The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-19
A MORNING AMONG AUTOGRAPHS.
BY WILLIAM YOUNG.

t.
mementoes of the great civil war Of England,
and of the events that led to it, There are in
n sneeimens--not Of the mere handwriting,
but of the correspondence, of Charles l, Prince
Rupert, Lord Falkland, Oliver Cromwell,
Selden, Pym, Sir Harry Vane the younger,
Sir Thomas Fairfax, and other leading men OF
that stirring and stormy period. From the
king himself there are several, each set off by
q rare portrait-in one instance, curious
equestrian one by Hollar with battlefield
visible under the horses legs; In another,
also by Hollar, what seems to be tac-
simile of the statue at Charing Cross;
in another Vandyke, engraved by
Peter de Jode; in another, another Vsndyke
by w. Sharp; in still another head by
Nytens from the inimitable BURN of DELPHI.
Here is one that lacks not circumstsntial
interest. II is holograph despatch to Prince
Rupert, dated from the field of Edgehill, and
written at the top of a fooscap sheet which is
much stained and frayed. The outside and
the address are wanting. Thus it runs:-
Nepheu,-I have given order as you have de;
syred, so that d'out not but all the foot aud
ing, where you will also fynde
Your loving Oncle and faithful frend. ,
A different and far graver interest attaches
to my next citation from the same source: nor
is there probably extant any single letter from
the king, which affords to the student OF his
tory and of human nature so deep an insight
into his strangely complicated character. Often
did the Puritans accuse him of a leaning to-
wards Roman Catholicism, and of active sym
pathy with its professors. This confidential
communication would seem to dispose Of that
charge; yet, at the same time, 1t Is impossible
not to recognize in it a suspicious readiness to
temporize, and to adapt his policy to circum-
stances. AT any rate, without further pause
upon its merits or its meaning, it is repro
duced as a document well worth attentive
examination. Nor do believe that this letter
of Charles l. to the Marquis of Ormond, then
administering the Government of Ireland, is
known to one reader in hundred since it has
never been published heretofore, save
in Carte's Memoirs of that nobleman, a work
not in many hands. That it was written with
deliberation is evident from the neatness and
plainness of the text, all by the kings own
hand. The envelope in which it was enclosed
is very ragged and worn. Two small seals
with the royal arms thereupon, yet remain
unbroken, though the silken fastening has
disappeared. The contents are as follows;
but, before giving them, l may add that, sub
sequently to the acquisition of this state
paper Gas it may well be called) there fell into
MIR. ODDS possession letter from Charles
to Prince Rupert, dated July rs, 1913, in
which he says:-I am sending
new despaohe into Ireland wherein l
not only seeke to hasten the supplyes in gene
rail-, but lykewis in particular to incourage
the Marquis of Ormond himselfe to come
over" Five days later-another proof, per-
haps, of the care with which the missive was
concOcIed-the hard-driven sovereign thus ex-
pressed himselG-
CARDIFF 81 July, 1915,
Ormond, 1t hath pleased God, by many sue.
cessiye misfortunes, TO reduce my aflaires of
late from very prosperous condition TO so
low an ebb as to be per ect tryel OF all mems
integrities to me, and you being person whom
resolved to stand and fall with your King
doe principally rely upon you for your utter.
have commanded Digby to acquante you at
large with all particulars of my condition, what
l have to hope, to trust TO, or feare, wherin you
will fynde tnat if my expectation of relite out
Irland be not in some good measure, and
speedily answered. am lykely to be reduced
TO great eXtremties. l hope some of those ex-
presses sent you, since my misfortune by
The Battaile of Nazeby, ar come to you, and
wardness for the sending over to me of a consl.
uerabe supply of Men, Artillery, and Amuni-
necessity of your speedy performing them is
made much more pressing by new disasters,
so that absolutely command you (what hazard
soever that kingdome may run by it) personally
10 bring up all the Forces, OF what sort SOever
you can aTaW from ana I9e
The fittest hands that you shall judge TO dis
charge it, for 1 may not want you heere to
comand those forces which will be brought
from thence, and such as, from hence, shall be
joyned to them. But you must not under
stande his, as permission for you to grant to
the Irish lin case they Will not otherwise have
a Peace1 anything more in matter OF Rslig igion
than what have allowed you ALREADY, except
much greater number ar Papists, L give you
power to permit them to have some places,
which they may use as Chapells for THERE De.
Votions, if there be no other impeachment for
obtaining Peace. but Will rather chuse TO
suffer ali exremities, than ever to abandon my
Religion, and particularly ether to English or
Irish Rebels, to which elect nave commanded
Digby to vryt to their Agents that were en-
ployed hither, giving you power 10 cause
deliver, or suppresse the letter, as you shall
judge best for my services. TO conclude, II the
Irish shall so unworthily take advantage Of
my weake condition, as to presse me TO tha'
which / cannot grant with safe Conscience.
and withoute IL to reject Peace, comand you
If you can, to procure further Cessation, II not
TO make what divisions you can among them
and rather leave 1t to the chance OF War; be
tWeene them and those Forces which you have
not the power to draw To my ass istance then tC
give my consent to any such allowance o
Popery, as must evidently bring destruction Il
that Profession which, by the grace of God,
shall ever maintaine through all extremtties
L know, Ormond, that impose a very hare
Taske upon you. but 4 God prosper, p me- @ yo!
wais, you Will pertshe, nobly and generously
with and for him who is
Your constant reall faithful Friend,
CHARLES r.
In marked contrast with the foregoing com
position, wherein the pathetic and the politi
are so obviously mingled, is the blunt and un
labored epistle that follows. Whatever may
be thought of Oliver Cromwell's sincerity a
certain epochs of his career, there is no roor
to suspect this familiar but earnest communi
cation. 1t breathes the spirit of the writer
time, and is essentially the outspeaking of hi
nature. Mr.. Carlyle has found a place for
among his gathered Letters and Speeches of th
Protector; but, in his pages, the spelling an
the punctuation have been mOdernized by tn
penman who copied it, or by the printer VIII