USURPA TION. *" To his Highness, the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, " Scotland, and Ireland, and the Dominions thereto belonging, the humble Petition " of his Highness' Servants, the Officers of Arms: " Sheweth, "That it has bin part of the employment of your petitioners, and of their " predecessors in former days, to give their attendance at publique solemnities and " proceedings, and to point out the due place of all persons, according to their de gree and qualitie, which they have bin able to do, by keeping a registry of all "honours conferred, whereby all questions in succeeding ages, happening amongst "the nobility and gentry, by reason of seniority of knighthoods, or honours con"ferred upon their ancestors, have bin determined; and now, for that some per sons upon whom your Highness has lately conferred honors, have neglected to " register the same, whereby divers debates and questions may afterwards arise, " and confusion consequently follow, "The petitioners humbly pray, that they, or some persons by them deputed, may, at the time of conferring of honors, attend your Highness, by which " meanes they may be enabled to keep a true registry thereof, receiving the usual "fees for the same. "And your Petitioners, &c. " Signed, ED. BYSSHE, Garter." "Friday, 2d March, 1654, at the Councel at Whitehall. "That the allowance to be received by the heralds be referred to the consider"ation of the Committee, to whome the methodizinge of payments out of the "Councell's contingencies be referred. 1 "HEN. SCOBELL, Clerk of the Councell." CHARLES II. Acceded de jure, January 30, 1648-9-De facto May 8-Entered London 29, 1660 THE garbled Parliament having destroyed Charles I., changed the CHARLES II form of government, from monarchical to republican; but the army at length placed their General, Cromwell, at the head of it, with the title of Protector. He left it to his son Richard, whom his ungrateful relations in the army divested of the supreme power. The ambitious and turbulent factions, like the waves of the sea, following each other in such quick succession, that the nation, recovering from that wild visionary revery which had so long infatuated her, determined to recall their lawful master, Charles II. The two Houses of Parliament passed a vote for that purpose, May 8, 1660. The same day his Majesty, by their orders, was proclaimed in a solemn manner, at Westminster-hall-gate, the Lords and Commons standing bare-headed, whilst it was performed by the heralds. The same was done in the city of London. My author says, that only Mr. Byshe, Garter, Mr. Ryley, and Mr. Byshe, Herald, brother of Garter, attended. The heralds, probably all of them, were in his Majesty's train at his entrance into London, upon May the twenty-ninth, the day of his Restoration. The College of Arms, in common with all other public bodies, was in very great disorder at the return of this Monarch. The members might be placed in several classes; those legally appointed, who were deprived for their loyalty; such who had been also placed there by the late Sovereign, but had revolted from his Majesty, and remained during all the turns of the government, subsequent to the death of the late, to the coming in of this King; and those who had been nominated by the Parliament in 1646, or during the Usurpation. Such various interests were not easily adjusted. It was not until August 10, 1660, in the afternoon, that the members who were selected by the King first met in a public manner in CHARLES II their office; having, in the morning of that day, took the oaths to the government. The adjustment was conducted with great prudence. The deprived loyalists were Sir Edward Walker, Garter, Sir William le Neve, Clarenceux, and William Dugdale, Esq. Chester herald. The first had undergone exile with his royal master, the latter had been fined for his duty by the sequestrators; it was therefore resolved to restore the first to his place of Garter, Principal King at Arms, and to reward the latter, by raising him to the office of Norroy. As to Sir William le Neve, Clarenceux, it was impossible to restore him; he had long been in a deplorable state of. insanity. The legitimate members, who had started aside from their duty to the late Sovereign, were William Ryley, Esq., Lancaster herald, and by intrusion Clarenceux; George Owen, Esq., York herald, by intrusion Norroy; and William Crowne, Rouge-dragon pursuivant. former were reduced to their stations of heralds, and the latter was permitted to retain his office, though they had been all very obnoxious men, by favoring and supporting every faction which had opposed the royal interest. The intruding heralds : Ryley, Owen, Everard Exton, Barkham, and Henry Dethick, Esqrs. were deprived. They all left the College, except the last, who probably had favor shewn him, because of his family having so long presided over it; but he was obliged to submit to become a pursuivant, though perhaps with a promise of promotion upon a vacancy. Byshe, The two Upon the expulsion of these six intruding heralds, these were appointed: Elias Ashmole, Esq., Windsor; Thomas Lee, Esq., Chester; George Owen, Esq., the deposed Norroy king at arms, reduced to York; Sir Thomas St. George, Knight, Somerset ; George Manwaring, restored to Richmond; and William Ryley, Esq., the deprived Clarenceux king at arms, Lancaster. The four offices of pursuivants were supplied thus: Henry Dethick, Esq., the deprived herald, was appointed Rouge-croix; Robert Challoner, Gent., Blue-mantle; William Crowne, Gent., continued Rouge-dragon; and John Wingfield, Gent., Portcullis. Thus the College was again legally settled in its ancient and accustomed manner. The members were very judiciously chosen: they did honor to those who had the appoint ment. Charles Charles II. to shew the value he had for a well-tried servant, Sir Ed- CHARLES II ward Walker, and to evince his regard for the College, augmented the salary of the then present, and every future Garter, by raising the sum paid out of the Exchequer from £50 to £100 per annum; and in 1664, by a decree, resolved upon in a Chapter of the Order of St. George, it was settled, that another £100 per annum should be paid to Garter out of the revenues of the Order, in lieu of the casual annuities which had been paid to him by the Sovereign and the Knights. In Scotland, the greatest care was taken to restore the heralds to their former privileges: for this purpose, and to give the greater honor to the person who presided at the head of that incorporated body, Sir Andrew Durham had a crown of gold placed upon his head in full parliament, when created Lyon king at arms; the Chancellor and Lord-registrar each harangued him in a solemn manner, respecting the duty and importance of the place to which he had been appointed. This creation and investment was in 1662. That dreadful fire which, in 1666, laid desolate so great a part of London, destroyed the College of Arms; fortunately the records and books (one or two excepted) were saved, and safely deposited in an apartment in the Palace of Whitehall, from whence they were removed to a room in the Palace at Westminster, near the Court of Requests, formerly called the Queen's Court, and public notice was given in the Gazette, that the Heralds' Office was kept there. By the act of Parliament. for rebuilding the city, it was stipulated, that the College should be begun to be re-cdified within three years. The expense was estimated at £5000 at least, but as a corporate body they were without any money whatever; they therefore petitioned his Majesty to have a commission, to solicit assistance from the nobility and gentry: they were referred to the Commissioners for executing the office of Earl Marshal. December 6, 1672, a commission was granted them from the re-port of their Lordships; but as the money was directed to be laid out as the Earl Marshal should appoint, the members of the Society were so displeased, that they made little effort to promote a subscription, though they had reason to think they should have been fortunate in that respect. The sum of seven hundred pounds was the whole which they procured by this commission. The heralds generously gave up many of their fees, and some of them were extremely liberal. Mr. Ashmole, Windsor, gave con- siderably; 1 CHARLES II siderably; Sir William Dugdale, Garter, built the north-west corner of the College at his own expense; Sir Edward Byshe, Clarenceux, purposed giving the profits of some visitations; but he dying in 1678, before he could effect his wishes, his successor, Sir Henry St. George, thinking himself in honor bound to fulfil Sir Edward's engagement, assigned six counties of his province for that purpose, Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, Warwick, Gloucester, and Worcester. I shall mention the several sums raised by this measure, as it will acquaint the reader of the profits arising from these visitations. In 1681, the counties of Northampton and Rutland were began, but the times being " unsettled, and Northamptonshire much divided into factions," the clear profit was not more than £30, and the charges about £80. This was a discouraging beginning; yet it did not prevent his again sending his deputies to visit Leicestershire and Warwickshire, and to review the counties of Northampton and Rutland: this produced about £130 clear. At the latter end of the year, the deputies went into Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, and to review the counties of Leicester and Warwick, which yielded a clear £300. The next summer the same heralds were sent to review those four counties, and to visit Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire for Clarenceux, upon his own account, which they did, and brought clear into the office about £70, besides what Sir Henry St. George netted. This making £530, built up the west side, and south-west corner of the College from Garter's stair-case*. They were erected upon a building lease, as originally intended. The whole made one uniform quadrangular structure, and was greatly admired, as then one of the handsomest brick buildings in London. The hollow arch of the gate-way is esteemed a curiosity†. In the month of November 1683, the College part was completed, and the rooms were appropriated to the members, according to their respective stations, by agreement amongst themselves; the Earl Marshal confirmed their act, and they have from that time remained belonging to the * Mr. King, Lancaster herald, from whom this statement is taken, adds " 'tis true Mr. King, out of his zeal for the public, pressed on these visitations somewhat earnestly, which " Mr. Clarenceux seemed to resent; for Mr. King easily perceived, that Mr. Clarenceux grew cold to him from that time forward." 66 † See Appendix, Letter J. for the copy of a circular letter from the Earl Marshal, A summons to a district, and to an individual during the visitations in this reign. |