nts. Pretending to proceed on a mission
to the court of the duke of Neuburg, that nobleman, accompanied by O'Neil,
crossed the sea,[a] landed in disguise at Westmarch on the coast of Essex,
and

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, vi. 778, 781, 788; vii. 4, 21, 32, 49, 71. Parl.
Hist. iii. 1528.]

[Footnote 2: Still Ormond says to Hyde, "I fear his immoderate delight in
empty, effeminate, and vulgar conversations is become an irresistible part
of his nature, and will never suffer him to animate his own designs, and
others' actions, with that spirit which is requisite for his quality, and
much more to his fortune."--27, Jan. 7, 1658. Clar. iii. 387.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1658. End of January.]

hastened to London. There, continually changing his dress and lodgings,
he contrived to elude the suspicion of the spies of government, and had
opportunities of conversing with men of different parties; with the
royalists, who sought the restoration of the ancient monarchy; with the
Levellers, who were willing that the claims of the king and the subject
should be adjusted in a free parliament; with the moderate Presbyterians,
who, guided by the earls of Manchester and Denbigh, with Rossiter and Sir
William Waller, offered to rely on the royal promises; and the more rigid
among the same religionists, who, with the lords Say and Robarts at their
head, demanded the confirmation of the articles to which the late king
had assented in the Isle of Wight. But from none could he procure any
satisfactory assurances of support. They were unable to perform what they
had promised by their agents. They had not the means, nor the courage,
nor the abilities, necessary for the undertaking. The majority refused
to declare themselves, till Charles should have actually landed with a
respectable force; and the most sanguine required a pledge that he would
be ready to sail the moment he heard of their rising, because there was no
probability of their being able, without foreign aid, to make head against
the protector beyond the short space of a fortnight.[1]

In these conferences Ormond frequently came in contact with Sir Richard
Willis, one of the sealed knot, and standing high in the confidence of
Charles.[2]

[Footnote 1: Carte's Letters, ii. 118, 124, 130. Clar. iii. 388, 392, 395.
Thurloe, i. 718.]

[Footnote 2: The knot consisted of Willis, Colonel Russell, Sir William
Compton, Edward Villiers, and Mr. Broderick, according to several letters
in Clarendon