CHAPTER VIII

CIVIL WAR

'The men before us are so rigid and love so much their own notions... that let a man be never so godly, yet if he jumps not with them in all things, they thrust him out of their company.'— Pilgrim's Progress.

IF in England there was general disapproval of King Charles's unconstitutional proceedings, it was far greater in Scotland, where the King had made determined efforts to reduce his northern subjects to obedience to his will. On the renewal, in 1640, of the war he had waged against them, the Scots responded by boldly marching beyond the Tweed, where in an engagement on the Tyne they routed a portion of the English army. The quarrel, however, being with the King only, negotiations were ultimately opened by which they were for the time left in possession of Durham and Northumberland till a treaty could be arranged; meanwhile their army was to be maintained at the cost of the State.

It is curious to find the descendants of the two branches of the Picardy Houblons coming into touch at this juncture, inasmuch as both were engaged in the same work.

Commanding the bodyguard of Leslie, the Scottish. general, which had been raised by the College of Justice of Scotland, was Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse, a son of the King's Advocate. Sir Thomas was a lawyer; though such was his covenanting zeal as to incite him to martial 1 Gardiner, Students History, ii. 529.

deeds and daring; but he was soon to lay aside the sword, for at the breaking out of the rebellion in Ireland, the King (who was in Scotland when he heard the news) in his perplexity appealed to the Parliament at Edinburgh for assistance and counsel.1 This request was responded to by the appointment of a committee. Hope, the colonel of dragoons in Leslie's army, being also a man of the law, was nominated one of the Commissioners now appointed to treat with the Parliament of England with respect of Ireland, as to the best method of reducing her to obedience,' and he was at the same time created a Lord of Session and Lord Justice General of Scotland. This was the way the Scots proposed to help the King, and in truth he had better have declined their aid.

It has cost those who have striven to unravel the tangled skein of events at this time much trouble to distinguish one committee from another; for in quick succession they followed one after the other. Now that so many busybodies were helping the King to govern, possibly they were a useful safety-valve for superfluous political energy; but the fact remains that they absorbed the business of the State into their hands. The Scottish 1642 commissioners came to London in January 1641-2, and there delivered themselves of their good advice to the English Committee, which had just been appointed to deal with the Affairs of Ireland'; and in February they were still at work, striving with certain of the English commissioners to devise a way for reducing Ireland. The English Committee-sometimes called of Lords and Commons-soon found it necessary to engage help in the practical details of their work, and this resulted in the formation of a supplementary Committee of Citizens and Adventurers of London. Of this committee James 1 See Preface to Calendar of State Papers, 1625-1649, p. xxxvii. 2 See Peerage of Scotland, Sir Robert Douglas, 1704; revised, 1813. 3 Preface to Calendar of State Papers, 1625-1649, p. xxxvii.

Houblon was made a member. He had already, in his private capacity as a merchant, been providing the Scottish army with stores according to the agreement with the Scots above mentioned, and we now find, through the evidence of State Papers, that he continued this and other work in the service of his committee in respect of Irish affairs. In view of Sir Thomas Hope, now Lord Kerse, being engaged in London as one of the Scottish commissioners in constant communication with the Committee for the Affairs of Ireland, there can be but little doubt that the kinsmen met, whether on business or private grounds. Hope, however, was not long in England, for he died the following year, to the great grief of his father, who lamented bitterly his 'grevous wound of sorrow in the loss of his son.'1

James Houblon's committee sat in Grocers' Hall, and is often referred to by that name. It was appointed in July 1643, and many of the Citizen Adventurers who 1643 sat on it were also members of the House of Commons; as all were associated with the City of London and its interests, it was likewise frequently spoken of as the City Committee.

2

It would appear that after a time the Citizen Adventurers had waxed suspicious that they were being called upon to make too many sacrifices, and instituted an inquiry as to whether the merchants of Dublin were indeed bearing their fair share in the supply and maintenance of the English army in Ireland; saying, 'they would be content to beare the greatest burthen, but for them to bear all, they weare not able.' This was on the 12th of February 1642-3. Many of the Adven

3

1 See Diary. In 1644 another of Sir Thomas Hope's kin was chosen a Commissioner to the English Parliament by the Scots, viz. Sir Charles Erskine, son of the 7th Earl of Mar, who was married to Sir Thomas Hope's daughter Marie.

2 Preface to Calendar of State Papers, 1625-1649, Addenda, p. xxxvii, re Irish Loan.

3 History of the Confederate War in Ireland, 1641-1643. Ed. J. T. Gilbert, from R. Bellings. Tucker's Journal, ii. 192.

turers had advanced their money before proper security had been given, or their subscriptions confirmed by Act of Parliament; the English officers in the Irish army were in the same plight, and were doubtful as to 'that the Parliament should deal fayrely with them—a state of things suggestive of the difficulties that surrounded parliamentary government pure and simple. It was apparently in consequence of this uncertainty, that the new committee of July 1643 was appointed on which James Houblon had a seat, for that the Citizen Adventurers having lent their money considered themselves. entitled to a vote in the management of the affairs of Ireland,1

After a time the original Committee for the Affairs of Ireland was reconstituted. At first composed of twentysix members of each House, it presently became apparent that the Lords who sat on it were no longer in sympathy with either the opinions or the proceedings of those among them who were Commoners; so they were replaced by other members of the House of Commons, all of whom were likewise Adventurers. John Goodwyn, member of Parliament, was its chairman, and it sat in the Exchequer Chamber at Westminster. Through the hands of the City committee for the Affairs of Ireland' (of which James Houblon was a member) passed most of the practical details of the business of both, such as the levying of assessments, the furnishing of arms, ammunition, and provisions for the army, the organisation of supply and transport, etc. etc., and this continued to be its work, notwithstanding the changes which took place in the composition of other committees appointed from time to time, during the years which succeeded.

1 See Preface to Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Addenda, 16251649, p. xxxvii. A few original orders for the year 1643, issued by this committee, besides some books containing copies of orders, have been preserved among the State Papers Interregnum, to some of which the signature of James Houblon is attached. 3 Ibid.

2 Ibid.

The two committees for the Affairs of Ireland working, as they did, together, John Goodwyn, the chairman of the one, had a seat likewise on the other. He was a prominent parliamentarian and 'committee-man,' and was active for the Parliament upon all that appertained to Ireland, and he served also upon the Committee for 'choosing officers for service in Ireland.'1

2

We find by the State Papers of Ireland, that James Houblon was among the merchant Citizen Adventurers who subscribed to the parliamentary loan for the reduction of Ireland. Captain Peter, Houblon also subscribed £200, and James's young brother-in-law and ward, Peter du Quesne, was likewise a subscriber. James's first investment amounted to £650 in two sums, the interest guaranteed being 8 per cent. He thus became entitled to upwards of a thousand acres of Irish land at the close of the war. The same documents show that on a later appeal (in 1643) for funds by the Parliament, he was of the number of Adventurers who 'doubled their original money'; the first sum subscribed in the City was £56,556, while that contributed on the subsequent occasion was upwards of £60,000, the total money being £117,487, 16s. old. Thus '142,000 Acres, sett at Is. 6d. p. Acre (being a very moderate rate by worth per annum),'3 were disposed of by Parliament in this manner.

What became of the two thousand Irish acres allotted to James Houblon, 'bogs and barren mountains cast in in addition,' we have not been able to discover, though we are told that the receipts constituted a claim upon the forfeited lands in Ireland, and were afterwards made the basis of the allotment in July 1653.5 It seems

1 See a Declaration from both Houses, 17 May 1642, for a list of the Irish committee for choosing of officers.

2 State Papers, Ireland, 294; 114 and 115.

3 State Papers, Ireland, Charles I., vol. 260.

History of the Confederate War in Ireland, 1641-1643, Ed. J. T. Gilbert, from R. Bellings, i. xxxi.

5 State Papers, Ireland, Charles I., vol. 260.

VOL. I.

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1653