand mogul; These are the rays would make thy glory full. Such mighty acts, would make a perfect reign,

41–2] Mary arrived in England on 12 February 1689, three months after William. 47 reform] From the time of her arrival in England, Mary attempted to promote godliness and moral reform at court. On arriving in 1689 she was shocked ‘to see so little devotion in a people so lately in such eminent danger’ (quoted in Craig Rose, England in the 1690s: Revolution, Religion and War (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), p. 204). A key part of Mary’s queenship saw her oversee a programme of moral reformation in the Church and in society. 53 main] sea. 54 France, and Spain] The Nine Years War (1689–97) was fought between France under Louis XIV and a coalition of European powers, including England under William III and Spain under Charles II. 56 both the Indies] i.e. both the West Indies, in the modern-day Caribbean, and the East Indies, encompassing most of south-east Asia. Britain had established trade links with the East Indies at the beginning of the seventeenth century through the East India Company. Britain also possessed a number of colonies in the Caribbean, including Barbados and Jamaica. 58] Mexico and Peru were both ruled by Spain in the seventeenth century, though English ships had been known to attack Yucatan and Campeche on Mexico’s south-­eastern peninsula from the sixteenth century onwards. Though the reference is obscure, the poet may possibly be thinking about who would claim the colonies at the death of the Spanish king Charles II, who was known to be seriously ill. 59 Sophy] title of the supreme ruler of Persia.



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And our great William conqueror again. Shame, that our lions should thus dormant lie, And all our spirits in a lethargy; What have we done, but sought, what Saint’s Day next? And our care was, t’observe the Jesuit’s text; To court that miss, to proselyte this fool, To see that play, and to make this man, tool; To undermine, by closet-work, the brave, To awe the virtuous, and advance the knave; To hector little masters of the arts, To study how to lose the people’s hearts. These were our works, when Lobbs, and Penns, and Brents, Were to our court the mighty ornaments; These were the statesmen culled from all the rest, Yet, if once tried, could never stand the Test; Since by these little arts, they vilely made French lilies flourish, and our English fade. But now the scene is changed, the cloud’s dispersed, And we relieved from all we were oppressed;

65] i.e. the nation has been indolent because its rulers have been obsessed with Catholic ritual. 65 Saint’s Day] a day set aside for the observance of a saint. 66 care] attention. 67–8] These lines appear to link the culture of hedonism that Williamites often associated with the restored court of Charles II with the religious folly of James’s rule. 67 miss] i.e. mistress. 67 proselyte] seek to convert someone from one opinion or religion to another. 68 tool] person used by another for her or his own ends (OED, n. 3a). 69 closet-work] secretive dealings. The word was used by Milton in Eikonoklastes (1649) to attack Charles I’s tyrannical tendencies. 71 hector] domineer, bully. 73 Lobbs] Stephen Lobb (d. 1699) was a nonconformist minister who, having been implicated in the Rye House Plot, was pardoned in 1686 and became a supporter of James II.  73 Penns] William Penn (1644–1718) was a Quaker leader and close advisor of James II (see V.4 above). 73 Brents] Robert Brent was a Catholic lawyer who, in 1687, tried to sway elections in James II’s favour by introducing Catholic and nonconformist voters into particular boroughs. 76 Test] i.e. the Test Act, which required all statesmen to pledge allegiance to the Church of England and deny the key tenets of Catholicism, including the belief in transubstantiation (i.e. the belief that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ during the ceremony of the sacrament).

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Our angel comes, by whose diviner ray, Darkness is fled, and we salute the day; Welcome, thrice welcome, to the old Whitehall, Thy glorious presence makes us happy all. 85 To providence, and thee, we ought to raise Altars for thanks, and pyramids for praise; The Church shall triumph, and the state rejoice, And sing Te Deums with united voice: So may’st thou be beloved by wholes, not parts, 90 And ever live the regent queen of hearts: And with it gain all purses, arms, and men, Proud to enforce the treaty Nimeguen. Then visit Monsieur with united powers, See Paris too, and humble her high towers; 95 Storm the Bastille, possess the Louvre too; What can’t great William and bright Mary do! Revenge Aurange, and with confederates call Such as shall make his slaves poor Quakers all. Force lofty Lewis abdicate his crown, 100 Time bars no prince’s right, ’tis still thy own; And when that mighty monarch’s brought thus low, For pity’s sake, allow him Fountainbleau. Thus may’st thou conquer, and amen all say, Thus may’st thou reign, whiles we our homage pay, 105 And make thy entry, our great Lady Day. 88 Te Deums] Latin hymns of praise, sung during morning prayer in Catholic churches and at Matins in the Church of England. 92 treaty Nimeguen] The Treaty of Nijmegen (1678), signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, ended the war between France and the Dutch Republic and Spain. The poet appears to suggest that Mary will also be able to contain French military aggression. 97 Aurange] i.e. Orange; pertaining to the dynasty of the House of Orange. 98 Quakers] The Quakers were named pejoratively as such because they were said to tremble when prophesying. The poet may be using the name of the sect figuratively to describe William and Mary’s enemies trembling in fear. 99 Lewis] i.e. Louis XIV. 100] English monarchs had styled themselves kings of France since Edward III first claimed the title in the 1360s. Although any territorial or dynastic claims had long since been abandoned, the style was retained in many ceremonial forms. 102 Fountainbleau] The Palace of Fountainebleau, outside Paris, was one of the largest royal houses in early modern France. 105 Lady Day] The Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary was celebrated on 25 March. The poet here continues to parallel religious celebrations of the Virgin with political celebrations of Mary II’s arrival.

VI.8 A Letter from a Gentleman in the Country to his Correspondent in the City, Concerning the Coronation Medal, Distributed April 11. 1689 (1689)

Royal coronations in the seventeenth century often led to medals and smaller coins, or jetons, being minted in celebration. These objects could potentially reach a wide audience, so they provided opportunities for new monarchs to project their image to the nation. The medal minted for the 1689 coronation depicted the mythical story in which Phaeton, the son of Helios, the sun god, borrows his father’s chariot but loses control of it. To preserve the earth from being burnt up, Zeus struck Phaeton down with a thunderbolt (in the pamphlet it is Zeus’s Roman equivalent, Jupiter, who throws the bolt). On the medal, Zeus represents William while Phaeton is James II (see Figure 7). This pamphlet, written from the perspective of a supposedly loyal subject, responds to the coronation and the medal. Yet the descriptions of Dutch soldiers injuring the crowds at the coronation and the subsequent discussion of the medal’s iconography, where the misinterpretations of supposedly ill-informed onlookers in fact helps the author construct a seditious commentary on William and Mary’s accession, reveals penetrating criticism of the new king and queen. The pamphlet is a clever, oppositional piece of writing that shows the perils that existed for monarchs who opened up their image to wide popular consumption and interpretation. Source: The single-sheet pamphlet was published in only one edition. It was published without an imprint so precise place or date of publication is unknown, though the ‘letter’ itself is dated at the end April 1689, the month of William and Mary’s coronation. Sir, You have obliged me very much by the account you gave me of the coronation: but I have had some remarks from another hand, concerning the truth of which I suspend my judgement till you inform me better.

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I shall give you the relation in the very words, as I received it. There was one thing which much afflicted all true Englishmen, because it is believed it never happened since William the Conqueror’s time; which was, that a king and queen of England should make their procession at the coronation through a treble rank1 of armed horse and foot, all foreigners. It grieved us all to see that for want of some interpreters betwixt them and the multitude, which usually press2 upon such occasions, an infinite of the poor English, even well-wishers to the new king and queen, were not only rudely treated with stern countenances and Dutch curses, but continually pushed back with the butt-ends of the soldiers’ muskets, or the sergeants’ halberds,3 and sometimes received broken heads, or as dangerous bruises if they did but endeavour to get nearer. I saw myself many persons knocked and pushed upon the breast with the troopers’ pistols, and pricked with their swords for endeavouring to couch under the horses’ heads; and when anyone offered to get nearer through the ranks of horsemen, where they found protection at former coronations by their own countrymen, these rude strangers were sure to check their horses and make them curvet4 or turn round, which could not be without the hazard of breaking their legs, or bruising those that were in the way. I need not mention the tossing and pushing men and women from place to place, and dragging them through the kennels,5 more like slaves, nay dogs, than Christians, which made many spectators sigh and pity the condition of several hundreds whom they saw so used; whilst others were not afraid to say what most, I believe, thought, that this was but the beginning, and a light matter in comparison of what the whole body of the English nation (who are not now it seems to be confided in) must suffer under these new Lord-Danes6 before the King can be so settled in his throne that he may safely dismiss his foreign force. Nay, some they say had their skulls broken and died in the crowd, though this is endeavoured to be stifled. Neither do you mention the unlucky qualm7 my correspondent tells me the King had, nor the Duke of Norfolk’s8 fall from his horse, when he ushered in the champion, which were something ominous.

 1 treble rank] A rank is a line of soldiers. A treble rank, then, is three lines of soldiers one behind the other.  2 press] i.e. press forward, to see the new king and queen.  3 halberds] weapons consisting of a sharp blade and a spear point mounted onto a handle.  4 curvet] pertaining to horses: to leap with the forelegs raised together and the hind legs raised with a spring before the forelegs return to the ground.  5 kennels] gutters.  6 new Lord-Danes] The author appears to be paralleling the present Dutch invasion of England with the invasions of the Danish army in both the ninth and eleventh centuries.  7 qualm] anxiety, uncertainty.  8 Duke of Norfolk] Henry Howard, Seventh Duke of Norfolk (1655–1701), was the Earl Marshal and chief butler at the coronation of William and Mary.



A LetterSettle, from a‘Britain’s GentlemanAddress’ in the Country 

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The gold medal9 you sent me, the true meaning of which you desire me to explain, gave me and some friends of mine no small diversion. And to deal plainly with you, I think the contriver of it hath done their majesties little service. I need not tell you that the custom of stamping medals (upon whose reverses the inaugurations, victories, or great achievements of princes or generals, were represented either expressly or by some emblem) is as old as the first coinage of money by the Grecians and Romans. Nor that in the last century and this they have been improved, and many ingenious devices invented suitable to the noble enterprises which were by those means to be perpetuated; and are to be found in the repositories of princes, or published by Luchins10 and others on that subject. Insomuch that we find even John of Leiden11 after he had gotten entire possession of Munster, and filled it with his crew of Anabaptists, notwithstanding his pretended sanctity and mortification, coined several medals, which were indeed very ominous to him; for this mushroom12 king, sprung from Holland, continued not above six months, before he was hung up in an iron cage, with some of his accomplices, upon the top of a tower in Munster. I might give you various instances of auspicious and inaugural medals, but that I intend this only as a letter. Therefore I shall proceed to the present medal, which, of what nature it will be, time alone must show; yet I foresee it will give great occasion to the maligners of our new crowned King and Queen to pass their malicious censures on it. One of my friends, viewing the two faces of the King and Queen, said that such conjunctions in medals had oftentimes proved unfortunate. For he had, not long since, by him the medal made for the two De Witts, which much resembled this, if the head attire had not been different, whose inhuman butchery by the mobile of  Amsterdam gave the very first rise to the then blooming Prince of Orange’s

 9 gold medal] the coronation medal minted to commemorate William and Mary’s coronation. 10 Luchins] Although this is obscure, the context suggests that ‘Luchins’ is a numismatic catalogue, or a reference work of medals and coins. The Gentleman’s Magazine, 57 (1787) lists a number of such catalogues including ‘Kohler, Luchius, Mieris (Meyerus) Annales Flandriae’. It is possible that ‘Luchins’ could be an error and that the reference is actually to ‘Luchius’, though what the precise work in question is remains unknown. 11 John of Leiden] German Anabaptist (1509–36). He was one of the leaders of the Anabaptists during the siege of Munster when Catholic forces surrounded the city in Westphalia, which had been taken over by a theocratic government that banned money and private property. When the city fell, John of Leiden was executed along with two other of the city’s religious leaders, and their remains were hung in iron cages on the steeple of a church. 12 mushroom] used as an adjective in the late seventeenth century to describe an ­individual who has rapidly grown to prominence; an upstart.

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greatness.13 And all the world (says he) knows that King Phillip and Queen Mary14 of England, and King Henry and Queen Mary15 of Scotland, whose faces and names were joined in their coins and medals, were not very fortunate. But I told him, since the parliament had joined them in the sovereignty, they could not be disjoined in their coin, and I doubted not but their fortunes would be alike, good or bad. When I received the reverse, I was heated into an indignation that any person should be so indiscreet as to choose an emblem upon such an occasion so subject to misinterpretation as this would be. For as Julius Caesar said to his wife Calpurnia, that it was not enough that she should be innocent, but that she ought to be so cautious in all her actions, that she should be free even from suspicion.16 So ought it to be with emblems and medals; they ought to signify and express so clearly the worth and greatness of those princes’ actions which they represent, that no sinister interpretations might be made of them. And this indignation was increased by the reflection which a gentleman made, who first looked upon the reverse with me. This gentleman seeing a chariot, but not understanding the Latin inscription, and having heard the town talk of Tullia, who instigated her husband Tarquinius to kill her father Servius Tullius, king of the Romans, that he might succeed him in the throne, and, as Livy says, caused her chariot to be driven over his mangled body,17 cried out, ‘Is this Tullia’s chariot?’ This I say shocked me, and raised my anger against

13 two De Witts … greatness] The De Witt brothers, Johann (1625–72) and Cornelius (1623–72), were Dutch politicians. Johann was the ‘Grand Pensionary’, a position of supreme authority during the period from 1650 to 1672 when there was no stadholder in place. Cornelius closely assisted his brother until they were both assassinated and their bodies mutilated in 1672 by supporters of the House of Orange. William of Orange became stadholder after their assassination. mobile] mob, rabble, common people. 14 King Phillip … Queen Mary] Philip II of Spain and Queen Mary I of England, who were married in August 1554. Mary had become queen the year before. A coin minted for their marriage depicted the two of them together. 15 King Henry … Queen Mary] Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and Mary, Queen of Scots, who were married in 1565. A coin was minted for the occasion depicting both of their heads. 16 Julius Caesar … suspicion] Originally referring to Caesar’s divorce of his second wife, Pompeia, because of rumours that she was nearly seduced by Publius Clodius, the saying means that those who possess supreme authority must not be seen to associate  with anyone or anything under suspicion of wrongdoing, whether or not they believe such wrongdoing has occurred. Calpurnia] Julius Caesar’s third wife, whom he married after his divorce from Pompeia. 17 Tullia … body] Jacobites often likened Mary to the tyrannical Tullia because she had taken the throne from her father, James II. The most famous example is Arthur Maynwaring’s Tarquin and Tullia, printed in 1689.



A Letter Settle, from a‘Britain’s GentlemanAddress’ in the Country 

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the contriver,18 who had chosen so ill an emblem, which upon so superficial a view, brought such an odious history into men’s minds. Another by-stander seeing the figure represented Phaeton, whom the poets feign to have obtained leave of his father Phoebus to guide his chariot for one day, and who by his want of skill to govern the fiery horses, had like to have set the world on fire, had not Jupiter struck him dead with a thunderbolt, exclaimed against the emblem as full of ill omens, and said that the people knowing that this king and queen had, not by permission, but by violence ascended their father’s throne, would look upon this as his chariot which they drive, and interpreted Jupiter’s thunderbolt as a sign of some judgement of God impending over our gracious prince, for this, which he called, an unnatural usurpation. This made my cheeks and ears to burn, and I told them, they were both extremely wide of the inventor’s meaning. For by Phaeton he meant King James, who by misgovernment had endangered the destruction of this kingdom, and that God having compassion on his Church and people, had struck him from his regal seat. But another gentleman then present said that although he verily believed that was the contriver’s meaning, yet there were so many exceptions to the congruity of that fable with the circumstances of King James’s reign, that he might as well have offered the war of the giants against Jupiter,19 as this, to represent the inaugural glory of our King and Queen, which ought to have been the only subject to be considered. He said that Phaeton could never represent King James since the throne or chariot belonged solely to him, as hereditary lawful king; neither could it be said that he had asked anyone’s leave to guide it. But that all men knew an usurper was the moral of Phaeton in the fable, and an usurper in his father’s reign. Moreover (said he) if King James must be Phaeton, then King William must be Jupiter that struck him out of his chariot, or Phoebus that reassumed it after he had been thunderstruck; and how disagreeable this was to the whole scope of the fable, was obvious to every schoolboy that read Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Nay, he further affirmed that this emblem seems to presage King James’s returning to his throne again, and if so, it would be congruous in almost all its circumstances. I must confess Sir, I could not heartily contradict this gentleman; but wished the author had either consulted books or men, for a more significant and unexceptionable emblem. But since he has been so unfortunate, if not malicious, if you know the person, advise him to get himself included in the Act of Indemnity;20 it being a 18 contriver] i.e. of the medal’s design. 19 war … Jupiter] In Greek mythology, the Giants were a race of beings who tried to attack and conquer the heavens. Jupiter defeated them with thunderbolts and buried them under Mount Etna. 20 Act of Indemnity] Passed by parliament in 1660, this Act guaranteed that those people who had committed some crimes during the 1650s would not be punished for their previous allegiances once King Charles was restored to the throne (see IV.1 above). The Act was still in place in 1689.

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crime, equal to the counterfeiting the king’s coin, to contrive a coronation emblem that gives such occasion of censure and reflection to the malcontents, and maligners of King William, our present Phoebus, from whom we expect a wonderful deliverance. Sir, I am yours. April the 16th 1689.

Part VII: 1702

Introduction

Queen Anne inherited the throne as the younger sister of Mary, who had ruled jointly with her husband, William of Orange. Mary died in 1694, aged just thirtytwo. William’s health declined rapidly in the early months of 1702, when he first suffered a broken collar-bone after a fall from a horse, and then collapsed with a pulmonary fever. One of the conditions of the settlement of the crown on William and Mary in 1689 had been that Anne would stand as the rightful successor should the joint monarchs bear no children. As a result she had eight years to prepare herself for her reign. She positioned herself to follow different policies from William and Mary, with whom she enjoyed uneasy, and often frosty relations. In particular, within the party politics that were shaping government in England, while William and Mary favoured the Whigs, Anne leaned decisively towards the Tories. Despite the anticipation of change, some things remained relatively constant. As much as her predecessor, Anne was willing to take her country to war. She engaged, from the beginning of her reign, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). She also lived under the threat of Jacobite claims to the throne, as supporters of the Pretender, James Francis Edward, saw the death of William as an opportune moment to seize the initiative. Although the Pretender’s only effort to land a fleet – in Scotland in 1708 – was thwarted, the threat of a Jacobite invasion, supported by the French, hung heavily over the British Isles. Like her sister before her, Anne also struggled with the basic human challenges of reproduction. Anne is believed to have fallen pregnant on seventeen occasions, yet she assumed the throne at the age of thirty-seven without an heir. Her only child to survive infancy, William, Duke of Gloucester, had died at the age of eleven in 1700. At this point parliament passed the Act of Settlement, which stipulated that, should she remain childless and the Pretender remain a Catholic,

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the crown would pass after her death to the Hanoverian electors. Although some efforts were made in vain to convert James Francis Edward, this law virtually ensured that Anne would be the last Stuart monarch. The succession literature of 1702 struggled to construct a successful model for Queen Anne. Some of the panegyrics published at this time are more than usually dull and conventional by comparison with those published in other succession years. Some opted for pastoral motifs, suggestive of a blissfully peaceful land ruled by a benign and perfect monarch. Others resorted to celebrations of Anne’s purported beauty, although she was not easy to idealize in this regard, since her health was poor and she had increasing difficulty in walking without support. Some looked back to Elizabeth I: a comparison invited by Anne’s own strikingly Elizabethan declaration to parliament, that she knew ‘mine own heart to be entirely English’. Perhaps the most striking aspect of succession literature in 1702, though, is the extent to which the incoming monarch is positioned in relation to an ongoing contest between political parties. Partly on account of the agreements of 1689 that rebalanced the respective powers of monarch and parliament, and partly on account of her gender, Anne would wield less independent authority than any of her Stuart predecessors. Key government ministers and generals thus loomed large in 1702, drawing attention away from Anne herself. Anne’s connections to the party politics of her time also shaped many of the responses to her succession. On the occasions of earlier Stuart successions, it had been almost inconceivable that writers would criticize a monarch. A king or queen held a place, at least in theory, beyond the fray of political debate. But the events of the century had gradually worn away at this convention, and the convulsions of the 1680s had opened almost irreparable divisions in the polity. The emergence of parties – themselves, of course, largely products of the succession battles of the 1670s and 1680s – hauled monarchs more decisively into the political arena. The result was twofold: panegyric tended to become more politically engaged, while political satire more commonly exposed the monarch to question.

VII.1 Queen Anne, from ‘The Queen’s Speech in Parliament’ (1702)

A new monarch’s address to the nation’s Houses of Parliament – the Commons and the Lords – was an important opportunity to establish both an image and an agenda. Monarchs were also dependent upon parliament for financial support, at once to sustain the costly management of royal households and to underwrite the costs of diplomatic and military ventures. Anne (1665–1714) plots a skilful path in this speech: appeasing the Whigs by declaring her commitment to uphold the Protestant succession, while rallying the Tories with her profession of patriotism. In her commitment to war, which she presented to parliament as necessary in order to curb the power of France, she aligned herself with her predecessor. In other respects she looked further back: to the project of uniting England and Scotland, first proposed by James I; and, in her model of female authority, to Elizabeth I. Source: This speech was made on 11 March 1702, three days after the death of William. It was printed in A Collection of All Her Majesty’s Speeches, Messages, &c (London, 1712). We use this text. My Lords and Gentlemen,1 I cannot too much lament my own unhappiness, in succeeding to the Crown so immediately after the loss of a king, who was the great support not only of these kingdoms, but of all Europe. I am extremely sensible of the weight and difficulty it brings upon me. But the true concern I have for our religion, for the laws and liberties of England, for the maintaining the succession of the Crown in the Protestant line, and the government in Church and state, as by law established, encourages me in this great undertaking, which, I promise myself, will be successful, by the blessing of God,  1 Lords … Gentlemen] i.e. members of the House of Lords (‘My Lords’) and House of Commons (‘Gentlemen’).

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and the continuance of that fidelity and affection of which you have given me so full assurances. The present conjuncture of affairs requires the greatest application and dispatch; and I am very glad to find in your several addresses, so unanimous a concurrence in the same opinion with me, that too much cannot be done for the encouragement of our allies, to reduce the exorbitant power of France.2 I think it very necessary, at this time, to desire you to consider of proper methods for attaining an union between England and Scotland, which has been so lately recommended to you as a matter that very nearly3 concerns the peace and security of both kingdoms. Gentlemen of the House of Commons, I need not put you in mind, that the revenue for defraying the expenses of the civil government is expired. I rely entirely upon your affection, for the supplying it in such manner as shall be most suitable for the honour and dignity of the Crown.4 My Lords and Gentlemen, It shall be my constant endeavour to make you the best return for that duty and affection which you have expressed to me, by a careful and diligent administration for the good of my subjects: and as I know mine own heart to be entirely English, I can very sincerely assure you, there is not anything you can expect or desire from me, which I shall not be ready to do, for the happiness and prosperity of England; and you shall always find me a strict and religious observer of my word.

 2 exorbitant … France] Anne committed herself from the outset of her reign to involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), one aim of which was to restrict the continental influence of Louis XIV of France.  3 nearly] i.e. closely.  4 I need … Crown] While the granting of financial supply had been a matter of contention for previous monarchs, Anne was the first to accede under the terms of the ‘civil list’, agreed during the reign of William and Mary. The civil list was the cost of running all non-military arms of government. defraying] meeting, settling.

VII.2 England’s Triumph, in the Joyful Coronation of a Protestant Queen: Or, an Acrostic upon Anne, Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland (1702)

The acrostic was a conventional form for poetry of praise across the Stuart era. Yet this poem is distinctive in the way in which it attempts to balance a celebration of a female monarch with an insistence on military might. The first half of the poem thus mobilizes conventions of the pastoral tradition, as the Queen appears to enliven the very ground on which she walks. Yet the final sections are more assertive, insisting upon Anne’s commitment to the agenda of her predecessor. Source: This poem was published anonymously in London, in just one edition, in the form of a single (broadside) sheet. A urora, the bright usher of the morn, N or Sol, whose splendour does the day adorn, N o such enlivening influences can E xtend to us, like those of glorious Anne; 5

Q ueen of our isle, whose power I plainly see, U nto her titles justly will agree. E xalted on the throne, her virtues there E ach in their lustre do to us appear: N o clouds can now obstruct the gracious smile

10

O f her bright rays, that lay obscure a while; F rom thence her graces send their splendour down,

1 Aurora] goddess of dawn. 2 Sol] sun (Latin). 10 that lay … while] possibly an allusion to Anne’s alienation from the court of William and Mary: a condition that improved in the years after Mary’s death, when Anne’s succession was virtually assured.

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Part VII: 1702 E xceeding all the jewels in the crown. N o sparkling gem set in that splendid train G ives such delight as from herself we gain. L ike as the sun, with his enlivening fire, A wakes the dead, and gently does inspire N ew life and soul to all that winter’s cold D id mortify, and in chill prisons hold. S o when bright William had withdrawn his light, C onverting day into a sable night, O ur drooping souls then almost dead with fear, T ook life when Anne’s bright lustre did appear. L ight, life, and joy did Britain’s isle attend, A s soon as she did to its throne ascend. N o sorrowful or discontented mind D id Albion then within her bosom find. F rance, which most men do Europe’s terror call, R egains no ground from the great William’s fall. A queen succeeds, which its proud prince may find N o less a curb to his insulting mind. C onduct and courage shall her smiles obtain, E ach from her hand shall its just merit gain. A female champion with undaunted breast N ow faces him that Europe does molest, D eclaring that with utmost vigour she I ntirely, with unchangeable decree, R esolves the scheme that our late hero drew E xactly, and his measures will pursue. L ong may she reign, and may success attend A ll her wise councils for that glorious end: N o end of conquests may she know, till France D oes own her right, and she its throne advance.

18 mortify] deprive of life, kill. 20 sable] black. 29 its proud prince] i.e. Louis XIV of France. 37–8] Though roughly accurate, the assessment of Anne’s position carries an air of coercion, as though she will be judged according to her adherence to William’s position. 42 she … advance] she proceeds (‘advances’) to the (French) throne. As the acrostic indicates, it remained customary at this time, albeit manifestly inaccurate, for English monarchs to lay claim to the throne of France.

VII.3 The English Muse: Or, a Congratulatory Poem (1702)

This elegant piece of succession panegyric, in the form of a Pindaric ode, was published anonymously. In many respects it is a classic and conventional exercise in praise, yet it also responds methodically to the challenges posed by Anne’s succession, working its way through different approaches to praising the new monarch. It compares Anne with Elizabeth I, then dwells upon her fertility, her husband and her physical appearance. It is an artful piece, almost certainly the work of a High Tory, which adapts the traditions of succession poetry to the particular circumstances of 1702, concluding that the new queen holds the potential to bring greatness back to the land. Source: This poem was published in one edition, in London in 1702. 1 Let grief no more our English hearts untune, We can’t forget our loss (though great) too soon; For who can longer mourn the fate, Of such a valiant monarch dead, 5 When we behold how good and great, How virtuous and immaculate A princess does succeed: Who has not only, by descent, A just and lawful claim, 10 To guide the reins of government; But with a universal voice, The people have expressed their choice, To crown the royal dame. Thus heaven, the kingdom, and the laws, unite, 15 To make her glorious, and confirm her right.

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2 Though love, the common cause of grief, Teaches us to lament what’s gone, And mourn those losses past retrieve; Yet now one look towards England’s happy throne, 20 Graced with bless’d Anna’s virtues, yields relief. She gives us such engaging hopes, That all the briny current stops, Though swelled by love and gratitude, And with her bright and cheerful beams, 25 Exhales and dries up sorrow’s streams, Which would have else our mournful isle o’erflowed. She qualifies, kind heaven be praised, By being wise and good, Those fears our troubled souls had raised, 30 Had not her mighty self twixt us and sorrow stood. 3 Nature, for years, her harmony has lost, The seasons have long been untuned, Unwelcome breezes from some foreign coast, Cold summers, and untimely frost, 35 Our harvests, and our springs have crossed, As if devouring fate had giv’n the world a wound. But now bright Anna mounts the throne, She like the god of light looks down, Spreading her influence o’er the British Isles, 40 Which does so bless’d a change procure, The heav’ns congratulate her to her power, And on her English heart true English weather smiles. 4 The Church with swarms of sectaries oppressed, Will now to her old glory rise, 45 And be by her just patroness released From that restraint, which raised her enemies 22 briny current] i.e. the flow of tears.  31–42] While many Tory critics had blamed William for a spate of bad weather, the day of Anne’s accession was by contrast glorious. 33] a pointed allusion to William, a foreign monarch. 34] Supporters of the revolution of 1688–89 often referred to the ‘Protestant winds’ (or ‘breezes’) that brought William’s ships to England; these are here rewritten from an anti-Williamite perspective. 



TheThe English EnglishMuse: Muse:Or, Or, a Congratulatory Poem a Congratulatory Poem  

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To power, which they abused as early as possessed. Had few years more their interest still advanced, Their coffers grown more full, and they more strong, 50 And their designs been countenanced, Which, heaven be praised, are yet too young. The loyal saints, had then unmasked appeared, Those Christian zealots would have proved but Jews, And England would have had just cause to’ve feared 55 A commonwealth, much more than wooden shoes. 5 But thou, great princess, has our fears removed, And all our dangers at a distance set; Loving thy people, as by them beloved, Who now have gratitude to own 60 The nation, and the throne, Are one made happy, and the other great. All things auspiciously appear, Thy reign, like the approaching year, Begins so prosperously clear, 65 Kind nature looks divinely sweet, And puts her choicest vernal glories on, Heav’ns smiles on thy accession wait, And do concur to bless the British state, Which wanting thee had surely been undone.

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6 The infernal plots aspiring faction laid, To extirpate that royal line,

43–7] Anne was High Church Anglican in her religion, whereas William had been a Calvinist; hence the poet’s invocation of ‘old glory’ as opposed to ‘restraint’. 43 swarms of sectaries] associating Calvinism with a history of nonconformity and subversive radicalism; the choice of words echoes reactionary discourse from the midseventeenth century.  52–5] Although the logic is not entirely clear, the poem positions nonconformists (the ironically labelled ‘loyal saints’) as beyond the sphere of true Christianity (‘proved but Jews’), while the language of ‘commonwealth’ echoes the republican language of the mid-seventeenth century. 55 wooden shoes] symbolic of (continental) populist religious radicalism. 59 own] acknowledge. 69 wanting thee] i.e. been left wanting (without) Anne. 70–1] The author probably intends his reader to recall the (Whig) efforts to exclude James II from the succession in the 1670s and 1680s.

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Which heav’n, by wonders, has preserved, And always timely made The prosp’rous agents of each bless’d design, 75 To save a nation from obedience swerved; Are now, through providence, once more, Defeated by a welcome branch, Whose justice will those liberties restore. Holland’s kind friendship, and our wars with France, 80 Had trampled down before, And brought the ancient English honour low, Which will again arise and grow, Now happy England’s wealth has no back-door. 7 What prince, like her, on fair Britannia’s throne, 85 Has such a glorious instance shown, Of royal bounty, and of sov’reign care? What precedent, in story, can be found, That e’er a hundred thousand pound, Was given by a king e’er crowned, 90 A suff’ring kingdom to repair? What monarch ever made that weight his own, The subjects ought to bear, So great a deed before was never done To procure peace, or else support a war? 95 This gen’rous act alone must draw, To th’crown immortal glory and esteem, And makes bright Anne become the diadem, More than Elizabeth, or great Nassau.

73 timely] in good time. 78] Debate over ‘liberties’ typified political discourse at this time; the poet here invokes a Tory vision of liberties, suggesting that William had actually (contrary to his supporters’ claims) constrained his subjects. 79–80] The poem appears to associate the French wars with the invasion of William of Orange in 1688: as though William, for all his achievement in overthrowing a spectre of Catholic rule, brought to the nation a stain of foreignness that Anne can now cleanse. 83] The poet’s implication is that William had siphoned England’s resources out of the country, to enrich his homeland. 87–90] Shortly after her accession Anne granted £100,000 from her own revenues to supplement England’s military budget. 97 become the diadem] befit the crown. 98 Nassau] i.e. William III.



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8 No foreign spies our councils to betray, 100 No swarms of hungry Dutchmen round the throne, No Belgic minions to convey The kingdom’s wealth away, Strength’ning their dams, and leaving us to drown. No upstart flatt’rers to connive, 105 Nay, manage, help, advise, contrive, How Holland might be safe, and we undone. But England’s welfare now springs up apace, A Stuart’s English heart supports the crown, A heart which, like her beauteous face, 110 Is full of mercy, love and grace, Becoming of the English throne; And that bright princess placed thereon, Who only will bestow, Honour on those whose actions show, 115 Their hearts are truly English like her own. 9 What sacred wisdom can confide In those who never yet could hide, Their vile abhorrence to monarchial sway, Nor ever are content when great, 120 But labour to turmoil the state, In hopes to gain the day, And undermine that happy government, Which the great god of nature still will bless, Because ’tis truly consonant 125 With heav’ns just laws, and humane happiness. Such restless spirits greedy to aspire, With nothing easy, grasping still at all, 99 councils] The text has ‘councels’, so the intent may be to signal the secrets of the Privy Council, though it may equally be to indicate counsel provided informally to the monarch at court. 100–3] The poet asserts that William III, as a foreigner, connived at the removal of English wealth by the King’s courtiers (‘minions’: suggesting improper levels of intimacy); hence the ‘dams’ (used here to signify the strength and ambition of the Low Countries) have been strengthened while the English have suffered. Public concerns about William’s Dutch favourites, including Hans Willem Bentinck, Earl of Portland, were expressed vociferously in the latter years of his reign. 101 Belgic] of the Low Countries. 120 turmoil] upset, agitate.

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Pleased with no limits are for climbing higher, And twitter like the skylark, till they tire, 130 But then in silence fall. 10 This yet has been, and be it still the fate Of those, who are not now content, But would subvert or circumvent, The present happy English state, 135 Which ev’ry wise man must approve, Every good man love, And none but blind misled fanatics hate. Oh princely greatness! Let my muse presume, To send one caution to thy palace home. 140 Blest queen! Beware of those, Who to thy royal ancestors were foes, Faithless, ingrateful, treach’rous and unjust, But thy great soul already knows, ’Tis mercy to forgive, but wisdom not to trust. 11 Many renounced their int’rest to obey, The dictates of a steady mind, And long beneath great hardships lay, For only foll’wing conscience close behind; Conscience the happy Christian’s guide, 150 To justice so inclined, By faith and reason so refined, She cannot lose her way. These with a general consent, Express their gladness and content, 155 To see his royal issue on the throne, To whom they bore a dutiful regard, All his misfortunes shared. And made his patient suff’rings still their own. Those at the royal footstool wait, 160 And with unfeigned obedience bow, Hoping a princess so divinely great, Will bless ’em with one smile of pity now. 145

12 Had the vile treach’ry took effect, Which common fame reports abroad,



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165 And that infernal envious sect, Already stained with royal blood, But once more gained that miserable end, ’Twixt us, and which, kind heav’n has stood, To show it’s watchful to defend 170 The royal person, and the nation’s good: Then to the Church, and kingly trust, Peace, truth, and all that’s just, Old England must have bid farewell; For commonwealth had sprang its glow-worm light, 175 And monarchy extinguished fell, Eclipsed with horror and confusion’s night. 13 But, providence be praised, to whom we owe Our safety by that royal hand, Preserved to save a sinking land, 180 And execute just heav’ns decrees below; The sacred hand that shut the fatal door, To common eyes obscured, Through which the injured nation’s wealth, Flowed daily out by stealth, 185 To’nrich a thankless foreign shore; The heav’nly hand that has the Church preserved From her tyrannic enemies, Who grew so mighty in a head-strong age, Whilst honesty was starved, 190 And aimed to make her fall a sacrifice, To blind fanatic rage; The charitable hand that strows Blessings where e’er she goes, The saving-hand that heals our wounds with balm, 195 And sheaths the bloody sword to plant the peaceful palm.

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14 The great Elizabeth of old, Whose mem’ry we are early taught, To rev’rence for her mighty deeds, Which every mortal hears, or reads: When young, by nurses, and by parents told,

183–4] See above, lines 100–3. 192 strows] i.e. strews, scatters about.

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What wonders to effect she brought. At riper years in story we behold, What glorious events she wrought, That her surviving fame no mausoleum needs. 205 When warm divisions plagued the land, Religious feuds, which are the worst to heal, She held the reins with so exact a hand, That she both parties could command; With such unblemished conduct did she deal, 210 And those her favours could not win, Or mercy from their ills restrain, Such did alone the sword of justice feel. Thus by her wisdom did she bless the state, Not only made her self, but England great. 15 Since once the nation has so happy been, Beneath the conduct of a maiden queen, What present hopes must then possess our isle, When beauty so divinely sweet, Virtue and piety so great, 220 Wisdom so clear, and temper serene Do in one sacred princess meet, And on our kingdom smile. A majesty whose goodness awes A vicious nation by a virtuous life, 225 And by her great example draws Her people to observe those laws, By God and man designed, For humane good, as by their use we find. 215

16 A princess whose majestic soul, 230 Peeps out of its fair tenement, And shows such heav’nly gifts were meant To govern and control Whilst all with admiration gaze,

224 vicious] addicted to vice and immorality. 230 tenement] i.e. the body (in which the soul is housed for the duration of a human life). 233 admiration] the action of wondering or marvelling (OED, n. 1).



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Who do beneath her royal umbrage walk, 235 Adore her virtues, sing her praise, Behold her beauty with amaze, And of her greatness and her goodness talk: That mercy to the world proclaim, Which through her royal lineage always run; 240 Entailed upon that sacred name, And sov’reign stock from whence she came; Who always to forgiveness bent, Were slow to punishment, And merciful too soon. 17 245 A princess in whose sacred womb, (For fruitful she has always been) Lies yet concealed a race of kings to come. Oh happy consort! Happy queen! Courted by ev’ry state abroad, 250 And highly loved at home; Adored and reverenced like a god, By all who’ve her divine perfections seen. Such heav’nly graces do her mind adorn, Such majesty her looks express, 255 Such greatness without scorn, That ’tis her people’s happiness, So good a princess of so just a race, Is for the English sceptre born. May heav’n prolong her days, and sooth her hours, 260 She only takes the care, the comfort’s ours. 18 How bless’d is that resemblance of a god, Entitled to her beauteous charms, On whom kind heaven has bestowed 234 umbrage] shadow. 241–4] The suggestion is that at least one of Anne’s Stuart predecessors suffered on account of their unwillingness to punish their enemies. The poet may have in mind Charles I in the 1640s, Charles II in 1660 and/or James II throughout his short reign. 245–7] It is believed that by 1702 Anne had had seventeen pregnancies; however, her only child to survive infancy, William, Duke of Gloucester, had died at the age of eleven in 1700. The poet may be signalling resistance to the Act of Settlement, which meant that Anne would be the last Stuart monarch if she did not produce an heir. 248 consort] i.e. Prince George of Denmark, Anne’s husband.

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The affections of her English heart, and blessings of her arms. 265 If joys celestial can on earth be known, Or if we can behold divinity, In royal Anna all that’s good we see, In her it’s to be found alone, Imparted only to that mighty he, 270 Who, with her, shares all blessings but the throne, Whilst we, her people, at a distance view, With admiration and delight, Perfections so divinely bright; A mein so awful, symmetry so true, 275 We can no less than fall, or kneel, When we behold her beauty’s light, And its warm influence feel; Adore and bless the happy sight, Whose virtues which such great examples give, 280 Considered with her sovereign command, Makes the great dame, the happiest prince alive And us the happiest land. 19 Th’Assyrian lady prosperous in arms, The Egyptian empire overthrew, 285 Did Ethiopia subdue; At home she conquered with her charms, And when abroad her pow’rful sword she drew, By multitudes she slew; Yet to show female pity saved by swarms. 290 The fair Bohemian princess too; Whose virtue, wit and beauty, fame records, Such mighty deeds did through her conduct do, That ancient story scarce affords Actions more worthy of our modern view; 295 Besides, look back, and we may find, 274 mein so awful] look or bearing that inspires awe. 283–9] Semiramis, legendary wife of King Ninus of Assyria, was held (according to the Roman historian Diodorus Siculus) to have reigned after his death, conquering much of Asia, as well as Libya and Ethiopia. She had previously been married to one of Ninus’s generals, hence the subsequent reputation for use of female ‘charms’. 290 Bohemian princess] presumably Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I, who married Frederick V, Count Palatine of the Rhine, in 1613, and was briefly Queen of Bohemia in 1619–20. Her plight, after the overthrow of Frederick’s regime in Bohemia by Catholic forces, became a focal point for Protestant militancy in subsequent decades.



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In our own registers enough to prove, The gods peculiarly are kind To beauty which both men and angels love, And always have been fond to bless, 300 The fair and virtuous female race, With greatness, glory and success, And all the marks of favour from above. 20 England, how happy then art thou, Beneath the best of beauty’s reign, 305 A princess on whose awful brow, A thousand blessings wait; To show her people cannot hope in vain, (If they their due obedience pay) To be made happy, rich and great; 310 Then let us bless that joyful day, That placed her in the English throne, And by our loudest acclamations show We’re pleased with what kind heav’n has done, And at her feet with all due rev’rence bow, 315 Her sov’reign attributes allow; For virtue in a prince improves the state, And true obedience makes a kingdom great.

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21 Welcome bright princess to thy rightful throne, Which heav’n, and human laws, have made thy own. Th’European balance which has long been broke By French ambition, and by Spain’s decay, And that tyannic slavish yoke, Dreaded from universal sway, Will be thy glory, now great queen, The weakened beam must be by thee set straight, That ev’ry prince may his just bounds maintain,

319 heav’n, and human laws] Since Anne did not in fact have the strongest claim to the throne in terms of bloodline, the poem insists on other justifications, yoking together the ‘laws’ which excluded the Jacobite claim with an assertion of divine right. 321 Spain’s decay] The War of the Spanish Succession was premised on the weakened state of Spain itself. 322 tyannic slavish yoke] i.e. Catholicism. 323] roughly, feared on account of its claims to universal authority.

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Without the fear of him tyrannically great, A deed that worthy is alone, To be by thee just princess done, Born to save Europe from impending fate.

22 Bless’d queen since thy accession to the crown, All things auspiciously appear, The Church, the throne, the land, the year, Heaven’s kind almoner, the sun, 335 Such bounty has on earth bestowed, To grizzled heads, and wrinkled age unknown, To show the gods well pleased approve, The reign of her they love; Alone for empire made divinely good. 340 All joy fair empress to the English throne, Which heav’n and earth have made thy own, Happy and long be thy succeeding days, Glorious thy reign, and great our gratitude, As are thy virtues, matchless be our praise, 345 And as thou’rt just and wise, so let our joys be loud, May ev’ry subject so express Their duty, loyalty and love, And with one glad united voice, With her as happy as I’m sure she’ll prove; 350 Wish her to govern England long; Wish her forever fruitful, ever young, And that her next bless’d issue proves a boy, To Denmark’s honour, and to England’s joy.

334] i.e. the sun dispenses heaven’s bounty (represented as alms to the poor). 353 Denmark’s honour] allusion to the nationality of Anne’s consort, Prince George.

VII.4 From Albina, or The Coronation (1702)

This poem, published anonymously, was presented as a sequel to Albina: Or a Poem on the Death of William III. It takes its title from ‘Albion’ (England): presenting Anne as a female ruler of almost mythic capacities and recalling the allegory of John Dryden’s opera on the succession of James II, Albion and Albanius. The poem takes the form of a pastoral dialogue – a form used so effectively for the celebration of monarchy by Edmund Spenser under the rule of Elizabeth – ­presenting a shepherd and shepherdess, with names redolent of pastoral convention rather than rural reality, expressing their delight at the accession. The conventions of pastoral enable the author to present England as being revitalized by Anne. Source: Albina was published in London, in just one edition. This extract presents roughly the first two-thirds of the whole poem. strephon. Awake my Chloris, haste and dress, Put on love, and ev’ry grace, Don thy bracelets, plait thy hair, Gay, as the rosy morn, appear. 5 Phoebus already gilds the plains, Thronged with happy nymphs and swains So gaily decked, ’tis hard to say, Which is brighter, he, or they: By each a coronet is worn, 10 And waving plumes their heads adorn: 5 Phoebus] (god of) the sun.  6 swains] shepherds, rural labourers; a usage from pastoral literature rather than English reality.

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Part VII: 1702 To bowers of myrtle they repair, While joyful measures beat the ground, And softer music fills the air, Albina is the pleasing sound.

15 Then Chloris haste, Albina comes, Her right, and Albion’s crown, assumes.

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Quickly to the revels haste, Why is my shepherdess remiss? Why does my beauteous Chloris waste A minute of a day like this? If annals did collected stand, And stories read of long past years, There never blessed the British land A day so bright as this appears. Such glorious sights aloft are seen, Sure heav’n presents its form within; The painted glories of each cloud Reflect their brightness on the flood, And ev’ry plant and shrub below; Ev’n baulks of fern like beds of tulips show. The rivulets insult their mounds, And keep their purling course no more, But, swelling, rise above their bounds, To view the gilded surface o’er.

35 A sapphire throne in pomp descends, Supported by a race of kings; Apollo the great charge attends, While fame, with vast expanded wings, So loud Albina’s name does sound, 21 annals] narratives of events written year by year; a popular form of history-writing at this time. 28 flood] in this context, probably a river. 30 baulks] ridges. 31–4] The image is of streams breaking their bounds, not through the natural actions of a flood, but as though they were possessed with a will to cover the face of the land. 31 rivulets] small rivers; streams. 31 insult their mounds] disregard their natural boundaries. 32 purling] rippling; swirling. 37 Apollo] classical god, appropriate here given his association with poetry, music and prophecy.

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She stuns the list’ning world around. The dazz’ling prospect fills the grove, And ev’ry heart with joy and love. Then Chloris haste, Albina comes, Her right, and Albion’s crown, assumes.

45 Nature, to bless the happy day, Does to her empire give new laws; The rivelled pine, that felt decay, She reinstates to what it was, New life she shoots through every bough, 50 And perfumes from dead cedars flow. Sweeter than Hybla’s thyme, the lays On which the bleating herds do graze.

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The aged shepherd strikes his lute, Inspired by her, does youth confess, He prunes his beard, and tynes his hut, And smiling leaves his lone recess. The vip’rous brood forsake the plains, And satyrs skulk into their dens. The stupid flocks too, taught by her, Ev’n they this solemn day prefer. The little lambs their order hold, And sporting stray not from their fold. The birds, with gladded wings and throats, Express their joy in tuneful notes. The linnet, thrush, and nightingale, With cheerful music fill the vale; The airy lark exerts her voice, And joins in the melodious noise.

47 rivelled] shrivelled (here, through age). 51 Sweeter … thyme] echoing one of the most influential texts in the pastoral t­ radition, Virgil’s Eclogue 7, line 37. 51 lays] possibly ‘leas’ (postures), with perhaps a pun on ‘lays’; (lyric) poems. 55 tynes] closes; shuts up. 57 vip’rous brood] literally, snakes; figuratively, suggestive of outspoken opponents of Anne. 58 satyrs] figuratively, a kind of woodland gods; often associated, though, with critics, or ‘satirists’.

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Then Chloris haste, Albina comes, 70 Her right, and Albion’s crown, assumes.

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chloris. Oh Strephon, still pursue thy theme, Or leave thy Chloris still to dream. I dreamt, yes, and methought I saw The wonders thou hast told me now. In heaven’s bright regions too I’ve been, And its amazing glories seen; The mystery seen of things divine, Seen the reward of love like thine, To th’utmost verge, with vast delight, Through blissful shades, and orbs of light, O’er pleasing vales, and spicy groves, My fancy ran, for fancy roves; At length I saw a crystal throne, Whose form was so surprising bright, Like piercing rays shot from the sun, It dazzled my too feeble sight. An angel there, assigned my guard, Conveyed me to the British ward, And folding down an azure cloud, Under a glorious canopy he showed Our late dread monarch, as he sat, With all the British kings around in council met. Each did their loved Britannia’s good invoke, And thus amidst them all her royal martyr spoke.

95 ‘See how the Britons celebrate this day, And to our sacred race their homage pay, A general joy rings through the spacious plains, And loud repeated shouts, “Albina reigns”; Albina, all their joy, their darling care, 100 Whose sacred name all Europe shall revere, And jarring factions all be reconciled in her. Imperious Gaul shall to her arms submit, And bloody Rome lie vanquished at her feet. Then glorious peace shall bless her fruitful reign, 105 And Britons see their halcyon days again.’ 88 British ward] literally, land controlled by Britain; hence Britain itself. 94 royal martyr] i.e. Charles I. 102 Gaul] i.e. France. 105 halcyon days] period of blissful calm and peace.



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The joyful congress did attention give And pleased, the pious oracle believe; And all resolving to congratulate The royal nymph, and Albion’s happy state, 110 With one consent a British bard they choose, Famed for a virtuous and unequalled muse. Him they dispatch, through air he flies, And to his native region hies; A rosy breeze his pinions waved, 115 Supinely in the air he hung, And towering o’er Albina’s shade, Thus th’immortal Cowley sung.

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‘Hail happy nymph, great mistress of these plains Heav’ns darling, and the joy of British swains, Enliv’ner of my muse, ’tis thee she sings, Sent from a race of God-like British kings, Who, from the summits of yond spacious height, Behold their native Albion with delight.’ Well may the Britons celebrate this day, For thou with int’rest shalt their loves repay; Their sacred rites thou shalt with zeal defend, And o’er their harmless flocks thy care extend, From rav’nous wolves secure the sporting lambs, And watch with pious care the pregnant dams Celestial light shall fill thy happy shade, And rural songs thy peaceful hours invade; Gentle, as infant smiles, thy reign shall prove, Calm as the bosom of successful love. The youthful swains shall, to increase thy joys, Each day new garlands make, and sports devise, Live by thy smiles, and feast upon thy eyes.

107 pious oracle] godly prophet; here, Charles I. 113 hies] hastens. 115 Supinely] reclining; in a relaxed posture. 117 Cowley] Abraham Cowley (1618–67), remembered as one of the great authors of royal panegyric. By drawing Cowley into the poem, the poet invokes the authority of a long tradition of Stuart poetry. 120 ’tis … sings] i.e. it is of you (Anne) that my muse sings. 128 sporting] disporting, playing. 129 dams] mothers; ewes.

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Part VII: 1702 While through the groves, in cooling shades they walk, Their loved Albina shall be all their talk; Tuning their reeds, they shall their mistress sing, And from the tender flocks their tributes bring. The beauteous nymphs thy softer hours shall wait, And every night adorn thy bed of state, Each morn they shall thy rosy toilet set, And deck thy bow’r, with every pleasing sweet. Then gently wake thee with harmonious strains, To bless, with your commands, th’adoring swains, And give your orders through th’obedient plains.

143 rosy toilet set] prepare the items for your washing and physical preparation for the day; ‘rosy’ on account of the pastoral setting.

VII.5 John Tutchin, from The Observator (22 April 1702)

The Observator was one of the most prominent of the fiercely partisan newspapers that flourished in the later Stuart decades. Its author, John Tutchin (c. 1660– 1707), had a history of outspokenness and political engagement stretching back to the failed Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. His punishment on that occasion was notoriously severe, but was not enough to deter him from political activity in the future. While The Observator was known for its assertive Whig views, and would in due course challenge Anne’s regime, its response to her accession focuses more on the perceived threat of Jacobites. It provides us with evidence of a minority response in 1702: a perception that William’s death might open the door to the return of the Pretender, James Francis Edward. Source: The Observator was first published in 1702, and thereafter appeared on a twice-weekly basis until after Tutchin’s death. The poem which it reproduces had an independent life, and was possibly written by Dr Thomas Smith, who had been deprived of his fellowship of Magdalen College, Oxford, after refusing to take oaths of allegiance to William and Mary (POAS, pp. 364–6). This extract is from its fourth issue, dated 22 April 1702. We have advice from Oxford of a strange sort of mourning, performed there upon the day it was said His late Majesty was buried; a parcel of true English1 (without doubt) got together upon the water, with two boats full of music, where they rejoiced after an inhumane manner upon so sad an occasion; roaring, revelling and singing, as if little master, the disciple of Bishop Sancroft, had been restored to the dominions of his pretended favour. The people of that place, especially the heads and  1 true English] Tutchin’s pointed use of this phrase highlights the extent to which it had become a Tory rallying cry – worryingly, for the Whig Tutchin – in the wake of Anne’s speech to parliament (VII.1 above).

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fellows of colleges, had the least reason in the world to rejoice at the death of that prince, whose timely assistance saved the foundation of all their colleges from being undermined by popish priests.2 […] Our Jacobites in town3 keep time with the music at Oxford, and on every occasion spit their venom at the memory of King William. When they are in the midst of their cups, the obliging health is to Sorrel and the Queen; i.e. to the horse that by a fall hurt the collar-bone of King William, not long before his death, and to Queen Anne his successor. For asses to drink a health to a horse, is reasonable enough, because the horse is of a species superior to themselves; but to put the Queen and the horse both in one glass, is abominably absurd and scandalous; especially to be done by persons who have imbibed the holy doctrines of jure divino, passive obedience, and non-resistance;4 but indeed they have deified his horse already, and for that great action of his in throwing the King, they have placed him in the zodiac, and have written some verses both in Latin and English, to the immortal memory of the horse; which I shall here insert, to the immortal infamy of the ass that wrote them. […] Illustrious steed, who should the zodiac grace, To whom the lion and the bull5 give place; Blessed be the dugs that fed thee; blessed that earth, Which first received thee, and beheld thy birth: Did wronged Ierne,6 to revenge her slain,

 2 roaring … priests] Magdalen College, Oxford, had been the site of one of the most visible signs of tension in the realm in the final months of James II’s reign. On the death of the master of the college, Henry Clerke, James sought to replace him with the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Parker, and after Parker’s death within a year with a Catholic, Bonaventure Giffard. In the process, all but three fellows lost their positions. After the Williamite revolution, the ejected fellows were swiftly reinstated, along with their original choice for a master, John Hough. little … Sancroft] unclear: William Sancroft was Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of James II, and unpopular with Whigs on account of his uneasy accommodation with the Catholic regime. The term ‘little master’ is a reference to one of the two masters imposed upon Magdalen College: presumably Parker, who was more closely linked to Sancroft, although he was long dead by the time this poem was written.  3 town] i.e. London.  4 holy … non-resistance] Tutchin satirizes the attitude of the ostensibly pious followers of divine law (‘jure divino’), whose compliance with the Protestant order takes the form of mere non-resistance as opposed to outright opposition. The implication is cowardice.  5 the lion … bull] i.e. the zodiac signs of Leo and Taurus.  6 Ierne] (goddess of) Ireland; allusion to the bloody Williamite suppression of Ireland.

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Produce thee first, or murdered Fenwick’s strain?7 Who e’er thou art, be now forever blessed, And spend the remnant of thy days in rest. No servile use thy sacred limbs profane; No weight thy back, no curb thy mouth restrain; No more be thou, no more mankind a slave; But both enjoy the liberty you gave.

I shall forebear making any remarks on this poetry till my next, and in the meantime shall present you with its counterpart. Insulting ass! Who basely could’st revile The guardian angel of our wretched isle; Who now retiring from the scenes of wars, Is known and numbered ’midst the shining stars. Performed a work, which when he was below, None but a soul like his could undergo. Britons enslaved, he did with freedom bless, And broke the chains their shackled legs did press. Belgia, he did protect, and saved its land; And made in awe the Gallic tyrant stand:8 He marked the way to make all Europe free, And gave the mortal wound to slavery. Too soon, alas! Too soon this monarch fell! Yet after ages shall his honour tell; When Britain feels his loss, its natives shall In vain to heaven for such a monarch call: For ever be that stumbling beast accursed; Got9 by a Tory, by a devil nursed. And may forever that unlucky steed, Only on briars and thistles feed.

 7 murdered Fenwick’s strain] Sir John Fenwick, Jacobite conspirator, had been executed (‘murdered’ in the oppositional terms of the poem) in 1697 for his part in a failed plot to assassinate King William. strain] descendants; possibly here suggestive of Jacobites as a subversive family or sect.  8 And … stand] This is a careful description of William’s achievement: not the military victory over France that he had sought, but a containment of its own expansionist ambitions and consequent protection of the Low Countries (‘Belgia’).  9 Got] i.e. begot, fathered.

VII.6 Bevil Higgons (?), ‘The Mourners’ (1703)

Bevil Higgons (1670–1736) was a Jacobite poet and historian, living in exile at the time of Anne’s accession. This bitterly satiric poem was attributed to him by his friend, the poet Alexander Pope. The poem provides powerful evidence of the politicization of the monarchy in the decades from the 1680s onwards, and hence the strength and volatility of feeling at the moment of William’s death and Anne’s accession. ‘The Mourners’ pointedly takes no notice of the incoming monarch, focusing instead on her predecessor’s alleged legacy of corruption and exploitation. Source: ‘The Mourners’ was printed in the 1703 issue of the popular verse miscellany Poems on Affairs of State, and we use this version (POAS, pp. 361–3); however, like many subversive and oppositional poems, it almost certainly circulated in manuscript forms, as several witnesses testified to having found copies on the street.

5

In sable weeds the beaux and belles appear, Dismal their out, whate’er their insides are. Mourn on, you foolish fashionable things, But mourn your own condition, not the King’s; Mourn for the mighty sums by him misspent, Those prodigally given, those idly lent; Mourn for the statues, and the tapestry too, From Windsor, gutted to aggrandize Loo.

1 sable weeds] black clothes; immediately after William’s death instructions were given to courtiers and citizens of London about codes of dress (POAS, p. 362). 1 beaux and belles] fashionable men and women of the town; with derogatory implications drawn out in subsequent lines. 7–8] The magnificent Paleis Het Loo, in the Netherlands (contrasted here to the English Windsor Palace), was built for William and Mary in the mid-1680s, before William’s



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Higgons (?), ‘The Mourners’ 

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Mourn for the mitre long from Scotland gone, And mourn as much the union coming on. Mourn for ten years of war and dismal weather, For taxes, strung like necklaces together, On salt, malt, paper, cider, lights and leather. Much of the civil list need not be said: They truly mourn who’re eighteen months unpaid. It matters then, my friends, you see are so, Though now you mourn, ’t had lessened much your woe Had Sorrel stumbled thirteen years ago.

­invasion of England. It remained a residence of the House of Orange-Nassau throughout his lifetime, and indeed into the modern era. Complaints that William siphoned resources out of England were common among his enemies; for the specific charge about tapestries, there is some corroborating evidence (POAS, p. 362). 9] William and Mary had been offered the Scottish throne on the condition that ­episcopacy  –  the hierarchical form of Church government, characterized by bishops and archbishops – would be abolished. mitre] a bishop’s ceremonial headdress; hence symbolic of episcopacy. 11 dismal weather] See The English Muse, VII.3 above, line 42n. 12–13] All the items listed were subject to taxation for the first time in the William’s reign (POAS, p. 362). 14] civil list] the cost of running all non-military arms of government. 18] The common, though largely circumstantial, association between William’s fall from a horse (named ‘Sorrel’) with his death shortly afterwards was a common focus for poets. A fall thirteen years before his death would have occurred before he was crowned, although not before his invasion of England.

VII.7 William Walsh, To the Queen on her Coronation Day (1706)

The date of this poem is not clear: it may have been written in 1702 and printed  later, or written in 1706 to mark the anniversary of Anne’s coronation.  But it is only barely complimentary. Evidence from manuscript sources also indicates that the poem was most commonly circulated without the final stanza  in  the printed version, which suggests that this may have been added in  1706 (by Walsh or another poet) to a pre-existing poem. William Walsh (c.  1662–1708), a recognized though not prolific poet, was politically a Whig who had been committed to the government of William and Mary. In his estimation William – whose memory rather takes over this poem – casts a long shadow over the reign of Anne. The poem is presented as an imitation of Horace’s Odes, book 3, ode 3: a study of individual integrity in an uncertain political context. Source: This poem was published in broadsheet form in 1706, from both London and Dublin. We reproduce the Dublin text.

5

10

The man that’s resolute and just, Firm to his principles and trust, Nor hopes, nor fears can blind; No passions his designs control; Nor love, that tyrant of the soul, Can shake his steady mind. Not parties, for revenge engaged; Nor threat’nings of a court enraged; Nor storms where fleets despair; Not thunder pointed at his head;



Walsh, To the Queen Walsh, on her Coronation Day

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The shattered world may strike him dead, Nor touch his soul with fear. From this the Grecian glory rose; By this the Romans awed their foes; 15 Of this their poets sing: These were the paths the heroes trod; These arts made Hercules a god, And great Nassau a king.

20

Firm on the rolling deck he stood, Unmoved beheld the breaking flood With black’ning storms combined; ‘Virtue,’ he cried, ‘will force its way; The winds may for a while delay, Not alter our design.

25

‘The men whom selfish hopes inflame, Or vanity allures to fame, May be to fears betrayed; But here a Church for succour flies, Insulted law expiring lies, 30 And loudly calls for aid.

35

40

‘Yes, Britons, yes! With ardent zeal I come, the wounded heart to heal, The wounding hand to bind! See, tools of arbitrary sway, And priests, like locusts, scour away Before the western wind! ‘Law shall again her force resume; Religion, cleared from clouds of Rome, With brighter rays advance. The British fleet shall rule the deep;

17 Hercules] one of the great heroes of classical mythology; son of Jupiter and renowned  for his strength. William had himself painted as Hercules in a mural at Hampton Court. 18 Nassau] i.e. William III. 34 tools … sway] instruments of authoritarian rule. 38 clouds of Rome] i.e. implying that the Catholic Church has obfuscated or s­ uppressed a purer form of Christianity.

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Part VII: 1702 The British youth, as roused from sleep, Strike terror into France.

‘Nor shall these promises of fate Be limited to my short date, 45 When I from cares withdraw; Still shall the British sceptre stand, Still flourish in a female hand, And to mankind give law.

50

‘She shall domestic foes unite; Monarchs beneath her flags shall fight; Whole armies drag her chain. She shall lost Italy restore, Shall make th’imperial eagle soar, And give a king to Spain.

55

‘But know, these promises are giv’n, These great rewards impartial heav’n Does on these terms decree; That, strictly punishing men’s faults, You let their consciences and thoughts 60 Rest absolutely free.

65

‘Let no false politics confine In narrow bounds, your vast design, To make mankind unite; Nor think it a sufficient cause, To punish men by penal laws, For not believing right. ‘Rome, whose blind zeal destroys mankind; Rome’s sons shall your compassion find,

52–4] In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), England combined with allies across Europe in a quest to place Archduke Charles, second son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I (hence ‘th’imperial eagle’), on the Spanish throne. 52 lost Italy] Italy was a major battleground in the early years of the war; however, by 1706 England and its allies were in fact firmly in the ascendancy. 59–60] One of the key policy debates of the early years of Anne’s reign was over the question of the degree of conformity to the Church of England required of her subjects. By 1706 Anne had disappointed the Tories, who sought greater degrees of conformity, though she had not by any means embraced a model of religious ‘free[dom]’, as ­proposed here.



70

Walsh, To the Queen Walsh, on her Coronation Day Who ne’er compassion knew: By nobler actions theirs condemn; For what has been reproached in them, Can ne’er be praised in you.’

These subjects suit not with the lyre; Muse, to what height dost thou aspire, 75 Pretending to rehearse The thoughts of gods and godlike kings? Cease, cease, to lessen lofty things By mean ignoble verse!

80

85

For the welfare of all on blest Anna depends; Then honour her most, whom the world most befriends, Long lived like Eliza, this isle may she bless, Like her be she served, and like her have success: Eliza quelled Spain, and in France’s full growth, Great Anna shall check, and shall humble them both. Then strive all the nations her friendship to gain, She can awe the whole world who is Queen of the Main.

81 Eliza] i.e. Elizabeth I. 86 Queen of the Main] i.e. ruler of the seas.

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