[Footnote 1:  These two of the late public servants of Oliver—­Downing his minister at the Hague, and Morland his envoy in the business of the Piedmontese massacre of 1655—­had behaved most dishonourably.  Both, for some months past, had been establishing friendly relations with Charles by actually betraying trusts they still held with the government of the Commonwealth—­Morland by communicating papers and information which came into his possession confidentially in Thurloe’s office (Clar.  Hist. 869), and Downing by communicating the secrets of his embassy to Charles, and acting in his interests in that embassy, on guarantee that he should retain it, and have other rewards, when Charles came to the throne (Clar.  Life, 1116-1117).  There was to be farther proof that Downing was the meaner rascal of the two.]

[Footnote 2:  Pepys’s Diary, from beginning to April 11, 1660.  Montague seems to have first positively and directly pledged himself to Charles in a letter of April 10, beginning “May it please your excellent Majesty,—­From your Majesty’s incomparable goodness and favour, I had the high honour to receive a letter from you when I was in the Sound last summer, and now another by the hands of my cousin” (Clar.  State Papers).  But the cousin had been already negotiating.]

[Footnote 3:  Clarendon, 891-896; Thurloe, VII. 807-898; Skinner, 266-275; Phillips, 695-696.]

Over the seas went Greenville, as fast as ship could carry him, with the precious messages he bore.  At Ostend, where he arrived on the 23rd of March, he reduced them to writing; and the next day, and for several days afterwards, Charles, Hyde, Ormond, and Secretary Nicholas, were in joyful consultation over them in Brussels.  The advice of an instant removal to Breda fitted in with their own intentions.  Neither the Spanish territory nor the French was a good ground from which to negotiate openly with England; nor indeed was Spanish territory quite safe for Charles at a time when, seeing his restoration possible, Spain might detain him as a hostage for the recovery of Dunkirk and Mardike.  To Breda, accordingly, as Monk advised, the refugees went.  They went in the most stealthy manner, and just in time to avoid being detained by the Spanish authorities.  Before they reached Breda, however, but when Greenville could say that he had seen them safe within Dutch territory, he left them, to post back to England with a private letter to Monk in the King’s own hand, enclosing a commission to the Captaincy-General of all his Majesty’s forces, and with six other documents, which had been drafted by Hyde, and were all dated by anticipation “At Our Court at Breda, this 4/14th of April 1660, in the Twelfth Year of Our Reign.”  One was a public letter “To our trusty and well-beloved General Monk,” to be by him communicated to the President and Council of State and to the Army officers; another was to the Speaker of the House of Commons