Colonel Joseph Bampfield's Apology "Written by Himself and Printed at His Desire" 1685: And Bampfield's Later Career : A Biographical Supplement

This book consists of two parts of approximately equal length: Colonel Joseph Bampfield's Apology (1685), edited by John Loftis and Paul H. Hardacre; and a biographical account, Bampfield's Later Career, by John Loftis. Bampfield's Apology provides an account of the author's war service and his subsequent service to Charles I as a courier and agent in the period of frustrated negotiations that led to the second civil war and the execution of the king. Bampfield describes Charles's negotiations with parliament, with the army, with commissioners representing the Scots, and he describes the attempt by the king and leaders of Parliament to reach agreement in the Treaty of Newport before Cromwell's army returned from the north, after defeating the Scottish army. Although the narrative is partisan, it is (except in rare instances) factually accurate. Bampfield prints ten letters written to him by the king, not published elsewhere, for which there is convincing external as well as internal evidence of authenticity.
As long ago as 1894, C. H. Firth wrote that Bampfield's "biographical 'Apology,' published at The Hague in 1685, is a book of the utmost rarity, and deserves reprinting." Yet the Apology has never before been reprinted, presumably because of Bampfield's reputation as a spy for the protectorate.
The Apology is primarily a memoir of the reign of Charles I. Bampfield, twenty-six at the time of the king's death, lived many more years, many of them years of vigorous and varied activities. These years are recounted in the second half of this volume, Bampfield's Later Career. The biographical record provided by the Apology, and corroborated by the Memoirs of Anne, Lady Halkett, can be supplemented by Bampfield's voluminous correspondence, published and unpublished, in both French and English. Bampfield wrote most of the letters as intelligence reports. Though they include only incidental references to his personal activities, cumulatively they provide a detailed account of his life, and an informed commentary on national and international affairs as well.