 By his own account he bargained with the ambassador to land soldiers from the Spanish fleet at Dunkirk, at thirty shillings a head, though public neutrality had been enjoined by Charles.His relatives, the Rich-Devereux clan, were identified with the Parliamentary opposition on the 1630s.Although at Christmas 1639, Newport participated with the King in the extravagant masque on the theme of "Philogenes", royal "lover of the People", with the return of the Long Parliament the next year, Newport by degrees joined the forces of opposition in the House of Lords.