all before them; so that the king was obliged to send Prince
Rupert, with a body of 4000 horse, to the assistance of the Earl of
Newcastle, where that prince finished the destruction of the king's
interest, by the rashest and unaccountablest action in the world, of
which I shall speak in its place.

Another action of the king's, though in itself no greater a cause of
offence than the calling the Scots into the nation, gave great offence
in general, and even the king's own friends disliked it; and was
carefully improved by his enemies to the disadvantage of the king, and
of his cause.

The rebels in Ireland had, ever since the bloody massacre of the
Protestants, maintained a war against the English, and the Earl of
Ormond was general and governor for the king. The king, finding his
affairs pinch him at home, sends orders to the Earl of Ormond to
consent to a cessation of arms with the rebels, and to ship over
certain of his regiments hither to his Majesty's assistance. 'Tis
true, the Irish had deserved to be very ill treated by the English;
but while the Parliament pressed the king with a cruel and unnatural
war at home, and called in an army out of Scotland to support their
quarrel with their king, I could never be convinced, that it was such
a dishonourable action for the king to suspend the correction of
his Irish rebels till he was in a capacity to do it with safety to
himself; or to delay any farther assistance to preserve himself at
home; and the troops he recalled being his own, it was no breach of
his honour to make use of them, since he now wanted them for his own
security against those who fought against him at home.

But the king was persuaded to make one step farther, and that, I
confess, was unpleasing to us all; and some of his best and most
faithful servants took the freedom to speak plainly to him of it; and
that was bringing some regiments of the Irish themselves over. This
cast, as we thought, an odium upon our whole nation, being some of
those very wretches who had dipped their hands in the innocent blood
of the Protestants, and, with unheard-of butcheries, had massacred so
many thousands of English in cool blood.

Abundance of gentlemen forsook the king upon this score; and seeing
they could not brook the fighting in conjunction with this wicked
generation, came into the declaration of the Parliament, and making
composition for their estates, lived retired lives all the rest of
war, or went abroa