Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 27.djvu/169

 palatine, and represented them also in the disputes with the lords about the protestation and the king's journey to Scotland (, pp. 113, 118; Old Parliamentary History, ix. 295, 511). In the second session Holles was equally active and equally decided. He spoke on behalf of the Grand Remonstrance, and was eager for the punishment of Mr. Palmer (, pp. 124, 127).

When the Irish rebellion broke out, Holles uncompromisingly supported the proposed declaration against the toleration of the catholics; when the lords opposed the Impressment Bill, Holles was charged to represent to them their responsibility for the blood and misery which might ensue (, x. 103; Lords' Journals, iv. 484). On 27 Dec. he pressed for the impeachment of Lord Digby and the Earl of Bristol (, p. 453). Impeached himself by the king at Digby's advice on 3 Jan. 1642, he took refuge in the city with the rest of the accused members, and returned like them in triumph to Westminster on 11 Jan. The control of the militia became now the chief question at issue, and, to overcome the reluctance of the lords to join the commons in demanding it, Holles in an impassioned speech presented to them a petition purporting to come from many thousands of unemployed artisans in and about London (, iv. 263–71; Lords' Journals, iv. 559). Impatient of any opposition, he was eager for the punishment of the Duke of Richmond, demanded the impeachment of the nine royalist peers who had refused to obey the summons of parliament, and conducted himself the charge against them (, p. 478; Old Parliamentary History, xi. 200).

When actual war began, he was at first equally thoroughgoing. He had been appointed lieutenant of Bristol, was nominated a member of the committee of safety (4 July 1642), and undertook to raise a regiment of foot for the parliament. Under the command of the Earl of Bedford, Holles took part in the operations against the Marquis of Hertford at Sherborne, and defended Bedford against the attacks made on his generalship. At Edgehill he and his regiment distinguished themselves, and at Brentford they bore the brunt of the fighting (, v. 37, 59;, pp. 523, 532; , vi. 7). But during the winter of 1642–3 it was as an advocate of peace that Holles was most prominent. He had from the beginning of the quarrel protested that he desired ‘more than his own life’ a good understanding between king and parliament (, Corfe Castle, ed. 1853, p. 124). Frequent references in the diary of Sir Symonds D'Ewes show how anxious he now was for an accommodation (, pp. 530, 532, 535). In August 1643, when a majority in the commons proposed to take into consideration the peace propositions sent down from the lords, the war party contemplated the summary arrest of Holles and other leaders of the peace section. When the commons retracted their resolution, Holles for a moment thought of leaving England, and obtained a pass for the continent (9 Aug. 1643, Commons' Journals, iii. 19;, Great Civil War, i. 217). However, on 9 April 1644 he addressed the citizens of London in the Guildhall to persuade them to devote ‘their purses and their persons’ to strengthening the army under Essex (Old Parliamentary History, xiii. 162). In November 1644 Holles and several others were sent to carry to the king the propositions offered him by parliament. Of this embassy his companion, Whitelocke, and Holles himself have both given accounts (, Memorials, ed. 1853, i. 331–41; Commons' Journals, iii. 710). He was likewise employed as one of the parliamentary commissioners at the Uxbridge treaty (16 Jan. 1645). Meanwhile the struggle between presbyterians and independents had commenced, and from the first Holles took the lead of the presbyterians. In conversation he did not conceal from his friends among the king's commissioners ‘his animosity and indignation against the Independent party’ (Rebellion, viii. 248). In concert with the Scotch members of the committee of both kingdoms he projected, in December 1644, the impeachment of Cromwell as an incendiary (, ed. 1853, i. 343). In the following summer Lord Savile, who had just deserted the royal party, charged Holles and Whitelocke with betraying their trust when sent to convey the parliament's proposals to the king. It was affirmed that they had secretly consulted with the king on the answer to be given to the propositions, and it was stated also that Holles had throughout maintained secret communications with Lord Digby. The charge was eagerly taken up by some of the independents. ‘Those who were of a contrary party to the Earl of Essex,’ says Whitelocke, ‘set their interest upon it to ruin Mr. Hollis, whom they found to be a great pillar of that party.’ Both the accused were cleared by vote of the commons on 19 July 1645 (ib. i. 457–81; Old Parliamentary History, xiii. 501, 505; xiv. 22). Nevertheless, the accusation was repeated with additional details in the charge brought against him by the army in 1647 (ib. xvi. 70–2). With the conclusion of the war and the attempted