Clarendon, finding that the popular torrent, united to the violence of
power, ran with impetuosity against him, and that a defence offered to
such prejudiced ears would be entirely ineffectual, thought proper to
withdraw. At Calais he wrote a paper addressed to the house of lords.
He there said, that his fortune, which was but moderate, had been
gained entirely by the lawful, avowed profits of his office, and by the
voluntary bounty of the king; that, during the first years after
the restoration, he had always concurred in opinion with the other
counsellors, men of such reputation that no one could entertain
suspicions of their wisdom or integrity: that his credit soon declined;
and however he might disapprove of some measures, he found it vain to
oppose them; that his repugnance to the Dutch war, the source of all
the public grievances, was always generally known, as well as his
disapprobation of many unhappy steps taken in conducting it: and that,
whatever pretence might be made of public offences, his real crime, that
which had exasperated his powerful enemies, was his frequent opposition
to exorbitant grants, which the importunity of suitors had extorted from
his majesty.
The lords transmitted this paper to the commons, under the appellation
of a libel; and by a vote of both houses it was condemned to be burned
by the hands of the hangman.
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