All people continue in great expectation to see what my Lord Treasurer and some other great men will doe at Court, in relation to receiving the Sacrament; some report that on Monday seavennight the former will resigne his place, others think he will after all continue in it, though few believe the latter.

The Duke of Bucks is not yet returned out of the north of England, where he hath been raiseing of men, and it is thought he will march them in a body to Blackheath. A great many people seem displeased that Major Fitzgerald,' a Roman Catholicke, should be made major generall of the army now to be brought on foot, and indeed many discourses of this kind are very loose in the generall.

The enclosed extract of inland news is all I have to communicate to your Excy.

I humbly beg your Exey will be pleased to give a favorable construction to all my endeavors, which shall ever be to serve your Excy with that faithfullness and devotion as becomes yr Excy's Most faithfull, obedient, and obliged Servant,

R 12.

R. YARD.

No. 12.-FROM HENRY BALL.

May it please yr Excy, Whitehall, June 6, 1673. I doubt not in ye least your Excies pardon for my continuall scribbling and favourable acceptance of what comes to my knowledge, which is indeed not very much by reason I frequent so seldom publique places in great company, yet I assure your Excellency nothing shall pass materiall in ye Signet or other offices but your Excellency shall have an account. This weeke past a warrant in my Lord's office of a grant to my Lord Grandison and Edward Villiers, Esqre of all moneyes ariseing by compositions or

2

' Major Fitzgerald, an Irish officer, had been Deputy-Governor of Tangier. 2 Lord Grandison was uncle of the Duchess of Cleveland, Charles's mistress; he

discharges which now, or within 3 years, shall be made for the encreased rents and new estates of any lands, &c. in ye Dutchy of Cornwall, and what shall be due within ye 3 years.

Another to Henry Jermyn1 and Rd Cooling Esqres and their heires, in trust for ye Earle of St. Alban and his heires, of 604 acres of improved grounds within the wasts of the Mannor of Somersham, in Huntingdon, which were in ye Chequer Court decreed to be injoyed by y said Earl, his heirs, &c. against his Majesty, at 201. rent añually, formerly received and payable for it; another to y Earle of Bridgwater, to impark 800 acres of land in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire; another of the dignity of a Baronet of England to Francis Warre of Hestercombe, in Somersettshire, and his money due thereupon given to Dame Unton Warre. Also another to Sir Hugh Cholmeley of a confirmation of his estate at Whitby, and liberty given him to errect a wharfe or haven at Saltwich, in Yorkshire; another for Hasswell Dynt, Esqre, to be a Baronett of England of Hasswell, in Dorsetshire.

The Comission of Appeales renewed, and Sir Tho. Berry and Sir Paule Neile added to the Comission, with Mr. Charles Benet and ye rest; a bill for the payment of 9,000l. to William Harbord, Esqre, for the purchase of Grafton Parke, belonging to that manor, with reversion to the Earle of Euston3 after the Earle of Arlington; as also 5,3881. 178. 6d. to be payde by William Prittiman for the purchase of a lease of lands in Kentish Towne, helde of the Dean

had succeeded his brother, her father, as Lord Grandison. Edward Villiers was his brother, another uncle of the lady. The grant was for her benefit.

Henry Jermyn was nephew of the Earl of St. Alban's, Lord Chamberlain, who had been married privately to Charles II.'s mother, Queen Henrietta. Jermyn was created Baron Dover in 1685.

2 By the original rules of the order, founded in 1612, every Baronet was required to pay 1,0957. for the honour.

3 The Earl of Euston, afterwards Duke of Grafton, natural son of Charles by Lady Castlemaine, had been betrothed at the early age of eight on August 1, 1672, to the daughter of Arlington, then four years old. The betrothal was with all the solemnity of a marriage. They were re-married November 6, 1679.

and Chapter of St. Paul's, to be injoyed by the Earle of Arlington, and after his death by the Earle of Euston and his heires; and 2,000l. to Sir Stephen Fox for secret service, and a new agreement made with the victuallers of the navy.

The names of the commissioners for the managing the late subsidy are Sir Richard Mason, Richard Sherwin, William Webb, Bartholmey Fillingham, and Phillip Loyd, Esqres, with the yearly sallery of 250l. per. an. besides extraordinaryes, as house rent, servants, etc.

Mr. Dugdale has begged his paper custome free to print his Baronagium Anglia which is now going into ye Press.1

Yesterday evening dyed, in Channell Row, Collonell James Hamilton of ye wounds he received in the late engagement, wherein his legg was quite shott off; his place of groome of the bedchamber was this day given to Mr. Henry Saville, and he sworne into it.

Yester morning we received a letter from Mr. Taylor of Harwich intimateing the great noyse of guns heard there all the afternoon before; but, no confirmation comeing from any other place of it, his Majesty would not believe it till this morning, when about 10 came in the inland post, and wee heard the noyse confirmed from Harwich, Yarmouth, Southwould, Boston, etc. and about 12 came Mr. Colt from the Prince, and presently after him another, with the full relation of the action, which, because Mr. Yard sayes he sends your Excellency att large, I humbly beg your Excellency's pardon for my saying no more of it.

This day Sir Joseph Sheldon drew out his regiment of traine bands, and on Wednesday Sir Robert Vyner. They both par

The celebrated antiquary, Sir William Dugdale. The Baronage of England was published in 1675 and 1676, in 3 vols. folio.

2 Younger brother of George, Lord Halifax, born Sir George Savile, Bart. In 1674 he was appointed Envoy at Paris, and in March, 1682, he came home to be a Commissioner of the Admiralty. He had, in 1680, been appointed Vice-Chamberlain; he was continued Vice-Chamberlain under James II.

3 Two city aldermen.

ticularly comanded me to present their humblest service to your Excellency.

My Lord Duke of Buckingham is returned from Yorkshire, where he has been making new recruites to his regiment, and it's said that, so jealous were ye comanalty there of Popery, that not a man scarse would come into his Grace 'till he had gone and publiquely with his officers tooke the Sacrament at Yorke. The whole towne do nothing but predend to jealosyes of ye growth of Popery, and have the strangest reports from divers parts of Wales of their numerous meetings and nightly trainings, and furnishing themselves with arms, etc. and so superstitious some are to their own opinions that this touchstone of the oaths is not enough to roote them out of comand, because many of those that were formerly counted Roman Catholiques have now swallowed the oaths, as Collonel Panton and Collonel Fitzgerald, who is to comand under the Prince this expedition.

This day early his Majesty and Royall Highness went to Greenwich and so to Blackheath, to view the preparations there, which are very great, and the concourse of people that intend to be spectators of the army are incredible.

My Lord Treasurer has not yet declared his mind as to holding or quitting his office; though most say he will, but say he is no Papist, but scruples only the subscription of the renounceing of of transubstantation: his Lordship continues his dayly prayers in his chappell after the forme of the Church of England.

My Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has sent over the petition, examination, and proceedings of the adversaryes of Peter Talbott, therein charging him with severall follyes of exerciseing Papall authority there; so that my Lord, after his examination, has left it to his choise whither to quitt that kingdome or stand upon his own vindication.

I fear I have forgott myselfe in thus long troubling your

Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex, appointed Lord Lieutenant Angust 5, 1672.

Excellency, I most humbly beg your Excellency would believe none shall more diligently observe your comands then,

May it please your Grace,

Your Grace's most obedient and faithful Servant,

HENRY BALL.

This day appeared at Councell before his Majesty the Oxfordshire justices about their too busy carriage about Indulgence.'

R 12.

No. 13.-FROM WILLIAM BRIDGEMAN.

Whitehall, June 9th, '73.

My Lord, In my Lord's letter last post your Exey had an account of the second engagement which happened on the 4th Current S(tilo) V(eteri): it was a pure bravado of the Dutch, which they had not courage to execute equall to their designe, and consequently would not stay to bee better beaten then they were; soe they are retired to their own coast, where they will easily refitt themselves again for such an encounter. Since, the Prince has thought fitt in the like manner to bring our fleet in the buoy of the Nore to refit and furnish themselves with provisions of all kinds, the readinesse of which are by his Maties and his Royall Highsses great care much advanced to his hand; soe wee hope he will not make any long stay in port, yet during that time the King and the Duke resolve to make a visitt to the fleet, there to take their last conclusions in order to this summer's expedition.

See later in Sir R. Southwell's and Mr. Ball's letters of June 13, a similar question with Sir Robert Shirley and the Warwickshire justices. Licenses for Dissenters' worship were given under the King's Declaration of Indulgence of March, 1672 and Parliament had compelled the cancelling of this Declaration on March 7 1673.