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manner, & regulate ye proceedings in such formes as may doe ye worke effectually, & yet wth ye quiett ease & satisfaction of ye People.

I have not had time to write to Mr Secretary Coventries by this Post. I shall therefore beg y' Lops favor to communicate that part of this Letter weh relates to ye Phenix Parke to him, whereby you will much oblige, &c.

LXIII. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO THE EARL OF ARLINGTON. MY LORD, Dublin Castle, May 4th, 1673. It is a great satisfaction to me to hear, as I doe from all my friends, how far yr Lop has bin pleased to interest y' self in my behalfe in ye matter of ye Phenix Parke; & tho' yr Lõp may, in my opinion, doe his Majestie a Publick Service, yet ye kindness you have therein shew'd to me in particular shall never want its due acknowledgm1, & I doe assure yr Lop that nothing can be a greater contentement to me than ye Testimonies of yr Lops favor & friendship.

I have lately had a complaint from some Friers agt Peter Talbott, ye Titular Arch BP of this Place, & tho' I am confident his ill usage of them, & by my Lord Dungan's assistance his imprisnm of one, has provoked them to make this accusation, yet ye matters in it are of so high a nature as my duty obliges me not to pass it by without putting it into some way of examination. I give y' Lop this early notice of this, because I know ye skill of ye Person concerned, & his Intelligences in England, how forward he will be to invent some Lies upon this occasion; therefore if any reports

a

Henry Coventry was now Secretary of State.

b His appeal to the Council of Dublin was dismissed. Lord Dungan had been restored to his estate by the Court of Claims, and was now an active "undertaker."

should arrive at Court of my Proceedings agt him, yr Lõo may rely upon what I now write to be ye Truth, & ye whole Truth.

The Substance of ye Complaint agt Peter Talbott may be reduced to these 3 Particulars:

First. That he had exercised forraine Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction in this Kingdome;

2dly. That he had pretended his Majesties Authoritie for ye exercising of this his forraine Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction;

3dly. That he had leavied moneys upon ye people.

The first of these, tho' it be utterly illegall, yet I did not so much regard as ye other two. Certainly ye spreading so scandalous a report as ye second of these cannot but be a crime of a very high nature. And ye leavying money upon ye People may perhaps be of more dangerous consequence then either of yo other two. I have therefore referr'd it to Sr Hary Hamilton, St George Roydon, & Dr Topham to examine & give me an Acct of it. Wherein if any thing shall be proved considerable, I shall not faile of acquainting y' Löp wth it.

LXIV. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO SIR H. CAPEL.

DEARE BROTHER,

Dublin Castle, May 7, 1673.

[Essex says that his Private Secretary, Sir H. Ford, is treacherously disclosing secrets to Peter Talbot and Moloony. He intends therefore to dismiss him, and asks whether Sir E. Dering will take the place. He proceeds :-]

shew it to my Lord of Conway to Mr Attorney But you must proceed

I have writ my letter such as you may Arlington. Here is another from my Ld a Flying Seale that you may read it. in this business wth great caution, if you find my Lord of Arlington

wth

& my Lord Treasurera cold to one another, & that you are certain their friendship (as the world saith) is broken. I do then make no doubt but my Ld of Arlington will readily put to his helping hand to rid me of this man, who is perfectly my Lord Treasurer's spie upon me; but if my Ld of Arlington & my Lord Treasurer are still upon good termes, 'tis better to stiffle all at present, & waite for a better opportunity, till the arrival of wch I shall so carry my selfe toward St Hen. Ford as he shall not perceive the least dislike I have to him.

I am confident I have taken more pains in holding my correspondencys wth the Ministers in England, & particularly in writing constantly to my Lord of Arlington, than any that have ever bin in this employmt. I would therefore gladly know from you how my dispatches are liked, or whether any censures to my disadvantage are given of them either in relation to the matter or stile, that I represent things trivial or in improper & affected expressions, &, tho' men are very apt to flatter on such like occasions, yet you may, by some means or other, learn the truth. "Tis so usefull for a man in my station to know what ye world saith of him, that I do extremely desire to he truly informed of this particular wthout complement or palliation.

LXV. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO THE EARL OF ARLINGTON.

MY LORD,

*

Dublin Castle, June 3rd, 73. *

*

I have bin much sollicited of late by severall Persons who have employmts here to permitt them to sell their commands to others; as S Robert Byron for one, who I find takes it ill that I have denied him; but I have severall reasons for my soe doing; one, that if I should suffer men, as in his case, when they grow old or a Sir Thomas Osborne, created Viscount Latimer, and later, Earl of Danby.

th

infirm, to dispose of their commands, I should scarce ever have any opportunitie of obliging any Gentleman in a thing of this nature; but ye principall reason was, that y° person whom he had recomended to it was altogether improper for such an employmt. Another who would have disposed of his comand is Coll1. Sydenham, and he has agreed wh one Nevill, formerly an Ensigne here, & had procured recomendations from some of my friends in England; but this Gentleman, Coll. Sydenham (what ever his former meritts may have bin I know not), has not come into this country since my being here, & I am apt to think he is either afraid or ashamed to be seen, for his Company lies at Carrickfergus, a place of considerable importance, & is ye only guard wch that castle has. I sent privately to enquire in what condition ye place was, & found that of his whole Company there were but 4 men & 2 boys, & never an Officer that attended there; since this, he desires to quitt his employment, but I think it more reasonable he should be cashierd then make a benefitt when he layes it downe.

I find many of ye Capteins of Horse much displeased at yo dispo sition of ye quarters wch I have lately made. The Truth is, they have continued so long upon their owne land & in their owne quarters, that they look upon it as almost a right due to them to keep there; but I am sure tis for his Majesties Service to have them change their quarters, & ye season of moving them most proper is in May or June, & I permitt them to rest ye whole year round in their severall stations that they may there make their provisions for ye winter, wch otherwise would be difficult to doe. Only each Troop does 2 months duty in ye year at Dublin. This method, if his Majestie thinks fitt to be continued, I conceive will be of great advantage to ye Troops, & only cost £600 a year extraordinary (to be allowed for their stay in Dublin), wch may be paid out of y° money designed for ye Marine Regiment. Within a Post or two I shall send yr Lop an acct of all ye Quarters that are now designed them. These Particulars I have mentioned to yr Löp that you may be prepared, if any application should be made to his Majtie in either of

these 2 cases; but I hope his Majestie will referr ye Governm1 of ye Army wholly to me, & I doubt not but wth ye advice of some of ye best Officers here, wth whom I ever consult in matters of this kind I shall in a little time bring it to a better posture then it hath ever hitherto bin. I confess I have been more strict in keeping them to their duty then others who preceded me in this employment, but then I have bin as carefull of them, in relation to their Pay, that they should be justly dealt wth, both by ye Com's of yo Trẽary & their owne Officers, as was possible for me to be.

*

LXVI. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO THE EARL OF ARLINGTON. MY LORD, Dublin Castle, June 10th, 73. A Lre from my brother Harry, wch I recd ye last Post, acquainted me with a Grant, lately passed or now passing, to ye Duke of Mon· mouth of £4,000 р Añn, pretended to be faln to ye Crowne by y death of ye late Earle of Northumberland," for want of Issue Male. I cannot but look upon it as an act of great friendship in y' Lõp to intimate this matter to my brother, & give you many thanks for it.

Tis well known how probable an interest I have in that Estate, & I am sure tis likewise as far from a secrett how great ye losses & sufferings are wch my family has undergone, purely for ye support of ye Crowne, &, tho' I am far from urging this last as any way meritorious, but shall ever be ready with ye same cheerfuluess to sacrifice ye remainder of my fortune, & my person too, if ye like cccasion should call me to it on so just a quarrell, yet methinks the doeing any thing that may look like an unkindness to me or my family is an usage wch, I may safely say, we have none of us ever

* Essex married the daughter of the Earl of Northumberland.

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