ohn
Minnes being already there at a Pay, and I would do such and such
business there, which they thought well of, and so I went home and
prepared myself to go after, dinner with Sir W. Batten. Sir W. Batten
and Mr. Coventry tell me that my Lord Bristoll hath this day impeached
my Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords of High Treason. The chief of
the articles are these: 1st. That he should be the occasion of the peace
made with Holland lately upon such disadvantageous terms, and that he
was bribed to it. 2d. That Dunkirke was also sold by his advice chiefly,
so much to the damage of England. 3d. That he had L6000 given him for
the drawing-up or promoting of the Irish declaration lately, concerning
the division of the lands there. 4th. He did carry on the design of
the Portugall match, so much to the prejudice of the Crown of England,
notwithstanding that he knew the Queen is not capable of bearing
children. 5th. That the Duke's marrying of his daughter was a practice
of his, thereby to raise his family; and that it was done by indirect
courses. 6th. That the breaking-off of the match with Parma, in which he
was employed at the very time when the match with Portugall was made
up here, which he took as a great slur to him, and so it was; and that,
indeed, is the chief occasion of all this fewde. 7th. That he hath
endeavoured to bring in Popery, and wrote to the Pope for a cap for a
subject of the King of England's (my Lord Aubigny ); and some say that
he lays it to the Chancellor, that a good Protestant Secretary (Sir
Edward Nicholas) was laid aside, and a Papist, Sir H. Bennet, put in
his room: which is very strange, when the last of these two is his own
creature, and such an enemy accounted to the Chancellor, that they
never did nor do agree; and all the world did judge the Chancellor to be
falling from the time that Sir H. Bennet was brought in. Besides my Lord
Bristoll being a Catholique himself, all this is very strange. These are
the main of the Articles. Upon which my Lord Chancellor desired that the
noble Lord that brought in these Articles, would sign to them with his
hand; which my Lord Bristoll did presently. Then the House did order
that the judges should, against Monday next, bring in their opinion,
Whether these articles are treason, or no? and next, they would know,
Whether they were brought in regularly or no, without leave of the
Lords' House? After dinner I took boat (H. Russell) and down to
Gravesend in