"Your lordship may well wonder, and the king too, at the amplitude of my commission. But when you have understood the height of his majesty's design, you will soon be satisfied that nothing less could have made me capable to effect it; being that one army of ten thousand men was to have come out of Ireland through North Wales; another of a like number, at least, under my command in chief, have expected my return in South Wales, which Sir Henry Gage was to have commanded as lieutenant-general; and a third should have consisted of a matter of six thousand men, two thousand of which were to have been Liegois, commanded by Sir Francis Edmonds, two thousand Lorrainers, to have been commanded by Colonel Browne, and two thousand of such French, English, Scots, and Irish, as could be drawn out of Flanders and Holland. And the six thousand were to have been, by the prince of Orange's assistance, in the associated counties; and the governor of Lyne, cousin german to Major Bacon, major of my own regiment, was to have delivered the town unto them.
"The maintenance of this army of foreigners was to have come from the pope, and such Catholick princes as he, should have drawn into it, having engaged to afford and procure thirty thousand pounds a month; out of which the foreign army was first to be provided for, and the remainder to be divided among the other armies. And for this purpose had I power to treat with the pope and Catholick princes with particular advantages promised to Catholicks for the quiet enjoying their religion, without the penalties which the statutes in force had power to inflict upon them. And my instructions for this purpose, and my powers to treat and conclude thereupon, were signed by the king under his pocket signet, with blanks for me to put in the names of pope or princes, to the end the king might have a starting-hole to deny the having given me such commissions, if excepted against by his own subjects; leaving me as it were at stake, who for his majesty's sake was willing to undergo it, trusting to his word alone."—Clarendon Papers, ii. 201, 202.
But his departure was delayed by Ormond's objections to the conditions of peace; and the king, to relieve himself from the difficulty, proposed to Herbert to proceed to Ireland, and grant privately to the Catholics those concessions which the lord-lieutenant hesitated to make, on condition of receiving in return an army of ten thousand men for the royal service. In consequence, on the 27th of December, Charles announced to Ormond that Herbert was going to Ireland under an engagement to further the peace.—Carte, ii. App. p. 5.
1645, January 2nd. Glamorgan (he was now honoured with the title of earl of Glamorgan) received these instructions. "First you may ingage y'r estate, interest and creditt that we will most really and punctually performe any our promises to the Irish, and as it is necessary to conclude a peace suddainely, soe whatsoever shall be consented unto by our lieutenant the marquis of Ormond. We will dye a thousand deaths rather than disannull or break it; and if vpon necessity any thing to be condescended unto, and yet the lord marquis not willing to be seene therein, as not fitt for us at the present publickely to owne, doe you endeavour to supply the same."—Century of Inventions by Mr. Partington, original letters and official papers, xxxv. Then follows a promise to perform any promise made by him to Ormond or others, &c.
January 6. He received a commission to levy any number of men in Ireland and other parts beyond the sea, with power to appoint officers, receive the king's rents, &c.—Birch, p. 18, from the Nuncio's Memoirs, fol. 713.
January 12. He received another warrant of a most extraordinary description, which I shall transcribe from a MS. copy in my possession, attested with the earl's signature, and probably the very same which he gave to Ormond after his arrest and imprisonment.
"CHARLES REX
"Charles by the grace of God king of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Fayth, &c. To our Right trusty and Right well beloved Cossin Edward Earle of Glamorgan greetinge. Whereas wee haue had sufficient and ample testimony of y'r approued wisdome and fideliti. Soe great is the confidence we repose in yo'w as that whatsoeuer yo'w shall perform as warranted only under our signe manuall pockett signett or private marke or even by woorde of mouthe w'thout further cerimonii, wee doo in the worde of a kinge and a cristian promis to make good to all intents and purposes as effectually as if your authoriti from us had binne under our great seale of England w'th this advantage that wee shall esteem our self farr the moore obliged to yo'w for y'r gallantry in not standing upon such nice tearms to doe us service w'h we shall God willing rewarde. And althoughe yo'w exceed what law can warrant or any power of ours reach unto, as not knowinge what yo'w may have need of, yet it being for our service, wee oblige ourself not only to give yo'w our pardon, but to mantayne the same w'th all our might and power, and though, either by accident yo'w loose or by any other occasion yo'w shall deem necessary to deposit any of our warrants and so wante them at yo'r returne, wee faythfully promise to make them good at your returne, and to supply any thinge wheerin they shall be founde defective, it not being convenient for us at this time to dispute upon them, for of what wee haue heer sett downe yo'w may rest confident, if theer be fayth or truth in man; proceed theerfor cheerfully, spedelj, and bouldly, and for your so doinge this shal be yo'r sufficient warrant. Given at our Court at Oxford under our signe manuall and privat signet this 12 of January 1644.
"GLAMORGAN.
"To our Right trustj and Right well beloved cosin
Edward Earle of Glamorgan."
Indorsed, "The Earle of Glamorgan's further authoritj."