Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/55

 S. NO 3., JAN. 19. '30.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

47

principled adventurer." Hugh Speke and his whole family were venturers, if I may so speak, not adventurers. They risked fortune and life, and paid the penalty. They were " unquiet," after the fashion of all enthusiasts restless as were all the men of that age whom we celebrate as the heroes of the Revolution.

Opposition to the government now appeared hopeless. Perhaps the Spekes thought so, though Hugh says he hoped for some better chance of doing good service, if he could obtain his freedom. Application, therefora, was made to the Marquis of Powis, one of the most moderate of the party then in the ascendant, to know on what conditions he might be released, and received for answer that nothing could be done till his father's and his own fines were paid more than 2,300/., and till security was given for good behaviour of 20,OOOZ. for the father, and 10,0007. for the son. The Spekes were willing to pay "the fines, but they could not, or would not, find the securities ; for as Hugh says, "good behaviour, in the style of that reign was a blind and absolute compliance with the arbitrary designs " of the Court. At last, an expedient was proposed that the Spekes should pay 5000?. into the Exchequer as a security for good behaviour, with a royal promise that it should be refunded in two years, in case they should demean themselves to his Majesty's satis- faction ; who thereupon would grant a pardon to the father and the son, and to Mary Speke the mother, John Speke the eldest son, and Mary Jennings the sister, a widow, all of whom were obnoxious, although they had not all been prose- cuted !

With these hard conditions they complied, thinking it better than to risk the ruin of their friends, by giving 30,OOOZ. security. This was in the year 1686, and Hugh Speke, feeling that London was no longer a proper place for him to reside in, withdrew into his native country, and being a barrister, was soon after appointed City Council for Exeter, where he continued to reside till a very short time before the arrival of the Prince of Orange, when he returned to London, thinking that he might there be of more service to the good cause.

Mr. Macaulay says " Speke asserted " that when the Dutch invasion had thrown Whitehall into consternation, he, Speke, " offered his services to the Court." The idea of such a contradiction to the one devoted purpose of a whole life ought surely to have startled Mr. Macaulay into a doubt. But it is a mere mistake. Speke says (p. 24.), that he was first spoken to by the Marquis of Powis, who reminded him of the pardon he and his family had received, and hoped they would be found grateful and zealous in the king's cause ; that the next day he received a letter from Chif- finch, ordering him to attend at Chiffinch's apart-

ments, which he did, and was there met by the king, who, after much discourse, said that he, Speke, could do him more important service than any gentleman in England, being well acquainted with the more considerable gentlemen in the West who were likely to join with, or attend the Prince of Orange ; that what he and his family had suf- fered, " through misinformation," would secure him favour with the prince, and that if he would join the prince so soon as he landed, and send in- telligence of his strength and designs, he would not only repay him the 50001. which he had paid into the Exchequer, but give him 50001. additional. Such a proposition was strictly consistent with the character of James, who believed that no man had either principles or conscience but himself; and Speke's conduct was equally characteristic, for though he took a few hours to deliberate, it was only to consider how he could best " improve " the opportunity which Providence had thus put into his hands, to " the interest, honour, and security of his religion and country." Speke agreed to hold himself in readiness, but required three blank passes, one to be signed by the king, the others by Feversham, the general in command, without which he might be stopped on the road. This was agreed to, the passes were given ; and so soon as certain intelligence of the prince's landing was received, Speke started, reached the prince at Exeter, to whom he explained the whole design, and to whom he delivered the passes, which, he says, proved of no small use. Speke, how- ever, with the approval of the prince, continued to act and write as if his intentions were to serve the king ; but all his letters, he says, were pre- viously submitted to, and approved by the prince. If this be not true, let it be disproved ; if it be, Speke acted as many others acted, without Speke's apology, from " Est-il possible ? " down to Church- ill and Kirk.

Mr. Macaulay further tells us, as we have be- fore observed, that it was " after the lapse of twenty-seven years " that Speke's claim as the writer of the forged Declaration was first put forward ; and that we " may reasonably suspect him of having waited for the death of those who could confute him." This reasonable sus- picion, I believe, rests on an assertion of Ecluird's, who, in 1725 says, that no person ever claimed the merit of it but Hugh Speke, "of late years, when no man perhaps could contradict him " (p. 183.). Mr. Macaulay was obviously led by these vague words to assume that the merit or demerit of this was first claimed by Speke in his Secret History, published in 1715. But from that Secret History (p. 50.) we learn that the fact was charged against Speke by Dyer, whom he calls " that noted Jacobite tool and newswriter," in 1704; and I have it now before me, reproduced, I suppose, from Dyer, io Old Stories, published