Note 165 — Chapter VIII · The End of the First Civil War.

For Meldrum's negotiations with Derby, vide his letters to the Committee of Both Kingdoms in "C.S.P.," 1644‑5, pp. 109, 137, 191. On March 15, 1647, the House of Lords sent a message to the Commons suggesting that the Earl of Derby should be admitted to compound. ("C.J.," Vol. 5, p. 498.) The suggestion to Derby that he should give up the royalists with him was made on Nov. 29, 1645. ("C.S.P.," 1645‑7, pp. 242, 243.) But it is evident that this did not entirely close the negotiations, for the Earl petitioned to be allowed to compound on January 22, 1648‑9, and drew up particulars of his estate, showing a yearly income of £4,324. 10s. 8d. ("Royalist Composition Papers," Vol. 2, pp. 122-5.) The lists and petitions occupy 120 pages of this volume; among them are several from merchants whose ships had been seized at sea by vessels from the Isle of Man. Derby claimed deductions amounting to £600 a year, and for a debt of £1,520, and his fine was eventually calculated as £15,572. 16s. 5d. How far the negotiations went, and exactly the reason for breaking them off, does not appear. Whitelock ("Memorials," 1732 edition, p. 432) says that Parliament ordered the proceedings with regard to the composition to be stopped because Derby continued to hold the Isle of Man; but this is not a very satisfactory explanation.