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home Essex. I heare he is a very good Man, & serves you well”; King sayd I never had such a thought, he is the best man I have, & I wish I had some more of them, so she lett y discourse fall again. I heare yt Ld: Northumberland doth saye yt Portsmouth will never forgive the deniall. She is the Divell of a woeman, but the truth is Portsmouth sleighted her Jewells; I hope all is quiet for this time, & yt you will over live the 3rd year, wch I assure Essex is the greatest Mark of faver yt can befall Essex, & upon weh all men will fixx their thoughts as to yr faveur wth King; And as soon as you receave King's Letter send him an Answer, & take notice what past between King & Harbord about Essex.

Coll. Grace sent me this Letter & List of names yesterday. I found him very buissy to get ye king's Letter, & by it to appoint a Sheriff for ye king's County, wch would have been uneasy to you, & knowing yt you are now buissy in ye naming of Sheriffs I inclined him rather to take this way, wch perhaps is to late, or at least wthout such unkindnesse you may quickly make it so, & have an undeniable answer for this yeare, & he being great wth Duke, & abundantly Knavish, tis best to keepe him quiett.

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I feare I have quite tyred yr Excellency: when Ranelagh comes I will watch him the best I can. He is a dangerous Man.

CLXXXII.-SIR HENRY COVENTRY TO THE EARL OF ESSEX.

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P.S. Since my writing what I have before troubled you wth, his Majy hath comanded mee to lett yr Exceley know yt hee is enformed there is a booke lately come out at Dublin relating all the par

ticulars of the massacres and all other bloodshed comitted during the late warre or immediately preceding it, that it seemeth already has done much harme by encreasing the present animosity betwixt the English and Irish; sure there needeth not much paynes to make men remember that which all the addresse of the Government hath not as yet beene able to make men forgett; her Majty therefore hath comanded mee to write to yr Exclley yt if this information bee true, & yt any booke or bookes of this nature have beene printed, yt yr Exclley cause them to bee suppressed as judging the times neede rather remedy to reconcile the two partys then any way to exasperate them by the repetition of former hostilitys: this is what I had in comand from his Maj.

CLXXXIII.—WILLIAM HARBORD TO THE EARL OF ESSEX. MAY IT PLEASE YR EXCELLENCY,

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25 Nov: 74: London.

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I did advise wyth S Charles Harberd of some way to engage Treasurer to Essex, & thought of Saule & ingaging Trear: to grant a preferment for him here upon what Essex had begun there; concluding that if he did it He would loose Duke, & that Essex would be thought the occasion of his preferment, being his Chaplain, if he did not I should take my measures better wth him for the Time to come; I did propose it to him as an Act wch would gaine him great Creditt here wth the nation, and convince the world of his care of the protestant Religion; He embraced it, & told me yt he would ever be ready to embarke in any Thing wth Essex; & doe any Act to convince Essex of his sincerity in that point; & I intend to encourage him in this of Saule, for I heare that King said to one y other day, who was reading 2 or 3 Lines of his Sermon, that Saule was a Madman. Every body clamers against him extreamly

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for his difficulty of Accesse; and indeed his Buckingham Hours are insufferable, & destroy his Health; He hath bin ill, & kept his bed these 2 dayes; I hope you have settled ye Matter wth ye Farmers, & will comply with that method wch Trear: tells King is best for King his Service, as He thinkes; for I finde that King & Chiffing are impatient for their monys, & have bin angry with him about it; who now lays the blame on Essex, wondering at the Difficulty he makes, and tells King that out of Civility he will heare once more from you & then settle their defalcations, & therefore I would not have him gett King & Chiffing from Essex in this point, wch he will doe though Essex oppose it; I hartely wish that W. Harbord was one month wth Essex, for I believe that now the French Affairs are in so ill a posiure, W. Harbord being well instructed might procure the calling of parliament there, & if soe Essex will be not only safe, but gaine great honour; but since Essex desires W. Harbord his being here to watch Ranelagh, W. Harbord will doe what Essex thinkes best, & If Essex can but overlive his 3 years in his Government all pretenders will give over, & the Farme of necessity be renewed in Essex his Time, and consiquently have an opportunity to make his condition easy at his Returne, for believe me, unlesse Essex have a good Summe of Money in his purse, as Rents are now paid Essex his Estate will not support him wth any the least plenty.

I finde poor Sr Nicholas Armorer disturbed least Mr Loftus should Disturb him in his Lodge; he is a very honnest silly creature, & loves Essex I think, & does what he can for him on all occasions, & therefore I pray take him into y care, & not suffer him to be put

out.

CLXXXIV.-THE EARL OF ESSEX TO WILLIAM HARBORD.

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I am very well satisfied wth ye Acct you give me in yrs dated ye 14th, of ye severall discourses you have had wth his Majestie, & thanke you for ye pains you take in my Affaires. As for what you write concerning Dutchesse of Portsmouth, Mr Elliott, Mr Chiffins, I conceive ye only use to be made of them is to learne out a litle what is doeing, but by no means will I fix my relyance & dependance upon litle people. If I can enjoy my place with his Majesties favor & good Liking, & doe him & ye Kingdome service, no pains can ever be anxious or uneasy to me to bestow, but without it a Life in ye Hurry of buisnesse will be very uncomfortable to me, & such as I am sure a private one is far preferable to it. As for ye Letter wch you mention ye King should write, a favor of that kind can never be unwellcome, yet I would not have you make any business to seeke ye getting one, for ye being preserved in his Majesties reall Esteeme is that wch I desire, & so long as I find my selfe possest thereof, there needs not yr Trouble to ye King of any Letters of this sort.

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CLXXXV.-WILLIAM HARBORD TO THE EARL OF ESSEX.

MAY IT PLEASE YR EXCELLENCY,

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28 Nov. '74, London.

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assure you did Essex but see what care I take to avoid imbarking him wth any Interest whatsoever, much less wth Portsmouth,

I am confident he would never mistrust my care of him, nor think his honour unsafe in my hands; & I beseech Essex to believe that no considerations whatsoever shall ever tempt me to expose it, & though I suffer Chiffing to talke to Portsmouth of yr being a worthy Mạn, & one whoe loves & serves King well; yet though he offered Sir H. Capell & Mr Harbord to dine with her at his Lodging, & only by his means Keepe faire wth her; neither doe I in any buisnesse incline either to Trear: Arlington or Coventry more then just the matter will beare, & Ever take Sr H. Capell or Ch. Harbord's Advice wth me; I feare Essex may believe that Wm Harbord hath some Ends of his owne in the Advice he gave abt the Farmers: God knows I never yet see one penny of the money, but finding King & Chiffing extreame uneasy for the want of their Money, stopt till the defalcations were adjusted, and yt Trear: to save himselfe did sacrifice Essex, & in my Soule stopt it till Ranelagh could make a good bargaine for him or both, & thereupon I interposed my thoughts to Essex earnestly & faithfully, & having donne my duty submitt it to you; but it is most Certain that the better creditt I have wth King the better I shall be able to serve Essex.

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CLXXXVI.--MR. WILLIAM HARBORD TO THE EARL OF

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King of France is growne fearfull of every Man he sees, & rageth at the opposition he finds, & it is believed that he will not be able to support the chagrin of it. There is little probability of peace. Those that come later from France say that the scarcity of men there is incredible; that ye people refuse to take the base

CAMD. SOC.

2 N

VOL. I.

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