of the Kingly authority, and laid it down for a maxim,
that all who opposed the King were rebels in their
hearts. He was perpetually in one amour or other,
without being very nice in his choice: Upon which
the King said once, he believed his brother had his
mistresses given him by his Priests for penance.
He gave me this account of his changing his religion:
When he escaped out of the hands of the Earl of Northumberland,
who had the charge of his education trusted to him
by the Parliament, and had used him with great respect,
all due care was taken, as soon as he got beyond sea,
to form him to a strict adherence to the Church of
England: Among other things much was said
of the authority of the Church, and of the tradition
from the Apostles in support of Episcopacy: So
that, when he came to observe that there was more
reason to submit to the Catholick Church than to one
particular Church, and that other traditions might
be taken on her word, as well as Episcopacy was received
among us, he thought the step was not great, but that
it was very reasonable to go over to the Church of
Rome: And Doctor Steward having
taught him to believe a real but unconceivable presence
of Christ in the Sacrament, he thought this
went more than half way to transubstantiation.
He said, that a Nun’s advice to him to pray
every day, that, if he was not in the right way, God
would set him right, did make a great impression on
him. But he never told me when or where he was
reconciled. He suffered me to say a great deal
to him on all these heads. I shewed the difference
between submission and obedience in matters of order
and indifferent things, and an implicite submission
from the belief of infallibility. I also shewed
him the difference between a speculation of a mode
of Christ’s presence, when it rested
in an opinion, and an adoration founded on it:
Tho’ the opinion of such a presence was wrong,
there was no great harm in that alone: But the
adoration of an undue object was idolatry. He
suffered me to talk much and often to him on these
heads. But I plainly saw, it made no impression:
And all that he seemed to intend by it was, to make
use of me as an instrument to soften the aversion
that people began to be possessed with to him.
He was naturally eager and revengeful: And was
against the taking off any that set up in an opposition
to the measures of the Court, and who by that means
grew popular in the House of Commons. He was for
rougher methods. He continued for many years
dissembling his religion, and seemed zealous for the
Church of England: But it was chiefly on
design to hinder all propositions that tended to unite
us among our selves. He was a frugal Prince,
and brought his Court into method and magnificence:
For he had 100000_l_. a year allowed him. He was
made High Admiral: And he came to understand
all the concerns of the sea very particularly.
He had a very able Secretary about him, Sir William