who, though descending from a long line of heroes eminent for wisdom and virtue, and himself exposed, through his whole public life, to misfortune and mortification, yet amidst all the difficulties of the times, and his own situation, has universally been distinguished from the rest of his house by the title of the Great Earl of Derby those who examine the records of this family, must naturally expect that the series of actions which elicited this honorable distinction, would be highly interesting in the detail; and therefore I shall make no apology for giving the leading particulars of the life of this exalted personage, connected as they are with the history and situation of the Isle of Man during that period.

CHAP. V.

History of James, commonly called the Great Earl of Derby, and Tenth Lord of Manhis Arrival in the Island-Disturbances there -First Account of Captain Christian-Lord Derby's Return to England.

JAMES, Lord Strange, began his public career in the year 1627, the third of Charles I. when he sat in parliament, as Baron Strange, at the same time with his father, the Earl of Derby. Sir William Dugdale, in his Chronicle of the Times, gives him this character; that, "setting aside the great state in which he lived, and his wonderful hospitality and beneficence, he was a person highly accomplished with learning, prudence, and loyalty; and was one, if not the first, of the peers that repaired to Charles at York, when the seditious Londoners had driven His

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Majesty from Whitehall; and though he did not usually follow the court, yet, when he saw the king's affairs required his assistance, he thought himself obliged, both by religion and allegiance to serve him to the utmost of his life and fortune."

It is painful to observe, throughout the great contest which ensued, how ill the vast sacrifices made by this nobleman were received and requited, though the disinterested and pure principles of loyalty on which he acted, are evinced and enhanced to an unexampled degree by the treatment he received; yet must we ever review with wonder and disgust the folly, ingratitude, and suspicion, of the court to which he devoted himself; nor can we be much surprised at the fate of Charles I. when we see him influenced, in defiance of common sense, to insult and discountenance, the only man who, by his power and inclination, was able to prop his sinking fortune.

It is probable that, when questions of liberty and right were first agitated, in opposition to. the exorbitant claims of prerogative set up by the king, the Earl of Derby had rather taken the popular side of the question; but that the moment he perceived the real tendency of these proceedings, he decided on giving his support

where it was soon likely to be most wanted. Contrary, however, to policy, which should have taught the ministers of Charles to receive such an ally with open arms, they seem from the beginning to have wished rather to drive him to contrary extremities; for which absurd conduct, only one rational cause can be assigned, and that was, the hope of dividing his immense possessions amongst them-a hope so remote, and so little supported by the aspect of the times, that it can scarcely be adduced as a reason.

But though Lord Derby was very coldly received by those about the king, yet he prudently concealed his sense of their neglect; and, with the plainness and integrity of his loyal mind, held himself at all times ready to receive and obey His Majesty's commands.

In the beginning of the civil wars, he availed himself of the esteem and respect with which he was regarded by the gentlemen and yeomanry in his immediate neighbourhood, to raise three thousand men for the king's service, whom he contrived to equip, though he had previously lent all his own arms to His Majesty, from whom he had a warrant to receive an equal number, as well as a sum of money for his services; both which, by the intrigues of the courtiers, he was prevented from obtaining.

The first considerable debate in which he met with strong opposition was, on the question where Charles should set up his standard; Lord Derby strenuously recommended Lancashire, as being in the centre of the northern counties, and directly accessible to the royalists in them, as well as in North Wales: he represented the Lancastrians as generally well affected, and engaged to furnish three thousand foot and five hundred horse at his own expence, besides which, he had no doubt of enlisting seven thousand more under His Majesty's pay these convincing arguments so far prevailed, that it was agreed the standard should be set up at Warrington; upon which, his Lordship sat out to dispose the country for the service; and so far did his success exceed his hopes, that in three great musters made by him on the heaths of Bury, Ormskirk, and Preston, at least 20,000 men appeared in each field, most of them ready armed with pikes, muskets, or other instruments of war; but, strange to tell, the king, instead of availing himself of these extraordinary levies, and of those which the earl farther calculated on raising by his influence in Cheshire and North Wales, he suffered his jealousy to be excited by persons, who suggested that this excessive popularity of the earl was, in itself, a danger of