^ THE COMMONWEALTH and PROTECTORATE VOL. III. WORKS BY SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER, D.C.L. LL.D. HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of James I. to the Outbreak of the Civil War, I(i03-ltj42. 10 vols, crowu 8vo. 6i. net each. A HISTOBY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR, 1642-1649. 4 vols, crowu &V0. 6s. uet cacli. A HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE PROTECTORATE. 1649-1660. Vol. 1.1649-1681. With 14 Maps. 8vo. 21». Vol. II. 1681-1654. With7Mai«. 8vo. 21*. Vol.111. 1664-1686. With 6 Maps. 8vo. A STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. From the Earliest Times to 1888. Vol. I. B.C. 8S-A.D. 1809. With 173 Illustration?. Orowu 8vo. 4*. Vol. 11.1809-1689. With 96 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 4.«. Vol. III. 1689-1886. With 109 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 4s. *a* Complete in One Volume, with 378 Illustrations, crou-n Svo. 12*. A SCHOOL ATLAS OF ENGLISH HISTORY, indited by Samuel Rav^bon Uardiner, D.C.L. LL.D. Wltli 66 Coloured Maps and 22 Plans of Battles and Sieges. Fcp. 4to. 6s. CROMWELL'S PLACE IN HISTORY. Founded on Six Lectures delivered at Oxford. Crown Svo. Zs. 6d. WHAT GUNPOWDER PLOT WAS : a Reply to Father Gerard. With 8 Illustrations and Plans. Crown Svo. 6s. THE FIRST TWO STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION, 1603-1660. 4 Maps. Fcp. Svo. 2s. OU. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. With a Map. Fcp. Svo. 2s. 6d. OUTLINE OF ENGLISH HISTORY, b.c. 55-a.d. 1895. With 67 Woodcuts aud 17 Maps. Fcp. Svo. 2s. 6d. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 1789-1795. By Mrs. S. R. Gardisee. With 7 Maps. Fcp. Svo. 2s. 6d. LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO., 89 Paternoster Row, London Kew York and Bombay. HISTOEY OP THE COMMONWEALTH AND PEOTECTOEATE 1649 — 1660^ BY SAMUEL EAWSON GAEDINEE, M.A. HON'.n.C.L.OXFOHD : LITT.D. CAMBRIDGE: LUD.KDINBURaH ; PH.D.GOTTINOKX FELLOW OF MKRTON COLLEGE : HONORARY STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH FELLOW OF KING'S COLLKGK, LONDON VOL. m. 16S4— 1656 LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 89 PATEKNOSTER EOW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1901 All rights reserved Dfl \L PEEFAOE. At one time I was sanguine enough to hope that this volume might cover the events up to the installa- tion of Oliver in Westminster Hall under the pro- visions of the Humble Petition and Advice. It soon appeared, however, that if adequate justice was to be done to the two momentous years which passed between the Parliamentary elections of 1654 and those of 1656, it would be necessary to travel more slowly. So many threads had to be followed out in treating of the Protector's relations with his first Parliament, the Eoyalist Insurrection of 1655, the institution and action of the Major-Generals, the character of Oliver's domestic government, the Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland, the expeditions of Penn and Venables to the West Indies and of Blake to the Mediterranean, together with the relations between England and the Continental Powers, that it seemed unwise to compress the narrative, especially as, in my judgment, there has been much misunder- standing of many points of the highest importance. The need of treating such subjects at considerable length is the greater because the story of these two VI PREFACE. years reveals to us the real character of the Protector^ ate, as no other part of its history can do. Up to the meeting of Parliament in 1654, all was expectation and conjecture. After the meeting of Parliament in 1656, affairs, no doubt, developed themselves in various directions, but the lines of their development were already laid down in the course of the period under survey in the present volume. As so often before, I have to thank Mr. Firth for his ready advice and for many useful suggestions, whilst the publication of the third volume of the Clarke Papers and of Venables^s Narrative, both of them edited by him for The Royal Historical Society, has materially lightened my work, especially in con- nection with the expedition to the West Indies. I have also to thank The Alpine Club for per mission to use two maps of the Vaudois Valleys, published in their new edition of Ball's Guide to the Western Alps, as the foundation of the one which appears opposite p. 408. The shading, however, has been toned down, some names altered or added, and for the political divisions I am alone responsible. I have also to thank the Town Clerks of Leicester, Salisbury, and Gloucester for permission to examine the municipal records in their charge. The copies of Swedish despatches, referred to as Stockholm Transcripts, were made for me through the intervention of Dr. Theodor Westrin, and are at present in my possession. CONTENTS THE THIRD VOLUME, CHAPTER XXXV. PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. 1654 May 30. — Milton's Second Defence of the English People ....... Divergencies between Milton and the Protector The Army and Parliamentarism Additions to the Council The Constituencies and the Franchise Scottish and Irish representation . July. — The returns come in The borough elections . Questions at issue .... The result of the elections September 3.— Opening of Parliament September 4. — The Protector's speech Choice of a Speaker ...... September 5. — Constitutional claims of Parliament September 6. — Debate on freedom of speech September 7. — The Instrument referred to a Committee of the whole House .... September 1 1. — An Assembly of Divines voted . Terms offered by the Government Harrison's petition and arrest .... Another speech by the Protector . Oliver justifies himself ..... His account of the formation of the Instrument He claims national approval .... Stands by four fundamentals Acceptance of the Eecognition demanded . I 4 5 6 6 7 9 10 II 12 14 15 17 18 19 21 27 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 32 viii CONTENTS OF » CHAPTEB XXXVI. •' DRIFTING ASUNDER. PAOB 1654 September 12. — Those who sign the Becognition admitted to the House . . 34 Liberation of Harrison 34 September 18. — The Recognition adopted by the House . 35 September 19. — The Instrument under discussion . . 36 September 22. — The question of the armed forces . . 37 September 26. — Councillors to be approved by Parliament 38 September 26. — Oliver thrown from his carriaj^e . . . 38 September 30. — Discussion on the power of war and peace 39 October 18. — The succession to be elective . . .40 October 24. — Officers of State to be approved by Parlia- ment 41 October 5. — The fundamentals on the army and on religion 42 November 7. — The resolutions of the Committee before the House 43 November 10. — A dispute on the negative voice . . 44 November 15. — The disposal of the Army and Navy discussed 45 The Committee on religion 46 November 16. — Death of the Protector's mother . . . 47 November 17. — The control of the forces limited to the present Protector 47 November 20. — Disposal of the forces after Oliver's death 48 The struggle for the control of the Army . . . . 50 Feeling in the Army 51 October 18. — Publication of the three colonels' petition . 52 The three colonels appeal to a free Parliament . . •54 Discontent amongst Penn's crews 55 October 17. — The seamen's petition approved by a Council of War 56 Lawson's part in the petition 57 ^ Fate of the three colonels 58 November 25. — A meeting of officers 59 November 22. — A Committee on Finance .... 60 December 7-12. — Discussions on religion . . . . 61 Petitions from the City and the Army .... 63 December 1 3. — Imprisonment of Biddle . . . . 63 December 15. — Heresies to be enimierated by Parliament 64 December 16. — The revenue to be granted till the next Parliament . , . . ... . . .65 THE THIRD VOLUME. IX Proposal to replace soldiers by militia 65 December 21. — The Opposition loses ground ... 66 December 23. — Rejection of a motion for offering the crown to Oliver 67 ^ CHAPTER XXXVII. A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. 1654 December 21. — A military plot . Major-General Overton December 18. — A meeting at Aberdeen 1655 January 4. — Overton sent to London January 1 6. — Imprisonment of Overton . 1654 December. — Royalist movements .... December 28. — The Opposition recovers strength 1655 January i. — Parliament declares against the franchise Extension of the disqualifications January 3.— The vote on heresies confirmed January 5. — A financial report .... Birch's position in the House .... Hints of an early dissolution .... January 12. — The Opposition gives way about enumeration of heresies Oliver's position on the question of toleration . Question of the militia ...... A coalition in favour of a compromise breaks up January 17. — Hopelessness of an understanding . The control of the militia claimed for Parliament Aims of Protector and Parliament Oliver's letter to Wilks January 22. — The Protector's speech . Dissolution of Parliament Oliver no opportunist Oliver and William III the 69 70 73 74 75 76 n 78 79 80 80 83 84 85 86 87 90 91 93 95 99 100 lOI "-- CHAPTER XXXVIII. ^ A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. 1655 February 8. — The Assessment lowered 103 The financial situation 104 The Protector's attitude towards the law and constitution 104 Cases of Theauro- John and Biddle 105 Disturbances by the ' Quakers ' . . . . . . io6' X CONTENTS OF PAOR February 15. — A proclamation on religious liberty . . 107 Hacker in Leicestershire 109 February 26. — George Fox before the Protector . . . no The Fifth Monarchy men 112 Simpson before the Protector 112 Feake sent back to prison 113 John Rogers in prison . 114 February 6. — Oliver's conference with Rogers and others. 115 February 16. — Harrison, Rich, Carew, and Courtney imprisoned 117 Case of the Levellers 117 Arrest of Wildman and Lord Grey of Groby . ..118 Escape of Sexby 119 1654 A Royalist plot 119 July 6. — A letter from Charles II 120 June 30. — Charles leaves Paris . . . : • . 121 Charles at Spa and Aachen 122 September 29. — Charles establishes himself at Cologne . 123 Attempted conversion of the Duke of Gloucester . .123 Rescue of the Duke of Gloucester 124 Charles urges the Royalists to rise 125 1655 January. — The Sealed Knot recommends patience . . 126 Charles's hesitation 127 February 13. — Oliver exhibits Charles's letters . . . 128 February 15. — A Militia Commission for London . . 128 Royalist activity 1 29 Charles at Middelburg 13° The situation in England 13' Presbyterian support for the insurgents . . . .132 March 8. — Isolated risings 1 33 CHAPTER XXXIX. penruddock's eising. 1655 A movement in Wiltshire . March 12. — The Royalists at Salisbury. Flight of the Royalists Desborough Major-General of the West March 13. — Unton Croke in pursuit . The fight at South Molton . The insurrection suppressed April 11-25. — Trials of the insurgents . Two views of popular opinion . Escapes of Royalist prisoners Support given to the Protector . 136 137 138 138 139 140 141 142 142 143 145 THE THIRD VOLUME. XI Composition of the Royalist party March 14. — Appointment of -militia commissioners March 24. — The militia not called out . April. — Recommendations of a committee of officers May. — A militia to be kept in reserve . The Judges and the Instrument May 3. — Two Judges dismissed .... Cony's case Imprisonment of Cony's counsel .... June 7. ^Resignation of Chief Justice Rolle August 20. — Submission of Sir Peter Wentworth . June 6. — Resignation of two commissioners of the Seal Whitelocke and Widdrington Commissioners of Treasury Proposed revival of the kingship A Council of Officers rejects the proposal A projected assembly of civilians July 30. — A petition for altering the Instrument . May 18. — Five prisoners transported May 26. — Prisoners removed from the Tower Manning the spy June. — Arrest of Royalists A murder-plot apprehended .... July 6. — Royalists banished from London . The murder-plot countenanced by the Duke of York Great the 146 146 147 148 148 149 150 150 152 153 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 162 163 164 165 166 167 CHAPTER XL. THE MAJOR-GENERALS. 1655 The political situation 168 The Protector on his defence . . . . . . 169 July 31. — The new establishment for the army . .170 A local militia to be raised ..171 August 9. — Major-Generals appointed . . . .172 August 22. — Instructions to the Major-Generals . . . 172 September 21. — A form of commission for the Major- Generals approved of . . . . . . '175 Appointment of commissioners for securing the peace of the country . . . . . . . ..175 Classification of Royalists . . . . . . .176 The decimation . . . . . . . . . 176 The Royalist clergy silenced . . . . . .177 Proclamation against the election of Royalists . . . 178 October 9. — Additional instructions adopted . . .179 xu CONTENTS OF Moral or social regulations Twofold character of the instructions October ii. — Commissions issued to the Major-Generals October 31. — Declaration by the Protector and Council Hyde's comment on the declaration .... Royalism not as yet a preponderant force Unpopularity of the army Enemies raised by the attempt to enforce morality . November 21. — A day of humiliation appointed . November 24, — A declaration against keeping arms or maintaining the ejected clergy .... Evelyn complains of persecution ..... 1656 January. — A petition on behalf of the clergy The declaration not executed against the clergy . October 3. — Royalist prisoners released November 30. — Transportation of the prisoners in Exeter Gaol Their treatment in the West Indies .... October 25. — Royalists expelled from London List of the eleven Major-Generals issued . Relations between the Major-Generals and the Commis sioners Decimation and disarmament Imprisonment by the Major-Generals .... Cases of Cleveland and Sherman .... Proceedings of Butler, Berry and Worsley . Illegality of the action of the Major-Generals . PAGE 180 181 182 182 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 191 192 193 194 195 196 196 198 199 200 201 202 203 CHAPTER XLI. THE LIMITS OF TOLEEATION. 1655 1657 1659 1656 1654 December 13. — Ludlow at Whitehall . October. — Lilburne removed to Dover August 29. — Lilburne's death Feake and Rogers in the Isle of Wight Oliver's practical tolerance .... Arrest of Biddle October 9. — Biddle removed to the Scilly Isles George Fox arrested Fox fined for contempt of Court . August. — Desborough ordered to liberate him The Major-Generals complain of ' Quakers ' ' Quakers ' liberated at Evesham A disturbance in Whitehall Chapel Jews in England 205 206 207 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 215 216 THE THIRD VOLUME. XIU 1655 October. — Arrival of Manasseh Ben Israel . Position and demands of the Jews .... December 4-18. — A conference on the admission of Jews The conference hostile to the Jews . A verbal promise of connivance 1656 March 24-May 16. — Case of Robles . 1654 Treatment of the Roman Catholics 1655 April 26. — Proclamation directed against them 1656 Their private worship unmolested August. — Evelyn's experiences . Cases of Willis, Faringdon and Hales A reaction against dogmatic Puritanism . A Cambridge movement .... Tuckney and Whichcote .... 1653-57 Spread of voluntary associations Students of natural science Intellectual activity favoured by the Protector 1656 Davenant's semi-dramatio entertainment . the PAGE 218 220 221 222 224 225 226 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 232 233 CHAPTER XLII. MORAL ORDER. 1655 August 28. — Orders against unlicensed printing . . . 234 Character of the newspaper press 234 Only two Government newspapers permitted to appear . 235 The Major- Generals expected to raise the standard of morals 236 1656 March 5. — Oliver's address to the London citizens . . 237 Functions of the Major-Generals 238 The killing of the bears 240 Imprisonment of idlers 241 Whalley's activity ........ 242 Butler's explanations ....... 243 The Protector slow to countenance transportation . . 244 Whalley hesitates to outstep his legal powers . . . 245 Worsley's report ......... 246 Alehouses complained of ...... . 247 Whalley and Berry at work 248 Action of the Middlesex Justices ..... 249 The opposition to the Protectorate strengthened . . . 250 1655 November? — Vavasor Powell's manifesto . . . .251 November 28. — Powell before Berry ... . . 252 December 3. — Powell's manifesto read in London . . 253 1656 January 23. — Richardson's Plain Dealing . . . . 254 xiv CONTENTS OF Animadversions on a Letter 255 Oliver compared with Charles 1 257 Dangers before the Protectorate 259 CHAPTER XLIIT. THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. 1655 The Government and the Corporations . . . . 260 December i. — Whalley at Lincoln and Coventry . . 262 Case of Alderman Chambers at Coventry . . . . 263 1656 January. — Resignation of municipal officers at Bristol . 263 Magistrates dismissed at Tewkesbury and Gloucester . . 265 1655 Case of Chipping Wycombe 266 1635 Charter of Charles I. to Colchester 268 1648 Reaction in Colchester 269 September 4.— A municipal coup d'etat . . . . 270 Henry Barrington as a local leader 271 1652-3 Growth of the Opposition . 272 1654 A Parliamentary election 273 A municipal election 274 Expulsion of Barrington and his partisans . . .275 1655 May. — Barrington appeals to the Upper Bench . . . 275 June. — Judgment in favour of Barrington . . . 276 June 28. — The Protector's intervention . . . . 277 August 10. — Restoration of the expelled members of the corporation 279 September 3. — The municipal elections . . . . 280 September 26. — An inquiry ordered 281 Action of the Government 282 December 4. — Haynes to be present at the new elections 283 Haynes purges the Burgess Roll 284 December 19. — Election of the Government nominees . 285 Probable composition of the Opposition party . . . 286 1656 Appointment of a committee for the renewal of charters . 289 A new charter for Colchester 290 January 17. — Change in the Corporation of Carlisle . .291 Cases of Salisbury and Leeds 292 Significance of the Colchester case 292 CHAPTER XLIV. THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. 1 65 1 A Plantation policy 295 1652 Emigration from Ireland 297 August 12. — The Act of Settlement 298 THE THIRD VOLUME. XV 1653 1654 1655 1653 1654 1655 1654 1653 1654 1655 to settle the The so-called pardon for the poor and landless The intentions of Parliament April 17. — A meeting at Kilkenny A High Court of Justice established October 11. — Order for the proclamation of the Act of Settlement ...... July 13. — The Scots to be transplanted Spread of the idea of transplantation Desolation of the country Cromwell faces the problem June I. — Appointment of a committee Adventurers June 22. — Instructions for a survey . July 2. — Instructions for transplantation September 26. — The Act of Satisfaction . Cromwell's insufficient knowledge of Ireland October 14. — Declaration by the commissioners Fear of a general transplantation .... May I. — The order for transplantation disobeyed Temporary dispensations granted Fleetwood Lord Deputy Fleetwood makes little use of the power of dispensation The transplantation of proprietors to be carried out . Gookin and Petty January 3. — The Great Case of Transplantation . March 9. — The Interest of England in the Irish Trans plantation ........ May 12. — The Author and Case of Transplanting . . Vindicated Financial difficulties August. — The Gross Survey ordered . May 4. — Beginning of the settlement of soldiers December 11. — An agreement with Petty for Survey . . : ... May 10. — More land set apart for the soldiers July 20. — Further concessions to the soldiers March 7. — Transplantation enforced Ravages of the Tories .... Transportation of vagrants . Towns to be given up to English settlers . Concessions to Protestants . . Fleetwood and Gookin .... Henry Cromwell's appointment in Ireland July 9. — Henry Cromwell in Dublin Fleetwood's transplantation policy September 6. — Fleetwood's return to England the Down 301 302 303 304 305 305 306 307 308 309 310 310 3" 312 3^3 315 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 323 324 324 325 326 327 327 328 328 329 331 335 336 336 337 338 339 340 XVI CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XLV. HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. Nizao 1654 The objects of the "West Indian expedition Oliver underestimates its difl&culties Danger from a division of authority Appointment of Commissioners Relations between Penn and Venables Penn's dissatisfaction .... December 20. — Oliver appeals to Penn Character of the land forces A hasty embarkation .... December 20-25. — Sailing of the fleet 1655 January 29. — The arrival at Barbados . March 31. — The expedition leaves Barbados Plans of the commanders April 13. — The fleet off San Domingo April 14. — The landing at the mouth of the April 14-16. — A toilsome march April 16. — BuUer's escapade April 17. — A terrible march Repulse of the enemy .... A retreat and a fresh start April 25. — An unexpected rout April 28. — OflBcers punished May 4-1 1. — The voyage to Jamaica May 12. — Occupation of Santiago de la Vega Jvme 25. — Penn, follow^ed by Venables, sails for England August 4. — The Protector receives the news September 20. — Penn and Venables before the Council Penn and Venables surrender their commissions The blame for the failure in Hispaniola mainly the Pro- tector's 370 PAOK 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 358 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 366 367 368 369 370 CHAPTER XLVI. THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. 1654 1646 1651 1655 October 8. — Blake sails for the Mediterranean . Designs of the Duke of Guise December 21. — Blake at Leghorn The Protector and the Grand Duke Casson's Treaty with Algiers June 17. — Imprisonment of the Consul at Tunis February. — Blake in Tunisian waters 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 THE THIRD VOLUME. Xvii PAGR April 3. — Blake anchors off Porto Farina . . . . 379 April 4. — The attack on Porto Farina .... 382 Character of Blake's success . . . ... 383 He fails to liberate slaves at Tunis ..... 384 May 2. — Blake renews Casson's treaty with Algiers . . 385 Captives ransomed at Algiers . . . . . -385 1654 The Protector's attitude towards France and Spain . . 386 He refuses to abandon his claim to defend the Huguenots 388 February 17. — Sedgwick's commission against the Dutch 388 July. — Sedgwick seizes ports in Acadia .... 389 1655 May. — Mission of the Marquis of Lede . . . . 390 Oliver turns to France . . . . . . .391 April. — Orders to Blake to proceed to Cadiz Bay . . . 392 June 13. — Blake ordered to stop Spanish supplies for the West Indies 393 August 15-18. — Blake avoids an engagement off Cape St. Vincent 394 August 22. — Blake at Lisbon 395 September 13. — The Protector permits Blake to return home if he thinks fit 396 October 6. — Blake anchors in the Downs .... 397 August. — Cardenas sends Barriere to the Protector . . 397 October 17. — Cardenas leaves London .... 400 October 26. — The Protector's manifesto . . . . 4cx> The Spanish case 404 CHAPTER XLVII. THE PROTESTANT INTEREST. 1655 May 16. — Bordeaux informed of persecution in Piedmont 406 407 408 409 409 410 411 413 The Vaudois of the Alps Their treatment by the Dukes of Savoy • They settle outside the tolerated limits January 15. — Guastaldo's order for their expulsion Petition of the Vaudois . . . . April 7. — Pianezza attacks the Vaudois . April 12. — ^The massacre May 24. — The Protector appeals to the European Powers 415 May 25. — A collection ordered 416 June 2. — The proposals of the French Government . .417 Mazarin puts pressure on the Duchess . . . . 418 June 14. — Morland's remonstrance 41^ July 10. — The Duke offers a pardon 420 August 8. — Issue of the pardon 421 July 12. — Letters of marque against the French recalled 422 VOL. IIL a XVlll CONTEIs^TS OF October 21. — Signature of a treaty with France Milton's sonnet and Waller's panegyric Charles X. of Sweden Charles X. and Poland ,....,. Swedish possessions beyond the Baltic . . , Position of the Elector of Brandenburg Position of Denmark July 1 7. — Alliance between Brandenburg andi the United Provinces March 17. — Coyet's reception by the Protector Oliver's ideal view of the situation . , , , The Dutch view ...*,.. English trade interests and the dominion of the Baltic July 18. — Arrival of Bonde in England . Policy of Alexander VI. .....* Cujus regio, ejus religio ...... Diplomacy of Bonde and Nieupoort .... August-October. — Victorious career of Charles X. September 28, — Oliver's scheme for settling the Baltic question October 20. — Schlezer's mission to England , December 11. — OUver's conversation with Sehlezer . November i. — Enlargement of the Committee for Trade Oliver between Sweden and the United Provinces . Troubles in Switzerland ...... 1656 January 7. — Oliver asks for the support of Sweden against the House of Austria January 31. — Bonde's dissatisfaction .... January 7. — The treaty of Konigsberg Charles X. o£fers to guarantee the treaty of Osnabrtick The Emperor and Spain Oliver's diplomatic failure 425 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 430 431 43* 433 434 435 436 437 43S 439 44a 441 442' 442 445 443 444 444 445 446 447 CHAPTEK XLVIII. OOIONISATION AND DIPLOMACT. 1655 Sagredo's mission ,..,.,.. 448 June II. — Humphries and Sedgwick sent to Jamaica . . 449 November 5. — Keport on the state of the island . . 45a September 4. — Attempt to send colonists from Scotland . 452 Alleged transportation of Irish boys and girls to Jamaica . 453 1656 Barkstead's proposal 454 New Englanders refuse to go to Jamaica . . . -455 May 24.— Death of Sedgwick . . . . , . 455 Doyley in command . . . . . . . , 456 THE THIRD VOLUME. XIX 1657 1655 1656 December I. — Arrival of Brayne . November. — Settlement of families from Nevis Amelioration of the prospects of the colony . May. — Sexby at Antwerp ..... He offers the support of the Levellers to Charles Sexby's rodomontades ..... His mission to Spain ..... November 16. — Richard Talbot and Halsall charged with a murder-plot ........ November. — Arrest and execution of Manning Sexby dependent on Lawson's support Blake and Montague sent to the coast of Spain Difficulty of manning the fleet . Charles expects that part of the fleet will come over to him ..... February. — Lawson resigns his command as Vice-Admiral March. — Liberation of Harrison and Rich . A meeting of Anabaptists and Fifth Monarchy men . April 2. — Treaty between Charles and Spain Career of Lucy Walter July I. — Her expulsion from England .... April 20.— The fleet in Cadiz Bay .... March 11. — Meadowe's mission to Portugal . May 5. — The Protector orders the fleet to suppor Meadowe at Lisbon .... May 31. — Ratification of the Treaty of 1654 June 28. — The fleet returns to Cadiz Bay . Losses of English shipping . End of the Swiss troubles .... Lockhart named ambassador to France February. — Spanish overtures to France . May 8. — Lockhart's first audience May 31. — Lionne's mission to Madrid July 5. — Valenciennes relieved Julj' 29. — Mazarin promises to join in Dunkirk in the next spring September 6. — Breach in the negotiation between France and Spain ........ November 8. — An agreement for an attack on Dunkirk The Protector jealous of France A doubtful outlook ....... Corrigenda in Volume II. Index . . . . . an attack on 457 457 458 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 481 482 483 484 484 485 486 487 489 n MAPS. TkBM England and Wales, February 6, 1656, Showing the Districts assigned to the Major-Generals . To face 198 Ireland as divided by the Act of Satisfaction, September 26, 1653 , 312 The Attack on San Domingo, 1655 359 Tunis and Porto Farina 380 Vaudois Valleys To face 408 The Lands surrounding the Baltic, 1655 . . . „ 428 THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE. CHAPTER XXXV. PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. On May 30, 1654, whilst the story of the assassination chap. plot was circulating from mouth to mouth, Milton ,_! sent forth into the world his Second Defence of the ^^^4 English People. The coarse invective which deforms Miiton-s ' , 1 1 ■, Second its pages concerns the modern reader merely as an Defence illustration of the rude manners of the learned of the %ngiish day. It is of more importance that the book gave ^^"^ ^' voice to the opinions of those Englishmen to whom 1 spiritual and intellectual liberty was of greater! consequence than the independence of Parliament, I and who were ready to turn their backs upon the representatives chosen by the constituencies if they threatened to erect a despotism over mental freedom. Yet, as a Parliament was soon to come into existence, Milton, unable to ignore the part it was called on to play in the new institutions, indirectly called on his countrymen to rally to the Protectorate by inserting in his pamphlet a series of laudatory comments not only on the lives and characters of Oliver and his principal supporters, but also on those of Bradshaw, the pronounced Eepublican, of Fairfax, the darling VOL. III. B PROTECTOE AND PARLIAMENT CHAP. XXXV. 1654"" He pleads for liberty, His con- ception of the func- tions of govern- ment. of the Presbyterians, and of Eobert Overton, whose sympathies were enlisted on the side of the Levellers. Under these widely strewn panegyrics Milton undoubtedly concealed a call upon every Englishman possessed of any nobility of spirit to throw aside party feeling, and to serve under the standard of the great leader who stood foremost in the fight for those liberties of thought and action which claimed the lifelong devotion of the enthusi- astic poet.^ To hold that standard upright — and, in Milton's eyes, this could hardly be done without a dissolution of such connection as still existed between Church and State — was, indeed, no easy task. Yet no prac- tical consideration of the hopelessness of attempting to drag a nation into unaccustomed paths inter- fered for an instant with Milton's sublime optimism. If the people, he held, were disposed to evil, it was for the Government to educate them into the adop- tion of a nobler life. " To rule by your own counsel," he urged on the Protector, " three powerful nations ; to try to lead their peoples from bad habits to a better economy and discipline of life than any they have known hitherto ; to send your anxious thoughts all over the country to its most distant parts, to watch, to foresee, to refuse no labour, to spurn all blandishments of pleasure, to avoid the ostentation of wealth and power — these are difficulties in comparison with which war is but sport ; these will shake and winnow you ; these demand a man upheld by Divine aid, warned and instructed almost by direct inter- course with Heaven." Milton's exalted idealism forbade him to face * T am here merely abbreviating the argument in^Masson's Life of Milton, iv. 606. 3IILT0N ON PARLIAMENTS. ;: without disgust the coarser realities of a Parlia- chap. • XXXV mentary career. " Unless," he urged upon his ^'4 — '- •countrymen, " by true and sincere piety to- ' ^^ wards God and men, not vain and wordy, but He is efficacious and active, you drive from your souls JbSt hL all superstitions sprung from ignorance of true ^g^^\'^j .and solid religion, you will always have those system. who will make you their beasts of burden and sit upon your backs and necks ; tliey will put you up for sale as their easily gotten booty, all your victories in war notwithstandhig, and make a rich income •out of your ignorance and superstition. Unless you expel avarice, ambition, luxury from your minds, aye, and luxurious living also from your families, then the tyrant you thought you had to seek externally iind in the battlefield you will find in j^our own home, — you will find within yourselves a still harder taskmaster, nay there will sprout daily out of your •own vitals a numerous brood of intolerable tyrants. . . . Were you fallen into such an abyss of easy self- •corruption, no one — not even Cromwell himself, nor :a whole host of Brutuses, if they could come to life again — could deliver you if they would, or would •deliver you if they could. For why should anyone then assert for you the right of free suffrage, or the power of electing whom you will to the Parliament ? Is it that you should be able, each of you, to elect in the cities men of your faction, or that person in the boroughs, however unworthy, who may haA^e feasted I yourselves most sumptuously or treated the country- people and boors to the greatest quantity of drink ? Then we should have our members of Parliament made for us, not by prudence and authority, but by faction and feeding ; we should have vintners and hucksters from city taverns, and graziers and cattle- B 2 PEOTECTOR A^'D PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Milton's message to his con- tempo- raries. The Pro- tector's views qualified • by practi- cal con- siderations. men from the country districts. Should one entrust the Commonwealth to those to whom nobody would entrust a matter of private business ? Know that, as to be free is the same thing exactly as to be pious, wise, just, temperate, self-providing, abstinent from the property of other people, and, in fine, magnanim- ous and brave, so to be the opposite of all that is the same thing as being a slave ; and by the customary judgment of God, and a thoroughly just law of retri- bution, it comes to pass that a nation that cannot rule and govern itself, but has surrendered itself in slavery to its own lusts, is surrendered also to other masters whom it does not like, and made a slave not only with its will, but also against its will. It is a thing ratified by law and nature herself, that whoso- ever, through imbecility or frenzy of mind, cannot rightly administer his own affairs should not be in his own power, but should be given over as a minor to the government of others ; and least of all should such a one be preferred to influence in other people's business or in the Commonwealth." ^ In such words did the blind poet deliver to lis contemporaries the highest message of poli- ical Puritanism — that the good and wise were lalone fit to bear the burden of the world. It was 'a view that was to a large extent shared by the Protector. Yet Oliver had failed signally in his attempt to carry it into practice in the Nominated Parliament, and, with all his spiritual exaltation, he was sufficiently a man of the world to recognise the teaching of facts, and to seek thereby to avoid a repetition of his mistake. It was certain that, with- out abandoning his desire to thrust aside from the high places of the State the ignorant and the profane, ^ Masson's Life of Milton, iv. 610. OLIVER'S POLITICAL IDEALS. 5 he would do his best to come to an understandino- chap. • • ! XXXV with the new Parhament, without inquirnig toof - — .'^ — L. closely whether the moral rectitude of all its mem-i ' ^^ bers reached the Miltonic standard. Yet it was no .Divergent less certain that, if he were driven to choose between the two ideals which had inspired the Eevolution — the ideal of government by the best, and the ideal of goverimient by the elected representatives of the nation — it would not be on the side of the latter that his suffrage would be cast. It has often been said — and that with truth — that the main problem before the Protectorate lay in the difficulty of reconciling Parliament and Army. ThatproBTem, howeveir^Tiadr"' its roots in a still deeper controversy, in which the doctrine that the people sh^ouldMbe^ ruled for their own good, educated in moral and religious principles, and preserved, so far_asjni^SJ'e, fram contact with vicVand falsehood, was opposed to the doctrine that it Js_tlia_firsLjduty- af a Government to conform its •' actions to the national will. The first view^ was that taken by^the most prominent leaders of the Army ; the second by the Vanes, the Bradshaws and the Lilburnes, thouo-h there mio-ht be considerable differ- ence of opinion amongst them as to the manner in which the representative body was to be constructed. If those who sided with the Army could appeal The Army to its victorious career as evidence that it was an mentarism instrument of Divine Providence, their opponents were able to rely on memories to which few English- men could be entirely deaf — to the struggle waged manfully against absolute monarchy by Pym and Eliot, a struggle which had the firmer hold on the imagination of Englishmen because it was deeply rooted in the traditions of their race. Oliver himself ' was not entirely uninfluenced by the reverence with PEOTECTOR AND PAELIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Oliver hopeful of the success of the Par- liamentary experi- ment. Additions to the Council. The con- stituenciesJ which his countrymen regarded Parhaments. He had taken part, as Milton had not, in the pohtical combat under Pym and Hampden, before he clove his way on the battlefield to the headship of the State, and he had, therefore, enough of the Parliamentary spirit to look hopefully on the experiment before him ; though he was too good a judge of mankind to expect that men like Fairfax and Bradshaw would be found contending by his side. Yet, unless he could win over the leaders, it was hard for him to find capable assistants in his pacificatory work. At all events, when he added, as the Instrument per- mitted him, three members to his Council, the names of the personages selected were hardly such as to awaken widespread enthusiasm. The ablest of the three, Nathaniel Fiennes, was discredited, however unjustly, by the surrender of Bristol. Colonel Mack- worth, who died within the year, had called attention to himself by his refusal to surrender Shrewsbury to Charles when he marched past on his way to Worcester ; whilst the Earl of Mulgrave had no other recommendation than that he happened to be at the same time a peer, and, though he had refused to sit on the Council of State of the Commonwealth, a supporter of the existing Government. So far as the elections were concerned the framers of the Instrument had done their best to secure a favourable verdict. Eesting, as they did, their hopes on the middle class, they had dealt roughly with the small boroughs, which fell naturally under the influence of the neighbouring gentry. Whereas the Long Parliament had contained 398 borough members, there were but 133 in the Parlia- ment of 1654. The University representation sank at the same time from 4 to 2, whilst the number of i THE PARLIAMENTAIIY FRANCHISE. \ county members was raised from 90 to 265. If the /chap. XXXV small boroughs were to be disfranchised, it was ■— — . — '- impossible to divide the representation in any other way. The great shifting of population which took place in the eighteenth century was still in the future, and when four new boroughs — Durham, Manchester, Leeds and Halifax — had been entitled to return mem- bers to Parliament the number of unrepresented towns containing any considerable population had been exhausted. Partly, perhaps, w^itli a view to the avoidance Thefran- ,-.-, . f. , chise in of opposition, but stul more, it may be safely con- towns jectured, in order to favour the middle class, the right of voting, so far as the boroughs were concerned, was left untouched. Exce]3t in a very few places, such as Preston and Westminster, that right had been either confined to the aldermen and common coun- cillors, or expanded by the admission of the free burgesses. Even in this latter case the numbers of voters were comparatively scanty. In Colchester, for ■ instance, where the free burgesses took part in the election, the entire number of those who voted in 1654 was but 200 ; in Leicester under similar conditions in 1656 it was but 59.^ Newcastle on the other hand being a populous place, counted over 600 voters.^ In the counties more drastic measures had been taken, and in the The time-honoured forty-shilling freeholder disap- ' peared from political life, giving way to a new class of voters possessed of personal or real property valued at 200Z. — equivalent to at least 800Z. at the present day. Other prescriptions of the Instrument were Represen- directed to the accomplishment of the same object. Scotland Eor the first time an elected Parliament was to contain L^eiand. ' Hall Booh of the Corporation Of Leicester, ^ Clarke Papers, iii. 174. |b( 8 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP, /representatives of Scotland and Ireland, to each of XXXV I ' • ' — , — '^l which thirty members had been allocated.^ Later ^ 54 V writers have pointed to this as a step towards the Parliamentary union of the three countries. If so, the step taken was of the shortest. Even in Scotland it was hardly probable that any considerable part of the population would take much interest in the elections, and the members returned were therefore likely to e selected from that little knot of men which had jaccepted the English Government. In Ireland, every lEoman Catholic and everyone who had abetted the late rebellion being excluded from the franchise, the representation merely concerned the English and Scottish settlers. Indeed, so great was the disturb- ance in that country that it appeared difficult to hold orderly elections at all, and the Government at Westminster actually proposed to take the nomina- tion of the members into its own hands. Though this audacious pretension was abandoned,^ the mem- bers returned were all supporters of the Govern ment, the great majority of them being officers /of the army. The Irish representation, and to a great extent the Scottish, served the purpose of I the Ministerial pocket-boroughs of the eighteenth i century. Nor did the precautions taken against the return of a too representative Parliament end here. r In accordance with the Instrument, not only were Eoyalists disqualified, but-Jshe-Jadenture in which, under the old system, the returnin^LPmcerjomed with .th^^priucipaT electors in certifying that the persons , named m it had been duly chosen was changed ^ Scotland, indeed, had for a short time in the days of Edward I. beeJi represented in the English Parliament. ^ Ordinances, June 27, Const. Documents, 329, 332. The Protector's correspondence with the Irish Government is printed by Mr. Firth in his edition of Ludlow's Memoirs, i. 387. RESTRICTIONS ON THE FRANCHISE. SO as to include a declaration by them that the new/ chap. members were debarred from altering the Govern- ment ' as now settled in a single person and Parlia-V ^ ^'* mint? ^ By those who hold the franchise to be the right of all capable citizens, or who consider that form of government to be the best which rests on the ^ widest possible basis, the restrictions of the Instru-/ ment need only to be mentioned to be condemned. It is only fair to remember that the statesmen of the Protectorate held no such theories. What they | sought was to strengthen, by the help of a larger/ body than the Council, a system of government! which in their eyes deserved to be maintained whether the nation approved of it or not. Yet, in spite of all these precautions, when the July. English returns began to come in, it could hardly comem. be concealed that the candidates supported by the Government had in many cases been unsuccessful, pronounced Eepublicans, such as Bradshaw, Scot, and Hazlerigg, having been returned. In a few districts — notably in the West — Eoyalists had been a few elected in the teeth of the Instrument, and in some returned. places this result was ascribed to the influence or even to the violence of the returning oflScers.^ Those jwho hurriedly drew up the Instrument in the midst / of a political crisis had omitted to provide any No regis- ! . ^ _ ^ ^ '' trationpro- machmery for the registration of voters, though such vided. a provision had formed part of the Agreement of the People. In old days, indeed, there had been little need of registration, as few persons can have held freehold land worth less than 40s. a year, and the names of those who held the status of a freeholder ^ A great number of the writs and returns are in the Record Office. ^ These cases have been collected by Mrs. Everett Green in her preface to the Calendar of S. P. Dom. 1654. lO PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 DifSculty of ascer- taining whether a voter was qualified. Case of Eeading, must have been perfectly well known to their neighbours. All this was now changed. Even a voter himself must in many cases have been unable to say whether his real and personal property combined would fetch 200/. in the market, and it is hardly likely that the returning officer would be any better informed. It is, therefore, no wonder that in the Wiltshire election — one of the very few concerning*^ which details have been handed down — each party accused the other of deriving support from un- qualified voters ; ^ and it is highly probable that what happened in one county happened also elsewhere. In the boroughs, for which no rule had been laid down in the Instrument, there may in more than one case have been differences of opinion as to the precise method to be observed. At Eeading, for instance, a variety of practices had been followed. In 1627 the corporation alone returned the members. In 1645 the votes, not only of freemen, but even of house- holders who were not freemen, were held valid by the Long Parliament ; whilst in 1 648 the same Parliament accepted an election made by the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses alone. ^ Availing himself of this uncertainty, the mayor now announced that the corporation had elected Colonel Hammond, the late King's gaoler, though on a shout of protest from the crowd he allowed the townsmen to give their votes. It is said, however, that members of the corporation endeavoured to terrify the less wealthy of Hammond's opponents by threatening them with penalties for voting unless they possessed an estate worth 200/., ^ Mr. Firth has reprinted in his edition of Ludlow's Memoirs^ i. 545, A Copy of a Letter. The retort from the other side will be found in An Apology for the Ministers of the Cotcnty of Wilts, E, 808, 9. ^ Man's Hist, of Beading, 221-227 C. J. v. 631. THE BOROUGH ELECTIONS. II though they must have known perfectly well that this chap. qualification had no application to the borough fran- -_ , Tl. chise.^ In the end Hammond was returned, whether 54 in consequence of these manoeuvres, or because a supporter of the Protectorate was favoured even by the enlarged constituency, it is impossible to say. At Southwark, on the other hand, the result of and of the election was less favourable to the Government. Highland and Warcup — the first-named having been one of the advanced members of the Nominated Parliament — were the popular favourites, and the hall in which the election was held was crowded with their supporters. It happened, too, that, just as the friends of the Government were attempting to thrust themselves in, they were driven by a shower of rain to take shelter in the neighbouring houses. In their absence the returning officer, whose sympathies were on the other side, declared the poll closed and Highland and Warcup to be duly elected.^ It was probably iniurious to the supporters of Qwestiona ^ ./J ^ . ^^ issue. the Protectorate that the elections did not turn directly on the question of the acceplLance or rejec- I tion of the Instrument. So far as we are able to judge, the point which the electors had principally in mind was the acceptance or rejection of the subversive doctrines of the Nominees. On such an issue the result was a foregone conclusion. For that very reason many a candidate must have secured his election who, when once it came to be understood that ministry and magistracy were safe, would hardly be found on the side of the new Constitution. As a political force, the Presbyterians were favourable to ^ A Speech of the Mayor of Beading, E, 745, 17. ^ Petitions and arguments against the election of Highland and "Warcup, 8. P. Dom. Ixxiv. 66, 67, 68. 12 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP, an enlargement of Parliamentary authority ; and .___^_Zl/' there was much in the present temper of the electors ^^54 to favour the Presbyterian candidates, especially as the passive resistance of their congregations had baffled the attempts of the clergy to establish a rigid system of discipline,^ and it was now understood that a Presbyterian layman was merely a Puritan of a somewhat conservative temper. If society no longer stood in need of a saviour, the old arguments which had served against the Monarchy might be furbished up against Oliver without much alteration. In Wiltshire the list of successful candidates #as headed by Cooper, a local magnate who can hardly be classed as a Presbyterian ; the unsuccessful list being headed by Ludlow, another native of the county, who, though his hostility to the Protectorate was well known, had little in common with the ecclesiastical innovators of the Nominated Parliament. Ludlow's name, however, was followed by those of Baptists and Fifth Monarchy men ; that of Cooper by those of persons whose proclivities gained for them the support of Adoniram Byfield, the scribe of the Westminster Assembly, and led to their being taunted by their opponents with being the Scottish, or, in other words, the Presbyterian party. '^ The result So far as the main issue was concerned the elections, vcrdict of tlic coiistitucncies was beyond dispute. I /Thg=4iarty which had threatened law and pro£erty was wiSHTouI^oI politicalexistence^ Of the fifty- six who had given the last destructive vote in the Parliament of 1653, four only obtained seats in the Parliament of 1654. It was made plain that ' For the causes of the decay of the Presbyterian system see Shaw's Church under the Commoniuealth, ii. 98-151. ^ See p. 10, note i. ■r POINTS AT ISSUE. 13 Engiand would not hear of a social revolution. Within these limits other forces than purely political ones had their weight, and it is usually difficult to judge whether the successful candidate owed his election to his political principles or to his being favourably known as a neighbour. Goffe, for instance, may have been rejected at Colchester because, though warmly attached to the Protector, he was a stranger to the place ; whilst his successful opponent, Maidstone, who was no less attached to the Protector, was an Essex man. On the other hand, Goffe may have failed because he was a soldier and his opponent a civilian ; or, again, because his fervent religious sentiment rendered him unaccept- able to the constituency. Local connection alone is hardly sufficient to account for the return of such men as Bradshaw, Scot and Hazlerigg. Whatever the cause may have been, the general result of the elections ^ ^ Foreign ambassadors concur in styling the majority a Presbyterian one, but they are seldom to be depended on for shades of ecclesiastical opinion. The situation is more fairly set out in a contemporary' letter: — "One or more of the number," i.e. of the Anabaptists, "stood in most places, if not in all, and they had meetings so long since as June last (two or three hundred of them together in a market town) to provide votes aforehand against election day ; and yet, notwithstanding their gi'eat preparation, packing and forestalling of votes in every market town, very few of them were elected. The country, in many elections, chose such as neither stood nor were upon the place ; in most such as the}- knew opposite both to the new anabaptistical and levelling judgment ; for they looked on this negative virtue as a prime qualifica- tion of a Parliament man, being mindful, it may seem, of the last Parliament, and fearing the effects their principles might produce should many of that constitution be admitted again to places of such eminent trust. ... In this whole discourse the Presbyterian party is not once named, either amongst the known enemies or supposed malignants, because they are now fully reconciled to the Government," i.e. the Instrument, " greatly favoured by the Protector, walk hand in hand with the true-hearted Independents as to civil matters, and by this conjunction are become a great strength to the settlement." Greene to — ? Sept. 4, Clarendon MSS. xlix. fol. 56. CHAP. XXXV. 14 mOTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Sept. 3. The first day of the eession. made it necessary for the Protector to do his best io win the Presbyterians to his side ; and he had sufficient confidence in his position to reject a proposalmade in the Council To^calT on "all membeTS to accept personally the engagement taken for thent bylheir constituencies, that they would do nothing to 'alter the (Government as settled in a single person and Parliament, on pain of being excluded from the House. Such a requirement would not only irritate hesitating members, but would assume, contrary to the fact, that the Instrument had empowered the Council to make the demand.^ September 3, the day of Dunbar and Worcester, had been selected for the meeting of Parliament, in spite of its falling in 1654 on a Sunday. It was not, therefore, till the religious services of the day had been concluded that the members took their places in the House. When the summons to meet tlie Protector in the Painted Chamber was delivered, Bradshaw, with ten or twelve others, cried out, ' Sit still,' and refused to stir.^ The attitude thus taken only served to disclose the paucity of the numbers of jthe irreconcilable party. They did not, however, lose much on this occasion. All that Oliver had to say to those who made their appearance in his presence was to exhort them to cultivate the spirit of unity, ^ By the Instrument the Council had the right of refusing leave to sit to members who were disqualified as Royalists, &c., but not of demanding a personal acceptance of the engagement taken for them at their election. We owe to the Protector our knowledge of the fact that it had been proposed that the Council should exact such an acceptance. "This was declined," he adds, " and hath not been done because I am persuaded scarce any man could doubt you came with contrary minds." Carlyle, Speech III. 2 Goddard's Notes in Burton, I. xviii ; Bordeaux to Brienne, Sept. ^-j, French Transcripts, B.O. For convenience ' sake the notes of Goddard and others printed in the collection rightly, as Mrs. Lomas has shown, ascribed to Thomas Burton will be referred to as Burton. f THE OPENING SPEECH. 1 5 find to invite them to listen on Monday morning, chap. first to a sermon in the Abbey, and afterwards to a - ^__L. speech from himself. ^ ^^ Much to the disgust of some of the members, sept. 4. the Protector, when issuing from Whitehall on the Sto^in following morning, assumed all but roj^al state. SfambeJ.^^ Around his coach as he passed to the Painted Chamber a hundred officers and soldiers marched with their heads uncovered.^ The tone of his speech Tone of his was very different from the fervid rhapsody with ^^^^° " which he had greeted the Xominated Parliament. He had lost many illusions, and his own point of view had seriously changed. There was by this time in his mind a sympathy with the conservatism of the Presbyterians, which had no place in it when, more than a year before, he had invited the Nominees to show themselves worthy instruments of the actings of God. Nor can there be any reasonable doubt that he was animated by a conscious desire to win Presbyterian support, not, indeed, by misrepresenting his own views, but by placing in the foreground points of agreement, whilst leaving unnoticed those opinions of his hearers which differed from his own.^ Oliver accordingly began by reminding the House of the violent changes to which the nation had been ^ Pauluzzi to Morosini, Sept. ^§, Venetian Transcripts, R.O. * It may be a question how far the craiTiped and incoherent language of this speech is due to the reporter, and how far to the fact that Ohver knew himself to be addressing those who had still to be won, and therefore had to put a rein on his utterance. The Clarice Papers give equal incoherence to the speeches of others. But this speech, and also that of Sept. 22, were reported by a proficient short- hand writer, placed near the speaker, and a good deal of the confusion of which Carlyle complains must almost certainly have been Oliver's own. Perhaps a key to the riddle is foixnd in an observation of Bonde, the Swedish Ambassador, who arrived in England in the summer of 1655. As the Protector, he says, ' piques himself on his good expression {valtalighet), he looks about for the most suitable English words.' i6 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 He hopes for union at home. Speaks of the limits of tolera- tion, / and of foreign affairs. subjected, though he avoided details which might have awakened bitter memories. He preferred to dwell on the hope, very near to his heart, that the work of the present Parliament would be that of ' healing and settling,' of giving additional strength to a form of government adequate — as he firmly believed — to the national requirements. Singling out the unpopular Levellers and Fifth Monarchists as the objects of attack, he held them up to scorn in language which — especially in the case of the Levellers — was dis- tinctly unfair to the subjects of his vituperation.^ After this, though he did not conceal his acceptance of the principle of liberty of conscience, he preferred to dwell persistently on the limitations with which it ought to be surrounded, and to vindicate for the mao'istrate the ri^ht of intervenino- whenever the pretext of religion was put forward as a cloak for licentiousness. From such utterances he must have been glad to turn to the positive achievements of himself and his Council. Passing in review the more notable of the ordinances which he had issued in consequence of the legislative power conferred on him by the Instrument, he turned with satisfaction to the subject of foreign affairs. Under this head he could tell of peace made with the Dutch and Danes, and of the treaty signed by the Portuguese Ambassador, albeit it was still unratified by his master. In consequence of that treaty, he confidently If he stopped frequently in his speeches to pick out the best word it would account for his losing the thread of grammatical construction, as is so often the case when he was not carried away by his vehemency. Bonde to Charles X., Aug. 3, 1655, Stockholm Transcripts. ^ He made no distinction between the political Levellers who followed Lilburne and the Socialists, of whom Winstanley was the most con- spicuous example. The Fifth Monarchists were defended by Spittle - house : An Answer to one part of the Lord Protector's Speech, E, 813, 19. Compare A Declaration of several Churches of Christ, E, 813, 15. A SPEAKER CHOSEN. 1 7 assumed, Eno^lishmen would be free to exercise their chap. • • • XXXV religion unhampered by the terrors of the Inquisition. ^ — , — 1. Then followed a reference to another sovereign 54 whose ambassador had met a similar demand with the answer that it was to ask his master's eye.^ This reference to the Inquisition was received with loud applause.^ Once more Oliver called on his hearers to assist* ouver him in healing the breaches of the Commonwealth, his hearers, " I have not spoken these things," he told them, " as one who assumes to himself dominion over you, but as one who doth resolve to be a fellow-servant with you to the interest of these great affairs and of the . people of these nations." He trusted that, as soonl as they had chosen a Speaker, they would take into ^^^ asks consideration the Instrument of Government.^ It examine hardly admits of a doubt that he expected the result ment. of their consideration to be its speedy accept- ance, so little was he aware of the objections likely to present themselves even to an unprejudiced • inquirer. The first act of the House was to choose Lenthall Lenthaii cIiosgh Speaker. As Bradshaw was suggested as a possible speaker. ^ We owe the knowledge of this to Bordeaux ; see Vol. ii. p. 473, note I, and Errata. This serious revelation was withdrawn from the printed speech. Doubtless only one eye was mentioned because it would have been impolitic to say anything of the demand for commerce in the West Indies, lest it shotild be taken as evidence of the destination of Penn's fleet. * Bordeaux to Brienne, Sept. ^JV, B.O. Transcrvpta. ^ He added ' that the first deliberations were to this purpose, that in the first place they should particularly examine the Government of the Commonwealth concluded the sixteenth day of December last.' The Dutch Ambassadors to the States General, Sept. Jf , Thurloe, ii. 606. This sentence, too, was omitted from the published speech [Hia Highness the Lord Protector^s Speeches, E, 812, i) after the experi- ment had turned out badly. That the recommendation was really given is confirmed by the proceedings in the first day's debate. VOL. HI. C PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Sept. 5!) Election petitions. ■Constitu- tional claims. J / Hazlerigg asks for unity of religion, y^ r alternative/ the selection of the man who had occupied the same position in the Long Parliament can only be regarded as a victory, if not for the Government, '•at least for the peculiar combination between the Government and the Presbyterians which Oliver hoped to call into existence. The proceedings of the day ended with the appointment of a fast to be held on September 13. On the following morning the House addressed itself to serious business. The appointment of a Committee on election petitions ^ was followed by sharp speeches from the Eepublicans. One com- plained of the more than monarchical arrogance the Protector had shown by summoning the House into his presence, whereas the kings had met Parlia- ment within its own doors. Another asked his colleagues whether they were prepared to leave the control over the law to the goodwill of a single man.^ Such an appeal to the desire, inherent in every assembly, to magnify its powers was naturally received with applause. It was reserved to Hazle- rigg to touch the Presbyterians on a side j^et more tender. Let religion, he cried, be their first care. Let them establish one good form, and suppress all the sects. At one bound, by this cynical proposal Hazlerigg had outbid the Protector. Independent and tolerationist as he had hitherto been, he was prepared to cast away his earlier political creed if only by this sop to their intolerance he could win over the Presbyterians to Eepublicanism. One of the Councillors in the House strove to avert the mischief by asking that no business should be done ^ TTue Faithful Scout, E, 233, 24. ^ C. J. vii. 366 ; Burton, I. xxi. ■'' Pauluzzi to Morosini, Sept. ^g, Venetian Transcripts, B.O, A CAPTIOUS OBJECTION. 1 9 1654 till the Instrument of Government had been taken ^^xv into consideration.^ Placed between the danger of too minute a discussion of the Instrument, and that of its being treated as absolutely of none effect, the Government chose the least of two evils. When the House met again on the morning of Sept. 6. the 6th the Councillors were made aware that they freedom^" had to do with opponents who by long experience ° ^'^^^'^ ' liad become masters of Parliamentary fence. The leaders of the opposition having discovered that Oliver's treason ordinance^ prohibited any attack on his title, dilated on the danger to freedom of speech in Parliament if those members who assailed ^ " Le mardi un d'entre eux qui estoit un des cinq que le Eoy avoit voulu arrester proposa que le Parlement debvoit commencer ses deliberations sur la Eeligion, en fin d'en establir en Angleterre une bonne et supprimer toutes les sectes. Get advis fut appuye de quel- ques uns et conteste par la faction du Protecteur qui pretendirent que Ton debvoit auparavant que d'entrer en aucune matiere reigler le Gouvernement." Bordeaux to Brienne, Se'pt. ^^j French Transcripts, B.O. " They therefore — from Court especially and from the soldiery and lawyers — pressed hard that the Government " (i.e. the Instrument of Government) " might be speedily taken into consideration, and some return made to my Lord Protector of thankfulness for his late speech." Burton, I. xvi. It is almost incredible that Oliver's supporters should have taken this line, unless they knew that the Protector was in favour of the submission of the Instrument to Parliament, especially if, as I suspect from the abuse which, according to Bordeaux, was levelled at Lawrence in the subsequent debate, the mover was the President of the Council himself. At all events, the incident strongly confirms the evidence of the Dutch Ambassadors as to the suppressedi passage in the Protector's speech (see p. 17, note 3), and puts an end tol the contention of Carlyle and his followers that Parliament enteredj on the discussion of the Instrument unasked by the Government. The member who moved for beginning with religion must have been Hazlerigg, as he and Holies were the only survivors of the five members. Holies did not sit in this Parliament. * By this ordinance it was declared to be treason to assert that ' the Lord Protector and the people in Parliament assembled are not the supreme authority, or that the exercise of the chief magistracy and administration of the Government ... is not in the Lord Protector assisted with a Council,' or ' that the said authority or government is tyrannical, usurped, or unlawful.' E, 1063, 41. c2 20 PEOTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Uncertifi- cated members allowed to sit. I the foundations of the Protectorate were liable J to be judicially questioned for their words. The / Councillors on their part protested that no ordi- 1 nance of this kind could possibly apply to words spoken in Parliament, and succeeded by a majority of 57 in rejecting as irrelevant a motion that no Act or ordinance could prejudice freedom of speech in Parliament.^ The claim of the Council, however, to regulate the admission of members by certificates of qualifica- tion was set at defiance by an order that the Earl of Stamford and his son should take their seats, though no such certificates had been issued to them — in all probability because they had not thought fit to demand them.^ Either to cover its retreat, or to signify that it was not responsible for the omission, the Council sent the two membets their certifi- cates in the course of the day.^ On the other hand the House concurred with the Council in rejecting Aldermen Adams and Langham, who might be styled Eoyalists as having shared in the apprentices' attack The House jon Parliament in 1647.^ Approving or disapproving, judge of I the House maintained against Oliver the claim of (^^ ■ I'being the sole judge of electoral returns. If the Government still entertained hopes that ^ C. J. vii. 367. The supporters of the Government argued ' que le Parlement estant naturellement libre, il n'estoit pas necessaire d'agiter ceste question.' Bordeaux to Brienne, Sept. ^j, French Transcripts, B.O. - It is not in the least likely that the Council should have inter- fered to stop their entrance, as they were under no disqualification as ' Eoyalists, the only question which, by the Instrument, the Council was empowered to decide. ^ lb. Bordeaux only gives Stamford's name ; but as we know from T7ie Perfect List of Members Beturned and Approved that Lord Grey had not been approved, there is no difficulty in filling in the second name. The B. M. press-mark of this list is 669, f. 19, No. 8. * A Perfect Diurnal, E, 233, 26. / gencies. THE INSTRUMENT IN COMMITTEE. 21 the Instrument would be accepted in its entirety by a chap. • • >' ^ XXXV single vote, they were soon disappointed. On the 7th .^_1,_1^ a resolution was passed to refer it to a Committee 54 of the whole House, where details might be The in- ' adequately discussed, though it is true that this refe^edto decision was arrived at by a majority of no more mitt^of than five.i Yet in the debate which followed in HouIe.°^^ Committee there were manifest sims that parties consti- were divided by more than a question 01 detail, diver- The supporters of the Protectorate asked for an affirmation of the words of the Instrument that the Government was settled in one single person and a Parliament. Their more resolute opponents pre- ferred to place it in Parliament alone. ^ It was 1 c. J. vii. 367. ~ A paper of ' proposals made to the Parliament by a member thereof, 7" Sept., 1655 ' [sic), is amongst Lord Braye's MSS. 1 take it to have been Bradshaw's, as it is suitable to his opinions, and also because at least one other paper connected with him is in the same collection. It runs as follows : — ■ " That the proviso in the indentures of election for this present Parliament, purporting a limitation of the Parliament's power, is against the laws of the land, the fundamental liberties of the people, and of dangerous'consequence. " I. That the supreme legislative power of this Commonwealth is and ought to be in the people assembled in Parliament. " 2. That the administration of government be by such persons and in such manner as shall be by Parliament limited, expressed and declared. " 3. That remonstration be made to the Lord Protector — who hath in the intervals of the late Parliament exercised another government — of these the people's rights, in order to the restitution and establish- ment of the same. " 4. That in the settling hereof order be taken for the full indem- nity of all persons acting under the late Governments since the 20th of April, 1653, and all others concerned in the same. " 5. That the members of this Commonwealth be enjoined to behave themselves quietly and peaceably in their several stations and places, expecting such further directions for their future deportment in relation to the Government as shall be hereafter given in that behalf; the Parliament declaring their most earnest desires and intentions through God's assistance to heal breaches, and bring to a 2 2 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP, suggested as an acceptable compromise that the ._!' ' '. Government might be placed ' in a Parliament . . , ^^54 and a single person qualified with such instructions- as the Parliament should think fit.' This last formula attracted considerable support amongst those who favoured the concentration of executive authority in a single hand, yet were as resolved as Bradshaw himself to maintain the absolute supremacy Sept. 8,9. 'of Parliament. Durinj? the next two days the ance of the aro-umcnts ueccssarily turned on the relations between discussion, *- . , "^ . „ the legislative and executive powers. Ihe lormer was pretty generally claimed for Parliament alone, freed not merely from the modest requirement of the Instrument that the Protector should be admitted to state his objections to any Bill accepted by the House, but also from the reservation of certain fundamental questions from Parliamentary legisla- tion. The majority, in short, though ready to leave Oliver at the head of the executive, had made up its mind to impose restrictions on his independent action ; whilst the supporters of the Protectorate, now beginning to be known as the Court party,, urged that it was no less necessary to place restric- sept. 10. tions on the sovereignty of a single House. Whoever support. . else might resist the House's claim, it had many 01 ^y.the London clergy on its side. On Sunday, the loth, ^\J' 'I ' the parsons generally prayed for the Parliament . . . I but not much concerning the single person.' ^ Sept. II. On the morning of the nth the House voted for for an / tlic coustitutiou of au Asscmbly of Divines, nominated of^D^vinJs. by itself, to give advice on such matters as Parliament perfect and peaceable compromise, according to their duty, the dis- jointed and unsettled affairs of this Commonwealth. " 6. That it be referred to a Committee to prepare a remonstrance upon these particulars." ^ Biirton, I. xxv.-xxvii. HALE'S PROPOSAL. 2j might lay before them. The compact which Hazlerigg chap. had suggested was thus completed and the way^. — , — L. cleared for the establishment of an nitolerant Church.^ ' 54 On the political ground, however, the advanced Eepublicans were powerless to carry their whole ' prooTamme. In vain Bradshaw declared, as Lilburne a great ^ ~ ^ central had declared formerly, that if he was to have a party master, he preferred Charles to Oliver.^ The majority preferred Oliver, if only he would consent to occupy the position assigned to him. This party, in which the more moderate opponents of the Protectorate were combined with some who liadj hitherto supported it, including, it is said, a certain! number of colonels, found a spokesman in Matthew \ Hale. From him had emanated the motion that the Government should be ' in a Parliament and single ' person, limited and restrained as the Parliament ., should think fit ' ; whilst either he or one of his supporters now suggested that, as the best means of establishing Parliamentary control, the members of the Council should be subject to re-election by the House once in three years.^ Others talked of asking the Protector to deliver up his commission as general and, restraining himself to his civil functions, to leave the command of the army to an officer depending on Parliament."^ Those who represented The term- the Government, acting undoubtedly with the appro- ciovem- bation of Oliver himself,^ asked that the authority ^ Burton, I. xxvii. ; C. J. vii. 367. ^ See Vol. i. 180. In neither case can the words be taken as indicating any active desire for a Stuart restoration. Neither Lilburne nor Bradshaw wished to have either Charles or Oliver as a master. ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, Sept. ^|, French Transcripts, B. 0. * " Che . . . dovesse presentare il Protettore la commissione dell' armi per altro generale d'esse, dipendente dell' auttoritd del Parla- mento." Pauluzzito Morosini, Sept. J|, Venetian Transcripts, E. 0. •■* We know this, as the three points reappear in his speech of Sept. 12. ment party. / 24 PKOTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP, m the sinoie person should at least be such as to . ,-Ji. Enable him to make it impossible for any Parliament ^^^4 Iq perpetuate itself, that the power of the militia ^jfchould be divided between the Protector and Parlia- '^^ inent, and that religious freedom should be main- Itained.^ A com- Evidently the Protector and Council had come to promise •' offered. the rcsolutlou to acccpt from the House a constitu- tion which might take the place of the Instrument^ if only the House would agree to safeguard these __ three fundamental points. Oliver, as was his habit, had selected the points on which he was resolved to stand firm, whilst ready to throw over all minor claims. It was no merely personal question that was at issue. There are other conditions of good govern- ment than the direct rule of a Parliamentary majority, and the proposal made by Oliver through his repre- sentatives was viitually that, if these were secured, he was willing to consider all other changes in the Instrument. In the meanwhile the question at issue pressed for a speedy solution. Only one day intervened between the last debate and the fast day which had been fixed for the 1 3th, and it was understood that the vote would be taken on the 1 2th. Nor was this all the danger against which Oliver had to provide. Taking advantage of the confusion prevailing in high ^etitior'^ quarters, Harrison had promised the Anabaptists to present to Parliament a petition calling on it to rise against tyranny, and had boasted that he would have 20,000 men at his back in its support. The Government, however, was not ignorant of his proceedings, and he was already placed under ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, Sept. if, French Transcripts, B.O.; Biirton, I. xxviii.-xxxii. PAKLIAMENT CALLED TO ACCOUNT. 25 arrest and on his way to London to answer for chap. J. . 1 "^ XXXV. sedition.^ >^ — . — - Whatever might happen to Harrison, it was ^^ ^4 imperative on the Protector to devise some means Hisan-est to avert the risk of the despotism of a single Pariia- House, unchecked by constitutional restrictions or moned"'"' by fear of the constituencies.^ Accordingly, when PaSted on Monday morning the members trooped together ^'^^'"^«''- towards the entrance of the House, they found the doors locked and guarded by soldiers, who intimated ^1 to them that the Protector would meet them in the Painted Chamber. More than any other speech of his the words which Oliver now addressed to them revealed the inner workings of his mind. There was no longer necessity, as there had been a week before, to fit his language to the prejudices of his audience. There was no hesitation now, and the involved I sayings of his former effort gave place to the majestic! roll of his pleading or his indignation. The Protector began by recalling to the memory The Pro- of his hearers the words of his former speech, in speech! which he had styled them a free Parliament. He had not, he now assured them, changed his opinion, ^ The Dutch Ambassadors (Thurloe, ii. 606) speak of Harrison as having been secured in his house in the country. Greene, writing on Sept. 23 (Clarendon MSS. xlix. fol. 58), says he was confined about Sept. 9. The Perfect Diurnal, under date of Sept. 13 (E, 233, 32), says that he ' was secured yesterday by a party of horse,' and Goddard {Burton, xxxvii.) corroborates this statement. The 20,000 men are mentioned in Pauluzzi's despatch of ^oct'f' "^^^ ^^^^ ^^y^ t^** Harrison was arrested in Parliament, which must be a mistake. Probably he was secured in Staffordshire about the 9th, and reached London on the 12th. The petition, of which an abstract is given in Greene's letter, appears to have attacked the Protectorate violently, and to have called on Parliament to extirpate its tyranny. - Because a Parliament, the legislation of which was not subject to the Protector's veto, might have passed an Act declaring, as in 1641, that it could not be dissolved without its own consent. 26 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. The basis of autho- rity. CHAP. I SO long as they owned the authority which had :Lt-^ I brought them together. Leaving unnoticed the 54 suggestion that the Instrument was a mere product of usurpation, he set forth emphatically his own claim to occupy the position he now held. " I see," he cried, " it will be necessary for me now a little to magnify my office, which I have not been apt to do. I have been of this mind since first I entered upon it that, if God will not bear it up, let it sink : but if a duty be incumbent upon me which in modesty I have hitherto forborne, I am in some measure now necessitated thereunto. ... I called not myself to this place : of that God is witness ; and I have many witnesses who, I do believe, could readily lay down their lives to bear witness to the truth of that — that is to say, that, I called not myself to this place ; and being in it, I bear not witness to myself, but God and the people of these nations have borne testimony to it also. , If my calling be from God, and\ my testimony from the people, God and the people! shall take it from me, else I will not part with it. B should be false to the trust that God hath placeq upon me and to the interest of the people of these nations if I should." In self-defence Oliver grew yet more personal. " I was," he continued, " by birth a gentleman, living neither in any considerable height, nor yet in obscur- ity. I have been called to several employments in the nation. . . . and. ... I did endeavour to discharge the duty of an honest man in those services to God and the people's interest. . . . having, when time was, a com- petent acceptation in the hearts of men and some evi- dences thereof." His own hope, he declared, had been that after the war had ended the nation would have been allowed to settle down in peace, and that he him- Personal justifica- tion. OLIVEE DEFENDS HIS POSITION. 27 self mi£>ht have retired into private life. Then, after chai'. descanting on the misdeeds of the Long Parliament, • — , — L- and more especially on the arbitrariness by which itj ' 54 made ' men's estates liable to confiscation and their I persons to imprisonment, sometimes by laws made | after the fact committed, often by the Parliament's assuming to itself to give judgment both in capital and criminal things, which in former times was not known to exercise such a judicature,' he turned for an instant to justify his own part in the unhappy failure of the Nominees. Then, coming to the ques- tion immediately at issue, he spoke of the position in which he found himself on their abdication. " We tion of the were," he said, " exceedingly to seek how to settle ment" things for the future. My power again by this resignation was as boundless and unlimited as before, all things being subject to arbitrariness." On this certain gentlemen undertook to frame a constitution. "When they had finished their model in some measure, or made a very good preparation of it, it became communicative.^ They told me that, except I would undertake the Government, they thought things would hardly come to a composure and settlement, but blood and confusion would break in upon us. I denied it again and again, as God and those persons know, not complimentingly, as they also know, and as God knows. I confess, after many arguments, and after the letting of me know that I did not receive any- thing that put me . the Instrument of Government, with its many artili- . ^ *^' cial devices for stemming the tide of Parliamentary '^54 supremacy, perished without leaving its mc.rk on the Constitution, his four fundamentals have been accepted' by the nation, and are au this day as firmly rooted inj its conscience as Parliamc^arv supremacy itself./ In protesting aggiju^t thp hnnds nf a t.rrittpn pnrip|it.i^ tion on which the nation had never been consulted the Bradsliaws and Hazleriggs were doing, as Eliot would have said, the business of posterity. Oliver was no less serving the coming generations in insisting on conditions without which Parliamentary o-overnment is a vain show. It was one thing for Oliver to point in the right The diffi- direction : it was another thing to give effect to his recondiing desires. The real obstacle in his way, though hei the'cirims took little count of it, was that the nation, or even thei jnent''^ intellectually active part of it, had not been educatedjl in political thought. There were hundreds who could / discourse on the true constitution of the Church, and | who could expansively utter their opinions on the craggiest points of divinity, for one who could say anything worth listening to on the Constitution of the State. There had been a tide of reaction against the arbitrary government of Charles which had led men to place a Parliament on the throne of the ancient kings. More lately there had been another tide of reaction against the narrowness and self- seeking of the Long Parliament in its closing months, which had led other men to seek to bind such abso- luteness in the toils of a written constitution. Yet to combine the two currents of opinion was, at all events for the present, an almost insuperable task. Oliver was at least justified in holding firmly by the 32 PROTECTOR AND PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XXXV. 1654 Oliver holds pro- visionally by the In- strument. Oliver's appeal. He does not ask for assent to the four funda- mentals. The Re- cognition. Instrument until some more serviceable arrangement could be placed in his hands. " Of what assurance,"^ he asked, after speaking of the danger of Parliaments perpetuating themselves, " is a law to prevent so great an evil if it be in one and the same legislator to unlaw it again ? . . . For the same men may unbuild what they have built." For this reason he was prepared to stand by the Instrument, at least in its most important articles. " I say," he asseverated, as we may well believe with heightened voice and flash- ing eyes, " that the wilful throwing away of this Government, such as it is, so owned by God, so approved by men, so testified to — in the fundamentals of it — as is before mentioned, and that in relation to the good of these nations and posterity; I can sooner be willing to be rolled into my grave and buried with infamy than I can give my consent unto." Yet Oliver, resolved as he was that, so far as he was concerned, the country should never again be bound under the yoke of one sovereign and uncon- trolled House, was too much alive to the realities of the situation to expect members of Parliament to bind themselves to accept without discussion either the Instrument as a whole or even the four fundamentals on which he had laid stress. What he required was merely their signatures to the follow- ing Eecognition as the condition of re-entering the House : — " I do hereby freely promise and engage to be true and faithful to the Lord Protector and the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and shall not, according to the tenor of the indentures whereby I am returned to serve in this present Parliament, propose or give my consent to alter the A IIEASONABLE DEMAND. Ov) Government, ^ as it is settled in a single person and a Parliament." - All that was asked was that the representatives should take upon themselves person- ally the engagement which had been taken for them by their constituencies at the time of their election. ' I.e. The Instrument. - C. J. vii. 368 ; Burton, I, xxxiii.-xxxv. ; Carlyle, Speech III. : His Highness the Lord Protector's Speech, E, 812, il. CHAP. XXXV. i654~ VOL. III. D 34 CHAPTEE XXXYI. DKIFTING ASUNDEK. CHAP. So reasonable a requirement — amounting to no more - — r — ^ than that the Instrument should be accepted as a T Ac A se t 12 ^^^i^ of discussion, inviolable only on the point that A basis of 2fovernment was to be divided between Parliament discussion. '-^ . and a single person — was likely to conciliate all except The Re- thc cxtremc Eepublicans. Before the evening about receives a huudrcd mcmbcrs had signed the Eecognition, and sign uies. ^^^^ been allowed by the guards stationed at the Sept. 13. door to pass to their seats. On the following- dav, A fast day. . ^ to J » which had been set apart for a fast by the House itself,^ Bradshaw and Hazlerigg attended the sermon in St, Margaret's in the places assigned to them as members ; but they made no further attempt to press their claims, and after a brief delay retired from Westminster with the bulk of their followers. So secure did the Protector feel himself, that after Sept. 12. his return from the Painted Chamber on the 12 th liberated, lic gavc HarrisoH a good dinner at Whitehall, after which he assured him that his object in inviting him had been to discharge the office of a friend by admonishing him ' not to persist in those deceitful and slippery ways whose end is destruction.' Oliver then set his old comrade at liberty, dismissing him ' with much good counsel and more civility,' which ^ See supra, p. iS. THE INSTRUMENT PRODUCED. 35, profited neither the mver nor the receiver.^ The fact chap. that there was no longer any party sittnig in the - ., '^ •House likely to give a commission to Harrison to '^^4 take up arms on its behalf doubtless formed the main consideration which influenced the Protector in dealing so leniently with one whom he had but recently regarded as dangerous to the State. The number of members willing to sign the Eecognition steadily increased. On the 14th they sept.14-21 IT 1 r J.1 Increase of were reckoned as 140, and no lewer than 190 were the counted on the 2ist.^ Though the Government ad^utS party must have occupied a strong position after the Houg® exclusion of their more pronounced adversaries, it took care to show that its object was to disarm/ not to provoke, opposition. The Eecognition it- self, like the indenture prescribed by the Instrument upon which it had been modelled, was somewhat ambiguous, as it was not absolutely clear whether acknowledgment of ' the Government as settled in a single person and a Parliament ' impUed an \/ acceptance of all the forty-one articles of the Instrument, or merely, as was the better opinion, of the division of powers between Protector and Parliament. It was now voted by common consent sept, 14 that the Eecognition did ' not comprehend nor nation^of* \ shall be construed to comprehend . . . the whole of cog5tton. | the ' Instrument of ' Government, . . . but that the same doth only include what concerns the govern- ment of the Commonwealth by a single person and successive Parliaments.' ^ On the 1 5th the Instru- The li-^^' ment itself was brought into the House, and the 1 8th broughun. was^ fixed for its discussion. When the i8th arriveS T&Re-^* "^ Parliament asserted its" independence by ordering the acfmow-'^ ^ Greene to — ? Sept. 25, Clarendon MSS. xlix. fol. 59. ^^^^^^' 2 BordeauxtoBrienne,Sept. 3|, French Transcrij^ts, B.O.; Burton, I. xxxix. 2 C. vii. 368. 1)2 36 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. -1654 Sept. 19. The In- strument in Com- mittee. An under- standing with the Protector probable. Cooper's probable part in negotiating the under- standing. Sept. 21. A basis of agreement found. A veto substituted for a pro- hibition. Eecognition to be accepted by the members on the mere initiative of the House, thus entirely ignoring the Pro- Hector's action. On the following day it resolved itself into a Committee to debate the Instrument itself. It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that this line was taken with the tacit consent, if not with the absolute approval, of the Protector. The essence of the understanding he favoured was that the four fundamentals were in some way or other to be preserved, but that a Parliamentary constitution was to be substituted for the one drawn up by the Army. It was a settlement from which Oliver had everything to gain. Yet its adoption, even for a moment, implied the acceptance by both parties of some definite nego- tiator ; and though not a spark of evidence exists on fthe subject, every probability points to Cooper as the intermediary. All that is known of his future career shows him as a man who would be equally impatient of a military despotism and of the religious tyranny which a Grovernment at the mercy of the popular will was likely to exercise. He had also — what Oliver had not — a constitutional mind, and he must fully have understood the advantage of securing a Parliamentary basis for the new settlement. The discussion in Committee had not proceeded far when it became evident that a basis of agreement had been found. The fundamental provisions of the Constitution were not, as had been required in the Instrument, to be absolutely unalterable, but were only to be alterable with difficulty; and it was proposed that, I to secure so desirable an object, they should not be I changed by Parliament without the consent of the ' Protector for the time being. It probably cost Oliver somewhat even to contemplate the weakening of the rocky barrier he had opposed to the evils against SATISFACTORY PROGRESS. x 37 which he was contending ; but, after all, there are [ chap. • • • • I XXXVI no insuperable obstacles in political life, and it may f — . — '^ well have been that the new arrangement, just ^ ^4 because it was more flexible, would have been more serviceable than the scheme which had been imposed on him by Lambert and his confederates. It remained to be seen whether Protector and Discussion Parliament could agree on the details of the proposed constltu- system. The first article of the Parliamentary con- *'^°"" stitution, giving supreme power to Protector and »^ Parliament in the terms of the Instrument, was speedily adopted, and provision was made against the Two . . fundamen- danger of Parliament perpetuating itself by a declara- tais tion in favour of triennial elections ; though, perhaps ^^^^^ with the intention of showing its independence, ihel Committee resolved that future sessions should extend • -^ to six instead of to five months, and that beyond that period they should only be lengthened by an Act of Parliament, on which, however, the Protector was allowed to interpose his veto. Two out of the four fundamentals having been thus disposed of, the Com- mittee approached the third on the 22nd, voting that ^j^^^p*-^^' ' the present Lord Protector during his life, the Parlia-, t^on of the ment sittmg — with the consent 01 Parliament, and not l forces. otherwise — shall dispose and employ the forces both' by sea and land, for the peace and good of the three nations.' In this the House followed the lines of the / Instrument, except that nothing was settled as to the course to be adopted after the Protector's death. Yet, in spite of this omission, so pleased was Oliver with the progress made, that he wrote to offer to the House an account of his naval preparations. With equal i courtesy the House replied that it was willing to leave | to His Highness the management of that design.^ ' C. J. vii. 369 ; Burton, I. xl., xli. 38 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI / Attendant difficulties, / The question of the armed forces, however, bristled with difficulties. The Instrument had left their control 1^54 J \^ ^]jg intervals of Parliament to the Protector and Sept. 23. ^^ . Council, and when this proposal was brought up for discussion, the Committee, not unnaturally, came to the conclusion that before such extensive powers were granted to the Council it would be well to determine what was to be the composition and status of that body. By the Instrument its members were ap- pointed for life,^ and, when removed by death, were replaced by a complicated process, in which the part of Parliament was reduced to the presentation of six names for each vacancy, out of which two were to be selected by the Council, to be presented to the Protector in order that he might make a final choice. By the 26th this scheme was definitely rejected, and it was proposed in its place that Councillors should be tBubject toy .■'■■'■ -"^ the ap- ^ nominated by the Protector, subject to the approval of Parliament, but that not one of them should retain office more than forty days after the meeting of a new Parliament unless he secured the renewal of the vote of confidence which he had received on his appointment. The position of the Council once settled, the question of the powers to be conceded to the Protector was next in order. The Committee, however, had not trenched far on this ground before it was reminded of the futility of building the foundations of govern- ment on the character or abilities of a single human being. On the 29th Oliver, accompanied by Thurloe, was in Hyde Park, taking the air in a coach drawn by six spirited horses recently pre- sented to him by the Duke of Oldenburg, when he bethought himself of changing places with his coach- Sept. 26. The Coun- cil to be provsJ of Parlia ment. Sept. 27. Question of the Pro tectorate. Sept. 29. Oliver's narrow escape from a fatal accident. ^ Except when members were convicted of corruption or other abuse of trust. A RISKY DRIVE. 39 man. Though he was no mean judge of horseflesh, chap. he used the whip too freely, and in the rush which 22^. :. followed was jerked forward, first on the pole, and ^^54 then on the ground. His foot catching in the reins, his life was for a moment in danger, especially as a pistol exploded in his pocket as he was being dragged along the ground. Contriving, however, to extricate him- self from his dangerous position, he suffered no damage beyond a few scratches, though he was left in a state of nervous exhaustion. Thurloe, who had jumped out, was carried home with a dislocated ankle. Friends and foes agreed in celebrating the occurrence in prose and verse, though it is hard to say whether less of the poetic quality was shown by those who rejoiced in the Protector's marvellous •escape, or by those who expressed a fervent hope that his next ride would be in a cart to Tyburn.^ During the following week the Committee busied ^0?^°" itself with the powers to be accorded to the executive '^}'^ p°^^' i ot v/ar and 'Government. The Instrument had granted the Pro- i^^ce. tector and Council the right of making war and peace, merely insisting that, when once war had ])roken out. Parliament should be summoned to give * advice concerning the same,' or, in other words, to provide money for carrying it on. The Committee, on the other hand, in spite of the criticism of the 'Court party, voted without a division that, though the Protector might make peace with the consent of the Council alone when Parliament was not sitting, he must obtain the consent of Parliament to a declara- tion of war, even if it was necessary to hold a session specially convened for the purpose.^ Other subjects ^ The story has been more fully told by Mr. Fu'th, in an article on •Cromwell's views on sport, in Macmillan's Ma/jazine for October 1894. To the evidence there collected may be added Bordeaux's accoiint in his despatch of Oct. ^. ~ Burton, I. xliv.-xlvi. 40 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Oct. 16-18. Question of the succession. then occupied the attention of the members for some^ days, and it was only on October 16 that the question of the succession was approached. In the debate, which spread over three days, Lambert who, when the Instrument was being drawn up, had sup- ported the proposal to give to Oliver the title of king,, now urged that the Protectorate should be made here- ditary. The sense of the Committee was, however^ against him, and it was resolved by the large majority of 200 to 65 that it should be elective. It is almost certain that the majority comprised member-s of the Protector's own family,^ who must have acted under the influence of Oliver himself, partly, perhaps, because he believed that govern- ment should be allotted to merit alone, and partly because he feared to irritate the generals who served under him, and who regarded the supreme magis- tracy as a prize to which all might aspire. Nor is it altogether impossible that the known incompetence of Eichard had some effect in increasing the majority.^ ^ "D'abord son party parust le plus fort; mesme le general Lambert fist harangue pour persuader le Parlement qu'il estoit necessaire de rendre la charge de Protecteur hereditaire : mais lorsque Ton est venu d prendre les voix tous ses parens et amis ont ete d'advis de la rendre eslective." Bordeaux to Brienne, Oct. Jf , French Transcripts, B.O. Compare Beverning and Nieupoort to the States General, Oct. |^. Add. MSS. 17,677 U, fol. 433. '-* The most convincing testimony to Richard's reputation at this time is given by a mistake of Pauluzzi, who forwarded to Venice a sketch of the characters of the brothers Richard and Henry, but took it for granted that Henry was the elder of the two. The same mistake was afterwards made by Bonde in the following summer. Probably Pauluzzi, to some extent, represents Oliver's own attitude. " S'accommoda il Protettore alia rissolutione, non havendo volute insister nella successione de' figlioli, per non accrescersi maggiormente contrarii et odiosi i concetti che miri solo ad eternar in lui e nella dis- cendenza U comando supremo di tutta I'lnghilterra." Pauluzzi to Morosini, -^Iv^^^' Venetian Transcripts, B. 0. A less generous view was taken by Bordeaux, who writes that, the hereditary succession ' ne A RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL. 41 The mode of election did not occupy the Committee chap. XXXVT long. On the 21st it was resolved that though the __-^ — '^ choice might be left to the Council durino- the intervals ^^^^ c «_ ^ Qc\,. 21. of Parliament, it should be made, if the House were in Mode" session at the time of a Protector's death, by Parlia- a Protec- ment itself. On the 24th it was resolved that the °^' ^ article in the Instrument which directed that officers of officers of State appointed by the Protector should receive the approved approbation of Parliament was to remain unaltered.^ ment. By this time it was easy to see that though the constitu- Committee was inclined to push the pretensions of *o^^ncrof , Parliament somewhat further than the Instrument *he mode ^ allowed, it had as yet no wish, except on one point — ItheCouncii that of the aj)pointment of the Council — to make an}^ chosen. violent changes, certainly not to revert to the system of Parliamentary omnipotence which Oliver had so lately deprecated. Yet the difference between the J two modes of choosing Councillors was a radical one. Whenever a vacancy occurred in the Council the powers of Parliament, according to the Instrument, were limited to the sending in of a list of names, out of which a choice must be made by others. Though it is true that by this means it could secure the exclusion of all candidates absolutely displeasing to itself, it could never hope to retain a hold upon the political action of a Councillor to whom had been accorded a seat for life, and who would come under the influence of colleagues inured to the exercise of government and little inclined to look with respect upon Parliamentary authority. The new proposal, on the other hand, would make the Councillors I anxious to secure the goodwill of future Parliaments, j pouvoit qu'estre desagreable aux officiers de I'armee, dont le moindre pretend a son tour commander en Angleterre.' Bordeaux to Brienne, Oct. \%, French TranscHpts, E.O. ^ Burton, I. Ix. 42 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 The Pro- tector not seriously dissatis- fied. Oct. s. The two outstand- ing funda- mentals. The army. because it was to Parliament alone they looked for the prolongation of their office. The question, in short, was whether the main executive authority was to be founded in confidence on Parliaments or not. Oliver would doubtless have preferred to retain the Instrument as it originally stood, but there is no indication that he was so dissatisfied as to desire to set I; Parliament at defiance ; though it is possible that he was restrained from expressing what dissatisfaction he may have entertained by the knowledge that the alterations effected in Committee were to a large extent the work of his own supporters, some of them ^ being even members of his Council.^ ^ It was, in fact, impossible at this time to forecast the ultimate attitude of the Protector to the new con- stitution, because much would depend on the attitude of Parliament to the two fundamentals remaining to be discussed — that of the management of the army, and that of religious liberty. As yet the Com- mittee had agreed to nothing relating to the control of the army after the death of the present Protector, having turned its attention to a more immediately practical question — that of imposing some limitations on the existing superfluity of the land and sea forces. On October 5 the Protector, after conference with a Committee appointed to come to an understand- ing with him on the subject, had consented to reduce the fleet by twenty-eight ships.^ The question of ^ Foreign ambassadors during this period speak without hesitation of Parliament as being subservient to the Protector, which is inconsistent with the view that it was in revolt against him. An echo of this belief is found in a letter written in Paris on Oct. Jf , in which the writer remarks that the Protector ' had better have sat in his chair in the Painted Chamber to govern the Parliament, which is more pliable to his pleasure, than in the coach-box to govern his coach-horses, which have more courage to put him out of the box than the three hundred members of Parliament have to put him out of his chair.' Thtirloe, ii. 674. - C. J. vii. 373. A COMMITTEE ON RELIGION. 43 diminishing the army stood over for further consider- chap. • I XXXVI ation. As to religion, the House having dropped the ^^.^ — '^ proposal for gathering an Assembly of Divines, had L reiilitus appointed a Committee to consider the ecclesiastical ls«"iement. arrangements of the country with the assistance of ) fifteen or twenty ministers,^ and it was probable that these debates would occupy some considerable time. It is not unlikely that an experience of the difficulty of a confet- satisfyingthe combined theologians led on November 4 the Pro- to the appointment of a sub-committee to confer with asSfor. the Protector on the same subject. On November 7, ,^^lil^_ in order to utilise the time needed for the consider- lutionsof Committee ation of these questions, the House ^ took up the before the •*• ^ House. ^ Burton, I. xlvi. 2 There is a difference of evidence as to the actual numbers who had by this time taken the Eecognition. Under the date of Oct. 6 Whitelocke gives 300; but on Oct. i| Bordeaux {French Tran- scripts, B.O.) admits only 260, though this number may apply only to those present at an important vote. On Dec. 12 the House ordered 300 copies of a certain paper to be distributed amongst its members, and this number seems to have been generally accepted, though on ^°^ f Nieupoort (Add. M8S. 17,677, U, fol. 437) gives as many as 350, and Thurloe, writing to Pell on Oct. 24, informs him that there were 'not above 30 persons in the whole 460 that have refused to sign the Eecognition.' (Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 71.) This must surely have been an exaggeration, unless Thurloe laid stress on the word ' refused,' excluding those who remained in the country without expressing an opinion. It may on the whole be assumed that by the end of October at least 300 had quahfied for taking their seats. The highest number of voters, excluding tellers, in the two divisions taken before the enforcement of the Eecognition was 317. In two divisions in October, both of them of a non-political character, the highest was 195. Of course, the numbers present on any given occasion were considerably less than 300. In fourteen divisions in November the number on one occasion reached 199. In fifteen in December the highest was 184. In twenty- eight in January the highest was 224, the highest mark of November being only exceeded in three divisions, the first of which was taken on January 15. It may therefore be taken that there was no appreciable addition to the number of members actually sitting between October 25 and January 15. It follows from this calcula- tion that any change in the attitude of Parliament towards the 44 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Nov. 10. ^ ^igpnt.o on tlje Qfigatjve Yoipe. y y / The House claims to be a con- stituent body. Nov. 15. A com- promise. report of the Committee on so much of the new Constitution as had by this time been adopted. It soon appeared that the members saw no reason to disagree with the conclusions which they had previously come to in Committee, though there were signs that the apparent harmony might change into discord when more exciting questions were reached. Speaking on behalf of the Court party on the disposal of the negative voice, Desborough expressed himself as if it had been a mere act of kindness in the Protector to divest himself in part of that absolute power which he had already in his hand. Parliament, he added, had not the opportunity to do anything it pleased ; its business was merely to amend the Instrument where the Protector gave it leave to do so. On the other side it was~asserted that though Parliament had no intention of refusing the negative voice on the four fundamentals, it was for the House, and not for the Protector, to impose such limitations on its inherent legislative power. Upon a division being taken it was decided by 109 to 85 that the right of passing Bills into law without the consent of the Protector should only extend to such as contained nothing contrary to matters where.in the Parliament should think fit to give a negative to the Lord Protector. Against this assumption that the House was a constituent body the whole Cnurt party rose in revolt. " I could wish," cried Broghill, now one of the w:armest of Oliyex's -Adherents, " I could have redeemed that wound with a pound of the best blood inaxj^Jbody," ^ In the end, however, a compromise Protector between these two dates cannot have been caused by the influx of members hitherto keeping aloof from the House through hostility to the Protector. ^ Burton, I. Ixiii.-lxviii. The speaker is termed a person of honour and nobility. The name is suggested by the editor, and, indeed, THE MILITARY QUESTION. 45 was accepted, the clause being toned down to a claim [ chap. that the excepted Bills should ' contain nothing in i^^^L, them contrary to such matters wherein the saidj ^^54 single person and the Parliament shall think fit to I declare a negative to be in the said single person.' ^ If, indeed, a breach was to come, it was far more Question likely to arise out of a difference of opinion on some disposal of • 1 1 T 1 r> 1 the army concrete question, such as the disposal 01 the arm}" and navy. and navy, than out of a dispute on constitutional theory, the more so as, though the Instrument itself had laid down that a convenient number of ships for guarding the seas, together with 20,000 foot and 10,000 horse and dragoons, should be kept up by taxation agreed to by Protector and Council with- -;, r out recourse to Parliament, it had also declared that -^ extraordinary forces rendered necessary by ' the present wars ' should be supported by money raised » * by consent of Parliament, and not otherwise.' ^ As matters now stood the whole of the two fleets under Blake and Penn, together with no less than 27,000 of an army which had been increased to 57,000 men,^ were by the very terms of the Instrument dependent for support upon a Parliamentary grant. It was un- avoidable that the additional burden should appear to Oliver to be, at least for the time, absolutely necessary, but should seem to members of Parlia- ment to be capable of some alleviation. Yet there was no wish to act in this matter apart from the Protector. A Committee which had been formerh^ Nov. 15. directed to wait on him having reported that, at a teetorto conference with eight officers selected by the Pro- to reduce tector, it had been informed that only six garrisons Expense. Broghill was the only person amongst the Protector's partisans to whom this designation is applicable. ^ Burton, I. Ixx. - Articles xxvii. and xxx. ^ Burton, I. cviii., where it is stated that the number was over 46 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. i6S4 Nov. 16. A sharp reproof from the Protector. \ The Com- mittee on religion. Owen and Baxter. could prudently be discharged, was now directed to return with a request for further reductions.-^ It is likely enough that it was to a great extent mainly this persistency in diminishing what Oliver regarded as the necessary strength of the army which prompted the sharp reply given by him on the following day to a Committee which had come for his advice on some question relating to restric- tions on toleration. He ' was,' he told them, ' wholly dissatisfied with the thing, and had no propensity nor inclination to it ; and that the Parliament had already taken the government abroad,^ and had altered and changed it in the other articles as they pleased without his advice ; and therefore it would not become him to give any advice at all, singly and apart, as to this article.' ^ Yet, though Oliver's remarks applied in part to the constitutional amend- ments, they also struck at the attitude of the Committee in regard to toleration. For some time it had been listening to some fourteen divines, amongst whom Owen continued to press the adoption of the scheme requiring the acceptance of certain fundamentals of religious faith which had been originally promulgated in 1652 as a condition of toleration"* — an attitude in which he was supported by all his colleagues, with the exception of Baxter and Vines. Yet, though Baxter proposed to content himself with setting up the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Decalogue as the sole conditions of toleration, even this largeness of 57,000. An account printed in the Antiquarian Bepertory (ed. i8c8), ii. 12 gives the number as 52,965, * according to the old former estab- lishment.' Probably the army had been increased since that estab- lishment was drawn up. ^ C. J. vii. 385 ; Burton, 1. Ixxvii., Ixxviii., note. ^ I.e. ' in pieces.' ^ (7. /. vii. 385. Thisanswer was reported to the House on the 17th, and therefore was almost certainly given on the i6th. * See Vol. ii. p. 31. THE CONTROL OF THE ARMY. 47 mind was insufficient for the Protector, who sum- moned Baxter before him, and, as the divine com- plained, smothered him in a torrent of words, to which he was not permitted to reply. ^ Perhaps it was not only the contrariety of public affairs which had drawn from Oliver that sharp reply which he had addressed to the Committee. On that day his aged mother, now in her ninetieth year,^ lay dying in that Whitehall to the splendours of which, it is said, she had never quite reconciled herself. That evening, when her harassed son visited her for the last time, she addressed him with words of heartfelt sympathy. " The Lord cause His face to shine upon you and comfort you in all your adversities, and enable you to do things for the glory of your Most High God and to be a relief unto His people. My dear son, I leave my heart with thee. A o-ood nioiit ! " *^ Oliver had need of all his mother's confidence that his work was divinely righteous to hold up against the sea of troubles to which he was exposed. A rift once established has a tendency to widen, and November 1 7, the day on which the Protector's scornful answer was reported, was marked in the House by the acceptance of the Committee's proposal limiting the control of the army to the lifetime of the present Protector.^ The idea that the actual distribution of power was not to be permanent, but was merely a temporary concession to the necessity ^ JReliquice Baxteriance, i. 197. 2 Thurloe (Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 81) makes her 94; but Chester's argument for the age given above {Bcgisters of Westminster Abbey, 521, note 3) is confirmed by An Epitaph on the late . . . Elizabeth Cromwell, -who lived to the age o/8g. B. M. press-mark, 669, fol. 19, No. 41, Mr. Rye, in The Genealogist for 1884, has dispelled the un- founded belief that she was connected with the royal house of Scotland. ^ Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 81. '^ C. J. vii. 386. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Death of Oliver's mother. Fresh troubles impending Nov. 17. The control of the army , limited to the present Protector. j \ IF! 48 DKIFTIXG ASUNDER. CHAP, of a time when the country was slouo-hing off the XXXVI • • 00 .Ji:! L. revolutionary skin was one with which Parliament, ^54 in its present temper, was certain to familiarise itself, but was hardly likely to commend itself to the mind pi Oliver. What followed must have strengthened D^s^^posS' 'pis displeasure. On the 20th it was decided that, in forces ;^^® event of the death of the present Protector, the Protector's J foi'^cs should bc disposcd of by the Council till Par- death, jliament could be assembled, and then by ' the Parlia- 'ment, as they shall think fit.' No division was taken, and the Court party, therefore, must have felt itself to be in a hopeless minority.^ Arguments So far as it is possible to gather the intention of sides. the majority from the speeches uttered, it would seem that the idea at the root of their conclusions was the necessity of providing for the rule of law, and the conviction that Parliaments were the best guardians of the law. To the argument ' that to strip the next Protector of the command of the standing forces were but to make him an insignificant nothing, a mere man of straw,' they replied ' that the standing forces were never meant to be in a single person, otherwise than by consent of Parliament, It was the manner and custom of this nation, and of our ancestors, not to put our king in the head of an army, especially of a standing army, but in the head of their laws.' "And certainly," the speaker — whoever he may have been--:, continued, " to place the command of the standing forces alone in a single person, or co-ordinately in him and the Parliament, would be to make the Parliament a mere Jack-a-Lent, and as insignificant a nothing as the single person, in case it should be placed wholly in the Parliament. For, give any single person in the world but i)ower, and you give him ^ C. J. vii. 387. AN INSUPEEABLE DILEMMA 49 a temptation to continue and engross that power chap. wholly to himself and an opportunity to effect it. For, ^_,_1- as, wheresoever there is a co-ordination of power, ^4 there is a right, mutually, on both sides to defend their interests, the one against the other ; so, whenso- ever any advantage offers itself, the one will usurp on the other, and, in fine, strive totally to subvert it." Parliament, in short, might impose limitations on i its own authority : it could not admit that the power / of the sword should be permanently in hands which ( miofht use it ao-ainst the nation. Put in this form the argument carries conviction, at least to later genera- tions. Oliver's main objection was doubtless conveyed by another speaker. It had been said, he declared, ' that to exclude the Protector from the command of the standing force would be to give up the cause, that eminent and glorious cause, which had been so muchj and so long contended; for such Parliaments might I hereafter be chosen as would betray the glorious' cause of the people of God.' ^ In these last words we The diffi- ^Zg.jL^lgJw;hole difficulty of establishing the Protec- the Pro- torate laid before us . Oliver, at least, had no love for *®''*°''"'*® gQYe.rnment by the sword . Willingly, as he showed three years later, would he have exchanged a Oonsti- tution drawn up by off&cers and guaranteed by the ^DliyJor a Constitution drawn up by Parliament and guaranteed by civil institutions. Yet in 1657, as well ^in.J.654a.he..was determined _ngt^ sacrifice ' the glorious cause of the people of God 'to any institutiQas what soever. Convince him that this was safe and institutions might, with his goodwill, be shifted from one system to another. On the other hand, it mu^t never be forgotten that he aimed at assuring the safety of the people of God, not by establishing them ' Burton, I. Ixxxiii. VOL. III. E XX so DEIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 The last step of the House tends to a rupture. The struggle for the control over the army. exclusively in the seats of power, but by securing them from persecution by the diffusion of liberty to all who were not blasphemers, if only they abstained from machinations against the existing Government. Natural as was the desire of the House to assure its own supremacy in the future, its last step can hardly be qualified as conciliatory. Yet it is scarcely likely that any circumspection would have induced the majority to act otherwise. Even if we credit them —as we almost certainly may — with a firm desire at the outset to establish a fair compromise which either side might accept without dishonour, the mere effluence of time must have made this achievement more difficult of attainment every day. Parliaments are as apt as Governments to stand upon their rights, and, however much both parties may have desired to divide the control of the army between them, the question which of the two was to predominate could i not fail to thrust itself into the foreground ; and, when once discussion had begun upon those mysteries of sovereignty, no possible goodwill amongst the dispu- tants could be trusted to bring about an amicable solution. Verbally, no doubt, the Protector insisted, ' and would continue to insist, that he claimed no exclusive power over the army. It was far easier 'tO enunciate such a proposition in general terms than to translate the principle of divided Si\j^^mk.j into a I detailed scheme. As a niatter_of_foj(P|fe_control mujt fall, in the last resort, either to theJParliament or to the Protector, and^ it is not strange that the members judged it best lodged in their own^ hands. Moreover, neither Parliainent nor Protector was able to, consider the question of the army purely_Qn its con- stitutional merits. That army had too long been in the habit of intervening in politics to make it easy for army. THE ARMY AND THE MILITIA. 5 1 Parliament to regard it as a merely military institution, chap. '^ ~ *^ " . \XXVT To the Protector, on Jlie other ..hand^Parliarneiita ^_V ^ control over the army meant almost certain danger to ^^^ the^ religious liberty which lay nearest to his heart. jjOnce more the two ideals of the Eeyolution showed/ llthemselves to be incompatible with one another. Nor was it only by constitutional arrangements Nov. 17. that Parliament sought to maintain its hold over the standing soldiery. Some of its members, and not improbably the majority of the House, contemplated a reversion — so far as might be — to the military system which had prevailed before the outbreak of the war.^ The militia, it had been said on the 1 7th, was ' the intrinsic force of the nation.' The standing forces were but such ' as, upon extraordinary emergencies, and to supply the other, were raised, or to be raised, upon the authority of Parliament, and to be main- tained at the public charge.' ^ Though, with the daufTfers which now threatened the Commonwealth staring the members in the face, it was obvious that the standing army could not immediately give place to a militia, at no time during the session was any v«^ hint given that the majority contemplated keeping on foot more than the 30,000 regulars authorised by the Sfetrument, and there is good reason to suppose that the thought which already predominated was that the place of ^j^gCjOoo who would be disbanded ^ must be filled by il|[PI^, the control of which would lie with the local authorities, and not with the central Government.* The prospect of a disbandment could hardly fail to bring the officers into line against the Parliament. A few weeks before they had been less unanimous. Having been employed, as they had been, in combat- ing the monarchy in the name of Parliament, it was ' Just as their successors did after the Peace of Ryswick. ■^ Burton, I. Ixxix. ■' See supra, p. 45. * See infra, p. 65. E 2 Peeling in the army. 52 DRIFTING ASUNDER. d \ CHAP XXXVI. 1654 Alured, Saunders, and Okey. The peti- tion of the three colonels, It is seized, Oct. 18. but published. It recites the evils of monarchy. inevitable that some of them would find the new Protectorate as obnoxious as the old kingship. Of these, one of the foremost was Colonel Alured, who, having been sent into Ireland in the spring to bring over reinforcements to Monk, used language about the evil designs of the Protector so offensive as to necessitate his recall.^ On his return to Westminster, Alured found kindred spirits in two other colonels, Saunders and Okey, and not long after the meeting of Parliament these three entered into communica- tion with Wildman, the Leveller.^ The result was the preparation by Wildman of a petition to the Protector, which was at once adopted by the three colonels, and intended to be circulated for signature amongst other colonels whose approval might be expected. The petition, however, was seized before any further ad- hesions had been given in, and the three colonels placed under arrest. On October 18,^ however, it was published in the form of a broadsheet, probably by Wildman, who is likely to have retained a copy. - Starting with a reference to the often-quoted Declarations of the Army, the petitioners assert that Charles I. had been brought to justice for opposing the supreme power of Parliament, ' the King's uii- accountableness being the grand root of tyranny.' " We having, therefore," continue the three colonels, " seriously and sadly considered the present great transactions and the government in the settlement ^ The Protector to Fleetwood, May i6 ; the Protector to Alured, May 16 : Carlyle, Letters cxciii., cxciv. The Case of Col. Alured, E, 983, 25. ^ Thurloe's Notes, Thurloe, iii. 147. Hacker is noted to have been present at the meeting where the petition was discussed. He was a strong Preshyterian, but remained constant to the Protector. Can he have Kiformed the Government of what was going on ? ^ B. M. press-mark, 669, f. 19, No. 21, where the date of publication is given by Thomason. Mrs. Everett-Green wrongly gives it in her Calendar as Dec. 20, 1653. THE THREE COLONELS. 53 whereof our assistance is required, . . . declare to chap. jour Highness . . . that we sadly resent the dan-l __, L gerous consequences of establishing that supreme! ^^^ trust of the militia, at least for the space of two years \ and a half of every three years, in a single person and a council of his own, whom he may control by a negative voice at his pleasure." The army, too, might in the hands of some successor of the present Protector become ' wholly mercenary and be made use of to destroy at his pleasure the very being of Parliaments.' Moreover, though the Instrument enabled Parliament to pass ordinary Bills without the Protector's consent, it would always be open to a Protector to allege that Allegation any Bill to which he objected was contrary to some negative article of the Instrument, and so beyond the power of prlcticliiy Parliament to insist on,^ especially as it would be fh^Pro- difficult to question the allegations of the master of **^°*°''' 30,000 men. Nor, even if the Protector refrained from throwing his sword into the scale, was it easy to reconcile with the ancient freedom of the country a Constitution which provided the Government with asweiias 200,000/. for the expenses of administration, as well Jafsiil'*" as with sufficient means of keeping up an army of h^aTpLn^d- 30,000 men and a fleet sufficient to defend the coasts p"riia°^ without any recourse to a Parliamentary grant. '"^'^*- On these premises the petitioners based no uncer- what is tain conclusion. " Now," they declared, "... find- of the^Pro- ing in our apprehensions the public interest of right *'^'^*°'^^*® and freedom so far from security that the first foundations thereof are unsettled, and the gates are •open that may lead us into endless troubles and hazards, the government not being clearly settled ^ This is, no doubt, an exaggerated statement, but it points t/a real gap in the Instrument — its omission to provide a means of obtaining an authoritative decision as to what Bills were in accordance with the Instrument. 54 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 An appeal to a free Parlia- ment. either upon the bottom of the people's consent, trust or contract, nor [upon] a right of conquest, . . . nor upon an immediate divine designation ; and our ears being- filled daily with the taunts, reproaches and scandals, upon the profession of honesty, under colour that we have pretended the freedoms of our country, and made large professions against seeking our private interests, while we intended only to set up ourselves ; these things thus meeting together do fill our hearts with trouble and sadness, and make us cautious of taking upon ourselves new engagements, although none shall more faithfully serve your Highness in all just designs ; . . . and we are hereby enforced to . . . pray . . . that a full and free Parliament may, without any imposition upon their judgments and consciences, freely consider of those fundamental rights and freedoms of the Commonwealth that are the first subject of this great contest, which God hath decided on our side, according as the same have been proposed to the Parliament by the Grand Council of the Army in the Agreement of the People, which remains there upon record ; that, by the assistance and direction of God, they may settle the Govern- ment of the Commonwealth and the ways of adminis- tration of justice, and secure our dearly-bought free- dom of our consciences, persons and estates against all future attempts of tyranny ; and such a settlement will stand upon a basis undoubtedly just by the laws of God and man — and therefore more likely to continue to us and our posterities — and in your Highness's pro- secution of these great ends of the expense of all the blood and treasure in these three nations, your petitioners shall freely hazard their lives and estates in your just defence." The appeal of the three colonels to a full and free A SAILORS' PETITION. 55 Parliament intended to act as a constituent assembly, chap. in the hope that it would guarantee complete liberty \ I of conscience, was astonishingly naive. For that very ^ ^^"^ reason it was likely to lind an echo amongst those stitueut '' • 1 assembly simple souls who had taken arms to regenerate their Remanded. country, and who failed to see why salvation was so j long on the way. Even in the navy — little given to idealisms as it was — the demands of the three colonels found transient favour. Blake's fleet had, indeed, „ ^,'r^-^\ ' ' Sailing of sailed from Plymouth for the Mediterranean on flake's «^ _ fleet. October 8, but Penn's was still delayed at Ports- mouth, and, almost at the same time that the petition of the colonels was discovered, a petition of his seamen Discontent ^^ _ amongst was laid before the officers, with a request that it Penn's crews. might be forwarded to the Protector. The prayer of the petitioners was that Parliament might be pleased to maintain and enlarge the liberties of the free people of England, whilst they reminded that body of the frequent declarations of the army in favour of political progress. Yet it soon appeared that the ^he demands of the sailors did not exclusively relate to petiti the constitutional requirements of the nation, as they proceeded to ask that impressment might be aban- doned ; ^ that sailors might not be sent on foreign service without tlieir own consent ; that, when that consent had been given, they might issue letters of attorney, enabling those dependent on them to draw their pay at least once in six months ; that in the event of their being themselves killed in the service these dependents might be entitled to such compensation ^ They complained ' that your petitioners . . . continue under very great burdens, being imprested and haled on board the Commonwealth ships, turned over and confined there under a degree of thraldom and bondage, to the utter ruin of some of your petitioners' poor families.' This seems to dispose of the view that ' impresting ' or ' impressing ' was, at least in practice, a voluntary arrangement. seamen s tion. 56 DRIFTING ASUNDEE. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Oct. 17. Approved by a Council of War. Nov. Des- borough sent to inquire. Money sent to the crews. Nov. Quiet restored. as might be agreeable to justice ; and, finally, 'that all other liberties and privileges due to' the peti- tioners might ' be granted and secured.' ^ On October 17 a council of v^ar held on board Penn's ship, the ' Swiftsure,' was presided over, in his absence, by Vice-Admiral Lawson. It decided unanimously that it v^as ' lawful for seamen to tender their grievances by way of petition.' Descending to particulars, it decided, with only four dissentients, that the complaints were directed to real grievances, with the exception of the one relating to foreign service ; whilst the four who dissented objected only to the one relating to impressment.^ With these remarks the petition was forwarded through the generals at sea to the Protector.^ Oliver was too well advised to allow the fire to smoulder. Sending Desborough to Portsmouth to inquire into the sea- men's grievances,^ he rightly judged that if the arrears of their pay were made up they would not persist in their other complaints. There is every reason to believe that considerable sums were set aside for this purpose, and on November 6 Penn was able to write that by the blessing of God the fleet was in a quiet posture and without the least appear- ance of discontent.^ ^ Petition to the Protector, B. M. press-mark, 669, f. 19, No. 33. ^ Proceedings at a Council of War, Oct. 17 ; ib. No. 32. ^ The Council of War also voted, with two dissentients, that ' sea- men petitioning their private commanders and delivering their fore- mentioned petition, with desires that they would please to move the generals and chief officers,' be owned, on the understanding that ' the Lord Protector is not immediately petitioned by the same.' The court was composed of two admirals, eighteen captains, three lieutenants, and one master ; all of whom, except Lawson and two captains, went out under Penn. * Pauluzizi, writing on Nov. J|, states that one of the generals at aea had been sent. Only Penn and Desborough were at that time available, and, if Pauluzzi had had Penn in his mind, he would almost certainly have referred to him as the Admiral of the fleet in question. ^ Penn to the Admiralty Committee, Nov. 6, Add. MSS. 9304, LAW SON'S POSITION. 57 For common seamen to send up, even through the chap. • • • • XXXVI hands of their officers, a semi-pohtical petition was so . — 1. completelv at variance with estabhshed custom that it ^4 . The is in the highest degree improbable that the form taken petition by their complaints originated with themselves. If we to have ^ cast about for its authorship, we can light on no more wYth'tU probable draftsman thaiiLawson. A Baptist by creed, La^on its he sympathised warmly with the Levellers, and his l^^^]^ name is to be found in a list, jotted down by Thurloe for his own use, of those who had been present early in September at a meeting between Wildman and the three colonels.^ Five months later his objections to the Protectoral system were so well known that Charles attempted to enter into communication with him.^ Since the Protector, knowing as much as he fol. 97. There is no direct evidence of the men being paid, but on Oct. 27 a patent directed the issue of ioo,oooZ. to the Treasurer of the Navy {B.O. Enrolment BooTc, Pells, No. 12), and of this sum 55,000?. was paid to him on Nov. i {B.O. Issue Booh, Mich. 1654-5). ^ Thurloe, iii. 147. ^ Charles to Lawson, Feb. |^, 1655, Clarendon MSS. xUx. fol. 347. The belief that Penn and Venables had offered their services to the King is mainly founded on a passage in Clarendon, xv. 6 : " Both these superior officers were well affected to the King's service, and were not fond of the enterprise they were to conduct, the nature of which they yet knew nothing of. They did, by several ways, without any com- munication with each other — which they had not confidence to engage in — send to the King that, if he were ready with any force from abroad, or secure of possessing any port within, they would engage, with the power that was under their charge, to declare for His Majesty ; . . . but neither of them daring to trust the other, the King could not presume upon any port, without which neither had promised to engage." Clarendon, in this later part of his history, is not to be trusted implicitly, and his statement that neither Penn nor Venables knew anything of the nature of the expedition shows how little he was acquainted with the situation. Moreover, so far as Venables was con- cerned, his regiments, brought from various quarters, were never so much in hand as that he could presume on his authority with them for such a purpose, though this is assumed in an improbable story told in Barwick's Vita J. Barwich, p. 124. This book was published in 172 1, though it was written some years before the publication of Clarendon's History, and may therefore at least be taken as evidence of an inde- pendent tradition among the Royalists. Granville Penn, indeed, in colonels 58 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP, did, retained Lawson in command of the Channel ^:— , — Squadron, he must have had some strong reason for doing what was, on the face of it, an impoHtic act — a reason which there would be no difficulty in specifying if Lawson had ingratiated himself with the seamen by giving voice to their inarticulate discontent. The revelation of political discontent in the army Nov.-Dec. was far more serious, and the three colonels had to three suffcr for their audacity. Saunders, indeed, had already made his submission and had been restored to his command; though afterwards he retracted his apology, and consequently lost his commission, Okey having been acquitted by a court-martial on a charge of treason, was allowed by the Protector to obtain his liberty on surrendering his commission. Alured's case was complicated by the charge against him of having attempted to stir up mutiny in the Irish army, and he was not only sentenced to be cashiered, but was detained in prison for more than a twelvemonth.^ his Mem. of Penn, ii. 14, attempts to bolster up Clarendon's statement by a reference to a letter from Charles which he had seen in print in some collection, the very title of which he had forgotten. As no such letter is known to exist, this reference is of little weight. The only apparent support Clarendon's statement finds is from a memorandum written by Ormond for the Count Palatine of Neubiirg, in which he says that : " Besides the power the King hath in the navy and amongst the seamen, and in this particular fleet under Penn, where — besides the common soldiers and mariners — there are many principal officers who have served his Maj esty, and whose affections will dispose them to receive any orders from the King ; all which will appear as soon as His Majesty hath the liberty of ports to encourage the resort of his ships and seamen to his service ; which, whensoever he shall have, Cromwell will hardly adventure the setting forth of any great fleets, well knowing how ill- affected the seamen are to him." Memorandum, June ^\, 1655, Carte's Orig. Letters, ii. 54. It will be seen, however, that nothing is here said about Penn's personal fidelity to Charles, and that the ports to be opened are evidently not those on the English side of the Channel, but such as Dunkirk and Ostend, expected to be available on a breach between Spain and the Protector. If there was any expectation from the ' principal ofl&cers,' Lawson is likely to have been one of those referred to. ^ Thurloe to Pell, Nov. 24, Dec. i ; Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 83, 87 ; FEELING IN THE AKMY. 59 It is not likely that the punishment inflicted on chap. 1 XXXVI the colonels would, in itself, have affected the temper ^__.,__1- of a House which was hardly in sympathy with their , ^ ^"^ •^ -^ \ "^ The army demand for a free Parliament and unbounded liberty dissatisfied /^ro 1 It' with Par- of conscience. Onence was, however, taken when it liament. came to be understood that the chief officers of the army were opposed not merely to these exaggerated demands, but to the attempt of the Parliament to supersede the Instrument, which they regarded as their own work, in favour of Parliamentary government. " I think I may tell you," wrote an onlooker as early Nov. i6. 1 • T- T -n 1-1 Opinion as November 1 6, "this Parliament will end without of an doing anything considerable — at least anything that should look like opposition to the Lord Protector ; and the officers of the army are, by his wisdom, taken off their discontents, which only would have given life to what cross votes could have passed ; and now the breath some of the House spend in opposing his greatness is little regarded ; the people's expectation of receiving relief from taxes, and for bringing the army from 56,000^ to 30,000, which is but according to the Instrument, is insensibly worn away, and very few care when or how they end." ' The officers were not slow in giving voice to ^^°ggy^' their sentiments. On November 25 thirty or forty of officers. of them met at St. James's ; but though they ad- journed in the hope of a fuller gathering, they had already allowed it to be understood that they were prepared to ' live and die to maintain the govern- ment as it is now settled.' To Thurloe this devotion Newsletter, Dec. 2, intercepted letter, Dec. 21, ClarTce Papers, lii. 11, 15 ; The Case of Colonel Alured, E, 983, 25. ^ The number appears to have been above 57,000. See supra, p. 45, note 3. '^ Intercepted letter, Nov. 16, Thurloe MSS. xv. 173. 6o DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Nov. 29, A second to the unamended Instrument seemed hardly in place. " Possibly," he remarked, " they may be too severe upon that point, not being willing to part with a tittle of it." When the officers met again on the 29th they persisted in their resolution to live meeting, .and die, not only with his Highness, but with ' the /present Government,' or, in other words, to defend ' the Instrument against all opposers.^ Effect of In Parliament the intervention of the officers interven^-'^^ causcd the profouudest dissatisfactiou. "The army," *'*'"■ it was said, " has shown its wish to take part in the government, as if it had been a second House." ^ The ^ temper aroused by what was naturally considered as unwarrantable meddling could not fail to influence the deliberations of the House. Yet for the time Nov. 21. there was no definite rupture. On November 21, The assess- -i^ ' ment to be indccd, bcfore the first meeting of the officers, Par- reduced , *^ liament had resolved to reduce the monthly assess- ment from 90,000^. to 30,000/., but on the following day it referred the whole financial question to a Com- mittee, with a view to a more complete settlement.^ After this a Committee which had been appointed at an earlier stage to persuade the Protector to reduce the army ^ reported that, though he had expressed an opinion adverse to the course on which Parliament was bent, he had concluded by saying that he would not positively declare against the object it had in view ; upon which both sides had mutually agreed that fresh conferences should be held to discuss the matter further.® Accordingly, on December 6, after ^ Newsletters, Nov. 25, Nov. 30, ClarTce Papers, iii. 10 ; Thurloe to Pell, Nov. 24, Dec. i, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 83, 87. As Thurloe's remark was made on the day before the first meeting, the officers must have taken care to allow their opinion to be known individually. 2 Salvetti's Newsletter, Dec. ^ ; Add. MSS. 27,962 0, fol. 349- ^ C. J. vii. 387. * See supra, p. 45. ^ C. J. vii. 388 ; Burton, I. xcii. xciii. Nov. 22. A Com- mittee on finance. Nov. 23. A confer- ence with the Protector, THE TOLERATION QUESTION. 6 1 the officers' declaration was known, a debate on the chap. reduction of the army was adjourned on the express/ ^^' ground that an understanding between Protector and! ^"^54 Parhament was still to be expected.^ I The The removal of this question from immediate the arm°^' discussion made room for another of an equally burn- ^ •'°""^^ ' ing nature. On December 7, the day after the army Dec. 7. debate was adjourned, a vote that ' the true reformed an Esta- Protestant religion, as it is contained in the Holy church. Scriptures, . . . and no other, shall be asserted and maintained as the public profession of these nations,' ^ was without difficulty passed, the wording being somewhat more combative than that of the Instrument. On the 8'th, when the question of tolerating sectarian Dec. s. worship came up, difficulties began to arise. It is of the true that the House voted that the Protector should of sec- '"'^ have a negative voice to any Bill compelling attend- wSip. ance on the services of the Established Church, but it refused to allow him to exercise it in the case of Bills enjoining .attendance on religious ' duties in some public church or chapel, or at some other congregational and Christian meeting.' There was a warm discussion as to the assertion that such meetings must be ' approved by the magistrate ac- cording to law ' ; but though the Court party — in this case the party of toleration — was beaten in a division by 79 to 62, it was strong enough to reopen the question, and the words empowering the magistrate I to decide what congregations were to be suffered I to meet were ultimately expunged.^ Though it was ^^°'?~"' agreed that the consent of the Protector would be liberty . ^ T-x.TT . . CI ^°^ tender required to any Bill restrammg persons 01 tender con- consciences, unless they abused their liberty ' to the civil liberty of others or the disturbance of the ^ Burton, I. cviii. ^ C. J. vii. 397. ^ lb. vii. 398. 62 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP, public peace,' yet this offer was clogged by a XXXVI. proviso that Parliament alone should pass Bills ^654 for the restraint of atheism, blasphemy, damnable neresies, popery, prelacy, licentiousness and profane- ness. An attempt to except ' damnable heresies ' from the list was defeated by 91 to 69. On the nth, however, the Court party gained a victory, though by the barest possible majority, carrying by 85 to 84 a ! vote that the ' damnable heresies ' excluding from toleration should be particularly enumerated in the constitutional Act, instead of being left to the judgment of future Parliaments, and still less to the Dec. 12. judgment of individual magistrates.^ In this frame ftlinda-^ of mind the House politely waved aside a list of STeSion. twenty fundamentals,^ though these had been accepted by the Committee appointed to confer with the divines, who had contented themselves with repro- ducing the restrictive fundamentals which Owen, that light of the Independents — now fallen under the baleful influence of Cheynell — had attempted to press upon the Long Parliament in 1652. The Committee was, indeed, thanked for its services, but recommended to apply itself to the question of the fundamentals to be required not from tolerated congregations, but from the ministers who received public support within the limits of the Esta- blished Church.^ It was about this time that some of the members, discontented with the con- cessions made by the House, applied themselves to the common councillors of the City, supporting them in the preparation of a petition intended ' to ' c. J. vii. 399. 2 n ^ See Vol. ii. 31, and supra, p. 46. For the relation between Owen's fxindamentals of 1652 and so much as is known of those of 1654, see Shaw's jET-is^. of the . . . Church, during the Civil Wars, ii. 87. BAITING A SOCINIAN. 63 encouras^e Parliament in the settlino* of Church chap. government,' evidently in the old intolerant fashion. .1__^_1, " When," sighed Oliver, " shall we have men of a ^4 universal spirit ? Everyone desires to have liberty,"! petition. but none will give it." ^ Not unnaturally, what appeared in Parliament to be progress in the direction of toleration was, in the eyes of the military leaders, a mere reversion to the persecuting tyrannies of the past. About this time some of the officers presented a petition to the Pro- An army tector asking, amongst other things, ' that liberty of p®*^***'°- conscience be allowed, but not to papistry in public worship, that tithes be taken away,' and 'that a law be made for the righting persons wronged for liberty of conscience.' ^ The House had so much to gain hy\ its effect coming to terms with the Protector, in order to avert! House, this renewed interference of the army, that it becomes! easy to account for the recent votes without having! recourse to the supposition that the virtue of toleration * was more appreciated than before. Eepressed feeling is sure to seek an outlet, and Dec. 13. on the 13th the intolerant majority gave vent to its prisonelT' indio-nation in what misfht seem to be a safe direction by committing Biddle, the Socinian, to prison. For some time the House had been busy with his case, and his refusal to reply to such questions as " Whether Jesus Christ be God from everlasting to everlasting," ^ B. T. to ? Clarhe Papers, ii. Pref. xxxiv.-xxxvii. ; Carlyle, Speech IV. - This petition is given in an undated letter, which, as it mentions the sailing of Penn's second squadron, must have been written about Dec. 25, but is inserted in the ClarTce Papers (iii. 12-14) between other papers of the i6th and 19th. A despatch from Pauluzzi on the 12th {Venetian Transcripts, li.O.) speaks of a petition as having been already presented. Though the heads are not quite the same as those given in the Clarke letter, there is sufficient likeness to make it probable that the same petition is referred to. The undated paper may easily have been displaced by a few days. 64 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP, and " Whether God have a bodily shape," brousfht XXXVT • • ^ i. -' o . J. matters to a crisis.-^ The next step taken by Parha- ^ ^^ ment was Ukely to be attended by more serious Dec. 15. consequences. On the 15th the House reaffirmed /mentto ^^^ votes it had passed between the 9th and the nth, [enumerate to the eflfect that the consent of the Protector should / heresies. not be required to Bills in restraint of atheism, blasphemy, and damnable heresies, of which latter a list was to be drawn up by Parliament, if necessary without the Protector's consent.^ Such a resolution / [Was a distinct defiance of the army, and of Oliver hjmself. Approach--^ All policics ccutrc in finance, and though the mg expira- ^ t • o ^ it tion of the Qucstion of the reduction of the army had made no assess- ment" further progress, it could not possibly escape attention as soon as the expiration of the last assessment made it necessary to come to a decision on the public revenue and expenditure. For some time past a Committee had been occupied with ^he subject, and on November 29 a Bill granting /the assessment at the rate of 60,000/. a month, in the place of the 90,000/. at which it now stood, had been read a second time.^ For the Protector the reduction of the army involved in this change was a serious matter, and he took care to remind a deputa- tion of members that the present assessment would expire on December 25, and that if no fresh taxation were provided the soldiers would be forced to live at free quarter.^ It is probable that the irritation of ^ C. J. vii. 400 ; see Vol. ii. 27, 28. 2 C. J. vii. 401 ; see supra, pp. 61, 62. ^ lb. vii. 392. For a proposal to reduce it to 30,000?., see supra, p. 60. ■* " II . . . leur declara, que si Ton n'augmentoit les impositions, qu'il donneroit des quartiers aux troupes." Bordeaux to Brienne, Dec. ii, French Transcripts, B.O. So far as it goes, this setems to show that the Protector was still unwilling to put forth his claims under the EE VENUE AND EXPENDITUEE. 65 the House in consequence of the inroad of the army chap. into pohtics was the cause of a vote taken on the i6th, ,^_,_J. when it turned back from its former intention of 1654 eivin» the control of the army to the present Dec. 16. 2» f T n Ti 1 1 •• tH ■^ revenue Protector for ufe, and by the very large majority ofl voted tm 90 to 56 granted a revenue for the support of the after army and navy merely till forty days had passed meeting after the next meeting of Parliament.^ ^01^ "^ Having thus gained the upper hand — so far as its own resolutions could effect anything — the House sought to tighten its hold on the army still further by limiting the supplies without which the army could not be maintained. On December 1 8 the sub- Committee of Eevenue, which had for some time been active under the chairmanship of Colonel Birch, was directed to make its report to the Committee of the whole House. In the debate which preceded this order a member , 5®°' ^?", ^ ^ A financial — perhaps Birch himself — argued that ' if we keep debate. up our forces or our charge as high as now, when we have voted but 60,000/., we must needs expect a vast debt, and an impossibility to discharge it ; but for the proportion of 30,000 men it may well be that the 60,000/. per mensem may suffice ; and if that number be not enough, we can enlarge ^"^r^Xcg it when we fall on the consideration of the regular soldiers by militia.' ^ » miiitia. There was little doubt that the solution of the military problem conveyed in these words would prove acceptable to the Parliamentary majority. To. reduce the standing forces to 30,000 and to disband; the remaining 2 7,000, replacing them by a local militia,! which would fall under the power of the Puritan Instrument, which undoubtedly gave the Protector and Council power to levy money, at least for 30,000 men, without applying to Parliament ^ G. J. vii. 401. - Burton, I. cxx. VOL. III. F 66 DRIFTING ASUNDER. CHAP. XXXVI. 1654 Hesitation of the House. Dec. 20. Third reading of the Assess- ment Bill, Dec. 21. The Court party in the ascen- dant. country gentlemen who were preponderatingiy re- presented in the House, was exactly the remedy which would adapt itself to their interests and ideas. It was, perhaps, a suspicion of the danger into which the House was running that held it back from immediately acting on the suggestions now made. As if to show its conciliatory intentions, it voted at once that 200,000^. should be annually set aside for the expenses of the civil government not only during the lifetime of the present Protector, but in perpetuity.^ The Assessment Bill passed its third reading on the 20th.^ On the following day it was proposed to insert in this Bill a clause which had been added to the Constitutional Bill on November 23^ restricting in the terms of the Instrument the right of levying taxation to Parliament, but omitting the pro- viso of the Instrument which excepted the supplies needed for the administration of government and for the armed forces, an omission which in the case of the Constitutional Bill the House intended to supply by articles subsequently to be introduced. The Court party, apparently indignant at this attempt to settle a grave constitutional question in connection with a money grant, carried Parliament with it in refusing present consideration for the proviso by the considerable majority of 95 to 75, and the whole question of the assessment was then adjourned for eight days. Time would thus be allowed for the House to consider the question more fully. On December 23 the Court party gained another victory, carrying by 1 1 1 to 73 a resolution that the various clauses of the Constitutional Bill should be referred \ ^ C. J vii. 403. "^ lb. vii. 405. After the third reading additional clauses and provisoes might still be added. ^ C. J. vii. 388. THE KINGLY TITLE. 67 I once more to a Committee of the whole House/ chap. • • XXXVI I with the evident hope that they might persuade it .1 — , — '^ to adopt at least a modification of the portions ^ "^^ obnoxious to the Government. There is strong reason The con- . . • 1 -r» stitutional to believe that at this time neither rrotector nor Bin again Parliament despaired of an understanding.^ Some mittee. members, at least, hoped to find a different basis of settlement. As soon as the House went into Com- mittee Augustine Garland, himself a regicide, proposed Garland's that the royal title should be offered to the Protector.i X*iTng^^^ He was supported by Cooper and Henry CromwelljUgh^p^to^he but it is probable that most, if not all, of the soldiers vp^o*«'<^*o'^- in the House took part with the Parliamentarians l against the proposal. At all events the motion was withdrawn without a division.^ The motives of those who supported it must be left to conjecture, but it is 1 C. J. vii. 408. "^ " Hors la reduction des troupes d. trente mille hommes, conforme d rinstrument de rarmee, et celles des levees k proportion, il ne paroist rien qui puisse exciter sujet de querelle, si ce n'est la religion, qui a este reglee sans laisser pouvoir au Protecteur de rien changer ^ vingt articles que Ton a dressez." Bordeaux to Brienne, Dec. |§, French Transcripts, E.O. Bordeaux has not quite understood the involved vote of the 1 5th, but his general impression that the points of difference were not many deserves attention. Nieupoort states a few days later that ' den Heere Protecteur twee puncten in het Gouvernement gaerne verandert sagh, en dievolgens de eerste instellinge, by het Par - lement soude vast gesteld wesen : Het eerste is dat hy den Raedt soeckt vast to stellen sonder die limitatie, dat haere Commissie soude duuren tot den veertigsten dagh in het aenstaende Parlement : ende den tweeden dat de Electie van een Parlement ten tyde van syn overleden als dan wude ordonneren ; maer altyts absolutelyck aen den Eaedt werden gedefereert ; aen welcke twee puncten veele geloven, dat hy hem soo veel sal laeten gelegen wesen, dat hy niet sal toegeven ; eghter hoopen veele dat het nogh sal gevonden werden.' Nieupoort to De Witt, ^55:^, De "Witt's Brieven, iii. 8. The Jan. 8 two ambassadors do not agree as to the points in dispute, but both regard a compromise as possible. ^ "Walker's Newsletter, Dec. 28, Clarhe Papers, iii. 15. The exact date is given by Bordeaux. r 2 68 DRIFTING ASUNDEE. CHAP, probable that they hoped that with the prestio^e of the XXXVI. ' . . . bid title Oliver would be able to shake himself loose 1654 ffrom military influence, and would no longer be the object of those suspicions which had induced Parlia- ment to impose on his Government restrictions to which he was hardly likely to submit. In supporting such a scheme Cooper made his last effort to base the Constitution on an understanding with the Protector rather than on an absolute defiance of his wishes. 69 CHAPTEE XXXVII. A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. Whilst the tension between Parliament and army was chap. becoming every day more strained, information was --t \ J. brouo'lit to Thurloe which laid bare the existence of a ^ ^"^ Dec. 21. military plot far more dangerous than the constitutional Daiiing- effusions of the three colonels. A certain Dallino-ton formation. had been landed from the fleet with instructions to discover what support would be given in the country to the seamen's petition.^ One William Prior, who had been in the forefront of the Levelling movement in 1649, met him some three or four weeks later,'^ and — apparently judging from his employment that he was discontented with the Government — pro- duced from his pocket a declaration on behalf of a military several in the army that had resolved to stand to ^^°*' their first principles. Prior informed Dallington that this Declaration — which was, if not a copy of the petition of the three colonels, at least drawn up on the same lines ^ — was to be set up in every market- place. In January there would be meetings of the disaffected at various places, such as Marston Moor ' Prior to the Protector, Thurloe, iii. 146. I suppose that there can be no doubt that ' Oakley's Papers ' means the Seamen's petition. '^ For the time see Eyre's examination. lb. iii. 126. ^ The account given of it by Prior shows the similarity. It was to be printed and set up in every market-place. The petition of the three colonels M^as already printed. JO A SUMMAEY DISSOLUTION. and Salisbury Plain. Though the conspirators could not count with certainty on Hazlerigg, they expected ^^54 to be supported by Lord Grey of Groby, one of those who had refused to sign the Eecognition, as well as- by Saunders and Okey. Agents, moreover, had been sent to Ireland and Scotland, and they hoped that many of the soldiers in those countries would join the movement. For further information Prior referred Eyre's part DalHugton to Colouel Eyre, an officer who had been in t le p o . Qag]^igj,g(j {Yi 1 647 for liis attempt to stir up mutiny at Corkbush Field. ^ Eyre, however, received Dalhng- ton with suspicion, and, though he went so far as to say that ' he had fought for liberty, but had none, and that it was as good living in Turkey as here,' he showed no inclination to disclose his secrets to his Eyre cap- interrogator.^ Eyre himself made his way to Dublin, DubHn" where he was arrested and sent back a prisoner to England.^ Sept So far as the attempt to spread the movement SSannyTn ^^ ^^^ army iu Scotland was concerned, Dallington's Scotland, statement was confirmed by information received from another quarter. That army, indeed, had as a whole shown itself inclined to support the Govern- ment, and in September Monk was able to report that he could not hear of any voice being raised in it against the exclusion of the members who had refused Major- ^o take the Eecognition.'^ There was, however, one Overton. oflEicer holding a high command whose conduct ^ Great Civil War, iv. 22. "^ Dallington's examination, Thurloe, iii. 35. Prior afterwards said {ib. iii. 146) that he did not have the Declaration from Eyre, but from an unnamed ' black, fat man in Eyre's chamber.' ^ Herbert to Thurloe, Jan. 27. Eyre's examination, Jan. 27. Ih. iii. 124, 126. * Monk to the Protector, Sept. 28, Firth's Scotland and the Pro-^ lector ate, 192. OVERTON'S POSITION. was naturally regarded as open to suspicion, chap. Havinff done s'ood service in the reduction of Scot- -^. , * land, Major-General Overton had returned in 1653 to ^ 54 his post as Governor of Hull. He approved of the dissolution of the Long Parliament/ but felt scruples a as to the subsequent establishment of the Protecto- I rate. He had, however, no intention of taking part in a conspiracy, and he travelled to London in search of more active employment. Being admitted by the Protector to an audience, he engaged to inform him if at any time his conscience forbade him to render further service to him, adding that whenever he per- ceived that his Lordship ' did only design the setting up of himself, and not the good of those nations,' he * would not set one foot before the other to serve him.' "Thou^wert a knave if thou wouldst," was Oliver's frank rejoinder. On these terms Overton was sent back to Hull, and in the latter part of the summer was allowed to take over Morgan's command in the North Hereceives of Scotland,^ where he applied himself loyally and mScot- energetically to the task of winning over the discon- tented gentry.^ For all this Overton was in a thoroughly false He is in a ,., . .°*' , false posi- position, a position which was inevitably rendered tion. more difficult after the intervention of the Protector in Parliament on September 12. The times were not such that military could be divorced from civil obligation. Overton probably thought little of is dissatis- the fact that before leaving England he had held theGo- a conference with Wildman, at which they had con- firmed one another in their dislike of the political ^ More Hearts and Hands, E, 699, 7. ^ Overton to a friend, Jan. 27, Thurloe, iii. no. On his arrival in Scotland he used much the same language to Monk. Monk to the Protector, Sept. 28, Firth's Scotland and the Protectorate, 192. ^ Per/. Account, E, 818, 21. vernment. 72 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP, situation.^ With the exclusion of the members ___, — :. from the House his dissatisfaction seems to have ' 54 increased. He not only wrote to the London con- ^ Such jottings by a Minister as Thurloe's Notes on Wildman's plot (Thurloe, iii. 147) are of value only inferior to documentary evidence itself. Being put down on paper merely for his own use, and without a view to publication, they show at least what he believes to be true, not what he wishes to be thought to believe true. Unfortunately, these notes are in many places illegible, and in others were misread by the transcribers who prepared them for publication. Mr. Firth has sent me several corrections, and the more important part of the paper may be taken to run as follows, conjectural words or parts of words being added in brackets : — " That the first meeting was at Mr. Allen's house, a merchant in Birchen Lane, in the beginning of September, 1654. Okey, Alured, Saunders, Hacker, Wildman, Lawson. " Petition drawn by Wildman and. . . . after Bishop had it, and showed it to Bradshaw, " Meetings also were, at Blue Boar's Head, in King Street. In Wildman's house, Dolphin Tavern in Tower Street, Derby House. " Henry Marten, Lord Grey, Captain Bishop, Alexander Popham once, Anthony Pearson sometimes. " The men they built upon was Sir G. Booth, Bradshaw, Hazlerigg, G. Fenwick, Birch, Her[bert]Morley, Wilmers, Pyne, Scot, Allen. Pearson went like Hazle[rigg] &c. Bishop like Bradshaw, and their advices given by them. " At the same time a petition from the City, where Bradshaw advised in, and several met at his house, especially one Eyre, Sir Ar[thur] H[azlerigg], Scot, Col. Sankey, Weaver, directed both the bringing on and the manner of p[romoting] it. " Sankey at Bradshaw's often, where Bishop met him. " Overton and Wildman spoke together before Overton going of their dislike of things, but no design laid thereon, the [General] of the army of Scotland not let know. " But after he [went] he writ letters to let them know that there was a party that would stand right for a Commonwealth. Then Br[ayman] sent to them. "And a meeting of officers at Overton's quarters; Gates much trusted and drew most of their papers. " The regiments that they relied on : Rich's, Tomlinson's, Okey's, Pride's, Stirling Castle, Alured's, Overton's, some of the General's regiment. " Begin with a mutiny, and then his person seized and put in Edinburgh Castle, which they were sure of, forced Overton to com- mand. He writ up hither and then declaration ready, which was OVERTON'S CONDUCT. y^ spirators, from whom the petition of the three chap. • XXXVTT colonels had proceeded, that there was in Scotland - — ^_J. ' a party that would stand right for a Commonwealth,' ^^^ but he allowed disaffected officers to meet in his Dabbles in quarters without breathing to Monk a syllable of ^^^^P'^^^^y- what was going on under his patronage. After his letter had been received a Lieutenant Brayman ^ was despatched to Scotland to keep the agitation on foot. On December 1 8 the discontented officers met at Dec. is. Aberdeen and drew up a circular convening a meet- at Aber- ing at Edinburgh on New Year's Day, with the inten- /ge^itio^g tion, as they said, of considering whether they ' ought ^'Jg"^^'^^ to sit down satisfied in the present state of affairs, and with a good conscience look the King of Terrors in the face,' the Most High God having called them forth ' to assert the freedoms of the people in the privileges of Parliament.' ^ Samuel Gates, ^ the chaplain of Pride's regiment, who was one of the signatories of the circular, asserted that nothing had been done without Gverton's privity and consent ; whilst he also explained that no more was intended to be done than to offer a humble petition to the Protector and Parliament, and that only if Monk's leave had been previously obtained.'* Gverton, at all drawn by the meeting here, and sent by Br[ayman]. . . . and printed here. Spoke as if they should have Berwick. " Sure of Hull by Overton's means and the townsmen, and Overton's correspondence. Leicestershire, Grey and Capt.Baliard. Bed[fordshire] Okey and Whitehead, and great dependence on Hacker, who at last declared, if any fighting for a Parliament, not meddle against them." The remainder is concerned with movements in England. It is much in favour of Thurloe's intention to be fair that he twice in the course of these notes exonerates Overton from the worst charges. ^ He and Prior were amongst the first agitators in 1647, Clarhe Papers, i. 79, note. - Circular by Hed worth and others, Dec. 18, Tliurloe, iii. 29. * Father of the notorious Titus. ^ " I have done nothing of action without his privity and concession, 74 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP. XXXVII. 1654 Monk learns what is going on. Dec. 19. Monk sends for Overton. 1655- Jan. 4 Overton sent to London. events, contented himself with sending to those engaged in it a warning ' to do everything in God's way,' and to ' acquaint the General herewith, and to do nothing without his consent ' ; ^ though he himself did not think fit to put pen to paper on the subject in any communication with Monk.^ Monk, who only learnt the truth from one of his own officers^ to whom the circular had been sent, was hardly likely to take a lenient view of the case, and at once directed his secretary, Clarke, to invite Overton's presence at his own headquarters at Dalkeith, Clarke, who apparently intended to apply to the General for a signed order, neglected either to obtain it or to enclose it, and Overton took advantage of this forgetfulness to refuse to leave his post on a mere informal hint from Clarke. On this Monk at once ordered the arrest of the Major- General and shipped him oflf for England.* It is probable that before Monk sent Overton on board he had received from London a copy of Dallington's information, and it did not require a tithe of his sagacity to connect the proposed meet- ing at Edinburgh on January i with Dallington's statement that troops were to enter England from nor of evil by that. . . . We intended nothing but what was conso- nant to the ground and end of our wars and the honest declara- tions we have made and concluded. In fine to offer our service in this matter in a humble petition to the Protector and Parliament by the leave of General Monk, or to lay down and come peaceably home in case he would not have given us leave." Gates to — ? Thurloe, iii. 241. ^ Overton to a friend, Jan. 17, ib. iii. no. ^ Monk to the Protector, Jan. 16 ; Bramston's examination, Jan. 22, Firth's Scotland and the Protectorate, 238, 241. ■* Major Holms. ■* Overton to Monk, Dec. 25 ; Monk to the Protector, Dec. 30, Jan. 4 ; Overton to a friend, Jan. 27, Thurloe, iii. 46, 55, 76, no. OVERTON'S IMPEISONMENT. 75 Scotland to the support of the conspirators in the chap. XXXVTI course of the same month. By that time, too/ Monk — , — : had received from one of his officers information ^ ^5 that he had received proposals to take part in a Discovery design for seizing on the person of the Commander- ^ sdze^'^ in-Chief; after which Overton was to have been JJ^end"*^ placed in command of 3,000 foot, with an appropriate JJ[n''t\°e*^ number of horse, that he might march into England, f^^}^^^ where he would be joined by considerable forces spirators. brought to him by Bradshaw and Hazlerigg. Lawson, whose name is constantly appearing in connection with plots of this nature, was said to be engaged in the design.^ As the list of the officers expected to take part in it included the names of Pride and Wilks, devoted adherents of the Protector, it may be taken that the other pieces of information obtained from the same source represent rather the sanguine expectations of a conspirator than the evidence of a trustworthy witness. Thurloe, at least, whilst believing the project to have been really entertained, thought that Overton would have needed to be forced to take the part assigned to him.^ It was this possibility which made Overton really dangerous. An efficient soldier, so infirm of purpose as to be the plaything of conspirators with whose general objects he sym- pathised, was scarcely the man to be left at large by a Government which counted those objects disastrous to the national welfare. On the day of his arrival^ Overton was committed to the Tower, ^ Jan. 16. -, ■, . -. . -, He is com- and he remamed a prisoner there and elsewhere mittedto for more than five years. Possibly the Protector ^ The information- is referred to in a letter from Edinburgh of Jan. 4, Merc. Pol, E, 825, 4. '^ A letter of information, Thurloe, iii. 185. ' See supra, p. 72, note. * The Weekly Intelligencer, E, 826, 2. 76 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP. XXXVII. 1655 Feb. His sup- porters cashiered. 1654. Dec. Royalist move- ments. Dec. 20-25. The Tower garrison strength- ened. Transport of powder by Eoyalists. was not so ready as Thurloe to give him the benefit of the doubt ; and it must be acknowledged that, if Overton was no more than fooUsh, his folly was of that kind which borders closely on crime. His followers or supporters — whichever the}'^ are to be called — were brought before a court-martial in Scot- land and cashiered.^ With the stamping out of the military conspiracy in Scotland the danger from the Levellers and Parliamentarians in the army was by no means at an end, especially if they should succeed in making common cause with the English Eoyalists. Much as the two parties differed from one another, they both agreed in crying out for a free Parliament, and, at all events, the information which reached the Govern- ment as to movements among the Levellers was accompanied by information as to movements among the Eoyalists as well. On December 20, partly, perhaps, as a hint to Parliament, but partly, no doubt, to avert an actual danger, the Tower garrison was raised to 900, and on the 25 th it was still further raised to 1,200.^ Before long cannon were planted in front of Whitehall,^ whilst every care was taken to secure the devotion of the soldiery which patrolled the streets by prompt payment of their w^ages.^ Towards the end of the month suspicions had been aroused by the transport of powder from London into the country.^ Inquiry into gun-shops showed that orders for muskets and pistols had been ^ Merc. Pol., E, 829, 16 ; Monk to the Protector, Feb. 17, 20, 27, Firth's Scotland and the Protectorate, 251-253. ^ Warrants to Barkstead, Dec. 20, 25, Thurloe, iii. 56, 57. ^ Pauluzzi to Morosini, Jan. j;''g, Venetian Transcripts, B.O', Clarice Papers, iii. 16. * Bordeaux to Mazarin, j^°"^^, French Transcripts, B.O. ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, f~^, ih. MILITARY PRECAUTIONS. "]"] freely executed of late. On the last day of the year chap. XXXVII directions were given for the arrest of Sir Henry . — '- Littleton, Hiii'h Sheriff of Worcestershire, and of Sir _ ' ~ ' Dec. 31. John Packino'ton, both of them beine- chars^ed with orders for ^ ' o t> ^ the arrest receiving cases of arms.^ A few days later Major of those Norwood, Eowland Thomas, and a merchant named ^6,5 Custice were imprisoned as having been cognisant f^^-ests of this secret traffic, and Walter Vernon, to whose ™^'^*'- house at Stokeley Park a consignment had been traced, was brought up to London, together with his kinsman, Edward Vernon. Their arrest was followed by that of Nicholas Bagenal, an Angiesea landowner, who acknowledged having received from a Carnarvon- shire gentleman named Bayly a commission to raise a regiment of horse ; whilst Bayly confessed to having another commission to raise a regiment of foot ; both Commissions being traced to Colonel Stephens, one of Charles's most trusted agents.^ If any expectation was entertained by the 1654 Government that the discovery of these dangers Temper of would moderate the resolution of the House, that * ^ i^^^u^e. expectation was disappointed. It is possible that the increase of the Tower garrison on December 20 and 25 was taken by the House as a challenge. Parliament on December 28 made an understanding almost impossible by resolving that Bills should 23ass without the consent of the Protector ; ' except in such matters wherein the single person is hereby declared to have a negative.' By this vote the House threw over I the compromise accepted on November 15,^ by which I / the concurrent action of Protector and Parliament was \ ^ Hope to Thurloe, Jan. 5, Tlmrloc, iii. 76. Numerous other papers relating to the charge of moving arms and powder are to be found in the same vohime. 2 Merc. Pol., E, 823, 5 ; Thurloe, iii. 125, 127. ^ See siqjra, p. 45. 78 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP. XXXVII. 1654 1655 Jan. I. required in the selection of subjects on which no laws could pass without the assent of the former. The House, which had already grasped at the control of the Executive by subjecting the members of the ( Council to rejection by itself at the commencement of each Parliament, now resolved to determine at its own ^pleasure what were points on which it would allow the ^iProtector to throw constitutional impediments in the way of hasty legislation. On another point not, indeed, directly aimed Pariiament affalust thc svstcm of the Protectorate, but yet declares ... . . against the oue iu which the views of the principal officers were chile.^^" opposed to those of the House, Parliament was no less resolute. On November 27 it had restored the county franchise to the forty-shilling freeholders, whilst leaving it to the new voters who, not being freeholders, were possessed of real or personal property to the value of 200I} On January i it J abolished the new qualification, leaving the old forty- shilling freeholders in unrivalled possession.^ An attempt to give the vote to 10/. copyholders was lost by 65 to 51 ; another attempt to give it to 20/. copy- holders was lost only by the casting vote of the Speaker. That Lenthall's voice should be given against the innovation may perhaps be accounted for by legal conservatism, but the rejection of the 200/. voters must surely have been based on wider grounds. Its origin may, at least conjecturally, be traced to the jealousy of town-made fortunes in an assembly mainly consisting of landed proprietors.^ - As the current rate of interest was 8 per cent., personal property of 200/. represented — at least if held in cash — an income of 1 6/. 2 C. J. vii. 391, 392, 410, 411. ^ This view is supported by a vote taken on Nov. 27 that no 200/. voter should give his voice in a county election unless he had also a forty shilling freehold in the county. lb. vii. 392. VOTES ON THE FRANCHISE. 79 |At all events, the vote was a defiance to the army, I chap. • I XXXVTI . • XXXVII Oliver in repudiating all desire of placing the control ~,-^ of the army in the hands of the Protector. He had ^ 55 repeatedly declared his view to be that it should in some way be shared between Protector and Parliament. Yet, excellent as his intentions were, he had never been able, and, we may safely say, never would have been \ able, to design any form of words which would carry \ them out in practice. By the very nature of things i* no laws can provide that an armed force shall be under the control of two constitutional bodies, so long as they are striving for the mastery. The device ' of accepting the orders of the king, signified by both Houses of Parliament, had not prevented the forces under Essex from being a purely Parliamentary army. Nor was it, in later and happier times, the mere wording of the Mutiny Act which prevented the army of the eighteenth century from deciding civil conflicts with the sword. Two reasons have com- bined to render our modern army innocuous to liberty. In the first place, since the Eevolution of \ 1688 our civil quarrels have never been sufficiently' embittered to make our political parties desire an appeal to the arbitrament of the sword. In the second place, the army itself has been too homo- i geneous with the nation to have formed the wish to| impose upon it a system of government other than' that before which the nation itself willingly bowed. It was because both these conditions were want- ing to the Protectorate that the task of healing and settlino', to which Oliver from time to time so Jl wistfully referred, was hopeless from the beginning. There is no reason to suppose that Oliver grasped {^tt^/i^ the whole of the insuperable problem. What was ^•i'^^- immediately before him he saw, and, seeing it, he 94 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP, prepared with a sad heart to face the inevitable XXXVII. conflict. " Truly," he wrote in answer to some friendly 1655 lines addressed to him by Colonel Wilks, " it was to me very seasonable, because, if I mistake not, my exercise of that little faith and patience I have was never greater ; and, were it not that I know Whom I have believed, the comforts of all my friends would not support me, no, not one day. I can say this further to you, that if I looked for anj^thing of help from men, or yet of kindness, it would be from such as fear the Lord, for whom I have been ready to lay down my life, and I hope still am, but I have not a few wounds from them ; nor are they, indeed, in [ this sad dispensation they are under — being divided / in opinion and too much in affection ready to fall I foulupon one another, whilst the enemy, to be sure, unite to good purpose to their common destruction — in a capacity to receive much good or to minister good one to another, through want of communion in love ; so that whosoever labours to walk with an even foot between the several interests of the people of God for healing and accommodating their differences is sure to have reproaches and anger from some of all sorts. And truly this is much of my portion at the present, so unwilling are men to be healed and atoned ; and although it be thus with me, yet the Lord will not let it be always so. If I have inno- cence and integrity, the Lord hath mercy and truth, and will own it. If in these things I have made myself my aim, and desired to bring affairs to this issue for myself,^ the Lord is engaged to disown me, but if the work be the Lord's, and that they are His purposes which He hath purposed in His own ^ Perhaps he was thinking of Overton's language to him at their parting. OLIVER'S POINT OF VIEW. 95 wisdom, He will make His own counsels stand ; chap. and therefore let men take heed lest they be found .:__, ; fighters against Him, especially His own people." ' ^5 *' The Cavalier party," he continued, " is so encour- aged that they do account this spirit, principle and motions of these men as the likeliest way to bring them into their former interest that ever yet they had ; and of this we have a very full discovery." ^ Obviously Oliver had failed to discern that this insuffi- , . , . ciency of extraordniary phenomenon was to be explamed not its reason- by the sinfulness of mankind, but by a common '°^' detestation of a Government based on the power of the sword. In any case his patience was rapidly becoming exhausted. When January 22 l^rought Jan. 22. to an end the five lunar months by which he had months at decided to measure the span *• of the duration of '^'^^"'^" Parliament, he once more summoned the members before him in the Painted Chaml^er. His failure to grasp the situation as a whole renders the speech The Pro- which he then delivered far less interesting than the speech, one which he had addressed to the same House on September 12. Announcing his belief that the Pro- | tectorate was the outcome of the dispensations of I God, he declared it to have been his hope that, after the signature of the Eecognition, they would have left the Instrument as they found it, and have betaken themselves to useful legislation. Then he proceeded to complain as to the ignorance in which he had been left as to the proceedings of the House: " I do not know," he said, " whether you have been alive or dead. ^ The Protector to Wilks, Clarhe Papers, ii. 239. The letter is undated, but Mr. Firth informs me that 'from its position amongst the other letters it should be dated between 14 and 18 January.' Internal evidence points in the same direction. A breach is looked forward to as certain, but, if it had actually taken place there could hardly fail to have been some indication of the fact in the letter. 96 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP. I have not once heard from you all this time — I have ^ — , — I not, and that you all know." ^ 55 . From the refusal of Parliament to discuss the terms of the Bill with himself Oliver passed to the conspiracies which had sprung up during the session, the blame of which he threw entirely on the mem- bers. " Dissettlement and division," he told his hearers, " discontent and dissatisfaction— together with real dangers to the whole — have been more multiplied within these five months of your sitting than in some years before ! Foundations have also been laid for the future renewing of the troubles of these nations by all the enemies of them abroad and at home. ... I say the enemies of the peace of these nations abroad and at home — the discontented humours of these nations, which I think no man will grudge to call by that name of briars and thorns — they have nourished themselves under your shadow." " I say unto you," he continued later on, " whilst you have been in the midst of these transactions that party, that Cavalier party . . . have been designing and preparing to put this nation in blood again. . . . They have been making great preparations of arms and, I do believe, it will be made evident to you that they have raked out many thousands of arms, even all that this city could afford, for divers months now past. . . . Banks of money have been framing for these and other such-like uses ; letters have been issued with Privy Seal to as great persons as most are in the nation for the advance of moneys, which ^ This complaint was not strictly true, as he had received informa- tion from a Committee about the reduction of the army and other matters ; but the Protector seems to have been exclusively thinking about the refusal to enter into a discussion with him on the Constitu- tional Bill. A PROTEST FROM OLIVER. 97 liave been discovered to us ])y tlie persons themselves ; chap. <'onnni5)!H^ns for reii'lnients of horse and foot, and ^".^_J. command of castles, have been like35fi«^'^given from ^'^^^ Charles Stuart since your sitting, and what the general insolencies of that party have been the honest people have been sensible of, and can very welL testify." Such evil consequences, continued Oliver, had tlieir root in Parliament itself. " What," he argued, " if I am able to make it appear in fact that some amongst you have run into the City of London / to persuade to petitions and addresses to you for | reversing your own votes that you have passed.^ . . . And whether debauching the army of England. ... and starving it, and putting it upon free quarter, and occasioning and necessitating the greatest part there- of in Scotland to march into Eno-land, leavinix the remahider thereof to have their throats cut there, and kindling by the rest a fire in our own bosoms, were lor the advantage of our affairs here, let the world judge."" Then, adverting to the little care of tlie j House- to give 'just liberty to godly juen of different ^ ^ As might be expected, we have to depend on the Protector's own word for many of the charges he makes. It is, therefore, worth noting that the statement above would have been inexpHcable but for the notice of a city petition for settling the Church, contained in one of the unpublished papers amongst the Tliiirloe MSS. printed by Mr. Firth. See supra, pp. 62, 63. - This seems to point to a connection in Oliver's mind between tlie want of pay in the army in Scotland and the scheme of sending 3,000 men under Overton into England. With respect to the delay of voting supplies, the fact cannot be denied. The further questio)i, whether Parliament held back supplies to assure the confirmation of its constiiiitional Bill, nmst be answered by those who have read the narrative above. For my own part, I believe that they intended to vote no supplies till their Bill had been accepted, and also that every member of the House was perfectly aware that tlie consequence j woiild be -not surrender, but dissolution. VOL. III. H 98 A SUMMAEY DISSOLUTION. CHAP, judgments,' Oliver protested that he had no desh^e xxxviL ^^ protect ' profane persons, blasphemers, such as 1655 preach sedition, the contentious railers, evil speakers,. . . . persons of loose conversation.' Next, in the midst of an elaborate defence of the I- Instrument, he put his finger on the real ground of t offence. " Although," he declared, " for the present the keeping up and having in his power the militia ^ seems the most hard, yet, if it should be yielded up at such a time as this, when there is as much need to keep this cause by it — which is evidently at this time impugned by all the enemies of it — as there was to get it, what would become of all ? Or if it should not be equally placed in him and the Parliament, but yielded up at any time,^ it determines the power either for doing the good he ought, or hindering Parliaments from perpetuating themselves, or from imposing what religion they please on the consciences of men or what government they please upon the nation, thereby subjecting us to dissettlement in every Parliament, and to the desperate consequences thereof ; and if the nation shall happen to fall into a blessed peace, how easily and certainly will their charge be taken off, and their forces disbanded; and then where will the danger be to have the militia thus stated ? " It needs no further reading of the speech to understand why Oliver concluded with the words : — " I think myself bound, as in my duty to God, and to the people of these nations, for their safety and good in every respect, — I think it ^ In this case ' militia ' means the whole of the armed forces. Some confusion is caused by the word being sometimes employed in this sense, and sometimes being applied only to the local forces, as dis- tinct from the standing army. - lleferring to the determination of the grant of 700,000/, at the end of five years. THE END OF THE PAELIAMENT. 99 my duty to tell you that it is not for the profit of/ chap XXXVII. 1655 The Dis- solution. these nations, nor for common and public good, for you to continue here any longer, and therefore I do declare unto you that I do dissolve this Parliament." ^ Was there, then, no place for repentance, or was ^^^^ ^.^^j. it possible that a few words of mutual explanation oithe ^^ ^ ... misunder- might have cleared the air ? Such questionings, in standing. truth, spring but from an idle fancy. It was no variance on details that separated Protector and Parliament. The disruption did not even spring from the claim of either party to the dispute to wield the sword for its own benefit. It arose rather from the resolution of both sides that the sword should not fall into the adverse possession of the other. On each side — on the Protector's as well as on the' Parliament's — there was a statesmanlike perception of a danger to the Constitution from the victory of the other. Nor was the dispute one between military government and constitutional government. Army; and Parliament were at one in desiring that the , government should be constitutional, and not military. Dependent as he was on the army for support, Oliver carried the army with him in his constitutional views, and did not fall a victim to its insistence. Lambert was, no doubt, more ready than the Protector to draw a hard-and-fast line against the encroachments of Parliament, but in the main position assumed by the two men there was no difference between them. Nor can it be said that the quarrel was one to The l)e appeased by the exercise of greater wisdom and SlptiWe moderation on either side. Just as the strife between men'il^^*^^' the King and Parliament in 1642 was not susceptible ^ His Highnesses Speech, E, 826, 22 ; also in Carlyle, Speech IV., with alterations. The Parliamentary Constitution is printed as a whole in Constitutional Documents. h2 lOO A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP, of arbitration till time and circumstances had spread "Ll-^^J- abroad the perception of the virtue of toleration, so, ^^55 too, the strife between the Protector and Parliament in 1655 was not susceptible of arbitration till time and circumstances had spread abroad the perception jj that adoption or acceptance by the nation itself is I the only lasting test of the value of constitutional checks. The claim of the House to sovereignty expressed in terms of finance rested on the totally false assumption that it could justly qualify itself as 'the people assembled in Parliament.'^ What Oliver, on the other hand, demanded was to hold posterity in mortmain. Special ^DOwers for a special crisis Parliament was willing to grant, and the extent of these might have been settled without difficulty at a friendly conference. Oliver, with a strong man's pertinacity, was resolved to ^1 raise barriers against the encroachments of Parlia- ment not only for his own lifetime, but during that of his successors. Never till death put an end to his strivings did he relinquish that ground. ?^ ro7tu° ^^ speak of Oliver as an opportunist changing his "'«*• political attitude from year to year, if not from day to day, is to misjudge his character. In truth he was the heir and successor of Strafford — like Strafford throwing himself open to the charge of apostasy, and like Strafford shifting his instruments and his political combinations for the sake of the people, whom he aimed at governing for their best advantage. To him kingship, or Parliamentary authority, or the very Protectorate itself, were all one, if tliev conduced to that blessed end. That democracy would conduce to it was beyond the pale not only of Oliver's concep- tions, but outside the refflon of thought of every * See p. 90. OLlYEirS POSITION. lOI politician of the day, with the _exception_ of the^l chap. Levellers. Always it had been authority which he !_, '. sought to found — it had been, during his past career, ^^55 but a secondary question in whose hands authority should be placed. That was to be determined by the disqualifications of existing claimants rather than by the ideal excellence of the one to whom he had for the moment attached himself. The faults of the King threw him on the side of Parliament ; the faults of Parliament drove him to seek a solution of political difficulties in a violent dissolution. In erecting the Nominated Parliament he had been actuated mainly by his distrust of an assembly which threatened to per- petuate^ itself ; his experience of the conduct of the "TNiominees opened his eyes more widely than before to the fact that an uncontrolled House might be dangerous even if its duration were limited in point of time. Henceforth, indifferent as he was, and con- tinued to be, to constitutional details, he had made up his mind that good government — the first object of which was to protect religious minorities willing to submit to the existing authority in the State — was inconsistent with Parliamentary omnipotence. Unfortunately, to check the Parliamentary assump- oHver ana . „ . "^ ... • f. 1 William tion oi omnipotence, save by the intervention oi the in. sword, was beyond Oliver's power, ^trong as was J his desire to defend the Protectorate by laws rather / than by "arms, "military despotism was thrust upon/ him. It could not well^be otherwise, unless he were "prepared to acknowledge the sovereignty of the nation over Protector and Parliament alike, and to allow the nation, if it so pleased, to plant its heel on the newly won liberties of ' the p eople of God. To choose this path would be to anticipate the policy 102 A SUMMARY DISSOLUTION. CHAP. XXXVII. 1655 The Eoyal title. of William III., and it would be unreasonable to expect the child of a military revolution to be able to adopt a course which proved comparatively easy to a crowned king, placed on the throne by the call of a wronged and indignant nation. Some inkling of this had been at the bottom of Garland's proposal to confer the title of king upon Oliver under the new Constitution. That a mere change of name would have effected the purpose desired is most improbable. There is nothing to work miracles in the adoption of a style which has been appropriately used by others. What the nation sought restlessly for was such a recurrence to old use and wont as might enable it to consider reforms on their own merits, without the Irisk of being dashed violently out of its course by unsuspected currents. Oliver had destroyed, so far as acts can destroy, the superstition of a monarchy unaccountable for its deeds. He was not, nor could he be, in a position to build up the frame of the monarchy of the future — the monarchy strong in influence, because reflective of the mind and will of ithe nation as a whole. lO- CHAPTEE XXXYIII. A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. Oliver lost no time in announcing to the world l^y chap. / actions rather than by words that, if his Govern- ^H^S ment was not to be Parliamentary, it was to be — at ^^55 least within the limits of practical politics — constitu- tempt at tional. The very postponement of the dissolution tronai " till the lapse of five months — lunar months though nS" they were — showed this to be his aim ; and his posi- tion was made still more clear when, on February 8, Feb. s. , he announced that the assessment would thence- ilient^^'^*^''^' forward be levied at the reduced rate which had been ^<'^^®^®^- accepted by Parliament, that is to say, at 60,000/. a month from England, in lieu of the 90,000/. which had hitherto been received, and at 10,000/. a-piece from Scotland and Ireland.^ To the same resolution must be attributed — what was at least a verbal homage to the Instrument — his abstention from issuing Oliver notifications of his will under the title of ordinances, from' thus avoiding the appearance of an assumption of OTdin"ances. / legislative power to which he had no further claim after the day on which his first Parliament met.- / The reduction of the assessment was the more ^ Order for the Assessment, Feb. 8, E, 1064, No. 47. - " His Highness, by not making it an ordinance, hath modestly denied to assume the legislature of the nation ; though satisfied by many able judges and lawyers he may legally do it." — ? to Clarke, Feb. 13, Clarhe Papers, iii. 22. \ I04 A MOTLEY OPPOSITIOX. CHAP, i^emarkable as, whilst showing- a deference, not ^: \ '. indeed to the Instrument, but to a mere resolution 1655 / of the dissolved Parliament, the Government thereby financial becauie involved in a hopeless deficit, unless both situation. -, i i n 1 i ,^ army and navy were reduced tar below the require- ments of the time. It was not in the power of any man forthwith to recall Blake from the Mediterranean or Penn from the Indies, whither he had already sailed in December. Yet it was impossible to mahi- tain their two fleets without an annual expenditure of at least 461,000/.,^ not a penny of which could be derived from any existing source of revenue. Nor was it possible, so long as the country was- / seething with sedition, suddenly to bring down the numbers of the army from 57,000 to 30,000. Yet, if none of- these things were done, a deficit of 721,000/. was the lowest that would have to be faced. ^ All that for the present could be accom- plished was, whilst meeting declared opposition with firmness and decision, to disarm, by wise and just ad- , ministration, the unpopularity which lay beneath the surface. In such a process it was hardly likely that / the Protector could always keep within the limits of constitu- the law. He himself could hardly expect more than to avoid breaking out from those limits in cases where the observance of the law did not clash with his self-imposed duty of maintaining that Instrument of Government which he had bound himself to defend. Yet even those who accept this explanation of the ^ According to an estimate made on Oct. 3, 1654, the expense of Blake's fleet would be 19,170?., and that of Penn's 19,260?., for a lunar month. Carte MSS. Ixxiv. fol. 32. The annual expense of the two fleets would, therefore, be 461,160?. This estimate must be exclusive of the money already paid for stores and equipment. See supra, p. B>2„ note 3. - Deducting 360,000?. for the remission on the assessment from the estimate given at p. 82, note i, we have a revenue of i ,890,000?, to meet an estimated expenditure of 2,611,532?., entailing a deficit of 721,532?. A CONSTITUTIONAL AIM. 105 Protector's conduct as satisfactory can hardly deny chap. • " • •/ •- XXXVIII that his action was fraught with periL It was of the J — . : necessity of the case that the determination of the ' ^^ points on which the Constitution could only be defended by breaking the law should rest with the executiye body — the Protector and Council — and not with the judges, if only because judges could not be trusted to adyise the breach of the law in any case whateyer. The position, therefore, was one temporarily defensible, at least from a political point of yiew, but it was one that would tend to prolong itself beyond the time during which it could be defended. It is certain that Oliyer, aboye all men, would haye welcomed the day when he could return to the fields of strict legality ; but, unhappily for the cause which he had so much at heart, he was likely to discoyer in practice the extreme difficulty of stiffening once more the legal rule which he had made flexible, eyen for the highest purposes. Next to carrying conyiction to the people at Question large that he had no purpose of increasing taxation, extent of p ... . . . . Ill toleration. or eyen 01 mamtammg it at its existing leyel, the Protector had most to gain by conyincing them, so far as it was possible without violating his own ^ principle of religious liberty, that he had no intention of casting his shield over those exorbitances of fanatical religion which had driven even men like Owen to urge that the time had come to narrow the limits of toleration. FoUowimy out the an- nouncement made in his last speech, that he had no desire to protect extremists,^ he now, though making no attempt to enumerate ' damnable heresies,' left Theauro-John and Biddle to the Cases of Theauro- Gourt of Upper Bench, with the result that they John and ^ ^ "^ Biddle, ^ See supra, p. 98. io6 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 and of the ' Quakers ' They disturb congrega- tions. were both admitted to bail and ultimately restored to liberty.^ Nor did the Government interfere to decide the knotty point whether the so-styled ' Quakers ' — and it must be remembered that the appellation was in those days conferred on many who were only loosely connected, or not connected at all, with the Society of Friends ^ — were guilty of blasphemy or not. That the popular view was against these enthusiasts is, to some extent, shown by the fact that justices of the peace almost invariably held them to be blasphemers, whilst the judges of the higher courts sometimes lent a favour- able ear to their protestations.^ Nor could there be much interference with the due process of law in favour of men who spoke rudely to magistrates and kept on their hats in the presence of those before whom it was customary to remove them ; still less when a more than usually unrestrained fanatic stripped himself to the skin, and walked about Smithfield in defiance of common decency.'* On one point especially Oliver's intervention was urgently demanded. Not only did the ' Quakers ' scandalise the clergy by refusing, as Baxter put it, to ' have the Scriptures called the word of God,' but ^ Merc. Pol., E, 826, 23 ; Several Proceedings, E, 479, 24. 2 The list of doctrines ascribed to the ' Quakers ' by Bunyan, in his (?ra.C(3^6o?^7uZM!_i7,wonldshowthis, even if there were not other evidence. •' Chief Baron Wilde, for instance, refused to accept a verdict of guilty against a ' Quaker ' under the Blasphemy Act. Truth's Testimony, E, 829, 8. * The Faithful Scout, E, 481, 17. The story is told also by Nieupoort {Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 40), as one of which he was credibly informed. A leading member of the Society, Richard Earn- worth, in a pamphlet written in February on a very different subject, added before its issue on March i a postscript in defence of any person caused by the Lord to go naked as a sign, which he would hardly have done unless such a case had actually occurred. The Pure Lamjuaye, E, 829, 5. Protector resolves to enforce the law. A ^"OBLE PROCLAMATION. 107 tliey railed at ministers ' as hirelings, deceivers, and chap. false prophets,' bursting into congregations, and '.^__, — : directing against the occupant of the pulpit sucli ' 55 exclamations as " Come down, thou deceiver, thou hireling, thou dog ! " ^ After this it was a little thing that they proceeded to argue with the preacher or criticised his right to occupy the position he filled. By the magistrates such acts were qualified as brawl- ing, whilst they were defended by the intruders them- selves as asserting the right of all religious persons to contribute to the edification of the assemblage. The The Protector was within his rights in announcing his intention of enforcing the law as it was interpreted by legal authority, but it was not in his nature to touch even the apparent fringe of religious liberty without placing on record his conviction that reli- gious liberty itself, so far as he understood it, was in no danger in his hands. Accordingly, on February 15 a proclamation appeared which may justly be regarded as the ^charter of religious freedom under the Protectorate. "It having pleased the Lord," it characteristically began, "by the manifest mercies and deliverances which He hath wrought in and for these nations of late years, and the blessings wherewith He hath blessed the endeavours of- the good people thereof, in making them successful against His and their enemies, to crown us with this, as not the least token of His favour and goodwill to us, that there is a free and uninterrupted passage of the Gospel running through the midst of us, and liberty for all to hold forth and profess with sobriety their light and know- ledge therein, accordinj? as the Lord in His rich grace and wisdom hath dispensed to every man, and ^ lieliquice Baxteriance, "jj, 116. Feb. 15. A pro- clamation on religious liberty, io8 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. and against disturbing congrega- tions. with the same freedom to practise and exercise the faith of the Grospel, and to lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty, without any inter- ruption from the powers God hath set over this Commonwealth ; nay, with all just and due encour- agement thereto, and protection in so doing by the same : a mercy that is the price of much blood, and till of late years denied to this nation, as at this day it continues to be to most of the nations round about us, and which all that fear God amongst us ought duly to consider and be thankful for in this day wherein God hath so graciously visited and redeemed His people : — his Highness, as he reckons it a duty incumbent on him, and shall take all possible care to preserve and continue this freedom and liberty to all persons in this Commonwealth fearing God, though of differing judgments, by protecting them in the sober and quiet exercise and profession of religion and the sincere worship of God, against all such who shall, by imposing upon the consciences of their brethren, or offering violence to their persons, or any other way seek to hinder them therein ; so like- wise doth he hold himself equally obliged to take care that on no pretence whatsoever such freedom given should be extended by any beyond * those bounds which the royal law of love and Christian moderation have set us in our walking one towards another; or that thereby occasion should be taken by any to abuse this liberty to the disturbance or disquiet of any of their brethren in the same free exercise of their faith and worship which himself enjoys of his own. And his Highness cannot but sadly lament the woful distemper that is fallen upon the spirits of many professing religion and the fear of God in these days, who ... do openly and CONGREGATIONS TO BE TROTECTED. 109 avowedlv, bv rude and unchristian practices, disturb chap. ^ y • • • W WTTT both the private and public meetings for preaching '-___,_^ the word, and other rehgious exercises, and viUfy, ^^^5 oppose, and interrupt the public preachers in their ministry, whereby the liberty of the Gospel, the pro- fession of religion, and the name of God is much dishonoured and abused, and the spirits of all good men much grieved. His Highness, therefore, having information from divers parts of this Commonwealth of such practices by divers men lately risen up under the names of Quakers, Eanters, and others, who do daily both reproach and disturb the assemblies and congregations of Christians in their public and private meetings, and interrupt the preachers in dispensing the word, and others in their worship, contrary to just liberty, and to the disturbance of the public peace, doth hold himself obliged by his trust to declare his dislike of all such practices, as being con- trary to the just freedom and liberties of the people, . . . and doth hereby strictly require that they forbear henceforth all such irregular and disorderly practices i and if in contempt hereof any persons shall j)resumeto offend as aforesaid, we shall esteem them disturbers of the civil peace, and shall expect and do require all officers and ministers of justice to proceed against them accordinoiy." ^ It was hard for the Protector to keep his sub- Hacker in ordinates up to his high ideal. Colonel Hacker, sime. whose own sympathies were with the Presbyterian clergy, had been so far able to assure the Pro- tector of Ids devotion as to be entrusted with the duty of stamping out sedition in Leicestershire.^ ^ Proclamation, Feb. 15, B. M. press-mark, 669, f. 19, No. 71. ^ Hacker, who had attended, at least at the outset, the meetings which produced the petition of the three Colonels, perhaps aj)proved of urging the Protector, at the beginning of September, to accept the no A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 Meetings broken up in Leicester- shire. Feb. 26. Fox before the Protector. In this capacity he chose to treat ' Quaker ' meet- ings as dangerous to the State, arresting many persons who took part in them, and sending some of them to Whitehall for judgment. '^ Amongst those carried to London was Eox himself, who, being asked to sign a paper engaging not to take arms against the Government, replied that he was against taking arms in any case whatever. Oliver, who seems to have known little of the ' Friends ' except by hostile report, admitted their leader into his presence. Fox at once, after invocating peace upon the House, opened an exhortation to the Protector to ' keep in the fear of God, that he might receive wisdom from Him, that by it he might be directed and order all things under his hand to God's glory.' As soon as Oliver could get in a word he asked the pertinent question why they quarrelled with the ministers. Fox enlarged upon the duty of testifying against those who preached for the sake of filthy lucre. With Fox's spiritual instinct Oliver had a deep sympathy, even if he was unable to concur in its practical application. "Come again to my house," he said, as he dismissed his guest, " for if thou and I were but an hour a day together we should be nearer one to the other. I wish you no more ill than I do to my own soul." Suiting the action to the word, he ordered Fox to be set at liberty, and invited him to dine at the table set for his own attendants. With sturdy Parliamentary system, but disapproved of the more violent opposition in which the movement culminated. This is, however, no more than a conjecture. '■ Nieupoort, inhis despatch of Feb. A (Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 40), and therefore before the issue of the proclamation, writes of ' Quaker ' meetings broken up by order of the Government, and it is quite possible that a dislike of such things led Oliver to consider the question. GEORGE FOX AT AMIITEHALL. Ill independence Fox refused to eat of his bread or drink CHAr. of his ciip.^ Not only did Fox go out a free man, JJ_^__: but he was permitted to address meetings when he ^^'55 would, in London or elsewhere, though the}^ had been closed by order of the Government not many days before.^ ' Fox, in liis account of the matter, says that when this was reported to the Protector, he said : " Now I see there is a people risen and come up that I cannot win either with gifts, honours, offices or places ; but all other sets and people I can." This is merely hearsaj', and the latter part of the sentence is not only unlike any expression of Oliver's, but would be particularly absurd at the moment when he had failed, as will be seen, to win over several persons of other sects and parties. '-' For the closing, see Nieupoort to the States General, Feb. ^^rj {Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 40). The date of Fox's interview with Cromwell, for which we depend on Fox's Journal, is assigned by Dr. Hodgkin (George Fox, io8) to the summer of 1654, apparently thinking that the plot referred to as being talked of at the time when Fox was taken was Gerard and Vowel's. Under the date of Feb. 26, however, Merc. Fol. (E, 829, 6) tells us that "Divers Quakers have been apprehended as they were roving about the country in Leicestershire, and among them one Fox, a principal leader of that frantic party ; they are brought up hither and detained in custody." Moreover, it will be noticed that Oliver's first recorded words referred to the quarrelling with the ministers, which had been so much on his mind in issuing the proclamation of Feb. 15. Besides, Fox writes of Hacker as commanding in Leicestershire, and we have in Tlmrloe (iii. 148) a letter which shows he was in that position on Feb. 12. Moreover, we find Fox complaining of a minister who was an official news-writer — doubtless Henry Walker — that he put in his newspaper a statement that Fox wore ribbons. In Perfect Proceedings (E, 481, 9), under the date of Feb. 26, we find: " This afternoon Fox, the great Quaker, who is said to be one of the chief old ringleaders of them, was at Whitehall. He came out of Leicestershire — some say he was sent up from thence— and divers Quakers were at Whitehall following him. It is said that he, two years since, seduced Colonel Fell's wife, who, following him up and down the country, and still is (sic) of that gang, and divers others. And I heard a gentlewoman say this day at Whitehall, when he was there, that she heard him boast of his favours, showing bunches of ribbon in the country- -about Lancashire ^that he had from Colonel Fell's wife and others." As the statements in Fox's Journal are for the most part uncorroborated, it is worth while noting points in whicli they are borne out by contemporary evidence. Fox's complaint of being charged merely with wearing ribbons is now seen not to be the outburst of an ultra-puritanical mind, I 12 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 The Fifth Monarchy men. 1654 Dec. 17. Simpson's sermon. Simpson's discussion with the Protector. In dealing with ' Quakers ' the Protector liad to do with men who were held to be blasphemers, and /. who were certainly not seldom disturbers of the general peace. The Fifth Monarchy men, whilst equally basing their conduct on religious grounds, directly attacked the existing Government, on the plea that ^ earthly rule ought exclusively to be in the hands of the saints. Though this opinion was not likely to be very widely spread, it was not a time when ^ Oliver could safely allow his authority to be openly challenged ; though he can have found but little satisfaction in coercing men whose hearts were, as he believed, on the right side. In December, Simpson, who, together with Feake, had been con- fined at Windsor since the early days of the- Pro- tectorate,^ broke prison, and reappeared on the 1 7th and i8tli in his old pulpit at Allhallows, where he declaimed against the Triers, alleging their position to be ' absolute anti-Christian,' and declaring ' that he could with as good conscience go to the Pope and his cardinals for their approbation as to them.' ^ Being summoned before the Protector, he discussed the situation with him for the better part of a whole day, telling him, amongst other things, that he had broken his promise to abolish tithes. To this charge Oliver pleaded tliat he could not remember having given any engagement of the sort, but that, if he had, it was a sufficient excuse that his Council would not allow him to carry it out.^ Turning to the constitu- biit the result of indignation against that charge brought against Mrs. Fell ; though the word ' seduced ' does not necessarily bear the meaning which it would have at the present day. ' See Vol. ii. 304. ^ to Clarke, Dec. 19, Vlarlie Papers, iii. 14. 3 See Vol. ii. 32, note 2, and 319, note i. Probably Oliver had promised to commute tithes by an ordinance before Parliament met. SIMPSON AND FEAKE. II3 tional question, Simpson reminded the Protector chap. that he had formerly declared for a Common- . L, ; wealth without king or House of Lords, and argued ' ^"^ that by taking on himself his present title he had not only broken his vows, but had incurred the penalties of high treason,^ " Well said, Simpson ! " was the half-amused reply. " Thou art plain in- deed ; not only to tell me I have broken my vows, but that I am, in plain terms, a traitor." After this Oliver announced his intention not to abandon- the position he occupied. " The Government," he said, " I have taken, and will stand to maintain it." The ' long conversation ended by the Protector's advice to Simpson to be more sober in his speech and con- duct. The advice was thrown away. " We came away," wrote one of Simpson's followers who was present during this strange discussion, " very much dissatisfied with his spirit and his words." " In this Simpson case, at least, Oliver was determined to show that no remain at harshness on his part should contribute to increase the irritation of these irritable Christians, and Simpson was allowed to remain at liberty. A discussion with Feake on the 23rd ended, on the other hand, by his „^^°'^3- being remanded to confinement at Windsor Castle, sent back T • Ti 1 1 1 1 • • ^ to prison. it IS not unlikely that by this time some rumour that the Fifth Monarchists were engaged in one of the many plots of the day had reached the Protector's Dec. 25. TT • I. -t 1. T 1 2 Arrest and ears, as Jlarrison was re-arrested two days later ; release of but the Council refused its consent. It can hardly be too often repeated that he was not an absolute ruler. ^ The Act of March 17, 1649 (Scobell, ii. 7), declared that the office of king might not be exercised by any single person, and that it was treason to ' promote any person to the name, stile, dignity, power, prerogative or authority of king.' Simpson would affirm, and Oliver deny, that the authority granted to a Protector by the Instrument was equivalent to that of a king. 2 B. J. to ? Clarice Papers, ii. pref. xxxiv.-xxxvii. VOL. III. I Harrison. 114 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1654 John Rogers in prison. 1655 Feb. A demand for the release of Feake and Rogers. though he was immediately released on giving an assurance to the Protector that, however much he disapproved of the existing form of government, he had no intention of conspiring for its overthrow.^ Another Fifth Monarchy preacher, John Eogers, had been in custody at Lambeth for six months for asserting that God would pour forth His vials on ' the worldly powers, the powers of antichrist,' as well as for declaiming against the Protector. " Because," he had said, " he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor, because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not, surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly ; he shall not save of that which he desired. jO thou black Whitehall : Fah ! Fah ! it stinks of the brimstone of Sodom, and the smoke of the bottomless pit. The flying roll of God's curses shall overtake the family of that great thief there ; he that robbed us of the benefit of our prayers, of our tears, of our blood — the blood of my poor husband, will the widow isay — the blood of my poor father, will the orphan say — the blood of my poor friend, will many say. These shed their blood for the cause of Jesus Christ, and for the interest of His kingdom ; but that which they purchased at so dear a rate is taken from us by violence. We are robbed of it, and the cause of Christ is made the cause of a man." ^ Early in February twelve members of Eogers's congregation appeared before Oliver to ask for the liberation of their own pastor and of Feake, as suf- ferers for conscience' sake. To this Oliver replied that they suffered for their evil deeds ; but he consented to 1 ? to Clarke, Dec. 23; Clarice Papers, iii. 15 ; The Weekly Intelligencer, E, 821, 13 ; Nieupoort to the States General, Jan. ^^, Add. MSB. I7,(>77 W, fol. 24. '-^ The information is dated May 8, obviously in 1654, but mis- placed amongst the papers of 1655. Thurloe, iii. 483. ROGERS AND HARRISON. II5 •discuss the question with Eoo-ers, in the hope of con- chap. "^ . • XXXVIII vincing his advocates that their view of the case was -^-, — '- false. The conference was fixed for the 6th, when J,^V Feb. 6. the Protector maintained his position that attacks on diver's confcrcnco the Government could not be allowed ; whilst Eogers with stuck to the argument that if he had done wrong he ought to be brought to a lawful trial, and not forced to submit to an absolute or arbitrary power. The charge was too well founded to be otherwise than irritating to the Protector. " Wliere," he promptly- asked, "is an arbitrary or absolute power?" "Is not the long sword such ? " was the equally prompt reply. " By what law or power are we put into prison ? . . . And is not your power, with the army's, absolute to break up Parliament and do what you will ? " The Protector, on the other hand, had the advantage in setting forth the necessity of restraining Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists from coming to blows. " His work " he said " was to keep all the godly of several judgments in peace" — * He was as a constable ' he added ' to part them and keep them in peace.' ^ Oliver was no sooner ^ quit of Eogers than he was Hanison assailed by Harrison, who sought an interview with support him at the head of a party comprising Colonel Eich, Quartermaster - General Courtney, together with Carew, Squib and Clement Ireton ^ — the first two having been members of the Nominated Parliament. As soon as they were admitted to Oliver's presence they urged him to release 'the prisoners of the Lord.' To this the Protector replied ' that if they were the prisoners of the Lord they should soon be ^ Rogers, Life and Opinions of a Fifth Monarchy Man, 173-224. ^ ' The very same night,' ib. 220, marginal note. ' ' Mr Ireton,' as given in a marginal note. Clement a younger brother of the general must, almost certainly, be intended. l2 ii6 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. 1655 Feb. 16. Harrison, Rich, Carew, and Courtney before the Council. set at liberty, but that he was sure there was nobody in England in prison for the Lord's sake or the Gospel's.' He subsequently sent for the four principal persons among them — Harrison, Carew, Courtney and Eich. As, however, they refused to obey either this message or a warrant which followed, and, as information had been received that they had been stirring up resistance to the Government, they were fetched before the Protector and Council on the 1 6th.^ With one voice the four declared the Govern- ment to be anti-Christian and Babylonish, Carew adding that when the Protector dissolved the Nominated Parliament ' he took the crown off from the head of Christ and put it upon his own.' Against such a usurped authority these four concurred in holding it to be lawful to take up arms. Not that they had any sympathy either with the Levellers or with the majority in the late House. Their greatest objection to the Protectorate was ' that it had a Parliament in it, whereby power is derived from the people, whereas all power belongs to Christ.' After this they were asked whether they would ' engage to live peaceably and not disturb the peace of the nation.' On their refusal ^ they were told ' that if they would retire into their own counties and promise not to come forth without leave ' no harm should befall them. When even this kindly overture had been rejected the Protector lost all patience. Harrison, he said, ' had not only countenanced those who declaimed publicly against the Government, but had persuaded some of the lawfulness of taking arms against it ' ; ^ Merc. Pol., E, 828, 7, where the date is given as Feb. 15. Thurloe's ' Friday in the afternoon ' — i.e. the i6th — is more likely to be accurate. * Harrison in company with his three comrades was less compliant than he had been when he was alone. See suj^ra, pp. 113, 1 14. DANGER FROM THE LEVELLERS. I17 Carew liad not only joined Harrison in this, but had chap. ^ endeavoured to seduce some great officers from "_L, — \ their trust ' ; Eich had opposed the levy of the assess- ' ^^ ment-tax ; whilst Courtney had been in Norfolk persuading the churches to take up arms, and had said in the West that when he was in London he would " find both hands and hearts enough to over- throw this Government." To this charge they made no answer, and were thereupon committed to the Their ^ ^ ^ committal. custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms. A few days later three of them were despatcihed to separate prisons, Harrison to Portland, Carew to Pendennis, Courtney to Carisbrooke. Eich was allowed to remain at liberty for some time longer to attend on his dying wife. It was no pleasure to Oliver to deal harshly with men who diver's did but exaggerate his own Puritanism. "I know," to imprison wrote Thurloe, " it is a trouble to my Lord Protector to have an}^ one who is a saint in truth to be grieved or unsatisfied with him." Liiprisonment had been inflicted on these men, according to the secretary, " hi pity to them and some other people who are led by them, as well as for the sake of the nation, that they may not put things into blood and confusion, and be made use of by the Cavaliers and vile Levelling party to destroy and utterly root out all that are good and godly in the land." ' ^ The contemptuous adiective applied by Thurloe case of the i. -L .y Levellers. to the Levelling party may doubtless be taken as the measure of his apprehension. Not only had the advocates of the sovereignty of a democratic Parlia»^ ment bonds of union with a not insignificant party in the army itself, but they were able, at least so long ^ Thurloe to Monk, Feb. ? ClarTie Papers, ii. 242 ; — ? to Clarke, Feb. 24, lb. iii. 23 ; Nieupoort to the States General, March ^, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 50. ii8 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 / / Feb. 1O4 Arrest of Wildman, Feb. 12. and of Grey. Sexby conceals himself. as they confined themselves to criticism of the- foundations of the existing Government, to attract to themselves Parliamentarians like Bradshaw, who had no aims in the direction of manhood suffrage, and even to find points of harmony with Eoyalists, who were as anxious to restore a free Parliament at^ Westminster as to replace the King at Whitehall. Consequently the Government resolved to do its best to arrest the leaders of that party, for which Wildman and Sexby were the leading political agents, whilst Lord Grey of Groby was expected to stand forth as its military head.^ Of the three, Wildman was seized at a village near Marlborough, by a party of horse under Major Butler on February 10, just as he was dictating a declaration inviting the people to take up arms against ' Oliver Cromwell^'- ^ and was carried off for security to Chepstow Castle. Grey was apprehended by Hacker, and though ' much distempered with the gout,' was carried to London, and ultimately lodged . as a prisoner in Windsor Castle,^ where h% remained till July, when he was liberated after making due sub- mission.^ Sexby — of whom it is not uncharitable to suppose that his political antagonism to the Protec- torate was quickened into life by his disappointment of the command which had been promised him in Guienne'^ — was more dangerous in consequence of his hold on the still numerous Levellers in the army. For some time he contrived to elude pursuit, but was at last ^ For a full account of the movements of these men see Dyer's in- formation, Thurloe, vi. 829. As this information was not given till Feb. 27, 165I, there was doubtless much in it not known to the Government three years earlier. ^ Butler to the Protector, Feb. 10, Thurloe, iii. 147 ; Merc. Pol.,. E, 826, 28. * Hacker to the Protector, Feb. 12, Thurloe, iii. 148. * Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 178 ; Merc. Pol., E. ^ See Vol. ii. 422, 433. LEVELLERS AND ROYALISTS. II9 tracked to Portland. His partisans in the island, how- chap. V'V'W'T FT ever, were neither few nor without influence, and on '_1_.^__J February 20 a party of soldiers which arrived to arrest ^J^55 him was itself placed under arrest by the Mayor and An attempt J, ^ ^ to seize the Governor 01 the Castle, on the ground that they were lum attempting to depriv/'an Englishman of his liberty without being able -to show a written warrant ; though both the Mayor and the Governor were complaisant enough to express their belief that the new-comers had been deceived by representations made to them by others. In this way Sexby had time given him to effect He escapes his escape to the Continent.^ It was probably the coShient. knowledge thus gained of the disaffection prevailing at Portland which led to the removal of Harrison to Apr. 3. , /-J • -1 T n Harrison securer quarters at Cansbrooke.' moved to Whatever may have been the exact plans of the brooke. Levellers, the importance of their movement was the greater in consequence of its concurrence, possibly only in point of time, though possibly also in some- The thing more, with those plans of the Eoyalists, a piot!^'^ partial knowledge of which had led in January to the arrest of persons concerned in the transportation of arms. On that occasion the distribution of commissions ^g from Charles had been traced to Colonel Stephens, ^J^'^ll who, after the failure of Gerard's plot in the preceding gl^?J°"®^ July, had, in conjunction with another Eoyalist agent whose name is unknown, laid before his master a state- ^,^^^^ ^: ' ^ Plans of ment of the hopes and fears of his party. ^ If only, ^^^ ^ Council of State Order Book, Interr. I, 76a, p. 46. ^ NarrativebyCapt. XJntonCroke, r/ittrZoe, iii. 194. Captain Hurst, the Governor, related to Croke a conversation with Harrison, then a prisoner in the Castle, in which Harrison expressed an opinion that Sexby was a decoy for his Highness, though merely on the grounds that he had escaped arrest whilst his comrades had been caught. There was no connection between the politics of the two men : besides, Harrison thought Sexby ' a treacherous fellow,' which no doubt he was. * The statement {Clarendon M8S. xlviii. fol. 326) is said to have been drawn up by ' Col. Ste. and Fa.' Mr. Macray {Clarendon, xiv. 99, I20 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. 1654 Charles' letters. His ex- pectations of a rising. they declared, Charles would no longer cast delays in the way of action, Tynemouth Castle could be secured in the North, and Sir Philip Musgrave would take the field at the head of 300 horse ; the gentry of Surrey and Sussex could command 500, and Kent alone could provide a similar number. The Castles of Ludlow, Warwick and Denbigh might be secured. Sir Philip Musgrave, Sir John Grenville, Sir Humphrey Bennett, Lord Byron, Sir Thomas Peyton, Colonel Grey, Colonel Screven, respectively offered to get posses- sion of Carlisle, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Sandwich, Tynemouth, and Shrewsbury. Li Ireland ; Carrickfergus, Galway, Londonderry, and probably Dublin and Athlone, might be gained without diffi- culty. All that Charles's English partisans demanded of him was that, after giving authority to their move- ments in writing, he would send Langdale to the North, offering pardon to certain persons they named ; and would place either Ormond or the Duke of York by the water's side, with instructions to cross the Straits and head the insurgents in Kent and Surrey, where the store of arms provided at Sandwich for the use of the fleet could be easily secured. Charles at once wrote the required letters, copies of five of which are still extant in Hyde's handwriting.^ In another, which some months later fell into the hands of the Protector, he endeavoured to explain his own previous hesitation and give encouragement to his partisans to act on his behalf as soon as possible. " You will easily beHeve," he wrote, " that I am very well pleased to hear how careful and solicitous you are for my concernments, and of the course you resolve to take. note) suggests that the latter may have been Fanshaw, but the account of his movements in Lady Fanshaw's Memoirs makes this improbable. * Clarendon MSS. xlviii. fol. 328. See also Mr. Firth's references in the Hist Beview (April 1888), iii. 325. CHARLES'S MOVEMENTS. 121 The truth is I have been so tender of my friends that chap. • XXXVIII I have deferred to call upon them to appear tiU I — ,_^ could find myself able to give them good encourage- ^ ^^ ment from abroad ; but since I find that comes on so slowly, I will no longer restrain those aflfections which I most desire to be beholden to ; and I have reason to believe that, if they who wish one and the same thing knew each other's mind, the work would be done without any difficulty, and if there was any handsome appearance in any one place, the rest would not sit still ; and I am persuaded I should then find supplies from those who are yet afraid to offer them. How- ever, I am sure I would myself be with those who first wished for me, and to that purpose I will keep myself within a reasonable distance, consult with those you dare trust, and, if you are ready, agree upon a time ; and you cannot promise yourselves any- thing that you will be disappointed in and that is in the power of your affectionate friend — Chaeles E." ^ Charles, in fact, had given up all hope of receiving any considerable sum from the German princes, and was convinced of the necessity of relying entirely on , his own subjects. This time, at least, it was an in- ! surrection, not an assassination, that was in prospect. Iq^^^J°' The letters despatched to England were written leaves o Paris at Mons, where Charles was on his way to visit his sister, the Princess of Orange, at Spa. His ^ Charles to — ? July -^g. A Declaration of Ids Highness, p. 26, E, 857, 3. This pamphlet was published by authority on Oct. 31, 1655. Mr. Firth, who reprinted the letter in the Historical Beview (AprU 1888), iii. 324, urges in favour of its genuineness that 'it has never been denied to be really the King's.' To this argument it may be added, in the first place, that the date of July x*k is a most likely one, as it is the day on which the statement by Stephens and his colleague was laid before Charles ; and, in the second place, that it corresponds in tone, and even in expression, with parts of the third and fifth of the five letters mentioned in the text, concerning which no doubt is possible. 122 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1654 and keeps Court at Spa. Aug. 12. Charles at Aachen. Nicholas restored to the secre- taryship. Charles and his sister at vespers. movements, hovs^ever, were not guided by family affection alone. His position in France had been a strained one since Mazarin had avowed his eagerness to cultivate the friendship of the Protector. When he left Paris on June 30, it had been with a deter- mination to fix the seat of his exile outside the territory of France.^ At Spa he kept a gay and merry Court, spending the afternoon in dancing, and returning to the same amusement in the meadows after supper.^ So far as he entertained any design of personally intervening in the impending struggle, it took the form of an intention to land in Scotland, where, the rout of Middleton at Dalnaspidal ^ being as yet unknown, the chances of the Eoyalists appeared far from desperate.^ Scared by an outbreak of small- pox in his sister's household, Charles transferred his Court to Aachen, where he reinstated his father's secretary, Nicholas, in the office ^ in which he had served so faithfully, a promotion regarded by the English Cavaliers as assuring the triumph of their principles.^ It was, however, never safe to calculate upon Charles's devotion to a single party. Nicholas and his allies can hardly have been well pleased to hear that the King and his sister had enjoyed the music at vespers in a Eoman Catholic church. On the other hand, they can hardly have objected to his being taken to view the relics of Charles the Great. ^ Nicholas to Middleton, July H, Nicholas Papers, ii. 78. 2 Adams to Thurloe, ^"^^J, Thurloe MSS. xvi. 483. =» See Vol. ii. 418. * A letter of Intelligence, ^|4o' Thurloe, ii. 502 ; Nicholas to Norwich, s^:T' Nicholas Papers, ii. 79. ^ A letter of Intelligence, ^"g- ^. As Charles arrived at Aachen on Aug. J§ (see a letter from the Nuncio at Cologne, Aug. -|^, Boman Transcripts, B.O.), Nicholas must have been placed in office between that date and ^51:^. Sept. 1 " Hatton to Nicholas, Sept. Jf , Nicholas Papers, li. 88. THE QUEEN-MOTHER AND HER SONS. 1 23 The Princess kissed the skull and the hand of the restorer of the Empire, whilst her brother, in lighter mood, contented himself with kissing his sword and ^ ^"^ measurincf its leno-th ag^ainst his own.^ The <>Teat Charles, it is true, was an emiieror, not Sept. 29. ^ Charles at a saint. When, towards the end of September, his Cologne. lesser namesake moved on to Cologne, he at once sent a Jesuit and a friar of his suite to the Papal Nuncio to bei>' for an interview. The Nuncio, indeed, „ oct. 5- ... . . ^^^ refused to receive in his own house a kino' who declined meeting ^ . with the to recognise the Poj)e, but a meeting was arranged m Nuncio. the garden of a monastery, where Charles professed his desire to allow the English Catholics even to erect churches after he had succeeded, with their assistance, in coming by his own. Not long afterwards an event occurred which forced Charles at least to display his sentiments on the other side. His youngest brother, the Duke of Gloucester, had been left with his mother in France, under the charge of a tutor named Lovell. Henrietta Maria had, indeed, promised that she would Sar^atries not tamper with her son's religion, but she thought Jj^g'^^J^g*' it no shame to send him on a visit to the Abbot of o^ Charles to Roles, »«?-?5 ; Ormond to Hyde, J", Feb. ^, Jan. o *eD. *> Clarendon MSS. xlix. foil. 265, 321, 328. * The story of insurrection has been told fully by Mr. Firth in the Hist. Beview, iii. 323 ; iv. 313, 525. Unless for some special reason I shall refer my readers to the references there given. ^ See supra, p. 77- EOYALIST SCHEMES DISCOVERED. 127 witli instructions to protest as^ainst further delays, chap. • XXXVIII and to ask that February 13 might be fixed as the — ^ — '■ date of the rising. Charles, with the sanguine im- ciuLils^s patience of an exile, welcomed the proposal ; but he i°^ecision. was confronted by another messenger, sent off by James Halsall, who had been authorised by the Sealed Knot to warn him that the times were unpropitious. In spite of Ormond's advice to command his followers either to rise or to abstain from rising, he adopted a middle course, first expressing his approval of the reso- lution of the party of action, and subsequently sending Daniel O'Neill to England to mediate between the p^^, g. two factions, without issuing any direct orders, either ^f^'^^^^ commanding those who had entrusted their views to ^^nt to '-' . . mediate. Eoss to postpone the rismg, or the Sealed Knot to abandon their opposition.^ One result of the delay in Charles's answer was The rising that the date of the rising was postponed. Another ^°^ ^°"^ ' was that it gave the Protector time to strengthen his Activity position. Knowing as well as any Eoyalist that the protector. insurrection was intended to break out on the 13th, he employed his time in reducing its danger as far as possible by ordering the seizure of those whom he judged likely to take part in it.^ The most important of these arrests was that of Eead, who had formerly been a lieutenant in the Dutch service, and who had in his possession the letter in Charles's own hand- Charles's writing which placed his encouragement of the found. insurrection beyond reasonable doubt. Fortified with ^ Upton [or Eoles] to Charles, Jan. ; Ormond to Hyde, Feb. ^ ; Halsall to Charles, Feb. ,% ; Charles to Roles, Feb. t%, Clarendon MSS. xlix. foil. 315, 327. 340, 343- The important passages in these letters have been printed by Mr. Firth in the Hist. Beview (Apr. 1888), iii. pp. 333-36. * Merc. PoZ.,E, 826, 23 ; Salvetti's Newsletter, Feb. 1%, Add. MSS. 27,962 0, fol. 385. 128 A MOTLEy OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 Feb. 12. Horses seized. Feb. 13. The letter shown to the citizens. this documentary evidence, Oliver ordered that all horses in London and Westminster should be seized on the 12th, and on the 13th, the day on which the rising was expected to take place, he invited the Lord Mayor, the Aldermen, the Eecorder, and sixty members of the Common Council of the City to inspect the incriminating paper.^ After they had satisfied themselves that it was genuine, the Protector harangued them at some length, urging on them the duty of looking to their own security and of providing, at the same time, for the peace of the nation. In the end he showed them the draft of a Commission which he was about to issue for raising and bringing under discipline the militia of the City of London. The Commission was issued two days after it had thus been announced. Once more the Protector [showed his resolution to carry out in his own way I the wishes of the dissolved Parliament. So far as the language used by its members is to be trusted, that Parliament intended to call out a militia to bear I the burden of local defence. Oliver now appealed to the City to provide him with a militia, to which he might reasonably look for support when the time arrived for that partial disbandment that was inevi- tably impending. Yet it was not to be expected that he should leave the armed force of the nation in the hands of his opponents. The Commissioners named included, besides the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, a considerable number of officers, of whom Skippon was the most prominent. The choice of the officers was left to the Protector, after consultation with the Commissioners. The object of the new militia was declared to be the suppression of local disorders. It was specially announced that no citizen would be ^ Merc. Pol., E, 826, 28. For the letter see supra, p. 120. EOYALIST ACTIVITY. 1 29 called on to serve outside the City or its liberties! chap. without his own consent.^ • 55^3—^ Oliver was aware that the danger had not ^^^^ passed away because the day of rising had been postponed. On February 24 he issued a proclamation Feb. 24. forbidding race-meetings for six months, on the mSn'^ ground that the concourse of people might be used horse^** to ' raise new troubles.' ^ As a matter of course ^^^'^' orders had been given to secure the ports. At The ports Dover, however, some of the officials were in col- ^^^^^^ ' lusion with the Eoyalist party. With their help Halsall and Eoss had crossed to lay their messages * before Charles, and the corresjoondence between the exiled Court at Cologne and its English supporters was kept briskly up. It was doubtless by the agency of these officials that Daniel O'Neill, who, travelling under the name of Bryan, had been arrested at Dover and confined in the Castle, succeeded in making his Feb. 22. escape and in pursuing his journey to London, escape!*" Another notable Eoyalist agent, Nicholas Armorer, Armorer a|)pearing under the name of Wright, was allowed paJ^^*^*'^ to pass on the certificate of Day, the Clerk of the Passage. The result of this connivance with suspected persons was an order to Captain Wilson, the Deputy peb. 26, Governor of Dover Castle, to hold himself personally melsSes. responsible for the detention of all persons supposed to be travelling in Charles's interest.^ O'Neill was not Charles's sole representative in England. On February 19 Eochester crossed from ^ Commission, Feb. 15, Council of State Order Book, Interr. I, 76a, p. 22. ^ Proclamation, Feb. 24, B. M. press-mark, 669, f. 19, No. 69. ^ The Princess of Orange to Hyde, ^^''■i" ; Charles to Hyde, March 1 o i March ^j, Clarendon MSS. xlix. foil. 367, 387. Wilson to Thurloe, Feb. 27, Thurloe, iii. 179. The intimation that Wright was probably Armorer was given by Sir R. Stone, Thurloe MSS. xxii. 107. Mr. VOL. III. K i.^o A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 Landing of Rochester and Wagstaff. Charles at Middel- burg. Dunkirk to Margate, in comj)any with Sir Joseph Wagstaff, who had held a command under the late King in the Civil War.^ Both Eochester and Wag- staff succeeded in reaching London unobserved. Eochester came, not like O'Neill, to mediate between the parties, but to put himself at the head of the one which had declared for immediate action. The long- ing for an opportunity of bringing his weary exile to an end had got the better of prudence in Charles's mind.^ Nor was he, to do him justice, desirous of sheltering his own person. Slipping away from Cologne, he made his way through Dusseldorf to Middelburg, with the intention of crossing to England as soon as a reasonable prospect of success lay open before him.^ Firth only allows the connivance of Day — the Clerk of the Passage — to be probable, the evidence against him not being conclusive {Hist. Bev. (April) iii. 1888, pp. 343, 344). He seems to have overlooked a passage in a letter from Manning, the spy, of May J J : "At Dover all pass by the assistance of one And. Day, Fox, &c., searchers, and as long aa they are there all will pass you . . . and Foster hath made O'Neill, Manning's, Armorer, Eoss, Trelawny, Palmer, Halsall's, and the other Dover escapes, and many before," Thurloe, iii. 428. "And." may either stand for Andrew, a mistake for Kobert, or be the first letters of some other name, such as Anderson. Mr. Firth says that ' Cromwell does not appear to have dismissed Day from his post, probably because he did not regard the charges as proved ; but perhaps because he had already rendered Day harmless. At the end of February 1655, in conseqiience of the escape of several Eoyalist prisoners, the authority of the old Commissioners of the Passage was superseded, and the control of the police of the passage entrusted to the Deputy-Governor of Dover, Captain Wilson.' This argument requires, I think, to be supplemented by the consideration that to dismiss Day would give warning to Eoyalists that they must avoid Dover for the future, and so keep out of Wilson's hands. If this view be adopted, it will be unnecessary to consider the assumption that the Protector may not have regarded the charges as proved. ^ Examination of F. Jones, April 4, Thurloe, iii. 344. ~ Hyde's memoranda of the instructions to be given to Trelawny, Clarendon MSS. iii. 65. Clarendon's attempt to minimise Charles's decision long afterwards {Clarendon, xiv. 127) is of no importance beside the contemporary document. ^ Charles's presence at Diisseldorf is attested bv a letter from the ROYALIST DESIGNS. I3I The information laid before Eochester on his ar- chap. rival in London was such as might have discouraged — ., — : a wiser man. The Protector had been well enough ^^55 served by his spies to lay hands on Sir Humphrey ^/tuationin Bennett, who had engaged to secure Portsmouth ; ^'^giand. Colonel Grey, a brother of Lord Grey of Wark, who had offered to make sure of Tynemouth Castle ; and Sir John Grenville, the former defender of the Scilly Isles, who had undertaken the surprise of Plymouth.^ Small bodies which had gathered with the intention of seizing the cavalry posts at Taunton and Marlborough had been broken up, and some of their members arrested.^ Yet neither O'lSTeill nor Eochester could perceive the symptoms of failure conveyed in these news. O'Neill's communications with Charles were full o'Neiu sanguine. of the most sanguine assurances. Sir George Booth, he wrote, would answer for Cheshire, and he even believed that Fairfax himself would carry Yorkshire with him to the Eoyal standard.^ The West, it was confidently expected, would not be found wanting, and Shrewsbury, with the counties on the Welsh border, would follow the example. The night of March 8 was Princess of Orange to Hyde, E?^i^ , Clarendon MSS. xlix. 373. A letter from Calais, of March §{3, aflirms that he was at that time still at Middelburg, TJiurloc, iii. 275. ' Eobinson to Floyd, Feb. y^g. Clarendon MSS. xlix. fol. 37;^. Perf. Diurnal, E, 481, 13. - Butler's letters of Feb. 26 and March 3, with the information of Gill and Stradling, Tliurloe, iii. 176, 181, 191. •' The belief that Fairfax would be on their side was widely spread amongst the Iloyalists. On Jiine 1 1 Percy Church informed Nicholas that he had heard that Buckingham had said ' that the Lord Fairfax promised to engage for his Majesty's interest, provided that the trans- actions between his Majesty and him might pass through the Duke's hands ; which request being refused, his Lordship quitted, and so his Majesty's design was frustrated.' " Opposite this passage," writes Mr. Warner in a note, " Nicholas has written in shorthand : ' I assure you I know not, nor by enquiry can find, that there was ever an offer or promise from tlie Lord Fairfax that he would engage for his Majesty's A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 Presby- terian support offered. Mar. 8. Chances of the rising. now fixed for a simultaneous rising of the Eoyalists. Willougliby of Parham engaged that the Presby- terians would stand by the Cavaliers, and promised the assistance of Waller and Major-General Browne.-^ Eochester himself set ofi" for Yorkshire to conduct the negotiations with Fairfax, on which he had set his heart.^ It was one thing for a few returned exiles to con- clude that the proposed insurrection was on a fair way to success ; it was another thing for them to iiiduce hundreds of Eoyalist gentry to risk their lives and estates by flying in the face of an established Govern- ment, and, without adequate organisation and with spirits dulled by frequent postponement of action, to confront the strongest military force hitherto known in England. What really took place on the night of the 8 th was the gathering of a few isolated bodies of enthusiasts at their allotted stations, whilst interest, so as the transactions between his Majesty and him might pass through the D. of B.'s hands ; but it's possible some third person might [have] proposed that the Duke might be a fit man to treat between the King and that Lord, whereby to procure him to engage for the King, And this, I assure you, is the most that I know or can learn concerning that particular, and it's said by some that know Lord Fairfax very well that he had never any intention at all to engage for the King's interest' " (Nicholas Pajjers, ii. 335). This seems to set the question at rest so far as Fairfax is concerned. Buckingham must, however, have conveyed the impression that Fairfax might be counted on, or O'Neill would have been less confident. As Fairfax had possession of Buckingham's estates, it would be to the interest of the latter that Fairfax should come to terms with himself before giving his support to a restoration. ^ There is a curious story in Coyet's despatch of April 6 about a secret agent of the Government trying to trepan Browne into the Royalist plot to have an excuse for ari'esting him. If this is more than mere gossip, the Government can have merely wanted to get evidence, in an improper way, against of a man whom it entertained well-founded suspicions. - O'Neill to Charles, March 8, ib. ii. 217. The uninterpreted name ' Mr. Humely,' ' whose consent was most necessary,' I take to be the town of Hull. ROYALIST PREPARATIONS. l^^ the great bulk of the Eoyalists, refusing to sacrifice chap. life and property in so harebrained an adventure, ^_^^i; remained quietly at home. ^^55 Thus, at Duddoe, to the south of Morpeth, some Gathering eighty persons assembled in the hope of gaining ^'t^'^^^^e, admission into Newcastle, were scared by the fortuitous approach of a body of infantry on the march southwards from Berwick, and dispersed with all possible rapidity. The same ignominious fate befell a larger body, variously estimated at loo and 300, which, being encouraged by the presence of Eochester himself, collected on Marston Moor in the on Mar- ston Moor expectation that friendly hands would open to them the gates of York. Startled, according to one account, by the shouts of some travellers who had lost their way, they hurriedly escaped, leaving their arms behind them.^ Nor was another party of about 200 which gathered at Eufford, in Nottinghamshire, with ^^^^l^^ the intention of marching northwards to join their comrades in York, any more persistent. So hurried had been their resolve that both Lord Byron, who had been marked out as their leader,^ and the young owner of Eufford, Sir George Savile, who, as Earl and Marquis of Halifax, became pre-eminent as a states- man under the Government of the Eestoration, were absent from home. Scarcely had the others met when the word that their secret had been betrayed spread consternation amongst them, and, throwing their arms into a pond they fled without making an effort to carry out their purpose.'^ ^ Thurloe to Pell, March i6, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 146; Mews to Nicholas, J-^^, Nicholas Papers, ii. 327 ; Merc.Pol.,'E, 826, II, 23; informations of W. Trumbel, E. Turner, M. Pratt, and W. Bell, Thurloe, iii. 216, 222, 228, 230. 2 Manning to Thurloe, -^""^ ^\ S. P. Dovi. xciii. 45. " ' July 8 ' ^^ ' Examination of Clayton and others, March 13; examination of Penniston Whalley and Baggelow, March 14; [Berry] to the. ^34 A MOTLEY OPPOSITION. CHAP. XXXVIII. 1655 Inaction in Lancashire and Cheshire. Shrews- bury in danger. In Lancashire and Cheshire the failure of the Koyalists was, if possible, still more complete. In the former county there was no movement whatever.^ In the latter. Sir George Booth and Colonel Worden did no more than send two or three men to see whether sentinels were posted on the walls of Chester Castle, and finding them on the alert, at once abandoned all hope of capturing so strong a fortress." Shrewsbury, from its proximity to the Welsh border, was of the greatest importance to the Government, and early in March the Protector, hearing of danger in that quarter, despatched a troop of horse to relieve the garrison, which at that time consisted of no more than seventy men under the Governor, Colonel Humphrey Mackworth.^ On the 5thhe empowered Colonel Crowne, Mackworth's uncle, to raise an infantry regiment in Shropshire.^ On the 8th, however, before these orders had time to take effect, tidings which reached Mackworth induced him to send prompt notice of danger to Sir Thomas Middleton, who was also Protector, undated ; Berry to the Protector, March 1 7 ; information by Lockell, July 12, 1658, and by Cockhill, July 30, 1658, Thurloe, iii. 228, 241, 264, iv. 599, vii. 263, 301. The last two informers were Savile's servants. Penniston Whalley left his house at Screveton on the 8th, and took care to be able to plead an alibi till the 9th. He was suspected of having betrayed the scheme, but may merely have wished to withdraw himself from a desperate cause. ^ Mr. Firth {Hist. Bev. (Apr. 1888), iii. p. 342, and Apr. 1889, p. 324) ascribes this quiescence to the landing at Liverpool of some 3,000 men from the army in Ireland, quoting a letter of James Halsall to the effect that they would prevent the design of his brother to surprise that place. The landing, however, took place on Jan. 1 5 , and the letter written abroad on Feb. ^ {Clarendon MSS. xlix. fol. 343) might very well refer to such a difficulty at that time ; but there is no reason to suppose that these troops remained in Lancashire, and, indeed, nothing is heard of their being there in March. - Examination of Pickering, July 20, Thurloe, iii. 677. ^ The second son of the Colonel Mackworth who died in 1654 as a member of the Council. Blore's Hist, of Rutland, p. 129. ^ The Protector to Crowne, March 5, S. P. Dam. xcix. 91, i. ROYALIST FAILURES. 135 threatened in Chirk Castle. Then, seizing twenty chap. XXXVIII horses in the town, he despatched as many men on , : them to Boreatton Park, the seat of Sir Thomas ^^55 Harris, in which the rendezvous was to be held that ^^p.^''"* night. The party, on its arrival, found twenty horses pressed. ready saddled in the stables, many of them with charged pistols in the holsters, a barrel of powder and a suit of armour in the barn, and bullets newly cast in the study. The arrest of Sir Thomas followed as a matter of course. Subsequent examinations showed that the rendezvous was to have been held that night and an attempt made on Shrewsbury.^ Had this failed the conspirators were to ride off to join any Eoyalist band which elsewhere had been more successful than they had been themselves. ^ Mackworth to the Protector, March 8 ; Crovrae to the Protector, March lo; examinations of Evanson and Bultry, March 2i, Thurloe, iii. 2o8, 215, 288, 289. Mackworth makes Boreatton only five miles from Shrewsbury, whereas it is at least eight. I have said nothing of the confessions of Ralph Kynaston (Thurloe, iii. 209-211), who gave information that six soldiers, of whom two were to be dis- guised as women, were to procure an entrance into Shrewsbury €astle, at 4 p.m. on the 8th, on pretence of sight-seeing, and were to block the gate on leaving, giving opportunity to men concealed in alehouses near to rush the Castle, as it is not easy to understand why this attack should be made at 4 p.m., whilst the supporting force was not to rendezvous in Boreatton Park till 1 1 p.m. The following explanation may, however, be suggested. Prior to March 7 Mack- worth had but twenty men at the most to garrison the Castle. This is shown by his own estimate of seventy focJt and a troop of horse on the xoth {Thurloe, iii. 218). Fifty men had been put in by Crowne on the 7th (Crowne's Petition, S. P. Dom. xcix. 91), and the troop sent by the Protector had subsequently arrived. May we not, therefore, con- jecture that the plan revealed by Kynaston was one made before the garrison was strengthened by Crowne, as the proposed scheme for overpowering the garrison would then appear feasible, and it would be unnecessary to bring up the horse from Boreatton to help in what could be done without them ? As Kynaston' s business was to raise a troop in Montgomery, it is not difficult to imagine that he had not heard that the reinforcement of the garrison had led to a change of plan. 136 CHAP. XXXIX, 1655 A move- ment in Wiltsliire. Proposed attack on Win- chester. CHAPTER XXXIX. peneuddock's eising. In Wiltsliire alone were the insurgents rewarded even by momentary success, and that merely because they contented themselves with attacking an un- walled and undefended town In spite of their failure in February the Eoyalists of that county continued hopeful, being encouraged by the presence of Sir Joseph WagstafF, who had been sent from London to take command of the forces to be raised in the western counties. Of the local gentry, the most prominent were Colonel John Penruddock of Compton Chamberlayne, and Hugh Grove of Chisenbury. Penruddock's ancestors had emigrated from Cumberland ; and he himself, having served with his father in the King's army during the Civil War, had been driven to pay composition for his estates.^ Of Grove's earlier life nothing appears to be known. It had been at first proposed to signalise the appointed 8th of March by an attack on the judges of assize at Winchester, a plan which was soon abandoned, in consequence of news that a troop of horse had appeared in that city.^ The conspirators appear to have had a special grudge ^ Mr. Eavenhill, in the Wiltsliire Archceol. and Nat. Hist. Magazine, xiii. 125, gives an entry written by Penruddock in his account-book of i,30oZ. paid for composition. This includes his father's fine of 490Z. Thurloe to Pell, March 16, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 145. II. A gather- SURPRISAL OF THE JUDGES. 137 against the judges as the representatives of the Pro- tector, and, as their commission was to be opened at Sahsbury on the 12th, the night of the nth was fixed for a rendezvous in Clarendon Park, about two miles from the city. Accordingi}', some sixty horsemen gathered on March that historical site, where they were joined by forty more who came out of the city under John Mompes- Parf^ '^^ son, and later on by about eighty from Blandford.^ Being thus some 180 strong, they entered Salis- Thr''^^' bury before dawn, placed guards at the inn-doors, in°saiis-^ seized the horses in the stables, flung open the doors ^^^^' of the gaol, and arrested in their beds the two judges. Chief Justice EoUe and Baron Nicholas, together with Dove, the High Sheriff of the county. When the three were brought out, the judges were forced to hand over their commission, and WagstafF, rude soldier as he was, called out for the hanging of them all. This cruel counsel having been rejected at Penruddock's instance. Dove, who was especially obnoxious as a purchaser of Eoyalists' estates,^ was asked to proclaim Charles 11. 'On his refusal he was subjected to ill-treatment, receiving on his side a blow from a carbine. Ultimately the proclamation was ^ The examination of Arthur Collins, Wagstaff's servant {Tlie Perf. Diurnal, T], 8;^!, i) begins by stating 'that on Sunday, being the nth instant, the said Sir Joseph Wagstaff met at Clarendon Park, . . . where were mustered 60 horse, Mr. John Mompesson bringing from Salisbury to their aid 40 more, from whence they immediately marched towards Blandford, where about 80 more joined with them ; thence they marched to Salisbm'y.' From Claren- don Park to Blandford and back to Salisbury was about 46 miles, and it is incredible that the party, with all their work before them, should have added this to their toils. I suspect that they merely wheeled round Salisbury to the Blandford Eoad, and were there joined by the reinforcement. ^ In the Dictionary of Nat. Biog. he is iraproperty styled a regi- cide. He sat only once on the court, and did not sign the death-warrant. 138 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. TosT March 13. The insurgents at Yeovil. March 12. Des- borough Major- General of the West. JMarch 14. His arrival at New- B|pry. made by one of tlie company, whilst the Sheriff himself was carried off as a hostage.^ The insurgents, finding that the townsmen refused to join them, marched off to Blandford, where, finding the town-crier as obsti- nate as Dove, Penruddock was reduced to proclaim, with his own lips, Charles II., the true Protestant religion, the liberty of the subject, and privilege of Parliament.^ Then, sending out parties to right and left to sweep the country in search of recruits,^ the main body pushed on hurriedly through Sherborne to Yeovil, where they halted till daylight on the morning of the 1 3th, having covered 47 miles since leaving Salisbury. By this time their hopes of gathering a large force had died away, and Dove was set free, perhaps as a mere incumbrance to a march which could hardly be distinguished from a flight.^ It could not be long before the forces of the Govern- ment would be on the track of the fugitives. By the evening of the day on which they entered Salisbury, the Protector, alarmed at the news, appointed Des- borough Major-General of the West, and despatched him to the scene of action.^ On the evening of the 14th Desborough was at Newbury, intending to effect a junction at Amesbury with Major Butler, who, having half a cavalry regiment under his orders, had promptly marched to Salisbury, as well as with some troops which had been pushed forward from Chichester.'' Long before this the supporters of the Government in the neighbouring counties ^ Clarendon, xiv. 132 ; Merc. Pol., E, 830, 11, 23, " Perf. Proceedings, E, 831, 6 ; State Trials, v. 775. ^ Bishop to Thurloe, March 14, Thurloe, iii. 242. ■* Dove appeared at Salisbury on the morning of the 14th, which fixes the 13th as the day of his liberation at Yeovil. ° The Protector's instructions, March 12, Thurloe, iii. 221. ** Desborough to the Protector, March 15, i&. iii. 247. THE ROYALISTS IN RETREAT. 1 39 were astir. At Bristol guards were enlisted and a chap. troop of horse raised.^ At Gloucester 400 of the i^^Ji citizens agreed to undertake the defence of the place, ^^55 leaving the garrison free for service in the field.^ In ^^^^l^^ Somerset, which was more directly threatened, no assistance. less than 3,000 men rallied to the Government, and but for a dispute about the command would have taken the field at once.^ Colonel Copplestone, with a newly levied regiment quartered in Devonshire,* was ready to bar the way of the retreating Eoyalists. It was, however, to none of these bodies that the overthrow of the royalists was due. On the morning of the day on which the Eoyalists were hurrying out of Yeovil Captain Unton Croke, the officer who had ^^^*°^ vainly attempted to arrest Sexby earlier in the year,^ P^^^«s the ^ ^ ^ «^ . . insurgents started from Exeter with a party of soldiers in the ^t Honi- hope of being able to intercept the march of the insurgents. When he reached Honiton he found that they had already slipped past, and were press- ^^ to the^ ing on in the hope of reaching Cornwall, where ^'^^*- there were Eoyalists enough to welcome and assist them, and whence, if their enterprise proved hoper less, escape to the Continent was easy. Croke, indeed, had but sixty men under his orders, whilst the enemy, in spite of having lost a considerable number by desertion, were reported to be two hundred. They were, however, depressed in mind, and both they and their horses were weary from want of adequate rest. Avoiding Exeter, lest ^ Aldworth and Powell to Thurloe, March 12, 15, Thurloe,ui.2;iS>M^' ^ Wade to Desborough, March 14, ib. iii. 239. Details are to be found in the Gloucester Corporation Books. ^ Thurloe to Pell, March 16, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 151 ; Gough to Malyn, March 14, Thurloe, iii. 237. '' Copplestone to the Protector, March 10, ib. iii. 219. ^ See supra, p. 1 19. i4o PENEUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 The fight at South Molton. Probable offer of pardon. they should fall into the hands of Copplestone, they struggled on through CuUompton and Tiverton, only drawing rein in the late evening at South Molton. While the night was still young, Croke, who had not slackened in pursuit, came up and surrounded them in their quarters. The Eoyalists, surprised as they were, defended them- selves gallantly, firing out of the windows at the troopers. Yet, perhaps because they had been long unaccustomed to the use of arms, they did little execution, not a man of Croke's little force being slain. Knowing that their case was hopeless, some made their escape, Wagstaff himself being one of the number. Others, like Penruddock and Grove, together with Jones, who had been joined to the other two in command, surrendered. Fifty or sixty prisoners were taken and lodged in Exeter Gaol.^ Unfortu- nately, there is good reason to believe that a set of articles drawn up by Penruddock, in which pardon for life and estate was offered to those who surrendered, had been agreed to by commissioners appointed by Croke. ^ Such terms Croke, as a mere military ^ Croke to the Protector, March 15, 16, Merc. Pol, IE!,, 830, 23. ^ Penruddock and Jones drew up a petition to the Protector and Council in which, after recounting the circumstances of the fight, they say : " The Captain thought fit on this exigent to sound a parley and tender us conditions, whereupon hostages were delivered on both sides, and one Mr. Rogers, a corporal, and Mr. Lane, a gentleman of the troop, were sent in the behalf of Capt. Croke. Mr. Penruddock, having drawn the articles and read them distinctly to the said Rogers and Lane, th[ey in] the Capt.'s name signed the said articles, which were as followeth, or to this effect : — that the several persons therein comprised upon delivering up their several quarters should have their lives, liberties, and estates, and never be farther questioned by any power whatsoever, and were to have free quarter and a convoy to their several homes. The original thus signed we are able to produce and sufl&ciently prove " {Wiltshire Archceol. and Nat. Hist. Magazine, xiv. 39). Penruddock on his trial challenged Croke on the subject, who remained silent, and both he and Grove repeated this assertion PENRUDDOCK'S SURRENDER. 14I commander, had no power to grant, and it is hardly chap. likely that he ever intended to grant them. At all xxxix.^ events, they were tacitly repudiated by the Govern- ^^55 ment as well as by himself.^ With the capture and dispersal of the insurgents J^^rriction at South Molton the rash game played by Charles, at ^t an end. the hazard of his most devoted adherents, came to an end. No Government could pass over such a defiance, and after due deliberation a special Commission was issued for the western counties and another for the northern. The Government boasted that it was the first time since 1 646 that treason had been submitted to juries. For all that, it was only by packing the juries with ' honest and-well affected ' persons that a favourable verdict could be looked for.^ Six of the prisoners put on their trial at Salisbury were found guilty of treason, one pleaded guilty, and in their dying speeches on the scaffold. On the other hand, the writer of one of the letters amongst the Clarice Papers (iii. 36) says that Croke said that ' they were no articles, but verbal conditions to this effect that they should have fair quarter, which they have had, and that he would earnestly intercede with my Lord Protector for their lives, liberties, and estates, which likewise he hath done.' Perhaps this was what Croke intended, though he may not have scrutinised closely the paper his commissioners signed. ^ Croke, in his despatch written the next morning {Merc. Pol., E 830, 23), merely says ' some of them yielded to mercy. I promised them I would use my endeavours to intercede for their Jives ' ; and this he afterwards did for five of them. The most probable explanation of the whole matter is that Croke urged the men firing from the house to surrender, and, on their consent to negotiate, sent, as Penruddock states, a corporal and a trooper to treat. Penruddock, having drawn up these impossible articles, submits them to the two commissioners, who blindly accept them. Penruddock in his petition says nothing of Croke having given his personal word, biit of course holds Croke responsible for his agents. That these articles, even if assented to by Croke, would be held to be quite worthless was shown by the similar case of Hamilton in 1649. See Vol. i. 11. '^ Thurloe to Pell, April 6, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 162 ; Dove to Thurloe, March 29, Thurloe, iii. 318. 142 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 Apr. 11-12. Trials at Salisbury, Apr. 18. at Exeter, .Apr. 25. and at Chard. Attitude of the army and the people. Thurloe's view. three were acquitted ; six others being found guilty of horse-steaUng, probably, though not certainly, in connection with the insurrection.^ Of those convicted of treason, only three were executed, one, a gentleman named Lucas, being beheaded, and the other two hansred : thouc^h in their case, as in other cases in the course of these assizes, the barbarous concomitants of hanging were remitted.^ At Exeter, where the court opened on the i8th, twenty-six prisoners, in- cluding Penruddock and Grove, either pleaded guilty or were convicted, whilst three were acquitted and one had a No Bill found by the grand jury.^ Of the whole number, seven only ^ were hanged, and two — Penruddock and Grove — beheaded. At Chard, on April 25, the condemnations were six. As no execu- tions are reported, it may be presumed that none took place. In the suppression of this rebellion the discipline and fidelity of the soldiery had been placed beyond dispute. The attachment of the civilian population was more open to question. Before the defeat of the insurgents was known in London, Thurloe assured a correspondent 'that all the counties in England would, instead of rising for them, have risen against them; and the Protector could, if there had been need, have drawn into the field, within fourteen days, 1 Tlie Perf. Diurnal, E, 833, 9. 2 The Faithful Scout, E, 838, 5. ^ Thurloe, iii. 394. * Perf. Proceedings, E, 838, 3, gives only seven, but in the Pro- tector's warrant, of which there is a facsimile in the Wiltshire Arch, and Nat. Hist. Magazine, xiv. 66, there are eight names. In a petition of the prisoners {ib. xiv. 65) only seven names are marked with an asterisk as those of men afterwards hanged. Amongst those not so marked is John Harris, whereas in the Protector's death- warrant is John Haynes. If the clerk who drew up the warrant put in Haynes by mistake for Harris, it would account for the escape of the eighth man. Claren- don's view. ESCAPES OF ROYALISTS. 1 43 20,000 men, besides the standing army. So far are chap. they mistaken who dream that the affections of this i^^ people are towards the House of Stuart.' ^ The ^^55 Eoyahst historian, writing long after the cause he favoured had triumphed over its opponents, took a different view^. " There cannot," he declared, " be a greater manifestation of the universal prejudice and aversion in the whole kingdom towards Cromwell and his Government than that there could be so many designs and conspiracies against him, which were communicated to so many men, and that such signal and notorious persons could resort to London and remain there without any such information or dis- covery as might enable him to cause them to be apprehended." - Clarendon, indeed, might have made out a yet stronger case if he had noted the facility with which Eoyalist prisoners succeeded in making their escape. It is certain that in one case, at least, it was Escape of not owing to the lenity of the Government that the prisoners death sentences at Chard were not followed by the usual result. The most important of the condemned was Major Thomas Hunt, who was removed to Ilchester gaol, outside the walls of which a scaffold was erected on May 15, to serve for his execution on the morrow. In the evening, however, he received a May 15. visit from his two sisters, one of whom took his place Ma^or^ ° in bed, whilst, disguised in her clothes, he walked out ^^"''' in company with the other, hiding his face as if to stifle his sobs, and was no more heard of in England.^ As the gaoler had been ordered to place his prisoner ^ Thurloe to Pell, March 16, Vaughan's Protectorate, i. 151. ~ Clarendon, xiv. 130. ■' Gary and Barker to Desboroiigli, May 18, Thurloe, iii. 453 Merc. FoL, E, 840, 7 ; Hunt's Petition, Aug. i, 1660, Hist. MSS. Cotn.- Pkcp. \ii. 123. 144 PENRUDDOCK'S EISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 Probable connivance of the gaoler. March. Escape of Maule- verer and Walter. Apr. 2. Eyton's escape, Wag- staff's escape, and O'Neill'i in irons, and had neglected to do so, there is some reason to suppose that, like the officials at Dover, he acted in opposition to the Government in whose service he was. The two ladies paid for their devotion by imprisonment for two years and a half. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that similar assistance was given to two of the Yorkshire plotters. Sir Eichard Mauleverer and John Walter, who had been captured near Chester. A guard was indeed placed outside the door of the room in which they were confined, but no notice was taken of a window in the room itself, through which they dropped easily into the street and got safely away.^ Eyton, again, one of the Shrewsbury insurgents, was allowed to let himself down from his window by tying his sheets together. As strict orders given to the marshal to put him in irons had been only so far complied with that a single leg had been fettered, the evidence that the marshal was in collusion with his prisoner appears to be complete.'^ Outside the prison walls the absence of any desire to assist the Government in arresting fugitives is even more significant. WagstafF, as well as several of his comrades, were able to conceal themselves in the houses of western Eoyalists till they found an opportunity to take shipping to the Continent.^ Daniel O'Neill effected his escape in much the same manner. Of all the conspirators, Eochester and Armorer were exposed to the greatest danger. The pair, making their way from Yorkshire, reached Aylesbury in the company of the Earl's French 1 Griffith to Thurloe, March 19, 27, Thurloe, iii. 273, 304. - Reynolds to Thurloe, April 2 ; Mackworth to the Protector, Aug. II, Thurloe, iii. 336, 706. ^ Clarendon, xiv. 1 34. ESCAPES OF ROYALISTS. 1 45 servant, and of a countryman whose services they chap. had engaged on the way.^ At Aylesbury they were i^5^^^ arrested by a justice of the peace named Henn,^ ^^55 whose suspicions had been roused by the failure of ]iresl^o°' Eochester and his companion to give a satisfactory ^°^^^®®** account of their movements. In the course of the Armorer. night, however, they bribed the innkeeper in whose charge they had been left with a sum of money and a ofold chain valued at 100/. Abandoning their March 21. ^ . . . ° Then- servants and horses, they succeeded in slipping away escape. to London. Eochester, after remaining there for some time in the disguise of a Frenchman in a yellow j)eriwig,^ reached Cologne about the end of May.* Armorer was equally successful in making his escape. Yet, though all this makes for the acceptance of support Clarendon's view of the situation, there is something thrpro'^- to be said on the other side. If the Protector had *®''*°'^' been the object of general aversion, he would hardly have raised the 4,000 men of the London militia so speedily as he did, nor would 400 volunteers have risen to support him in Gloucestershire, and still less 3,000 in Somerset even before they received his summons. Nor, it may be added, would the in- surgents have found so cold a welcome in every town through which they passed.^ On the whole, it is safest to conclude that both parties had a ' Mews to Nicholas, ''*y ^, NicJiolas Papers, ii. 327. ^ Well known to the readers of The Verney Mcinoirs as a seques- trator during the Civil War. ' Manning to Thurloe, April ^.^, Thurloe, iii. 339. * Henn's warrant, March 20 ; Henn to the Protector, April 2, Thurloe, iii. 281, 335. Henn was to have met Ingoldsby on the 21st, who no doubt reported the affair at once to Whitehall. On Eochester' s final escape, and also on Armorer's, see Manning to Thurloe, May ?,, S.P. Dom. xcvii. 109. "'• A few joined them in Salisbury, and a few in Blandford, but that is all. VOL. III. L 145 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 Probabili- ties of the Composi- tion of the Royalist group. / March 14. Appoint- ment of militia commis- tiioners. comparatively small number of devoted adherents, whilst the majority were more or less indifferent, and under the sway of two streams of feeling drawing them in opposite directions. On the one hand was the dread of rekindling the embers of civil war by any challenge to existing authority. On the other hand was a natural desire to save the life of a hunted fugitive, strengthened by a want of sympathy with the authorities who were seeking his death. Of the contposition of the Eoyalist group we have some means of judging from a list of prisoners confined in the gaols of Exeter, Taunton, and Ilchester. Of 139 persons named, 43 were esquires, gentlemen,- or officers. There were 10 servants, 8 yeomen, 19 husbandmen, 2 innkeepers, and the remaining 56, except a few to whom no occupation is assigned, small traders or handicraftsmen mostly from villages.^ Evidently the rising had. been one mainly of gentlemen and tlieir dependents. Of the partisans of the other side it is impossible to speak with equal certainty, and still less of the mass which took part with neither. It is safe, however, to say that all the purchasers of confiscated lands supported the Protectorate, as well as that not inconsiderable class which was Puritan without being politically opinion- ative. At all events, there was sufficient evidence of support to justify the Protector in extending the system which he had already adopted in London.^ On March 14, two days after Desborough had been despatched to the west against the Salisbury insurgents, commissioners were appointed to organise ' Including one described as ' of Gray's Inn.' '^ Thurloe, iii. 306. The most numerous of the last class were tailors, of whom there were six. ^ See p. 128. THE MILITIA DISMISSED. 1 47 the militia ^ in the twenty-one towns or rural districts ' chaf. in which danger was most to be feared. On the iE^^^ 20tli, a few days after Croke's success at South Molton ^^55 was known, no less than 5,000 of the new militia were mustered in London in the presence of Eichard and l^^^^ll^°' Henry Cromwell. The Protector himself kept away, J" London. probably to emphasise the local and popular nature of the display.^ For the present no more was needed. The insurrection had been crushed, and on March 24 March 24. the Protector announced to the militia commissioners, not to' be appointed ten days before, that the danger was at an end. Thanking them for their zeal, he expressed his resolution to avoid unnecessary expense, in the hope that he would be thereby enabled to lighten the burdens on the j)eople, and directed that the militia- men should not he called out unless some fresh dano:er made it needful to ask for their services.^ The relief to the treasury brought about by the dismissal of the militia must have been most welcome to the Government. A day or two later the financial strain upon its insufficient resources was brought home to the Protector in an unex- pected way. The soldiers of his lifeguard, finding that their pay was left in arrear, l^roke into his kitchen at Whitehall, and made their dinner off the dishes pre- The Pro- pared for his own table. Oliver had too much sense dinner to take offence, and, coming down to the rioters, he assured them that they should receive their pay before many days were over, and directed his servants to fur- nish them with what further provisions they needed.* ^ Under the monarchy the militia had been organised by the lords- lieutenant appointed by the Crown. The innovation consisted merely in substitvtting bodies of commissioners for those functionaries. " Merc. Pol, E, 830, 23. ^ Order Book of the Council of State, Interr. I, 76 a, pp. 26-34. On the previous organisation of the militia, see Vol. i. p. 298. seir-ed. Pauluzzi to Morosini, .^Ih^, Venetian Transcripts, E.O. l2 148 PENRIJDDOCK'S EISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 April. A com- mittee of officers recom- mends the reduction of pay, It would need more tliorouo-lio-oinf]^ measures to- provide for the whole army, and about the middle of April a committee of the leading officers was- summoned to give advice on the situation. After some three weeks of deliberation they recommended a reduction in the pay of the soldiers, following in this the example which had been set by Parliament ^ and though they appear not to have as yet drawn up any direct scheme for diminishing the numbers of the army, they reported that it was desirable to nnd the procccd with tlic orgauisatiou of a militia of horse to formation ,, . ^ , . , , iii of a militia, oc kept HI rcscrvc, 111 wliich cacli man should receive 8^. a year on condition that he attended musters once in three months, and was prepared to be called out when needed for the defence of the country. When this plan had been carried into effect, the further question of reducing the numbers of the standing army would necessarily come up for consideration, as if it was im- possible to find pay for 57,000 regular soldiers, it was still more impossible to provide for a militia as well, even if the militiamen were only to receive a small retaining fee in ordinary times. May. Before the end of May the scheme for the militia A militia to *' , be raised. /was adoptcd by tlic Couucil, and officers were named to command the troops about to be raised, whilst an announcement was made that whenever they were needed for service they would receive the same pay as was given to the cavalry of the standing army.^ It was obviously necessary to connect these local y forces with the general military organisation of the country, and on May 28 — either by way of experiment or because the Western counties had been the scene of the recent insurrection— Desboro ugh, being already Des- borough to command it in the West. ^ Downing to Clarke, April 24; to Clarke, Maj 13, ClarJie MSS. xxvii. Nieupoort to the States General, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 82. A REORGANISED MILITIA. 1 49 in command of the regular forces in the six Western chap. counties, received a commission to command their .IX— ^ miUtia as well/ Up to this point there was evidently ^ ^^^5 no intention of creatini? a permanently embodied manent r^ M r 11 T militia militia, and the Councu therefore was able to discuss intended. with the officers the question of reducing the army, hoping to bring the military expenditure within the limits laid down by Parliament as soon as this reduc- tion had been carried out. In combining militia with regular troops the Government did but carry out the scheme of the dissolved Parliament. It was, how- ever, one thing for the Protector and the officers to consent to reductions so planned as to leave the •control over the militia in the hands of an elected House ; it was another thing to save themselves from financial ruin whilst keeping the whole of the forces under their own direction. Had the opposition to the Protectorate been leased solely on economical grounds, this programme would surely have been sufficient to ensure the support of the sober, hard-working classes. Un- fortunately for Oliver, there were legal as well as religious and political susceptibilities to be taken into account, and he had already discovered that some at least of the judges were unwilling to accept The the Instrument as a final constitutional settlement ind^the which they had no more business to question than ment"" the Caroline judges had any business to question the basis of the monarchy. The first note of judicial resistance was sounded by two of the judges, Thorpe and Newdigate, who, with other commissioners, were sent to York to preside over the trials of the insurgents captured in the North. On April lo the two iudo-es, Apr. lo. 1 • 1 r. 11 • • o, . -rx T-egal together with a lellow-commissioner, berjeant Mutton, difficulties. wrote to the Solicitor-General, bringing forward ^ Thurloe, iii. 486. I50 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. certain minor legfal difficulties which stood in their Strickland, who, Apr. 17. The In- strument ques- tioned. Maya. Thorpe and Nevv- digate dismissed The prisoners released on bail. ISovT^) refuses to pay Custom, being himself a Yorkshire way. man, had influence in the North, was despatched to smooth these difficulties away, but he could only report that the root of the mischief lay deeper than had been imagined at Whitehall, and that the validity of the ordinance of treason was called in question.^ As that ordinance had been issued, in full accordance with the provisions of the Instrument, before the meeting of Parliament, to throw doubts on its validity was tantamount to questioning the Instrument itself. If Oliver had remained passive when the objection was raised he must have been content to see the whole edifice of his Government topple over. As it was, Thorpe and Newdigate were summoned • before the Council and dismissed from their posts. ^ Those who profited most by the intervention of the Protector were the Eoyalist prisoners in gaol. When, in course of time, other judges arrived at York on circuit, they contented themselves with imposing fines for riot or misdemeanour, and released those who were not convicted on bail.^ The same question — that of the validity of the instrument — was at issue in a still more important case before the Upper Bench at Westminster. In the pre- ceding November a city merchant named Cony had not only refused to pay duty on a quantity of silk he had imported, but had violently expelled from his house the deputies of the Commissioners of Customs, in order to prevent them from making seizure of his goods. Being / summoned before a committee of the Council for the preservation of the Customs, which had been ^ Thorpe, Newdigate, and Hutton to Ellis, April 10 ; Strickland to Thnrloe, April 17, Thurloe, iii. 359, 385. ^ Merc. Pol, E, 838, 4. ' Nicholas to Jane, Sept. ^V. ^•^- -Do?». c. 99. CONYS CASE. I^I »/ / / Nov. i6. and ; appointed for tlie protection of the Commissioners, chap. he found his legal objections disregarded, and was 35$!^ saddled with a fine of 500/. Eefusing to pay, he was ^^54 ton Connnissioners of the Treasurv, widdrin},'- ~ "^ ' toil Coiii- with Colonels Montague and Sydenham as their missioneiH '^. -^ . of the colleagues/ From this secure retreat Whitelocke Treasury. regarded the proc^eedings of his successors with a critical eye, and took pleasure in recording that they failed either wholly or partially in carrying out the ordinance which they had undertaken to enforce.^ In the course of the discussion Whitelocke had ^. ""fs*'^- tioii Irom thrown out a suf>-<^estion which, if it had been whito- ^^ ' locki; accepted, might have paved the way to better results. Might not the Coirnnissioners ' have leave to offer regulations to my Lord which shall be as effectual as those proposed in the ordinance ? ' ^ The Protector's reply is not recorded, but experience must have made him distrustful of any mere regulations of the court issued by lawyers so conservative as Whitelocke and Widdrino'ton. o To those who had looked hopefull}' to the Protectorate as a centre of reforming energy, the discovery that its powers were si)ent must have 50; W liif doc kc, 621-27. t^ee the remarks of Mr. Tiidenvicli in The Inferref/ninn, 224-29. ^ Whitcloclsr, 627. '' lb. 625. Whitelocke's expressions are somewhat obscure, but it seems hardly likely that the ordinance should have been left wholly unexecuted, thouf,'h it may have proved impracticable in some of its details. ^ Arguments of the Conmiissioners, April 23, Cnrte MSS. xxiv. 50. 156 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 Proposed revival of the king- sliip. June I, A crowd at West- minster. The as- sumption of a new title favoured by civi- lians. The officers prefer a revival of the power to issue ordinances. been far- from agreeable, and it can hardly be wondered at that a movement sprang up — not without considerable support outside Oliver's im- mediate surroundings — for the revival of the king- ship in the person of the Protector, with the object of settling men's minds and assuring the permanence iOf civilian government.^ By returning to the old Constitution the difficulties raised in the last Parlia- ment would be laid aside, and, though Oliver's power would undoubtedly be diminished rather than increased, he might possibly think himself com- pensated by the growing number of adherents on whom he would be able to count. So widely spread was the expectation of an impending change that on June 1 a large crowd assembled at Westminster, expecting to hear that the Protector would announce his purpose to assume the Crown, or at least that he would claim the right to exercise legislative power.^ There can be little doubt that the first of these two proposals had been seriously discussed in the Council : and there is sfood reason for believing' that the preparation of the first great seal of the Protec- torate was delayed because it was still uncertain whether the new title to be inserted in it was to be that of king or emperor.^ It may fairly be assumed that the proposed assumption of the kingship was recommended by the civilian members of the Council ; whilst the officers advocated the title of emperor because, being unknown to the English constitution, its holder might assume under it any power he chose, ^ Pauluzzi to Morosini, May J|, |g^, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. ^ Mabbott to Clarke, June 2, Clarke Papers, iii. 41 ; see Perf. Proceedings, E, 842, 6. ^ Coyet to Charles X., June i, 8, StocTcTiolm Transcripts. The story about the great seal is to some extent borne out by the fact that the first seal of the Protectorate was not finished till some time after this date. A LEGISLATIVE POWER SUGGESTED. 157 find esperially that of issuing ordinances, wiiicli, in chap. accordance with the Instrument, had Lapsed at the . ^^i^- meeting of the late ParHament/ It was understood '^^5 that OHver had, tentatively at least, gi^-en his adhesion to the last-named plan, either with or without a change of title, and that a council of ^f officers officers had been sunmioned to take the proposal ^^^^^ into consideration.^ The army had produced the Instrument. Why should it not amend a constitution in thTwly! which it had itself brouo-ht into existence ? When, however, this council came together, further consideration only served to bring out the obstacles in the way — obstacles which could only be increased by the formulation of a definite plan for surrounding the Protector — by whatever title he was thenceforward to be known — with a body composed of the councillors, a certain number of officers, and ^ " His Highness, by not making it ''—i.e. the declaration for collecting the assessment — " an ordinance, hath modestly denied to assnme the legislature of the nation, though satisfied by many able judges and lawyers that he may legally do it." — ? to Clarke, Feb. 13, Clarice Poj^crs, iii. 22. I cannot imagine what the arguments of the judges and lawyers can have been. - " Di gia s'intende che d' intelligenza con li capi et officiali princi- pal! deir armata habbi a seguire un gran consiglio da guerra in cui r articolo principale sanl quello d' invitare il medesimo Protettore si riasumere in se il potere jurislativo, con il quale potrji riordinare (Xuesto punto importante della confusa giustitia, formare, e riformare quelle leggi che piu li aggradissero et in fine serrar la bocca a molti, e chiuder ad ogn' uno le speranze de' nuovi Parlamenti in Ingliilterra. Questo ho inteso si progetti dalle genti d'armi di concerto di quest' Altezza." Pauluzzi to Morosini, June Vj:, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. The words ' riasumere ' and ' riordinare ' bear out the supposition that no more was intended than the revival of the lost power of issuing ordinances in the intervals of Parliament. This is borne out by the language of a Koyalist who writes on June xV '• " We expect daily a declaration from the army where the legislative power must reside in the vacancy of Parliament, which infallibly will be in the Protector and Council" {Nicholas Paj^ers, ii. 353). The suggestion towards the end of Pauluzzi's letter may doubtless be taken merely as an expres- sion of opinion from one or two violent spirits. i=i8 PENRUDDOCK'S EISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 A pro- jected assembly of civi- lians. twelve lawyers, whose resolutions were to have the force of law. ^ A scheme so offensive to Enoiish feelingf could never have been made acceptable to the civilian members of the Council. At one time it had l^een hoped that the change might have been announced and the disputed points of law settled before the new term commenced on June 15,^ but that hope had now to be abandoned. From soldiers Oliver turned to the lawyers. If the army had declared against the assumption of the kingly title,^ the lawyers no less decisively declared against any assumption of legislative power without the authority of Parliament.* Towards the end of June the idea sprang up of bringing together in London a consultative body of civilian officials gathered from every part of the country.^ No such ^ Coyet to Charles X., July 20, StocJchohn Transcripts. ^ " Con r aviso de' principali capi et officiali dell' armata va il Protettore divisando e disponendo di rissolvere alcuna cosa per riddurre a qualche buon stato 1' ordine della giustitia nella confusione sua valevole a partorire maggiori sconcerti, et a far pervenire all' orecehio dell' Altezza sua sempre piii vive le doglianze di popoli, et percio tutto tende ai concerti di riassumere in se tutto il potere juris- lativo, che dall' armi solamente li puo esser conferito, et in occorenza vigorosamente sostenuto, per I'abbolitione di quelle vecchie leggi, et institutione de nove che piu adequarsi potessero al particolare servizio deir Altezza sua, onde quest' e la materia che al presente piu importa, parendo che senza vestirsi il Protettore d' altro titolo, non possa aggiustatamente decretarsi et pur questo, scuoprendosi molti e molti deir Armata stessa con buone ragioni piii rennitenti che inclinati. Kesta incombenza del Protettore, il pensare ai piu proprii ispedienti per veder a qualche buon segno ridotto questo importante articolo prima del maturar del termine giuditiario che sara fra pochi giorni." Pauluzzi to Morosini, June ^^. Venetian Transcripts, B.O. ^ In a letter to Fleetwood on June 22 Oliver wrote that ' the noise of my being crowned, &c., are . . . malicious figments,' Carlylc, Letter cxcix. Oliver, it will be observed, says nothing about the legislative power. ■* "La plurality di quali " — i.e. of the lawyers — "accordono che senza I'auttorita d' un Parlamento non possa cio favsi." Pauluzzi to Morosini, June ||. Venetian Transcripts, B.O. ■' " In questa settimana devono capitare qui in Londra tutti gli THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. 159 assembly was, however, called into being, and the chap. thought of making any further changes in the Constitu- J^^^ tion was dropped for some time to come. Dissatisfac- ^^55 tion with the resourcelessness of the Government, /"^f.,^°" ' A petition ! however, appears still to have prevailed amongst J^Q^*5n the some members of the Council, and it was probably instru- .... «ient. their opinion which found expression in a petition drafted, but probably not originated, by a certain John Norbury,^ and largely signed in the City. Those whose names were aj^pended to it asked that the Protector should resume the legislative power in order to effect certain legal reforms, and especially to remove the injustice of the actual law of debtor and creditor. Taking a leaf from the authors of The Agreement of the People, the promoters of this petition proposed to obtain subscriptions in every county in sufficient numbers to give to their plan constitutional authority at least as good as that of the Instrument. After this had been done it was hoped that Oliver, having carried into effect the objects for which this new dictatorship was conferred on him, would consent to summon another Parlia- ment. By this time, however, the Council, as a whole, was in no mood to run the Protectorate into danger by shifting the basis of the Government, and on Au^-ust 10 strict orders were ^iven for the „,^"g- v°- . . . . The peti- suppression of Norbury's petition, on the distinct tion sup- ground that it contained proposals incompatible with giudici, commessarii e liiogotenenti die siano nelle Provincie admessi dal medesimo Protettore." Ih. J""e24_ July 4 ^ On Aiigust 14 Norbury stated that he had only drawn up the petition as a lawyer for his clients. He was a small Chancery official who had complained of his loss of income by the Chancery reforms, and hardly the man to originate 8, scheme of this kind. See a petition signed by him on March 29, S.P. Dom. xcv. 80. The political petition is stated by Thomason as being ' cast about the streets in the night July 30.' Mrs. Everett Green incorrectly calendared it under August 10, the day on which Korbury appeared before the Council. i6o PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 The offi- cers drop the plan of reviving the legis- lative power. The officers alarmed. May 18. Five persons trans- ported to Barbados. the Instrument.^ This step was taken at the instance of the officers, who, though they had originally suggested the project of reviving the legislative I^ower, now dropped it in favour of the opposite plan of adhering literally to the prescriptions of the Instrument, as the sheet-anchor of the Protectorate.^ Since the officers had been caught by the notion of remodelling the Instrument the fact had been brought home to them, as well as to the Protector, that trou- blous times were still to be confronted, and that it would be in the highest degree dangerous for them to embark on fresh constitutional experiments. It is true that on May 18, when the Eoyalist movement appeared to have been entirely suppressed, the Govern- ment had been so far satisfied with the peacefulness of the outlook as to content itself with ordering the transportation to Barbados of no more than seven persons. Of these, one — Anthony Jackson — had proclaimed Charles as king of England before his defeat at Worcester. Three others — Somerset Fox, Francis Fox, and Thomas Saunders — had been implicated in the assassination plot of 1654, whilst Colonels Grey and Gardiner, together with Eowland Thomas, had taken a leading part in the recent conspiracy. An eighth, James Hodges, was charged, not with treason, but with 'high misdemeanours.' Two of the persons afiected by this sentence — Grey and Jackson — were spared on account of the weakness of their health ; and Hodges, too, appears to have * Norbury's Petition, Aug. lo, S.P. Dom. c. 21. For the proceedings against Norbury see Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, pp. 23 1 , 233. "A petition," wrote Mabbott to Clarke on August 11, "is carrying on in several places here for his Highness to assume the title of emperor or king : the subscriptions will be many ; there is not any of them yet presented to his Highness," Clarice Papers, iii. 48. As no such title was suggested in Norbury's petition, which was, moreover, suppressed the day before those words were written, it looks as if other petitions were in circulation. ' Pauluzzi to Morosini, Sept. ^y* Venetian Transcripts, li.O. EOYALISTS TRANSPORTED. l6l been ultimately allowed to remain in England. If chap. so, five only were forced to depart to what, at the i^i^ best, was a cruel, though but a temporary, captivity.^ ^^55 One of those transported — Somerset Fox — had already been condemned to death, and it was probably thought sufficient excuse for the transportation of the others that the death sentence would almost certainly have been passed upon them if they had been sent • before a jury." ' Warrant, May i8; Barkstead to Thurloe, March 25, 1660, Thurloe, iii. 453 ; vii. 639. In the last-named letter Hodges' name is not mentioned among those put on board ship. - Prisoners and others sent to Barbados od feisewhere in America are frequently spoken of as having been sent into slavery. If the word is x;sed rhetorically it may be true enough. The petition of Marcellus Rivers and Oxenbridge Foyle, after their return to England in 1659— they having been among the prisoners charged with partici- pation in Penruddock's rising, and transported later in the year to Barbados — shows their condition, even if allowance is made for exaggeration, to have been deplorable enough. " Being sadly arrived at Barbados," they say, " the master of the ship sold your miserable petitioners and the others, the generality of them to most inhuman and barbarous persons, for 1,550 pounds weight of sugar apiece ... as the goods and chattels of Martin Noel and Major Thomas Alderne of London and Captain Henry Hatsell of Plymouth, neither sparing the aged of threescore years old, nor divines, nor officers, nor gentlemen, nor any age or condition of men, but rendered aU alike in this most insupportable captivity, they now generally grinding at the mills, attending furnaces, or digging in this scorching island, having nothing to feed on — notwithstanding their hard labour — but potato- roots, nor to drink but water with such roots mashed in it . . . being bought and sold still from one planter to another, or attached as horses and beasts for tlie debts of their masters, being whipped at the whipping-posts as rogues for their masters' pleasure, and sleep in styes worse than hogs in England, and many other ways made miserable beyond expression or Christian imagina- tion " {England's Slavery, p. 4, E, 1,833, 3)' I* is, however, certainly not the case that these men were condemned to a lifelong servitude, though they were not allowed, after their time of service had expired, to leave the island. " The custom of all merchants trading thither," writes r. Barrington, who visited Barbados in 1655, "is to bring as many men and women as they can. No sooner doth a ship come to an anchor but presently the islanders go aboard her inquiring what servants they can buy. If they are above seventeen years of age, they VOL. 111. M l62 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 May 21. Eight prisoners sent from the Tower into con- finement in the country. In any case, we have to do with an evasion of the law. Three days later seven prisoners in the Tower — five Scots who had been confined there since the battle of Worcester, Crawford, Lauderdale, Kellie, Sinclair, and David Leslie — were, together with three Englishmen — Grandison, and the two Ashburn- serve but four years, according to the law of the island ; but if under seventeen, then left to the discretion of the merchant as he can agree with the planter. These servants planteth, weedeth, and manureth their ground, all by hand. . . . The freemen . . . are such who served in the country for their freedom, or paid their passage when transported from England " (F. Barrington to Sir John Barrington, July 14, 1655, Hist. MSS. Com. Bep. vii. App. 571). Ligon, writing a little later, puts the service at five years. " The island is divided into three sorts of men, viz. masters, servants, and slaves. The slaves and their posterity, being subject to their masters for ever, are kept and preserved with greater care than the servants who are there but for five years, according to the law of the island. . . For the time the servants have the worse lives, for they are put to very hard labour, ill lodging, and their diet very shght. . . . Truly I have seen such cruelty done to servants as I could not think one Christian could have done to another ; but as discreeter and better-natured have come to rule there, the servants' lives have been much bettered, for now most of the servants lie in hammocks and in warm rooms ; and, when they come in wet, have shift of shirts and drawers, which is all the clothes they wear, and are fed with bone meat twice or thrice a week " (Ligon's Hist, of Barbados (ed. 1657), pp. 43, 44). The early laws on the subject are not printed by Rawlins in the Laivs of Barbados, probably because they were superseded by the law of 1661, by which seven years' service is appointed under the age of seventeen, and five years above that age {ib. p. 30). In answering Rivers' petition in 1659, Noel, the merchant who sent over Colonel Gardiner and the others, declared that ' indeed the work is hard, but none are sent without their consent.' It is, indeed, not unlikely that the form of asking consent was gone through to save appearance. Noel goes on to say : " They serve most commonly five years, and then have the yearly salary of the island. They have four times of refreshing, and work but from six to six ; so it is not so hard as is represented to you; not so much as the common husbandman here" (Burton's Diary, iv. 258). This is, of course, an interested view of the situa- tion. For an exhaustive study of the position of servants— as opposed to slaves — in Virginia, sec Bruce's Economic Hist, of Virginia, i. 572-634, "• 1-57- MANNING, THE SPY. 1 63 hams — removed to various prisons in the country.^ chap. ■On tlie same day Lord Byron, who had been ^^^^L impUcated in the late conspiracy, was arrested with ^^55 ii companion near Co vent Garden.^ This arrest was ^0^^*°^ probably made in consequence of a fresh search Byron, among the houses in London likely to harbour Eoyalists, a precaution adopted in consequence of information received from a young man named ^^^'^'^~ Henry Mannino- who had arrived at Charles's Court Manning's -, ... reports. m the early part of the 3'ear, Finding himself, like many of his companions in misfortune, reduced to the direst straits, Manning resolved to ward off starvation b}^ supplying intelligence to Thurloe. Since March 26^ he had been writing diligently to the Secretary. Though not admitted to the secret counsels of the Court, he was able to pick up a con- siderable amount of information, which he committed to paper for Thurloe's benefit.* He had much to say on the movements of Eoyalists engaged against the Government, and the fictitious names by which some of them passed in England. In a letter written 1 Nieupoort to the States General, ^a^i^, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 100 ; A Perfect Account, E, 842, 4. There were rumours that they were to have been sent to the plantations. If this was contemplated, their imprisonment in England must be regarded as an act of clemency. Pauluzzi's statement on June /g {Venetian Transcripts, Jt.O.), that Grandison committed suicide on the way, is devoid of truth, as on August 30 he was in the Isle of Wight, and was soon afterwards liberated with the Earl of Kellie. Petition and order, August 30, is. P. Dom. c. 66 ; Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 259. 2 Nieupoort to the States General, ^iaz^, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. June i 106 ; Perf. Proceedings, E, 840, 5. ^ His first letter was written on March ^.^, Thurloe, iii. 190; but for want of a cipher he sent no intelligence till the date named. Even then no cipher had been received, but he seems to have dis- regarded the difficultj^ in the hope of winning Thurloe's confidence ; see NicJiolas Papers, iii. 149. •* Manning to Thurloe, "*'^^-*? April ,^.5, Thurloe, iii. 338 ; May [?] , S.P. Dom. xcvii. 109. M 2 1 64 PENRUDDOCK'S RISING. CHAP, on May 1 1 , wliicli must have been in Tliurloe's hands V v \' TV , , . -, L. before orders were given for the search which 1655 resulted in Byron's capture, Manning, after imparting a considerable amount of information about the persons embarked in the late conspiracy, with details of persons and places which do not aj)pear to have ^•',^"^- hitherto reached the Government's ear, added that gests the ^ ' existence many Eoyalists had proposed to assassinate the of a mur- ./ ^ ± x del- plot Protector, "though he acknowledged that Charles was ' not forward to have it done.' ^ His infor- Whether Manninfj had or had not yielded to the niation on O «' persons tcmptatioii to exaggerate his knowledge of projects the last on which he can have had no more than second-hand information,- his statements about persons were precise and definite. So far as appears it was this part of the charge which took most hold of the Protector's mind. " We are able," he said in the following year, " to make it appear that persons who carried themselves the most demurely and fairly of any men in England were engaged in this business." ^ Unable to enter into the feelings which nestled in their aggrieved hearts, he ascribed their conduct to pure malignity, and came to the conclusion that, whether they were actively engaged in a new conspiracy or not, it was essential to deprive them of June. ii^Q means of doinij harm. In the first week in June Koyalists _ *- arrested, scveral prominent Eoyalists were arrested. On June 9 Lord Willoughby of Parham, Lord Newport ^ and his brother, with Geoffrey Palmer and Henry ^ Manning to Thurloe, May JJ, Thurloe, iii. 428. ^ It will, however, be seen that later in the year there was indubitably a plot to assassinate Oliver. It is clear from references in Manning's letters that others were written which have not reached us, so that we cannot tell how much more he disclosed. ^ Carlyle, Speech V. Oliver directly attributed his information to Manning, who was then no longer alive. "* Lord Newport of High Ercall, not the Earl of Newport. ARRESTS ON SUSPICIOX. 165 Seymour, were sent to tlie Tower. The Earl of chap. XWTX Lindsey, Lord Lovelace, Lord Falkland, and many ^l^-IJ^ others had already been seized in Oxfordshire,^ and ' ^55 the action of the agents of the Government in other ■comities was no less prompt. Before long Lambetli and St. James's were crowded with imprisoned Eoyalists, and when room failed in London, country prisons had to serve the turn. It is true that the confinement was made as easy as was compatible with privation of liberty. " We are not kept close," wrote one of those under arrest at St. James's, " nor are our friends kept from us." ^ All through June the arrests were numerous,^ Lords Coventry, Maynard, and Petre beino' amono-st the victims. Before the end of the month no less than thirty-five Eoyalists were confined at Lynn alone. Against these prisoners no definite charge was xi^e brought. They were, as the Protector afterwards aiTestedou allowed, arrested merely on suspicion. If a new plot «"*^picioii. was in the air — and there can be little doubt that it was — it would be well to anticipate its outbreak by rendering innocuous all who were likely to take part in it. Before long Oliver's anxiety took a new turn, informa- By the end of June Manning's letters began to point wher more clearly to a resolution of some, at least, of the proposMi, Royalists abroad to resort to the nmrder of the Pro- inm-aer'' tector as a preliminary to another insurrection,"* and ^^'°*' it must have been to guard against such a contingency ^ Council Order Book, hiterr. I, 76, p. 130; Croke and Smith to the Protector, June 6, TJmrloe, iii. 521 ; Nieupoort to the States General, June ;lf , Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 113; The Perf. Diurnal, E, 843, 4. - Sir R. Verney to E. Vcrney, June 22, Verney MSS. •'' Nieupoort to the States General, -^^'J^l^, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. ii2r ; The Faithful Scout, E, 845, 3 ; Perfect Proceedings, E, 845, 12. ■* Manninpr to Thurloe, Junejs, a; g p Dom. xcviii. 45, 52. " ' Julys, G ' tj) 3 1 66 PENRUDDOCK'S KJSIXG. CHAP. XXXIX. 1655 July 6. Royalists banished from London. that orders were given on July 6 for the banishment from London and Westminster of all who had adhered to the Eoyal cause. Their enforced sojourn in the country was to last till October 20, when the com- mencement of Michaelmas Term would require the presence of many of them in the courts of law. It is hardly necessary to prove by evidence that the English Eoyalists ^ were quite ready to engage in a fresh insurrection if circumstances offered a chance of success, and it is now known ^ beyond dispute, not ^ A letter from Major Armorer does not go so far as to be quoted in evidence, but it shows what the temper of the Eoyalists was and, it may fairly be added, must have been. " Saturday last," he writes — Saturday was June 9, the day of the arrest of a large number of Eoyalists — " was a sore blow to your Majesty's good friends, who were both willing and able to serve you. . . . That sad misfortune has hindered me to make some propositions to your Majesty from some that I heard upon the way. as I left London, were amongst the number of those taken. . . . God has yet preserved some, that truly I hope cannot come under suspicion, who are both willing, and I hope will be able, to serve you. I am by their order to inform them,. as soon as your Majesty thinks fit, which way your Majesty will be served by them. If it be the way my Lord Eochester proposed, they have promised to prepare their friends for it. If your Majesty resolve any other, they have appointed me a way how to let them know it when it shall be seasonable." Armorer to Charles, June 24, i.e. A|, TJmrloe, i. 695. - "There is a proposition has been made to me which is too long to put into a letter, so that I will, as short as I can, let you know the heads of them. There are four Eoman Catholics that have bound themselves in a solemn oath to kill Cromwell, and then to raise all the Catholics in the City and the army, which they pretend to be a number so considerable as may give a rise for your recovery, they being all warned to be ready for something that is to be done, Avithout knowing what it is. They demand 10,000 livres in hand and, when the business is ended, some recompense for themselves, according to their several qualities, and the same liberty for Catholics in England as the Protestants have in France. I thought not fit tO' reject this proposition, but to acquaint you with it, because the first part of the design seems to me to be better laid and resolved on than any I have known of that kind ; and for the defects of the second, it may be supplied by some designs you may have to join to it. II you approve of it, one of the four, entrusted by the rest, will repair to- A MUEDEE-PLOT. 167 only that the murder-plot was no fimnent of Man- chat. • • . . XXXIX nnig's brain, but that it had received the countenance ^4 ^ of no less a personage than the Duke of York. ^ ^^ you, his charges being borne, and give you a full account of the whole matter." The Duke of York to Charles, May ^, ib. i. 666. Though both this and the letter quoted in the last note are printed in the Thurloe collection, neither of them was ever in the hands of the Protector or his ministers, having been communicated to the editor by the Archbishop of Canterbury from the manuscript originals, These are now in the Lambeth Library (Vol. 645, No. 33), forming part of the Tenison collection. 1 68 CHAPTEE XL. THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. The political situation had been much changed since -_J_,J_ the dissolution in January, when the Protector had set '^55 out with the intention of governing in accordance '^^,^x- , with the Instrument, so far as it was possible for him political '^ ■•■ situation. gQ to do. Iiisurrectiouary movements had followed ' closely on one another, varied by an occasional plot for the assassination of the Chief of the State. Fruit- less as had been the discussions on a change of the / Constitution, it is not unlikely that they resulted in a tacit understanding that, though there were no means , of changing the law, there should hereafter be less scruple in breaking it wherever the safety of the existing Government was concerned. In later times Parliament would have suspended the action of the Habeas Corpus Act, and have thereby empowered the Executive to take exceptional measures for the safety of the State. The Pro- guch a coursc being out of the question, the Pro- tector and '-' ^ ^ the law. >/^tector had no choice but to succumb to the wave of conspiracy which beset him, or to resort to measures which could not be justified by law. We may blame him, if we will, for not having thrown down his arms before a Parliament aiming, consciously or unconsci- ously, at sovereignty, but our blame may well be moderated when we remember that he was striving not for the gratification of personal ambition, but for the THE PROTECTOR AND THE LAW. 1 69 maintenance of a Constitution which, at least in its chap. main provisions, he firmly believed to have been ^_1^J_ framed in the best interests of the nation. It is usual ' ^^ to compare the position thus assumed by the Protector with that which had been maintained by Charles I. Both were contending against the same antao-onist — compari- son a Parliament resolved to subject all other institutions between in the State to its sole will and pleasure. Both set chariesi. aside without compunction the duty of subordinating their actions to the nation's will, on the ground that the nation was ill-informed, petulant, and hostile to its own surest friends. The difference between the two men lay, in the first place, in the support given by Charles to a system of external obedience and conformity, whereas Oliver strove for a system of the utmost practicable liberty in thought and belief ; and, j in the second place, in Charles's habit of clinging to formal legality, whilst Oliver, having an army at his back, preferred to break openly through the meshes of the law when they entangled his feet. Charles, when necessity arose or appeared to arise, fumbled over the knot of his destiny in his effort to unloose , it ; Oliver hacked at it with his sword. It may at / , / least be set down to the Protector's credit that, when ''^^ ^ he sinned, he sinned boldly. V Oliver's defence of his conduct in arrestino' The T~» T 1 1 • 1 • • 1 Protector Eoyalists and keepnig them m custody without legal on his warrant was })lainspoken enough. " If this be the case," he said, after setting forth from his own point of view the history of the late disturbances, " between us and the late King's party — to wit that they have notoriously manifested it to the consciences of all men that they do not only retain their old principles, and still adhere to their former interest in direct opposition to the Government established, but have lyo THE MAJOR-GENEKALS. CHAP. XL. July 26. The new establish- ment for the army July 31. confirmed by the Protector. The numbers of the army reduced, and its pay- been all along hatcliing new disturbances and en- deavouring, as well by secret and bloody assassinations as by open force, to introduce the one and overthrow and subvert the other, it will not be thought strange upon any account whatsoever that we did lately secure so many of the men of that interest, although they were not visibly in arms upon the late insurrection." ' Yet, if the Protector and the army on which he based his power were to maintain this defiant attitude, the financial necessities of the Government rendered it necessary not merely to reduce the soldiers' pay, as had been proposed in April,^ but also to diminish the numbers under arms. With this object in view a new establishment for the army in Great Britain, bringing down the number of men in each regiment of foot to 800, and in each regiment of horse to 300, was adopted by the Council on July 26, and confirmed by the Protector on the 3 ist.^ England was to be guarded by seven regiments of horse and five of foot ; Scotland by seven of horse and thirteen of foot. Including the soldiers in garrison, together with the officers and non-combatants, such as chaplains and surgeons, the whole force in the two countries scarcely exceeded 21,000 men;^ though unluckily, it was impossible to eflfect a reduction on the same scale in Ireland which would bring down the numbers of the whole army to the 30,000 contemplated by the Instrument. Secure of the support of the superior officers, the Council did not hesitate to cut down the pay of the cavalry from 25. 6d. to 25. 3*^. a day, and of 1 A Declaration of His Higlmess, p. 13 ; E, 857, 3. ^ See sujn-a, p. 148. ^ Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76a, p. 107. In one case an infantry regiment was allowed to contain 700 only. * 14,780 foot, 4,245 horse, 1,944 officers. There were also a certain number of soldiers of the train. on the revenue. A MILITIA OF HORSE. 171 the infantry from lod. to ^d., soldiers in garrison chap. being even reduced to Zd. The reduction was some- v. ,_L^ what less than that contemplated by Birch/ and was 55 justified for the same reasons as had weighed with the Committee of which he was the chairman. When this measure had been carried out it would be possible to satisfy the claims of the army in Great Britain out of the assessment, leaving 290,000/. a year to meet the wants of the army in Ireland.^ Such, at least, was the result on paper. Con- demtlids tingent expenses were, however, certain to arise un- expectedly, and amongst these the most burdensome was caused by the absolute necessity of providing some means of averting those Eoyalist plots and insurrections which had recently kept the Government continually on the alert. Always ready to carry out the ideas of the dissolved Parliament, so far as the}' could be made consistent with the strengthening of his own position, Oliver had already proposed to supple- ment the regular army by a local militia. For the mmtia attainment of this object he had already before the end of June actually embodied the new militia, instead of retaining the services of the men by a small payment, whilst leaving them their homes to carry on their ordinary avocations in accordance with the scheme adopted by the Council in the preceding month.^ This militia, consisting of volunteers who offered themselves from amongst the known supporters of ^ According to Birch's report, the cavalry pay was to have been 2s., the infantry pay 8cL See supra, p. 80. ~ The monthly pay of the army in England and Scotland was to be 50,486?. IIS. 4<:L, which, taking the year at thirteen lunar months, gives an annual payment of 656,325?. ys. 4(7. Putting this at 670,000?, to allow for contingent expenditure, there remains 290,000?. for Ireland out of the 960,000?. which was the assessment of the three nations. ^ See supra, p. 148. militia to be raised. 172 PENEUDDOeit'S-^tSfNtr. CHAP, the Government, was now raised in each county, num- . ^^' . bering for the whole of England 6,020 horse and 200 ^^55 foot. The annual expense of the new force was esti- itsnum- mated at 80,067/.^ Each of the troops into which organisa- tliis militia was divided was, as usual, commanded by its captain, but these troops were not formed into regiments. The purpose of the Government was to extend to the whole kingdom the system which pre- vailed in the West, where Desborough, with the style of major-general, would have commanded the militia of six counties whenever they were called out. Aug, 9. Accordingly, on August ^^-^en officers were niiutia 'named to take the command, with the rank of uSfthe Major-General, of the militia in the ten districts ofTen"""^ into which it was at this time proposed to divide Geiieniis. England.^ On August 22 Instructions were drawn j^^vnc-^' ' ^P? *-^^^ preamble to which plainly states the inten- tions to • tions of the Protector. " Whereas," it began, " we the Major- ^ . Generals, havc — by the advicc of our Council, for the preserva- tion of the peace of the Commonwealth, and the preventing, obviating, and breaking the designs of the enemies thereof, who are still restless and un- wearied in their endeavours to beget new troubles, and to put the nation into blood and confusion — thought fit to commissionate several persons of honour and approved integrity to raise, enlist, and command . . . troops of horse." The officer named in the Instructions was to take the command over these troops in the group of counties assigned to him, with the title of Major-General. With the authority thus conferred on him he was, in the first place, to attend ' Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 861. The 200 foot were stationed at Norwich. - Ih. p. 226. As the districts were subsequently changed, and their number increased to eleven, it is unnecessary to enter into particulars at present. A POLICE FORCE. ^7^ to the discipline of the force under his orders, ' to chap. I suppress all tumults, insurrections, rebellion, and . ^^' . other unlawful assemblies,' and for that purpose ^'^55 to march at their head, not merely within his own district, but wherever he saw fit in England or Wales. Secondly, he was to see that the arms of - all Papists and " Eoyalists were taken from them. Thirdly, highways were to be made safe, and robbers and highwaymen secured and prosecuted according to law. Fourthly, a strict eye was to be kept on the carriage of the disaffected, and no ' horse- races, cock-fightings, bear-baitings, or any unlawful assemblies ' permitted, on the ground that rebellion was usuall}^ hatched at such meetings. Fifthly, idlers > and persons having no visible means of subsistence answerable to their expenditure were to be sent out of the Commonwealth, whilst the execution of the laws for the benefit of the poor was urged. • Sixthly, the Major-Generals were, by their ' constant . carriage and conversation, to encourage and promote godliness and virtue, and discourage and discoun- tenance all profaneness and ungodliness,' and to ' endeavour — with the other justices of the peace and other ministers and officers who are entrusted with the care of those things — that the laws against drunkenness, profaneness, blaspheming, and taking of the name of God in vain by swearing, cursing, and suchlike wickedness and abominations, be put in more effectual execution than they have been hitherto ; and such justices and others as you shall find remiss, and so unfit for their trusts, you shall certify us and the Council thereof, that we may make provision there- in according to our duty and the trust reposed in us.' In the draft presented to the Council a seventh and last clause informed the Major-Generals that, tions 174 THE MA.JOR-GEXERALS. CHAP, with the assistance of several other persons, they ■ ^^' . were to levy a tax on malignants for the support of ^^55 the militia ; but this clause was withdrawn in favour of a colourless one requiring the Major-Generals to give notice to all persons concerned to meet them in their several counties. It is not in the least likely that the change denoted any intention of abandoning the proposed tax ; but it may well have been thought undesirable to mention it till the subject had been more thoroughly considered, after which specific directions could be more fitly given. ^ Character From thesc lustructious it may be slathered that, of these . . . . instruc- 4^ at least at this time, there was no intention of super- seding the ordinary magistrates by the Major-Generals. / It was with the help of the justices of the peace that / J the law was to be put in force, and except that the I expulsion of idle persons from the country was j legally justifiable only on the double assumption that ' such persons might be dealt with as vagrants, and that the Government was permitted to change the .penalties imposed by law on vagrancy into the punishment of banishment, there was nothing to give rise to the suggestion that the Major-Generals were ^ intended to override the law.^ Practically, their / appointment would work an immense change. ' ' Eemiss or timid justices of the peace would be t encouraged or terrified into the exercise of the functions imposed on them. A police force would be \constantly at hand, not merely to crush Eoyalist ^ S. p. Dom. c. 42. Mrs. Everett Green, in calendaring this docu- ment, states, very properly, that the seventh clause was omitted and another added in its stead. She has not, however, noticed that the new clause is to be found in No. 43, where it is expressly dated August 22. Under the date of August 24 she gives it as a preamble, which it certainly was not. - This is on the supposition that the Protector's ordinances issued under the Instrument of Government had the force of law. INSTRUCTIONS TO THE MAJOR-GENERALS. 1 75 I insurrections and to curb highwaymen and ro]3bers, chap. but also to support them in putting in force those . 1^-1— - unpopular statutes and ordinances which were di- ^^^^ jrected against the spread of irreligion and vice. Those amongst the justices who continued to move in these matters with leaden steps would know that there was now a vigilant eye upon them, and that any neglect on their part would, without delay, be reported to headquarters. Two days later a further Instruction was added Aug. 24. . The directing the Major-Generals to report on the ejection execution of the ordinance for the ejection of scan- to be dalous and inefficient ministers, which had hitherto out!*^ been slackly carried out, and had probably not been carried out at all in many districts.^ Evi- , dently there was an increasing tendency to make use \of the Major-Generals to quicken the zeal of the jlocal authorities in miscellaneous directions.^ It was not till September 2 1 that, after the Sept. 21. Council, in the Protector's presence, had agreed mission for to a form of commission for the Major-Generals,^ General^" a body of orders ' for securing the peace of the Orders for Commonwealth ' was adopted to fill up in detail the the peafe requirements of the article which had been dropped coSmon- on August 22. These orders were to be carried out, '^®*^*- under the eye of the Major-Generals, by certain commissioners,^ ultimately known as commissioners county for securing the peace of the country, who were named ^ This appears from the language of the reports of the Major- Generals. The ordinance had not, however, remained entirely a dead letter. The witnesses in the case of Pocock, the Orientalist, for instance, were examined by the ejectors at Abingdon on Feb. 12, 1655. Twells, Life of Pocock, prefixed to his Theological Works, i, 37. Other cases might be cited as well. - S. P. Dom. c. 43. "' lb. c. I ^^. ■• On August 22 tliese had been styled vaguely as persons to assist the Major-Generals, but they were called Connnissioners in an Order commis- Bioners appointed 176 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP, by the Government in each county. They were ^^' . directed partly at weakening the Eoyalist party, and ^^55 partly at securing from them a revenue which, fol- lowing the precedent of the Elizabethan recusancy laws, might wring out of those who needed watching the financial resources required for the payment of the watchers. Eoyalists of property were dealt with / in a drastic fashion. They were divided into three classes. The first, consisting of those who having, since the establishment of the Protectorate, taken part in any rebellion or in any plot against the Exactions person of the Protector, were to be imprisoned or from the r-.. ,. -in Royalists, bamshcd, their estates being sequestered for the payment of the newly raised militia, a third part being reserved for the wives and families of the offenders. The second, including those who, not having taken part in any rebellion or assassination plot, nevertheless appeared 'by their words or actions to adhere to the interests of the late King, or of Charles Stuart his son,' and to be dangerous enemies to the peace of the Commonwealth, were to be imprisoned or sent beyond the seas, though allowed to retain their estates. The third, com- prising those who, not being active Eoyalists, had their estates sequestered for delinquency, or had in former times fought against Parliament, were to in Council of the same date (Council Order Book, Interr.I, 76, p. 246). They are to be distinguished from the Militia Commissioners appointed in the spring, who are styled ' the former commissioners ' in a letter from Lawrence to Desborough of Feb. 13, 1656 {S.P. Dom. cxxiv. 41). Though there is no evidence of the date on which these latter were suppressed, it is probable that their powers were recalled on Oct. 1 1 , when the Major- Generals formally received their commissions. It is impossible to write on the subject of the Major-Generals without expressing gratitude to Mr. D. W. Rannie, whose account of the matter in the Hist. Beview (July 1895), x. 471, did much to advance our knowledge. His occasional slips are for the most part owing to his confidence in defective calendars, which he did not test by the original documents. CLASSIFICATION OF ROYALISTS. 1 77 l)ay TO per cent, oii their rental from land if it chap. amounted to lool. and upwards, and lol. on every — ,'-■_ 1,500/. of personal property in cases where there ^^^ was no real estate worth 100/. a year, with the pro- viso that their annual payments under this head should never exceed 100/. As for persons who had no estate, they were only touched if they lived loosely and were unable to give an account of them- selves ; in which case they were to ' be apprehended and transported into foreign parts, where they may earn their living by their labour,' a phrase which, differing as it does from the sentence of mere banish- ment pronounced on wealthier Eoyalists, is probably a euphemism for service in the colonies. No Eoyalist was, on pahi of imprisonment, to keep arms in his house, and those who were banished — doubtless those under the second head alone are intended — were not to return without license, on pain of the sequestration of their estates.^ Of a different order are the rules laid down with The •1 • 1 • • 1 1 • n Royalist / the obiect of strikmo- at the spn^itual and intellectual clergy , . silenced. root of Eoyalism, and which appear as a somewhat pale shadow of the statutes directed by Elizabethan Parliaments against Eoman Catholic priests. After November i no Eoyalist was to be suffered to keep " in his house any of the ejected clergy as a chaplain or a tutor for his children, under pain of having his fine doubled; and no such clergyman was to keep a school, preach, or administer the sacraments, celebrate marriage, or use the Book of Common Prayer, on pain ' Mrs. Everett Green gives it ' on pain of banishment,' which is not only improbable, but is not in the original. If the threat of sequestra- tion had been meant to refer to the first class, it could only mean that the wife and family of the returning exile would lose the third assigned to them. VOL. Ill, ^ 178 THE MAJOK-GENERALS. CHAP, of three montlis' imprisonment for the first offence, of ^ \ • _ . six months' for the second, and of banishment for the ^^55 third.i orders do Every one of these orders frankly reHnquished pretend to "^thc domain of law. Political necessity alone could be legality. pleaded in their favour. Their authors were, indeed, so anxious to cling to the skirts of legality wherever possible that, on the same day ' plays and interludes ' having been added to the list of malpractices against which the Major-Generals were to be on their guard, a reference to the Act which declared them unlawful was added in the margin.''^ Of a proclamation issued Prociama- on September 2 1 it may fairly be said that, if it was against the iUe^^al, it oiilv cscapcd lefi'ality by a hair's-breadth. election of ^-i -n P*^,*^. ,, Royalists. Ill the couutics tlic exccutivc authority was under the control of the central authority, which appointed not merely special commissioners, but also the ordinary justices of the peace. In the towns it was otherwise. Corporations chosen by election or co-option formed the governing bodies, mayors and other officials being elected in the manner indicated by the charter of the place. The Long Parliament, anxious to pre- vent such powers from falling into the hands of their opponents, had j)assed an ordinance disabling delin- quents from being placed in office for the next five years.' This ordinance was renewed as an Act in 1652, the term of its expiry being fixed at Septem- ber 28, 1655.* When, therefore, the Protector issued a proclamation on the 21st, directing that this Act should be punctually observed, his action was sup- ^ S. P. Dom. c. 136. "^ lb. c. 134. Mrs. Everett Green explains that these Instructions as accepted on Sept. 21 are the same as those calendared August 22 and 24. They, however, have the new clause (see p. 174) printed amongst them, and several written amendments. 2 Scobell, i. 135. •* lb. ii. 209. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS. 1 79 ported by the law ^ till the week came to an end, but chap. ... XT after that week had expired obedience to his command - i , -!_ rested on no foundation except his own declared ^^^^ will.2 Much as had been done, the Government was not Further , . . , ^ Instruc- 3^et prepared to set its instruments at work, as there tions were further details to be considered before the In- structions to the Major-Generals could be regarded as complete. The result was that on October 4 Lambert, Oet. 4. ,,,, IT • ^ • Lambert's who had taken a leading part m the committee additional of Council entrusted with this business, brought tions up a paper of additional Instructions, which was adopted, with amendments, by Protector and Council on the 9th.' The Instructions thus added to the Oct. 9. original seven were fourteen in number, of which the with ^ first nine were mere amplifications of the former ments." ones entering into questions of administrative detail. Eoyalist masters of families, after giving security that Points of they would neither plot against the Government trative" themselves, nor fail to reveal any such plot which came to their knowledge as having been entered on by others,^ were to give bonds for the good behaviour of their servants, and a list of such bonds was to be kept by the Major- Generals, and by them forwarded to the office of a registrar to be established in London. No one was to land in England from beyond the sea, without informing the Major- detail. ' That is to say, on the assumption that the Acts and ordinances of the Long Parhament after the breach with the King were legal, an assumption which was notoriously denied after the Restoration. - Printed in Hist. Rev. (Oct. 1900) xv. 655. ^ Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, pp. 324, 327. ^ This requirement is not to be found amongst the additional Instructions, but the bond is set forth in Merc. Pol., £,491, 7. Most likely it was added as an additional order for securing the peace of the Commonwealth after Sept. 21, the date of the orders as they have reached us (S. P. Dom. c. 1 36). K -2 l8o THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. General of his name, the place from which he came, v___,_:_. and the place to which he was going, engaging him- ^^55 self at the same time that if he came to London he would give more sj)ecific information as to his movements and business. If he had taken the King's side in former times, he was to give similar information whenever he changed his place of abode, whether m London or the country. Further Instruc- tions provided for the discovery of highwaymen and robbers, and directed that a more than ordinary regard should be had to the securing of the roads, chiefly about London. Moral or rjy-j^Q remaining- five Instructions were of a differ- social regu- o lations. • eut cliaractcr, being almost entirely occupied with considerations which, though not without reference to the baffling of conspirators, deal freely with ques- tions connected with moral or social order. No house standing alone and out of a town was to ' sell ale, beer or wine, or to give entertainment.' No one was to be allowed to ride post without previous notice being given to the nearest justice of the peace ; and the master of any inn, alehouse or tavern, who allowed his horses to be used for such a purpose was to forfeit his license. In London and ■■■ ^ Westminster all gaming-houses and houses of ill-fame were ' to be industriously sought out ' and closed. All householders within the same limits who had no trade or calling, or did not labour in such trade or calling, or had no other visible est^e, were to ' be bound to their good behaviour ana com2:)elled to work, and for want of good security to be sent to Bridewell.' Lastly, ' alehouses, taverns and victual- lincf-houses towards the skirts of the said cities were to be suppressed, except such as were necessary to lodge travellers ; the number of alehouses in all A MORAL GOVERNMENT. 161 Other parts of the town to be abated, and none chap. €ontinued but such as could lodge strangers and -_1,_:^ were of good repute.' ^ ' ^^ So far as a consideration of the order in which Tiie in- structions the various Instructions are placed may be allowed f^ii under ^ 1 • 1 *^^° heads to influence our conclusions, it must be admitted that there is some indication — it would be im- possible to style it evidence— of a twofold origin. The first six Instructions are, if not exclusively, yet , to a great extent,^ of a practical and administrative | character; and the same may be said of the first 'ij nine of the additional Instructions. To the first set was added, after an interval of two days, the In- struction to carry out the ordinance for the ejection of scandalous ministers ; to the second set are added the five Instructions which deal almost entirely with the repression of vice. From the position occupied as^tlThe'^ by Lambert in the committee which prepared and f^^^^l^^. amended these Instructions he may fairly be regarded as probably the originator, certainly the organiser, of the new police system, of which the Major-Generals 1 were to be the ofiicial heads. If he were the same j, man as the Lambert who had withstood the Protector at the Council-table when the West Indian expedition was under discussion,^ and who before that had taken a leading part in framing the somewhat unimaginative Instrument of Government, we cannot but recognise his hand in the practical requirements of many of these Instructiol|^. Is it wandering too far into the regions of conjecture to suggest that the readiness to add to the burdens originally laid on the shoulders of the Major-Generals the enormous task of encouraging ' Old Parliamentary History, xx. 461-67. ''■ Some of these earliest Instructions may be the result of a com- promise. ^ See Corrigenda to Vol. ii. at the end of this volume. 1 82 THE MAJOR-GENEKALS. CHAP, virtue and discouraging vice must surely have pro- , ^^' . ceeded from the Protector himself — the man who ^^55 }iad so glorified a naval expedition sent forth to pro- Protectol\ tect English commerce in the Indies that he saw in it nothing less than the avenging sword with which tO' strike down the enemies of God ? Should this view of the case be accepted,^ much that followed after- wards in the growing estrangement between Oliver and Lambert becomes easily intelligible without the necessity of having recourse to merely personal motives on one side or the other. For the time there was no breach. The Instructions were issued as a cS^iiii"' complete whole. On October 1 1 the commissions were mToi*°*^^^ formally distributed among the Major-Generals,^ and Generals ^hcv wcrc scut fortli to work tlic will of the Protector issued. •^ and Council as best they could. This view, that the morals and social aims of the Instructions were mainly inspired by the Protector himself, derives some corroboration from an attentive consideration of a Declaration issued by the Govern- Oct. 31. nient on October ^ i . It is true that till the end is Declara- •-' tion by the approachcd this manifesto bears no trace of Oliver's Protector ^ ^ and own hand, and may very well have been the work of Council ' *' "^ ^ Fiennes, who by some was believed to have been the author of the whole. ^ The narrative of the con- spiracies of 1654 and 1655, with which the Declara- tion opens, and the assertion that a similar conspiracy was still cherished by the Eoyalists, may properly ^ The length of time — from August 22 to Oct. 9 — during which the- Instructions were under discussion somewhat favours the view that there was some difference of opinion on the subject. ^ Only the commission to Butler has been preserved, R.O. Interr^ Box 2, No. 10. It may, however, be taken that the others bore the same date. •■' A Letter from a True and Lmvfiil Member of Parliament, p. 41^ E, 884, 2. On the authorship of this pamphlet, see infra, p. 185, note 2. AN OFFICIAL DECLAEATION. 1 83 liave been left to a subordinate. Towards the close chap. the reader seems to catch the tones of Oliver himself. . .,_1_. " It is plain," we are told, " to everyone that is not ^^55 blinded with prejudice that these men are restless in their desio-ns, and are the causes of all our trouble and unsettlement, and will leave no stone unturned to render vain and fruitless all that blood which hath been spilt to restore our liberties, and the hopes we have conceived of seeing this poor nation settled and reformed from that spirit of profaneness which these men do keep up and countenance, in contempt of all law and authority : — and therefore we thus argued, that unless we would give up the cause so long contended for, and the lives, liberties and comforts of all the well-affected of these three nations into their hands, or leave them exposed to their continual attempts, the peace and common concernments of this Commonwealth must be otherwise secured and provided for than at present they were ; that this was not to be done without raising additional forces ; that the charge of these forces ought not to be put upon the good people who have borne the burden of the day, but upon those who have been and are the occasion of all our danger.^ " Upon these grounds," he continued — if the voice was indeed the voice of Oliver — " ... we have thought fit to lay the burden of maintaining these forces, and some other public charges which are occasioned by them, upon those who have been engaged in the late wars against the State, having respect notwithstanding therein to such of them as are not able to undergo that charge." To this followed an argument that Charles's ' coming into the ^ It will be seen that the Protector did not in any way dissent from Lambert's practical methods. 184 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. Low Countries ^ was sufficient evidence that he had XT . !,_ expected a general rising of his supporters in England, ^^^ and that the collection of great sums for him was another proof that the design was favoured by many more than had actually risen in the spring.' ^ Having enforced this view of the position by further reasoning, the writer proceeds to claim for the Supreme Magistrate that in such case he must not be ' tied up to the ordinary rules,' and to urge j that it is justifiable to compel ' those of whom the people have reason to be afraid ' to ' pay for securing the State against that danger which they are the authors of.' If, the author of this part of the Declaration argues, the Eoyalists are treated as a class apart, it is through their own determina- tion to stand apart from the rest of the nation. *' There is nothing," he writes, " they have more industriously laboured in than this — to keep them- selves separated and distinguished from the well affected of this nation : — to which end they have kept their conversation apart, as if they would avoid the very beginnings of union ; have bred and educated their children by the sequestered and ejected clergy, and very much confined their mar- riages and alliances within their own party, as if they meant to entail their quarrel and prevent the means to reconcile posterity ; which, with the great pains they take upon all occasions to lessen and suppress the esteem and honour of the English nation in all their actions and undertakings abroad, ^ To Middelburg ; seep. 130. ^ It is not likely that much evidence as to the truth of this state- ment should be in existence. There are two accounts of Halsall's, dated June 23 and Nov. 25 respectively, showing that 3,390?. were sent over by him in the course of 1655. Clarendon MSS. 1., fol. 72 ; Thurloe, iv. 245. THE DECIMATION JUSTIFIED AND ATTACKED. 1 85 strivino- withal to make other nations distinguish chap. their interest from it, gives us ground to judge that . _\ ' . they have separated themselves from the body of the '^55 nation ; and therefore we leave it to all mankind to judge whether we ought not to be timely jealous of that separation, and to proceed so against them j 1 as they may be at the charge of those remedies which ' are required against the dangers they have bred." ^ Some months later Hyde, assuming the character Hxde's ^ of a Presbyterian member of the Long Parliament, ^^^ ^' struck heavily at the weakest point in this argu- ment. " Let us revolve," he replied, " the vast treasure we have lost, and compare it with the nothing we possess. The law says, ' No man shall be ^ punished if his offence be not proved by witnesses.' V This Declaration says, ' Though we abstain from any , ^\ unlawful action, we shall be punished for the malice U \ \ and revenge in our hearts.' The law says ' that a ' \ \ conspiracy to levy war is no treason, except there be a levying war in facto.' Your Declaration says, * If you have reason to believe that we have evil intention against the Government, we are without any right or title to anything we enjoy, and are at your mercy to dispose of as you please ' — which is the lowest condition of traitors. If this be liberty, . what nation in Europe lives in servitude ? " ^ From the purely legal point of view Oliver had onver no defence to make. Like Strafford, when the Short Send** Parliament threatened to overturn what, from his J^e^f""" point of view, was the constitutional edifice under s^'*^^^^^- which the people were sheltered, the Protector held himself, so far as the enemies of the State were ^ A Declaration of His Highness (p. 38), E, 857, 3. ^ A Letter from a True and Lawful Member of Parliament, p. 45, E, 884, 2. Mr. Macray has identified the author with Hyde in the preface to the third volume of his Calendar of the Clarendon MSS. 1 86 THE MAJOR-GENEKALS. CHAP. XL. 1655 / His position as a constable. The Eoyalists treated as a class apart from tlie nation. Royalism not a prepon- derant force. concerned, to be ' loose and absolved from all rules of government.' If the Constitution as settled by the Instrument was to be upheld, its enemies must, with or without the approval of the law, be rendered innocu- ous. In February he had explained that necessity had driven him to take upon himself the work of a con- stable to keep the peace between contending religious sects. ^ It now looked as if he would have to exercise the same office towards hostile political parties as well. ^ In treating Eoyalists as a class apart from the body of the nation the Protector did but follow in / the lines laid down by the Long Parliament at the commencement of the Civil War. Yet to do so was (none the less a political error. The greater the determination of any single class to stand aside from the main current of national life, the greater is the interest, to say nothing of the duty, of every Govern- ^ ' ment to close its eyes to the existence of the gulf which I separates it from its compatriots, and to treat those (who repudiate its authority, so long as they abstain 'from acts of resistance, as erring brethren, but as brethren still. The main question of interest, how- ^ ever, is whether Oliver's assumption that he had the national good will on his side was in accordance with facts or not. If it was, his system was likely to be per- / manent ; if not, it was doomed to speedy destruction. If the experience of the late rising was to go for anything, it is impossible to regard the stricter ( Royalists otherwise than as a cultivated but com- paratively small minority. No doubt their tenants and labourers looked up to them with respect, and, if circumstances were favourable, would have given them support. No doubt, too, there were in the towns a certain number of tradesmen and others ^ See supra, p. 115. POSITION OF THE EOYALISTS. 1 8/ who, tliougli hostile to Eoyalty in 1642, would have chap. been more or less willing to accept it in 1655. Of - — r^— any burning zeal for the restoration of Stuart ' kingship, outside the Cavalier families, there is, however, no trace whatever. Thurloe's spies bring to him in abundance tales of the machinations of Levellers and Parliamentarians. Denunciations of any popular outcry in favour of the exiled Charles are few and far between. Even in their cups the men of the people do not cry out for their King. It does not follow, however, that the masses were Divisions •^ for Oliver because they were not for Charles. The more the oppo- thinking members of the anti-Eoyalist party were Royaii°m. hopelessly divided, and the low social position of many of the officers went as far as any apprehension of con- stitutional danger to nourish disaffection to a Govern- ment resting on military support. " So strict a justice," y wrote a foreign ambassador when the appointment of the Major-Generals was still under discussion, " is held that the country hardly knows there is an army in it; but the meetings of its councils have caused an The army not exceeding ill-will amongst all the inhabitants, the popular, common folk being irritated at being ruled and commanded by those of their own class, and people of good birth despising the latter in their minds. One can therefore easily judge with what soreness of heart most persons see themselves placed at their mercy, and to have their own lot made lighter or heavier at their discretion." Such a state of feeling undoubtedly tended to a revival of Eoyalism. " There is no longer," writes the same ambassador, " a question whether they shall have a king, but who the king shall be, and so the former difference between the house of Stuart and all the inhabitants of the land is converted into a difference between the houses of THE 2HAJ0K-GENERALS. CHAP. XL. 1655 nor the attempt to enforce morality. Stuart and Cromwell." ^ y These words were written at a time when the movement for offering the Crown to the Protector was in full swing, and the writer, in the reflections which follow, clearly anticipates that the successful candidate for the throne will be King Oliver rather than King Charles ; but it is evident, even if we could close our eyes to the subsequent history of the nation, that there was growing up, even amongst those who were averse to Charles's restoration, a feeling, in some cases, of active hostility towards the Protectorate, and, in still more, of simmering dissatis- faction with the prevailing conditions of government. No doubt, so far as the decimation was concerned, Oliver had acted prudently in confining the infliction of special taxation to those who were possessed of what was in that age a substantial fortune. He was probably unaware of the extent to which he multiplied his enemies by his efforts to ensure the moral improvement of the people. Baxter, who, Puritan and controversialist as he was, at least kept his eyes open, characterised the 'Diocesan party ' as consisting ' of some grave, learned, godly bishops, and some sober, godly people of their mind ; and withal of almost all the carnal politicians, temporisers, profane, and haters of godliness 'in the land, and all the rabble of the ignorant, ungodly vulgar.' ^ To struggle against ignorance and vice was a high enterprise, worthy of the Protector's zeal. ^ Bonde to Charles X., July 27, StocTcholm Transcripts, ^ BeliquicB Baxteriance, i. 145. "When he comes to give his conjectural reasons for the adhesion of the last class, he suggests that one m&y be ' because the worst and most do always fall in with the party that is uppermost,' which cannot be applied to the times of the Protectorate. The words were written long after those times, and no doubt Baxter inadvertently gave expression to his judgment on what was passing before his eyes, in forgetfulness that it did not apply to the subject of the preceding sentences. THE ENFOIiCEMENT OF MORALITY. 1 89 It was also an enteqDrise calling for prudence and chap. circumspection far above the average. Was it so — ,-1 — - ctertain that by a wholesale closure of alehouses and ' ^^ bear-gardens Oliver would really exalt the stan- dard of morality in England ? Ko doubt he could plead that these things were done for a political object, as depriving Eoyalists of meeting-places where they might hatch their plots. Those who had taken pleasure in watching the agonies of the bear, and no less pleasure in fuddling themselves over their ale, were c^nly too likely to set down the new orders as the last experiment of the virtuous to abolish cakes and ale in the land, and, if they thought of politics at all, they would recall to mind the times when the late King had left them to enjoy themselves in their own fashion, and would long for the restoration of his son, who, if all accounts were true, was not likely to enforce on his subjects too high a standard of morality. Such considerations were, however, far from the .^J^"^-^!' ' ' A day of Protector's mind. From the lanofuao-e in which he iiumiiia- o t* , tiou announced, on JSTovember 21, the appointment of appointed. a day of humiliation it is evident that he looked (Ml the quarrels among Puritans with far greater ai)prehension than on any imminent danger from the side of the Eoyalists. Deploring ' the tares of division that had been sown by the envious one, the abominable blasphemies vented, the spreading of late through the apostacy of, and the abuse of liberty by many professing religion,' he com- plained of ' the continued series of difficulties we have been and are under by the secret and open practices of those that, bearing evil will unto Zion, have, Baalam-like, attempted all ways to frustrate our hopes and endeavours of such a settlement and I90 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. XL. Oliver's main object. Nov. 24. Declara- tion asainst maintain- ing ejected clergy. reformation as Iiath been so long contended for ; as also the weight of the woes of this generation.' On these grounds he called on the people to unite in prayer that God would disappoint the designs of all who set themselves ' against the interest of Christ and His people.' He would then teach them to serve the Lord God with one heart and one mind, and support those ' that are more esj^ecially engaged in and entrusted with the great affairs of this nation, by a spirit of counsel and wisdom to enable them faithfully to discharge their weighty trust, and that they may bear some proportion of serviceableness to the great designs and promises of God concerning the kingdom of His Son, our Blessed Lord, in these latter times, and may be used as instruments in His hand for the continuance and increase of the reformation and the security and settlement of these nations.'^ ) This, then — the leading of the nation into paths of unity and religious peace, not the establishment of protectoral or parliamentary constitutions — was 'the object nearest to Oliver's heart. Three days later he announced by another Declaration that Eoyalists whose estates had been sequestered or who had taken part in the war under the late King were to refrain from keeping arms in their houses after December i, and from maintaining any of the ejected clergy as chaplains or schoolmasters after January i — the date of November i, previously fixed, havingproved too early, the organisation under the Major-Generals not being capable of being put in operation so soon. The Declaration ended with a clause in which a ray of hope was permitted to those at least of the ejected clergy who had given ' a real testimony of their ^ A Declaration, Nov. 21, B.M. press-mark, 669. f. 20, No. 19. THE AIMS OF THE PIlOTECTOll. 191 godliness and good affection to the present Govern- ^^Jl^'" ment' offerinsf that to such ' so much tenderness • ■ — ■ shall be used as may consist with the safety and good of this nation.' ^ To a zealous Churchman like Evelyn, indeed, this last clause afforded no consolation. His occasional visits to London were made the opportunity of attending the ministrations of clergy who were not in the least likely to court a testi- monial of o'ood affection to tlie present Government. Dec. 30. *-■ -^ A last To him the last Sunday in the year,^ when he was service, present at the service held by Dr. Wilde at St. Gregory's — the only church in London in which the use of the Prayer Book had l^een hitherto connived at ^ — was as the closin"" scene of religion itself. " So Evelyn's >-. . "^ lament. this," he noted in his Diary, " was the mournfullest day that in my life I had seen in the Church of England herself since the Eeformation, to the great rejoicing of both papist and presbyter. The Lord Jesus pity our distressed Church and bring back the captivity of Zion." ^ Yet the heart of Oliver was larger than his theories, and it was not long before the clouds began to brealv. In January the aged 1656 Ussher, trembling on the brink of the grave,^ a petition presented a petition on behalf of ' the poor outed by^Ussher. clergy.' Xot only was this petition left without a satisfactory answer, but. if a Eoyalist rumour may be accepted, the Archbishop was reduced to admit to the Protector that ' the Common Prayer was Ijy the ' Declaration, Nov. 24, ih. 669, f. 20, No. 20, - This service is usually assi^med to Christmas Day, which is the date of the preceding entry ; but it is in the highest degree improbable that Dr. Wilde, on whose ministrations Evelyn attended, should have refrained from using the opportunity of meeting liis congregation on the following Sunday, Dec. 30. ^ Evelyn's Diary, ed. Bray, iv. 308. ■* 7Z^. i. 311. ■• He died on March 21, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the Protector contributing 200Z. to the expense. 192 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP, people made an idol, and therefore justly abolished.' ^ . ^!^^ However this may have been, the old man's pleadings 5 did not remain without effect. On some day in Feb. February a few of the leading Episcopalian clergy answer to werc summoncd to Whitehall, where Oliver assured copaiian them that, though he was well aware what was the ^ ^^^^' drift of their teaching, he was neither ignorant nor unfeehng with regard to the condition into which they had fallen. All that he asked was an engage- ment that if liberty were allowed them they would not make use of it to excite fresh disorders.^ On their assurance that the desired pledge would be forthcoming he promised to lay their case before the Council. There can be little doubt that, though his reference to the Council was not made ' in a form that could be placed on record, he The Deck- fulfilled liis promisc. The Declaration was not executed actually withdrawn or modified, but it was seldom, cfe^gy.' *^^ if ever, put in practice against the clergy. Not a single one of the reports of the Major-Generals — so far as they have reached us — even alludes to the ejection of clergy from private houses. The Eoyalist correspondents of Hyde and Nicholas have as little to say on a subject on which, if any e-vidence of facts came before them, they would gladly have dilated. When, in the next generation. Walker col- lected all available information on the sufferings of the clergy of his Church, he did not succeed in producing a single instance of a chaplain or school- master reduced to poverty by this action of the Protector."'' ' E. W[hitely] to Nicholas, Jan. i%, ^^^, S.P. Dovi. cxxiii. 27 ; NicJiolas Papers, iii. 261. 2 Nieupoort to the States General, ^^^, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 232. ^ It may be well to note here that this affair affords evidence of PRISONERS LIBERATED. 1 93 Having taken measures for assuring his military chap. control over the Eoyalist gentry, Oliver was pre- __,__ pared to show that he no longer considered them ^^55 personally dangerous. On October 3 he resolved Oct. 3. to throw open the prison-doors of the Eoyalists prisoners. shut up as a precautionary measure, on condi- tion of their giving security, not only to abstain from plotting against the Government, but also to give information against those who did ^ That the number of those set at liberty was large may be gathered from the fact that, out of four counties ' alone, no fewer than seventy-two obtained their release. A few had already been discharged on similar, or even on more onerous, conditions.^ It is, indeed, probable that this wholesale gaol-delivery was expedited by a suspicion that some of the prisoners might sue out a writ of habeas corpus when the new unblushing forgery on the part of Gauden. Just before the Restora- tion, when bishoprics seemed likely to be offered, he published a Remonstrance (E, 765, 7) which, he said, he had presented to Oliver on behalf of the clergy suffering through the Declaration. Unluckily for the truth of this allegation, he set down his words as pleading for those who had been condemned ' by your Highness' s late edict of Jan. I.' In 1660 he might have forgotten that Jan. i was the date fixed for the expulsion, and not that of the edict, which was in reality issued on Nov. 24. He could not have forgotten it in 1656. The man capable of forging this Remonstrance was capable of forging the Eikon. ' This secui'ity was subsequently demanded of all who had taken part in the Civil War. "~ Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge. •'• " Divers gone off, but sonje on so hard, and others on so un- handsome conditions that I know not how to wish myself free on the same terms." Sir R. Verney to Mrs. Sherard, August 27. Sir Ralph had returned to England, thinking himself safe under the Protectorate, as his only offence had been a refusal to take the Covenant. It is, however, easy to imderstand that, whilst a promise to betray any plots coming to his knowledge would be most repugnant to a man of his temperament, a refusal to give it might seem to the authorities an excellent test of Royalism. VOL. III. O 194 THE MAJOR-GENERALS CHAP. XL. Oct. 25. Royalists expelled from Loudon. Nov. 30. Transport- ation of the Exeter prisonei's. term enabled tliem to approach the courts — a move which would throw a fresh difficulty in the way of the adhesion of the judges to the Protectorate.^ No one, least of all Oliver, would count on the gratitude of the liberated Eoyalists, and on October 25 a proclamation was issued to safeguard the Protector's life by renewing the order for the expulsion of all members of that party from London and West- minster.^ Before the end of November Exeter gaol was cleared after another fashion. For some months it had been crowded with prisoners committed for their parti- cipation in Penruddock's rising. Two of these having petitioned the Council for liberty as banished men, if permission to continue in England after liberation were refused them, advantage was taken of their request to order the transportation of the whole num- ber to the Indies,' though one at least had had the bill against them thrown out by the grand jury,^ and others had been acquitted by the petty jury. It was afterwards stated by an interested party that none of them were transported without their con- sent being first given ; but, if this was the case, the ' This is perhaps hinted at in the following extract from a set of Royalist verses printed in Notes and Queries, 7th series, x. 41, by Mr. Firth, who assigns them on good grounds to Denham : — " Though the governing part cannot find in their heart To free the imprisoned throng. Yet I dare atfirm next Michaelmas Term "We'll set them out in a song." ^ Proclamation, Oct. 25, B.M. press-mark, 669, f. 20, No. 17. ^ There was an order on Nov. 30 to transport some to the East Indies, and another on the same day to transport all to Barbados and other foreign plantations. Possibly the word ' East ' was miswritten for ' West,' or the second order may have been intended to cancel the first. Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 404 ; 8.P. Dom. ci. 165. * This, howevei*, appears to have happened, not because the grand jury were convinced of his innocence, but because his indictment had been laid in a wrong county. Burton's Diary, iv. 258. TKANSPORTATION TO THE INDIES. 1 95 question must have been a pure formality, as there is chap. nothing in the Order of the Council to suggest that . ^^i^ any alternative was really offered. ^^55 The same partial witness, when called to account Their ■^ . treatment in 1659, not only stated, truly enough, that on their in the «/ c^ Indies* arrival in Barbados they were to be retained in forced servitude for five years, after which they would receive payment for their work as free labourers, but did his best to represent their condition as an easier one than that of the husbandman at home.^ Five of those who were the subjects of the experiment told a different story. On the outward voyage they were ^ locked up under decks — and guards — amongst horses, that their souls through heat and steam, under the tropic, fainted in them.' On their arrival they were enthralled ' in this most insupportable captivity, they now generally grinding at the mills, attending the furnaces, or diofo^ino- in this scorchinf^ island : havino' ' 00 CD O ' i" naught to feed on — notwithstanding their hard labour — but potato roots, nor to drink but water with such roots washed in it — besides the bread and tears of their own afflictions — bein^p bouojht and sold still from one planter to another, or attached as horses and beasts for the debts of their masters, being whipped at their whipping-posts as rogues for their masters' pleasure, and sleeping in styes worse than hogs in England, and many other ways made miserable beyond expression or Christian imagination.' ^ The practice of awarding transportation, even to ^wth unconvicted prisoners, at the mere pleasure of the practice of , -, , ... transporta- executive (jrovernment had been growmg Irom year tion by to year. Coming into existence in the cases of the order, prisoners at Dunbar and Worcester, it had been ^ Burton's Diary, iv. 258, 259. - lb. iv. 256. Compare England's Slavery, E, 1833, 3. 196 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. XL. 1655 Oct. 25. Royalists expelled from London. A list of the Major Generals, extended in constantly increasing proportions to the . Irish who were found to be incapable or undesirous of finding work, and the evil practice was now ex- tending itself in England. Lilburne, uncondemned, had been sent to a prison in Jersey. After Pen- ruddock's rising a few had been despatched to Barbados.^ Now a larger number — about some seventy in all — were treated to the same measure. Very probably most of them, if they had been left to the severity of the law, would have met with a harder r"fate. For the community at large the danger lay in the growing habit of the executive, strong in the force of military supjoort, to deal out penalties at its own will and pleasure, without definite rules laid down beforehand, and without adequate security for the release of the innocent. Even Charles had better preserved the forms of legal justice. By this time the new S3^stem was getting into working order. The proclamation of October 25, commanding the expulsion of Eoyalists from London and Westminster, was accompanied by a list of the Major-Generals — whose number was now raised to eleven — in order that those persons who had been sent back to their homes in the country might know to whom they must apply themselves with the bonds they were required to offer for the good behaviour of themselves and their servants. Of the eleven Major- Generals, Kelsey was to take charge of Kent and Surrey ; Goffe of Sussex, Hants and Berkshire ; Desborough, as formerlv, of the six counties of the West — Gloucester- 1 See svjyra, p. 160. - Persons who had been engaged in rebelKon were Hable, bj' the first of the Orders for Securing the Peace of the Commonwealth (see p. 175), to be imprisoned or banished, bnt this does not imply transportation to the West Indies. MILITARY DISTRICTS. 1 97 shire, Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall ; chap. Fleetwood, who had by this time returned from Ireland, . . ^^' _ . of Oxfordshire, Bucks, Hertfordshire, Cambridge- ^^55 shire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk; Skippon of the City of London ; Barkstead of the rest of Middle- sex ; Whalley of the shires of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Leicester ; Butler of those of Northampton, Bedford, Eutland, and Huntingdon ; Berry of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and North Wales ; Worsley of Cheshire, Lancashire, and Staffordshire ; Lambert of Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Northumberland.^ Lambert and Fleetwood, whose services were required at Whitehall as members of the Council, were, how- ever, allowed to appoint deputies, Cumberland, Westmoreland and Northumberland being assigned to Charles Howard, and York and Durham to Eobert Lilburne. In Fleetwood's district, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire were given to Hezekiah Haynes. The remainder of the district was at first given to Tobias Bridge ; but as, for some unknown reason, he retired from the post. Packer was employed as deputy in Oxon and Herts, and also, in conjunction with George Fleetwood, in Bucks. ^ Monmouthshire and South Wales remained for the present unal- lotted ; but early in January they were assigned to Berry, who, no doubt in consequence of the enormous extent of his district, was permitted to name two deputies. Colonel Eowland Dawkins and Lieutenant- Colonel Nicholas.^ So far as we know Whalley was whaUey at the first Major-General to take up active work, as he ^^wark. ^ The Public Intelligencer, E, 489, 9. ' Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 343. This is not the brother of the Lord Deputy. ^ 76. p. 457. The usual statement that Dawkins was a Major- General in his own right is a mere blunder. 198 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP, met the county commissioners of l!^ottingliamsliire at . ^^':^ Newark on November 2} ^^" Between tlie Maior-Generals and the commis- Major- ! sioners for securing the peace of the Commonweahh and the j thc utmost harmouy prevailed ; and it would have Bioners. ' bccn straugc if it had been otherwise. Originally , selected as devoted to the Protectorate, and rein- ' forced by the Major-General with persons whom he selected after inquiry on the spot, they had the same friends and the same enemies as the Government itself. Being viewed with hostile eyes by the local magnates of their county, they were driven, in mere self-defence, to seek their own security in upholding the hand which brought them military support. If, on the other hand, as occasionally happened, one or other of the commissioners felt scruples at embarking on a service so unpopular amongst influential neigh- bours, it was easy to allow him to refrain from attending the meetings, and to drop out of sight without noise or scandal.^ The first business of the Major-General on his arrival in the county was to- hold a meeting of the commissioners, in whose ranks he was himself enrolled, and over whom he presided in the chair. The relation between them was by no- means dissimilar from that which existed between the Protector and the Council. It was natural that in both cases attention should be called to the more active and showy element, and there can be no doubt that without the Protector at Whitehall, or his Major- General in the county, but little, if anything, would have been accomplished ; but it is not to be imagined that Oliver had the intention to subject the country ^ Whalley to Thnrloe, Oct. 31, Nov. 2, TJmrloe, iv. 125, 146. ^ Goffeto Thurloe, Nov. 7, Tlmrloc, iv. 16. The relations between the Major-Generals and the Commissioners may be gathered from their correspondence at large. THE DECIMATION EXACTED. I 99 1655 to a military despotism. What lie aimed at was the [chap. establishment in the county and the nation of the 4_J^': rule — provisionally at least — of a Puritan oligarchy, with just so much of military strength behind it as was needed to make it effective for his purpose. The exaction of the tax of 10 per cent, was TheDeci- •*■ _ mation. troublesome enough, but presented no insuperable difficulty. The local knowledge of the commissioners, assisted by the lists of compounders kept in London at Goldsmiths' Hall, made it easy to ascertain, at least approximately, the income of each Eoyalist, As might have been expected, there were practical questions requiring to be referred from time to time to headquarters, as not a few of the Eoyalists did their utmost to produce reasons in favour of their personal exemption. There was, however, no attempt ^ to resist openly, and the tax, once laid, was duly gathered in.^ Nor were many obstacles laid in tlie ^ way of the search for arms. Before long Eoyalists Royalists' were deprived of their weapons from one end of the ^'^'^'^"^®^' country to the other, and insurrection, save under the cover of a successful invasion by a foreign army, was rendered impossible in England. Other precau- tionary measures were enforced with equal rigour. Bonds for tlie qiuet behaviour of those who had Enforce- in any capacity sided with the late King or his son bonda. were demanded, even from persons whose property fell beneath the limit of decimation ; and there was an equally sweeping effort to oljtain certainty as to the places of abode of those who might in any way be distinguished as Eoyalists.^ ^ The details, taken from the Thurloe Papers, are given more fully by Mr. Eannie in the Hist. Eev. (July 1895), x. 484. ^ In the British Museum there are three books {Add. MSS. 34,011 -13) containing lists sent by the Major- Generals of every county except Middlesex. Taking so much of the list for Yorkshire as gives 200 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP. There remained the cases of those Eoyalists who _3^!l_- fell under the first order for the securing of the peace '^55 of the Commonwealth, as having taken part in having rebellions or plots, and those who fell under the shared in i p t • j • ^ ^i i the late secoud, oi Dcmg daugcrous enemies to the peace, conspiracy, q^ ^j^^ numbcr of thosc falling under the first head, who were to be imprisoned or banished with the ^' sequestration of their estates, it is impossible to speak with precision, as the reports of many of the Major- Generals have not been preserved. But, so far as we know, the only cases that occurred were those of the Northern conspirators who had been dealt with 1656 lightly at the last assizes.^ Before the end of March Sentence / cight pcrsous of quality, with Sir Henry Slingsby andotheS ^^ their head, were imprisoned at Hull by Major- General Lilburne and the commissioners at York. May. In May fourteen others were sentenced to the like inl'prison- puuishment, the estates of those amongst them who '^®°'^' were possessed of property being sequestered.^ One or two cases were heard elsewhere, but our informa- tion is insufficient to enable us to speak positively of the result.^ Under any other Government these I men would have fared as badly, if not worse. What / is peculiar about their treatment is that they were »^L^entenced. without , the intervention of a jury, because it was impossible to obtain a verdict against them in these Northern parts. names beginning with the letter A, we find 1 1 3 entries. Two of these have no quahfication appended. The remaining iii show 13 esquires and gentlemen, the remaining 98 being tradesmen, artificers, farmers, yeomen, husbandmen, labourers, &c. Such lists cannot have been drawn up with a view to decimation, but only to ascertain the abodes of persons who had given bonds. ^ Seep. 176. - See p. 150. '' Lilburne to Thurloe, Jan. 22 ; Lilburne to the Protector, Jan. 25, Feb. 9, March 14, TJmrloe, iv. 442, 468, 522, 614. * Lilburne to the Protector, May 16, ib. v. 33. ROYALISTS IMPRISONED. 20I As to those who fell under the second head, who, chap. « • XL without having taken part in any conspiracy, were .^_,_:_ dangerous on account of their avowed Eoyalism, ^^ and who were liable to imprisonment or to be sent beyond sea, the Major-Generals appear to have construed their orders somewhat liberally, holding themselves empowered to imprison on suspicion any- one known to entertain Eoyalist opinions,^ or who frequented the company of persons of the same way of thinking. They were especially hard on persons who appeared to be living beyond their means, thus affording evidence that they eked out their scanty income from some disreputable source. One of the Cleveland first to suffer was the satirical poet, Cleveland, who oS!^' was confined in Yarmouth by Haynes, on the ground that he had but 50Z. a year, and could give no account of himself, except that he lived with Mi'. Edward Coke, whom he helped in his studies. It was further noted against him that he seldom left Coke's house, that few resorted to him except Papists and Cavaliers, and that he was ' a person of great abilities, and so able to do greater disservice.' ^ Some Feb. b His three months later he petitioned Oliver for his re- petition lease, professing that his fidelity to the King might release. be accepted as evidence that he would be faithful to the Protector, and complaining of being deprived of liberty merely for being poor ; ' an appeal which was followed by his prompt release.'* Cleveland had for a companion a Mr. Sherman, , ^^.55 T -n» Impnson- described by Haynes as ' a most malignant Episcopal mentof Sherman. ^ See the cases of John Goring in Sussex, and of Middleton and others in Lancashire, Thurloe, iv. 213, 733, 746. ^ Haynes to Thurloe, Nov. 10, ib. iv. 185. ' Cleveland's petition was published on a broadsheet in Oct. 1657, B.M. press-mark, 669, f. 20, No. 69. * Wood's Fast. i. 499. Worsley. 202 THE MA JOE-GENERALS. CHAP, minister who, though of sober life, yet of most ._^^' destructive principles to the Government and good ^^55 people, and professedly owned and held forth by him most seditiously in a sermon preached before the authority of Norwich.' ^ In other districts it was rather idleness and licentiousness that marked men out for imprisonment. The Bedfordshire com- ^^^^ missioners, writes Butler, had assured him ' they ings of would make it their business to find out and give Butler, . . , ® Berry, and me noticc of all thcn* profane and idle gentry, and others whose lives are a shame to ' a ' Christian Commonwealth, and of all inferior persons that are dangerous and live without callings.' " We have secured," he adds, " in order to his Highness trans- porting him, one Pemberton, that was formerly in arms against the Parliament, a very desperate person, having no estate, and living after the rate of four or five hundred a year. . . . I do not think his Highness can be informed of a person more fit for banish- ment." ^ At Shrewsbury Berry imprisons ' divers lewd fellows, some for having a hand in the plot, others of dissolute life.' " If some of them were sent to the Indies," he adds, " it would do much good." ^ Worsley was no less active. " We . . . are now," he writes from Lancashire, " beginning to fill the prisons with suspicious fellows." " I have had many sad complaints," he writes a few days later, " against the attorneys of this county, and had against this meeting sent summons out to all attorneys that were delinquents or papists ; and they appearing yesterday, I have first taken the bonds ordered by the Council ; another bond, that they should never act any more ^ Haynes to Thurloe, Nov. 19, Thurloe, iv. 216. ~ Butler to Thurloe, Nov. 19, ib. iv. 218. ^ Berry to Thurloe, Jan. 5, ib. iv. 393. MARKED MEN. 20^ as an attorney or solicitor in this Commonwealth, chap. without special license from his Highness and his . ^;^' Council, or either of them, and the most of them ^^^55 have done this ; only one that did not appear, which we have sent to apprehend." In Cheshire he is no less thoroughgoing. " The Commissioners," he assures Thurloe, " some of them this day expressed that they could find near sixty gentlemen in this country, many of them younger sons, that were fit to be sent out of this Commonwealth, which done would much tend to the security thereof and terrify others. I light on ^ one Hugh Anderton, in Lancashire, one noted by all your friends to be one of the most wicked, dangerous men in this Common- wealth. I intend to send him to the castle of Chester to the rest." ^ It is unnecessary to pursue the subject further in order to discover the reasons why the conduct of the Major-Generals was far more offensive to Eoyalists and semi-Eoyalists than was warranted by their conduct as collectors of illegal taxation. In arresting loose-livers, and other persons whose expenditure was beyond their means, they were acting, no ,, doubt, under the Instructions, but none the less without legal authority of any kind. Nor was this all. The arrests made by them, in this fashion, threw into their hands a power which, dependent as they were on the local knowledge of the commissioners, might easily be employed to give effect to private spite. Worsley's mode of dealing with the attorneys, again, may be taken as evidence of the way in which, when the mere enforcement of the law is entrusted ^ ' Of ' as printed. -' Worsley to Thvirloe, Dec. 21, Feb. i, Feb. 13, Thurloe, iv. 233 495. 533. 204 THE MAJOR-GENERALS. CHAP, to militarj^ men they are apt to step beyond tlie >_____ boundaries which would at once be recognised by a ^^55 lawyer. So far as recusants were concerned ^ — and it is probable that, in such a county as Lancashire, a large proportion of the malignant attorneys were recusants — ^Worsley did no more than put in force against them a Statute of James I. The exclusion from practice of mere malignants, not being recusants, was absolutely illegal.^ Such conduct, if followed — and it was likely enough that it would be followed by the other Major-Generals — could hardly fail to double the number of Royalists before the new system had been many months in operation. 1 3 Jac. I. c. 5, § 6. - It could not be said, however, that the personal quarrels of the commissioners with their neighbours would in this matter weigh with the Major-General in picking out malignant attorneys, as he would depend on the sequestrators' certificates, and not on local gossip. 205 CHAPTEE XLI. THE LIMITS OF TOLEEATION. The Royalists, against whom the energy of the Major- chap. Generals was directed, were far from being the only -^-^ enemies of the Protector. As the strength of the ^ partisans of the Stuarts lay in their appeal to ' the SrS'' known laws,' the strength of the Eepublicans lay p"'^^^^'^^^- in their championship of the supremacy of Parlia- ment, though they might differ as to the mode in which that assembly was to be chosen. Of those who adhered to the ancient methods, one of the most unbending was Ludlow, who had slipped away from Ireland in October in defiance of the Protector's orders. He had no sooner landed than oct. he was arrested and placed in confinement in Beau- SSnl*^ maris Castle, where he was offered liberty on the sole condition of signing a bond similar to that by which Eoyalists engaged themselves not to take part in any conspiracy against the Government. For some time he met this demand with a blank refusal, though in the end he was persuaded to sign an engagement to take no step against the Protector, at least till he had presented himself before him at Whitehall. When at last, on December 13, Ludlow made his Dec. 13. appearance before Oliver, he declared his readiness Whitehall. to submit to the Government and his ignorance of any design at that time formed against it. " But," ment in Beavi- maris Castle. 206 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, lie added, " if Providence open a way and give an ^^^' . opportunity of appearing on behalf of the people, ^^55 I cannot consent to tie my hands beforehand, and oblige myself not to lay hold of it." Oliver appears to have thought that an enemy so outspoken could not be really dangerous, and set him at liberty to do his worst. ^ Oct. Long experience had shown that Lilburne's in Dover influeuce over the crowd was more dangerous than Ludlow's doctrinaire attachment to Parliamentarism. Yet, on giving assurance that he would maintain a peaceable demeanour, he was relieved from exile in Jersey and brought over to Dover Castle. He had not been long in his new prison when he wrote to his He de- wife that he was now one of ' those preciousest, himself a though most coutemptiblc people called Quakers,' and had consequently abandoned his militant career for ever. The letter fell into the hands of Fleetwood, who, ever on the alert to alleviate the lot of sectaries, showed it to the Protector. Oliver was, however, obdurate.^ A Quaker Lilburne might indeed cease to stir up the populace in defence of the outraged lawsT" but it was hardly possible for anyone connected with Government to contemplate with equanimity the idea of his heading bands of fanatics bent on breaking up congregations and insulting preaching ministers as Hisimpris- hirelings and dead dogs. His confinement at Dover Do'^eJ'*^ ^"^ ^^^'^ therefore prolonged, though his treatment there was far more lenient than it liad been in Jersey.^ ' Ludlow's Memoirs, ed. Firth, i. 427-36. On the date of the interview, see Mr. Firth's note at p. 432 ; and compare Whiteley to Nicholas, Jan. 1%, S.P. Dom. cxx. 27. ^ The accepted story of Lilburne's liberation is derived from Wood's Athcnce, iii. 353, but is contradicted by the evidence in The Resurrection of John Lilburne, E, 880, 2. ' Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 544, 77. p. ^ LILBURNE, FEAKE AND ROGERS. 207 Here lie remained till in August 1657 the Jeput}^ chap. o'overnor of tlie Castle allowed him liberty on _?^^_ parole that he might be present at his wife's confine- ^^55 ment at Eltliam. When the news of his temporary release reached Whitehall, a peremptory order was issued commanding his return to prison within ten days. On August 29/ however, just as the period of Aug^lg. grace was about to expire, the turbulent agitator H'«^'*"'*^- lireathed his last. He was far in advance of his age in upholding the doctrine of popular sovereignty, but his repeated warnhigs against the danger of thro wing- aside respect for law were appropriate to the needs of his time, though given with unnecessary asperity, and with a complete ignorance of the political conditions which limit the activity of practical statesmen. At the opposite end of the scale from Lilburne Repub- *■ ^ . licans and and the Levellers were the men of the Fifth Monarch}-. Fift'i If they had contented themselves with proclaiming men.' the approaching reign of the saints, they would have been in no danger from the Protector. What stirred him to take action against them was that they were never weary of asserting that the reign of the saints was incompatible with the tyranny of that enemy of God, Oliver Cromwell — asser- tions greedily welcomed by ignorant men, steeped in the phraseology of the Scriptures, but having no ]-eal understanding of the conditions under which the exhortations and prophecies they adopted had been addressed to the Hebrew world. How difficult it was to silence men of this type was shown in the Fe^kt akd cases of Feake and Eogers, who were removed to the ^f igi'e"' Isle of Wight in October.^ Of the two, Feake gave ''^ "^^ '"'^'^* ^ Petition of Lilburne's widow, Nov. 4, 1657, S.P. Dom. civii. y^- - Downing to Clarke, Nov. 8, 10, Clarke Faj)ers, iii. 6, ir. 208 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP. XLI. Rogers persists in denounc- ing the Protector. His ill- treatment at Caris- brooke. Oliver's pi'actical tolerance. the least trouble. It is true that he succeeded in making his escape to London ; but when he was re- arrested, he was allowed to remain, under the guard of a single soldier, in a house rented by himself,^ doubtless in consequence of an engagement to abstain from political allusions in his sermons. Eogers was less easily controlled. He was permitted to take up his abode in a country house near Freshwater, till his persuasive tongue attracted the peasants of the neighbourhood to drink in his denunciations of the Protector. As he positively refused to hold his peace, there was nothing for it but to send him into closer confinement at Caris- brooke, where he found a sympathetic fellow-prisoner in Harrison. Even here crowds flocked to listen to the full-flavoured denunciations of the tyrant which he delivered from the window of his cell, the soldiers themselves often finding pretexts for remain- ing within earshot. The gaoler and his subordinates, who were responsible for Eogers's silence, were not unnaturally furious, and revenged themselves after the rough manner of their kind. They dragged the bedding from beneath him, allowed his provisions to run short, ill-treated his sickly wife, and flung his maidservant out of doors, after stripping her clothes from her back.^ It would be unreasonable to hold the Protector personally responsible for the excesses of his offi- cers. On the other hand, if his views on toleration did not quite reach the standard of the nineteenth century, they were in advance of all but the ^ Feake's Preface to The Prophets Isaiah and Malachi is dated from his own hired house. He does not say what was its locality, but as we have no hint of his having been sent back to the Isle of Wight, it may be presumed that it was somewhere in London. ^ Rogers, Jegar Sahadutha, E, 919, 9. OLIVER AND SOCINIANISM. 209 choicest spirits of the day in which he lived, but chap. also that his practice time after time outran his v_l^,.-J_^ profession. Again and again he had associated ' ^' himself with the 023inion that blasphemy and atheism, whether they were dangerous to the Government or not, were insufferable in a Christian State. Yet, when he was called on to put his opinion in practice, his generosity of spirit proved too strong for his theories, and he showed himself anxious to alleviate the lot of the sufferers, if not to remit entirely the penalties imposed on them by law. The Protector's dealings with Biddle furnish a case Biddie Ti f> r»i'Ti • again in mpomt. In the summer 01 1655, alter his liberation tvouUe. on bail,^ Biddle was again in trouble, not altogether by his own fault. A Baptist named Grriffin challenged him to defend his creed in public, and Biddle naturally, if imprudently, took up the glove. The disputation, opened in St. Paul's on June 28, was adjourned to .rane28. the following week ; but before the appointed day iion^ar "^ iirrived Biddle was arrested by an order from the ^*'-^'''"^^' Council.^ The Lord Mayor, in committing him for trial, hinted that he might be exposed to the monstrous penalties of the Presbyterian Blasphemy Ordin- ance of 1648."^ On 'Tuly 27 the Council, which was .laiy 27. evidently set against liim, pass(;d over his petition for di'refuscs to release him. ' See sujira, p. 105. '^ Council Order Book. Inferr. I, 76, p. 155. There is nothing in .1 True State of the Case (E, 848, 12), an account of the matter drawn up by Biddle's followers, to show that Griffin appealed to the secular arm. It is said that the informer was a Mr. Brookbank, but the fact that a public disputation had been held must have been notorious. •' There is, however, nothing to show that the trial would have been held under the Presbyterian Blasphemy Ordinance, or that, if an attempt had been made so to hold it, the Court would not have ruled tliat the ordinance was superseded by the later Blasphemy Act. The Lord Mayor's obiter dictum could not possibly settle a question of law. VOL. ill. p 2 10 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, redress. In September, when the day of his trial was .__,_!_^ approaching, his supporters presented a petition ta- ^^55 tJie Protector himself, in which they alleged that An appeal Biddle's case was covered by the articles of the- tector.who Instrument which assured liberty of conscience to intervene'! all wlio profcsscd faith in God by Jesus Christ. To this allegation Oliver sternly replied ' that the liberty of conscience provided for in those articles should never, while he hath any interest in the Government,. be stretched so far as to countenance them who deny the divinity of our Saviour, or to bolster up any blasphemous opinions contrary to the fundamental verities of religion.' ^ A week later, exasperated at the discovery that the wording of the petition had been altered after some of the signatures had been appended, he used even stronger language. If Biddle, he declared, were in the right he himself and all other Christians were no better than idolaters. No countenance should be given to the avowal of such opinions. Yet, firm as this declaration was, it was not followed by corresponding acts. On Octo- Biddie'^ ber 5 the Council, with the full concurrence of the the'scuiy" Protector, ordered the removal of Biddle to the ^"'®**" Scilly Isles." The act of the Protector may have been illegal, but it was undoubtedly one of kindness to the sufferer, who would have had harder measure at the hands of a court of law. unpopu- The unpopularity of Socinians, however, was oitile slight in comparison with the unpopularity of Qna era. ^ Quakcrs.' Magistrates detested them for their ^ Merc. Pol, E, 854, i. '^ lb. Council Order Book, Interr. 1, 76, pp. 326, 328. On Oct. 24 there was a petition to the Council from two stationers, asking that steps might be taken against a book with the title of PrceadamitcE, on the ground that it cast a slur on the Biblical account of the Creation. ARREST OF GEORGE FOX. 211 insolence in refusing to acknowledge the dignity of chap. local authority by bowing or removing their hats, ^_ — ,__ whilst they alienated the masses by condemning their ^ ^5 revelries. Eeligious people of fixed opinions were irritated not only by the pertinacity of their argu- ments, but by the unseemly interruption of their favourite preachers. Behind all this was a widely- spread conviction that the doctrine of the inner light was a blasphemous assumption of the per- sonal inspiration of the Almighty. In the summer of 1655, in the course of a missionary tour in the West, Fox arrived at Kingsbridge. Seeking a lodging at jjoxat an inn, he addressed the tipplers, warning them that *^"dge, it was time to receive light from Christ. At once the innkeeper, fearing a diminution of his custom, stepped up to the promulgator of a doctrine so dangerous to his interests. " Come," he said, holding a candle in his hand, " here is a light for you to go into your chamber." At Menheniot Fox, according to his own and at account, succeeded m makmg a ' priest coniess he was a minister made and maintained by the State.' At St. Ives he and his companions were hustled in the street and brought before one Peter Ceely, a justice of the peace, who sent them off as prisoners to Launceston «t. ives ^ ' _ J- and sent to gaol, apparently on suspicion that they were Eoman i^aunces- Catholic missionaries in disguise.^ On the way they met Desborough, on his first visit to his district as Major-General, and reproved him for speaking against ^ In his Journal Fox says that Ceely ' tendered the oath of abjura- tion to us, whereupon I put my band in my pocket and drew forth an answer to it which had been given to the Protector.' The oath referred to was probably the one required from Roman Catholics, and may be connected with the delusion that the ' Quakers ' were Roman Catholics in disguise. Fox's objection was not to its substance, but to its being an oath. p 2 He is arrested at 2 12 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, the lijfht of Christ, with the result that he refused to XLI . . • — ^~r-^- interfere in their favour. ^^ After many sufferings the imprisoned ' Quakers ' Fox before were brought at the spring assizes before Chief Justice Glyn, who rebuked them for refusing to remove their hats. On this Fox asked where there was any mention in Scripture of a magistrate ordering that hats should be taken off. " If," he added, " the law of England doth command any such thing, show me that law, either written or printed." " I do not carry my law books on my back," replied Glyn sharply, and ordered the gaoler to remove the prisoners. Soon afterwards, however, Glyn, imagining that he liad found a satisfactory repartee, directed that they should again be placed at the bar. " Come," said the judge, " where had they hats from Moses to Daniel? Come, answer me ! I have you fast now." It was ill discussing points of Scripture with Fox. " Thou mayest read in the third of Daniel," was the prompt reply, " that the three children were cast into the fiery furnace with their coats, their hose, and their hats on." " Take them away, gaoler ! " cried the discomfited judge. Yet in the end he mastered his annoyance, and taking no heed of the accusation brought against the prisoners — whatever it may have Pox fined been — contented himself with fining them twenty tempTof marks apiece for contempt of court, and ordering that seXback tlicy sliould remain in prison till that sum had been to prison. pai(j Crlyn probably did not count on the obduracy with which Fox was likely to stand out against the admission that he had committed a fault where he could see no fault at all, and, noisome as was the atmosphere of a gaol in those days, the imprisoned ' Quakers ' preferred to endure every hardship rather tlian acknowledge that they could justly be required FOX'S LIBEKATTON. 2 1 XLI. 1656^ An appeal to uncover their heads in the presence of a fellow- chap mortal, however exalted his worldly rank might be. An attempt to induce Glyn to reconsider his sentence, on the oTOund that it was unsupported by law, "to the „ o -1 T r^ -r^ 7 T T Protector. havmg naturally failed, one of J^oxs devoted followers, Humphrey Norton, sought out the Pro- tector, offering to give himself up to imprisonment in Doomsdale — the filthiest dungeon in the filthy gaol — if his teacher might be liberated in his stead. Such devotion roused Oliver's astonished admiration. " Which of you," he asked, turning to the Councillors who stood around him, " would do so much for me if I were in the same condition ? " To Norton he could but reply that it would be a breach of the law to imprison him with no charge hanging over his head.'^ Yet, though the Protector refused to commit an innocent man, the right of pardon was in his hands, Aug. and he transmitted orders to Desborough to let the borough imprisoned ' Quakers ' go free.^ Desborough accord- Hbtrltethe ingly informed them that the gaol-doors were open '^"*'^^'^^' to them if they would promise to go home and preach no more. On their raising objections, he asked them to give an engagement to comply with his wishes ' if the Lord permitted.' This compromise was, however, swept aside by the indomitable ' Quakers,' who told the Major-General that they knew it to be the will of God that they should ' go to speak at some other place.' Desborough upon this refused to have anything more to do with them ; but a month later Colonel Bennet, the master of the gaol, informed them that he would detain 1 Fox's Journal (ed. 1891), i. 265 318. Mr. Hodgkin gives Norton's name from a MS. of the Journal. George Fox, 137. - Desborough was at Launceston on Aug. 12, Thurloe, v. 302. Fox's letter to hhu is dated Aug. 13. 214 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP. XLI. Sept. 13. who are set free. Fox denounc' amuse- ments. Major- Generals complain of the ' Quakers.' them no longer, on the sole condition that they . would pay his fees. Fox characteristically replied that no fees were due from innocent prisoners. Fox attributed his liberation without payment to the power of the Lord softening the evil heart of the Colonel. More worldly observers might suspect that the gaoler was to some extent influenced by strict orders from Whitehall.^ As in Eogers's case, the Protector's instruments had outrun their master's wishes in their persecuting zeal. In their eyes Fox was guilty of the fault which seldom admits of pardon — the fault of exaggerating their own extravagances. If they denounced the amusements of others which might possibly tend to the nurture of immorality, he denounced their amusements even when they were obviously innocent. Fox had condemned Desborough to his face when he found the Major-General seeking relaxation in a game of bowls, using language which would have been appropriate if Desborough had been a drunkard. Even the Protector must have felt it impossible to secure mildness of treatment for men who set at defiance both the popular sentiment and the feelings of influential classes. In this respect he could not count on the willing co-operation of the Major-Generals. " We are extremely troubled in these parts with Quakers," wrote Worsley from Cheshire. When he reached Lancashire he told the same tale : " We are much troubled with them that are called Quakers. They trouble the markets, and get into private houses up and down in every town, and draw people after them." GofTe in Hampshire was even more disquieted. Writ- ing before Fox's proceedings in Cornwall had landed him in Launceston Gaol, he unbosomed himself to ^ Fox's Journal, 318-22. PERSECUTION OF ' QUAKERS.' 2 1 5 Thurloe in such terms as these : " Fox and two more -chap. XT T eminent Northern quakers have been in Sussex, and « — ,-i-^ are now in this county, doing much work for the ' 5 devil, and delude many simple souls. ... I have some thoughts to lay Fox and his companions by the heels if I see a good opportunity." ^ It may at least be conjectured that the liberation of nine 'Quakers' Nine imprisoned in Evesham gaol, apparently for non- liberated at ,/»r» • j^ J. A. c ^ Evesham payment 01 tines imposed lor contempt 01 court, was owing to the intercession of the kindly Berry.- Even the Protector probably wavered between his dislike of infringing the principles of religious liberty and his dislike of the disorder which almost in- variably resulted from the indiscretion of the new sectaries. He can have been little moved by Fox's appeal : " You say the Quakers come to disturb you in your churches — as you call them. Was it not the practice of the Apostles to go into the syna- gogues and temples to witness against the priest- hood that took tithes." '^ There was little similarity between the sober aroument of a Paul in an avowed discussion and the exasperating taunts of a * Quaker ' fanatic. So far as disturbances of public congregations were concerned the Protector had already made his mind known by his proclamation of February 1655,"* and about a year later he personally interfered to carry out his principles in practice. A ' Quaker ' Apr. 13. having stood up in the chapel at Whitehall to argue Protector in support of his creed, Oliver, being himself present, anelt o/a directed that the offender should be taken before the ^^' ^ Worsley to Thurloe, Dec. 14, 21 ; Goffe to Thurloe, Jan. 10, Thurloe, iv. 315, 333,408. - Berry to Thurloe, March 14, ih. iv. 613. * Fox's Journal, i. 305. ' See supra, p. 107. 2l6 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, nearest justice of the peace. ^ As for the punish- . ,_1_^ ments inflicted by magistrates and judges for con- ^^56 tempt of court or for supposed contravention of the Blasphemy Act, the Protector could only interfere by exercising his right of pardon, and this right he may not in such cases have been inclined to use. EiTiand Whilst the ' Quakers ' irritated the popular senti- ment by the arrogance with which they defied the social habits of the country, and by their determina- tion to thrust themselves forward in public congrega- tions, the little colony of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had for some years been stealing into London, either to escape the terrors of the Inquisi- tion or in pursuit of gain, was doing its utmost to escape observation. It was formed, for the most part, of men of wealth and position, with wide commercial alliances on the Continent and in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Their numbers were now A syna- sufficicnt to suggest the establishment of a synagogue fgtl'^® in Creechurch Lane, access to which was jealously guarded against intruders, lest they should call down the action of the authorities upon the worshippers.^ Yet it could not fail to occur to other Jews who had not yet visited England, and who were ^ The Public Intelligencer, E, 493, 7. - A statement in Perfect Proceedings (E, 842, 6) that 'this day,' i.e. June 2, 1655, ' some Jews were seen to meet in Hackney -^it being their Sabbath day— at their devotion, all very clean and neat, in the corner of a garden by a house, all of them with their faces towards the East, their minister foremost, and the rest all behind him,' may safely be rejected. This worship in the garden is not in accordance with Jewish usage, and everything we know of the history of the early Jewish community precludes the notion that there was a second synagogue at Hackney. Mr. Lucien Wolf has suggested to me that the congregation was one of some sect of Judaising Christians. For the customs of the Jewish colony see especially Mr. Lucien Wolf's Besettlement of the Jews, Cromwell's Jewish Intelligencers, and Crypto- Jews under the Commonwealth. blislied. JEWS IN ENGLAND. 217 consequently out of touch with English prejudice, chap. that the Puritan reverence for the heroes of the Old ^_1_,_1_. Testament, together with the growth of the spirit of ^^^ toleration, might open the doors to a large immigra- tion, and that permission might be given to the new- comers to worship more openly the God of their fathers in the long-established fashion. The first to make the attempt was Manuel Martinez Dormido, an 1654-^ Andalusian, who had spent five years in the prisons petition of the Inquisition, and after carrying on his trade in Amsterdam since 1 640, had found himself ruined in 1654 by losses sustained in consequence of the Por- tuguese reconquest of Pernambuco from the Dutch. He accordingly made his way to England, where the Protector received him with favour, and recom- mended his petition to the Council, which, however, Dec. 5. „ , , , . rejected reiused to miake any order upon It. by the Naturally, the existing colon}', fearing to en- °""'"' danger the tacit connivance under which it Hved, abstained from taking part in Dormido's enter- prise, and the further prosecution of the suit fell upon Manasseh Ben Israel, an enthusiastic but some- Manasseu what dreamy Amsterdam rabbi and physician, who took the cause of all Judaism upon his shoulders, and imagined that he could prevail on England to become the refuge of the poor and persecuted of his race.^ When he arrived in London in October, cir- 1655. Oct. ^ Manasseh Ben Israel is innocent of the supposed familiarity arrives in with the Protector attributed to him by Eawdon Brown, Avisi di ^°""°"- Londra, Philobiblon Soc, Bibliogr. and Hist. Miscellanies, vol. i. Sagredo's words are : ' Venne un Ebreo 'd Anversa, s' introdusse con sagacita dal Protettore, havendolo conosciuto in quella citta quando, prima che montare il posto rillevato over presentamente s'attrova, se ne andava privatamente vedendo la Fiandra.' Not only is this despatch dated Dec. §J, about two months after Manasseh's arrival, but Manasseh's home was Amsterdam, not Antwerp. Sagredo's words, probably founded on some mistake, give us the only intimation of Cromwell's ever having been out of England. .. K^jtu^ Atmj ^/%i.T^jJ^ .a^«,4*.»*--^UUv- if ^7t*tkXru»iS- 2l8 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP. XLI. 1655 Aug. 17. Carvajal made a denizen. Sept. Services of Caceres. Nov. 5. Humble Addresses. Demands of Man- asseh. cumstances had occurred which made a more favour- able decision probable. As war with Spain loomed in the near future, the services of the Spanish Jews in England became more valuable. On August 17 the leading man amongst them, Antonio Fernandez Carvajal, who had resided in England twenty years, received letters of denization from the Protector,^ and then, or possibly at an earlier date, offered to the Government the services of his correspondents on the Continent to gather intelligence of Spanish pre- parations and Stuart plots. In September another wealthy Jewish merchant, Simon de Caceres, laid a plan before Thurloe for an expedition against Chili, and another for the fortification of Jamaica.^ Even the Council must have perceived that it was unwise to discourage such men. On November 5 Manasseh published his Humble Addresses to the Protector, defending Jews from calumnies raised against them, and arguing, with some defect of worldly wisdom, that as England was the only country rejecting them, their re-establishment would, according to the prophecies, be the signal for the coming of the Messiah.^ A few days later he prepared a request for the admission of his race on an equality with the natives of England. He also asked that Jews might be permitted to open public synagogues, to possess a cemetery of their own, to carry on trade without hindrance, to erect a judicature which might decide disputes between members of their community, reserving an appeal to the courts of the land, and also that all laws enacted to their disadvantage might ^ Patent Rolls, 1655, Partiv. No. 12. ^ Thurloe, iv. 61, 62. ^ The Humble Address of Manasseh Ben Israel, E, 490, i. MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL. 219 be repealed.^ The Council, to which these demands chap. were referred by the Protector, passed them on to a — ^^-^ committee chosen from amono-st its own members.^ J . . ^ov. 13. The committee, feeling itself incompetent to decide Reference f 1 T 1 11*'°^ com- the question without further enlightenment, asked mittee. permission to associate with itself a number of ministers and merchants, together with Chief Justice Glyn and Chief Baron Steele.^ The conference thus summoned met at White- Nov. 15. hall two or three times a week between December 4 ence"um- and 18, with no direct practical result, though the Dec^4-i8. Protector was present on each occasion and showed irterwfth- himself favourable to Manasseh's request. Opinion dkec"^ was divided amongst the ministers and in the Council ^'®^"^*' itself, and the only evidence of an attempt to arrive at a common conclusion is to be found in an unsigned paper, which probably gave the opinion of the Com- mittee of Council, though it does not seem ever to have been presented to the Council itself."* Whoever the compilers may have been, their con- a com- clusion was merely hypothetical. They declared it report. to be necessary to suspend their judgment on the propriety of admitting Jews to England till certain ^ "WoU, Besettlement, 15. ' Eeference by the Council, S.P. Dom. ci. 1 1 7. ' Chief Justice St. John was also summoned, but for some reason or another he did not take part in the proceedings. * The paper is printed from the original {S.P. Dom. ci. 118), with the title ' Report of the Council of State on Manasseh's Petition,' by Mr. Wolf (Besettlement, 16). The absence of any notice of it in the Council Order Book shows that this is not a correct description. Mrs. Everett Green does not commit herself to the authorship of the paper, but dates it on Nov. 13, which is obviously a mere guess. There are none of the erasures which woxild show it to be a draft, and I am therefore inclined to take it to be a resolution agreed on by the com- mittee, but never presented. It is not improbable that Oliver hindered its presentation, fearing an adverse decision if it came before the Council. The endorsement is partly illegible, but the following words can still be read : ' Concerning permitting — ? Jews with license [?] . . .' 2 20 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, safeguards had been provided.^ All claims to main- V-' , '.- tain a private judicatory must be forbidden, Jews ^55 must be prohibited from defaming the Christian reli- gion, from working on the Lord's Day, from employing Christian servants, from bearing office in the Common- wealth, and even from printing in the English language anything opposed to Christianity. Nor were they to throw obstacles in the way of the conversion of any members of the community ; whilst a severe penalty was to be imposed on any Christian converted to Judaism. All this was followed by a strong con- demnation of Jewish practices in general, and of Manasseh's plausible addresses in particular. The con- Whether the members of the conference were hostile. inclined to go even so far as this may be doubted. The divines were for the most part hostile ; the objec- tions of the London citizens on the score of danger to their trade interests were insuperable.^ Manas- seh's sanguine expectation of a vast influx of Jewish paupers was by no means likely to conciliate oppo- sition. The Protector, therefore, put an end to its sittings, intimating that he would take the ques- tion into his own consideration. That consideration, however, was of no personal benefit to Manasseh. An answer to his petition was refused, and though the * The wording of the paper is somewhat ambiguous. " That the Jews desiring it may be admitted into this nation, to trade and traffic and dwell amongst us as Providence shall give occasion. " This as to point of conscience we judge lawful for the magistrate to admit in case such material and weighty considerations as hereafter follow be provided for ; about which till we are satisfied we cannot but in conscience suspend our resolutions in this case." I think, how- ever, that the first paragraph is merely to be taken as the thesis with which the report is about to deal, not as a substantive proposition. " The Dutch ambassador understood that the refusal of the latter to concur with the proposals was the main cause of the Protector's dropping the affair. Nieupoort to the States General, Jan. J}, Add. MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 208. TOLERATION BY CONNIVANCE. 221 Protector solaced him with a pension, he was forced chap. to cross the sea discomfited, together with a number _1_,_1_. of Jews who had accompanied him and had shared ' ^^ his hopes. ^ Nevertheless, the abortive conference had accom- plished much. In the course of the discussion an opinion had been elicited from the two judges who had taken part in the proceedings that there was no law forbidding Jews to return into England.'^ After this the Protector's strength was to sit still.*^ Unless a successful action were brought against a Jew for mere residence in England, no executive interference was needed to confirm him in rights which he had never lost. As no such action was ever brought, it may be held that the legal re-settlement of the Jews dates from this extra-judicial opinion of Glyn and Steele, though the exact day on which that opinion was given is no longer ascertainable. It did not, however, follow that because Jews Avexi)ai were admitted to live in England they would be ^"'^'"'^*' allowed to practise their religion. The benefits of the Act passed in 1650 to repeal all clauses in statutes imposing penalties for not attending church were limited to those who resorted on the Lord's Day to some place of prayer or preacliing,^ a condition which no Jew could be expected to fulfil. Oliver, however, might be trusted to see that the spirit rather than the letter of the Act was carried into practice, and he gave to the Jews a verbal assurance that the recusancy laws should not be enforced against them. ' A Narrative of the Late Proceedings [by H. Jessej']. 2 Ih. p. 9. * " The Jews, though the generality of the divines oppose, yet we hear they will be admitted by way of connivancy." Robinson to Williamson, Dec. 31, S.P. Dom. cii. 77a. * Scobell, ii. 131. ■^ 222 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP. XLI. March 24. A written engage- meut refused. 1657. A Jewish cemeterj. 1656. March 24. Case of Robles. A petition asking for a written confirmation of this engagement was referred by the Protector to the Council in the following March, but, as might have been expected, it met with no response.^ Even if that body had been more favourably disposed towards the Jews than was the case, it was hardly likely to commit itself by a formal order to the effect that the existing law should not be carried into effect. That there was no intention of inter- fering with the quiet exercise of the Jewish worship is shown not merely by the uninterrupted continuance of the synagogue in Creechurch Lane, but also by the purchase of a Jewish cemetery in February 1657.^ By that time Manasseh Ben Israel had left England, and the Government was able to feel that in conferring favours on the old Jewish colony it had to deal with men who, unlike Manasseh, were sensitive to the danger of challenging public opinion by undue demonstrativeness. How furtive was the concealment which these Spanish and Portuguese Jews had long practised was brought to light by a case which resulted in the with- drawal of any claim on the part of the Government to interfere with the trade of Jews in England. A certain Antonio Eodrigues Eobles, who had large commercial undertakings on foot, was denounced as a Spaniard, a demand being made for the confisca- tion of his goods, on the ground that he was the subject of a prince at war with England.^ In a petition referred by the Protector to the Council lie made answer that he was a Portuguese ' of the " Petition of Seven Jews, March 24, S. P. Dom. cxxv. 58. - Account by Mr. Israel Davis in the Jewish Chronicle, Nov. 26, 1880. ' War having by that time been declared. * On March 24, the day of the reference to the Council of the petition for a written confirmation of religious toleration. CASE OF EOBLES. 223 Hebrew nation,' whose father and otlier relations had ^^J^}'- A-Lj1. been burnt or tortured in Spain by the Inquisition. ■ — — ^ Inquiry was ordered, and in the main the evidence ^ supported his contention ; but not only was some support given to the assertion of his Spanisli birth, but it came out that he had been in the habit — and the practice was one common to others of his race — of attending Mass in the chapel of the Spanish ambas- sador, a practice of which the only conceivable motive was a desire to obtain the support of Spain if any commercial difficulty should arise with the English authorities. What had hitherto been helpful had become dansferous, and the members of the Jewish community were now as anxious to disclaim all con- nection with Spain as they had formerly been desi- rous of establishing it. On May 14 a report by the Mtvy 14. Admiralty Commissioners, to whom the investigation by the*" had been referred, professed inability to decide Admiralty ' i '' Commis- whether Eobles was a Spaniard or a Portuguese, sioners. but two davs later the Council, OTvin<>- no reasoji for its decision, ordered the liberation of his goods.' its conse- The direct consequence of this order may easity be exaggerated. It merely decided that Eobles was not to be treated as a Spaniard. His legal status, and that of all his co-religionists of full age, with the exception of Carvajal and his son, was that of an alien,"^ though as such he would be allowed to trade in England under comparatively disadvantageous circumstances. In the eye of the law the Hebrew nation, to whicli Eobles claimed to belong, was non- existent. Nevertheless, as had been the case with * Wolf's Crijpto-Jews, 7 10, where references to tlie State Papers are given. '' An alien was defined in the judgment in Calvin's case to be a person not born within the King's allegiance, or, as it would be put in 1656, not born in the dominions of the Commonwealth. 224 THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION. CHAP, the conference, the indirect result of the Eobles case ^I^J.^ was considerable. The Jews in En. , '_. and Barks tead, the Major-General for the remainder ^^5 of the County of Middlesex, was directed to act sarkstead as his substitute in the City. Yet the Govern- Ktatti* ment hesitated long before authorising the Major- ^"I'stitute, General to make use of his powers in the midst of a community accustomed to self-government for many generations ; and nothing was done till it was found that the Eoyalists of other districts flocked sur- reptitiously to London in order to escape notice in their own homes, though by so doing they incurred the penalties denounced in the Proclamation which forbade them to come within a radius of twenty miles of the capital and which had been renewed after its expiry in the autumn. At last, on March k the Protector summoned to ,,^^56. ' ^ March 5. Whitehall the Lord Mayor, to^fether with the Alder- oiiver-s . , address men and- Other citizens, m order that he might present to the his resolution to them in the fairest colours. Assuring them that he had no thought of encroaching on their rights, privileges, or liberties, he represented his position as an enforcer of the law on those who had hitherto been on the side of disorder. " We had, indeed," he said, " many good laws, yet ... we have lived rather under the name and notion of law than under the thing ; so that 'tis now resolved to regulate the same — God willing — oppose who will." Idle and loose persons, he added, were pouring into the City in flight from the Major-Generals, and some provision must be made against the dangers they brought with them. " The sole end of this way of procedure," he significantly added, " was the security of the peace of the nation, the suppressing of vice, and the encourage- ment of virtue." ^ ' Clarice Papers, iii. 65. 238 MOIIA.L ORDER. CHAP. XLII. The Major- Generals as keepers of the peace, and as sup- pressors of ■vice. Major- Gen erals and jus- tices of the peace. The num- bers of the militia. No militia in London. The whole activity of the Major-Generals was summed up in these words. It is, indeed, possible that if they had been allowed to restrain their actions to that of a police force employed to keep the peace, by the suppression or discouragement of active Eoyalism, posterity would have heard little of the illegality of their commissions. It was as dis- couragers of vice and encouragers of virtue that they roused the most virulent opposition. Yet the duty imposed upon them in this respect had long been traditionally expected from sovereign power, and though the procedure against the Eoyalists was undoubtedly not warranted by any existing law, it was by no means necessary to make use of extra-legal powers to countenance actions which would stir up a hornet's nest in every county in England. In putting in force the laws in this respect the Major-Generals had at their disposal the services of the justices of the peace, through whom it was easy to act without placing themselves too clearly in evidence.^ In every district, indeed, the justices of the peace were backed by the authority and impelled forward by the energy of the Major-Generals, who had under their orders a militia numbering in all 6,220 horse and 200 foot.^ In London not a single militiaman was quartered, except those raised by the civic authorities,^ and Major-General Barkstead was there- fore unable to put in motion a man of them ' In the eyes of the legal purist the ordinances and Acts of Parlia- ment, not having received Royal assent, and the ordinances of the Pro- tector issued before the meeting of his first Parliament, were invalid. In considering the Protector's intention it is necessary to assume the contrary. * Including non-commissioned officers, but excluding commissioned officers. ' See supra, p. 172. The London militia is not reckoned among the 6,220. THE EJECTION ORDINANCE. 239 without the voluntary co-operation of those authori- chap. ties.' J^'_ In all parts the Major-Generals found it necessary ^^56 to impart vigour to the Boards of Ejectors, which had Enforce- been appointed to carry out the ordinance of 1654 Section '*^^ for the ejection of scandalous or inefficient ministers ordinance, who might have crept into cures during the times of anarch5^^ Unfortunately, proceedings taken in this direction have only reached us in detail in the case of a certain Bushnell, ejected from the vicarage BushneU's of Box. Though the evidence handed down is *^*®®" insufficient to enable a modern inquirer to speak positively on his deserts, there is enough to show that he was to some extent the victim of the ill-natured gossip of the neighbourhood, and that with grave charges of immorality were mingled accusations of havinof used in his ministrations the forms of the Prayer Book, of having played with cards and dice, and of having been disaffected to the Government.^ The ejection of scandalous clergymen was an easy task compared with that of rectifying disorders amongst the lay population. In Lancashire, Worsley ' On the other hand, he disposed of his own Tower garrison of regulars. - Worsley to Thurloe, Nov. 9, 13, Jan. 23, April 29, Thurloe, iv. 179, 189, 473, 746; Whallcy to Thurloe, Nov. 17, Dec. i, ib. iv. 211, 472 ; Desborough to the Protector, Jan. 4 ; Desborough to Thurloe, Jan. 4, ib. iv. 391. ^ A Narrative of the Proceedings . . . in the Case of Walter Bushnell, E, 1837. This was the only case that Walker found to suit his purpose amongst the ejections under the Major- Generals, so that it may be gathered that most, if not all, of the remainder dealt with mere scandalous living. There was a reply to BushneU's Narrative in An Ansiver of Humphrey Chambers, E, 187,4. Chambers, however, only replies to so much of BushneU's book as personally affected his own character, but what he says leaves the impression that BushneU's statements were often very inaccurate. 240 MORAL ORDER. CHAP. XLII. 1656 Regulation of markets. Horse- races. Bear- baitings. Pride kills the bears. had much to say against the practice of holding markets on Saturday or Monday, as occasioning ' the Lord's Day to be much violated.' ^ In other matters different Major-Generals did not always see with the same eye. Whalley showed unusual liberality in giving permission to the Earl of Exeter to run horses for a cup "at Lincoln, on the ground that the intention of His Highness was not ' to abridge gentle- men of that sport, but to prevent the great con- fluences of irreconcilable enemies ' ; though Worsley had already absolutely prohibited such races in Cheshire.^ The Bear Garden at Bankside had long been an object of Puritan dislike, and orders had been given for its suppression by the Long Parliament in 1642, and by the Council of the Provisional Dictator- ship in 1653.^ Powerful as had been the Govern- ments which had launched these decrees, their prohi- bitions still remained without effect. It is possible, indeed, that an incident occurring in the autumn of 1655 may have influenced public opinion in another direction. Not only was a child inadvertently locked in among the bears by the keeper and incon- tinently devoured, but the bearwards, after offering to console the mother with half the profits of the next baiting, put her off with 3/. out of 60/. which had come in on that occasion."* However this may have been, the appointment of the Major-Generals was the doom of the bears. By Barkstead's order Pride took with him a company of soldiers ; after 1 Worsley to Thurloe, Dec. 3, Thurloe, iv. 277-78. - Worsley to Thurloe, Dec. 4 ; Whalley to the Protector, March 12, ib. iv. 315, 607. ' Great Civil War, i. 75 ; Commonwealth and Protectorate, -Ai^ 234- * Perfect Proceedings, E, 854, 2. A FJGIIT ACAIXST PROFANITY. 24 1 >;laying the bears witli liis own liaiul, lie employed chap. his men to wrmg the necks of the game-cocks in ^^^^^ other parts of the town J "^^^^ It soon l)ecame evident that tliere was much to })e done before vice coukl ])e defeated and virtue triumph. " One great evil I iind here, which I know not how to remedy," reported Berry from Brecon, •' and that is the want of cable preachers. Certainly, if some course be not taken these people will some of them become heathens." - From Carmarthen he wrote somewhat more cheerfully : " I had a very good appearance of tlie gentlemen in these parts, and they act very cordially ; and I am persuaded that not onl}^ the tax, but something of reformation, will be carried on in poor Wales, whom I serioush' profess my heart pities and loves. They are a poor people and have suffered much." At Winchester, reported Goffe, ' the justices do all seem desirous to endeavour after the reformation of open profanes.' It was, liowever, easier to inflict punishment on impiison- ' profanes' than to reform them. The order for the kiie', de- imprisonment of Cavaliers with no visible means of '^d "" support suggested the idea of ridding the country of all— whether Cavaliers or not — whose lives made til em burdensome to the neighbourhood. "The com- missioners," wrote Worsley from Cheshire, " some of them this day expressed that they could find near sixty gentlemen in this county — many of them younger sons — that were fit to be sent out of this (!^ommonwealtli ; which done would mucli tend to tlie security tliereof and terrif}' others.""'^ To purue the ' Clarke Papers, iii. 64 ; Letter of Feb. 28 in Carte's Original Letters, ii. 82. - Berry to Tlmrloe. Jan. 12, Feb. 28, ^laroh 6, Thurloe, iv. 413, 565, 582. ^ AVorsley to Tlun'loe, Feb. 23, Tlmrloe, iv. 534. VOL. HI. R profane persons. 242 MORAL ORDER. CHAP, wheat from the chaff by the banishment of evil-doers- - ^t-— was the fixed idea of the Major-Generals and the ^^^^ commissioners. Though the prisons were filled to overflowing, it was difficult to keep abreast of the tide of roguery. " This," boasted Whalley, " I may truly say, you may ride over all Nottinghamshire, and not see a beggar or a wandering rogue." " I hope," he was in conscience compelled to add, " suddenly ^ to have it so in all the counties under my charge, if it be not already ; but I much fear it." Part of the blame, at least, he put on the shoulders of the Government. "When I was last in London," he had written a fortnight earlier, " I told you the not taking rogues, such as our instruc- tions ordered to be sent beyond the seas, off our hands, makes us neglect the imprisoning of them ; a better work for the safety and satisfying the country cannot be. I wonder it should be so much neglected. . . . Sir, I beseech you, let it not be forgotten, but consider how the gaols may be delivered for the ease and safety of the countries." Three months later he repeats the same demand : " Horse-stealers, robbers, and other condemned roht in holdin • i • • n in Warwickshire, lor instance, the justices de- creed that one-third of the alehouses, and also the whole of those ' in by-corners,' should be put down.^ At Shrewsbury the justices, amongst whom Berry was reckoned, forbade anyone to keep an inn or ale- house who was not of honest conversation or well- afFected to the present Government. Nor was anyone- to receive a license for the sale of ale or beer who could not entertain at least two soldiers or travellers with their horses ; while all licenses to houses standing alone and out of the town were to be suppressed. A list of" licensed houses was to be publicly read at the Shrop- shire quarter sessions, in order that those who heard it might be ready to inform against unlicensed houses. The preamble of this order shows how inextricably the desire to safeguard the Government was entwined with the desire to safeguard morality. " The justices of the peace of this county," it begins, " being very sensible of the great mischiefs and inconveniences which do daily happen to this Commonwealth by the multitude of inns ^ Woi-sley to Thurloe, Feb. 9 ; the Commissioners for Cheshire to Thurloe, Feb. 9, Thurloe, iv. 322, 323. There is no mention in either of these letters of justices of the peace, but the latter bears only six signatures, the first being that of the Mayor of Chester. The number shows that all the commissioners for the county cannot have signed, and the reference at the end to His Highness's encouragement to ' what else our city shall stand in need of seems to imply that they belonged to the corporation, and probably- included amongst themselves the- justices of the city. ^ Merc. Pol, E, 492, SIirvOPSIIIKE AND MIDDLESEX. 249 and alehouses, especially where those that keep themaic chai'. persons of lewd life and conversation, and considering- ^_1 '^l^ that the end of the law in licensing inns was not to set '^^5^* up houses to tipple in but to make provision for enter- tainment of strangers and travellers, where officers and soldiers of the army are by the discipline of the wai" also ordered to quarter, and nowhere else ; — and find- ing by sad experience that, where persons of dissolute life and disaffected to the Government are licensed to sell ale or beer, those? houses are the cages of all un- cleanness and wickedness, and that in them the late secret plots and conspiracies against His Highness and this Commonwealth have been promoted and carried on, do johitly agree and resolve to put the laws that concern the regulating of inns and alehouses, and correcting the evils therein connnitted, in effectual execution, whereby they may discharge the trust reposed hi them, be faitliful to their country, and deliver their own souls from the guilt of tliose many abominations that are daily committed in sucli places." ' If such orders as these were observed, wrote Berry exultingly to Thurloe, ' I am persuaded it would suppress one half of the deboistness and profane practices of this nation.' In February the Middlesex Justices in quarter Tiie sessions issued an order even more drastic than that jixsticefat which had delighted Berry. All alehouse-keepers were ''"''^'" to be su[)pressed who might be convicted ' for the pro- fanation of the Lord's Day by receiving into' the 'house any company, or for swearing, drunkenness, suffering disorderly tippling, gaming or playing games of skill or chance, or of permitting anyone who might be in ' Order of the Justices for Sln'opshirc, The Piihlic hitclligenccr, E, 491, 16. - Beri'y to Thurloe, Jan. 12, Thurlnr, iv. 413. r^ 250 MORAL ORDER. CHAP. XLII. ""1656^ March 16, Seizure of liorses. The Oppo- sition strength- ened. the house on Sunday morning to leave it before Monday, except with the object of repairing to divine AYorship, without the approbation of a justice of the peace.' ^ A few weeks later the soldiers took posses- sion in London of a considerable number of liorses taken out by their grooms for exercise on Sunday, and their masters were only allowed to recover them on Monday morning by paying a fine of \os. for. each.^ Harsh as these proceedings were, they at least emanated from the authorities known to the law, and in no single particular did they deviate from the line traced out by two ordinances of the Long Parlia- ment.^ The same may be said, so far as the observ- ance of ordinances is concerned, of the suppression of bear-baiting and other popular amusements. The fact was that Puritan legislation had hitherto been very imperfectly carried out. Its thoroughgoing enforcement under the impulsion of the Major- Generals must have contributed, far more than such of their actions as overstepped the legal pale, to spread the notion that Puritanism in authority was no better than a canting hypocrisy. The Eoyalist Opposition, it can hardly be doubted, was reinforced not merely by the roysterers and drunkards, but by that widespread class of good fellows who care more for the ease and enjoyment of life than for its stricter duties, who form a vast and inert mass when spirited action is called for, but who offer a stubborn \ resistance to a Government which calls on them for a forward step towards a purer and a nobler life. The 1 Order of Quarter Sessions, Feb. 19, The Public Intelligencer, E, 492, 1 1. See also the form of recognisances drawn up in June by the Westminster Justices, Merc. Pol., E, 494, 4. - Letter from London, March 21, Carte's Original Letters, ii. 93. ' Passed respectively on April 6, 1644, and April 19, 1650, Scohell^ i. 68, ii. 119. PUBLIC FEELING AROUSED. 25 I stron-li as iiistices of the peace. The relations chap. • • • XLII] between these governing bodies or corporations and ^_,^__. the free burgesses varied in different towns, and is ^^^6 to be regarded as the resultant of a long struggle carried on in past centuries between the general body of freemen and the smaller body entrusted with the conduct of affairs. Whatever might be the exact constitution of each Relations cor]3oration, its characteristic feature was that the tiiecor- choice of its members ^ did not emanate from the and the central Government. The existence of a civil war, ment™' however, had unavoidably led to some interference, and the Long Parliament had — notably in the case of London— laid down restrictive rules for the conduct of municipal elections. A sweeping measure, passed as an Act on October 8, 1652, excluded from office, ^^^2^ and also from the rioiit of votino- in municipal or ^^^ , ,. <- ~ _ -L regulating parliamentary elections, not only all delinquents whose elections estates had been sequestered or their persons im- prisoned, as adherents of the Eoyalist cause in the first Civil War, but also those who had adhered to that cause in the second war.^ This Act, however, was to expire on September 28, 1655, and it was, therefore, only by stretching his constitutional powers 1)eyond the bounds of strict legality that on Septem- ^ 1655 ber 21 — the day on which the commissions of the enforced' Major-Generals were made out — the Protector issued mafiOT."^" a proclamation directing that this Act should continue in force. Li so doing he defended himself on the Q-round that the Commonwealth had been endano-ered by ' the late horrid treason and rebellion,' carried on by a party which had made it its object ' to involve ^ Except that when a new charter was granted the first members of the corporation were usually named in it. " Act of Parliament, B.M. press-mark, 506, d. 9. No. 146. 2 62 THE PEOTECTORATE AND THE COEPOliATIONS. CHAP, these nations in blood and confusion,' and which had >^ ,-- 1. openly professed its end to be ' to set up that power ^ ^5 and interest which Almighty God hath so eminently appeared against.' So far the proclamation, like the Act on which it was based, was directed against Eoyalists alone ; but a clause ordering that ' all magis- trates, officers and ministers of justice elected and chosen within the several places of this Commonwealth shall be such as are of pious and good conversation,, and well qualified with discretion, fitness, and ability to discharge the trust committed to them,' left the door open to the exclusion of some who had never taken part in a Eoyalist movement.^ ^f™; 7~ At the time when this proclamation was issued plaints ot ^ -T the Major- tlic Ma] or-Gcucrals were intended to act aojainst Generals. , *' _ ^ '-' Eoyalists alone, the instructions to them to support moral order being of a later date.^ Yet when, two or three months later, the Major-Generals reported on the conduct of magistrates in the towns, they complained less of their Eoyalism than of their slack- whaiTe^at ^^^^ ^^ *^^ supprcssiou of vicc. The first note was Lincoln struck by Whalley. " It hath been a general com- coventry. plaint to me," he wrote, "in Lincoln and Coventry especially, that wicked magistrates, b}^ reason of their numbers, overpower the godly magistrates. They" no sooner suppress alehouses but they are set up again. They comfort themselves at present, as they tell me, with the hopes of my assistance, which they should presently have, were I in commission of peace in their corporations. However, they imagine I am. I shall at present declare to them what His Highness expects from them — that, as they are called to be magistrates, so they should answer the end of their ^ The proclamation is printed in the Hist. Eev, (Oct. 1900) p. 655^ , note 58. - See supra, p. 180. ^ I.e. the godly magistrates. msarissAL OF magistrates. 263 magistracy, viz., suppress sin and wickedness, and chap. encourage godliness. I shall give them in charge to ^ put down as many alehouses as shall he judged '^'^^ necessary."' ^ At Coventry Whalley's special attention Aidermai. had been drawn to Alderman Chandlers, one of the at"^"' "^ justices of the peace, who was charged by the city ^'"''■'^"*^^'>'' constables with encouraging a man whom he had been obliged to convict of swearino^ to brin-h,- i>y the the provisions being doubtless m accordance witii Bridge's suggestions. In these proceedings no allusion was made to political distractions, yet it is difficult to suppose that they were altogether absent. At all events, it is noticeable that the borough which, in 1654, had returned its recorder, Thomas Scot, one of the most determined enemies of the Protectorate, chose Bridge as its member in 1656. It may at least be affirmed with safety that a place which in the space of two years returned a regicide and a Cromwellian officer can have had no strong leaning towards the cause of the Stuarts.'^ ^ Bridge's award, Jan. 31, S.l\ Doni. cxxiv. 80. ii. ' The only evidence of the grant of the charter is a note over a page in the municipal records relating to a levy of money for the pay- ment of expenses incurred in its procurement : — " This is to gain a charter from Oliver, in the Eumpers' time, which charter was burnt on the day our most gracious King Charles IL was crowned, whom I pray God to send long to reign." Hist. MSS. Com. Bej). v. 556. ' On Oct. 9, 1650, Parliament resolved that ' for the better settling of the peace of Wycombe, and the promoting of the Parliament's interest there, . . . Stephen Bate, a discreet, religious person, nomi- nated by the well-affected of that town, be appointed mayor.' It was now proposed to restore Bate to his aldermanship, of which he had been deprived in favour of Bradshaw, who was now in turn expelled. Bradshaw was described by Lambert as ' an unquiet and disafl'ected spirit, ... a very contentious person, . . . and the original cause of 268 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. 1656 The case of Colchester. Changes in the franchise. 1628 A resolu- tion of the Commons. 1635 Charter of Charles I. Whatever interest may be attached to the changes enforced at Chipping Wycombe is outweighed by the deahngs of the Government with Colchester, partly because far more is known about them, but still more because political feeling had a more considerable share in the development of the case. During the greater part of the later Middle Ages the corporation had consisted of two bailiffs and a commonalty of free burgesses. By the time of Edward IV., however, we hear of an elected common council, which eventually claimed the right of returning members to Parliament, and was permitted to do so, at least from the acces- sion of Mary to the third Parliament of Charles I. In 1628, however, a resolution of the House of Commons restored the franchise to the free burgesses ; ^ and in 1635 Charles settled the question, as he hoped for ever, by granting a new charter to the town. By this charter the place was to be governed by a mayor, nine aldermen, sixteen assistants, and sixteen ordinary common councillors. Of these the mayor was to be elected annually by the free burgesses, whilst the remaining forty-one were to be chosen for life, alder- men by the aldermen, assistants by the assistants, common councillors by the common council, though in each case the choice was restricted to one of two persons nominated by the burgesses. The first members of the new corporation were, according to the long and tedious suits in the said borough, . . . appearing always in opposition to the rights of the poor, the well-government of the said corporation, and, by stirring up factions and making parties, to the intent to carry on his own design, according to his own arbitrary will, contrary both to law and equity, and the charter and peace of the said corporation, to the great grief and sorrow of the sober and well-affected people thereof,' S.P, Dom. cxxiv. 80. Before the election of 1656 Bridge had been removed to the North to act as Major-General in succession to Worsley, so that there can have been no question of undue influence exercised by himself. ^ Report to Parliament, March 22, 1659, C. J. vii. 617. THE COLCHESTER MUNICIPALITY. 269 a usual practice, nominated in the charter by the chap. 1635 King.^ In consequence of the adoption of this system variations in the temper of the free burgesses were indicated by the character and aims of the mayor, who was annually replaced, and not by those of the aldermen and other members of the corpora- tion, who retained their places till death or some misdemeanour ensured their removal.^ In ordinary times such a system might have worked well, but it was hardly suited to the rapid chan"'es of sentiment which arise in the midst of revolutionary excitement. In 1647 and 1648 the 1648 Presbyterian opposition due to the interference of the Essex^^ ' army in politics, if not even more to the increase of taxation which the mere existence of that army rendered necessary, raised its head even higher in Essex than in other parts of the country. A petition for a personal treaty with the King, presented to the House of Commons on May 4, 1648, is said to have recei^'ed 30,000 signatures in the county, out of which 1,^00 were contributed by Colchester alone.^ There andinCoi- ^ "^ Chester. ' II Pat. Charles I., Part 9, No. 3. ^ This is remarked by Mr. Round in an article on Colchester and the Commonwealth in the Hist. Rev. (Oct. 1900), xv. The local knowledge of the writer has enabled him to throw light on some difficult points, and I have to a considerable extent modified my opinion in conse- quence. As there are still some few points on which our agreement is not complete, I shall have frequently to refer to this article. I shall for brevity's sake quote merely from the Bevieiv by volume and page. ^ (7. f/. v. 551 ; The Kingdom'' s Weehly hitclUgencer, E, 441, 19 ; Haynes to Fleetwood, Dec. 20, 1655, Thurloc, iv. 330. It would be convenient if we could find a shorter description of these men than Presbyterian Royalists, but I cannot bring myself to call them, as Mr. Round does, Loyalists, partly because it seems to imply that one can be loyal only to a king ; but, still more, because there was in them no element of the personal devotion which we usually connect with loyalty. They wanted to use Charles for their own purposes, and %vere too dull to see that they could not do bo. If the term ' Loyalist ' is to be used at all, I would apply it to the old Cavaliers. 270 THE PROTECTOR A.TE AND THE CORPORATIONS. Sept. 4. A munici- pal coup d'etat. can be no question that many of the townsmen who had stood for Parhament in the first Civil War welcomed the Eoyalist commanders in the second, and even took arms on their behalf in the defence of the besieo-ed town.^ The almost inevitable result was that wlien victory declared itself on the side of Parliament in 1 648, those who had adhered to the Parliamentary cause resolved that the town should not be left in the hands of men whom they regarded as traitors to the cause. As they had a majority of the free burgesses on their side, they were able to carry their wishes into effect in accordance with their charter — at least on the probably ill-founded assumption that the mis- demeanour or other reasonable cause which that charter allowed as a sufficient reason for ejection from offices tenable for life were terms applicable to men guilty of taking the King's part in the late war.^ On September 4 — the day fixed for the election of the mayor, the justices of the peace, and other officials — the majority took advantage of the opportunity to get rid of the obnoxious life members of the corporation. Amidst the wildest excitement^ three aldermen, four assistants, and six common councillors were expelled, and their places filled by others whose * Hist. Bev. XV. 645. ^ In an order by the new council, pi'inted by Mr. Round (ib. xv. 646), the ' words of the Charter ' are given as ' ill-behaviour or scan- dalum magnatum.'' As a matter of fact the Charter allows expulsion ' pro male se gerendo in officio suo . . . aut alia justa et rationabili de causa ' — language loose enough to cover almost anything. 3 " The tumultuoias scene," writes Mr. Round, " that must have been witnessed on this occasion at the moot hall is reflected on the leaf of the assembly book that records its results. It was headed by the clerk ' fourth day of August, it being election day ' ; and although 'August ' is erased, September has not been substituted. The list of the council, as it stood till then, was first set out by the town clerk, and then altered and cut about, as the Loyalist members were expelled and others elected in their places. Thus defaced it is unintelligible until we can compare the corporation lists before and after the purge." Ih. xv. 645. A MUNICIPAL PLTxGE. 27 1 principles were more in accordance with those of tlie chap. victorious party. The number of new members was -^ — ^-— swollen to sixteen, as there were some death vacancies ' '"^ to be filled.i The mayor elected on the same occasion was H«''i:.y •^ Buiniig- Ilenry Barrington, the leader of the successful party, ton. He was a wealthy townsman, who appears to have made his fortune as a brewer.-^ His selection as a member of the Nominated Parliament in 1653 gives a clue to his religious position ; and the same result is obtained from the charge subsequently brought against him, tliat he had refused topaj^ over any part of the money sul^scribed in London for the sufferers by the siege, except to the ' poor of the separate congregations.' ^ His name, indeed, is marked in a contemporary list as one of those who were against ministry and magistracy ; "* but as he at once rallied to the Protectorate, he must have heen a most unscru- pulous turncoat, unless either the mark was inserted in error or, what is more probable, he was one of those who voted with the extreme party in the last division williout entirely concurring with their views.^ ^ Hist. Rev. XV. 647. - He is distinctly called a brewer in Merc. Busticus, E, 103, 3, but as he was named mayor in the charter of 1635, which prohibited brewers from becoming inembcrs of the corporation, cither tJie exclu- sion must have been mere verbiage or, as is more likely, he had by that time ceased to be actively employed in the trade. As otlier trades, not susceptible to Puritan objection, also disqualified fi'om seats in the corporation, the probability is that the objection to those who exer- cised these trades was that if elected they would have to enforce rules for the regulation of a trade in which they themselves shared. In a grant of the mastership of a hospital in the suburbs made to him on Feb. i, 1650, Barrington is described as esquire, which would hardly be tlie case if he carried on business as a brewer. See the Patent lioUs for tliat year. ^ Hist. Eev. XV. 663. ■* Sec Vol. ii. 259. '' That there were members of this kind appears from a passage in An Exact lielation. See Vol. ii. 277. 72 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. 1648 A reaction sets in. 1652 Growth of the oppo- sition. 1653 Peeke elected mayor. At all events, this violent purge of tlie corporation was a source of weakness rather than of strength. Even in the hour of triumph one of the aldermen, one of the assistants, and three of the common councillors selected by the victorious party refused to take the oath required on entering upon office, thereby dissociating themselves from the party which had put them forward. In 1652 opinion had so veered round amongst the free burgesses as to carry the election to the mayoralty of John Eadhams, an opponent, though not a thoroughgoing opponent, of Barrington's party; and in 1653 to give him as a successor Thomas Peeke, whose antagonism to Barrington was of a more unbending character. So far as the general political situation may be supposed to have influenced the development of municipal parties, with which the personal element is often of preponderating influence, it would appear that at least one of the causes in the reaction was the growth of a party which, without being distinctly Eoyalist, was nevertheless shocked at the increasing weight of the soldiery in public affairs. The years which intervened between Barrington's election in September 1648', and Peeke's in September 1653, witnessed Pride's purge, the King's execution, the expulsion of the Long Parliament, and the setting up of the l^ominees, Barrington himself being amongst those who, at the last-named date, were sitting and voting at Westminster. Men who had been revolted by these proceedings would naturally coalesce with their old opponents, the Presbyterian Eoyalists of 1648.^ Peeke's name, however, seems to indicate that the party was not entirely composed of these materials, as he was one of those who, in 1662, refused to ^ Hist. Bev. XV. 648. ture. A COALITION FORMED. 273 conform to the requirements of the Corporation Act. ^ chap. . XLIII The evidence ])ecomes still more clear when, in the -^ -. — '-■ Parliamentary elections in July 1654, Colonel Goffe ' ^^ was put forward by Bari'ington's opponents, and APariin- succeeded in securing 98 votes against 102 given to election. Maidstone, the treasurer of the Protector's household.^ The mere number of Goffe's supporters proves character , . , T • 1 • • 1 ,r 1 1 of Goffe's nothmg as to the political principles 01 the very large candida- minority by which he was supported. Candidates have neither the will nor the power to reject votes given by those whose opinions do not entirely square with their own. The remarkable thing is not that Goffe was nearly elected, but that it occurred to anyone in Colchester to invite him to be a candidate, or to assure him of support if the overture proceeded from himself. In many elections the point at issue was the acceptance or rejection of the schemes of the Nominated Parlia- ment, and those who wished to show their animosity ' Hist. Rev. XV. 662. * " As the names of the voters," writes Mr. Eound, " are fortunately preserved, we can see that the voting went on strict party lines, except that Mr. Shaw voted for Maidstone, and Alderman Cooke for Gofife. The latter's supporters were headed by Peeke, then mayor, followed by Kadhams, Gale, Reynolds, Rayner, and Milbanke ; while Maidstone's list is headed by Barrington, who is followed by Greene, Vickers, the Furleys, and the other members of his party. My own explanation of this voting would be simply that, as Goffe was the only candidate in the field whose election could be deemed embarrassing to Cromwell, the anti-CromwcUians, even if Presbyterians, agreed to vote for him en masse. Their support of him in that case would not of necessity imply their own predilections " {Hist. Bev. xv. 663). It is only fair to give Mr. Round's words, as they appear to point to a solution which may reconcile the differences between us. That the Presbyterians were not the whole of the party is acknowledged in the words just quoted. My suggestion is that it included members of the advanced sects as well as a few Royalists of the original stamp. At first I laid less stress on the Presbyterian side of the party than I ought to have done, but I still think that he lays too great stress on the Royalist or semi-Royalist element. vol.. III. T 274 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. 1654 Sept. The municipal elections to that Parliament had an excellent candidate in Maidstone, an official of the Government on terms of close intimacy with the Protectgr himself. If the Presbyterian opponents of Barrington's party were on the look-out for a candidate of their own, they would have no difficulty in finding one who, like Maidstone, but unlike Goffe, had a local connection with the county of Essex. On the other hand, if they were anxious to catch votes amongst a class which had little in common with themselves, and which com- prised members of extreme sects, religious and political — Baptists, Fifth Monarchy men. Levellers, and thorough-paced Parliamentarians — Goffe was the very man to bind together so loose a coalition. As an officer in the army he was not only as attached to Oliver as Maidstone himself, but had actually taken part in expelling from the House those members of the extreme party who clung to their seats after their colleagues had gone to lay their authority at the feet of the Lord-General.^ Yet, if such a record may have commended him to the lovers of order, his fervent religion was likely to secure him a favourable verdict from those who held that the Protectorate was too conservative, and who were ready, if power came into their hands, to sever the still existing connection between Church and State.- Defeated in the Parliamentary election in July, the coalition had its revenge in the municipal elec- tions in September, when its leader, Thomas Eeynolds, 1 See Vol. ii. 280. '^ This view of the case derives support from other arguments which will be adduced further on (see infra, p. 285). It does not militate against this view that Barrington's party included a Baptist, Samuel Crisp, amongst its adherents. The Baptists were split politically into two parties— those who accepted the Protectorate, and those who opposed it. A SECOND PUEGE. 275 who ultimately rallied to the Restoration, was chosen chap. mayor. ^ His success encouraged his party to the -L-, — L. strongest measures. Unlike the occupant of the ^ ^^ mayoralty, aldermen, assistants and common coun- cillors could only be removed by death or malfeas- ance, and some years, therefore, must pass before the majority amongst the burgesses could secure a majority in the corporation. To get over the diffi- culty Reynolds, taking example by the purge of 1648, assembled a meeting of the burgesses and persuaded them to expel from the corporation not onlvBarrington Bairington If 1 1 1 • All -n • n and ''is himself, but also his son, Abraham Barrington, as well partisan!* as to deprive Arthur Barnardiston of the recorder- ship. The charges brought against these three were that they had neglected their duty, and had other- wise misconducted themselves. Against such violence 1655 Barrington was certain to protest, and his protest Bai-ring'ton took the form of an application to the Upper Bench by^Xo ' to restore himself and the recorder — Abraham Bar- Bench, rington was, for some unknown reason, not included in the case — to the posts they had formerly occupied. Chief Justice Rolle, in giving judgment, took the reasonable ground that it was unjust to an official to deprive him of his office on certain charges without giving him an opportunity to disprove them, and ordered the restitution of the claimants, unless their opponents could show cause to the contrary.^ ^ It is not desirable to lay too great stress on party statements, but it is remarkable that Barrington and his party should have charged Eeynolds with having been ' a very good friend to Mr. Alderman Barrington until he endeavoured to procure an Act of Parliament for miaintenance of ministers in the said town, saying that that Act would enslave them and their posterities.' — S.P. Dom. xcviii. 22. If this is true it makes Reynolds, and not Barrington, an extremist. ^ Only the case of the recorder is reported in Styles's Narrationes ModemcB, 446, 452 ; but we learn from the articles of Barrington's party {S.P. Dom. xcviii. 22) that both gained their case, and the ?76 THE PROTECTOHATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. 1655 April. An appeal to the Protector. May 31. The com- plaints on both sides referred to the Council. June 9. A Com- mittee em- powered to examine the case. June. Glyn'a judgment. Whilst the case was still pending both sides were doing their best to secure the goodwill of the Pro- tector, a statement of Barrington's case having been drawn up about the beginning or the middle of April. ^ It may, however, be concluded, with some probability, that Oliver held back the papers presented to him on both sides till the end of May ; and it is at all events certain that it was not till June 9 ^ that the Council appointed the Committee which it empowered to examine the allegations of the two parties. Before, however, this Committee had time to wade far into the business the case came again before Glyn, the new Chief Justice', who had stepped into Eolle's place,^ and who now pronounced as strongly as his prede- cessor in favour of the ejected officials. It is true Protector's letter of June 28, cited in the reply of Reynolds's party {ib. xcviii. 23), shows that the recorder and one alderman were concerned. Rolle's judgment must have been delivered on or before May 28, the last day of Easter Term, as he resigned before Trinity Term commenced. ^ There is a reference in it {S.P. Do7n. xcviii. 20) to a commission of gaol delivery to be executed 'the 23rd of this instant April.' The dates given in the Calendar of State Papers are hopelessly misleading, most of these documents being placed under the date of June 9, without any hint that this is merely the day on which the Council referred the statements and counter-statements to a Committee. This incorrect date is also assigned to other papers evidently written much later. The answer of the Reynolds party {ib. xcviii. 21) is one of those dated in the margin of the Calendar June 9, whilst in the text it is said to have been referred to the Council on April 3. As a matter of fact the date of the reference is given, in Thurloe's hand, in the original, as April 31, which might be a mistake for April 30 or May i; though it is more likely to have been May 31, a supposition which would be favoured by the likelihood that the Protector would have waited, before consulting the Council, for RoUe's judgment, and also by the fact that the papers on both sides were referred by the Council to the Committee on June 9 ; it being improbable that the Council should have waited for some forty days if the Protector had requested its opinion on April 30 or May I. 2 The date given in the Calen,dar (June 7) is a misprint. Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 129. » See tupra, p. 153. THE PliOTECTOR'S INTERVENTION. 277 that Glyn, before his elevation to the Bench, had chap. acted as counsel for Barnardiston ; but the judgment . _, L- delivered by Eolle was so evidently just that it is '^55 useless to inquire whether this fact weighed to any extent with the new judge. Decisive as was the ingTS ruling of the court, the first news which reached ^^i'^^^^^*'"^'- London from Colchester was that the majority of the corporation — now composed of Barrington's oppon- ents— had resolved to put themselves in order by passing a fresh vote of expulsion, doubtless — though nothing has come down to us to that effect — after giving a formal hearing to the aggrieved parties.^ It was more than Oliver could endure, and on June 28 ^Ju^eas, luterier- he sent a sharp order to the corporation, commandino- ence of tuq . ^ ^ . ^ ^ . ^ ^ Protector. them to remstate the ejected persons in accordance with the direction of the court, and prohibiting them, at the same time, from making any further changes till the complaints of both parties had been fully investigated by the Council,^ When the petitions and declarations were laid ^'''^ ,, before the Council there could be little doubt which p^^i'^y the more numerous. ^ The report in Styles's Narrationes ModerncB, 4^2, ends: "There- fore let him be restored nisi and to-morrow." This judgment of Glyn's must have been delivered after June 15. The following passage in a later set of articles by Barrington's party {8.P. Dom. xcviii. 22) shows that the rule was afterwards made absolute, and was understood to cover the case of the younger Barrington. They say ' that the three persons as above turned out were by due course of law restored to their places. The said Mayor ' — i.e. Reynolds — ' and Mr. Thomas Peeke threatened to turn them out again ; but His Highness, being acquainted with their design, sent an order to the Mayor.' - The order is given in full in the reply of the Reynolds party : " Oliver P., — Being informed that writs from our Upper Bench are issued out for restoring of the recorder and one of the aldermen lately by you ejected, our will and pleasure is that, after the execution of the said writs, you do forbear the displacing of the said persons, or making any alteration in the magistracy or common council of this town, until the business be determined by our Council, to whom the petitions of our town are referred. Whitehall, June 28." — S.P. Dom. xcviii. 22. work 278 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP* side represented popular feeling in Colchester. The «J_-,_1_^ Barrington memorial was signed by four aldermen, ^^55 six assistants, nine common councillors, 121 burgesses, and 122 other inhabitants, the signatures on the whole amounting to 262. The Eeynolds petition was signed by no less than 971 persons, of whom eight were members of the corporation, whilst no distinction was drawn between the burgesses and other inhabitants who made up the remaining 963. It was easy enough to count the signatures. It was far harder at White- hall to get to the bottom of the charges and counter- charges preferred on either side on matters of local The Com- notoricty. What, for instance, was the Committee to i^quky^at do with an allegation that Peeke, the mayor chosen under the influence of the Eeynolds party in 1653, had sold defective cloth to the Corporation for dis- tribution amongst the poor ; or that Eeynolds himself, at the opening of his mayoralty, had summoned a meeting of the burgesses only to inform them that he invited them to drink at the house of Mr. Shaw, one of his own prominent supporters ; or, again, that he and Eadhams, who had followed Peeke as mayor, liad shown countenance to John Eayner, in spite of his having been convicted of swearing, whilst he himself had licensed a multitude of alehouses and had winked at the existence of many that were not licensed at all ? Peeke, too, it was alleged, had said at the time when he held the office of mayor that it was no matter how many alehouses were opened, as ' if they were let alone one alehouse would break another.' The latter charge was explained away by Peeke as merely indicative of his desire to see as many alehouses as possible reduced to bankruptcy, whilst he absolutely denied the suggestion that the cloth supplied by him was of inferior quaUty. Eayner, A PUZZLED COUNCIL. 279 on his part, averred that he had only once given vent chap. to a profane oath, and that only under circumstances v_^^"^' - •of the greatest provocation, so that he could not be ^^'55 held guilty under the charter of 1635, which referred only to frequent swearers. Eeynolds then carried the war into the enemy's quarters, charging them with neglect of duty and misappropriation of the property of the town.^ If it was hard for the Committee to discover the Aug. 10. . -, ^ • . . T The truth amidst these revelations, it was still harder to expeiiea pacify the excited factions. It was something gained of the cor- tliat on August 10 the expelled members of the restored. corporation were restored to their seats.- Time, however, was flowing rapidly by, and on September 3 the municipal elections to the mayoralty and other executive offices must be held in accordance with the charter. As the result was certain to give Tiie another triumph to Reynolds and his associates, the an^dousto Council, seeing no prospect of a report from their the?iec-° Committee before that date, consulted the Commis- ^h^' sioners of the Treasury whether the elections could Jlj^fjj^s^ not be avoided on the highly technical ground that ^o^suUed. the charter having been removed from the custody of the town might be regarded as no longer in force, and that the Protector would therefore be acting within his rights if he appointed the new mayor — presumably only for the time being — a step which Barrington and his allies had asked him to take as long ago as the preceding April. *^ The Treasury 'Commissioners replied in the negative, though they thought that the Protector, whilst leaving the town to choose its own magistrates, might request that ' These charges are scattered over the petitions and declarations of ihe two parties. 2 Hist. liev. XV. 652. ^ Ih. 650. 28o THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. J655 Aug. 30. A letter written, Aug. 31. but not sent. Sept. 3. The elections. the names of those so chosen should be submitted to him for his approval.^ Acting on this hint, the Council at once passed an order on August 30 that a letter should be written to this effect ; ^ and there can be no doubt that it was actually written, and was, in all probability, signed by the Protector on the follow- ing day. At the last moment, however, its despatch appears to have been countermanded. The explana- tion of this apparent vacillation may be that Eeynolds, meeting with Colonel Jones, a member of the Council,, gave some assurance that the election would fall on candidates who had not committed themselves strongly to either of the factions. Jones, at all events, in parting with Eeynolds recommended him to 'go home and cause an honest mayor to be chosen.' ^ Either Eeynolds's notions of honesty differed from those prevailing at Whitehall or he found himself unable to control his followers. The elections on September 3 were carried on strict party lines. Eadhams was chosen mayor, Peeke and Milbanke — the latter having been one of the signatories of the Essex petition — were named justices of the peace, whilst Eayner, who had acknowledged himself guilty ^ Report of the Treasury Commissioners, Aug. 30, S.P. Dom. c. 70, I. It is diil&cult to say why the Treasury Coinmissioners were consulted, unless it were on account of the legal eminence of two of them — Whitelocke and Widdrington. '■^ Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 260. ' The letter is given in Thurloe, iii. 753, dated Aug. 31, but un- signed. It is, however, entered in the Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 262, with the letters O. P. at the head. That it was not sent is shown by the fact that no reference was ever made to it by either side, even vmder circumstances which would almost have compelled its men- tion. The explanation in the text, that the Protector heard of Jones's conversation with Reynolds after he had signed the letter, does not profess to be more than a probable hypothesis. For the conversation with Jones, see the 'Reply of Reynolds and others,' S.P. Dom. xcviii. 23. A LOCAL INQUIRY. 28 I of liavin<2f once sworn a profane oath, was elected chap. 1 , f . XLIIL chamberlain. , — - The result was a fresh petition from the leaders ^ 55 of the Barrington party, declaring that the Protector's fromVhe' order of June 28 — by which, as they alleged, elections pa^rt"!'^*^"", had been prohibited till the questions in dispute had been settled — had been set at naught by the late pro- ceedings at Colchester, on which ground they recurred to their former suggestion, asking that the Protector should himself ' appoint a mayor or some other person to govern the said town till the consideration of the charter . . . may receive such an issue as may be an effectual remedy to the aforesaid grievances.^ ' Whether the order in question could fairly be made to a question , •■ . . . -, . , . of interpre- bear this interpretation or not — and its wording was tation. undeniably ambiguous ^ — it was as open to Barrington to argue that a prohibition ' to make any alteration in the magistracy or common council ' forbade the holding of ordinary elections, as it was to Eeynolds to argue that it merely forbade a repetition of the revolutionary measures by which the two Barringtons and the recorder had been thrust out of office. The Council prudently refused to involve themselves in the meshes of an academical discussion, and were no less unwilling to advise the Protector to appoint a mayor by his own authority. On September 26, Sept. 26. doubtless feeling the impossibility of threshinir out missionerw -■ .,,. .r" TIT empowered the points in dispute without more local knowledge to conduct an inquiry, 1 This petition is printed by Mr. Round, Hist. Eev. xv. 653. - For the order see supra, p. 277, note 2. It may be argued that the letter of Aug. 31, by making, as Mr. Eound shows, ' no mention of the alleged order of June 28 forbidding any further election,' shows that the Protector did not intend in June to prohibit ordinary elections. Barrington, however, so far as we know, had not seen the suppressed letter of Aug. 31, and it was open to him to draw inferences from the actual wording of the order of June 28. 2«2 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. 1655 Reynolds to retain office, Oct. II. as well as other ma- gistrates. The action of the Go- vernment fair and reasonable. Nov. Death of the re- corder. than they possessed, they named seven commissioners to conduct the inquiry, most of them being Essex men, and all of them East Anglians. In the mean- while they directed that the newly elected mayor was to forbear to act, and that his predecessor, Eeynolds, was to retain office till further orders. On Octo- ber 1 1 this order was extended to the maintenance in office of the other magistrates, who would in due course have been superseded by those recently elected in their room.^ Up to this point it is hardly possible to speak of the conduct of the Government otherwise than in terms of commendation, except on the general ground that it ought not to meddle at all in municipal disputes — a view of the case which was not put forward at the time, and which could hardly be urged by those who, like Barrington and Eeynolds, had voluntarily submitted to the Protector's judgment. How fairly and reasonably the Council had acted may be gathered from the fact that, instead of responding to Barring- ton's proposal that the mayoralty should be filled by the Protector himself, it had left that office in the possession of the leader of the party most distasteful at Whitehall. It may have hoped that the relegation of the case to local commissioners would expedite a settlement. Towards the end of November, however, the death of Barnardiston brought matters to a crisis, as it became necessary either to force upon the town a successor in the recordership, or to submit to having a Eoyalist like Shaw^ established as a life-holder of that important office. Moreover, by this time the ^ Order in Covmcil, Sept. 26, S.P. Dom. c. 153. "^ Shaw had been chosen recorder when Barnardiston was turned out. Petition of the mayor and others, ih. xcviii. 2 1 . A STRONG MEASURE. 283 Major-Generals were at work in their districts, and chap. the minds both of the Protector and of the Councillors ^__,__L. were turned in the direction of more authoritative ^ ^5 action than they would have countenanced in the summer. On December 4 Oliver no longer hesi- Dec. 4. tated, but, assuming that Barrington's interpretation be*preseii*t of his letter was the right one, proceeded to order eiectLis. Haynes, the deputy Major-General of the district, to visit Colchester, and to give directions to the mayor not merely to hold the election of a new recorder, but also to carry out the elections of other office- bearers in place of those chosen on September 3 ; Haynes himself being required to remain in the town till this order had been executed. Yet, unless the mere presence of Haynes were sufficient to cow the hitherto determined opponents of the Barrington » party, little would have been gained by this measure, if it had stood alone. Oliver, accordingly, put a weapon into Haynes's hands which could hardly fail in procuring submission. Care, he informed his Thepro- iT 11 Til 1 *^lamation subordmate, was to be taken ' that the electors and of sept. 21 elected be quahfied according to our late proclama- forced, tion' — the one, that is to say, of September 21, ordering the execution of an Act of Parliament which expired on September 28, and which consequently had no legal validity at the time when these instruc- tions were given. ^ In this case, as in so many others, the Protector departed as shghtly from strict legality as was possible if he was to gain his ends.^ ^ The Protector to Haynes, Dec. 4, Morant's Hist, of Essex, I., Colchester, 74. For the Proclamation, see supra, p. 178. '^ It might, indeed, be argued that the deviation from the law was even slighter than is expressed above. When the Act was passed Parliament had fixed its own dissolution for Nov. 3, 1654, and ex- pected to be succeeded by another which would be in session in Sept. 1655. I* might therefore be argued that the intention of the Legislature 284 THE PROTECTOKATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. Haynes perfectly understood the intentions of his VT TTT '^ \ ^ ^ s__^__. master. The proclamation in question, reciting the '^^5 words of the expired Act, declared ' that no person or persons whatsoever that had his estate sequestered, or his person imprisoned for delinquency, or did subscribe, or abet the treasonable engagement in the year 1647, or had been aiding or assisting the late King, or any other enemies of the Parhament, should be capable to elect or be elected to any office or place of trust or power within this Commonwealth, or to hold or execute any office or place of trust or power within the same.' ^ Such a definition included not only the old Cavalier party, which had openly sided with Charles I. in the first Civil War, as well as those Presbyterian Eoyalists who had thrown in their lot with Capel and Norwich in the siege of 1648, but also those who, without taking any active part on that occasion, had given their signatures — as it is said that no less than 1,300 had done — to the Essex petition, in which what was now styled the treasonable engagement had received support.^ Another The clectious having been fixed for December 19, Colchester. Hayiies, who had arrived in the town some days before that date, went carefully over the burgess roll, marking for exclusion the names of all who fell under one or other of the heads set forth in the pro- clamation. Yet, after all his efforts, there still re- mained so many of the opposition on the roll that when the day of election arrived the majority for was merely that the Act was then to be reviewed in the light of a situation existing at the time named. As no Parliament happened to be in existence at the time the intention of the makers of the Act would be best carried out by its prolongation. Such an argument, however, would hardly commend itself to a court of law. ^ JIi%t. Bev. XV. 655. ^ See supra, ip. 269. A THIRD PURGE. 285 Barrington's party was no more than 74 to 66 ; show- chap. ing that, so far as the numbers voting at the Parha- ^ — , — '-^ mentary election of 1654 can be taken as a standard, ^ " some 70 burgesses must have been struck off the list.^ Dec. 19. ^ „ T . . . ^ . . The Go- bmall as the majority was, it was sumcient. A vemment nominees Barringtonian, Thomas Lawrence, was chosen mayor ; elected. and the other officers were elected from the same party, except that Peeke, either as a matter of personal favour or in order to show some semblance of comprehensiveness, was placed in the unimportant office of coroner.- It is impossible to speak with certainty on the what was 4- Via f*/\rv\ interesting question of the composition of what before position of this last purge had been a majority amongst the partils? burgesses, and had been also — upon the evidence of the far greater number of signatures to Eeynolds's first reply than could be secured for Barrington's original petition^ — a considerable majority amongst the inhabitants who were not burgesses. One thing, however, is clearly shown by the evidence before us, namely, that Barrington's supporters were not merely a minority, but also a diminishing minority. At the Parliamentary election of 1654 they mustered 102 ; at the municipal election of 1655 they were reduced to 74. Of the majority, those now struck off the burgess roll can only, in accordance with the terms of the Proclamation, have been those who had shown themselves hostile to Parliament before the end of 1 648 ; and the nucleus of the new party, which in 1654 supported Goffe, and which supported Reynolds ^ Haynes to Fleetwood, Dee. 20, Tliurloe, iv. 330. The voters in 1654 were 200, which would give 60 as the number of the exclusions ; but as some voters must have been absent from the poll from illness or other causes, the probable number of the excluded may be set at 70 or thereabouts, * List of officers, ih. '' 971 to 262. See supra, p. 278. 286 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. XLIII. ~i655~ The opposition probably a composite one. in 1655, may therefore be looked for amongst the well-to-do and more or less conservative burgesses, who are vaguely credited with the style of Presby- terians, and who, whether or not they had any conscious tendency to EoyaHsm, were at least alien- ated by the existing Government. The increase of the majority hostile to Barrington since the summer of 1654 may fairly, though only conjecturally, be set down to dissatisfaction with the dismissal of the first Protectorate Parliament, and, still more recently, with the establishment of the Major-Generals.^ Yet, after all is said, it may be presumed that the party led by Eeynolds did not entirely consist of sober-minded Puritans dissatisfied on political grounds with the Government of the day. The choice of Goffe as a candidate in 1654 points, as has been already shown, to the necessity of conciliating burgesses whose religious fervour was of a quaUty very different from that of men content with the ministrations of a Presbyterian clergy, and such men were likely to be found in the ranks of the Baptist extremists, or even of the Fifth Monarchy men and Levellers. Barrington's party, on the other hand, according to this view of the case, would ^ As will be seen, I accept Mr. Round's argument as conclusive so far as the main body of Reynolds's party amongst the burgesses is concerned. He says of the signatories of the Barrington petition : " When their names are examined they do not appear to me, with the exception of the first three, to be those of men of any account, so far as the social history of the town at this time is known. When, on the other hand, we turn to the petition of the Reynolds party, one recognises name after name of the substantial men in the town. Mr. Thurston, for instance, had himself paid no less than 5C0Z. of the 6,000?. extorted by Fairfax and his troops from the non-Dutch inhabi- tants after the siege. Several of the other signatories are known to me, as is their good commercial position. The petition was also signed by many of the Dutch congregation, whose wealth was such that 6,oooi. was exacted from them alone " {Hist. Bev. ?v. 651). THE COMPOSITION OF THE PARTIES. 287 mainly consist of the Independents and of such of the Baptists as had, like Fleetwood and the bulk of the London ministers, ranged themselves on the side of the Government. That the wilder elements of Puritanism were fully represented in Colchester is known from Evelyn's remark, made after a visit in the summer of 1656, that it was 'a rugged and factious town now swarming with sectaries ' ; whilst it is also significant that out of the 971 who signed Eeynolds's petition, no fewer than 277, or more than a fourth of the whole number, were unable to sign their names except with a mark.^ How many illiterates there were amongst the 122 inhabitants, not being burgesses, whose names are to be found at the foot of the Barrington petition we cannot say, as all the names are written in a single hand. * I have taken it for granted that all the burgesses would be able to write. The charges brought by the Barringtonians against the other party indicate, if they do no more, that the latter was to some extent of a composite character. On the one hand they charge them with 'designing to introduce notorious and grand inalignants to be magis- trates ... as appeareth by their propounding Mr. John Meridale and Mr. Henry Lamb to be elected; ' whilst, on the other hand, they speak of them as ' threatening utter ruin to the interest of religion and sobriety,' language which would be inappropriate to a party composed entirely, or almost entirely, of Conservative Presbyterians or the like. Again, one of the declarations of Eeynolds's party thanks the Protector for liaviug brought with him ' that which is the greatest of all mercies, a just freedom and liberty in the worship of Jesus Christ.' S.P. Dotn. xcviii. 19, 21, 24. I quite acknowledge that we must not look too closely i uto the arguments put forward on the spur of the moment by partisans, but there is, nevertheless, some conclusion to be drawn from the nature of the arguments chosen, and still more from the omission of other arguments. There were so many things which Barrington might have said of a purely Conservative and Presbyterian opposition which, nevertheless, he did not saj'. It may be remarked that the subsequent petition for a new charter proceeding from the triumphant Barring- tonians claims support on the ground that they countenanced ' reUgion and sobriety.' They can hardly have meant that Presbyterians were deficient in these quaUties. involved. 288 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP. Such considerations, however, it must be admitted, ^^li^J^ cannot be stretched to cover the whole ground. In 1655 municipal, even more than in national disputes, questions pcrsoual qucstious range themselves side by side with political ones, which they not infrequently overtop. It is by no means unlikely that Barrington had given offence by some peculiarity of his character or demeanour, and that he had shown himself over- bearing and contemptuous in his dealings with his fellow-citizens. Nor can there be much doubt that the opposition to his authority was reinforced, not only by those who conscientiously differed from him in politics or reUgion, but also by a large number of the easy-going and self-indulgent, to whom the Puritan strictness of his rule was abhorrent. On the whole, it may be concluded that the growth of the party up to the summer of 1654 is best ex- plained on the supposition that Presbyterians who were not Eoyalists tended to coalesce, on the one hand, with the Presbyterian Eoyalists of 1648, and, on the other hand, with the more fanatical sects, but that the great increase in the numbers of the com- bined party in 1655 must be set down to the dissatis- faction arising in the minds of the non-political class with the growing tendency of those in power to en- force the strict observance of Puritan legislation.^ The majority thus secured by Haynes was too slight to be depended on after his own minatory presence had been withdrawn, and it was the Major- ^ This is brought out in many of the charges against Reynolds's party. In one he is said to have been asked why he had con- nected himself with the wicked party, and to have answered that it had stood by him when the others forsook him. Whether the conver- sation was distorted or not, this. report of it points to its being under- stood that some at least of his followers did not reach the standard of Puritan morality. A COMMITTEE ON CHARTERS. 289 General himself, who pointed out that further measures chap. were required if the municipal situation was to be ^-1_V -- saved. "How great need," he wrote to Thurloe, ^^^^ " these few and weak hands and hearts have to be nayues" strengthened I submit to your Honour's consideration, hmher'n- especially considering the populousness of the place, and that here were 1,300 hands set to the personal treaty and petition. I humbly offered this as a con- sideration to His Highness that, unless some speedy change be made in such malignant corporations, it's not for such honest men that would serve you to abide in their present stations ; for no longer than such a severe hand as there was in this election be held over them will any good magistracy be counte- nanced ; which, if it may by any means provoke to the doing something effectual in the charters of corporations, I have my end, and I am sure the hearts of most that fear God will be rejoiced." ^ Haynes's hint was soon taken. Early in the r656. spring a Committee of Council was appointed to mittw tor consider the renewal of charters in which changes of ciwitw-s. were demanded' by the corporations themselves. So far as Colchester was concerned, it was easy to March 10. procure a petition irom the purged corporation laying froTu coi- blame for the past distractions on the defective consti- tution of the borough, by whicli ' in many particulars too great power is given to the people to slight the magistracy of the . . . town, and render them useless in their places, whereby wickedness and profanity is much increased, to the great discouragement of honest men.' The conclusion to which all this tended was ^ Haynes to Fleetwood, Dec. 20, Thurloe, iv. 330. - Tlic date of its appointment is unknown, but the iirst notice of it ia on April 4, though it must have been in working order before tliat. Council Order Book, Interr. I, 77, p. 29. VOL. III. U chewtcr. charter. 290 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP, that a new charter should be granted which would VT TTT -J^ ,_^ give better support to the magistracy than the old ^^5^ one had hitherto done.* The Committee, as might have been expected, pronounced in favour of the proposal, and in the course of the summer a new The new charter was prepared, transferring the right of nomination to offices and to the common council from the burgesses to the common council itself.^ Henceforward, the burgesses being excluded from the new corporation, were to preserve no other right than that of exclusive eligibility to office. The new corporation, moreover, was to choose the Parlia- mentary members, the free burgesses being excluded from the franchise in political as well as in municipal elections. In other respects the amendments were distinctly for the better. The high steward, recorder, aldermen and common councillors, were to hold office for life, and to be liable to removal for misdemeanour as before, but the vague authority to remove them ' for any reasonable cause ' was omitted, and it was specified that the charges made against accused persons, together with the answers given in reply, should in future be delivered in writing. Alehouses were to be licensed only at quarter sessions, and then by the mayor and two justices. To secure the permanency of this system the first mayor, aldermen and common council were named in the charter,^ as Charles had named them in his charter of 1 6 3 5 . It is, however, one thing to secure the temporary predominance of certain ^ Petition to the Protector. Account of the proceedings, March lo, S.P. Dom. cxxvi. 14. U i. " As before, after the nomination of two persons to each vacancy had taken place, the final choice was vested in different bodies, accord- ing to the nature of the position or office. See p. 268. ^ The charter itself has not been preserved, but we have notes of alterations proposed by Desborough and Sydenham to the Council, and COLCHESTER AND CARLISLE. 29 1 persons at a time when party divisions are compara- chap. tively undeveloped, and another thing to stereotype ^J_ ', L the victory of a minority which would never have ^ ^^o secured power without the employment of overwhehn- ing force. Something of this kind appears to have been present to the mind of the Protector and his advisers, as, thouo'li they took o'ood care to place in the new Aug. 21. . . ~ . ^ . The new •corporation a considerable majority of the Barrington corpora- party, they allowed some of their opponents to take nated. part in the affairs of the borough, at least as critics. Radhams and Gale, though belonging to the now depressed party, retained their seats as aldermen, whilst two of their allies were placed in the common council. These latter, however, forfeited their seats by refusing to take the oath of office.^ Charters were renewed in several places besides Colchester, but the only trace of a political object is to be found in Carlisle, from which city a com- plaint reached the Council in January that a Eoyalist The bi/sl' mayor had been elected, who opposed the reformation of alehouses, favoured the election of disaffected aldermen, besides being guilty of other misde- meanours.^ The result was a sharp order for the execution of the proclamation of September 21, though at the request of the Major-General of the district four Eoyalist common councillors were allowed to retain office for the benefit of the town."^ In the remaining cases there is nothing to lead us to iin Order of Council of June 12 recommending that the charter be pre- sented to the Protector, as amended, for renewal. As nothing is heard of the Protector's dissent, it may be taken that we have in these notes the charter as it finally passed the seal. 8.P. Doth, cxxviii. 59, 60, 60.1. ^ Hist. Rev. XV. 658. Council Order Book, Interr. I, yy. • Petition read in Council, Jan. 17, 8.P. Dom. cxxiii. 42. ^ Lawrence to the Mayor, &c., of Carlisle, Jan. 18 ; Lawrence to the Major-General for Cumberland, Jan. 18, Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 484 ; yy, p. 484. V 2 ness of Carlisle. 292 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. suppose that any other than a local object was served by the remodelling of the corporations. At Salisbury, 1656 |-Qj. ins|;ance, the corporation itself petitioned for a new Salisbury charter, mainly, it would seem, to obtain thereby a confirmation of the purchase by the city of property formerly belonging to the dean and chapter ; though they at the same time asked for a diminution of their numbers, on the ground that the trade of the place having decayed — perhaps because the cathedral dignitaries were no longer purchasers from the tradesmen of the place — a sufficient number of quali- fied citizens were no longer available for service in the common council.^ A petition from Leeds, too, reveals no more than dissatisfaction with local condi- tions ; ^ and it is probable that the other demands for the renewal of charters which were brought before the Committee bore the same complexion. The case of The troublcs at Colchester, therefore, were from one Colchester . „ . . , - , exceptional poiut oi vicw exccptioual, as uowhcrc else were parties point of^ arrayed against one another in a struggle so decided oTJnerai aud prolongcd. From a different point of view they from an"*'*' fumish a Sample of the conflict which was disturbing the nation itself. In Colchester, as in England at large, the opposition to the Protectorate showed no sign of crystallising into a distinctly Eoyalist movement. One party asserts that its opponents are tainted with malignancy, a charge which those opponents promptly disclaim. There is no hint of that kind of talk about bringing back the King which might be prudently kept from observation in quieter times, but would be sure to spring to light when divisions ran as high ^ Petition of the Corporation of Salisbury. A copy of the Protector's charter is amongst the Municipal Records, as is also the Journal of the Common Council. ^ Petition of the inhabitants of Leeds, Dec. 2,1656, S.P. Dom. cxxxi. 7 other. THE HONEST PARTY. 293 as they did in the Essex boroiifdi. In Colchester chap. . ^~^ XT Til iigain, as in England at large, a heterogeneous — ., — 1- majority was arrayed against the Protectorate. ^ ^ Wherever this phenomenon met his eye, Oliver's remedy for the mischief was the upholding in power of a determined minority, capable of keeping at arm's length alike the political opposition of the Eoyalists, the religious opposition of the sects, and the social opposition of the worldly and profane. So long as he lived he was resolved that the ill-informed and evil-minded multitude should not bear sway in Eng- land. The ' honest party ' alone was to be placed and maintained in power. That the ' honest party ' ' owed its pre-eminence to the sword that he wielded was to him an unfortunate accident, which he strove to mitigate, but which, in the nature of things, it was impossible for him to shake off. Unfortunately '< for the permanence of the Protectorate, the increasing ; prominence which the doctrine that the supremacy ■' of the ' honest party ' must at all hazards be main- tained had assumed in Oliver's mind had seriously | affected his chance — never very great — of reconcil- ing the nation to his Government. Starting at the dissolution of his first Parliament with the notion that he was justified in disregarding the law when- ever it came in conflict with the duty of maintaining the Constitution, he found himself towards the end of 1655 '^^^ possession of the military organisation of the Major-Generals, which he had established as a weapon against the enemies of the Constitution, but which readily lent itself to other services. The sword drew on the man ; and he sought to use that organi- sation, not merely to combat the partisans of the exiled claimant of the throne, or the partisans of the sovereignty of a single House, but the elements of 294 THE PROTECTORATE AND THE CORPORATIONS. CHAP, society in which the moral and reUgious standard was _J^il^ lower than his own. In such a struggle he found ^^56 himself necessitated to trespass beyond the limitations of the law even more frequently and more decisively Xhan when his efforts had been directed to the main- tenance of a political claim which was in itself sound. By this course he had unconsciously arrayed against him not merely the careless and the profligate, but all who valued the rule of law, and who strenuously objected to a Government which measured the obligations of Englishmen by the length of its own desires. It was not, however, in England that the doctrine that government should rest on the minority of the well-affected was to be observed in its most glaring colours. Those who wish to examine its character thoroughly must turn to its extreme development in Ireland. 295 CHAPTER XLIV. THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. Stern as were the measures needed to secure the chap. reign of what Oliver counted as godliness in England, , ^^^^' , they were mildness itself in comparison with the ^^5^ drastic measures required to secure its predominance E^gii^^ in Ireland. In that unhappy country it was of little ^Jl^j^ consequence whether one party or another gained the mastery at Westminster. In any case Irishmen, whether of Celtic or of Anglo-Norman descent, would be doomed to suffer. Nor is it easy to see how it could be otherwise. More than a century of strife had taught Englishmen to dread lest Ireland should be used as a stepping-stone for the armies of their Continental rivals. It was only in consonance with average human nature that they still preferred forcibly to disable the Irish people, rather than seek to win them over to the side of England, even if, after the past experience by the Irish of English cruelty, it were any longer in their power to do so. Three Apianta- . ^-ry T 1 1 ''io" policy. generations of English statesmen had striven to secure Ireland by replacing the native population by English settlers, and the policy of Mary and Elizabeth, of Bacon and Strafford, still counted for wisdom on the banks of the Thames. To hold Ireland securely by the extension of the plantation system was the policy which had been handed down to the Long 296 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. Parliament by preceding Governments. If that Par- vJ__,-_L. liament attempted to carry out the same design more '^5 'f completely, it was because Cromwell's sword had made that possible which had been impossible before. Whether Irishmen would be the better or the worse for this violence not one of these Governments, past or present, either knew or cared. In the eyes of English- men, the resistance of the ' Irish enemy ' was no patriotic struggle for independence, no well-justified refusal to bow the neck beneath the yoke of an alien who, apart from his cruelty and his greed, brought with him a religious and political system distasteful to Celtic nature and Celtic traditions, but rather the bestial repugnance of the savage to accept the rudi- mentary conditions of civilised order. Consist- It is not within the province of the historian to English conjecture how things might have fallen out if only ^^^^' the mental habits and the passions of the actors on the stage had been changed. It is sufficient for him to mark the consistency of a policy which sprang from definite causes unremoved during the lapse of years — a policy which led almost inevitably to what is usually known as the Cromwellian settlement, though it was in reality sketched out by the Long Parliament before Cromwell was in a position to make his weight felt. It was Par- liament which, roused in 1641 by the tale of horror wafted across the Irish sea, starting from the principle that resistance to Parliament was sheer rebellion against a legitimate Government, proceeded 1642, in 1642 to decree the confiscation of the estates of the^Adv'^en- the rcbcls, and to set aside from the forfeited land 2,500,000 acres for the Adventurers who advanced money for the reconquest of Ireland.^ To this * Scohell, i. 26. LAND-GRANTS. 297 Act the Eoyal assent was given just before the out- chap. break of the Civil War, and, though the money ^ ,-^ obtained by this means was diverted into other ^ ''" channels, the Adventurers retained their claim to the security on which payment had been made. Years passed by before a chance was offered to . 1651. the Adventurers of converting this claim into posses- settlement sion ; and it was only in 1651, when Ireton set forth to lay siege to Limerick for the second time, that the prospect of reducing Ireland was such as to justify the Lord Deputy and his fellow-commissioners in taking into consideration a scheme for satisfying the Adventurers, and for inducing fresh purchasers to lend money upon the security of lands yet un- pledged. Military necessities, however, put an end sfderation to the discussion for the time,^ and it was not till postponed, after Ireton's death that it was possible to resume it ^^^ ^'%- -1^ ^ sumeu with advantaofe. To clear the way it was necessary after ^ _ _ -^ •' Ireton' to secure the emigration of the armed forces of death. the enemy, thus rendering the Irish incapable of resistance for at least a generation. According to the best calculation, no less than 34,000 Irish soldiers consented to quit their native soil to serve in Continental armies, and 6,000 women, children, and priests brought the number of the emigrants up to 40,000.'^ In January 16^2, whilst this emio-ration was Jan. s. •^ "-' ' . . r.-^ T Advice of Still in the future, the Commissioners of Parliament — the com- Ludlow, Corbett, Jones and Weaver — no longer associated with a Lord Deputy, sketched out a plan of operations. A line of defence was to be drawn from the Boyne to the Barrow, and secured by fortiii- ' The Commissioners to Vane, Aug. 2, 1651, Irish B.O., gg 49, p. 39- * Petty's Political Anatomy of Ireland (ed. 17 19), p. 19. 298 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1652 April. Weaver's Aug. 12. Act of Settle- ment. The first five quali- fications. cations, within which lands might be assigned to English and Protestants only, the entire Irish popu- lation being cleared away.^ / It was, however, proposed to distribute the Adventurers, in accordance with the Act of 1642, over the four provinces, and to satisfy the soldiers by assigning to them, in lieu of their arrears, lands in the neighbourhood of the garrison towns in which they were quartered. | An allusion was made to the classification of Irish lately in rebellion under several categories or qualifications, in the way in which it had been proposed to deal with English Eoyalists in various negotiations carried on in the course of the Civil War, but it does not appear that any certain conclusion was arrived at. In April, Weaver — one of the Commissioners — was despatched to England to discuss the scheme with Parlia- ment. On his arrival he found the Adventurers de- cidedly opposed to any plan which would scatter their homesteads among the Irish, and inclined to ask that the labourers required to till their lands might be imported from England. The discussion which followed^ resulted in the Act of Settlement passed on August 12. / By this Act Irishmen, with few exceptions, were placed undeir one or other of eight qualifications,, all who came under the first five being excepted from pardon for life and estate — in other words^j^sentenced ^ The line was to be drawn ' for securing of the inhabitants within the said line, the same being once clear of the Irish.' Particulars humbly offered, Jan. 8, Irish B.O., ^ 49, p. 286. A copy in the Calendar of the Portland MSS., Hist. MSS. Com. Bep. xiii. App. I., pp. 622-25, substitutes ' enemy ' for ' Irish.' If this be accepted the expulsion of Irish who submitted may not, perhaps, have been contem- plated. 2 Considerations to be offered by Mr. Weaver, ih. p. 644. For farther particulars on the subject of the transplantation than are gxven in this chapter see Hist. Bev. (Oct. 1899) xiv. 700-734. CRUEL LEGISLATION. 299 to be hanged with confiscation of property/ The chai ^ *' Petty, . . . in his Political Anatomy of Ireland, puts the popula- tion in 1652 as 850,000, from which some 160,000 may perhaps be de- ducted as Protestants of British descent. There remain, therefore, 690,000 Catholic Irish, of whom about 180,000 must have been males old enough to be responsible for their conduct in 164 1. Of these 34,000 escaped by emigration the penalties imposed on them, leaving some 146,000 under consideration. If, instead of adopting Gookin's exag- gerations, we allow that two out of three of such Irishmen had taken some part in the first resistance, we have about 93,000 liable to suflfer death under the first qualification, to which number must be added an incalculable number of Tories who, having shed blood, had come under the fourth qualification, bringing the total up to at least 100,000.' Hist. Bev. (Oct. 1899), xiv. 703. XLIV. first included not merely persons who had ' contrived, advised, counselled, promoted or acted the rebellion, ^ ^" murders or massacres,' but also those who during the first year of the rebellion had assisted it 'by bearing arms, or contributing men, arms, horse, plate, money, victual, or other furniture or habiliments of war,' unless, indeed, these things had been taken from them by force. The second comprised priests, Jesuits, and other persons in Eoman orders who had abetted the massacres or the war ; the third, one hundred and six persons of note mentioned by name ; the fourth, principals and accessories in the act of killing any Englishman, though an exception was made in favour of those who, being themselves enlisted in the Irish army, had killed soldiers enlisted on the other side ; the fifth, 2^ersons in arms who did not lay them down within twenty-eight days after the publication of the Act. So far as it is possible to suggest an estimate, we can hardly reckon at less than 100,000 the number of persons sentenced to death on the first and fourth qualifications.^ No such deed of cruelty was ever contemplated in cold blood by any State with pretence ' to civilisation. There remained to be dealt with those Irishmen 300 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1652 The sixth qualifica- tion. Seventh and eighth qualifica- tions. TViose having an interest in land alone effected. who, being of full age or nearly of full age in 1641, had taken no part even in assisting the actors in the jfirst year of the rebellion, or those who were too lyoung to have been responsible agents at that time. 'A small number of these, who had held high office, civil or military, were sentenced under the sixth qualification to banishment, and to the forfeiture of their existing estates, though lands to the value of a third part were to be granted to their wives and children ' in such places in Ireland as the Parliament, in order to the more efiectual settlement of the peace of this nation, shall think fit to appoint for that purpose.' The seventh qualification covered those who, not being included in the former qualifications, had borne arms against Parliament — that is to say, those who had taken part for the first time in the war after November 10, 1642, as regularly enlisted soldiers. These, if they made submission within twenty-eight days after the publication of the Act, were to receive an equivalent of a third of their estates in some part of Ireland appointed by Parliament. The eighth qualification was directed against every person of the Popish religion who, having resided in Ireland at any time between October i, 1641, and March i, 1650, had not manifested constant good affection to the Commonwealth, who were to receive the equivalent of two-thirds of their estates in like manner. Others— that is to say, Protestants who had failed to show good affection — from them constant good affection was not required — were to forfeit one-fifth of their estates, retaining the remaining four-fifths, without the obligation of exchanging them for land elsewhere. However loose may be the wording of these two clauses, it is evident from the nature of the penalty that persons having an interest in land were alone TREATMENT OF THE LANDLESS. 301 affected/ the object of the Legislature being to clear chap. the soil for the new settlers. >3^,^^_. The language of the next clause has been the '^^2 object of much misplaced commendation. "Whereas," the poor it had been declared in the preamble to the Act, " the ^sh. *" Parliament of England, after the expense of much blood and treasure for the suppression of the horrid rebellion in Ireland, have by the good hand of God upon their undertaking brought that affair to such an issue as that a total reducement and settlement of that nation may, with God's blessing, be speedily effected ; to the end, therefore, that the people of that nation may know that it is not the intention of the Parliament to extirpate that whole nation, but that pardon both as to life and estate may be extended to all husbandmen, ploughmen, labourers and others of the inferior sort, in manner as is hereafter declared — they submitting themselves to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, and living peaceably and obediently under their Government — and that others also, of higher rank and quality, may know the Parlia- ment's intention concerning them, according to the respective demerits and considerations under which they fall ; be it enacted and declared . . . that all and every person and persons of the Irish nation, com- prehended in any of the following qualifications, shall be liable unto the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned and contained, or be made capable of the mercy and pardon therein extended respectively, according as is hereafter expressed and declared." To carry out these promises to the landless man it was, as a matter of fact, enacted and declared ' that all and every person and persons, having no real estate ' "An estate. . . . signifieth that title or interest which a man hath in land or tenements," Cowel'a Ijiterpretcr, s.v. 302 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF lEELAND. CHAP, in Ireland nor personal estate to the value of lo/., XT TV >^ ^-^ that shall lay down arms, and submit to the power ^^52 and authority of the Parliament by the time limited in the former qualifications, and shall take and sub- scribe the engagement to be true and faithful .to the Commonwealth of England, as the same is now established, . . . such persons — not being ex- cepted from pardon, nor adjudged for banishment by any of the former qualifications — shall be pardoned for life and estate for any act or thing by them done in the prosecution of the war.' What were The charitablc intentions of Parliament in shield- the inten- . ^ o -y tionsof mg the poor trom the consequence of their acts menr? have been often praised. It is, therefore, worth while to ask what was the intention of the Legislature. In the first place, it may be noticed that no re- mission of personal transplantation was granted, if only for the simple reason that there is no mention of personal transplantation in any part of the Act. Proprietors of land were to exchange the possessions left to them for estates in some distant part of the country, but were under no obligation to reside on Itheir new property. In the second place, a landless man, whose stock of money and goods did not reach 10/. in value was just as liable to be hanged, if he had assisted the fighting men during the first year of the rebellion, or at any later stage had joined the Tories I in killing a single Englishman, as if he had counted his acres by the thousand. Only acts done in prosecution of the war having been mentioned, those alone pro- fited by the clause who, having either been too young in 1 64 1 to be mixed up in the troubles of the first ^year, or kept themselves singularly aloof from the early troubles, had since taken arms in the regular forces under the Irish leaders. As the great majority A SCANTY MERCY. 303 of these men elected to emigrate, only a very few can chap. have benefited by this clause, and even those who did ^!^^!Z_ gained no more advantage by it than permission to '^5 2 keep the whole of their petty savings ; whereas if they had jDOSsessed landed property even below the value of 10/., they would have forfeited two-thirds of their estates. It is but a small residuum of the beneficence / lavishly attributed by English writers to the framers 1 of this clause.' \ Immediate interest, however, centred on the April 17. I • 1 p 1 I'-'Tii 111^ meeting (question how far the authorities m Ireland would be at Kii- prepared to carry out the sweeping death sentence pro- jtnounced by Parliament. On April 17, some months before the passing of the Act of Settlement, there had been a meeting of officers and civilians at Kilkenny. Irritated by recent military failures, the conference piously concluded that God was for some reason offended with their conduct. " Which," reported the commissioners, " with the sense we have of the blood- guiltiness of this people in a time of peace doth — through dread of the Lord only, we trust — occasion much remorse for particular weaknesses past, in most minds here concerning some treaties which are liable to be attended with sparing when He is pursuing.-' . . . And whilst we were in debate thereof, and of our dealing with those who yet continue in rebellion, an abstract of some particular murders ^ was produced by the Scoutmaster-General, whof hath the original examinations of them more at large. ' ... So deeply were all affected with the barbarous wickedness of the actions in these cruel murders ' Scobell, ii. 197. ■^ I.e. negotiations then in progress for the surrender and transpor- tation of Irish soldiers which might lead to sparing the Irish when God was pursuing them with the purpose ofdestroying them. 304 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP, and massacres, being so publicly in most places ^ ^^^'_ committed, that we are much afraid our behaviour ^^52 towards this people may never suliiciently~~avenge the same ; and fearing that others who are at greater distance may be moved to the lenity [to which] we have * found no small temptation in ourselves ; — and we not knowing but that the Parliament might shortly be in pursuance of a speedy settlement of this nation, and therefore some tender concessions might be concluded through your being unacquainted with those abomi- nations, we have caused this enclosed abstract to be transcribed and made fit for your view." ^ Efiect of ii jnay well be that the harshness of the Act of its repre- •' sentations. Settlement was in the main due to these representa- tions. That the massacre of 164 1 cried aloud for pun- ishment, if not for vengeance, was the settled belief of every Englishman who had any connection, official or unofficial, with Ireland. Yet, when the call for i repressive action was once reduced into a judicial A ffigh'*'^" /channel, it soon lost its exaggeration. A High Court juSce^ of Justice was erected for the trial of murderers. During the two years in which it remained in existence murderers and accessories to murder were sentenced by it — not those who had aided the rebels in their earliest warlike operations. English judges, once seated on the Bench, were steadied in the exercise of their functions, and every latitude was given to prisoners to plead their cause, and to produce witnesses in their favour. Though hearsay evidence was, according to the custom of the times, freely admitted, there is no reason to suppose that intentional injustice was inflicted. There was no browbeating of the accused, and there were at least ^ The Commissioners to Parliament, May 5, Irish B.O., 95 50, p. 69 ; Abstract of depositions, ib. p. 71. FLEETWOOD IN JIJELANU. 305 as many acquittals as miglit be expected in propor- chap. tion to the numbers tried. '^ __t— ' When, at the beginnhig of September, Fleetwood ^ '^^^2 iirrived as Connnander-iii-CIiief, with a seat amono^st anives as a coni- tlie commissioners, it might he supposed that some- mi'ssioner. tiling would be done to put the Act of Settlement in force. Yet, except tliat on O(;tober ii an order o.t. n. „ . , . . . . Order to was given lor its proclamation m every precmct iiiV proclaim Ireland,"' no attempt was made to translate the verbal! <'ruelties of Parliament into action. Xotice, indeed, was taken that the Act had proved defective in one important respect. A body of commissioners desj)atched north to arrange for the settlement of Ulster appear to have perc^eived that it would be impossible to deduct tlie fifth part of the ^^ lands owned by tlie Scots of Down and Antrim so long as tlie old proprietors were fixed in their old liomes. Tliey therefore pro])osed ' the '653. . ^ 1 April 9. transphmtation of popular men ... of whose dutiful Personal and peaceable demeanours' they ' had no assurance.' plantation The idea was welcomed byJJK3_coinmissioners, who i""i"'''^'' on July 13 issued orders for the transplantation .luiy 13. of Scottisli__landowners to the south_of Ireland. It t,!ui'«- *^' was a mere act of executive authority, based upon no £1^!"° legal foundation whatever.'^ ' Judge Lowther's notes of some of these trials are in the hbrary of Trinity College, Dublin, under the press-mark F, 4, 16. Miss Hickson has published a few in Ireland in the Seventeenth Century, ii. 171-239. The issue of the Commission for the erection of the court is mentioned in a letter from the Commissioners to Reynolds, Dec. 17, Irish It.O., ,^, 50, p. 372. On Jan. 15, 1653, fifty-four persons had been condemned, most of thena being considerable men, ih. p. 397. ^ Order by the Commissioners, Oct. 1 1, Prcndcrgast, 96. ■' The Commissioners to the Ulster Commissioners [Apr. 13I ; The Ulster Commissioners to the Commissioners, Apr. 24 ; Order by the Commissioners, July 13, Irish E.G., ^ 50, pp. 478, 489; ^^ 44, p. 84. VOf>. 111. X io6 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. Spread of the idea of trans- plantation. Large numbers of English- men to be provided for. ' Before this order had been issued the idea of )ersonal transplantation had taken root in England, oubtless in consequence of the unwillingness of the /Adventurers to take up lands hampered with the 'presence of the old proprietors. The government of England was now in stronger hands than those of the Long Parliament, Cromwell having entered in April upon his temporary dictatorship. [TSe was not the man to be content with touching the mere fringe of a great problem, and before laying down his autho- \ rity upon the meeting of the Nominated Parliament he sketched out with a vigorous hand the policy to be pursued in Ireland. According to the Act passed in 1642 the Adventurers were to receive land the four provinces, but Cromwell, may be believed, the unanimous f Cost of the conquest of Ireland. scattered over collecting, as opinions of the Adventurers themselves, decided that no settlement was possible unless the^ English colo- nists were_in_some way, relieved from the dang^erous I presence of their_jdispossessed predecessors. The difficulty of providing secure homes for those Englishmen who were now invited, either as Adven- turers or as soldiers, to take up their abode in Ireland was the greater because those of the latter class were now found to be far more numerous than had been expected in the preceding year, when it had been imagined ^ that adequate provision might be made I for their needs by setting apart for them a certain (number of acres in the immediate neighbourhood of the posts which they would continue to guard. The cost of the subjugation of Ireland had been, and was still, enormous, no less than 3,509,396^. being spent on it between July 6, 1649, and November i, 1656. Of this sum as much as 1,942,548/. had been ' See p. 298. \y IRISH MISERY. 307 wrunff from starvinof and devastated Ireland, leaving chap . 1,566,848?. as a burden on the English Treasury.^f No ,— L. wonder there was an outcry in England for a reiduc- '^^3 tion of expense, practicable by no other means than . the disbandment of soldiers whose just demands could/ 4-^ only be satisfied by the offer of land in lieu of the money due for their arrears. \ As for the Irish, the very self-interest of the conquerors called for a change of the cruel system actually in practice, which nothing but military necessity could even palliate. " The tax," wrote one who had ffood opportunity Enormous p , . , , . ° , ^^ . ''^ taxation. 01 learning the truth concerning the misery 01 the Irish, " sweeps away their whole substance ; Misery of necessity makes them turn thieves and Tories ; and then they are prosecuted with fire and sword for being so. If they discover not Tories, the English hang them ; if they do, the Irish kiU them ; against whom they have nothing to defend them- selves, nor any other that can : — nay, if any person melted with the bowels of a man, or moved by the rules of common equity, labour to bring home to them that little mercy which the State allows, there are some ready to asperse them as favourers of Tories, coverers of bloodguiltiness ; and, briefly, in a probable computation, five parts of six of the whole nation are destroyed ; and after so sharp an execution, is it not time to sound a retreat ? " ^ Ireland, indeed, after the close of the war was in Desdati a condition to call for peaceful labour. The greater country part of the country was lying waste and desolate. ^ Note by Mr. Firth in Hist. Bev. (Jan. 1899) xiv. 105. . ' Statistical accuracy is not to be expected from Gookin, the writer of this anonymous work. See infra, p. 320. \Petty, whose authority in such matters is far higher, calculates that one-third of the Irish ' perished by the sword, plague, famine, hardship, and banishment.'] Tetty' 8 Political Anatomy of Ireland (ed. 17 19), p. 19. X y \o8 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1653 Wolves to be de- stroyed. The land to be inhabited. Cromwell face* the prol)lem. " Frequently," we are told on the authority of the commissioners themselves, " some are found feeding on carrion and weeds, some starved in the highways, and many times poor children who lost their parents, or have been deserted by them, are found exposed to, and some of them fed upon by, ravening wolves and other beasts and birds of prey." ^ The devastation caused by wolves was so great as to call forth public action. In April 1652 the emigrants were prohibited from carrying their wolf-dogs to the Continent. In November a certain Eichard Toole was authorised to kill wolves in the counties of Kildare, Wicklow, and Dublin; and in June 1653 orders were issued to the Commissioners of Eevenue in every precinct ^ to offer rewards for the destruction of the noxious beasts.^ Yet it was to little purpose to destroy wolves unless the blind forces of Nature could be replaced by the protective amenities of civilised life. Whether it would have been feasible to re-establish in their homes what remained of the Irish people, with the expectation that — even if no English colonists were set down amongst them — they would be content to submit for the future to English govern- ment, may reasonably be doubted. The rivers of blood that had been shed, and still more the contumely which Englishmen had poured upon Irish thought and Irish habits, stood in the way of such a consummation. Cromwell, at all events, was but in accordance with the unanimous opinj^ of his countrymen in l^elieving that if Ireland was to be ^ Prendergast, 307, note i. '^ Ireland was at this time divided for military and official purposes into fifteen precincts. ' Prendergast, 309-311. Orders of the Commissioners, Apr. 27, 1652, June 29, 1653, IrisJi B.O., ^, 42, p. 202 ; ^ 44, p. 255. A SCHEME OF PLANTATION. 309 brought within the pale of civilisation, it must ba chap. by English hands and braihST How eager he was to»--_5^^lL. proceed rapidly with the work is shown by the fact ^^53 that, whilst he left over every problem relating to ACrom- England to the decision of the Nominated Parliament, reltiement. he took the case of Ireland in hand during the last month of his own temporary dictatorslilp! It is true that the settlement thus launched upon the world had little in it that was new, except the resolute energy ofgjnaTi determined to enforce his behests. On June I , in co-operation with his improvised Council, June i. Cromwell appointed a Committee to examine the mitteeto claims of the Adventurers, and to preside over a theTdven- lottery which should decide, first, in which of thei dafms, three provinces of Munster, Leinster, or Ulster, j^ofa^a their share should fall, and, secondly, to assign those/ ^°"®''y- shares in one or other of ten counties specified in those provinces. JSTegatively, at least, this provision indicated that Cromwell had made up his mind that Connaught was to be the part of Ireland assigned in? the Act of Settlement for division amongst the pro-j prietors whose estates had been forfeited elsewhere ; whilst the restriction of the allotment to certain counties was a concession to the desire of the colonists that their shares of land might be as near as possible to one another.^ By the army in Ireland the case of the soldiers was held to be even more pressing than that of the Adventurers, as a disbandment of considerable numbers was now imminent. \0n June 9, a meeting '^ June 9. of officers held at Dublin asked that the soldiers whose of officers , ^^-1 in Dublin. services were no longer needed should at once be put in possession of land estimated as equivalent to their arrears. \ If, when a survey was completed, it ^ Scobell, ii. 250. ,IO THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. June 22. A com- mission with in- utructions. A^^ July 2. Instruc- tions for trans- plautation. was found that any man had received too little, the deficiency was to be made good ; if he had received too much, he was to be allowed to purchase the surplus at the rates laid down in the Act of 1642, namely, an acre in Ulster for 4s., in Munster for Ss., and in Lein- ster for 1 25. On this advice Cromwell acted. A new commission was issued to Fleetwood, Ludlow, Corbet, and Jones,^ as governors of Ireland, accompanied by instructions to appoint surveyors to takea^urvey of the brfeited lands in the ten counties set apart for plan- tation— ^Waterford, Limerick, Tipperary, Queen's and King's counties, Meath, Westmeath, Armagh, Down, and Antrim — dividing them by baronies into two equal parts — the one to go to the Adventurers, the other to the soldiers. In the meanwhile, ' that the Adven- turers, soldiers, and officers should be satisfied, and Ireland planted with as much expedition as may be,' a gross, that is to say a rough, surv^was to be taken, in order that the persons interested might receive provisional allotments. When this survey was completed, complaints of persons alleging that their land had been unduly described as forfeited were to be examined. The county of Louth, apparently intended to supplement deficiency, was also to be surveyed ; and, finally, the commissioners were em- powered to select five other counties — other than those of Dublin, Kildare, Carlow, or Cork — on which to settle disbanded soldiers temporarily till permanent allotments could be assigned to them.^ The needs of the settlers having been thus attended to, additional instructions were issued on July 2 to clear their path from the hampermg ^ Weaver's name had been removed before the dissolution of the Long Parliament. ^ Commission and Instructions, Scobell, ii. 255. )^ CONNAUGHT AND CLARE. 311 presence of the old proprietors. The idea of personal chap. transplantation which had occurred to the Ulster ._1__,_L. Commissioners ^ now received a development which 53 they had little contemplated. It was announced that Connaught and Clare were to be the districts to | which all who were allowed favour and mercy by the Act of Settlement were to be personally trans- planted, and that this transplantation was to be carried | out by May i, 1654, on pain of death, thus, reading into the Act an injunction and a date' which were not found within its four corners. Persons so transplanted were to receive from commissioners appointed for the purpose lands in such proportion to the value of their original property as was set forth in the Act of Settlement, and they ' or others ' might take leases, on terms not exceeding twenty-one years, or three lives, under the Commonwealth. These words, ' or others,' are the only indication in these instructions that any one not a landowner or leaseholder was thought of as join- ing the transplanters ; and as the condition as to the length of lease precludes the idea that the presence of mere peasants was contemplated, it may fairly be set down as referring to younger sons of trans- planters or to leaseholders voluntarily accompanying them. The whole gist of these instructions shows j them to apply to landed men, who were required! to make way for the new settlers. The Act or Sept. 26. the Nominated Parliament for the satisfaction of the Satisfac- Adventurers and soldiers, passed on Sept^ber 26, regulating the details of the scheme of colonisa- tion, gave the force of law to the commission and instructions issued by Cromwell on the subject of ^ See supra, p. 305. P- 80. * Instructions to Rowe and Kindon, May 4, ib., ^ 45, p. 341. THE DOWN SURVEY. 327 -counties were issued, seventeen other counties bein<>- chap. XLIV subsequently added. The surveyors were instructed .— ^ to take the baronies assigned to soldiers first. ^ Still, liowever, it was felt that there was room for improve- ment in the methods pursued, and a Committee ap- Sept. 8. ^ , ■'■A Com- pomted on Septembers to consider the whole ques- mitteeto tion resulted on December 11 in the acceptance of the whole an offer made by Dr. Petty to survey the forfeited '^Dec.Ti. lands in the three provinces in a far more accurate menTwith manner than had hitherto been attempted. The Down ^-hthoZn Survey as it was called, simply because its results were ^^'^'"^y- set down on a map, and not merely described in words and figures, was to be completed in thirteen months dating from February i, 1655 — that is to say, by March i, 1656] As might have been expected, the substitution of Petty for Worsley led to violent re- Petty's criminations between them. Petty described Worsley versy with as Ignorant and grasping, whilst Worsley described Petty as a charlatan without practical knowledge of the surveyor's art. The truth seems to have been that Worsley was an ordinary surveyor, incapable of rising to the height of his gigantic task, whilst Petty was possessed of unusual organising skill, with a keen eye for the requirements of a new situation.- Pending the completion of the new survey the The officers agitated for immediate possession of the lands demand assigned to them, at least in some provisional fashion, ^^esafon. Nor did they find Fleetwood and his Council obdurate. On May 10, 1655, they received an engagement that 1655. several additional baronies would be set apart to More satisfy their claims.*^ On the 22nd the Government forthe^" soldiers. ' Petty's Doivn Survey, 382, 383. Hardinge on Surveys in Ireland, 14, in Trans, of the Roy. Irish Academy (Polite Literature), xxiv. - Ih. 4-30. ^ Order by the Deputy and Council, May 10, Irish B.O., * 5, p. 154. 328 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1655 May 22. Immediate possession of lands to the value of two- thirds of the arrears. July 9. Dissatis- faction of the army agents. July 20. Conces- sions by the Govern- ment. March 7.' Seizure of the com of those neglecting W) trans- plant. ^ allowed the soldiers to withdraw their offer of a \ higher rate by counties,^ and to revert to the rates (established in the Acts of Parliament by provinces. I At the same time they directed that they should \be placed in immediate possession of lands to the lvalue of two-thirds of their arrears, a limitation obviously prudent in view of the uncertainty as tO' /the real acreage of any lands that were now available '. for division. The officers were, however, to state the order in which the regiments were to be disbanded, so that the survey might proceed with the baronies assigned to those regiments in the same order.^ With this arrangement, however, the agents appointed by the army to treat with the Government were altogether dissatisfied, and on July 20 the Deputy and Council, though still refusing to give immediate possession of unsurveyed lands to individual soldiers, agreed to allow the rents of the soldiers' moiety of lands in the whole of the ten counties to be received by the army agents, with assurance that the land itself would be divided in due course as soon as the Down Survey was complete. The rents of other baronies assigned as collateral security, to be divided amongst the soldiers if it appeared that the ten counties were insufficient,, were to be collected on behalf of the Government, but set aside, to be divided amongst the soldiers in the event of the lands in these districts being required for their use.^ The approaching completion of the settlement necessarily led to increasing stringency in the removal of the old proprietors. Soon after the first 64. ^ See supra, p. 326. ^ Order by the Deputy and Council, May 22, Petty's Doum Survey Petty's Down Survey, 66-80. A FOECIBLE KEMOVAL 329 of March the corn of those who had neglected to chap. remove was seized, and sold for the benefit of s__^^_. their compatriots who had already started for ^ 55 Connaught.^ lOn March 19 courts-martial were established foij the trial and execution of transplant- able persons still to be found in any of the three provinces ; - but at the same time the courts were ^ instructed to substitute transportation to the colonies for the death penalty whenever they considered it desirable, and in any case to send no prisoners to execution without special approval by the Govern- ment./ On April 2, however, the Government, re- April 2. . ( r ' ' ' Hether- solvmo^ to make at least one example, p'ave its consent ington's 1 • r» • -n T T TT 1 • execution. to the execution 01 a certam Edward Hetherington. The sentence passed on him was solely for not trans- planting, but it was alleged against him that he had taken part as a Tory in the slaying of Englishmen.^ On the following day he was hanged."* I The Tories, in truth, were even cfreater obstacles 1654. i to the success of the plantation than the recalcitrant of the i . . . . Tories. |\ proprietors. jTheir bands, lurking in the fastnesses lof the bogs and mountain^ consisted of the [hardiest of the natives who refused to submit to jthe strangers' yoke, j Swooping down upon English (liabitations, and with still greater delight on the jliabitations of Irishmen who had submitted, they 'plundered and slew to their hearts' delight. Fear, or reluctance to betray countrymen, rendered the Irish peasant slow to give information which might lead to the capture of the marauders. To check the ^ Declaration by the Deputy and Council, March 7, B.M. pressmark, 806, i. 14, No, 14. ^ Declaration, March 19, Irish E.O., ^ 24, p. 75. ' Resolution of the Deputy and Council, Apr. 2, ib., '^ 5, p. 114. Carte Papers, vii. fol. 6. 330 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1654 May 12. Irish to be collected in villages. July. Murder of an Irish constable at Timolin, / 1655. March 1 and of eight surveyors. complicity of the natives orders were given in Cork precinct that the Irish remaining in their old quarters should be collected in villages, in which at least thirty families were to be drawn together, and that these villages should not be within half a mile of w'ood, bog, or mountain. Care, too, was to be taken for the appointment of a head-man, with the duty of bringing in the cattle every night and setting a watch over them.^ A few weeks later a party of Tories murdered an Irishman who served the English as a constable at Timolin. As the Tories were countenanced by the inhabitants of the neighbour- hood, and no information had been given, all Irish Papists in Timolin were ordered to transplantation as a punishment, their cabins being burnt and rates ^ levied on the barony for the relief of the widow. ^ Later on, perhaps in revenge for this punishment, another band of Tories swooped down on eight English surveyors at Timolin, carried them into the woods, and there murdered them.^ In vain prices were set on the heads of the leaders of the Tories.^ If some were brought in and hanged, others quickly slipped into their places. At last, in January 1655 the Government denounced the ingratitude of the Irish rebels, who, notwithstanding the mercy and favour of Parliament to all who would live peaceably under English rule, nevertheless continued in their evil courses, disturbing all who desired to live peaceably by ' murders, spoils, rapines, and thefts.' ^ Instructions touching the Irish, May 12, 1654, Irish B.O., ^ 45, p. 361. •* Order by the Deputy and Council, July 21, ib. p. 505. ^ Order, Dec. 25, 1655, Prendergast, 206, note 3. Prendergast says that no murder was committed, but does not give his authority. ^ Instances are given in Prendergast, 343-4. A PROLONGED STRUGGLE. 33 1 The oflficers in each precinct were therefore ordered chap. . . XT IV to act as a court-martial to judge summarily in such - — -,— 1- €ases. No quarter was any longer to be given. ^ / / ^^ So the renewed struggle was carried on in all couitH- its horrors. As in the days when Bruce was hold- esta- ing out against the officers of Edward I., the men who ^,j^^"' ' were thieves and murderers to the one side were «ti"ggi« contiuuea. heroes and patriots to the other. (Not to submit to the contemptuous alien was the resolution whiclf^ armed the heart of the Irish Tory. > If he walked in darkness, it was because open resistance had ceased to be possible. He at least would not justify Gookin's dream of a submissive Ireland waxing fat under English landlords, caressing the hand that chastised him, and making sport for the master who loathed and despised him. 1/ Again and again in the course of this inglorious struggle did the Government at Dublin attempt to reduce the number of its enemies. Thinking in terms of English law, it was never weary of decreeing that vagrants and other persons who refused to work were to be disposed of in the English colonies beyond^ the sea — to New England, Virginia, the West Indies, ^'"^"^^^ and especially to Barbados. The first instance appears to be one in which Messrs. Sellick and Leader, of Bristol, offered in the autumn of 1653 to 1653. ship 250 Irishwomen between the ages of 15 and '^'^^' 50 to New England. At the instance of Lord Broghill this proposal was set aside in favour of another to send out persons, both men and women, from the county of Cork. The persons so sent were to be such as 'live like beggars and vagabonds, and follow no lawful vocation.' Permission was accord- ingly granted to search for such persons ' of the Irish ^ Order of Deputy and Council, Jan. 27, 1655, IrishB.O.,^^. 24, p. 27. Vagrants to be trans- 332 THE CEOMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1654. Further orders for trans- portation. 1655. Abuses detected. The trans- ported servants not slaves. nation that are rogues and vagabonds, idlers and wanderers, and such as have no means to get their livehhood by labour or otherwise, or such as, being- able to labour, shall refuse to do so.' In January 1654 the governors of certain towns were directed to hand over to three merchants of Waterford, for transporta- tion, all rogues and vagrants, whether men or women, taking care that no one was sent off who was living" in a family and whose good behaviour was certified by the master of that family. In April one Norris was to transport rogues and vagabonds from Limerick precinct to the Caribbee Islands, and the same class of persons from Galway precinct to Virginia. In June a similar order was given to the same person to transport to Barbados.^ These orders, which were followed by others to the same effect, were obviously liable to abuse, and in 1655 we hear of directions to search a ship lying in Dublin harbour, on suspicion that persons had been forcibly carried on board though they were neither rogues nor vagrants.^ That the persons condemned to transportation were doomed to a lifelong slavery is a delusion propagated by writers unacquainted with the social condition of the colonies. The system of service prevailing in Barbados was applicable, at least in the more northern colonies, to free emigrants as well as to persons sent abroad under compulsion, and both there and in the West Indies the service came to an end at the expiration of a fixed term of years, the money paid to the shipper by the master who acquired these limited rights being supposed to be ^ Orders by the Commissioners, Oct. 25, 1653; Jan. 23, Apr. 21, April 24, June 7, 1654 Irish B.O., ^^ 44, p. 663 ; ^ 45, pp. 66, 298, 301, 436. 2 Order by the Deputy and Council, July 6, 1655, ib. | 5, p. 188. SERVICE IN THE COLONIES. ^^^ paid for the expenses of the voyage, which the chap. servant, on his part, was bound to repay by his .J^JZl. labour.^ No doubt the passage across the Atlantic '^55 was accompanied with considerable hardship, and those who were assigned to a rough and cruel master had to endure suffering for a time ; whilst even under more favourable circumstances the servant in Barbados had to work under a tropical sun. Nor ^ In June 1654 the commissioners write to Col. Phayre that they have been unable to transport some of O'Dwyer's soldiers intended for service on the Continent but that men are wanted in Barbados and other West Indian islands, ' where they will have as good condition as any English or other servants there, and after 4 years are to be free men to act for their advantage.' They add that 14s. a head will be paid to the officers who accompany them, ' which otherwise is to be allowed to every such Irishman as voluntarily goes abroad upon this contract.' The same is to be paid by the Undertaker to each ' of the said Irish now kept together upon the charge of the country as shall be put aboard, who are to have the like provision and accommodation ; and for such women as shall go abroad, they are to be provided for as to apparel.' If the number did not reach 400, it was to be made up by apprehending vagrants and idle persons judged to be such by justices of the peace. The Commissioners to Phayre, June 15, 1654, Irish B.O., ^p 50, p. 708. On the evidence that the service to which Irish- men and others were sent was temporary servitude, not slavery, see supra, Tp. 161, note 2. In Virginia, a special Act was passed in 1655 that all Irish servants that, from 'the first of September, 1653, have been brought into this colony without indenture . . . shall serve as followeth, viz., " all above 16 years old to serve six years, and all under to serve till they be 24 years old." ' Hening's Laws of Virginia, i. 41 1 . In his Historical Sketch of the Persecution suffered by the Catholics of Ireland, Cardinal Moran takes the usual view, that the transported Irishmen were slaves, supporting it almost entirely on the evidence of priests and others in Europe, who had no personal knowledge of the colonies. An apparent exception is a statement that ' when the Rev. John Grace visited these islands in 1666, he found that there were no fewer than 12,000 Irish scattered amongst them, and that they were treated as slaves.' Fortunately, Cardinal Moran has published the letter on which this statement is founded, and in that letter there is nothing about slavery. The men had been sent by Cromwell ' in agrorum cultura ministratum, cum quibus misere et crudeliter agitur turn in temporalibus turn maxime in spiritualibus.' S])icilegium Ossoriense, p. 485. 334 THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP, would it be possible to deny that women cut adrift XLiv^ from family life were subject to peculiar perils. Yet, 1655 when their term of service was expired, the paucity of numbers of white women enabled them to com- * mand their own^iric:^ and there is every reason to believe that the greater number of them ultimately settled down as the free wives of free men.^ ' Prendergast gives the most gloomy account of the fate of the women transported, telling us that ' the West India sugar planters. . . , desired the men and boys for their bondsmen, and the women and Irish girls, in a country where they had only Maroon women and negresses to solace them.' Writing again of a later project of sending^ 1,000 boys and 1,000 girls to Jamaica — a project which, as will be seen (see infra, p. 453), was never carried into effect — he says that the ' boys were to go as bondsmen, and the girls to be bound by other ties to these English soldiers in Jamaica ' (Prendergast, 89, 93). To these reckless statements we may oppose the fact that Ligon gives us an account of the expenses of an estate in Barbados, reckoning those of ten white women servants, ' four to attend in the house,' and 'the other six that weed and do the common work abroad yearly ' (Hist, of Barbados, 1 1 5). Mr. Bruce's very full account above referred to puts the matter in a clear light so far as Virginia is concerned. ' A certain degree of liberty in the sexual relations of the female servants with the male, and even with their masters, might have been expected, but there are numerous indications that the general sentiment of the colony condemned it, and sought by appropriate legislation to restrain and prevent it.' The marriage of a woman servant during her time of service without her master's consent was punishable, because it deprived the master of her services. Speaking of a somewhat later time, when women of bad character were transported in large numbers, Mr. Bruce writes : " The women who were exported from England to the colony had imusual oppor- tunities of advancing their welfare in life. If they enjoyed an honour- able reputation, they foundno difficulty in marrying into a higher station than they had been accustomed to. Bullock," in 1649, " mentions the fact that no maid whom he had brought over failed to find a husband in the course of the first three months after she had entered into hi» service. The fortunes of these imported women were frequently superior to their deserts, for a large proportion of them were considered to be worthless " (Bruce's Economic Hist, of Virginia, ii. 51). The eagerness with which women were sought in marriage in Barbados is shown by a statement made in 1654, by an English visitor, that *a whore, if handsome, makes a wife for some rich planter ' (Whistler's Journal, Sloane MSS. 3926, fol. 9). TREATMENT OF THE TOWNS. 335 Next to the elimination of Tories, no subject was chap. — — ■' ■■ VT TXT deemed more important to the success of the planta- . . 1^ tion than the securing of centres of trade in EngUsh Tovlns"^ hands. On May lo, 1655, orders were given that ^J'^j^", ' Papists and other superfluous Irish' should be hands. expelled from Dublin.^ A year earlier, in 1654, the Cases of Eoman Catholic inhabitants of Kilkenny, Wexford, KiikenAy, and Clonmel were expelled, with the exception of a and few artisans and fishermen, though they were almost all of English descent.^ In their case, however, the Government was content to allow the expelled families to reside outside the walls in the neighbour- hood of their old homes, without insisting on trans- ])lantation. In Galway, houses deserted by their of , ^ . / "^ Gahvay, owners in 1652 were seized by the Government; and in July 1655, on the ground that the articles of capitulation had provided for the expulsion of the inhabitants if their presence was found to endanger the security of the place, all Irishmen, with the exception of the sick and infirm, were ordered to leave, the value of their property being provided for them elsewhere.-'^ Limerick, at the mouth of and of the Shannon, was of special importance, and in May 1654 it was ordered that no more than forty arti- ficers and fishermen might remain, and they only if they had not borne arms and were not proprietors of land.4 / To weaken Papists and to strengthen Protestants V ' Order by the Deputy and Council, May T, Irish B.O., 1 5, p. 147. - Prim's Men of the Family of Langton, Kilkenny Archaeological Journal, New Series, iii. 85 ; Orders by the Commissioners, March 6, 13, 15, 1654, Irish B.O., '^^ 44, P- 62 ; ^^ 45, pp. 157, 179- ■'Order by the Commissioners, March 15; Order by the Deputy and Council, Oct. 18, 1655, ib. ^^ 42, p. 705 ; \ 5, p. 254. * Order by the Commissioners, May 15, 1654, ib., ^ 45, P- 363- Limerick. z^^ THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1654 May-Sept. Conces- sions to Protest- ants. Coinci- dence with the grant of a dispensing power. June 23. Land granted to Gookin in Ireland. Fleet- wood's opposition to Gookin's jwas the chief object of the Government in Dubhn land Westminster. For erring Protestants the path was made easy by two ordinances issued by the Protector before the meeting of Parliament — the one covering with an indemnity those of Munster who had supported Ormond and Inchiquin in 1648, on the ground that they had brought their province over to the Commonwealth in 1 649 ; the other letting off Protestants in other parts of Ireland with a fine, in lieu of the confiscation of one-fifth of their property adjudged to them by the Act of Settlement.^ Taking the two together, and noticing that they were nearly coincident in point of time with the grant of the power of dispensation from transplantation to Fleetwood on August 17,^ it would seem that the Protector was at that time inclined to adopt a policy of conciliation on both sides ; though it was only to be expected that conciliation should go very much further in the case of Protestants than in that of Catholics. Nor is this all. That Gookin was the warm advocate before the Council of the Munster indemnity is beyond dispute.^ It is equally beyond dispute that in June 1654 the Protector showed his favourable opinion of Gookin by conferring on him a grant of land in Ireland ; and that Fleetwood manifested his hosti- lity by refusing for a twelvemonth to carry the grant into effect.'* On November 30, 1654, in spite of the dispensing power conferred on him, Fleetwood had issued that sweeping order for transplantation^ which rendered the crisis acute. On May 23, 1655, he complained of being discountenanced in England. 1 Ordinance for Protestants of Munster, Aug. i, 1654, E, 1064, 27 ; Ordinance for Protestants in Ireland, Sept. 2, Scobell, ii. 359. 2 See supra, p. 318. ^ Egmont MSS. * Hist. Bevieiv (Oct. 1899), xiv. 734. ^ See supra, p. 319. FLEETWOOD'S DISSATISFACTION. ^^y and pleaded for a letter from the Protector to en- chap. 1 • • 1 . r. 1 1 r. XLIV. courage hnn m tlie prosecution oi the work oi - — . — ' transplantation,^ ^^^ The fact was that Fleetwood's conduct as Deputy Complains ■"■ "of having had given cause for much searching of heart at noiettei-. Whitehall. In addition to the difference of opinion ^.„ i Differences between Fleetwood and the Protector in the matter between Fleetwood of the transplantation, the Deputy's notorious patron- and the n 1 ik • 1 • 1 1 1 • n p 1 f T I'rotector. age 01 the Baptists, to which sect he himseii belonged, and who were numerous and influential in the Irish army, could not but giye umbrage to a Goyernment which had had experience of the reyolutionary tendencies of many of their co-religionists in Eng- land.'-^ The first remedy which occurred to the Council was to send Henry Cromwell in the room of Ludlow, whose continuance in office was incompatible with the Protectoral system. Accordingly, on August 24, j^^^^^^^' 1 6 £54, at the request of the EnojHsh Council, Henry ^^e^ito ^^ . ■■■ . .*-' '' command Cromwell received a commission to command the the army Irish army under Fleetwood, with the title of major- Fleetwood, «'-• 25- ^ ' _ . ^ , _ and to be member of the Irish Council/ The delay in sendin<]f » coun- •^ ^ cillor. the new commander to Ireland was probably due to a desire on the part of the Protector to conciliate his ' Fleetwood to Thurloe, May 23, Thurloc, iii. 468. - " In Ireland they " {i.e. the Anabaptists) " were grown so high that the soldiers were many of them re-baptised as the way to preferment ; and those that opposed crushed with much uncharitable fierceness. To sui)pross these lie sent hither his son, Henry Cromwell, who so dis- countenanced tlie Anabaptists, as yet to deal civilly by them, repress- ing their insolencies. but not abusing them or dealing hardly with them.' liel. Baxtoianrc, i. 74. •' Order of Council, Aug. 22, Intcri: I, 75, p. 523, 0. Cromweirs Memoirs of the Protector, 693. * He had been recommended for this post by the Englisli Council. Order of Council, Aug. 23 ; Commission, Dec. 25, Fourteenth Itejjort of the Deputy Kecj^cr of Jtecordu in Ireland, p. 28. VOL. 111. Z 33^ THE CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIV. 1654 1655 July 9. H. Crom- well in Ireland. June 19. Gookin to receive liis land. son-in-law.^ Subordinate as Henry Cromwell would be in both capacities, his relation to the Protector could hardly fail to give him a preponderating influence in the Council. The opposition between the Protector and the Deputy increasing in the spring of 1655, the young commander was at last despatched to his duties, land- ing in Dublin on July 9. He was preceded by a letter which, in its involved arrangement, testifies to Oliver's embarrassment. Embedded in the midst of pious remarks is his disclaimer of an intention, which had been attributed to him, of sending Henry as Deputy in Fleetwood's place. Then, after a further instalment of religious observations, the real object of the letter is slipped in : — " If you have a mind to come over with your dear wife, &c., take the best opportunity for the good of the public and your own convenience." ^ It is easy to read between the lines. Though the Protector had no wish to deprive his sourin-law of his high dignity as Lord Deputy, he would be glad if he would voluntarily abandon the personal fulfilment of its duties.. This letter was emphasised by . another, written only three days earlier, ordering Fleetwood to place Gookin in possession of the land which had been granted to him twelve months before,^ 1 Mr. Firth, in the Diet, of Nat. Biogr., Art. ' Henry Cromwell,' attributes the delay to the Protector's unwillingness to advance so near a member of his own family. If so, why did he name him to the com- mand on Aug. 24 ? The membership of the Council could hardly be separated from that post. ^ The Protector to Fleetwood, June 22, Carlyle, Letter cxcix. It should be said that the correspondence in the Lansdoume M8S. furnishes proof that Fleetwood was desirous of coming over on per- sonal grounds, though he may have wished to pay no more than a temporary visit. See also Fleetwood's own letter in Thurloe, iii. 602. * The Protector to the Deputy and Council, June 19, Irith E.O., ^ 26, p. 64. FLEETWOOD'S HARSH POLICY. 339 Fleetwood's temper was none the more amiable chap. • • . XT TV for this expression of the Protector's sentiments. On - ^-L^ ] July 14, five days after Henry Cromwell's arrival, he ^ ^^ f issued two declarations which, taken together, showed wood , '. , . . , . - , defiant. his determination to carry out his transplantation / policy in the most extreme way. One of these took July 14. ' 1 (> n 1 . . His the form of a reply to certain queries sent to him by definition the Protestants of Limerick, in which he defined those arms. who had borne arms as including persons who had attended any rendezvous, or had kept watch and ward, even if they had been ' forced or pressed ' into the service.^ The other was an order issued by him as Commander-in-Chief, reminding officers and soldiers that they had not only neglected to search for soidiers to persons condemned to transplantation under the tmnspianV three qualifications, but had entertained such persons pereons. as tenants or servants. If they did not amend their ways they would be sent before a court- martial, to be dealt with in accordance with the articles of war.'^ The resistance of the officers and soldiers to the There- attempt to deprive them, in their quality of present ouhr^ or future proprietors, of the service of Irish labourers to^FieeV or tenants lay at the root of Fleetwood's difficulties. "•'"^^^^ During the last few months he had encountered the same opposition nearer Dublin, where an attempt to clear off" the native Irish from what were popularly known as the Five Counties — that is to say, Wexford, The five Wicklow, and Kildare, together with parts of Dublin and Carlow — had broken down before the resistance of the new proprietors.^ For some weeks Fleetwood ' Answers to queries, July 14, Irish R.O., ^ 5, p. 199. ^ Declaration by the Deputy, July 14, B.M. press-mark, 8c6, i. 14, No. 24. ' Orders by the Deputy and Council, May 21, June 7, ib- No. 21 ; Irish It.O., ^-5, p. 173. z 2 counties. 340 THE CKOMWELLIAN SETTLEMENT OF IRELAND. CHAP. XLIY. 1655 Fleetwood and Henry Croimvell. Se2)t. 6. Fleetwood leaves Dublin. Signifi- cance of the change. hung on at Dublin. By tlie beginning of August his retirement was a matter of common talk. The crowd which had hitherto followed him in his attendance on the service of the Baptist congregation now followed Henry Cromwell to the lately deserted ' public service ' instituted by the Instrument of Government. The Provost of Trinity College hailed the son of the Protector as the future ruler of the country.^ It was impossible to hold out longer, and on September 6 the Lord Deputy took shipping for England. / The departure of Fleetwood was a turning-point of the Cromwellian policy in Ireland. It indicated a policy of distrust of those officers who arrogated to themselves the title of ' the godly,' and announced at least an intention to introduce a more secular regime. jit signified, too, the abandonment of the plan of sweeping the large majority of the Irish population out of three provinces, and supplying their places by English labourers. Under the influence of Henry Cromwell no more is heard of the large class of those who had taken part in or had given assistance to the rebellion in its earliest stage, the Government being content with the transplantation of landowners and men who had borne arms, the latter class being, as Jolonel Lawrence had argued,^ comparatively a small one. For the earlier and more extensive plan, re- garded from a merely English point of view, there liad been something to be said. To put an end to the constant resistance of Irishmen to the imposition of English government and English custom by replacing the natives of three-fourths of Ireland by Englishmen ' Letters from Dublin, Aug. i, 13, 19, Sept. 3, Merc. Fvl, E, 851, 8 ; E, 852, 18 ; E, 853, 22 ; Per/. Diurnal, E, 852, 15. ^ See siqjra, p. 323. A CHANGE OF POLICY. 34 1 seemed a desirable end to men to whom Irishmen ^rf/ appeared to stand outside the pale of civilisation, and who doggedly believed that Irishmen were alone to blame for the catastrophe which had shocked the whole of England in 1641. Fortunately for the progress of the race nature does not allow any people to regard the fate of another purely from its own point of view. The English project had recoiled partly because the grip of the native population on the soil could not be shaken loose, but stiU more because the English population was not prepared to rush in where no vacuum had been created. The new . project, of retaining the mass of Irishmen, whilst depriving them of their natural leaders, and so tempting them to be as Englishmen, remained yet to be tried, though with little chance of success. 1655 342 CHAPTEE XLV. HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA, CHAP. Although the speech in which the Protector had set XLV . • V— ^J— forth the dehnquencies of his first ParUament as a ^'^ justification of its approaching dissohition contained pose of the ^^ reference to the two fleets which had by that fleets. |.jj^g jg£^ ^l^g shores of England, its silence can safely be ascribed to prudential motives. Second in Oliver's mind only to his desire to protect ' the people of God ' was his resolution to extend beyond the seas the power of England, a resolution which with him assumed, to some extent, the character of a Divine July 20. mission. "We consider this attempt," he had said A blow at , , ... Antichrist in recommendiufif the West Indian expedition to his Council, " because we think God has not brought us hither where we are, but to consider the work that we may do in the world as well as at home." ^ To weaken the grasp of Spain on the New World was to strike an effectual blow at the dominion of Anti- christ, and Oliver could not fail to be bitterly mortified when he found the Parliament, on whose co-operation he had looked with hope, leaving this holy enterprise without financial support. Yet, with all his religious enthusiasm, Oliver never lost sight of the practical objects to be at- tained by the destruction of Antichrist ; nor did he fail to perceive that, if the enterprise was to be ' See the Corrigenda to Vol. ii., at the end of the present volume^ and also ClarJce Paj^ers, iii. 207. \^ RELIGION AND TRADE. 343 -»• justified in the eyes of the world, it must be justified chap. on other than rehgious grounds. The commercial ^^-, -1-- interests of England led him to challenge the claim ^ ^4 of Spain, not, indeed, as has often been erroneously thfa^gf^e'^nce alleged, to refuse to Englishmen the right of trading of trade. with Spanish colonies, but to seize English ships and to maltreat English crews merely because they were found in some part or another of the Caribbean Sea, even though they might be destined for some island in actual possession of an English colony.^ Setting aside, therefore, the religious grounds of strife, the impending conflict based itself on a conflict between two opposing principles. For England the right of possession rested on effective occupation.^ For Spain, so far as America was concerned, it rested on the ^ Oliver's views on this subject are clearly set forth in the commis- sion issued by him to the five commissioners charged with the control of the West Indian expedition. "We having taken into our serious consideration the state and condition of the English plantations and colonies in the western parts of the world called America, and the opportunity and means which God hath betrusted us and this Common- wealth with both for securing the interest we already have in those countries which now lie open and exposed to the will and power of the King of Spain — who claims the same by colour of a donation of the Pope — at any time when he shall have leisure to look that way ; and also for getting ground and gaining upon the dominions and territories of the said King there ; whereunto we also hold ourselves obliged in justice to the people of these nations for the cruelty, wrongs and injuries done and exercised upon them by the Spaniards in those parts. Having a respect likewise in this our undertaking to the miserable thraldom and bondage, both spiritual and civil, which the natives and others in the dominions of the said King in America are subjected to and lie under by means of the Popish and cruel Inquisition and other- wise, from which, if it shall please God to make us instrumental in any measure to deliver them, and upon this occasion to make way for the bringing in the light of the Gospel and power of true religion and godliness into those parts, we shall esteem it the best and most glorious part of any success or acquisition it shall please God to bless us with." Commission of the Commissioners, Dec. g, Narrative of Venables, 109. ** The Protector had hero adopted Raleigh's view. Hist, of Eng- land, 1603-1642, iii. 39-41. 344 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. ""1654" Scope of the expe- ") ditioii. arbitrament of Alexander VI. Takino- his view of the position for granted, Oliver assured Venables of the righteousness of his mission. "Either," he argued, "there was peace with the Spaniards in the West Indies or there was not. If peace, they had violated it, and to seek reparation was just. If we had no peace, then there was nothing acted against articles with Spain." ^ The expedition once resolved on, Oliver had no thought of limiting it to the seizure of any single port or island. He was bent on bringing under English dominion the track of the gold convoys across the Isthmus of Panama.^ This scheme was a reversion to the Elizabethan gold-hunt, as opposed to the agricultural and commercial settlements of more recent years. There was nothing strange in the adoption of such a policy. What was strange was that Oliver should have thought it possible to cut off the supplies through which alone Spain was able to save herself from bankruptcy, and yet to re- main at peace with her in Europe. It is to be pre- sumed that the long-suffering with which Philip II. had postponed hostile action, in spite of Drake's roving exploits in American waters, led him to forget that the hesitating and inactive character of that Philip was un- likely to be reproduced in his grandson ; and also that his personal experience of his relations with France had convinced him of the possibility of carrying on warfare by sea without coming to a formal breach which would carry with it the opening of hostilities in a wider sphere. However this may have been, Oliver seems to have thought that he could justify an attack on the treasure-house of the world by the liappy results ' Venables' Narrative, 3. - Instructions to Venables. Transactions at Sea, 385. Burchett's Complete History of . MISCALCULATIONS. 345 which his action was likely to produce on the balance chap. of power amongst the Churches of Europe. In New ^S , '-^ England the great enterprise was discussed with ^ ^^ approval, Cotton's satisfaction taking the form of a prediction that it would lead to the drying up of the river Euphrates foretold in the Apocalypse. To Captain Leverett, fresh from service in New England, Oliver had used much the same language, adding that ' he intended not to desist till he came to the gates of Eome.' ^ If there is anything which at first sight appears onver ex- unaccountable in the history of this expedition, it is task to be I'M- 5iTf»T • if» an easy ( )liver s beliei that its task of conquest was an easy one. one, though such heroes as Hawkins and Drake had never been able to accomplish more than the sack- ing of a few towns and the temporary occupation of a few ports. Partly, perhaps, he was influenced by a not unnatural, though misplaced, confidence in the superiority of regular troops and a national fleet over the crews brought together by private adventurers, but still more by the representations of two men who He is mis- had had personal experience of the West Indies, and oage^and whose information passed current at Whitehall as ^^'^'^y^*''^^ undisputed truths. One of these — Thomas Gage — had been sent out to Spanish America by the Dominican order, of which he had become a member, but had returned to England in 1 64 1 , where he had announced his conversion to Protestantism, after which he took the side of Parliament and adopted the career of a minister. In 1648 he published, under the name of ^ See an article by Mr. Strong in the American Historical Beview (Jan. 1899), iv. 2. The Diary of Samuel Sewall is there quoted as evidence that Leverett was to have been Governor of Hispaniola. It is most improbable that a mere captain would have been destined to such a position, and it must not be forgotten that the conversation in which the statement was made did not occur till 1696. 146 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. "~i654~ Danger from the The English-American, an account of the West Indies ; and in the summer of 1654, or even earlier, he laid before the Protector a memorial in which he re- capitulated the conclusions of that work, assuring him that the Spanish colonies were thinly peopled, and that the few white inhabitants were unwarlike, and scantily provided with arms and ammunition. He alleged that the conquest of Hispaniola or Cuba would be a matter of no difficulty, and even that Central America was not in a condition to resist long.^ Colonel Modyford, who was a member of the Council of Bar- bados, recommended, on the other hand, an attack on Guiana ; but he too regarded the enterprise — comprising the occupation of the coast as far west- ward as Cartagena — as ' very easily compassed.' ^ Though Oliver was led astray in a matter of division of wMch he had no personal experience, he was well aware of the existence of one source of danger against which it behoved him to provide. When Drake or Ealeigh sailed for the Indies, the com- mander-in-chief exercised undisputed authority over every single person on board. The differentiation between thei^j^Lval and,^milkajr^__seryi^^ made it no longer possible to follow their example in this respect. Even as early as in 1589 the division of the command between Drake and Norris had been attended with disastrous results to the expedition they conducted against Lisbon. Yet it was im- possible to revert to the earlier system. To appoint either Penn or Venables to the supreme command ^ Gage's observations, JC^jZtWo^, iii. 59^ For a fuller account of Gage, see his life in the Dict/of hat. ±iiogr., and Mr. Strong's above- mentioned article, where it is demonstrated that neither Gage's nor Modyford's papers can have been handed in so late as December, under which date they are placed in the printed TJnirloe. ' A paper of Col. Modyford, ib. iii. 62. : THE FIVE COMMISSIONERS. 347 over the land and sea forces would but spell instant chap. XLV ruin, and, with this problem to face, the Protector - — ^^ fell back on a solution which, if not ideally the best, ^ ^^ was probably the best of which circumstances ad- mitted. The f^eneral conduct of the expedition was Five com- to be entrusted to five commissioners, of whom Penn appointed, ■ ' ■ ^ '^ ■ " of whom 'and Venables were to be two, the General and Penn and <7-rr : :; ; ' r~. T^ "~ , -;; : TT Venables Admiral each retaming executive authority m his were two. own service. Such an arrangement had little in com- mon with the often-condemned blunder of appointing a body of civiUan commissioners to control a single general. XL was intended to supply a menns of keeping a double command in tolerable harmony; whilst the inclusion of Penn and Venables themselves in the number of the commissioners afforded each of them a means of pleading his own cause within doors, instead of being driven to accept or reject orders, definitely given by a merely civilian authority which claimed superiority over the professional heads of the expedition. Yet, though no better provision suggests itself as available, the contrivance was at the best a clumsy one, and required the utmost care in the selection of the three external commissioners. Unfortunately, one only even approached the necessary condi- tions. Edward Winslow, who had been one of the winsiow, adventurous band which sailed for New England in Butier the ' Mayflower,' had three times served as Governor sioners. of Plymouth Colony, and had returned to England in 1646. Though he had sided with Parliament at the time of its expulsion in 1653, ^^^^ knowledge of colonial affairs, together with the repute of his abilities and character, had gained for him the con- fidence of the Protector.^ The choice of Daniel Searle, ^ See Mr. Firth's account of his career in the Preface to Venables' Narrative, x. 348 mSPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. ""1654" KelatioiiH between Penn and Venables. the Governor of Barbados, would, but for one circum- stance, have been as satisfactory as that of Winslow, He was a capable man, but necessarily hampered by his relations to the colony whilst the expedition remained at the island, and after it left he would be unable to leave his post to accompany it into action. His absence would be of the greater consequence because Winslow's other colleague. Captain Gregory Butler, selected apparently on account of his local knowledge, was, by the testimony of all who came into contact with him, weak in those qualities of temper and discretion which are indispensable in a councillor.^ Some time before the sailing of the fleet it had become evident that the danger of a misunderstand- ing between Penn and Venables was by no means imaginary ; and the instructions issued on December 9 to all concerned must have served to increase that danger, Penn's services being therein limited to the conveyance of the land forces to their destination, to the emplovment of the fleet in the destruction or capture of French or Spanish vessels, and to the promotion of the design against the Spaniards in the West Indies. That design was to be carried out, as the Protector informed his Admiral, ' in the manner expressed in our instructions to yQ^neral VenablQSj^ which he is to communicate to you.' - As a matter ^ Mr. Firth has collected the statements of those who served with him. " Truth is," wrote Major-General Fortescue after the force had landed in Jamaica, " I know not of what use he is, unless to make up a number. . . If I may without offence speak it, he is the unfittest man for a commissioner I ever knew employed ; I suppose His Highness and Council had little knowledge of him." And again, " He may very well be spared, his whole business having been to engender strife and create factions among the officers," Venables' Narrative, xii. ^ Penn's instructions, Mem. of Penn, ii. 23. Penn's commission, which these instructions accompany, are there dated Oct. 9. Mr. Firth shows (Venables' Narative, ix., note i) that this must almost certainly be an error for Dec. 9. YENABLES' INSTRUCTIONS. 349 of fact, the instructions given to Venables were in chap. far greater detail than Penn's. The object of thei — ^-,--1— - expedition, he was told, was '^to gain an interest in' that part of the West Indies in possession of the! design. Spaniards,' He was not, however, bound to any'* definite plan. It had been proposed, he was told, to seize on Hispaninla. or P^ierto "Rico, or even upon both ; after which Havana might be won, a place invaluable as the port of call for the homeward- l^ound treasure-fleet on its way from Panama to Europe before it entered the Bahama Channel.^ An alternative scheme was a landing at some point between the mouths of the Orinoco and Porto Bello, with the intention of ultimately securing Cartagena. Yet a third proposal was to begin with San Domingo or Puerto Eico, and afterwards to attempt Cartagena instead of Havana. It was, however, left to those on the spot to decide which, if any, of these schemes should be carried out.- It is not strange that Penn, captious as he was,'^ Perm's dis- and already prejudiced against Venables, took um- tion. brage at the fulness of instructions which, having been withheld from himself, were to be communi- cated to him by his military colleague. Even before the issue of these instructions the Protector, anxious to conciliate him, had confirmed a grant of Dec. 4. Irish land made to him in September, and accom- iiishiana panied his concession with pressing letters to the authorities in Dublin to see that the matter was not neglected. After this Oliver felt himself justified in"* ^ Corbett, Drake and the Tudor Navy, i. 90. - Instructions to Venables, Burchett's Complete History, 385. •'' This was Winslow's opinion of him. Winslow to Thurloe, March 16, Thurloe, iii. 249. '' Mem. of Fetm, ii. 19. to him. 350 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP, recommending two young kinsmen of his own for - — ■ -■> appointments in the fleet, and even in sharply ^ ^^ reprimanding the Admiral for giving to one of his commends own relatives a place which he had promised to the two kins- T^ 1 1 ^ men to Protcctor s ncphew.^ ^Dec 20 ^^^ December 20, when the fleet was almost ready An appeal ^q gall, OUvcr made one final appeal to Penn's better to Penn. ' ^ ^ feelings. " I understand," he wrote, " so much of your care and industry in this business that I cannot but acknowledge it, and let you know how much you make me beholden to you ; and I pray you persist therein. I do humbly hope the Lord will have an eye upon this business, and will bless it. And therefore, if it be His business, it will certainly provoke every good heart to eye Him in it, and to be able to overcome every thing in a man's own heart that may anywise lie as an impediment in the way that may hinder the bringing of it to its perfection ; and in this I have full assurance of you, notwith- standing I have had some knowledge of a little dissatisfaction remaining with you, which I hope by this time will be removed, and I desire you it may be so. You have your own command, full and entire to your- self, nothing interfering with it, nor in the least lessening you. The command at land is also distinct, and there the General at land must exercise his authority ; and thus I trust you will both consent to carry on the public work without hesitation ; and God forbid that any thing, either in you or him, should in the least hinder that. I hope it shall not; and know as- suredly, upon the experience you have had of me, that I shall be as tender of your honour, as sensible to uphold your quality, as you shall be to desire me. The ^ The Protector to Penn, Dec. i, Jan, 15, Portland MSS., HiaL MSS. Com. Bep., xiii. App. ii. 88, 89. VENABLES HARDLY TREATED. 35 1 Lord make your journey prosperous and bless you ! " ^ chap. For the time being this pleading was not without — — r-^ effect. Before the sailing of the fleet Winslow was ^ ^^ able to write to Thurloe that that sore was easily cured ; and after his arrival in the West Indies he could report that the demeanour of the General and Admiral mutually towards ' each '^ other at *sea was sweet and hopeful.' ^ The wound, however, still rankled, and when the time of action arrived it was likely to break out again, with disastrous conse- quences. Far more damaging than Penn's jealousy was character the Protector's own blunder in ignoring the strength force! *" brought to an army by regimental discipline and comradeship. Instead of taking complete regiments ^ the Government resolved that the army for the West Indies should be composed of drafts from the regiments serving in different parts of the country, and, what was worse still, that these drafts should be selected by the colonels of the regiments in which they had served. Thp. natural ponspqnp.nce was that the men chosen for ' frtrpifTnaPv^npp wpt-p for t>ie most part those of whom nose ridTa their colonels were most anxious to be rid7 and when the numbers thus supplied were found insufficient. an attempt was made to fill the vacant places with the riff-raff of the! ^nndnn strppts. In vain Venables pleaded that the men he was to command might be raised from the seasoned regiments with whose martial qualities he had been familiar in Ireland ; or, if this might not be, that volunteers might be drawn from the troops in England. Such proceedings, ' The Protector to Perm, Dec. 20, Hist. MSS. Com. Eep., xiii. App. ii. 88. ' Misprinted ' every.' ' Winslow to Thurloe, March 16, Thurloe, iii. 249. refused. 352 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP, inexplicable to Venables, can only be explained by « — ^1^ tlie brevity of the time available for the collection ^"^ of the forces. The Protector had been warned Saate!^ by Gagc that the rainy season began in May, and Avhen November, and even December arrived, his anxiety, to see the last of the fleet must have been intense. As for the employment of volunteers, tropical service was none too popular in the army, and it is probable that, if Venables' advice had been taken in this direction, he would have found himself without any following worthy of consideration.^ A muster Thc samc couvictiou of the value of time which made it impossible to send to Ireland for soldiers stood in the way of compliance with the request of the / General that he should be allowed to hold a general muster of his soldiers at Portsmouth before their embarkation. "Before I came thither," he bitterly complained, " some were shipped and sent away, and all were reproached for not shipping faster than wind and tide and boats would serve us." ^ Whatever may have been the causes of tliis haste, the consequences bade fair to be disastrous. The army from which so much was expected was without cohesion and without confidence in its commander. Everything that it most behoved soldiers to know would have to be learnt, not merely in the presence of the enemy, but under climatic conditions against which neither they nor those who sent them knew how to provide. It had not been by gathering a mob and styling it an army that Oliver had beaten down his enemies at Marston Moor and Naseby. 1 F. Barrington to Sir J. Barrington, July 14, Hist. MSS. Com. Bep., vii. 571. '■' Venables' Narrative, 6; A Brief and Perfect Journal, Harl. Misc., iii. 513. DIFFICULTIES IGNORED. 355 Nor was it only from the deficiencies of the force ^.^■^,^- •^ XLV. thus hurriedly brought together that danger was ■ — 7- — ' to be expected. According to the accepted plan, The force Venables was to have taken with him j^, 000 meii — stren^th- thoug^h the number was found, in fact., to be, no l^^^^'^ *^^® more than 2,500 — and this body was to_ib.rm the ^■Il!-1^^ of an army to he made up by_recruits in Barbados and the other Rngh'sTi islanrls What likelihood, however, was there that these raw levies would find in a force composed as was the one now hurried on shipboard a nucleus round which to rally ? The case was the more hopeless as both officers and I The T , . . , ^ . I soldiers led men were under the impression that their object was j to expect less to defeat an enemy than to found a colony. Even usk ^^ Venables was left under this delusion. The city of San Domingo, according to his instructions, ' not being considerably fortified,' might 'probably be possessed without much difficulty ' ; and he gave evidence of his belief that little danger was to be feared by carrying with him his wife, whom he had recently married as a mature widow, pleading sub- sequently that 'his Highness did only intend a plantation, where women would be necessary.' ^ On December 20 the first portion of the fleet put to sea, and the remainder followed on the 25th. Two storeships which were to have carried neces- saries for the soldiers failed to arrive in time ; whilst the provisions already placed on board for their use, being found defective, Venables threw the blame on Desborough, who had been appointed to arrange for the supplies, and whom he charged — probably without foundation — with acting in collusion with the victuallers.^ ^ Memoranda of Eliz. Venables, Chetham Soc. Misc. iv. 9-28. "^ Venables' Narrative, 5-7, 102. VOL. III. A A 354 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. Jan. 29. The. fleet at Bar- bados. Seizure ot Dutch Tessels. Enliatment of men. The outward voyage to Barbados was uneventful^ and on January 29 the fleet cast anchor in Carlisle Bay. The arrival of a hostile force could hardly have been more unwelcome to the planters, who had been in the habit of importing goods in Dutch bottoms in defiance of the provisions of the Naviga- tion Act. Almost immediately after their arrival the commissioners made seizure, by the Protector'^ orders, of a number of Dutch vessels lying in the bay, and that, too, in virtue not only of the Navigation Act, but also of another Act which prohibited all foreign trade with the colony in consequence of its adhesion, at the time when the Statute was passed, to the Stuart cause. ^ Such a proceeding could only be justified by the clause in the Navigation Act forbidding the importation into an English colony of goods not the produce of the countries in which the ships bringing them were owned, a clause which had been violated by the Dutch ship-masters if, as is highly probable, they had carried negro slaves across the Atlantic.^ Angry at this interruption of their trade the colonists raised difficulties when an attempt was made to enlist volunteers to make up the numbers required to complete the army. The planters, not unreasonably, cried out against the inducement offered to their servants to desert their work, and it was only after the commissioners had entered into an engagement that freemen only should be entertained that the enlistment made any progress.^ 1 See Vol. i. 352. - Winslow to Thurloe, March i6, Thurloe, iii. 249; Venables' Narrative, 8. ' The freemen are described as ' such as [had] served in the country for freedom, or paid their passage when transported from England.' J. Barrington to Sir F. Harrington, Hist. MSS. Coin. Bep., vii. 572. I have added ' had ' on my own responsibility, as the sen- tence makes nonsense without it. FRESH LEVIES. 355 The engagement, however, was in many cases chap. evaded, and in one way or another, so far as s^-^__ numbers were concerned, the force under Venables ^ ^^ began to present a formidable appearance. At a Amustln' muster taken on March 2 1 it was found to reach 6,873,^ including a troop of horse raised in Barbados to supply the place of one which had been detained by contrary winds in an Irish port. When the fleet March 31. put to sea on March 31, it picked up some 1,200 saifs/^ volunteers at Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitts ; to whom must be added a naval regiment of about the same strength, serving under Vice-Admiral Goodson as its colonel, thus bringing the entire force above Numbers 9,000 men,2 now divided — including the seamen — into army® on eight regiments. ^°'''"'^- The quality of the new levies, with the notable Bad f .1 • , , quality of exception 01 the sea regiment, was not commensurate the new with their numbers. " Our planters," wrote Venables after the catastrophe had occurred, " we found most fearful, being only bold to do mischief, not to be com- manded as soldiers, nor to be kept in any civil order, being the most profane, debauched persons that we ever saw, scorners of religion ; and, indeed, men kept so loose as not to be kept under discipline, and so cowardly as not to be made to fight." If Venables' words may be thought to be exaggerated, as those of a man on his defence, they were at least no harsher than those of more impartial witnesses. " To say the truth," wrote three of the commissioners to the Governor of Barbados, " your men and the men of St. Christopher's lead all the disorder and con- ^ Venables' Narrative, 122. Mr. Firth makes the number 100 more, having omitted to take into account his own correction on the same page. * The question of numbers is fully discussed by Mr. Firth in his Preface to Venables' Narrative, xxx, i A 9 356 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP, fusion." The testimony of Captain How to the worth- ■ ^^^' . lessness of the Barbadians is to the same effect. " The 1655 men we had from thence," he declares, " for the most proved good for little. I dare say that i ,000 of our soldiers that came out of England or Ireland is better than 5,000 of them.' ^ Their discipline, too, was shaken by the difficulty of procuring arms for more than a part of the army. Gunsmith's tools had been left behind, and the wood of the island was not such as to enable the pike-heads brought from England to be fitted with shafts of the usual length. The result was that it was only for a short time at the end of the stay at Barbados that the whole force in the island could be drilled.^ The evil was complicated by the ineffectiveness of many of the officers, who had been brought together without sufficient discrimination before the troops left England. Food, too, was run- ning short, and on the voyage the landsmen were put on half-rations, a circumstance which again roused the spirit of contention between Penn and Venables, the latter declaring that the best bread was reserved for the sailors, the worst being served out to the soldiers.^ Question of On ouc important subject, however, Penn and Venables were agreed. Knowing the motives jwhich actuated the large majority of the soldiers, they pro- posed that the plunder should be brought into a common stock, to be divided amongst all who wera concerned in its capture^ To this, however, the San Domingo to be attacked. Other commissioners took exception. It had been resolved that the city of San Domingo should be the object of the first attack, and on April 13, when the expedition was nearing the coast of Hispaniola, Venables was compelled to issue an order offering to the soldiers six weeks' pay in lieu of pillage. The 1 Venables' Narrative, 30, 40. ^ lb. 12. . ^ lb. 13. AN ORDER AGAINST PILLAGE, 357 reason for such an unpopular decision was plainly chap. given. " Whereas," the General declared, " the city ^^^l^L. of Domingo, where we design our first attempt, is '^^5 intended by His Highness for a colony of the English, Plunder to which, if destroyed by pillage, ruineth the whole muted. design, making us incapable to reap the fruit of our success, if the Lord shall please to bless us with the same : I do therefore order and require officers and soldiers under my command not to pillage or plunder any money, plate or jewels whatsoever, or to waste or destroy any houses, tame cattle, or any other goods or things which are necessary for us to plant within the country, or to improve with the best advantage of his Highness the present design." ^ The men to whom these words were addressed were as unfit to be colonisers as to be soldiers, and preferred the wild gamble of pillage to the distribution of an evenly divided sum of money.^ The order of the General led to an outcry, which portended little less than a mutiny when the time should arrive for putting it in force. On April 13, the day on which the order was The fleet issued, the fleet was off San Domingo, near enough to Domingo, the coast to descry the inhabitants hurrying to take refuge in the city. The commissioners had sensibly agreed that the troops should be landed near the mouth of the river Jaina, at the spot chosen by Drake on his famous expedition. This was far enough from the city to avoid the danger of surprise before the whole force had been put ashore, and near enough to it to enable the men to approach the object of their enterprise without a long and wearisome march. It Prepara- was found, however, that a heavy surf rendered landing. ^ Venables' Narrative, 14. Order by Venables, Apr. 13, Portland MSS., Hist. M8S. Com. Bep., 13, ii. 91. - Whistler's Journal, in the Appendix to Venables' Narrative, 1 50. march. 358 HISPANIOLA and JAMAICA. CHAP, landing impracticable at this point, and the greater > ^-L^ part of the army was therefore sent to the westward, to ^^55 £nd a safer landing-place at the mouth of the Nizao,^ whilst a regiment and a half, under Colonels Holdip and Buller, was to be sent ashore to the east of the city, where they would be cut off by the river Ozama from any chance of joining in the assault, though they might render service by blocking the place on that side. Apr. 14. On the 14th the bulk of the army was landed at The army i i tvx« • i • • landed. the mouth of the mzao without opposition, where there was a march of some twenty miles to the Jaina, and of about ten more from the Jaina to the city walls. ^ Orders had been given to supply the men with provisions for three days ; but the orders were A toiktme" but supcrficially carried out, as the sailors themselves were on short allowance and the naval authorities took care to put the soldiers on shorter allowance still. Even more distressing was the want of water. Not, indeed, that it was altogether lacking. Dry beds of streams had a few pools remaining in them, from which it was possible to drink, and occasionally a fuller stream slipped sluggishly past towards the sea. It had, however, never occurred to those in authority in England to furnish vessels in which water could be carried.^ Venables, whose military experience had been gained in a land in which food ^ The narratives on which my account is based are either printed by Mr. Firth in Venables' Narrative, or are referred to by him in the Preface. Venables held that the change of place was entirely due to Penn's carelessness or misconduct ; but the account given above is far more probable, as Penn had nothing to gain by endangering the success of the expedition. ^ As the crow flies it is about fifteen miles to the Jaina and about seven more to San Domingo, but the winding of the track must have lengthened the distance. Contemporary narratives naturally make it still longer. ^ See the list of stores in Thurloe, iii, 203. ;6o HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. "7655 A deserted monasterj'. Apr. i6. Buller's escapade. was scarce and water plentiful, awoke too late to the gravity of the danger. ."Whoever," he wrote, " comes into these parts must bring leather bottles, which are more needful here than knapsacks in Ireland." Yet, toilsome as was the march in the drought and heat, its hardships were not without alleviation. For seven miles the soldiers tramped along a lane overshadowed by orange trees, tempting them with fruit hanging within reach of the wayfarer's hand. In many cases over-indulgence brought on dysentery and fever, and not a few dropped out of the ranks to die. On the way the regiments stumbled on a deserted monastery. The image of the Virgin with the Saviour in her arms, rendered more attractive by the gold and jewels which stiffened her robe, was torn from its place in the chapel and pelted with oranges by these rough intruders on the sanctuary.^ When, on the third day's march,^ the Jaina was reached, the water was so high that it was impossible to cross it except by swimming.^ Here Venables learnt that BuUer, having failed to effect a landing to the east of" San Domingo, had come on shore with his 1,500 men near the mouth of the Jaina, but, finding that the Spaniards had evacuated a small fort command- ing the landing-place, had, in spite of instructions to the contrary, marched off in the direction of the city, taking with him the only guide. BuUer would have done better if he had prepared the way ^ In the Eawlinson MS. printed in Venables' Narrative, p. 130,. this is said to have taken place near the Jaina. The same scene may easily have occurred twice. ^ They had started at 4 p.m. on the 14th, and reached the Jaina- in the afternoon of the i6th. * As want of water is still spoken of, and as there was a bar across the entrance, the estuary was, no doubt, a tidal one. SUFFERINGS OF THE AHMY. 36 1 for his commander by examininf;f the river which the chap. • • XLV main army had to cross, as in defauh of such aid the . ,_1^ afternoon and evening were spent by the wearied ^^55 regiments in search of a ford. When darkness fell with tropical swiftness, the wanderers had not only /IvXed in achieving their object, but had straggled from the river banks. Consequently, their three days' provisions having been already exhausted, they had to pass the nisiit without food or water. When .^p^"- 17- . ■!■ o A fresh mornmg dawned the search for the ford was resumed, advance. and the army was at last able to cross the river at some distance from its mouth; after which a plantation was reached, which provided water and a certain amount of food. In the afternoon the men resumed their march, tempted by a captured Irishman, who offered to bring them to the Ozama at a point above the city where they would find a sufficiency of water and be in a position to attack the place on its least guarded side. The march from the Jaina was even more trying a temWe than that of the preceding days. Not a single stream now crossed the path, and what wells there were had either been rendered useless by the Spaniards or were under the j)rotection of fortifications. The road, for some way at least, no longer led under the shade of orange trees, but was broad and hard, reflecting the rays of the glaring sun. Again and again, in disobedience to their officers, the men refused to march till they had rested. The return of BuUer's men with a tale of suffering did not tend to raise their spirits, and when, at the parting of two roads, their Irish guide persuaded them to take the right-hand turning, which led, not to the Ozama, but in front of the fort of San Geronimo, which was situated on the sea-coast and commanded the way to the city, the 362 mSPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. 1655 An attack repulsed. want of water was liardly likely to be overcome. It might, however, be expected that 9,000 armed men could defend themselves from attack. The country was but thinly populated, most of the few inhabitants being cow-killers, who were armed with long lances for slaughtering the wild cattle which roamed amongst the woods and were valuable for their hides and tallow alone. As Venables, who was himself suffer- ing from dysentery, was reconnoitring the fort, a party of these men dashed unexpectedly from an ambuscade on the advanced guard — or, as it was then called, the forlorn — and broke through it ; after which they found little resistance till the seamen's regiment stood firm, and by their superior discipline converted what bid fair to be a rout into an assured victory. It was the only regiment in the whole army in which the bond of tried comradeship was strengthened by the habit of obedience to officers long known and trusted.-^ The material difficulties of the enterprise were not, however, lessened by the repulse of the enemy, and ^ Confidence in the account which assigns the merit to the seamen is strengthened by its being found in the journal of an ofl&cer of For- tescue's regiment. Whistler writes : " There did fiy forth of the woods a party of the enemy which did lie in ambush upon our forlorn, and General Venables being one of the foremost, and seeing the enemy fall on so desperately with his lances, he very nobly ran behind a tree ; and our sea regiment having this day the forlorn hope, did fall on most gallantly and put the enemy to fly for their lives, and coming where General Venables was got behind a tree, he came forth to them, but was very much ashamed, but made many excuses, being so much pressed with terror that he could hardly speak." Venables' Narra- tive, 154. Whistler, however, was not present, and is clearly in the wrong in representing the seamen as being in the ' forlorn.' Moreover, his malicious account — which no doubt reflected the ill-wiU of the fleet towards the soldiers — is explained by the writer of the letters printed in App. D. of Venables' Narrative, who tells us that after the skirmish ' the General came out of the wood . . . where he had lain hid beyond the enemy's ambush.' Evidently he had gone too far in advance, and had been cut off from his army by the men attacking from the ambuscade. A KETREAT AND A RALLY. 363 though the Spaniards evacuated a smaller fort beyond San Geronimo, they first rendered its well unservice- able. In the evening Venables found himself in front of the wall of San Domingo unprovided with dty ap- appliances for an attack, and with his men dropping "^^^^^ fast from hunger and thirst. In spite of the remon- strances of some of the old soldiers he had no re- source but to order a retreat to the plantation where a retreat the troops had found refreshment in the morning. ordered. The check was not altogether owing to the un- cause of military qualities of the private soldiers. It was at least partially due to the mistake of trusting to the word of a perfidious Irishman and marching hastily to the Ozama, instead of waiting near the mouth of the Jaina till arrangements had been made with the fleet for the supply of necessaries to the soldiers. If Ven- ables' memory is to be trusted, the mistake had arisen in consequence of his allowing himself to be over- ruled by Butler, who, as a single commissioner, had no authority to give him orders to a colleague. The mischief was now remedied. Communications The neet were opened with the fleet, and arrangement made provisions, that provisions and other stores should be landed near the mouth of the Jaina, or sent in boats to meet the troops on the completion of their next advance. Venables himself took advantage of the Venabies delay to go on board to be nursed by his wife, a board. proceeding which drew down on him the rude jests of the men, many of whom were suffering from the same disease as himself, and who had no shelter or assistance as they lay on the bare ground. Their condition was rendered worse by the rainy season, which had now set in, and which threatened a rapid increase of the sickness whose ravages had been The^army already felt. On the 24th, the much-needed supplies ^^^^^^^ The rains set in. 364 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP, having been delivered, tliough ships were detached . ^^^' . to take up their stations off the city and San Geronimo, '^55 their fire proved ineffectual, as, either from bad gun- nery or because the men-of-war stood too far out to sea, no damage was done on either side. On the same day the army, dragging a mortar, and carrying- provisions for six days, once more started, it might seem under more favourable omens. Yet it had accomplished but two miles when daylight failed. The rain had ceased for a time, and the night was passed without water, as no streams now crossed the line of march, and the supply from the fleet was not to be counted on till the neighbourhood of the city was reached. Apr. 25. On the morning of the 2 "^th the exhausted troops The march ^ _ ° _ ^ ^ , . . ^ resumed, ouce morc addresscQ themselves to their enterprise. Slow and toilsome was the march, and it was only in the afternoon that San Geronimo was in sight. Once more Venables took no precautions to search the woods on either side of his march, and just as the An unex- head of the army was passing the fort, and all eyes rout "^ were fixed on its guns, a party of cow-killers whom no estimate reckons above 200 dashed from behind the trees and charged the front ranks under the command of Colonel Murphy, an Irishman, eager, we may well believe, to avenge the wrongs of his suffering nation. The short pikes manufactured in Barbados were no match for the long lances of the Spaniards, and again the advanced guard turned and fled, carrying away one regiment after another in its rush of headlong' panic. In vain Major-General Heane attempted to stem the tide. Isolated among the enemy, with but two comrades at his side, he fell mortally wounded, whilst one of his companions, wrapping the flag of England round his body, perished with him. Venables, THE ATTACK ABANDONED. 365 weakened by disease, and only able to stand witli the chap. help of two men, did his best vainly to check the ^1 ,_ In- flight. Once more the steadiness of the naval regi- ' ^^ ment saved the army. Opening out to allow the fuiiitives to stream throuojh its ranks, it then formed O CD ^ up, and drove the assailants into the woods. After such a disaster all thought of renewing the attempt upon the city was of necessity aljandoned. The army regarded Yenables as an inefficient com- mander, and with even greater justice Yenables regarded his troops as a disorganised rabble. Adju- Q-^^l^f' tant-General Jackson, a man of low character, prone punished. to vicious indulgences, who had been the first to fly, was cashiered and sent to the hospital ship to swab the decks for the wounded. Other officers were also broken. Their disgrace could not restore discipline amongst the unruly mob which had followed them in flight. Bad as was the character of many of the men brought from England, that of the West Indian levies was even worse. It was to no purpose that Penn offered the assistance of the fleet, and actually ren- dered every service in his power. The spirits of the men had fallen too low for further exertion. In their flight they had thrown away their arms, and even the provisions they carried. On their return to the Jaina, as a party of 1,500 had thrown themselves on their faces to drink of the stream, the appearance of two of their own negro attendants scared them into the belief that the enemy was upon them. Numbers took to flight, and others leapt into the water, three being drowned before they could be rescued. On the 28th three of the commissioners — Penn, Apr. 28. Winslow, and Butler — acknowledged that every SsloMrs single officer was of o]:)inion ' that these people will j^e^dge'tiie never be brought to march up to that place again.' J^J ^'''P'^- ;66 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. 1655 May 4. Hispaniola abandoned. May II. The fleet at Jamaica. May 12. Santiago de la Vega occupied. May 13. Terms offered, In consequence of this conviction it was resolved to try whether an attempt upon Jamaica might be more successful. It was, however, difficult to keep order amongst the men till the fleet was able to receive them. By their fevered imaginations the noise made by the land-crabs as they moved down towards the shore was taken as the rattling of the bandoliers of a hostile army, whilst parties sent out to forage allowed themselves to be slaughtered with impunity by the smallest groups of the enemy. The rain poured down in torrents ; hunger, too, was added to their miseries, and every horse was slaughtered for food before the island was abandoned.^ At last on May 4 the remains of the expedition embarked for Jamaica, the sagacious Winslow unfor- tunately dying on the voyage. On the nth the noble anchorage now known as Kingston Harbour was reached. Three small forts on its western side were at once battered by Penn's guns, and as soon as the troops began to land the garrisons abandoned their posts. Venables, still under the power of disease, watched the landing from on board, muffled in his cloak, with his hat slouched over his face, not deigning to cast a glance on the men to whose mis- conduct he attributed his failure.^ The next day the English occupied Santiago de la Vega — the Spanish Town of the present day — some six miles distant from the sea. The Spanish population of the island did not exceed 1,500 persons, of which 500 at the utmost were fighting men, who abandoned all thought of active resistance. The terms ofiered by Venables to these Spaniards were hard enough — ^ The Commissioners to Searle, April 28, Venables' Narrative, 30. ' According to Whistler, he looked ' as if he had been a student of physic more than like a general of an army. * THE OCCUPATION OF JAMAICA. 367 emigration within ten davs on i:)ain of death, to^'ether chap. with the forfeiture of all their property. These . _ . ... terms, however, were no more than the counterpart '^55 of those exacted from the English settlers in Pro- vidence ^ when the Spaniards made themselves masters of that island in 1 640. It was only on the lytli that they were accepted, and the Spanish ^J^Yc^^" Governor — so at least it was believed — surrendered ceptea. himself as a hostage. Before long, however, it appeared u-ick.**"'^ ' that the Spaniards had merely entered into the nego- tiation to gain time to withdraw with their families and property to the hills, and that the pretended Governor was but an old man of no repute. In the meantime the military settlers were learn- Distress ing that colonisation has its dangers as well as war. Penn sent on shore every pound of biscuit he could spare, as, though herds of cattle were pastured on the savannah, this would not meet the demand for bread. On the 19th, indeed, the two long-expected storeships arrived, but the supplies brought by them were limited, and it was resolved to appeal for assistance to New England, and meanwhile to send home the larger ships, in order to diminish the number of mouths, leaving the frigates to remain on guard, or to cruise on the look out for prizes. Penn, disgusted at the failure in Hispaniola, and on bad terms with Venables, was easily persuaded that it was his duty to return in order to report in person on the situation, and on June 25, after appointing Juae2 Goodson as his successor, he sailed for England with for^Eng- *" the homeward-bound division of his fleet. With far irfoiiowed better excuse Venables, whose life was despaired ^li^^^' of, resolved to follow his example, making over the military command to Fortescue, a capable and ^ Now Now Providence. 368 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. XLV. ~i655~ July 24. News from the West Indies. Aug. 4. A letter from Ven- ables. The Pro- tector's annoyance. Sept. 1. Arrival of Penn, devoted officer, who had acted as major-general since the death of Heane. Long before this catalogue of troubles reached the Protector the comparative failure of his great enterprise had been brought home to him. The first news of the rout before San Domingo reached him on 1 July 24. The resolution to despatch the expedition had been forced through the Council by his own i personal resolution,vand its failure, therefore, stung him more sharply than any other catastrophe of equal importance would have done. For a whole day he shut himself up in his room, brooding over the disaster for which he, more than anyone else, was responsible.^'? On August 4 a letter from Ven^* ables announced the occupation of Jamaica, -an island w;hich, to save appearances, was given out-jeitiiea:. as part of Hispaniola, r^ qt. Ipast. as st.aTjdinpr— In- thp same relation to Hispaniola as the^Isle„of . Wight.tp England.^ No attempt to show that, island for island, Jamaica was more fit than Hispaniola to be the seat of an English colony could assuage the bitterness of Cromwell's meditations. He had aimed — in opposi- tion to the common-sense of Lambert — not merely at planting one more colony in the Indies, but at making himself master of at least so much of the West India Islands and the American continent as would dominate the trade-route of the Spanish treasure-ships, and towards that end Jamaica, held — if held it could be — by a disorganised and cowardly mob, could contribute little or nothing. In such a mood Oliver was hardly likely to be ^ Merc. Pol., E, 850, 10; The WeeTcly Intelligencer, E, 851, 3; Cardenas to Philip IV., ^^^^, Stmancas MSS. 2529. V/ ^ Letter of Aug. 4, Clarke Papers, iii. 47 ; A Perfect Account, E, 51.5- TKEATMENT OF PENN AND VENABLES. 369 very complaisant to the two commanders who had chap. left the post of danger to others. On September i --^.-^ Penn arrived at Portsmouth, bringing with him a doubtful rumour that Venables was dead. On the loth, however, Venables reached Plymouth, very sept. lo. weak, but in a hopeful way of recovery, and, con- v^nrwes. tinning his voyage, notified his arrival at Portsmouth in a letter to Thurloe.^ On the 20th both com- sept.20. Fenn and manders were summoned before the Council to venaWes . . before the answer the charge of having deserted their posts, council. For Penn there was little to be said, as his presence was manifestly required at the head of the fleet re- maining in the Indies, and which, weak as it was, might yet have to play its part in the defence of the new settlement in the not improbable case of a Spanish attack. Venables, on the other hand, was guilty at the most of saving his own life at a time when hundreds of his officers and men were perishing. It was out of the question that he could have lived long enough to render efficient service in Jamaica. What Penn had to say for himself there are no venabies [> ^ ' xtiIj^t 1 questioned means 01 knowing. Venables, truly enough, repre- by the sented his own return as authorised by the officers '■°*^°*"'- serving under him. " Have you ever read," replied the Protector, " of any general that had left his army, and not commanded back ? " Venables pleaded his health as afiecting his historical memory, but after some hesitation produced the instance of the Earl of Essex of Ehzabeth's day. " A sad example ! " was Oliver's curt reply.^ In the end both he and Penn Botiicom- were committed to the Tower. There was no sent to the intention of dealing harshly with either of them, but 1 Penn to the Protector, Aug. 31, Mem. of Penn, ii. 131 ; Mabbott to Clarke, Sept. 8 ; Clarice Papers, hi. 5 1 ; Venables to Thurloe, fcept. 12, Thurloe, iv. 27. '■* Venables' Narrative, 71-88. VOL. III. BE 370 HISPANIOLA AND JAMAICA. CHAP. Oliver had made up his mind not to set them at XLV . > — r-^— liberty till they had formally acknowledged their J,^^ offences and had surrendered their commissions. Oct. 25. , . Liberation Peuu complicd With thcsc couditious on October 2K. of Penn, ^ ^ Oct. 31. Venables, who was far less to blame, held out longer, venabies. and did not pass the prison gates till the 3ist.^ Conduct of Turning to the larger question of responsibility for the failure at Hispaniola, there is little to be said against Penn. He may have been to some extent jealous of his colleague, and he seems to have taken care that in the distribution of provisions the sailors should have a preference over the soldiers. After the final retreat, too, he, not unnaturally, expressed his contempt for the poltroons on shore, and that, too, not merely in words, but also by slackness in supply- ing the provisions of which they were in urgent need. In the actual conduct of the forces confided to him he was without reproach, ready, so long as hope was left, to aid and support the military forces to the and of utmost of his powcr. It is more difficult to cha- venabies. j-^cterise the behaviour of Venables, because the extreme physical weakness to which he was reduced leaves little opportunity of judging what energy he might have shown if his state of health had been other than it was. Yet, so far as it is possible to form an opinion, there appears to be no reason to object to the view which would relegate him to a place in that numerous body of officers who make excellent sub- ordinates, but display their inefficiency in supreme command. The fault [ It is thc Icss ucccssary to pursue this subject mainly tlia «, , .., t^ r- •^ 'Jl Protec- I further as the principal cause 01 lailure must evidently tor's, ^ Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, pp. 296, 345, 353 ; Mabbott to Clarke, Sept. 22, Clarke Papers, iii, 52 ; Thurloe to H. Cromwell, Sept. 25, Thurloe, iv. 55 ; Penn's Petition Oct. 25, S.P. Dom. ci. 76. CAUSES OF THE DISASTER. 37 1 be souglit elsewhere than in the misconduct of the chap. commanders. It was not, indeed, to be expected of - — ,— ' the Protector, overwhelmed as he was with political ^ ^^ and administrative anxieties, that he should have a,pplied himself — as he would have applied himself twelve years earlier, when he was a simple colonel of a cavalry regiment — to the details of service ; that he should, for instance, have inquired into the pro- vision of longer shafts for the pikes, or of leather bottles for the carrying of water. But — in all proba- bility from sheer ignorance of tropical conditions — he had sent forth an army to establish England's supre- macy in the Indies which, in the military sense, was no army at all. He had been told of the weakness of the Spaniards, and had a sincere conviction that he had Providence to friend. Of the war against the burning sun and of the waterless roots of the hills he had no conception. It was said, probably with truth, that out of the 9,000 who landed in Hispaniola there were but i ,000 old soldiers ; ^ the rest were the re- jected of English regiments or, still worse, the off- scourings of the West Indian colonies, not one of whom had seen service in any shape or form. Oliver, as ever, trusted in God. For once in his life he had forgotten to keep his powder dry.<»~A^/^ ^4i^:-*^^ '•J[/>i yrk/-' li*^' ^ Venables' Narrative, p. 44. B B 2 372 CHAPTEE XLYI. THE BEEACH AYITH SPAIN. CHAP. XLVI. 1654 Oct. 8. Blake sails for the Mediter- ranean. Aug. 5. The Pro- tector writes to Philip IV. Great as was the indignation of the Spanish Govern- ment at the proceedings of Penn and Venables in the Indies, that aroused by Blake's action on the coast of Spain could have been no less. The attack on Jamaica was but an act of war committed without previous announcement ; whilst Blake's hostility was but thinly veiled under the mask of friendship. All that can be said on the part of the Protector is that when he sent forth his two fleets he was still under the extraordinary delusion that he would be allowed to fight Spain in America whilst remaining at peace with her in Europe. At all events, at the time of Blake's final putting to sea on October 8, 1654,^ more than two months before Penn's departure, England and Spain had a common enemy in Prance, so far as maritime captures were concerned, and for some time to come it would be to the interest of Spain to give comfort and support to Blake, whose first object was the ruin of French commerce in the Medi- terranean. On this basis Oliver had on August 5 despatched a letter in advance to the King of Spain, requesting him to receive Blake as the admiral of a State in amity with himself.* How useful to Spain ^ Blake sailed originally for Plymouth on Sept. 29, but Avas driven back by a storm. Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 1431, foil. 7-10. 2 The Protector to Philip IV., Aug. 5, 1654, Gidzot, ii. 486. BLAKE AND THE SPANIARDS. ^y T, 1654 was the appearance of the Enghsh fleet in the Medi- yVvi" terranean at that conjuncture may be gathered from ■ — the fact that the Duke of Guise was preparing to sail from Toulon at the head of an expedition of Guise's designed for the conquest of Naples, and that Blake '^^^l °'' was ordered to frustrate that undertaking by attack- instruc- ing and ruining his fleet.^ Having this object in *'"'"**■ view, Blake natui-ally met with the most friendly reception in the Spanish ports. ^ If his design was ' Blake's instructions are not known to exist, with the exception of one of July 22, 1654, relating solely to his mission to Algiers, of which a copy, misdated 1656, and so calendared by Mrs. Everett Green, occurs in Entry Book, Charles II., No. iv. p. 17. I suspect that it was originally intended to send him merely to Algiers, which would account for the language reported by Sagredo. See infra, p. 448. Blake's employment against the Duke of Guise, which was probably .an afterthought, is mentioned in a letter of Mazarin to Bor- .deaux of ^^°' *^, Thurloc, iii. 41. Cardenas, too, in his despatch of j^^' ^ ", speaks of Blake's instructions to fight the Duke as well known. Simancas MSS. 2529. Compare an extract from a letter from the secretary of the Grand Duke of Tuscany published by Mr. Whitwell in the Hist. Bev. (July 1899, xiv. 536). - According to Burnet {Hist, of His Oivn Time, i. 80), Blake had an altercation with the Spanish Governor of Malaga about an English sailor who had insulted the Sacrament, telling him that ' an Englishman was only to be punished by an Englishman.' The account given by Weale shows that the fleet arrived in Malaga Road about six in the evening of the 22nd, and left at noon on the following day. It may, therefore, be taken for granted that no shore-going was allowed during so short a stay ; and Weale himself certainly remained on board, as is shown by his description of the general appearance only of the town. Shane MSS. 1431, fol. 14. Weale's account of his landing at Alicante shows the footing on wliich the English were with the Spaniards : " This day went Mr. Wliitchote, Mr. Eades and myself, and several of our officers ashore, this being a very great holiday amongst them. We saw their processioning, and were very courteously entertained by an English Father ; his name is Thomas, a Jesuit amongst them. We did eat with them pomegranates and prepared quinces in abundance, and he gave us some at our coming away or departure." Weale, however, made his own comments : " It would have melted a lieart of stone to have seen how the poor people went after and followed their deceivers, ravening wolves, anti-Christians ; how they were obedient to all their follies ; how they sang and played 174 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XLVI. 1654 Dec. 12. His arrival at Naples. Dec. 21. Blake at Leghorn. A Genoese intrigue. not carried out, it was simply because on his arrival at Naples he found that the Duke had abandoned his- attempt, and had returned discomfited to Toulon.^ Before undertaking further enterprises Blake was- compelled to provision his ships, and he therefore sailed with the greater part of his fleet to Leghorn, which he reached on December 21.^ He was there hospitably received, though forbidden for some days- to hold communication with the shore ^ — a prohi- bition due to his having brought in two French prizes which had taken on board their lading at infected ports. The Grand Duke must have been the more satisfied with Blake's friendly bearing as he was aware that the Genoese had been urging the Protector to transfer the trade of his countrymen from that port to Genoa. It was true that some dissatisfaction had been caused in London by the sale at Leghorn of some prize goods captured by Prince Eupert from an English trader, and by the measures of retaliation taken by the Tuscan authorities in the time of the Dutch war, when the ' Phoenix ' was recaptured by English sailors within the Mole of Leghorn. Oliver, however, though outwardly cour- in public places, and carried about their Virgin Mary through their town. The Chvirchmen and their friars did look like buU beef on us." lb. fol. 14b. The last expression must mean that they looked as if they would like to eat them. '^ A Letter of Intelligence, Dec. x*V '■> Longland to Thurloe, Dec. ^^g. Boreel to the States General, Jan. J§, Thurloe, iii. lo, 12, 102. 2 "VVeale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 1431, fol. 17b. " Blake to the Commissioners of the Admiralty, Jan. 15, Add. MSS, 9304, fol. 99. On the legend of Blake's exaction of money from the Grand Duke, and its probable origin in a diplomatic invention of the Genoese, see Hist. Bev. (Jan. 1899), xiv. 109. Even in the absence of the testimony there cited the truth would appear in the expression of the Tuscan secretary that the English fleet was in the port of Leghorn ' con i soliti termini di buona corrispondenza con S. A.' Extract from Gondi's letter to Banducci, Jan. J§, ib. xiv. 536. BLAKE AT LEGHORN. 375 teous to Ugo Fiesco, the Genoese ambassador who chap. had been sent to make the proposal, refused, after ~_ — r—^ consulting the merchants, to countenance it in any ■way, though the Genoese had done their utmost to stir up ill-will in London by spreading the false news that English vessels were no longer safe in the port of the Grand Duke.' The truth was that the relations J^^^l"^ between the two Governments were on so friendly a f^gp^rTtec- footing that, a few days before Blake sailed from g^^^^'f ^® Plymouth, the Master of the Ceremonies called on Duke. Salvetti, the Grand Duke's minister in London, re- questing in the name of the Lady Protectress that his master would send her his own portrait, together with those of the Grand Duchess and his young son, that she might add them to her collection.^ Not only was this complied with, but a present of a cask of the choicest wine of Tuscany accompanied the ^ The despatches of Ugo Fiesco, pubhshed by Signor Prager in Atti dclla Societa Ligure (xvi. 209-281) should be compared with Salvetti's information, from which extracts are given in the Hist. Bev. (Jan. 1899, xiv. 1 10). That the story of Blake's exactions was of Genoese origin appears from the way in which it is mentioned in the newspapers : *' From Genoa we hear that General Blake is about Leghorn, where, it is said, he doth expect some satisfaction from the Great Duke of Tus- cany for the losses which the English have received before that port some few years since." A Perfect Account, E, 826, 15. In another newspaper we have as news from Genoa : " General Blake is still at Leghorn, from whence, it is said, he will not depart till he has received 1 50,000 crowns that the Great Duke of Tuscany is to pay for the damages done heretofore to the English ships within his port. Yet this is not believed." Merc. Pol. E, 826, 16. The last-mentioned newspaper, being a Government organ, was doubtless better informed than its contemporary, and added the note of warning at the end. " Da che," wrote Salvetti, " si vede assai chiaramente i buoni ufifizii che vengono fatti dai Genovesi per rovinare il porto di Livorno . • . ma io spero che non sia per riuscirgli ; non ostante che questo lor ministro facci qui quanto puol mai per ottenere il suo intento fino ad offerire di prestare qud grossa somma di denari." Salvetti to Gondi, Feb. ^^^» 1655, Add. MSS. 27,962 0, fol. 382. - Salvetti to Gondi, Oct. ^\, 1654, ib. fol. 324b. 3/6 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. 1655. A request to build a chui'ch at Leghorn refused. Blake's next ob- ject. English captives of the Bar- bary pirates. 1646. Casson's treaty with Algiers. portraits, a present which was received with gratifi- cation, though, in consequence of the dehcacy of its flavour, the wine was ruined by the sea voyage, and proved undrinkable.^ One request, indeed, made not by Blake, but by Longland, the agent of the Levant Company at Leghorn, met with a refusal. Asking — doubtless by the Protector's orders — for permission to erect a Protestant church at that port, he was told that the Grand Duke would take the matter into consideration whenever a similar demand was con- ceded in other parts of Italy.^ Having thus knitted firmly the good relations which, but for a passing cloud, had long existed be- tween England and Tuscany, Blake found himself at leisure to fulfil another point of his instructions ^ which bound him to do his utmost to compass the liberation of Englishmen held in captivity by the Barbary pirates. The condition of these unfortunate prisoners, kept in slavery in Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Sallee, had long called out sympathy in England, and in 1646 Edmund Casson had been sent out to the Mediterranean to negotiate for their liberty. At Algiers he was so far successful that he procured a treaty with the Dey assuring freedom of trade to English merchants, and an engagement that no Englishmen should in future be condemned to slavery. The treaty, indeed, would not affect the lot of the 650 English slaves captured before the date of its signature, but Casson was permitted to ransom ^ The history of these presents may be traced through Salvetti's despatches of 1655. ^ Longland to Thurloe, p^f, Thurloe, iv. 464. This letter is wrongly placed amongst those of 165! . ^ See supra, p. 373, note i. No doubt the instructions there referred to, which only relate to Algiers, were afterwards enlarged so as to include the other Barbary ports. ALGIERS AND TUNIS. ^^-J some 240 of them with the consent of their masters, CHAr. and it was only lack of means which prevented his ,_^. '^ bargaining for the remainder. From that time, ^^^ though it is impossible to affirm that no English slaves were surreptitiously landed, the Algerines are at least known to have set free some which had been brought in by their ships. It is not im- probable that similar treaties were concludeii at Tunis and Tripoli, but we have no certain informa- tion on the subject.^ Unfortunately, if any understanding had been arrived at with Tunis, it was brought to an end by the villainy of an English sailor. In 1651 a certain 1651. Mitchell, having engaged to carry thirty-two Turks o/stepLn on board his ship to Smyrna, had scarcely left Tunis when, falling in with some galleys of the Knights of Malta, he sold his helpless passengers to their most deadly enemies, who sent them to tug at the oar in their galleys. Intelligence of Mitchell's conduct had indigna- no sooner reached Tunis than the whole city was Tunis. Stirred with weU-merited indignation. The English The^Eng- Consul, Boothouse, was thrown into prison, whilst imp^^"''" his countrymen went about in fear of their lives. ^ ^°°^^' Luckily for him, Penn's fleet, which was at that time cruising in the Mediterranean,^ made its appearance in Tunisian waters, and obtained leave to remove him, ^ A copy of Casson's treaty, with additions subsequently made by Blake, is in S. P. Barbary States — Algiers, ii. fol. 252. Compare A Relation of the Whole Proceedings concerning the Redemption of the Captives of Algiers and Tv/nis, 1647, B.M. press-mark, 1432, i. 4. In a letter of Nov. 16, 1646, Casson writes of ' the business to be acted at Tunis,' and of sending the Parliament's letters to the consul and merchants there. It is therefore to be presumed that he carried on negotiations there, but this is all that can be said. - Boothouse's complaint of his treatment at Tvinis was heard in the Council on July 27, 1654. Council Order Book, Interr. 1, 75, p. 454. * See Vol. i. 349. 378 THE BEEACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, on condition that he would do his utmost to procure . — ,-L. the redemption of the kidnapped Turks. Boothouse ^^^^ scraped together about 2,500^. and made his way to butaUowe'd Malta, where he was baffled by the refusal of the Mfita.° Knights to liberate their slaves for less than 10,000?. Inflamed with anger at this failure to restore to freedom the men who were suffering through the violation of an Englishman's word, the Dey, not un- naturally, took his revenge by suffering his cruisers to bring in Englishmen as captives wherever they could light upon them.^ ^^^^■^ Accordingly Tunis was the object to which Blake aims Blakc's attention was first directed. Neither he nor at Turns. , -r-» . i the Protector appears to have taken into account the irritation which the wrong done by Mitchell had aroused. It was enough for them that Englishmen were held in slavery. Tunis itself, however, was unassailable by sea so long as the Fort of Goletta remained untaken,^ it being placed astride on the narrow channel forming the only entrance into the basin at the extremity of which the city stands. Feb. 8. When, therefore, on February 8, Blake, with eighteen in^Tunir"^^ of Ms ships, arrivcd in Tunis Eoad, his object was ^°^' merely to open negotiations with the Dey for the release of some sailors who had been captured in an English vessel named the 'Princess.' Finding him Feb. 13. obdurate, Blake passed on to Porto Farina, where so Porto much of the ancient harbour of Utica as had not yet been silted up sheltered nine of the Dey's men-of- war. These ships, as could be perceived from the sea, lay close inshore under the protection of a strong fort, whilst additional batteries were being thrown ^ Boothouse's Narrative, fif.P. Tunis. Penn in his Journal men- tions taking him on board on June 29, Mem. of Penn, i. 346. ' See map at p. 380. Farina. BLAKE'S MOVEMENTS. 379 up and guns carried on board. A considerable body chap. of troops had also been brought to the place, in — ^-L. expectation that the English admiral would land ^ ^^ troops in support of his naval operations. Blake, however, had no such intention, and an imme- diate attempt on the ships seems to have been considered out of the question, perhaps in conse- quence of the direction of the wind. On the 22nd Feb. 22. a council of war decided that before making the tion to pro- attack the bulk of the fleet should be temporarily AeeTbefore withdrawn to provision itself at a Spanish port, the ^""^^ '"^' beef which had been brought from England proving defective, and the stock of bread and liquor having fallen very low. On the following morning, there- fore, Blake sailed for Cagliari, in the island of Sardinia, leaving eight frigates behind to blockade the Gulf of Tunis.i It was not till March 18 that Blake was once Mar. is. more in Tunis Eoad, where he made yet another agahToff attempt to induce the Dey to yield. Finding him still ^'^'''^• impracticable, the Admiral made sail for Trapani, Mar. 23. X16 sSiils for near the western extremity of Sicily, to take in water, Trapani. hoping also to disguise by his departure his intention to attack the ships in Porto Farina.^ There he re- mained till March 31. On April 2 a council of war, held M:ar. 31. as the fleet was beating up against a south-westerly for Porto gale,^ resolved to enter Porto Farina as soon as the wind was favourable. On the 3rd Blake cast anchor and in the Eoads outside that harbour, which was at that the Roads. ^ Blake to Thurloe, March 14, Thurloe, iii. 232 ; Blake to the Admiralty Commissioners, March 14, Add. MSS. 9304, fol. 103 ; Weale's Journal, Shane MSS. 143 1, fol. 2ob-22b. ^ Blake to Thurloe, April 18, Thurloe, iii. 390. * One would think that, unless the violence of the gale was exag- gerated, the captains must have come on board before leaving Trapani. PORTO FARINA. 38 1 time a fairly wide-mouthed bay.^ At daybreak on chap. XLVI. ^ Porto Farina, as laid down in the charts of the present day, is a ' "7 /^ shallow lagoon with an entrance so narrow that Blake could never have escaped from the trap when the action was over without a change of wind, unless the enemy had been utterly disabled. Moreover, it is inconceivable that the Turks, having so many weeks in which to make their preparations, would not have raised batteries at the entrance after the fashion of Goletta. There was, however, as late as 1729 an older coast-line, which was very dififerent from the one given in our present charts. This is shown bj' a map published in Shaw's Travels, which were pubHshed in 1738, but which, as it was founded on his own observations taken in 1729, must be held to refer to that date {Sloane MSS. 3986, foil. 54, 55). His description of the locality, contained in a letter written by him on Oct. 10, 1729 (ib. fol. 56), is as follows: "A few miles within Cape Zibeeb," a point to the west of Cape Farina, " is Port Farina. The village, at present, is of small repute, but the port is a beautiful basin, safe in all accidents of weather, and where the Tunisians keep their small navy. Before the port is a large pond formed by the Medjerda, which discharges itself here into the sea. ... As the shore is all along very shallow, and as the mud brought down by the Medjerda is always in great abundance, there seems to be nothing extraordinary why this river might not have shifted itself in time from one channel to another, till at last it retired to where it now is, and where those winds," i.e. the N.E. winds, " caji give it no disturbance. Yet, even now, under this position, there is reason to beheve that in a few years only it will be obliged to look out for another channel ; for the pond or anti-harbour spoken of above, which was formerly an open bay or creek of the sea, till the Medjerda by degrees circumscribed those limits, is now almost filled up by the mud lodged there continually by the river ; and the bar or mouth of it, which would likewise some years ago admit of vessels of the greatest burden, and a great number at the same time, is now so shallow and narrow that one vessel only of a hundred tons runs a great risk in entering it, and the cruisers of thirty or forty guns discharge aU their lumber, guns and ballast while they lie at anchor without." I suppose there can be little doubt that the basin described by Shaw is the port within the moles, and the pond the existing harbour, though not then in its present form. I also notice that it was in Shaw's time difficult of approach on account of the narrowness of the entry. Shaw, however, speaks of a bar, not of points of land approaching one another, and though his language is ambiguous, I am inclined to interpret his description as implying two banks approaching one another, but both still under water. This, however, is of little importance for my purpose, as Shaw states that ' vessels of the greatest burden, and a great number at the same time,' could enter ' some years ago,' and therefore at the time of Blake's attack. The map on 382 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, the 4th, favoured by a light westerly breeze,^ he XL VI. jjiade his way inside with fifteen sail to attack the ^^55 enemy's nine ships, lying inside two moles, on which ThJ*attock battcries had been placed, in support of those in the Farina.*'* large fort. Favoured by the sea breeze, which blew the smoke of the Tunisian guns into the faces of the gunners, he easily overpowered the batteries on the moles, and after a longer time also silenced those in the fort. In the meanwhile, the enemy being thus occupied, boats were despatched to set the Tunisian ships on fire. This object having been successfully accomplished, the English fleet had merely to fire an occasional shot into the burning mass in order to keep in check any attempt of the enemy to extinguish the flames. When all was over Blake's ships were warped out of the harbour, as the wind, continuing in the same quarter, did not permit the fleet to make its way back to the Eoads under sail. Its loss was found to be no more than twenty-five killed and forty wounded, most of whom had been struck down by small shot aimed at the men in the boats. ^ page 380 is founded on Shaw's map, though the moles have been added from a plan dated 1756 in Add. MSS. 13,959, No. 80. There is also a drawing of Porto Farina, dated 1777, in the British Museum, anarked K. 117 (66). ^ This is implied by Weale's statements that on the morning of the 3rd they had ' an indifferent fair gale ' on the way from Trapani, and that the fleet warped out after the action on the 4th. Blake, too, in the letter cited in the last note speaks of having ' a gentle gale off the sea.' ' Blak© to Thurloe, April 14, Thurloe, iii. 390 ; Letters from the Fleet, April 9, 18, Perfect Diurnal E, 840, 1 1 ; Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 1431, fol. 26. Weale distinctly speaks of the fleet as warping out. Blake's statement is that ' the same favourable gale continuing, we retreated out again into the Road.' He can only have intended to refer to the lightness of the wind, not to its direction, as the wind was, by his own account, off the sea at the time of his entrance. He contrasts it with the stormy weather mentioned afterwards as following. A NAVAL SUCCESS. 0"v3 ment. The design, evidently planned with care, had been chap. executed with a precision which left nothing to be . ^^,^^' desired. Students of naval history may look upon ^^55 the achievement as a rehearsal of the destruction, acWeve- two years later, of the Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz, and may count it as the first successful attempt to overpower shore batteries by the guns of a fleet.^ No doubt, at Porto Farina as at Santa Cruz, failure to silence the enemy's guns would have been at- tended by mischievous, and probably by disastrous, consequences. It is the incommunicable attribute of genius not to be the slave of theoretical rules, but to judge how far they are applicable to each case as it arises. The superior gunnery of English ships ' and the superior discipline of their crews gave Blake his chance, and of that chance he was not slow to avail himself. Within a few days after he had brought off his ships from a complete victory Penn and Venables were approaching the coast of Hispaniola to meet as complete a failure. If we are tempted to draw a contrast between the two enter- prises, it is at least well to remember that Blake's task, hard as it was, was at least the easier of the two. He had undivided command over his own force, and he was not hampered by military con- siderations. He was placed at the head of a purely naval force, and in his hands a purely naval success, which left nothing more to be accomplished from a naval point of view, was the result. Unfortunately, the object of Blake's presence in ^ Fort Puntal was attacked by Wimbledon's guns in 1625, but it only surrendered to a land force. '■* Blake was able to estimate the weakness of the gunnery opposed to him, as he had seen a good deal of it when he was last off Porto Farina, many shot having been then fired at his ships without any appreciable result. 384 THE BKEACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, these waters was unattainable without the assistance -_ — ,— L- of a strong military force. On his reappearance ' .^^ before Tunis the Dey stiffly refused to make the procure Icast conccssiou. The destroyed ships he alleged the slaves to bc thc property of the Sultan, and it was with the Sultan that Blake would have to reckon. If the English Admiral wished to negotiate, let him come ashore.^ Blake knew better than to trust himself in such a trap, and as he also knew that his guns would not carry far enough to reach any part of Tunis, there was nothing for it but to return to Cagliari, though he had not procured the liberty of a single captive.^ If Blake was led to express himself in apologetic language in his report to Thurloe, hoping that the Protector would not be offended at what had been done, ' though he expected to hear of many complaints and clamours of interested men,' — ^he was certainly influenced not merely by a supposed defect in his instructions, to which he had pointed in an earlier letter, but also by the knowledge that trade with Tunis, which had hitherto been carried on in spite of the captures made by Tunisian free- booters,^ was likely to be brought to an end in consequence of the blow that he had struck.^ Nor 1 The Dey to Blake [April 7], Merc. Pol, E, 841, 3. ^ Blake to Thurloe, March 14, April 18, Thurloe, iii. 232,390. ' Weale's Journal shows that at the time of Blake's first arrival off Tunis an English ship was lying in the harbour, Sloane MSS. 1431, fol. 21. Blake, too, in his despatch of April 18, mentions sending a, letter to Constantinople by ' the •' Merchant's Delight" of London, which was then, by Providence, in the road of Goletta.' I do not know why some vessels were captiired by the Tunisians and others not. Can it have been that only those bound for Tunis were spared ? * The best comment on this is to be found in the following informa- tion from London after the story of Blake's action was known there : " II danno che 1' Ammiraglio Blake ha fatto ai Turchi di Tunis ha messo questi mercanti di Levante in grande apprehensione d' avere a suffrire gran perdite in quelle parti, come anche rovinare afifatto il lor A TREATY WITH ALGIERS. 385 was the trouble predicted by the Dey as likely to chap. arise in Constantinople by any means imaginary. In ..^ — , — '^ London, at least, credit was for some time given to ^ 55 a rumour that the English ambassador in that city, Reported O >' ' massacre Sir Thomas Bendish, had been put to death, together at con- ■■- 1 stanti- with all Englishmen on whom the Sultan was able nopie. to lay his hands, and that the massacre had been followed by a general confiscation of English pro- perty. In time, however, it was discovered that the report was without foundation, and that the Sultan had no inclination to take up the quarrels of a vassal so independent as the Dey of Tunis. ^ After once more replenishing his stores at Cagliari Biake ^°" Blake made for Algiers.- The Dey of that place, ^^-g^ whose fortifications lay within reach of the English Apr. 28. guns, and who had no offence received from English anchors off sailors to avenge, accorded him a most friendly ^'^''^' reception. Since Casson's treaty ^ he had remained on fairly good terms with such English merchants as had visited his dominions, and had recently agreed to the ransom of a considerable number of English captives in the hands of his subjects. Blake's arrival quickened his good resolutions, and on May 2 caYson's" Casson's treaty was renewed, with two additional ng^^g^""^' clauses, of which the first extended protection to in- habitants of Scotland and Ireland, whilst the second declared that the agreement was not intended to cover the cases of Englishmen serving for wages on board foreign vessels.^ After this numerous captives were ran^somTa. gran commercio che hanno in quelle parti, come al eerto seguirebbe mentre detto Ammiraglio Blake continuasse a minacciare quei barbari." Salvetti's Newsletter, f„^^', Add. MSB. 27,962 O, 432b. ^ Salvetti's Neivsletter, July ^^, ih. 455b. ^ Weale's Journal, Sloane M8S. 1431, fol. 26b-28. ^ See supra, p. 376. * Treaty, May 2, 8.P. Algiers. Nieupoort, in his despatch of ^J'^lf , mentions a subsequent treaty with Tripoli. It is, however, certain VOL. III. CC 386 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, given over to Blake upon payment of their value. >^J_^__1^ A difficulty occurred when forty Dutch slaves made ^^55 their escape from their masters and swam out to the fleet, as Blake had no money to buy the freedom of any who were not his fellow-countrymen. It was got The sailors ovcr bv the offer of his sailors to subscribe a dollar subscribe . '' to free apiccc for the freedom of these venturous Dutchmen. Dutch ^ fugitives. The tender was thankfully accepted by the Algerine masters, who may have thought it improbable that they would regain their living property, and the amount, at the motion of the sailors themselves, was deducted from their pay after their return to England.^ Blake sup- Hitlicrto, wheucvcr a chance offered, Blake's ships Spain. had picked up French prizes, whilst the assistance which he received from the Spanish authorities at Trapani and Cagliari had alone rendered his enter- 1654. prise feasible. All through the winter the attitude The Pro- maintained by the Protector in his relations with attiSe. the ambassadors of the two countries had failed to show even an appearance of friendliness towards France, either because he wished to drive as hard a bargain as possible with Mazarin, or because, in spite of his knowledge of the intentions with which he had sent forth Penn and Venables, he was slow to realise the inevitable result of their attack on the Spanish islands in the Indies, and no less slow to accept the alliance of a Power which he believed to be ill-disposed towards the Huguenots, and which, if it succeeded in wresting Flanders from Spain, would occupy ports threatening English commerce. " Oh," from Weale's Jovirnal that Blake did not go near that place. As Nieupoort writes of the escape of the Dutch slaves as having occurred at Tripoli, it may be taken that he was really thinking of the treaty with Algiers. ^ Longland to Thurloe, June ^^g, Thurloe, iu. 526; Blake to the Admiralty Commissioners, Oct. 2, S.P. Dom. ci. 2. CARDEJSAS AND BORDEAUX. 387 lie had said to Stouppe in December, " if there were chap. but means to bring the Prince " of Conde " over to __^^Z^ our rehgion, it would be the greatest blessing that ^^54 XXG WlsllGS could befall our Churches. I hold him to be the conde greatest captain, not merely in our own age, but in Protestant. many ages past. It is unfortunate that he should have engaged himself to those who seldom keep their promises." ^ Evidently, if he could have had his way, Oliver would have been as ready to take up arms against France as against Spain. Distrust of the French Government, however, did not imply any confidence in Spain. It was hardly possible that it should. Cardenas at that time was doing his utmost Cardenas 1 f -r» ? 1 • • TT gams no in- to worm out the secret 01 renn s destmation. He formation complained to his master that none of the confidants Penn's from whom he usually derived his information had ^ ^^^ ' been allowed to participate in the secret. All he could say was that there were rumours abroad that Penn was to sail in the direction, as some said, of Eochelle, or, as others said, of Madagascar. Eeports of his object being either Cuba or Hispaniola, how- ever, gained consistency as time went on.^ An attempt to put a direct question to Oliver himself was naturally repelled. The ambassador could obtain no other answer from the Protector than that it was unheard-of for the minister of a foreign State to expect information on the secret designs of the Government to which he was accredited.^ However dissatisfied Cardenas may have been, the complaints of Bordeaux were pitched in as high ^ Barriere to Conde, Dec. ^f , Chantilly Transcripts, Add. M8S. 35,252, fol. 227. "^ Cardenas to Philip IV., Dec. J|, Simancas MSS. 2529. ^ Bonde to Charles X., Oct. 19, 1655, Stockholm Transcripts. The story was told by Cardenas to Bonde, showing that he had no charge to bring against Oliver for having verbally deceived him. cc2 388 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. 1654 Oliver will not aban- don hia claim to defend the Hugue- nots. 1655. Bordeaux often asks for his passports. Oliver hopes to bring Mazarin to reason. •1654. Feb. 17. Sedgwick's commis- sion. a key. All through the winter and the early spring" his negotiation dragged on. It was in vain that he announced that Mazarin was prepared to expel the Stuarts from France on condition of the expulsion from England of the agents of Conde and the city of Bordeaux ; and that he would also consent to a mutual engagement between the two Governments to give no assistance to one another's enemies or rebels. Against this last condition Oliver took his stand. Never, he said, would he sign away his right to help the Huguenots against their Government if at any time their persecution should be renewed. Bordeaux was powerless to alter his resolution. Week after week he had to report that he had made no progress ; and though he attempted to emphasise his own determination by demanding his passports, he repeated the request so frequently, without acting upon it, that he merely displayed his reluctance to break off his negotiation.^ There can be little doubt that Oliver trusted to the blows he was striking at French commerce to bring Mazarin to what he conceived to be reason ; and amongst those blows must be counted one which had been struck in North America in the course of 1654. On February 17 in that year, at a time when the Dutch Government was still resisting the English demand for the disqualification of the Prince of Orange from office, the Protector had commissioned Major Sedgwick to invite the New England colonies to raise a force for the conquest of the Dutch settle- ment of New Amsterdam, now known to the world as the city of New York. Sedgwick had done no ^ The despatches of Bordeaux for the first four months of 1655 should be compared with those of the Dutch ambassador in De Witt's Brieven, iii. 5-61. SEIZUKE OF ACADIAN FORTS. 389 more than make preparations for the execution of his chap. orders when the news that peace had been concluded ^ — L. with the Dutch reached America. His commission, ^ ^^ however, included what at that time was the usual clause empowering him to make reprisals on the French.^ The New Engianders were accordingly glad to take the opportunity of serving under him in order to settle in their own favour a dispute about the border-line between their own settlements and the French colony of Acadia, which at that time included not merely the later Nova Scotia, but also the coasts of the present New Brunswick and Maine. With „ .July- , -■■ ^ _ ^ Seizure of this object in view Sedgwick was so well supported three forts that he was able to possess himself of the -three forts held by the French in Acadia, and was consequently received by the colonists on his return with the warmest manifestations of their gratitude. The Protectorate revealing itself in such a guise had no warmer supporters than in New England, where it was accepted as a working of Divine Providence.^ When the news reached England in October, Bor- Oct. The Pro- deaux found to his sorrow that the Protector showed tector wui c ' , , • , 1 1 • • not hear of no signs 01 an intention to surrender nis new acqui- restoring sition, and though for some months he lost no oppor- *^®"^" tunity of pressing his claim for its restoration, he was forced to acknowledge that he had little prospect of success.^ If Bordeaux continued to believe that, so far 1655- . T . T . n 1 • Bordeaux as his mam object was concerned, time was lighting thinks that , . . , . , ,• time is on on his Side, it was because he suspected that the his side. ^ Sedgwick to the Protector, July i, 1654, TJmrloe, ii. 418. The commission, however, seems only to have given him leave to seize French ships, not to attack French settlements. Leverett to the Pro- tector, July 4, ib. ii, 425. 2 Leverett to the Protector, Sept. 5, ib. ii. 583. ■' Bordeaux to Brienne, Oct. Jf, "^1^^^, French Transcripts, B.O. 390 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. April. Oliver still hesitates. May II. Lede re- fuses to give way on the Indies and the Inqui- sition. Protector would ultimately be driven into war with Spain. Suspicion must have been changed into certainty when, towards the end of March, news reached London of Penn's arrival at Barbados,^ and when, about the same time, the Protector warned the merchants trading with Spain not to embark their capital too deeply in that treacherous country, a warning which was repeated in the course of the following month. 2 Yet it is doubtful whether even at this late hour Oliver had positively determined to break with Spain. It was known that a Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Lede,^ was on his way towards England, nominally with a message of com- pliment, but in reality in the hope of renewing the good understanding which had formerly prevailed between the two countries. It is probable that before finally making up his mind Oliver wished to hear what the Marquis had to say, in the hope that Spain might be prepared at last to give way on the two main points in dispute. On May ii, when Lede announced distinctly that, whatever else might be conceded, his master would never give way either on the Inquisition or the Indies, all hesitation was at an end. The ambassador in vain engaged that his master's troops would join the English forces in re- covering Calais, on condition that Oliver would join the Spaniards in recovering Bordeaux for Conde.'^ ^ Salvetti's Newsletter, ~~j' ^^^- ^^^- 27,962 O, fol. 410b. 2 Bordeaux to Mazarin, ^2~lf, April i^, French Transcripts, B.O. ^ Bordeaux gives his name as Leyde, and the mistake has been foUow^ed by Guizot and later writers. The family name of the Marquis was Bette. See Gobelinus, Preuves de la Madson de Bette. Lede is in East Flanders, near Alost. ^ Papel presentado al Ser™° Protector, May l\. It is published in Bemarques sur la reddition de Dunkerque (ascribed to Hugues de Lionne), p. 5. tector's answer to FAILUEE OF LEDE'S MISSION. , 39 1 The French ambassador was at once informed that chap. the commissioners appointed to treat with him were ^ — ,_J_. ordered to draw up a treaty with France. " I have ^ ^5 never," he wrote to Mazarin, "had any word so posi- Stlon^with tive before." ^ It was obviously to gain time to take beg^rSudy the measures required by this change of front that pursued. the answer to Lede's proposition was delayed ; and it was only on June 6, after a complaint from both the Tife"pro^-' Spanish ambassadors,^ that they were informed that the Protector would come to no terms with them unless ^p*^"- they were empowered to give way on the questions of the Indies and the Inquisition, and also to make cer- tain concessions to English trade in Spain, notified in a paper which had been placed in their hands about a fortnight before.^ To this Lede had no reply to give except to refer the Protector to the King of Spain ; and though, when the special ambassador took his leave on the i2th, he was dismissed with every expression of friendliness, he could discover no sign that Oliver had the slightest disposition to modify his demands.* The effects of the failure of Lede's negotiation were most strongly felt in the instructions given to Blake. Scanty as is the evidence which has reached us, it is known that about the middle of April the ^ Bordeaux to Mazarin, May H ; Bordeaux to Brienne, May J|, French Transcripts, E.O. The ambassador's first meeting with the commissioners was on the i6th; but he had expected them on Monday the 14th, so that the resolution must have been promptly taken — per- haps on Saturday the 12th, the day after Lede's audience. ^ Lede and Cardenas to the Protector, Thurloe, iii. 154. The letter is undated, but was evidently written not long before June 6. ^ The proposals on commerce are to be found in Certain Passages^ E, 840, 7. Cardenas's despatch of June ^^g, giving an account of this negotiation, is not to be found at Simancas, but its purport can be gathered from the instructions issued to him on Sept. ^^. * Cardenas to Philip IV., '^^\ Simcmcas MSS. 2570. 392 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. 1655 April. A message to Blake. April 30 ? It is con- firmed. May 23. Rupert's guns se- cured. Protector informed Blake that a supply of provisions for three months would shortly be forwarded to him — no doubt because the friendly offices of Spanish governors would not be available much longer ; and there is reason to suppose that he at the same time added instructions for him to proceed to Cadiz Bay. At all events, these instructions were repeated and confirmed on or about April 30.^ Yet, even if these instructions contained a definite order to attack the homeward-bound treasure-fleet, Blake knew too well that the prize he sought to grasp was not to be ex- pected in European waters so early in the year, and, leaving Algiers on May 10, he remained cruising off the Balearic Isles for some days before he made for the Straits. That he contemplated a breach with Spain in the near future as probable is shown by his despatching, on the 1 8th, two frigates to Cartagena to take on board the guns of Eupert's ships wrecked there in 1650, which he claimed as the property of the English Commonwealth. The request was promptly complied with, and when on the 30th the frigates rejoined Blake, who had by that time anchored off Cadiz, the Admiral found himself in possession of fifty additional pieces of ordnance.^ 1 The Protector in his letter of June 13 {Thurloe, iii. 547) speaks of two messages, one sent by sea in a ketch, and the other, which appears to have been written in confirmation of the first, by way of Leg- horn. The former is shown by this letter to have been sent oflF before April 28. The proximate date of the other is known from a letter of Lawson's of May i {S.P. Dom. cviii. 9), in which he mentions sending on a despatch for Blake by Captain Nixon. Nixon was in command of the ' Centurion,' a large ship, and so can have had nothing to do with the ketch. He must have taken the messenger to some port on the other side of the Straits, and have sent him on to Leghorn overland. ^ Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 143 1, foil. 29b-3i. Weale does not say that the guns had been Rupert's, but he treats them as belonging to the Commonwealth, and I cannot imagine that they can have been demanded on any other ground. The King of Spain had allowed the BLAKE'S INSTEUCTIONS. 393 On June 4 Blake put to sea. On the 12 th, as he chap. was lying off Cape Santa Maria on the Portuguese - — ^^- coast, he acknowledged to the Protector the receipt / ^^ of secret instructions in connrmation of earlier Biake puts ones, instructions which appear to have reached onthere- him before he left Cadiz, and must, therefore, so far secret m- T T ,T T , T -i 1 structions. as we can judge by the date, have been drawn up after May 1 1 , the day on which Lede's memorial put it out of doubt that the King of Spain had no intention of giving way on the two points at issue between himself and the Protector.^ Blake now wrote that the Plate Fleet was expected in four or five weeks, and that he intended to range the sea between the Portuguese and African coasts in the hope of intercepting it.- Lede's pronouncement on May 1 1 had thus led to definite instructions for the capture of the homeward-bound Plate Fleet, whilst his departure on June 12 led to no less definite instructions, given to Blake on the following day, to gj^lfg^to^' hinder, by the seizure of outward-bound ships, any stop sup- relief or assistance being given to the Spanish posses- west sions in the Indies. The order was accompanied by a full acknowledgment of Blake's services at Porto Farina, thus setting at rest any doubt as to their acceptance.'' A paper of instructions added on the claim put in by Blake in 1650 for the contents of the wrecks. See Vol. i. 338. That the two frigates also brought off some anchors points in the same direction. ^ The 'Amity,' which no doubt conveyed Blake's letter of the 12th, parted from the fleet on that day. She was, however, ' designed home ' on the 1st. Weale's Journal, >S7oa7ie MSS. 1 431, foil. 31b, 32b. She may not have been ready to sail ; or Blake may have wished to keep her till he could announce that he was actually on the look-out. A message sent later from England on June 14 reached Blake on July i, or in seventeen days. Blake to the Protector, July 4, Thurloe, iii. 611. - Blake to the Protector, June 12, July 4, ih. iii. 541, 611. ^ The Protector to Blake, June 13, ib. iii. 547. The letter as 394 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. 1655 Extension of the limits of war. July. Prepara- tions at Cadiz. Aug. 12. A Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent. Aug. 15-18. It avoids an engage- ment. 14th directed him to send home part of the fleet, whilst keeping his station with the remainder.^ Almost imperceptibly the war was spreading beyond the limits originally designed. The claim to defend traders in the Indies was first held to justify an English admiral in intercepting, even in European waters, supplies sent to Spain from the Indies, and then to give a right to intercept supplies sent from Spain for the defence of the Indies. It could not be long before war would be openly avowed. It was not Blake's fault that he was unable to gratify the Protector. The Plate Fleet, alarmed by the threatenings of war, had held back from crossing the Atlantic. In the meanwhile there was anxiety at Cadiz and a determination not to leave it to fall unsuccoured into the hands of the English. On July 6 Blake announced that a fleet was being got together in the harbour, and that Dutch and French ships had been taken up to strengthen it.^ On August 1 2 he heard that it had actually sailed, and, having slipped past him, was beating up and down off" Cape St. Vincent. Blake at once followed it up, and for four days did his best to bring on an action. The Spaniards, however, having no reason to com- mence a war unless in defence of their own treasure- ships, were successful in avoiding an engagement. " These checks of Providence," reported Blake, " did printed begins with an acknowledgment of Blake's letter of March 25, as containing an account of the affair at Porto Farina. As this did not take place till Apr. 3, there must be a mistake of some kind. Blake's despatch relating to it was dated Apr. 18. ^ These instructions, which have not been preserved, are referred ta in Blake's reply, Thurloe, iii. 611. ^ Blake to the Protector, July 6, Thurloe, iii. 620. The Kne only partially deciphered should be read : ' to set forth a force of ships to secure the Plate Fleet.' Compare Weale's Journal, Sloane MSB. 1431, fol. 37. BLAKE AT LISBON. 395 put US upon second thoughts." A council of war was chap. called, when the instructions from home were care- . — ._J^ fully scanned without finding any authority to attack ^^55 a fleet not bound for the Indies. Blake accordingly a council resolved to leave the Spaniards alone, all the more because his ships were foul from having been so long at sea, while his liquor was running short, some of his ships not having more on board than would serve for four days. Yet he kept the Spaniards in sight till the 22nd, and then, being assured by one of their Biake* captains that they had no order to begin the war, Lisbon, °^ and also that they knew nothing of the coming of the Plate Fleet, made the best of his way to Lisbon, Aug. 24. where he arrived on the 24th. there.'"'''' On August ^o Blake announced to the Protector „Aug 30. ^ . ... . -"1^ com- his purpose of returning to his station, if only his plaint. needs could be supplied. His account of the condi- tion of his fleet was indeed pitiable. " How these passages of Providence," he wrote, " will be looked upon, or what construction our carriage in this business may receive I know not — although it hath been with all integrity of heart — but this we know, that our condition is dark and sad, and without especial mercy like to be very miserable : our ships extreme foul, winter drawing on, our victuals expiring, all stores failing, our men falling sick through the badness of drink, and eating their victuals boiled in salt water for two m^onths' space, the coming of a supply uncertain — we received not one word from the Commissioners of the Admiralty and Navy by the last — and though it come timely, yet if beer come not with it we shall be undone that way. We have no place or friend, our recruits ^ here slow, and our mariners — which I most apprehend — ^ I.e. supplies to make up deficiencies. 396 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, apt to fall into discontents through their long keeping . ^^^^- . abroad. Our only comfort is that we have a God to ^^55 lean upon, although we walk in darkness and see no light. I shall not trouble your Highness with any complaints of myself, of the indisposition of my body or troubles of my mind ; my many infirmities will one day, I doubt not, sufficiently plead for me or against me, so that I may be free of so great a burden, consolating myself in the mean time in the Lord and in the firm purpose of my heart with all faithfulness and sincerity to discharge the trust while reposed in me." ^ Sept. 13. The Protector's reply, written on September i ^, TheProtec- i -, ,> 1 • n i tor leaves was a moQcl 01 the considerate treatment due to a o^etur/^ faithful servant of his Government. Without con- think be Jt. cealing his persuasion that an attack on the Spanish fleet ofi" Cape St. Vincent would have been in accordance with the Admiral's instructions, or that it would be desirable to carry it out even now, he left it to Blake to decide whether it would be best for him to remain at sea or to return to England. It was not, he explained, his fault that provisions had not reached the fleet. They had been sent away, but the ships carrying them had been driven back by a storm.^ How great was Oliver's disappointment at Blake's avoidance of an action may be gauged from the very date of his letter. On September 13 Penn andVenables were already before the Council, and the whole miserable story of the failure of the attack on San Domingo was publicly known. It would have been something to have been able to set off against that disaster a victory over a Spanish fleet, how- ever profitless that victory might have been. When, ^ Blake to the Protector Aug. [30], Thurloe, iii. 719. * The Protector to Blake, Sept. 13, ih. i. 724. IMMINENT WAR. 397 therefore, Blake, having come to the conclusion that chap. XT VT it would be ruinous to keep the sea longer, anchored . — ^__L. in the Downs on October 6,^ the talk in London was ^^5 5 that he would find his way to the Tower.^ Those who Biake's re- spread the rumour had little knowledge of Oliver's skill in the judgment of men. It is not improbable that, in his interpretation of his instructions to Blake, the Protector was influenced by his growing assurance that the general war, which he deprecated, could not be avoided much longer. When the news from Hispaniola reached England on July 24, Cardenas, though qualifying Oliver's pro- July. •^ ^ T 1 • • 1 1 1 -^"^ effect ceedings as infamously hypocritical, clung to the of the news • from His- hope that he might be so alarmed at his danger on panioiaon the one hand from Spanish fleets in the Indies, and on the other from English merchants exasperated by the ruin of their trade, as to draw back from the course on which he had entered. Unwilling to thrust himself forward at such a crisis, the Spanish ambassador sent Barriere to Whitehall about the middle of August to urge these considerations Barti"re's on the Protector. Barriere could, he thought, speak J'j^ih ^^e^ more freely as the representative of Conde, who Piotector. had everything to lose from a breach between Spain and England. Whatever may have been the lan- guage used on both sides at that interview, the civility of the reception which Oliver accorded to the agent of one for whom he had the profoundest admiration was such as to lead Cardenas to imagine that a restoration of Jamaica was not impossible.^ At Madrid no such illusions were cherished. The 1 Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 1431, fol. 39. * Sagredo to the Doge, Oct. J§, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. 3 Cardenas to Philip IV., July U, Aug. ^, §g, Simancas MSS. 2529. 398 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. Spanish Government persistently, and not unrea- . .— ^ sonably, believed that Oliver was determined on ^^55 war. War, it may fairly be assumed, could at this Philip will stage only have been averted by Philip's acceptance way^'^^ of the conditions which Oliver had laid down in his answer to the Marquis of Lede.^ Such concessions, entirely opposed to the principles which had animated the Spanish councils for more than a century, could never have been made by Philip, even if there had been no seizure of Jamaica and no threatening appearance of an English fleet off his own coasts. In s^io- the instructions to Cardenas drawn up on August 26, SSrto ^iid finally despatched to him on August 31,^ that Cardenas, ambassador was directed to demand an audience for the purpose of taking leave, and to cross the sea to Flanders as soon as possible. If the reason of this sudden departure were asked, he was to ground it on the claims, put forward in the answer made to Lede, to free commerce in the Indies, to an extension of the consideration hitherto shown to the consciences of Englishmen, and to commercial privileges unheard of in any former treaty. If anything was said about Jamaica, the Protector was to be told that what had happened there was in itself a breach of the peace, and that he knew it to be so. Nothing short of his abandonment of the three points, and offering repa- ration for the events in the Indies, could be accepted as satisfactory ; but even in that case Cardenas was not to defer his leave-taking. If any fresh negotia- tions were opened, they must be conducted through some other channel."^ ^ See supra, p. 391. ^ stptTIo' *^ ^® learn from Cardenas's reply. ' Instructions to Cardenas, |^^, Simancas MSS. There is a translation of them in Guizot, ii. 548, incorrectly dated October. That DEPARTUEE OF CARDENAS. 399 On September 17, before these orders reached chap. ■ ■ XT VT the ambassador, it was known in London that - ,—L^ Philip, not contenting himself with a mere demon- ^ ^^ Sept. --. stration of his resentment, had laid an embargo Embargo' on all English goods and vessels in his dominions. kLown hi Loud was the outcry amongst the London mer- chants, and when, on October 9, Cardenas demanded cSdei an audience for the purpose of taking leave, those demands i- r o ' an audi- cries were redoubled, and found an echo in the fnceto take leave. clothing districts, where goods were largely manu- oissatis- factured for export to Spain. The Protector, in answer of the mer- to the complaining merchants, reminded them that he had already warned them of their danger,^ and he now advised them to set out a fleet of privateers to recoup themselves at the expense of Spain. The proposal fell on deaf ears, and Oliver was forced, if he went to war, to wage it on the now scanty resources of the Government. Yet he was aware that the feelingf of the merchants was shared by many influential members of the Council, and it was probably this knowledge that led him to interpose delays in the way of the departure of Cardenas. On October 15 ,^'^\'^\ the Council met to take into consideration the cii decides Spanish demands, and some influential voices, among which it may safely be conjectured Lambert's was heard the loudest, were raised in favour of a policy of abstinence from aggression and the maintenance of peace. Oliver, however, spoke strongly against the abandonment of his great design, and, as usually happened when he was himself in earnest, he brought over the majority to his side. On the 17th Apasspoi-t Cardenas received his passport, but so clogged with cTrdenas. unusual conditions that he refused to make use of the earlier date is right is shown by the action taken by Cardenas when he received them on Oct. ■^^. ^ See p. 390. 400 THE BEEACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. 1655 Oct. 27. He leaves London. Oct. 26. The Pro- tector's manifesto. Nature of the Spanish claim. it ; and when at last these obstacles were removed, and he was able to leave London on the 27th, the officials of the Custom House at Dover, surely not without a hint from Whitehall, broke open his chests and searched his baggage in the hope of discovering prohibited goods. It is to be hoped that this outrage was due to the misplaced zeal of some subordinate, and not to the Protector himself.^ On October 26, the day before Cardenas began his journey, the Protector ordered the issue of a manifesto in justification of his breach with Spain. The wrongs which Englishmen had suffered from the Spanish Government were recounted at large, and it was energetically asserted that Spain, not England, had begun the war in the Indies, As usually happens when contending parties put forward diametrically opposite views on the hne of conduct pursued by themselves or their adversaries, it is necessary for those who desire to form an independent judgment to seek out the unexpressed axioms on which these various judgments are founded. In this case the search is attended with no difficulty. In Spain it was held as an axiom that the Indies, land and sea, were the property of the King of Spain. In England it was held with equal tenacity that the sea at least was free to all. These differences of opinion once admitted to exist, it is intelligible that Philip should ^ Cardenas to Philip IV., Sept. ih -off, Oct. A, Oct. if, ^^. Before leaving Cardenas took care to secure the services of two intel- ligencers ; whilst Barriere, who was left in England by Conde at the special request of Don Luis de Haro, remained till April 1656. Piesque to Conde, Nov. xV, Cond^ to Piesque, Jan. ^^5, ^l^~, 1656, Chantilly Transcripts, Add. MSS. 35, 252, foil. 239, 241. License of transporta- tion, Interr. I, 72, pp. 299, 301. The issue of the Declaration was kept back till after Cardenas was gone. Nieupoort to the States General, Nov. tj» ^^d. MSS. 17, 677 W, fol. 176. A translation wrongly dated is in Thurloe, iv. 117. A MANIFESTO AGAINST SPAIN. 401 believe it to be within his riofhts to make captives of chat. XT V] Englishmen who traded in his seas without permis- ^ , — -- sion, and to put Englishmen to death who, in the ^^ teeth of his prohibition, were found as colonists on islands which, from his point of view, were as mucli his own as the seas which washed their coasts. To Oliver also the case he was resolved to main- The Eng- . lish claim, tain appeared beyond dispute. " The just and most reasonable grounds," he began, " of our late enter- prise upon some islands possessed by the subjects of the King of Spain in the West Indies are very obvious to any that shall reflect upon the posture wherein the said King and his people have always stood, in relation to the English nation in those parts of America, which hath been no other than a con- tinual state of open war and hostility ; at the first The war most unjustly begun by them, and ever since in like spS. ^ sort continued and prosecuted, contrary to the common right and law of nations and the particular treaties between England and Spain." The English, he continued, had of late years been so patient that some might regard the recent expedition as an act of aggression rather than, as it really was, an act of defence against the Spaniards, " who, as The mis. oft as they have opportunity, without any just cause sptin rL or provocation at all, cease not to kill and slaughter, ^°""*'^'^- nay sometimes in cold blood to murder the people of this nation, spoiling their goods and estates, destroying their colonies and plantations, taking also their ships, if they meet with any upon those seas, and using them in all things as enemies, or rather as rovers and pirates ; for so they . . . brand all nations, except themselves, which shall presume to sail upon those seas, upon no other or better right or title than that of the Pope's donation, and their first VOL. III. ]) 1) 402 THE BREACH WITH SPAIN. CHAP, discovering some parts of the West Indies ; where- ^^.~' upon they would appropriate to themselves the sole ^^ signory of the new world." Areversion In Olivcr's cyes it was no small justification that hethan lic was rcvcrtinj? to the policy of the Elizabethan Dolicv* sea-kings. Yet he never failed to fall back from general considerations upon particular facts. " As to the state of our quarrel in the West Indies," he Attacks on explained, " whereas we have colonies in America as English- n • • 1 T men in the wcll lu islauds as upou thc coutmcut upou as good Indies. and a better title than the Spaniards have any, and have as good a right to sail in those seas as them- selves ; yet without any just cause or provocation- — and when the question of commerce was not at all in the case — they have notwithstanding continually invaded in a hostile manner our colonies, slain our countrymen, taken our ships and goods, destroyed our plantations, made our people prisoners and slaves, and have continued so doing from time to time, till the very time that we undertook the expedition against them." Acts of Omittinoj the very numerous acts of violence violence . . , enume- citcd bv thc Protcctor as having been committed rated. , « i i • i before the last peace m 1630, there were quite enough Cases of to justify liis indictment. Providence and Tortuga Tartuga -, i • ^ • p • t rt • i and Pro- had lu 1 02 7, at a time oi war with bpam, been occu- pied by Englishmen as uninhabited islands. When peace was made in 1630 the case of these islands was passed over in silence ; whereupon Charles I. had not hesitated to grant them both to a colonising company, which despatched settlers to occupy them. The Spaniards, however, refused to regard the occupation as legitimate, attacked one of the company's ships in 1633, and in the following year invaded Tortuga, destroyed the property of the colonists, and hanged. vidence. OLIVER'S ^lANIFESTO. 403 shot, or carried away as captives all the Englishmen in chap. the island. In 1635 a similar attempt was made on -^-, — ^ Providence, and, though it ended in failure, it was '^^ renewed in 1640, when the colonists agreed to abandon the island with the loss of all their property. In 165 1 another body of English settlers was attacked in Santa Cruz, and about a hundred of them killed ; whilst the remainder, who hid themselves in the woods, gave up all hope of resistance, and made their escape to other islands. Then followed a tale of ships driven by stress of weather into Spanish ports, only to be seized with their cargoes. One ship was even captured on the high seas and carried into Havana, with the goods on board, where ship and goods were confiscated, ' and most of the men kept prisoners and forced to work in the bulwarks like slaves.' Another vessel, having sprung a leak off the coast of Hispaniola as she was returning from an English plantation, the crew were forced to put themselves ashore in a boat, where they were taken by the Spaniards ' and made to work like slaves in their fortifications.' As such conduct could only be defended on the plea that the whole of the Indies was a Spanish preserve into which no one of foreign nationality could rightfully intrude, Oliver proceeded to deny that Spain could base any such claim either ujjon the arbitrament of Alexander VI., or upon prior discovery of lands she had never possessed or planted. The conclusion of this part of the manifesto was a stirring appeal to his (.'ountrymen. " We need not enlarge our discourse upon this subject ; for there is not any understanding man who is not satisfied of the vanity of the Spaniards' pi'etensions to the sole sovereignty of all those ])arts of the world ; but we 1) L> i 404 THE BEEACII WITH SPAIN. CHAP. XL VI. Oct. ly. Cardenas in self- defence. have opened a little the weak and frivolous pretences whereupon the Spaniards ground all their cruel and unworthy dealings with the English in the West Indies — enslaving, hanging, drowning, and cruelly torturing to death our countrymen, spoiling their ships and goods, and destroying their colonies in the times of the greatest peace, and that without any just cause or provocation at all — that the English nation, re- flecting upon the indignity of such proceedings against their own flesh and blood and the possessors of the same true Christian religion with them, might consider with themselves how the honour of this nation would lie rotting as well as their vessels of war, if they should any longer suffer themselves to be used, or rather abused in this manner, and not only excluded from commerce with so great and rich a part of the world against all right and reason, but also be accounted and executed as rovers and pirates for offering to sail or to look into those seas, or liaving any intercourse — though with our own plantations only — in those parts of the world." ^ On these words — appealing to our own generation even more than to Oliver's contemporaries — must be founded the justification of the policy on which the Protector had at last definitely embarked. Cardenas, in defending his master's conduct in a conversation with the Swedish ambassador before leaving England, had nothing to say on the Spanish ill-treatment of English colonists, except that Providence had been a mere nest of pirates ; whilst he naturally inveighed against the Protector for his stealthy attack on His- paniola and Jamaica, and spoke of the idea that it ' Declaration, Oct. 26, E, 1065, i. The composition was probably the work of Fiennes, to whom other State Papers of the time are attributed. OLIVER'S WEAK POINT. 405 was possible for the two nations to be at war in chai'. America and at peace in Europe as too childish -1^ .— - to be discussed.^ It is on these latter grounds, if at ' ^ all, that our sympathies must be with the Spaniard. If Oliver had good cause for war, he did not open hostilities in honourable fashion. Though he was not bound to inform Cardenas of the destina- tion of his fleets, he was bound, on the grounds of common honesty, to let him plainly understand, at tlie earliest possible moment, that an attack on Spain in some quarter of the globe would be the result of a refusal to grant the concessions he de- manded. ' Bonde to Charles X., Oct. 19, Stockholm Transcripts. The dates show that Cardenas' s words cannot be taken as a direct rejily to the Declaration published nine days after they were spoken ; but the Protector's complaints about the conduct of the Spaniards in the West Indies must have been conveyed to him verbally many times during the previous months. 4o6 CHAP. XLVII. 1655 Effect of the bread 1 with Spain on the relations between England and France. May i6. Bordeaux informed of the perse- cution of Protes- tants in Piedmont. CHAPTEE XLVII. THE PEOTESTANT INTEREST. As the outbreak of war with one country necessarily affects the relations of the belligerent Power witli all others, it was inevitable that Oliver should be drawn closer to France as the distance widened be- tween his own Government and that of Spain. In May, almost immediately after Lede's memorandum had made it certain that Philip had no intention of giving way,^ Bordeaux found reason to believe that the commissioners appointed to treat with him had been instructed to apply themselves seriously to the settlement of outstanding disputes ; and but for an unfortunate occurrence it is almost certain that a satisfactory conclusion would have been reached in a much shorter time than was in reality the case. The commissioners, who on May 16 had left a satisfactory impression on the French ambassador,^ informed him before taking leave that informa- tion had been received of a persecution of Protestants in the dominions of the Duke of Savoy, the cruelties exercised having been not only suggested by the French ambassador at Turin, but carried out by English regiments in the service of the King of France. If this proved to be true the Protector would be unable to enter into an alliance with the oppressor of his co-religionists, and he therefore ^ See supra, p. 390. * See supra, p. 391. CASE OF THE VAUDOIS. 407 required an explanation before he could proceed chai'. further in the matter.^ Bordeaux naturally re- ^I — ,— torted that as Catholics were persecuted in England ^^' his master was not bound to give account of the persecution of Protestants in his own dominions, far less in those of another prince. Finally, the com- Fieuch -"- . . mediation missioners told Bordeaux that all that His Highness demanded. desired of him was to convey to his master a hope that he would interpose in any way he pleased in favour of the injured Protestants. - Thouo-h the story told by the commissioners was The c> J J ^ Vaudois of in some respects exaggerated, and the persecution was the aii.h. in nowise due to the instigation of Servien, the French ambassador at Turin, it was not far from the truth. Westward of Turin the two Alpine valleys of the Pellice and the Chisone were inhabited by peasants whose ancestors had in the twelfth century imbibed the ascetic doctrines of Peter Waldez. Eejected by the Papal Church, they had formed a community apart ^ " lis me dirent que son Altesse et le Conseil avait appris avec beaucoup de ressentiment la persecution des Protestans de Savoye, que suivant les advis de ce pays I'Ambassadeur de sa Majeste I'avoit suggere et ses troupes, entr'autres quelques Eegimens Anglois, execute avec un esprit de vengeance, que nos ennemis se servoient de ce pretexte pour refroidir les bonnes intentions de son Altesse, luy representant que la bienseance ne luy permettoit pas de s'unir avec sa Majeste dans le temps qu'elle faisoit persecutor lesdictz Religionnaires, et qu'ilz avoient ordre de me demander quelque satisfaction sur ce sujet." Bordeaux to Brienne, May ^7' French Transcripts, B.O. The com- missioners diplomatically asserted that the enemies of France were making use of the affair of the Vaudois to keep up the estrangement between the two countries ; but, considering what happened afterwards, it is justifiable, as I have done in the text, to lay the warning at Oliver's own door. Bordeaux says that the news was brought by Stouppe, and requested the commissioners to ask him ' ce qu'il avoit fait chez I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne samedy dernier et pour quel service il en avait re(;eu deux mille francs ce mesme jour.' Saturday last was May 12, and the news must therefore have reached England not later than that day, '' lb. 4o8 . THE PROTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP, under the name of Waldensians or Vaudois, but, -I — , — '-^ coming in the seventeenth century under the ^ ^^ influence of Greneva, they had dropped their older tenets in favour of the more recent doctrines of Calvin. Holding such opinions, they had had their full share of persecution ; but the Dukes of Savoy, in whose Piedmontese territories their valleys were situated, had found it difficult to subdue them, and 1561- in 1 56 1 Philibert Emmanuel granted them tolera- toieration. tiou withiu Certain well-defined geographical limits. These limits did not include La Torre, Luserna, or San Giovanni, situated in the lower part of the valley of the Pellice, still less any places in the open plain.^ 1638. From 1638, when the Duchess Christina, the mentofthe sistcr of Henrietta Maria, became Eegent in the Christina, uamc of her son, Charles Emmanuel II., and who virtually governed the country for some years after he reached his nominal majority in 1648, a different spirit prevailed at Turin. On the one hand missionaries were introduced to convert the inhabitants of the valleys, and these missionaries, indiscreet and presumptuous even by the confession of their supporters, had at their disposal all the temptations, and sometimes the armed force, of the Government. The Vaudois on their part occasionally allowed their indignation to get the better of their prudence. In 1650, for in- stance, they burnt a mission-house at Villar. This and other similar offences, however, were condoned by 1653. the Government in 1653, when an edict was issued toleration Confirming the privileges granted in 1 561 to all who lived within the limits then fixed ; - on which con- sideration the Vaudois replaced the burnt mission- ^ Edict, ^^e'^B' ^S^^' Morland's History of the Evcmgelical Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont, 237. 2 lb. 291. confirmefl. Longmcais, Green. «4 Ca, ^^T'W'B^^ S. ^Philip & Son, Xondoiv i • t i i tion by the by Olivcr. At one of his audiences the new ambas- Protector. t i • i i • n i • i sador, knowing, as he explained to his master, that ' discourses about religion pleased him much,' took care to recall to the mind of the Protector that the Pope had condemned the treaties of Westj)halia, and that the Poles, against whom he craved the Protector's help, were a Popish nation. The bait took. Oliver repeated, almost word for word, the language he had used in speaking to Coyet about his veneration for the great Gustavus and his admiration of his successor. Admitting that many thought the war with Poland unnecessary, he declared that he was under no obliga- tion to that State. It was, however, otherwise with the Dutch, who were of the same religion with himself, and had borne themselves nobly in throwing off the yoke of the Papacy. In face of such a complication he must take some time to consider the proposal of an alliance between England and Sweden. Then followed an outburst against the Catholic Powers. The Pope, he said, was eager to make peace between all Govern- ments of his own religion, and to direct their energies against the Protestants. It was, therefore, much to be desired that the design which the Most High God had only begun to accomplish in Germany through ' Bonde to Charles X., July 20, Stockholm Transcripts. PAPAL DESIGNS. 435 Gustavus of glorious memory miffht be completed by chap. . JO r J XL VII the great King Charles. To such a consummation he - , -l- would gladly lend a hand.^ ' ^^ Oliver's reference to Gustavus Adolphus was a clear indication of his hope that Charles X. would engage in war, not with Poland alone, but with the Emperor as well, whom he believed to be threatening the rights of Protestants at the bidding of the Pope. So far, indeed, as concerned Pope Alexander VEE., who PoUcyof had succeeded Innocent X. in the preceding April, vn. Oliver's fears were undoubtedly well founded. From the beginning of his reign he had set his heart on concluding a peace between France and Spain, and, whatever his precise designs may have been, he may safely be credited with a desire to induce these two Powers, as well as the German branch of the House of Austria, to co-operate for the weakening of Pro- testantism. What Oliver did not understand was "^f'^rP*" able to the that the material interests which divided France and cathoUc Powers. Spain would never allow them to work together for a common object, and that the Emperor Ferdi- nand III. was in reality the most peace-loving ^ [The Protector] " upreppade hwadh fahra som wSr Religion hafwer sigh af the PSweske att wanta, att jag wall om denne PSwenz protest hade pSmint thet wara een saak utaf ofvermSttan stoor importance, och kunde han migh thet seya sig wetta therom godh skedh at thenne PSwen medh aU macht arbetar uppS att gora firedh emellan the Catholiske Konungar, och sedhan wanda all theraz macht emoot oss. Hanzock the Catholiskez actioner emoot the fattige reformerade i Savoy en som ofwer icxd Shr ther sin Religion oturberade exercerat hafwe, sS wall som i Tyskland, uthyder nogsambt theraz intention. Han . . . sadhe sigh wisserligen troo att K' M' widh thenne narwarende intention icke skall stadna utan hoppaz att then nyttige dessein som den hogste Gudh syntez igenom K. Gustaf hoglofligst i aminnelse i Tyskland arna att uthratta, och likwaU af honom ey annat an begynt bleef, skall af thenne stoore K. Carl blifwa fulbordat, och sin onskelige effect till Gudz ahraz hogste befordran, nS och erhSUa, hwartill han hwadh han kunde contribuera wille." Bonde to Charles X., Aug. 23, Stockholm Transcripts. r F 2 436 THE PEOTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP. XLVII. 1655 Cujus regio, ejus religio. sovereign in Europe. Prematurely aged, and sad- dened by the death of his eldest son, whose election as King of the Eomans he had with some difficulty secured, he was too conscious of the hideous suf- ferings inflicted on his subjects in the course of the late war to be desirous to embark on another in the guise of an anti-Protestant crusade.^ Oliver's mistake in believing that a general attack on Protestants was imminent was closely connected with his misapprehension of German feeling on the relations between rulers and subjects in matters of religion. As every German knew, an attempt to interfere with the internal government of any single State would bring back the horrors of the Thirty Years War, and such a recurrence of evil was the one thing which every German, from prince to peasant, was determined to avoid. Though it was perfectly true that Ferdinand was persecuting his own Protestant subjects in Bohemia and Silesia, it did not follow either that he was dreaming of sup- pressing Protestantism in Brandenburg or Saxony, or that the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony were dreaming of intervening to stop his cruelties in his own dominions. As often happens, an opinion based on political convenience took shape in men's minds as a conviction of absolute justice, and neither the Emperor nor any other German prince being prepared to interfere in matters of religion outside their own territories, they held that such an action would be not merely replete with danger, but also positively unjust. ' For Mazarin's treatment of the Pope's scheme see Valfrey^ H. de Lionne, ses ambassades en Italie, pp. 347-51. Pribram's Freiherr von Lisolce, and Carlbom's Sveriges Forhallande till OsterriJce, give full proof of the constancy with which Ferdinand III. attached himself to the maintenance of peace. SWEDEN AND THE UNITED PHOVINCES. 437 Neither Bonde nor Charles was therefore likely chap. to be hoodwinked by so preposterous a policy as -- — , — 1- that which dazzled the eyes of Oliver. In replying ^^^ to the Protector the ambassador had some difR- ^eiingg culty in using expressions warm enough to conceal Protestant his real feelings. In conferring subsequently with ^^'^'^^ade. the commissioners appointed to negotiate with him he let slip a few words which should have convinced them how little he realised the phantom of a religious war. Although, he said, the general Protestant interest appeared to be in some danger, yet peace still prevailed, and up to the present time the Catholics had attempted little except in the case of the Savoyard Protestants.^ What Bonde sought was, not an alliance against the Catholic Powers in general, but twenty English ships in the Baltic to assist in keeping off the Dutch ; in return for which aid the King of Sweden would assist the Protector with the like number of ships in the North Sea whenever he needed them. Virtually the request was one for an alliance against the United Provinces.^ At the same time Nieupoort was Nieu- urging Oliver to enter into an alliance with the diplomacy. States General, Brandenburg and Denmark against the Swedish attempt to monopolise the Baltic trade.^ Oliver's hesitation to accept the overtures on ThePro- either side may perhaps, to some extent, be accounted finandS straits. ^ Mr. Guernsey Jones (Cromwell and Charles Gustavus, 35, note 2) follows an exaggerated rendering of this passage by KaUing (Chr. Bondes Ambassad, 17). The words of the original despatch are: " Utfbrde s8 att huru almenne Protestantiske wasende syntez nSgon fahra hafwa att forwanta, sS woro likwall annu fredh, och foga annat af the Catholiske, an hooz the Savoiske Protestanter in till thenna dagh attenterat," Stockholm Transcripts. ^ lb. ' Nieupoort to De Witt, Aug. ^h |^, De Witt's Brieven, iii. 1 1 1, 114. 438 THE PROTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP. XLVn. 1655 Aug.-Oct. The vic- torious career of Charles X. Surrender of Thorn and Elbing. for by the failure of his expectation of the inflow of wealth, which was to have resulted from the expected reduction of Hispaniola by Venables, and from the no less expected capture of the Plate Fleet by Blake. Another motive for hanging back was undoubtedly his reluctance to abandon the hope of bringing about a harmonious co-operation between the Dutch and the Swedes. On the other hand, as the summer drew to a close, the military sympathies of the Protector were enlisted on behalf of the Swedish King, whose brilliant achievements in the field took all Europe by surprise, and could hardly fail to stir to the depths the heart of the soldier who now held the reins of power in England. Having sent his lieutenant, Wittenberg, across the Polish frontier on July 1 1 , he followed in person on August 4. On the 23rd he defeated John Casimir's army at Sobota, and occupied Warsaw on the 30th. After another victory won at Czarnova on September 16, he advanced against Cracow, com- pelling it to surrender on October 8.^ The Polish Eepubhc, to all appearance, lay bleeding at the feet of the conqueror. Polish nobles, jealous of one another, and still more jealous of their elected King, flocked in crowds to the headquarters of the intruder, whom they welcomed as their lawful sovereign. The towns on the Vistula, German by origin and institu- tions, dreading the strong hand of the Swede, con- tinued to hold out for Poland, whose yoke in matters of trade had been an easy one. The rapid return of Charles, however, threatened to bring them to reason. Thorn and Elbing surrendered on November 24. On December 1 1 Danzig alone — the queen of Baltic commerce — persisted in setting him at defiance.^ ^ Carlson, Sveriges Historia tmder Konungame af Pfahiska Huset, i. 232-49. '^ lb. i. 252, 253. THE BALTIC QUESTION. 439 The successes of Charles X. gained him one chap. favour at the hands of the Protector. George Fleet- — , — 1- wood, a brother of the Lord Deputy, who had been in the Swedish service since 1629, had been for some time in England, soliciting the Protector to give per- mission for the levy of troops in Scotland. On October 12 leave was given to Cranston to raise a Aievyol' bare one thousand men in the place of the six or aiwaln eight thousand for which Coyet had asked. ^ It was S''^*'*""^- not much to Bonde's taste that so little was accorded, and still less was he satisfied when Oliver's congratu- ,^^p*-^^-, o A proposed lations took the shape of a fervent hope that when Swedish ■•■ ^ ,-'• alliance. all was over the Swedish monarchy might have the Caspian for a boundary, whilst no progress was made with the proposal of sending an English fleet to support its claims in the Baltic.^ On the other hand, it might be argued that there was no immediate need of such assistance, as the Dutch had by this time relinquished the idea of sending armed ships through the Sound.^ It was the fault of Oliver's diplomacy that he did his best to ignore the deep-seated commercial opposition between Sweden and the United Provinces, as well as the worldliness of the aims of Charles X. On September 28 he directed Thurloe to announce sept. 28. to Nieupoort a scheme for the settlement of the for^'settung Baltic difficulty. Sweden, he thought, might be difficu%r asked to enter a general alliance with England, Denmark, the United Provinces, and the Elector of Brandenburg. Such a plan was hardly suited to meet the demands of a sinful world. All that can be said for it as a contribution to practical politics ^ See supra, p. 437. 2 Bonde to Charles X., Sept. 28, StocTtliolm Transcripts. ^ De Witt to Nieupoort, Sept ^^y, De Witt's Brieven, iii. 120. 440 THE PROTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP, is that it paved the way to a better understanding • — . — 1- between England and Brandenburg. The Protector ^^^^ had for some time had p'ood reason to regard Frederick Oct. . c" . *^ The Pro- WilHam with the gravest distrust. The Elector was the Elector not merely allied to the Stuarts by his marriage with denburg. a sistcr of the last Prince of Orange, but had thrown himself warmly into the cause of the exiled family, having contributed to Charles's support more largely than any other German prince.^ The Elector, however, was too anxious for the support of England to hesitate in sacrificing a family alliance to the needs of the State ; whilst Oliver was, on his part, inclined to look favourably on the friendship of a Oct.^{}. Protestant ruler. On October 20 the Elector was Schlezer ^ _ r^ i • i • to be the able to issuc instructions to one of his subjects who Branden- n r^ i i burg agent borc tlic uamc of Schlezer to act as his representative ng an . ^^ Whitehall, with the knowledge that his reception would meet with no obstacle in England.^ Oliver, in short, was gradually coming round to the belief that the Swedes intended to establish over the Baltic tolls a sole proprietorship which could Oct. 17. not but be injurious to EngUsh trade. On October 1 7 Protector's hc assurcd Nieupoort that he would accept no offers to N^eu^^' from Sweden without the concurrence of the United poort. Provinces. He continued, however, to harp on the necessity of union between all Protestant Powers in the face of the mischievous designs of the new Pope.^ Nov 15. About a month later he returned to the subject, and expressed his readiness to mediate between the Swedes and the Dutch without regard to his own interests.* "&' ^ UrTcunden und AJctenstiicJce, vii. 706-12. ^ Instruction to Schlezer, Oct. §§, ib. vii. 721. 3 Nieupoort to De Witt, Oct. Jf, De Witt's Brieven, iii. 135. Nieupoort to the Greffier of the States General, Oct. J|, Add. M8S. 17,677 W, fol. 168. 4 Nieupoort to the Greffier of the States General, Nov. H> *^- fol- 225 . PROTESTANTISM AND TRADE. 44 1 Later, on December 1 1 , the Protector appears to have chap. opened his mind to Schlezer, who, hke Bonde, had the . — '- advantage of beino- able to converse in Enofhsh. ^ o & o Dec. II. Ever since he had taken up the efovernment, he de- Aconver- J- ~ sation with clared, he had done his utmost to keep all Protestant schiezer. States in friendship with one another, a friendship which was the more necessary in view of the dealings of the Papists with the Yaudois. What, therefore, could be said for those- — the King of Sweden was evidently intended — who misused this conjuncture of affairs to extend their own territory or to draw com- merce to themselves. His own first thought on assuming the Protectorate had been to place himself on good terms with the Dutch. If only he could have had the same consideration from the King of Spain he would never have gone to war with him, and he regarded his inability to keep the peace in that quarter as a sore burden imposed on him by God. If, in the end, he had preferred an understanding with France, it was because the French Government was comparatively tolerant as contrasted with Spain. Schlezer souo^ht to brins^ the Protector back to the consideration of the Baltic question, which pressed the harder on the Elector as Charles X. was requir- ing him to |)lace the two ports of East Prussia, Memel and Pillau, in Swedish hands. As Schlezer had not yet received a cipher, he omitted to record the Protector's answer.^ There can be little doubt what was the nature of that reply. Diplomatists engaged in a negotiation with Oliver could run into no more fatal error than by imagining that his devotion to the Protestant cause made him oblivious to commercial interests. ^ Schlezer to the Elector, Dec i|, XJrkunden und Aktenstiicke, vii. 727. 442 THE PEOTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP. XL VII. 1655 Nov. I. The Com- mittee for Trade enlarged. Dec. 14. Oliver urges Bonde to give satis- faction about trade. 1656. Jan. I. His language to Nieu- poort. On November i, a few weeks before his interview with Schlezer, he had enlarged the Committee for Trade, originally named in July, by adding to its numbers, besides his own son Eichard, the two Com- missioners of the Treasury, and three judges, a considerable number of persons actually engaged in commerce in the chief ports of the country.^ The man who thus sought for the advice of experts was unlikely to belittle the subject of their inquiries. At his next interview with Bonde he besought the Swedish ambassador to remove the material causes of disagreement. Bonde, however, pleaded that he had as yet no precise instructions, and the question of trade was therefore held over for the present. The Swede, however, took the opportunity of magnifying so convincingly his master's zeal for religion as to draw from the Protector the exclama- tion, " I wish your instructions were as wide as your heart." ^ Yet on New Year's Day Oliver took an opportunity of assuring Nieupoort once more that he would never come to an agreement with Sweden apart from the United Provinces. At the same time he showed himself not altogether satisfied with the course taken by Charles. He would have been better pleased, he said, if that King ' had struck towards those territories ' — Bohemia and Silesia were evidently in his mind — 'where large numbers of Protestants had for many years been exposed to persecution.' As for himself, he was in duty bound not only to hinder a rupture between Protestant States, but to unite them in a league against the in- human cruelties of the Papacy.^ ^ Council Order Book, Interr. I, 76, p. 357. ^ Bonde to Charles X., Dec. 21, Stockholm Transcripts. ^ Nieupoort to De Witt, Jan. ^, Add. MSS. 17,677 LLL, fol. 239. SWISS TROUBLES. 443 By this time Oliver had a fresh grievance against c?,^.^- XLVII. the Pope. In Switzerland the Papal canton of , — - Schwytz had expelled its Protestants and had stripped .^ them of their property. Eemonstrances from the Switzer- Protestant cantons, in which the refugees had found shelter, had been answered with an assertion that Schwytz was a sovereign State, and as such had a right to treat its own subjects as it pleased. The principle of Cujus regio ejus religio was thus asserted by a Swiss canton as boldly as by any German prince. Truly or falsely, Oliver believed that the peasants of Schwytz had a whole confederacy behind them, and his partial success in relieving the Vaudois — due in reality to special circumstances in his diplomatic relations with France, which were most unlikely to recur — led him to imagine that similar results could be obtained in this instance. For him it was a short step from a protest against the policy of a single Government to a protest against the policy of every Catholic Power in Europe. On the 7th he com- ^ J'^^n. 7. ^ 'A com- plained to Bonde that Spain, Bavaria, and the piamtto Pope were ready to support the tyrannical canton. After this he proposed more clearly than he had as yet done that his alliance with Sweden must be directed against the Catholic Powers,^ and more especially against the House of Austria. A merely defensive alliance would be of little use. The enemy was so powerful that it would be necessary for all Protestant States to combine together against him. In other words, Sweden would have to begin by re- nouncing all claims to the East Prussian tolls, and by satisfying the Dutch in the matter of the commercial independence of Danzig. Bonde being still without ' France, in the Protector's eyes, must certainly not be included among these. 444 THE PEOTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP, instructions, took care to humour the Protector, and > — . — '^ suggested — no doubt ironically — that if any Protes- ^ tant States refused to join the league it would be reasonable to coerce them.^ Bonde^^' With plans so enlarged the Protector was resolved wXthe^^ to have a clear understanding on the trade dispute, commercial Q^ Januarv ^i Boudc had an interview with the proposals. J "J commissioners appointed to treat with him on the subject. He was surprised and disgusted at what he considered to be the harshness of the terms pro- nfappeais poscd. Au appeal to the Protector produced no tector ^"^^ effect. It was necessary, replied Oliver, to take the Dutch into consideration.^ Branden- \^ Qj^g Quartcr tlic Hsk of War between two burg and ^ Sweden. Protcstaut Statcs had been at least temporarily averted. The Elector of Brandenburg had every reason to deprecate the establishment of a strong military monarchy on the ruins of anarchical Poland ; but the army of Charles X. was very near, and neither England nor the United Provinces was prepared to assist him. Bowing, therefore, to neces- sity, he accepted from the King of Sweden such Jan. tV- terms as were offered him. By a treaty signed at of Konigs- Konigsberg ^ he received, indeed, Ermeland as an ^^^" accretion to East Prussia, but, on the other hand, he exchanged, so far as that duchy was concerned, the light overlordship of the Polish King for the heavy feudal superiority of Charles X. Moreover, he consented to abandon to Sweden half the tolls of Memel and Pillau, and to admit Swedish men-of-war ^ Bonde to Charles X., Jan. ii, Stockholm Transcripts. ^ Bonde to Charles X., Feb. i , 8, ih. ; Carlbom, Sverige och England, 59, 62. 3 Sometimes known as the Treaty of Welau, where it was signed by Charles. A SWEDISH OFFER. 445 into his harbours. The march of Charles to com- chap. mercial supremacy in the Baltic was proceeding — -— ^ 1 1656 apace. ^ Such a treaty, so one-sided in its effects, was rnJe'^treat made only to be broken ; but in the meanwhile, so known in •^ ^ ' England. far as Brandenburg was concerned, it removed the danger of an immediate outbreak of hostilities between two Protestant Powers. The arrangement, the news of which reached England on February i,^ appeared so satisfactory in the eyes of the Protector that he omitted to consider the bearing of the agreement on the commercial question in which he was interested. On February 7 he took the oppor- Feb. 7. tunity of the news that a son and heir had been protector's born to Charles to despatch to the King a letter, charier x. drawn up by Milton, congratulating him on his political as well as on his domestic fortune, and dwelling on the service he had done by wresting Poland ' as a horn from the Papal Empire,' and by making peace with the ■ Elector, ' to the great satis- faction of the pious.' ^ The day after this letter was written Bonde g^^^^^"^' received the instructions for which he had been receives instruc- waiting. He was to offer to the Protector a defensive tions. alliance on the one hand against all enemies of either party, and on the other hand against all who infringed the Treaty of Osnabrlick.* The Protector's overtures ' Philippson, Der grossc Kurfiirst, i. 218-21 ; Carlson, Sveriges Historia, i. 251, 265-67. ■■^ Carlbom, Sverige och England, 62. ^ The Protector to Charles X., Feb. 7, Milton's Prose Works, ed. Symmons, vi. 21. The date of the letter is given by Carlbom from the original document at Stockholm, Sverige och England, 62, note 4. * lb. 64. The instructions were dated January 6, the day before the signature of the Treaty of Konigsberg (Carlbom, Sverige och England, 64). They were accordingly given in full assurance that Charles had nothing to fear from the side of Brandenburg. 446 THE PROTESTANT INTEREST. CHAP, received a rebuff on every point. A defensive XT VTT --^-, — '^ alliance against all enemies^ might easily lead him ^ in the course of the summer into a war with the The Treaty Dutch, whilst the proposal of a joint guarantee of briickTo be the Treaty of Osnabrtick left out of the question any K^'^' concerted interference with the claim of Catholic States to deal with their own Protestant subjects at their pleasure. It based itself on a pretended accep- tance of Oliver's notion that a Papal crusade was impending, and offered no more than an engagement to take arms in defence of the religious indepen- dence of the Protestant States of Germany — an independence which, as Charles knew perfectly well — though Oliver did not — was in nowise endangered, and on behalf of which, if there had existed any design against it, all Protestant Germany would have risen as one man, with the willing assistance of a con- siderable number, if not of the whole, of the Catholic princes. The Nor was this all. It was notorious that though and^spaL. Ferdinand III. had no desire to break the peace in Germany, and though he was at this time stubbornly resisting the efforts of his ablest diplomatist, Lisola, to drag him into a war with Sweden on behalf of Poland, he had not been able to resist the temptation of rendering some assistance to his Spanish kinsman in his prolonged struggle with France. It was not impossible, therefore, that Oliver, now himself at war with Spain, might plead that Sweden was bound to protest against the help given by the Emperor to the enemies of England. The reference to the Treaty of Osnabrtick cut short such expectations. There had been two treaties which together made up what is ^ Bonde to Charles X., Feb. i6, March 27. The Swedish proposals, as ultimately preseoted on March 17, are printed in Thurloe, iv. 623. THE TREATY OF OSNABRUCK. 447 usually known as the Peace of Westphalia. Of the chap. ^T VTT two, that of Minister concluded between the Emperor - — ^— - and France, contained the obligation of those two Powers to take no hostile measures against one another. Charles X., by confining his proposed guarantee to the Treaty of Osnabriick, which, having been concluded between the Emperor and the Protestant States in and out of Germany, naturally kept silence on the future relations between the Emperor and France, virtually refused to inter- fere in such a case. Oliver had to learn the bitter Oliver's truth that if he was to do anything against the House faJure!* "^ of Austria on the Continent, he must not expect the co-operation of the King of Sweden. His aims had been high and his wish to benefit the world had been undoubted. The lesson taught him, if he had ears to hear, was that no beneficence of intention could avail him aught in this direction so long as his mind was steeped in ignorance of Continental modes of thought and of the intentions of Continental statesmen. 448 CHAP. XL VIII. 1655 The war with Spain. Sept. Sagredo's mission. CHAPTEE XLVIII. COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. The financial condition of the Protectorate being what it was, the King of Sweden must have known that, if he had accepted OHver's scheme of an aggressive war against the House of Austria, the burden of the proposed war against the German branch of that House would have fallen exclusively upon himself; whilst the fight against the Spanish branch, with its chances of booty to be acquired if only the Plate Fleet could be captured, would have fallen to the share of the Protector. When he was not dazzled by the glitter of his imagined cham- pionship of the Protestant interest, Oliver was well aware that the work he had already undertaken was sufficient for his own shoulders to bear. In September 1655, the Venetian ambassador Sagredo^ having urged upon the Protector the advantages of an alliance against the Turks, soon discovered that he was but beating the air. He was told that if he had arrived a year earlier, at the time when Blake's expe- dition to the Mediterranean was in contemplation, he might have prevailed on the English Government to give precedence to a Turkish war, but that it was use- less to make such a proposal at a time when a war with Spain was unavoidable. Sagredo, though by ' See p. 225. THE COLONY TN JAMAICA. 449 orders from the Senate he remained in En"iand chap. XLVIIl till February, soon discovered that his mission was — -^— ^ fruitless. When he was preparing for his departure, the Senate contented itself with directing him to leave behind him his secretary, Giavarina, as agent for the Republic. No Venetian ambassador again landed in England till after the Restoration.^ The war with Spain was undoubtedly unpopular The war . ^ nil with Spain With English merchants. Those 01 them who unpopular. traded with that country had to lament the loss of their property sequestered in Spanish ports, and complained that the issue of letters of marque to make reprisals on Spanish vessels was no adequate com- pensation for the interruption of so lucrative a trade. The French markets now opened to them promised little in comparison with that which they had lost.' On one point at least the Protector had made up June n. his mind. Whatever might happen in Europe, he(andsedfj- would maintain his hold upon Jamaica. On June 11, to .Tamaicii. 1655, before the disaster in Hispaniola was known in England, he had sent out a fresh regiment, under Colonel Humphries, to keep up the numbers of the army, and Humphries was accompanied by Major Sedgwick, who was empowered to act as an addi- tional commissioner. When, on October i, the party ^ Oct. r. reached Jamaica, Sedgwick found himself without a arrival. colleague. Winslow had died on the voyage fi-om Hispaniola, Searle had never left Barbados, and Butler, following the example of Penn and Yenables, had taken ship for England. Under these discouraging circumstances Sedo'wick made an informal ai>Teement with Goodsoii, to whom Penn had handed over the command of the fleet, and with Fortescue, who was at ' Sagredo's despatches, Sept. i|, Feb. /g, Venetian Transcripts, It. O. - Bordeaux to Brienne, Nov. j^-, French Transcripts, li.O. VOL. III. G U 450 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. the head of the mihtary forces, to act as commissioners with himself. A month later he sent over a melan- choly report to the Protector. " For the army," he Sedgwick's wrote, " I found them in as sad and deplorable report. ^^^ dlstractcd condition as can be thought of, and indeed think, as never poor Englishmen were in : the commanders — some dead, some sick, and some in indifferent health : the soldiery — many dead, their carcasses lying unburied in the highways and among bushes . . . many of them that were alive walked like ghosts or dead men, who, as I went through the town, lay groaning and crying out, ' Bread, for the Lord's sake ! ' The truth is, when I set my foot first on land, I saw nothing but symptoms of necessity and desolation. I found the shore thereabout filled with variety of several casks and hogsheads, puncheons, butts, barrels, chests, and the like, and several dry goods of the State's, as linen shirts and drawers, shoes, stockings, hats, armour, arms and nails, with divers other things lying without any shelter, exposed to all the damage that either rain or sun could do to them, and to the theft and rapine of either soldiers or strangers who, without question embezzled much of them. All the little bread they had, which was about thirty thousand, only kept in casks without doors, and much of it damnified by weather, which bread was kept to distribute a little to the soldiers — and most when sent upon parties. The people here were in daily expectation of a supply of provisions, yet made not the least preparation for the receiving of them. It is a wonder to consider so many wise men that had been here should leave the State's goods so exposed to rain that were so absolutely necessary for the well-being of the army ; when, in a few days, a few men might have made a house to SOl.DIERS AND SATLOKS. 45 I have secured tlieni all ; Ijut so things lay, as if men chap. had run away in a strange, distracted, affrighted ^_ , — .1- condition, as leaving all to the spoil, and never once ^ ^^ looking back." Once more it devolved on the seamen to make f good the deficiency of the soldiers. A party of Goodson's sailors ran up a storehouse in six or eight days. Yet the provisions thus secured from the effects of the weather could not be counted on to last longer than six months at the utmost, even if the men were put on short allowance. The comparative vigour of the sailors was undoubtedly due to theii- living on board ship under healthier conditions than those to which the men belonging to the land service were exposed. The soldiers owed the dysentery and fever from which they were suffering not only to the tropical heat striking on bodies enfeebled by a low diet, but to the absolute neglect of all sanitary precautions.^ Fortescue himself fell a victim ; and after his death his authority passed into the hands of a council of officers, Colonel Doyley being ultimately appointed President and Commander-in-Chief. Yet the ravages of disease were not stayed. The regiment brought over by Humphries landed with a strength of 831 'lusty, healthful, gallant men.' In a few weeks fifty of them were dead, ' whereof two captains, a lieutenant, and two ensigns.' The Colonel himself was 'very weak, the Lieutenant-Colonel at death's door.' All the surviving captains were ill ; no more ' This is Dr. C. Creighton's opinion. He holds that the disease from whicli the force suffered was ' certainly not yellow fever,' but ' was probably allied to it in type.' " Dysentery," he adds, " had been almost universal ; there was no care of the sick, and, so far as one hears, no medical attendance, )io hospitals, no scavenginf^, no security taken to keep the water supply pure — nothing, in short, of what is now called sanitation." A Histori/ of the EiildcmicH in. Britain, i. 643, 644. G a :{ 452 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP, than four commissioned officers were fit to marcliy • r — ^ and the men, for the most part, were suffering to a ^^ greater or less extent. "Soldiers," continued Sedgwick ^ " die daily. ... It is strange to see young lusty men, in appearance well, and in three or four days in the grave, snatched away in a moment with fevers, agues, fluxes and dropsies — a confluence of many diseases." The island itself was ' desirable, capable of produc- ing any kind of merchandise that other islands do ; full of several sorts of cattle.' Yet of these cattle the disorderly mob which called itself an army had recklessly slaughtered at least 20,000, and had rendered the remainder so wild that there was little chance of capturing more. Though the soldiers were ready to claim allotments of land, not one of them would cultivate his lot under that burning sun, and there were no negroes available to undertake a burden beyond the white man's powers. " Dig oi- plant," complained Sedgwick, " they neither can nor will, but do rather starve than work." No wonder officers and men with one accord cried out to be led l^ack to the fleshpots of England.^ Sept. 4. Before this miserable account was written it had SuUiotI*° naturally occurred to Thurloe that a supply of other coioSs than military colonists would be likely to improve the position, and requests were accordingly sent to those in authority in Scotland and Ireland to make provi- sion by sending young persons of both sexes to Jamaica. The reply from Scotland was somewhat discouraging. ^ Sedgwick to the Protector, Nov. 5, Thurloe, iv. 151. Goodson, oil Jan, 24, 1656, writes in as melancholy a strain, ih. iv. 451. In a joint report of the same day Goodson and Sedgwick write that ' it is our desire to attend your Highness's command, in keeping up love, unit}-, and amity between army and fleet, which through mercy we have attained to in a good measure.' Goodson and Sedgwick to the Protector, Jan. 24,- 1656, ih. iv. 455. A SEAllCH FOR EECRUITS. 453 " If I do not mistake," wrote Thurloe's correspondent, chap. XT VTTl '' there are three sorts of persons to be exported, viz., -I — , — '^ such men as are to be recruits ; such as are to be ^ ^^ planters ; and such women as will go over with their; coronets husbands, or will adventure to seek husbands there. "t "'a,nted. To send men as soldiers, unless voluntarily, would ' put the country in a flame.' Planters might perhaps be secured if good conditions were offered. As for ' women and maids, there were not many likely to consent, and it was probable that more might be got out of Ireland than here.' ^ In Ireland the trans- plantation had taught the authorities to deal with such matters with a high hand. "Concerning tlie^ irishgiris young women," wrote Henry Cromwell, " although\ from ir ".'' we must use force in taking them up, yet, it being so '/"''^^" much for their own good,"^ and likely to be of so | great advantage to the public, it is not in the least ! doubted that you may have such number of them as you shall think fit to make use of upon this account." A few weeks later it was resolved in England that p. Talbot to Charles, "^l^^, f^l^, June A. Clarendon MSS. 1. fol. 273, Clar. St. P. iii. 271, 272. ^ Talbot's statement, that these writers placed themselves in Sexby's hands ' in tutto che tratasse col Papa e col Hb di Spagna,' may probably be true of the first three, but cannot be accepted of Lawrence. Sexby, however, may have shown an old letter written to him when he was in the Protector's confidence, and merely expressing sentiments of goodwill . ^ This story is a fiction founded on the fact that Sexby brought to Cromwell a letter from Lilburne, the effect of which was to reconcile the Levellers in the army to service under Cromwell as their com- mander. Sexby had no position in that army. See Great Civil War, iv. 178. SEXBY'S RODOMONTADES. 46 1 Fuensaldana, carried away by this torrent of lies, chap. XT VTT despatched Sexby to Spain to plead his cause in — '.— person with Philip and his ministers. Upon his arrival at Madrid Sexby proposed to establish in mission to England under the restored monarchy a Constitution ^'^"^'"* in accordance with that Lilburnian Agreement of the People, which he had formerly flashed before the eyes of Conde's faction at Bordeaux,^ under which complete liberty of religion was offered even to the Catholics ; though he now admitted that, at least for a time, it would be impracticable to grant them liberty of worship in churches open to the public. He also offered that, as a security that he and his friends would stand by their engagements, some of them should give themselves up to be held as hostages at Dunkirk ; that when the expected insurrection took place in England Irish troops should be placed as garrisons in fortified towns ; and that part of the fleet — doubtless so much of it as was under Lawson's influence^ — which was expected to join the insur- gents, should be brought across the Straits, and be anchored under the guns of Dunkirk. As soon as tlie movement had attained success Charles was to l)e asked to receive the Crown as the people's gift, and on assenting to these terms, and on repudiating any claim to hold England by right of conquest, was to be permitted to remount the throne. As the Spanish Treasury had little to spare for the support of so costly an enterprise, Sexby proposed to invite the Pope to contribute 100,000/. towards an under- taking likely to prove advantageous to his Church.^ ' See Vol. ii. 93. - " Scrive il mio amico'che habita in le Dune, questo e il generale de la flotta che adesso resta in Inghilterra." Sexby to P. Talbot, Nunziatura di Bruselas, Vatican Archives. This points unmistakabh' ^ lb. 462 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. If Philip had accepted this verbiage as a solid ^ — . — ^ basis of action, he would have shown himself even more ignorant of England than the Protector was show- iinswen'^^ ing himself of Austria and Sweden. As it was, Sexby had to content himself with a promise of pecuniary- support, only to be given after the insurrection was in ^^'^•'J. full swing. ^ Nor was Sexby, upon his return to the Sexby Xjow Countrics towards the end of October, anv more returns to ^ _ ' ./ Antwerp, successful witli the English Eoyalists, who, ready as they were to receive any assistance that might offer , itself, were as profoundly suspicious of the proposal to erect a democratic monarchy as they were of Sexby himself. Meanwhile some of the Eoyalists were hojDing to obtain their ends by the shorter course of assas- RiShard^" si^atiou, and about the middle of November Eichard Hakaii^"^ Talbot and James Halsall were arrested in England arrested, on. suspicion of bciug coucemed in an attempt to murder the Protector. It was a conspiracy which has the peculiarity that, while the English Government failed to secure satisfactory evidence against the conspirators, the fact that they were employed in a murder-plot is established upon the evidence of Eoyalists ; whilst it is placed beyond doubt that the respectable Ormond, and other Eoyalists of equal respectability, sympathised with those who were contriving murder.^ In the eyes of the exiles the Protector was himself a murderer of the blackest dye, and might be done to death without compunc- tion by all true-hearted subjects. Both Talbot and Halsall succeeded in effecting their escape to the 1 Talbot to Charles II., ^^''^f, Clarendon MSS. 1. fol. 215. ^ It is true that Talbot in writing avoids such an unpleasant word as murder, and only talks of ' an attempt upon the Protector's person,' and so forth. But it is impossible after reading the correspondence to feel any doubt as to what was intended. R. Talbot to Ormond, Keb.f' Carte's Orig. Letters, ii. 69. EXECUTION OP A SPY. 46^ Continent, after baffling the interrogatories to which chap. they had been subjected.^ -*. — , — i The Protector's failure to produce sufficient ' ^^ evidence to convict these two men may perhaps be accounted for by the loss of his principal spy at Charles's Court. Suspicions having been roused by ,/j"^:^^''' Manning's frequent correspondence with England, he arrested was arrested and his papers seized. It was found executed, that he had drawn up an account of a discussion in the Council on a plan for the seizure of Plymouth. In vain Manning pleaded that he had never given any but useless information to Thurloe, and also that he had made up his mind to break off the connection as soon as possible. Nicholas and Culpepper, who conducted the inquiry into his conduct, were not to be blinded.^ The only question was in what way he could be executed as a traitor to a king who had not a foot of land over which to exercise sovereignty. The Elector of Cologne refused to permit so anoma- lous a jurisdiction within his territory. The Count Palatine of JSTeuburg, however, authorised the execu- tion in his Duchy of Juliers, and the unfortunate man was accordingly taken across the border and shot in a wood by Armorer and Sir James Hamilton. "^ * Peter Talbot writes that nothing made him laugh more ' than that Cromwell should ask of my brother why he should think of killing him . . . seeing he had never prejudiced him in his life ; as if to murder the King and the nobility and gentry of three nations were nothing.' P. Talbot to Harding ?;^„ f , Clarendon MSS. li. fol. 10. - Nicholas Papers, iii. 149-87. Mr. Warner expresses a doubt as to the trustworthiness of Manning's information about the deliberation on the seizure of Plymoiith. Manning's denial of its truth is worth- less, and it chimes in with what we know of Sexby's projects at this time. Clarendon's account of the affair (xiv. 142-45) cannot be relied on for details. ^ The Public Intelligencer, "E, 4gi, 10; SagredototheDoge, Jan. §f, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. The Count Palatine was the Elector of Brandenburg's opponent, Philip William. Sagredo erroneously calls 464 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XL VIII. 1655 Charles asked to change his religion. The com- mand of the sea necessary to the Royalists A fleet preparing. Blake and Montague to com- mand. Little as was to be expected from a combination with the Levellers, the exiled Court was all but driven into their arms by the credulity of the Government at Brussels. Having vainly tempted Charles to change his religion by dangling before his eyes the offer of a Papal grant large enough to set Sexby in motion, Fuensaldana next pressed him to assent to the projected insurrection of the Levellers. Charles, however, who had rejected the plan of conversion from prudential motives, took care to indicate that though he had no objection to the Levellers assisting the English Eoyalists, he would not assent to a republican movement in which his own friends would be swamped.^ The difficulty of giving to Sexby's scheme a plausible form lay principally in the obvious fact that no insurrection was likely to be successful unless the Eoyalists could gain the command of the sea, as in no other case would it be possible to support it with Spanish regiments. For the attainment of this object Sexby was necessarily dependent on his confederate, Lawson, who, however, was no longer, as he had been in the summer and autumn, in possession of an independent command. During the winter months a fleet was preparing for service on the coast of Spain, with the ulterior object of watching for the Plate Fleet, which might be ex- pected to arrive at the end of the summer of 1656. Blake was, as a matter of course, to accompany it as admiral ; but this time he was to receive a colleague in the person of one of the Protector's most attached him the Count Palatine, Duke of Brandenburg. In Hyde's correspondence he is invariably styled Duke of Neuburg — a non- existent title. 1 P. Talbot to Charles II., Dec. i|, Jan. ^V ; the King's answer to the proposals of Mr. S[exby], Clar. St. P., iii. 280, 284 ; Clarendon MSS. li., fol. 55. LAWSON DISTRUSTED. 465 friends, Edward Moiitaf?ue. To Lawson was mven chai'. • • ,> • 1 " 1 » • • 1 n -11 XLVIII. the position 01 vice-adimral. As it is hardly possible ^ . — - that Montague's nomination by the Protector pro- ^ '^ ■ceeded from ain^ distrust of Blake as a commander, it objector may reasonably be accounted for by Oliver's wish to appoini- have someone in command of the fleet on whom he '"*"^ ' could rely to keep an eye on Lawson, and who was sufliciently acquainted with the political currents to know where the danger lay J The truth was, that though Lawson was known Lawson to ' <~ j,f() as vice- to be in the secrets of the Levellers, he was, as the admiral. author of the seamen's petition, too popular among the sailors to be easily dismissed, and it may well have seemed to the Protector that, if he were re- moved from the command of the Channel fleet, he would be safer under Montague's eye on the coast of Spain than in any other position. The risk from I^awson's hostility to the Government was, indeed, not to be treated lio-htly. The difficulty of ^^.j.^s<^- manning the fleet was great, as the destination of otinanniufr the expedition was kept secret and the sailors sus- pected it to be destined for the West Indies. More- over, the financial straits into which the Govermnent had fallen stood in the way of the prompt payment of wages. Officers directed to press seamen into the service of the State met with organised opposition. Yet in the end their object was attained, partly b\ seizing sailors on shore, partly by compelling out- ward-bound merchantmen to surrender the most ' Clarendon says (xv. 26) that Montague was appointed at J^lake's request, on the ground of his state of health. It is not unlikely that Clarendon heard this from Montague himself. It does not follow tliat the statement was true. A Royalist agent distinctly named the per- son to whom Blake complained that tlie Protector had 'joined him to a very worthless fellow.' Ross to Nicholas, July ^}, S.P. Dom. cxxix. 32. Giavarina, too, after making some inquiry, declares that Blake and Montague were not on good terms during the voyage. VOL. ill. II II 466 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XLVIII. "T656 Sailors' grievances. Lawsou regarded dangerous. Feb. 1. Charles's hopes from the fleet. efficient seamen.^ That the sailors were not without justification for their unwillingness to serve the State is shown not merely by the fact that, in accordance with existing regulations, the crews of Blake's fleet of 1654-55 received no pay during the twenty months of their service at sea,- but that not a penny of the money due to them had been made over to their wives and families, a grievance which had found its place in the seamen's petition of 1654.^ As for prize goods, they were apt to remain in the hands of offi- cials, or to be detained for the use of the State, in- stead of being distributed amongst the captors.^ With such a feeling of discontent prevailing amongst the crews it is no wonder that Lawson's presence in their midst was regarded by the Govern- ment as a danger. It is at least certain that Charles was looking hopefully in this direction, and that on February i he instructed an agent to assure Fuen- saldana that, if he were openly received in Flanders, ' some of those ships may come in before they pass the Channel, at least that they will drop into the ports of Spain as they pass that coast and the Mediterranean.' " It may be suspected that Charles failed to realise the disinclination of the English sailor to desert his flag in the presence of the enemy. ^ Weald to Peters, Jan. 22 ; Hatsell to the Admiralty Commis- sioners, Feb. I ; Hatsell to Blackborne, Feb. 5, S.P. Dom. xxiii. 59, cxxiv. 9-24, with other letters in the same collection. - The fleet had been lying at Portsmouth long before it sailed for the Mediterranean. ' The Admiralty Commissioners to the Protector and Council, Oct. 12, 1655, Thurloe, iv. 79. ' Oppenheim's Administratio7L of the Navy, i. 315-19. On the other hand, Goodson sold the plunder of Santa Marta ' at each ship's mast.' Though he does not say the price was divided, according to rule, amongst the crews, there canbe little doubt that it was so. Goodson to the Council, Nov. 7, 1655, ib. iv. 159. • Instructions to De Vic, Feb. ^, Clar. St. F. iii. 286. LAWSOX'S EESIGXATION. 467 Lawson, who can have been under no delusion on chai^ this score, suddenly threw up his command, either r — '- because he despaired of being able to satisfy the ex- ^ ^ pectations he had raised at Cologne, or because he resigns lua discovered that his secret had been betrayed.^ His own explanation was that he would not go to sea till he knew the design of the voyage.^ About a fortnight later Captain Lyons resigned, testifying his discon- March i. tent at ' the neglect of due care for both commanders example and seamen and their families in case of death or long by three absence at sea,' adding that ' he was not satisfied in *^*p*''^"^^' the design . . . neither against whom we should go, nor where.' On the following day Captain Hill fol- March 2. lowed his example. Hill's objections to serve were still more explicit than those of Lyons. Englishmen, ' The Protector informed Bordeaux somewhat later that he had had information of Sexby's design ' d'exciter un soulevement dans la riotte,' Bordeaux to Mazarin, ^ApH^o^ French Transcripts, B.O. - " I cannot but admire at Capt. Lawson's actings, seeing he went so far ; and thus to retreat renders him not the person I took him for. Ingenuity would have prompt[ed] him to have done otherwise, but I fear he is so strongly biassed by those that wish not well to the present public transactions that he consulted not his own reason as he ought on the best of accounts." Hatsell to the Admiralty Commissioners, Feb. 15, 8.P. Dom. cxxiv. 34. Hatsell's statement to that effect is also corroborated by the statement of the Dutch ambassador that Lawson ' seyne comissie heeft nedergelegt.' Nieupoort to the States General, Feb. li. Add MSS. 17,677 W, fol. 229. Also, in a letter of Jan. i, 1657, John Thompson writes {8.P. Dom. cliii. 6) to Eobeit Thompson, the Navy Commissioner, that his friend. Vice -Admiral Lawson, had laid down his commission. It is, if possible, even more conclusive tliat the official warrant of the Navy Commissioners issued on August 28, 1656, for Lawson's pay (*6. cxliv. in) directs that it is to be reckoned up to Feb. 1 1, the day he laid down his commis- sion. On the other hand a royalist puts it otherwise. " Your most admired Lawson, the Vice-Admiral, is cashiered for refusing to go to sea till he knew the design." Pile to Whitley, Feb. 21, ih. cxxiv. 90. The epithet ' most admired,' occurring in a letter from one Royalist to another, indicates the expectations formed in that quarter, but the term ' cashiered ' cannot be accepted in view of the preponder- ating evidence that Lawson resigned. H H 2 468 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XLVIII. ^656" March 7. Feb. 14. Badiley succeeds Lawson. Lawsoii not connected with the Fifth Monarchy Men. March. Libertition of Harrison and Rich. lie alleged, and not Spaniards, had been the cause of the trouble in the Indies, and he consequently dis- approved of the orders given to Blake the year before to attack the Plate Fleet. His conscience, he averred, would not ' suffer him to fight the Spaniards either in the West Indies or southerly,' though he was ready to defend his own country if attacked by an enemy in the Channel. A few days later Captain Abelson also laid down his commission on the plea of his wife's ill health. A lieutenant who de- clared that if he had been in Lawson's place he would have acted in the same way as the Vice- Admiral was promptly cashiered.^ At Whitehall, where Sexby's projects were well known, the whole trouble was attributed to Spanish intrigue.- Lawson's place had been filled without delay by Badiley,^ whose conduct against the Dutch in the Mediterranean had left no- thing to be desired. Though Lawson's defection put the Government on its guard against the Levellers, he had no connection with the Fifth Monarchists, and, with characteristic hopefulness, the Protector seized the opportunity to make one more attempt to conciliate the latter, who, whatever other reasons for dis- satisfaction they might have, were at least unlikely to object to an attack on Papal Spaniards. On February 19 the Council took into consideration the release of Harrison and his fellow-sufferers, Carew, Courtney, and Eich.'* Their liberation was, however, postponed for a little time ; but on March 22 Harrison, in spite of his asseveration that he pre- ^ Montague to Thurloe, March 2, 7, 10, Thurloe, iv. 570, 590, 594. 2 Thurloe to Montague, March 4, Carte's Orig. Letters, ii. S7. '' The Public Intelligencer, E, 492, 6. * See supra, p. 116. AN ARGUMENTATIVE VICTORY. 469 ferred imprisonment to liberty, was forced to accept chai-. " XLVIII the freedom which he deprecated, and is heard of ■^—r — '- before the end of the month in his house at High- ^^ ^ gate.^ Eich appears to have been set free, volmitarily or involuntarily, about the same time, though Carew and Courtney remained in durance. The delay was probably owing to information which reached the Government of the intention of the Anabaptists and Fifth Monarchy Men to meet in London to discuss the question of taking arms. Such a meeting was Ameetin<; actually held about the middle of March, With his baptists usual dislike of unnecessary bloodshed, the Protector, Monarchy instead of sending soldiers to disperse it, invited some ^''"' of his own Baptist supporters to argue the matter out with their more extreme co-religionists, with the result that the gathering dispersed in a more peaceable frame of mind than had been expected.-' It was, no doubt, less with the object of defending the Protector against movements of tliis kind, which might properly be dealt with by the regular forces, than to preserve him against a renewal of assassination-plots such as that with which Halsall and Talbot had been charged, that a new lifeguard, composed of picked Feb. 20. and highly paid men who had served with credit in lifeguard. the army, and no less than 160 strong, was instituted as a security for his person.^ ' Council Order Book, Intcrr. I, 76, pp. 554, 586; Rogers, t/e^av SahadutJta, 133; The Public Intelligencer, E, 493, 2. 2 Thurloe to H. Cromwell, March 18, Tliurloe, iv. 629. The officers sent to liberate Harrison reached Carisbrooke on the 20th ; they must therefore have left London about the 17th or i8th, soon after this affair took place, thus justifying the suspicion that it had something to do with the postponement of a decision in the Council on Harrison's liberation. Eich must have been freed — though we have no statement to that effect — as he was re-imprisoned in Augvist. Care^\• and Courtney were still in confinement in October. •' Council Order ]]ook, Interr. I, 76, p. 556. 470 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP, XLVIIl. Sexby's chance of success at an end. April i\. A treaty between Cliarles and Spain. April 1%. A separate article on religion. With Lawson's resignation all chance of a suc- cessful issue to Sexby's schemes came to an end for the present.^ It was, perhaps, a tardy conviction that Sexby was no better than a braggart that induced Fuensaldaiia to seek a more direct understanding with Charles. Before the end of March Charles visited Brussels in strict incognito, and on April 2 a treaty was signed between his representatives and those of the King of Spain. By it Philip engaged to lend 4,000 soldiers to the Stuart prince as the nucleus of a larger army of Eoyalists. The sole condition was that a port of disembarkation should be secured in Eng- land. Subsequently, after Charles had by this means recovered his throne, he was to assist Philip to regain Portugal. On the burning question of the West Indies, Charles was to retain all that his father had held at the time of the Treaty of 1630, that is to say, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis. He was, however, not merely to abandon territory acquired since that date — in other words, Antigua, Montserrat, and Jamaica — but was to engage never to allow his subjects to make any fresh settlement either in the islands or on the mainland — a stipulation which is mainly interesting as showing the limits of Spanish con- cession. In a separate article, added on the following ^ Dyer, Sexby's servant, when examined on Feb. 27, 1658 {Thurloe, vi. 829), said that 800?. had been given to Sexby in Spain ; whilst Thurloe, on April 15, 1656, mentions that precise sum as having come into his hands (ib. iv. 698). In another examination Dyer {ib. vi. 832) speaks of two sheepskins full of pistoles being sent over by Richard Overton. If so, it looks as if Overton was the person who betrayed Sexby's plans to the Government. It is known that on Sept. 6, 1654 {Thurloe, ii. 590), he offered his services to Thurloe, and he appears on Thurloe's list of payments out of the secret service money as having already received 20I. for his services on Dec. 13, 1653. S.P. Dom. xcv. 90, xcviii. Dyer in his information confuses the two Overtons, and generally mixes up his dates. A llOYALIST TREATY. 471 XLVIII. 1656^ day, Charles engaged to execute the Irish treaty to ^hal which Ormond had consented in 1646/ and to suspend the penal laws against the Catholics in all parts of his dominions, as well as to do everything in his power to bring about their total repeal.^ Though the whole treaty was intended to be veiled in pro- found secrecy, it was well known to the Protector before six weeks were out.^ Neither at Brussels nor at Madrid did Spanish The 1 1 1 • -TXT' 1 Spaniards Statesmen lay much stress on this agreement. With- not entim- out Lawson's aid there was no chance of obtaining charies-s the services of any part of the English fleet, and unless the command of the Channel could be secured it was useless to think of sending a Spanish force into England. When Philip ratified the treaty, he did so only on the ground that it might be useful to him at some future time, whilst it bound him to nothing for the present. Charles's request to be allowed to take up his abode in the Low Countries was granted with extreme reluctance. After the signature of the treaty, however, it was difficult to refuse his reiterated demand, and he was permitted to take up his quarters at Bruges, where for some time he spun out an idle charies at existence with the help of a pension accorded to him by the Spanish Government.* Now that Charles was brouo-ht into so close a career of Lucy •connection with the enemy it was but natural that waiter. OUver should seize with avidity on any opportunity of discrediting him in the eyes of Englishmen. Such ' Great Civil War, iii. 55. - Abreu y Bertolano, Colleccimi de los Tratados de Paz . . . de Espana, viii. 305. ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, May f |, French Transcripts, B.O. '' Cardenas to Philip IV., March |f ; the Archduke Leopold to PhiHpIV.,'';^°|;f ; Committee of the Council of State, -^^^'^f ; Cardenas to Philip IV., July i|, Guizot, ii. 56272. 472 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP, a chance was at this time thrown in his way. In 1 648^ . , '^ one Lucy Waher, the daughter of a Welsh gentleman, ^^56 was living at The Hague as the mistress of Colonel Eobert Sidney. When Charles returned from his expedition to the Thames, Sidney passed her on to his sovereign, whose infatuation went so far as to induce him to acknowledge as his own a son — the- future Duke of Monmouth — to whom she gave birth seven months after he landed in Holland. So openly, indeed, did he display his affection that even his sister, the Princess of Orange, referred some years- later to Lucy as his wife. When, however, Charles came back in 1651 from his long absence in Scotland, and found her again about to become a mother,. June. he permanently discarded her. In June 1656, after inEiTgiand. various discreditable adventures, she made her way to London, this time in company with Thoma* Howard, a Gentleman of the Horse to the Princess of Orange. Living at a great expense, with no avow- able source of income, she became an object of suspicion to the guardians of order. Being lodged in the Tower, she was found in possession of a warrant from Charles for a pension of 5,000 livres, and she openly boasted that her boy was the son of July I. the King.^ On July i the Council ordered that she back'to should be sent back to Flanders.- The courtly Flanders. Mevcurius PoUticus printed Charles's warrant, and Remarks of thcu procccded to draw an inference : — " Those that PouucuT hanker after him may see they are furnished already with an heir apparent, and what a pious, charitable prince they have for their master, and how well he ^ The evidence is collected in Steinman's AltJiorp Memoirs, 77-92. - Council Order Book, Interr. I, 77, p. 218. She would be trans- ported under the clause of the Instructions to the Major- Generals authorising them to send abroad persons without ostensible means- of subsistence. BLAKE AND MONTAGUE AT SEA. 473 disposeth of the collections and contributions which chap. • • \^T VTTT they make for him here towards the maintenance of ., L his concubines and royal issue." ^ ^^^6 For immediate purposes, however, the enemy was March 28, not Charles, but Spain. On March 28 the fleet, tife fleet which had long been preparing in the Channel ports, at last sailed from Torbay." Its delay, caused either by internal dissensions or by contrary winds, enabled two galleons and two smaller vessels from the belated Plate Fleet of the last season to reach Cadiz unmolested,'* though their consorts had been wrecked in the Indies. When Blake and Montague reached Cadiz Bay, the}' April 20. found that the Spanish ships of war had taken refuge in Cadiz in the narrow and tortuous Carraca channel,^ at the *'^' entrance of which had been placed vessels ready to be sunk on the approach of an enemy, and that the entrances to the harbour itself had been strongly fortified since Cecil's appearance in 1625, rendering an attack hazardous in the extreme. An attempt on Gibraltar was next thought of, but Montague declared that the enterprise would be hopeless without at least 4,000 soldiers to blockade the rock on the land side, holding that seamen were ' not for land service, unless it be a sudden plunder.' •' For some weeks, therefore, the fleet continued cruising off" Cadiz, occasionally exchanging shots with galleys creeping out when the sea was calm, but 1 Merc. Pol., E, 494, 13. ^ Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 143 1, fol. 43b. ^ Merc. Pol, E, 493, 8, 13. * See map prefixed to Hist, of Engl., 1603-1642, Vol. vi. •■" Montague to Thurloe, Apr. 20-May 29, Thurloe, v. 67 ; Weale's Journal, Sloane MSS. 1431, foil. 44-45. It is probable that the Pro- tector had suggested an attempt on Gibraltar before the expedition sailed. In a letter of April 28 {Carlyle, Letter CCIX.) he took up the subject, but so far as we can gather from Montague's letter this did not reach the fleet till after the question had been discussed. 474 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP, it neither suffered nor inflicted damage worthy of ___, — J. mention. On May 20, leaving sixteen frigates to '^^56 keep up the blockade, the generals, with the more The gene- powcrful ships, Sailed for Lisbon.^ Lisbon. The presence of the fleet in Portuguese waters Portuguese ^as rcquircd to compel the reluctant King to ratify unratified" ^^^ treaty negotiated with Peneguiao in 1654.'^ The main objection taken by John IV. was to the article conceding to English merchants and seamen the free exercise of worship in their ships and houses.^ An article which had been repelled at Madrid was not likely to be favourably regarded in Portugal. March ii. Determined to have his way, the Protector mission to despatched Philip Meadowe to Lisbon to demand that the treaty should be ratified without the altera- tion of a syllable."* Meadowe had some acquaint- ance with the foreign policy of the Government, having for some time discharged the duties of Latin secretary, from which Milton had been incapacitated by his blindness, and he might therefore be trusted to carry out his instructions with dexterity. His The King's fjj.g^ interview with the King was, from his own point reluctance O ' r to give way, of vicw, uusatisfactory. '"I am King," said John, " of Portugal, not of the Church." ^ A few days later an intimation that the fleet, then on its way to Cadiz, might look in at Lisbon with the kindliest intentions was not without effect, and the King was ultimately induced to make what he probably regarded as a ^ Montague to Thurloe, Apr. 20 — May 29, Thicrloe, v. 67. 2 See Vol. ii. 386. ^ Pile toEoss, J— \f!„, S.P.Dom. cxxiv. no. The statement con- ' March 10 ' tained in this letter is confirmed by the course of the subsequent negotiations. '^ Nieupoort to the States General, March -^-j, Thurloe, iv. 587. ■' Giavarina to the Doge, May 3%, Venetian Transcrii^ts, B.O. The Venetian fancied that the treaty demanded a public church for Englishmen in Lisbon, which was not the case. MEADOWE AT LISBON. 475 considerable concession. He would consent to grant ^]\^\- XLiVIII. 1656 the religious liberty demanded, if only the article were approved of by the Pope ; ^ unless, indeed, the Protector would revert to the Treaty of 1641, giving Au^seiess' concession liberty to Englishmen only so long as they gave no scandal. When the Protector, on May ^, heard of Maya. ' p ThePio- this offer, he treated the proposed reference to the tector hears Pope as an insult to himself,- and ordered Blake and Montasfue to leave Cadiz and sail for Lisbon, where ^ay 5. < - _ ' orders the a homeward-bound fleet from Brazil was expected fleet to sail I'll! Lisbon. shortly to arrive. "^ It was this order which brought about the relinquishment of the station off Cadiz by the larger portion of the ships under the command of the Eiicflish generals. At the same time Meadowe was ordered to obtain ratification within five days of the reception of these new instructions or to come away. A few days before this despatch was sent away May i. an event occurred which, if the English diplomatist attempt to had been less public-spirited than he was, might keadowe. easily have served to embitter the relations between the two countries. As Meadowe was returning from an audience he was wounded in the hand by a shot from an arquebus. The King, in his anxiety to shield himself from English vengeance, did his utmost, or appeared to do his utmost, to discover the criminal; but though it was a matter of common belief in Lisbon that the shot was fired either by Peneguiao himself or by his orders, with the intention of avenging his brother,^ no arrests were made.^ It is ' Meadowe to Blake and Montague, May ^, Thurloe, iv, 759. ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, May ^f , French Transcripts, R.O. ^ Thurloe to Montague, May 6, Carte's Orig. Letters, ii. 106. ' See Vol. ii. 385. ^ John IV, to the Protector, May ^|; Montague to Thurloe, June 17, Thurloe, v. 28, 124 ; Giavarina to the Doge, July ^, Vene- tian Transcripts, R.O. 476 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XLVIII. May 31. Ratifica- tions ex- changed. The differences of opinion between Blake and Montague. probable, indeed, that the Protector's demands had so irritated pubhc opinion in the country ^ that no other result was to be expected. All the more was King John desirous of showing personal courtesy to the wounded man, even going so far as to send no fewer than ten of the best physicians and ten of the best surgeons in Portugal to attend him when his wound was dressed.''^ In spite, however, of this multitude of advisers, Meadowe's wound proved not to be dangerous, and though, when the five days to which his negotiation was limited were expired the King had shown no signs of yielding, the envoy was able to announce on May 3 1 that the ratifications had been at last exchanged.^ Praiseworthy as was the conduct of Meadowe in refusing to aggravate the situa- tion on account of his personal grievance, it cannot be said that his diplomatic success was the consequence of his own efforts. His most powerful argument was the approach of the fleet, which was off* Cape Espichel on the 27th, fully prepared to cope with the expected convoy from Brazil. The differences of opinion between the two admirals were becoming a matter of public notoriety in London ; ^ and causes for misunderstanding were not wanting on this occasion. Montague, with the fiery zeal of a landsman, was burning for the fray, and would have been glad to see Meadowe disavowed 1 Bordeaux remarks that France could not support the Protector's demand for religious liberty ' dans un pays dont les loix interdisent la diversite de religions, ou le clerge a grand pouvoir, et le Boy ne jouit que d'lme autorite precaire.' Bordeaux to Brienne, June j%, French Transcripts B.O. ^ Giavarina to the Doge, July ;J|, Venetian Transcripts, B.O; The Public Intelligencer, E, 494, 11. » Meadowe to Blake and Montague, May 31, Thurloe, v. 79- * See p. 465, note l. Compare Giavarma to the Doge, June %%, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. THE P(3RTIJGUESE RATIFICATION. 477 on tlie oTounds of the expiration of the five days chap. "^ • • • • XLVIII before the King yielded, and of the failure to punish .^ ___! the authors of the attempted assassination. Blake ' ^ ' prudently supported Meadowe, as having effected the object of his negotiation in substance ; ^ and Blake's view was shared by the Protector, who was not Biaiu^aud . . ^ f. Meadowe the man to take exception to mere points oi lorm. supported Meadowe was, moreover, able to advance a potent Protector. argument in favour of his views by shipping off to England the 50,000/.- which the King had engaged 50,000^. , -j^ , . , , . ' . P Kent lionie. to pay to the Jingiish merchants m compensation tor losses suffered by them during Eupert's visit in 1 649,^ but which now found its way, at least for a time, into the Protector's Treasury.* After this there was no longer aiw reason to detain the fleet in Portuguese juue 28. waters, and on June 28 the generals returned to Cadiz letumTto Bay,"'^ whence they sent out squadrons from time to "''"' ''■' time to harass what little of Spanish commerce was in existence, whilst they trusted to Providence to send, sooner or later, a Plate Fleet within their reach. The seizure of the Plate Fleet, if it were ever Spanish realised, would do much to fill the empty treasury i'"^''^*^'''"*'- of the Government. En2;lish merchants mio-ht be pardoned for looking nearer home, where the mariners of Ostend and Dunkirk, as well as those of the Biscay ports, were now actively employed in matching their quick-sailing privateers against the ' Meadowe to Thurloe, June 16; Montague to Thurloe, June 17, Thurloe, v. 123, 124. * lb. V. 286. This was reckoned as the value of the coin sent home. It ultimately produced only 48,058?. Beceipt BocJcs of the Exchequer, Aug., Sept. 12, 16, 20 ; Council Order Book, Lnterr. I, J7, p. 601. » See Vol. ii. 387. * The division of the money among the merchants was to be settled by arbitration. I have not yet been able to discover when tliis took place. ''' Montague to Thurloe, June 30, Thurloe, \. 170. 478 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. Feb. Their activity in the Channel. March- June Losses of English shipping. Question of the pos- session of Dunkirk revived. mercantile navy of England. Having little trade of their own to protect, these hornets of the sea were freed from the necessity of guarding their own waters, and it would go hard with them if they did not find a lucrative occupation in the capture of a fair number of the 3,000 English merchantmen, who were, on an average, constantly exposed to danger.^ In February some of these privateers had anticipated the issue of Spanish commissions, and by the middle of March forty sail, leaving the ports of Dunkirk and Ostend, had secured some thirty prizes in the Channel and the North Sea.- The Newcastle colliers, especially, fell an easy prey, and the price of coals began, in consequence, to rise in London.^ In the Channel matters were quite as bad. Even when merchantmen were sailing under convoy it was easy for a nimble frigate to slip in amongst them and carry off its prey. The Dunkirkers were not only built for speed, but they were kept scrupulously clean, and frequently returned to port to be re-tallowed, whereas English men-of-war were often allowed to stream with seaweed. The complaints of those who lost their goods or theii- kinsmen were loudly raised, and the blame would naturally be thrown on the Government which had entered on a war for whicli there was no national demand.^ The question of the possession of Dunkirk thus passed from the region of diplomatic possibility to that of urgent political necessity. The Protector, at least, had made up his mind that the offending port ^ Sagrcdo to the Doge, Nov. ^.2, 1655, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. • Intelligence from Dunkirk, March 11, S.P. Dom. cxxv. 27 ; Car- denas to Philip IV., March ^f , Guizot, ii. 562. ' Giavarina to the Doge, March J|, Venetian Transcripts, B.O. ' The documents amongst the State Papers are too numerous to be quoted separately. OVERTURES TO FRANCE. 479 must be transferred to his own guardianship, and as chap. XLVIII Mazarin had offered to comply with his wishes in -^^ — , — ^ 1654, he can hardly have expected much difficulty in attaining his object ; and he therefore found great cause for dissatisfaction when Bordeaux, returning from his leave of absence, had but little to say, at his first audience on March 20, about that closer alliance March m. -'' Aprils for military purposes which was so much in the Pro- Bordeaux's tector's mind, especially now that the much-talked- of conjunction with Sweden had proved elusive. Another source of dissatisfaction with France was his End of knowledge that, just as the Protector had made up tioubu^s.^ liis mind to offer 20,000/. to support the resistance of the Swiss Protestant cantons to the claim of Catholic Schwytz to persecute its own ProtestantsJ a peace had been concluded under French media- tion in which each canton was acknowledged to have the right of dealing as it pleased with its subjects." The result was none the less disliked at Whitehall because it was a counterpart to the appeal by Charles X. to the Treaty of Osnabriick. Oliver was the more anxious because the rumours Rumours of a mediation on the part of the Pope between tionS'Se France and Spain had lately been acquiring con- bien sistency. When, therefore, Bordeaux's silence con- sparn*"""^ firmed the impression that the friendship with France was less solid than he had hoped, Oliver resolved to despatch a special ambassador to the French Court to discover from Mazarin in person what his intentions really were.^ For this purpose he selected ' See supra, p. 443. - Pell's correspondence (Vaughan's Pi-otectorate, i. 282-429) gives the salient features of the struggle. ^ Bordeaux to Brienne, ''Ip'ru'io' ^^^^^^^ "• 5^2 ; Bordeaux to Mazarin, ""/u iq, French Transcripts, R.O. Only a portion of the latter is printed by Guizoi, ii. 584. 48o COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XLVIII. ^676 Lockhart named am- bassador to France. His career. Mazarin tries to avert Lockhart's mission. Mazarin's peace jjrojects. Sir William Lockhart, a Scot who, after an adven- turous career, in the course of which he had served as a soldier in the armies of France and of the United Provinces, had returned home to fight under the standard of his own country in the Civil War. He was knighted by Charles I. after his surrender at Newark, and subsequently fought under Hamilton at Preston ; but, considering himself slighted by Argyle, he threw up his commission before the battle of Dunbar, and, perhaps for that reason, saw his offer of service refused by Charles on the march to Worcester. In his anger he transferred his services to the English Parliament, and in May 1652 took his seat at Edin- burgh as a member of the Commission for the Execution of Justice. In 1653 he represented Scotland in the Nominated Parliament, and in the first Protectorate Parliament he sat for his native county of Lanark. In July 1654, before that Parliament was chosen, he sealed his devotion to the Protector by marrying his widowed niece, Eobina Sewster. All that Mazarin and Bordeaux could do to avert this unwelcome mission was attempted in vain. Mazarin protested that the life of any representative of the Protector would be in danger from the English Eoyalists.^ All that he effected was a resolution to provide Lockhart with a guard of twelve soldiers, disguised as his domestic servants, besides a certain number of officers, who would appear as the gentle- men of his chamber.^ Mazarin had, indeed, more cause to deprecate any step which might bind him to an active alliance with England than Oliver was aware of, even though a rumour that the French had proposed to open a peace conference at Savona had reached his ^ Mazarin to Bordeaux, Apr. j§, Guizot, ii. 587. '•' Schlezer to Jena [?], Urkunden und Aktenstiicke, vii. 749. A SECKET MISSION. 48 1 ears. ^ Such a frame of mind, once known to the Spanish chap. n „ . ' T ^ ^ XLVIII. ministers, could not tail to produce overtures on - — r— their part, now that they had to dread the fleets of ' ^ England as well as the armies of France. Accordingly, in the course of February the Archduke Leopold Feb. ig. had despatched a Spaniard named Gaspar Bonifaz to Bonifaz Madrid to adjure Philip to come to terms with France, at the same time emphasising his request by tendering his own resignation of the viceroyalty, on the plea that he could no longer hope to resist the enemy with credit. Bonifaz was directed to pass through Feb. \\. Paris in order to obtain, if possible, the consent of assured ot Mazarin to the opening of a negotiation. Mazarin, who rencTof''"'^ wished for nothing better than a peace which would ^'^^"'^®- secure her conquests to France, was highly delighted. Even Louis XIV. was brought on the scene. " Tell the King of Spain," he said, " that I desire his friendship more than anything else. No," he cor- rected himself, "there is something I desire still more, and it is that we should make peace and put our two crowns into a condition to defend religion, which is dangerously threatened." Such words betrayed the Frenchman's true feeling in the face of that Protestant alliance which was never long absent from the Protector's mind. Before the end of March Bonifaz brought back from Madrid the reply that Philip was as anxious for peace as Louis. ^' At his first audience, on May 8, Lockhart was Mayi^. received with every show of courtesy by the King, firTt in the presence of the Cardinal,^ but was unable to '^'^^^^'^''^• obtain an interview with the latter till he met him at ^ Intercepted letter from Boreel, Jan. ^, Thurloe, iv. 386. ^ Valfrey, Hugues de Lionne, ses ambassades en Espagne et Allemagne, 1-8. 2 Letter to Bampfield, May Jg, Thurloe, v. 8. VOL. III. II 482 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. 1656 Compiegne on the 19th. In the conversation which ensued the French minister suggested the smaller fort of Mardyk as the place to be attacked and surrendered Mazarin"' to England after its capture, but put certain questions in attack wMch, as they must necessarily be referred to Eng- ,iyk. ^^ land, would take some time to answer,^ Before the reply could arrive Mazarin casually mentioned that he May*t. could not be ready to commence operations before A (late July 20.^ It is obvious that the date was fixed, not on co-opera- accouut of military exigencies, but because Lionne, the ablest of the French diplomatists, was to start on jiay-ii. May ^i for Madrid to treat for peace, and that time June 10. J -J r y Lionne must bc alTordcd for knowing whether his mission Miu\nd. proved a success or a failure.^ A discussion on such points as whether France should or should not pay the English troops to be used in the siege kept the June, ball rolling till June 20.^ By that time Mazarin knew thenego- that the negotiation at Madrid was less promising than he had hoped, as, whilst Lionne considered the restoration of any one of the fortified places secured by France as a favour to Spain, Don Luis de Haro considered it to be a favour to France if she were allowed to keep a single one of the fortresses she had conquered.^ Yet for all that Mazarin was not without hope of a better answer. The French army was laying siege to Valenciennes, and if, as there seemed every probability, the town fell into its hands, Spain might possibly be brought to acknow- ledge her helplessness. The siege also enabled him to delay a final answer to Lockhart, as it was 1 Lockhart to Thurloe, May ^f, Thurloe, v. 41. Lockhart's chief despatch of this date is missing ; but compare the despatch of f^i^lf Thurloe, v. 52. 2 Misprinted June in Thurloe, v. 53. ^ Valfrey, 13. * Lockhart to Thurloe, Jime §§, Thurloe, v. 142. * Valfrey, 14-22. tiation. MAZARIN'S DIPLOMACY. 48^ ol3vious that the army was insufficient to master chap. Valenciennes and a Flemish port at the same time.^ ~1— . — '- The day, however, arrived when this excuse ceased ' ^ ' to be available. On July 5 the French besieging j„iy ,v. army was broken up by the Spaniards, who followed cieuues up their success by the capture of Conde on August 8. ^■®'''^''' • The failure to take Valenciennes affected both cond^ ''' negotiations. Mazarin assured Lockhart, with little regard for truth, that Lionne had been sent to An inter-" Madrid merely to satisfy the Pope and the clergy. Maladli.^ and then, with more convenient truthfulness, unrolled the exorbitant demands of Spain before the English- man's ears as an argument to show that France was driven to carry on the war at all costs. He did not mention, indeed, that Lionne had not yet been re- called, but he urged a demand for the loan of 4,000 English soldiers, to be employed, not in the siege of Dunkirk or Mardyk, but in that of some inland place. ^ A fortnight later, when he was pressed to j»?^j^^- ioin in an attack on Dunkirk, with the obiect of Dunkirk •^ T . . P . ^ . ' ,. , ^ . tobebe- placmg it alter its surrender m English occupation, sieged in he for some tune positively refused to agree. To spring. besiege Dunkirk, he said, would enable the Spaniards to gain some other fortress, and to deliver up Dun- kirk to his Highness, whilst this other place was, at the same time, lost to France, would render him so odious to the whole country that he durst not venture upon so dangerous a policy. Yet before the interview was at an end the Cardinal so far yielded as to engage to join in an attack on Dunkirk, if only the e:!j:ecution of the plan could be deferred to the following spring.'' Evidently what he was really aiming at was to post- ' Lockhart to Thurloe, :|ury'7,'io°> J^b' t\. Thurloe, v. 164, 172. - Lockhart to Thurloe, July Jg, ih. v. 217. ■' Lockhart to Thurloe, '2J^^f^, ih. v. 252 I I 2 484 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP. XL VIII. Sept. ^. Breacli of the nego- tiations. Mazariu turns to the Enghsh alliance. Nov. ^%. An agree- ment about Dunkirk. pone any irrevocable engagement with England, till he was absolutely certain of Lionne's failure. With this answer the Protector was obliged to be content. At the time when this communication was made Lionne's mission was by no means at an end. Early in September Don Luis de Haro gave way so far as to abandon all claim to the lost territories of Spain. On one point only was he obdurate. Conde must be restored, not only to his property in France, but to those governments and other offices which had gone far to enable him to dictate terms to the Crown. Philip, in point of fact, had engaged to Conde in 1650 t6 make no peace with France without safe- guarding these claims, and he was now ready to j)lunge his country once more into a hopeless war, rather than break his word. On this point of honour the long negotiation reached its term.^ Mazarin's failure was Oliver's opportunity. In the war before her France stood in need of an ally, and that ally could be no other than England. As the friendship of England could only be secured by the delivery of Dunkirk, the Cardinal had no longer a choice. On November 8 he and Lockhart came to an agreement. " A levy of 3,000 men," wrote the ambassador to Thurloe, " is expected on your part. The maintenance of the whole land forces and all the charges of the land seized is to be theirs, and whether ]3unkirk or Gravelines shall be begun at is referred to Marshal Turenne. The first of them that shall be taken is to be put into your hands ; if Gravelines, it's to be put into your hands as a pledge for Dunkirk ; if Dunkirk first, it's to be put into your hands absolutely, and the Protector is to dispose of the 3,000 men as he shall judge fit." - ' Valfrey, 33-63. - Lockhart to Thurloe, Nov. x1;» TJnirloe, v. 574. AN AGREEMENT AVITJI FRANCE. 485 111 coming- to this decision, the French Govern- chap. XLVIII nient knew perfectly well that though the Protector ^ — , — '- was driven to wrest Dunkirk from Spain on account ^ ^ of the ravages of the privateers which issued from protector that port, it was jealousy of France which determined Snce"^ his resolution to bring it under his own rule, as it was doubtless jealousy of France which had made him cling to the hope of a Spanish alliance up to the autumn of 1654.^ The future he believed himself able to confide to the strength of the English fleet and army. It is most unlikely that he was unaware that he could not hold the place without irritating a nation which, strong already, was about to grow- stronger by his aid. Yet he seems hardly to have reckoned on the anger which his general policy raised beyond the Channel. " All persons here," Lockhart had written a few days before the completion of his task, " that pretend to be good Catholics express a passionate zeal for an accommodation between France and Spain upon any terms. The clergy press opposition the necessity of it upon their auditories at all Pmieh occasions."- If the Protector could have been informed of the language used by Louis himself to Bonifaz earlier in the year,^ he would have had matter to give him pause. To claim to be the champion of the Protestant interest in Europe, and in so doing to ' " M. le Pi'otecteur ayant au temps dn Parlement le plus con- tribue a la prise du secours de Dunkerque sur ce fondement que, si tous les portz de coste tomboient entre nos mains, I'Angleterre ne joueroit point de la liberte de commerce dans la Manche sans nosti'e consentement." Bordeaiix to Brienne, May \\, French Transcrijjts, B.O. This is, I believe, the only authority for supposing that Crom- well played a leading part in sending Blake to seize the French relievinj^- ships. The account is, however, intrinsically probable, and, if true, shows how consistent Cromwell was in his dealings about Dunkirk. - Lockhart to Thurloe, Nov.*' 'J^^i-urloe, v. 532. ■' See su'ina, p. 481. clergy. 486 COLONISATION AND DIPLOMACY. CHAP, hold lightly the rights of kings and rulers over their XLVIII. , . ^ . -^ f. T • n T - — -. — subjects m matters 01 religion, was the very policy to provoke such a youth as Louis, who had no mind to see his own Protestant subjects supported against him by a foreign Power, and was perfectly aware that Oliver, in the course of the recent negotiations, had refused to renounce his assumed right to take up the cause of the Huguenots. The seeds, which were ultimately to come to an evil fruitage in the Eevoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes, were being unwittingly sown by the self-constituted Protector of the Pro- testant world. 48; COREIGENDA IN VOLUME II. Vol. ii. p. 439, line 12 from bottom of text, insert after ' with Spain ' : 'In fact, on April 20, the day after the Protector's stormy interview with Baas, there was a long discussion in the Council on the merits of the two policies, and though there was a pronounced difference on the subject, the general opinion, doubtless with the approval of the Protector, was on the side of a war against Spain in alliance with Prance. On that side the plea of the necessity of either disarming or employing the 160 ships which were no longer needed against the Dutch, and the belief that an attack on the Spaniards in the Indies would be " the most profitable of any in the world," was strengthened by a call to uphold the standard of true religion. The Spaniard, it was said, " was the greatest enemy of the Protestant cause." On the other side, on which can be clearly distinguished the voice of Lambert, it was urged that the loss of the Spanish trade, through which there was an annual importation of no less than 150,000^. in bullion or in coined money, would more than counterbalance any gain that might be expected from a war of aggression. Evidently, however, this was but the view of the minority, and the Council was able calmly to consider what would be the best point of attack. On the whole they concluded it to be advisable to content themselves with the possession of Hispaniola and Havana in the first year, leaving the acquisition of the remainder of the Spanish West Indies to follow in its proper season.^ It was, therefore, not without good ground that ' Vol. ii. p. 472, line 2 from bottom of text, for ' Oliver who had ... in the future ' read : ' On July 20, with these material grievances before him, Oliver made up his mind to bring the question of war or peace with Spain once more before the Council. Yet with character- istic impatience of material considerations, he opened the debate by an attempt to place the quarrel on the plane of religion. " We cannot," he cried, " have peace with Spain out of conscience to suffer our people to go thither and be idolators. They have ' Montague's Notes, April 20, Clarke Papers, iii. 203-206. 488 CORRIGENDA IN VOLUME II. denied you commerce unless you be of their religion." On this enthusiastic and inaccurate view of the case Lambert proceeded to throw cold water. Success, he urged, was improbable, nor was it likely that even success would in any way advance the Protestant cause. Moreover, there was enough work at home to keep their hands full. " God," replied the Protector, " had brought them where they were in order that they might consider the work they might do in the world as well as at home." As for the expense, ' it was told us that this design would cost little more than laying by the ships, and that with hope of great profit.' Lambert was naturally unable to recognise the force of this argument. The armies in Scotland and Ireland, he said, must forsake their posts, unless more treasure were found to support them, and this could not be done unless the West Indian design were dropped. Oliver's reply, as reported, was somewhat cryptic : — " The probability of the good of the design, both for the Protestants' cause and utility to the undertakers, and the cost no more for one twelve-month than would disband the ships." Yet his real meaning, as it can hardly be doubted, must have been that, as the pay of the men need not be found till after the return of the expedition, the immediate expense would be no greater than that of paying off the ships at once. Lambert's reply was at least worthy of attention from a financial point of view. He denied the feasibility of making war on such restricted terms. It was not to be supposed that the ships could be employed for twelve months without needing supplies. There were besides ' casualties of diseases and wars that men are subjected to.' Colonists would not settle in Hispaniola unless it could be held in secure peace, and the ' Spaniard will certainly struggle as much as he can to preserve it.' " Whenever," he said in con- clusion, " you do lay down your ships, the charge will be much increased and must be paid." Oliver was sanguine even on this score. " It's hoped that the design will quit cost," Six nimble frigates should ' range up and down the Bay of Mexico to get prey.' ^ The Protector's optimistic belief that the enterprise medi- tated by him in the service of God and of a larger world than that encompassed by the four seas which guarded the British Isles, was covered by divine protection, left no room in his mind for the prudential considerations which filled so large a space in Lambert's vision. At all events, it was he, and not Lambert, who was the master of the hour, and he ' ' A debate in the Protector's Council, July 20, Clarke Papers, iii. 207. INDEX Aachen, Charles II. visits tlie tomb of Charles the Great at, 122 Abelson, Captain, resignation of, 468 Aberdeen, meeting of discontented officers at, 73 Acadia, French forts captured in, 389; remains in English hands, 423 Act of Parliament excluding royalists from taking part in elections, ex- tended by Proclamation, 261 Act of Satisfaction for Ireland, 311 Act of Settlement for Ireland, 298 Adams, Thomas, Alderman, excluded from the first Protectorate Parlia- ment, 20 Adventurers, the, land granted in Ire- land to, 296 ; proposal to distribute over the four provinces, 298; al- lotment of lands to, 309, 310, 312 Alehouses, to be abated, 180; Worsley orders an enquiry into the numbers and condition of, 246 ; suppression of, in Lancashire and Cheshire, 247 ; suppressed in Warwickshire and at Shrewsbury, 248 ; order of the Middlesex Quarter Sessions about, 249 Alexander VII., Pope, wishes to con- clude a peace between France and Spain, 435 ; rumours of an attempt at mediation by, 479 Alexis, the Tsar, at war with Poland, 426 Algiers, Blake renews the treaty with, and ransoms slaves at, 385 ; escape of Dutch slaves from, 386 Alicante, landing of English officers at, 373, note 2 Allen, Thomas, Alderman, meetings of plotters at the house of, 72, note I Alured, Matthew, Colonel, signs tlie petition of the three colonels, 52 ; cashiered and imprisoned, 58; part taken in Wildman's plot by, 72, note I Anabaptists, see Baptists Anderton, Hugh, arrest of, 203 Animadversions onaLetter, attributed to William Sedgwick, 255 Armorer, Nicholas, allowed to enter England by the Clerk of the Pas- sage at Dover, 129 ; escape of, 144 ; reaches the Continent, 145 ; takes part in the execution of Manning, 463 Army, the, opposed to Parliamen- tarism, 5 ; its disposal given by Parliament to the Protector for his life, 37 ; partly dependent on a Parliamentary grant, 45 ; difficulty of reducing the numbers of, ib. ; its control limited by Parliament to the Protector's life-time, 47, 48 ; struggle for the control of, 50; proposals for a partial disband- ment of, 51; support given to the Instrument by the officers of, 59 ; petitions for religious liberty, 63 ; proposal to substitute militia for part of, 65 ; Birch proposes to re- duce the numbers and pay of, 80 ; political influence of, 87 ; com- mittee appointed for the partial dis- bandment of, 90; officers recom- mend the reduction of the pay of, 148 ; the revival of the legislative power of the Protector supported by, 156; in favour of giving to Oliver the title of emperor, ib. ; drops the scheme for reviving the legislative power, i6g; the reduc- tion of the numbers and pay of, 170; unpopularity of, 187 490 INDEX. Army, in Ireland, the strength and expense of, 324 ; division of lands for, 326-328 Ashburnham, John, removed frona the Tower, 162 Ashburnham, William, removed from the Tower, 162 Assembly of Divines, a proposed vote taken for the appointment of, 22 ; abandonment of, 43 Assessment tax, the, proposal to reduce, 60 ; second reading of a Bill for, 64 ; third reading of the Bill for, 66 ; Birch proposes to abolish, 81 ; reduced by the Pro- tector, 103 Associations, voluntary, spread of Baxter's system of, 231 Athlone, a court for ascertaining the claims of transplanters sits at, 319 Aylesbury, arrest of Rochester and Armorer at, 145 Badiley, Richard, appointed Vice- Admiral under Blake and Montague, 468 Bagenal, Nicholas, arrest of, 77 Baltic, the, Swedish designs on the coasts of, 427 ; Dutch trade in, 430 ; Nieupoort challenges the Swedish claim to the dominion of, 432, 433 ; English trade interests in, ib. ; Nieupoort proposes a triple alliance to guarantee the trade in, 437 ; postponement of a Dutch expedition to, 439 Baptists, the, take part in the Wilt- shire election, 12; hostility to the Protector of the extreme party among, 251 ; voluntary dispersal of a meeting of, 469 . Barbados, transportation of five persons to, 160 ; distinction between servants and slaves in, 161, note 2 ; treatment of persons transported to, 195 ; Peter Bath transported to, 316; Penn's fleet at, 354; Dutch vessels seized at, ib. Barbary pirates, the, Blake's efforts to liberate English slaves detained by, 376-386 Barkstead, John, Major-General for Middlesex, 197 ; acts as substitute for Skippon in the City of London, 237 ; orders Pride to suppress bear baitings, 240 ; proposes to send loose women to Jamaica, 454 Barnardiston, Arthur, deprived of the recordership of Colchester, 275 ; death of, 282 Barriere, Seigneur de (Henri de Taille- fer), has an interview with the Protector, 398 ; leaves England, 400, note I Barrington, Abraham, expelled from the corporation of Colchester, 275 Barrington, Henry, his influence at Colchester, 271 ; growth of opposi- tion to, 272; expelled from the corporation, 275 Bath, Peter, transported to Bar- bados, 316 Baxter, Richard, his attitude towards toleration, 46 ; blamed by the Protector, 47 ; complains of * Quakers,' 107 ; his opinion of the episcopalian clergy, 188 ; his system of voluntary associations, 231 Bayly, Nicholas, arrest of, 77 Bear baitings, orders for the suppres- sion of, 240 ; suppressed by Pride, ib. Bedford, compulsory resignation of the mayor and four common councilmen of, 266 Bedfordshire, placed under Butler, 197 ; dissolute persons imprisoned in, 202 Bennett, Sir Humphrey, offers to seize Portsmouth, 120; arrest of, 131 Berkshire, placed under Goffe, 196 Berry, James, Major-General over Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and North Wales, to which Monmouthshire and South Wales were subsequently added, 197 ; imprisons dissolute persons at Shrewsbury, 202 ; probably suggests that nine ' Quakers ' shall be liberated, 215 ; thinks Wales stands in need of reformation, 241 ; is active in suppressing alehouses, 248 ; treats Vavasor Powell with kindness, 252 Biddle, John, imprisoned by Parlia- ment, 63 ; a charge to be prepared against, 86 ; liberated on bail, 105, 106 ; committed for trial, 209 ; sent to the Scilly Isles, 210 Birch, John, Colonel, is in the chair of the sub-committee of revenue, 65 ; Wildman's expectations from, INDEX. 491 72, note I ; reports on finance, 80; his parliamentary position, 83 Bishop, George, Captain, is connected with Wildman's plot, 72, note i Blackburn, suppression of alehouses at, 247 Blake, Eobert, general at sea, sails for the Mediterranean, 55 ; com- mended to the King of Spain by the Protector, 372 ; his design against the Duke of Guise, 373 ; alleged proceedings at Malaga, 373, note 2 ; received in a friendly spirit at Leghorn, 374 ; prepares to demand the liberation of English slaves from the Barbary pirates, 376 ; negotiates with the Dey of Tunis, 378 ; anchors off Porto Farina, 379 ; destroys ships in Porto Farina, 382 ; fails to procure the liberation of slaves in Tunis, 384 ; renews Casson's treaty and ransoms slaves at Algiers, 385, 386 ; receives instructions to proceed to Cadiz Bay, 392 ; cruises off Cadiz, 393 ; avoids an engagement with a Spanish fleet, 394 ; arrives at Lisbon and complains of the state of his fleet, 395 ; is authorised to return home if he thinks fit, 396 ; in joint command with Montague, 464 ; said to disagree with Montague, 465, note I ; supports Meadowe against Montague, 477. See Blake and Montague, the fleet under Blake and Montague, the fleet under, arrives in Cadiz Bay, 473 ; sails for Lisbon, 474, 475 ; retui'ns to Cadiz Bay, 477 Blandford, Charles IL proclaimed by Penruddock at, 138 Bonde, Christer, Swedish ambassador, opens negotiations in England, 434 ; dislikes the Protector's idea of a Protestant crusade, 437 ; is dis- satisfied with the Protector's offers, 439 ; awaits instructions on trade questions, 442 ; Oliver complains of the Catholic powers to, 443 ; is sur- prised at the English demands about the Baltic trade, 444 ; offers to guarantee the treaty of Osna- briick, 445, 446 Bonifaz, Gaspar, his interview with Louis XIV., 481 Booth, Sir George, Wildman's expec- tations from, 72, note 1 ; engages to hold Cheshire for the King, 131 ; BUS abandons the surprise of Chester Castle, 134 Boothouse, Samuel, consul at Tunis, 377, 378 Bordeaux-Neufville, Antoine de, com- plains of the difficulties in the way of his negotiation, 388 ; his nego- tiation intei-rupted by news from Piedmont, 406 ; negotiations re- sumed with, 422 ; signature of the French treaty by, 423 Boreatton Park, arrest of Sir T.Harris at, 135 Boroughs, franchise in, 7 Boyle, Eobert, is one of the society for the study of natui-al science, 232 Bradshaw, John, Milton's panegyiif^ on, I ; elected to Parliament, 9; calls on members of Parliament to refuse to wait on the Protector, 14 ; suggested as Speaker, 17 ; proposals offered to Parliament by, 2 1 , note 2 ; declares that he prefers Charles to Oliver, 23 ; attends a sermon at St. Margaret's, 34 ; Wildman's expec- tations from, 72, note i Brandenburg, Elector of, see Frede- rick William Bremen, Duchy of, assigned to Sweden by the treaties of West- phalia, 427 Bridge, Tobias, retires from the post of Deputy Major-General, 197 ; makes an award between parties at Chipping Wycombe, 266, 267 Bristol, raises men to serve against the royalists, 1 39 ; enforced resig- nation of aldermen at, 263 -265 Broghill, Lord, 1627 (Roger Boyle), rejects the claim of Parliament to act as a constituent body, 44 ; proposes the transportation of Irish from the county of Cork, 331 Browne, Kichard, Major-General, re- ported to be ready to join the Cavaliers, 132 Bruges, removal of Charles II. to, 471 Buckingham, second Duke of, 1628 (George Villiers), reports that Fair- fax will assist the Royalists, 131, note 3 Buckinghamshire, placed under George Fleetwood and Packer as Fleetwood's deputies, 197 Buller, Anthony, Colonel, sent on shore to the east of San Domingo, 358 ; disobeys his instructions, 360 Bushnell, Walter, vicar of Box, ejec- tion of, 239 492 INDEX. Butler, Gregory, appointed a com- missioner for the West Indian expedition, 348 ; overrules Venables, 363 ; returns to England, 449 Butler, William, Major, afterwards Major-General, joins Desborough in pursuit of the royalist insur- gents, 138 ; Major- General over Northampton, Bedford, Rutland, and Huntingdon, 197 ; imprisons dissolute persons in Bedfordshire, 202 ; wishes two or three hundred rogues transported, 243 ; sends a list of the offences of sixteen evil- disposed persons, ib.; purges the corporation of Bedford, 266 Byfield, Adoniram, takes part in the Wiltshire election, 12 Byron, second Lord, 1652 (Richard Byron), offers to seize Nottingham, 120 ; is absent from home at the time of the royalist insuri'ection, 133 ; arrest of, 163 Caceres, Simon de, gives information to Thurloe, 218 Cadiz, Blake off, 392 ; a Spanish fleet comes out from, 394 ; arrival of the fleet of Blake and Montague off, 473 Cagliari, Blake's visits to, 379, 384, 385 Calvinistic dogmatism, reaction against, 228 Cambridge, the University of, latitu- dinarian movement in, 229-231 Cambridgeshire, placed under Haynes as Fleetwood's deputy, 197 Cardenas, Alonso de, hears of the attempt on Hispaniola, 397; receives instructions to take leave, 398 ; receives his passport, 399 ; leaves London, 400 ; complains of his treatment in England, 404 Carew, John, before the Council, 116; committed to Pendennis Castle, 117; his liberation ordered, but counter- manded, 468, 469 Carlisle, proposed seizure of, 120 ; expulsion of royalists from the corporation of, 291 Cartagena, guns recovered from, 392 Carvajal, Antonio Fernandez, deni- zation of, 218 Casson, Edmund, signs a treaty with Algiers, 376 ; Blake renews the treaty signed by, 385 Catholics, excepted from toleration by the Instrument, 224 ; proclama- tion against, 225 ; compelled to pay heavily for a virtual toleration, 225, 226 Ceely, Peter, Major, commits Fox to Launceston gaol, 2 1 1 Chambers, Alderman, forced to resign office at Coventry, 263 Chancery, objections of the commis- sioners of the Great Seal to the reform of, 154 Chard, trial of royalist insurgents at, 142 Charles I., his system of government compared with Oliver's, 169 ; 258 Charles II., receives a report on the position of the royalists, 119; encourages his partisans to rise, 120; seizure of a letter from, ii. ; leaves Paris, 121 ; journeys to Spa and Aachen, 122 ; attends vespers and visits the tomb of Charles the Great, ib.; settles at Cologne, 123 ; sends Ormond to fetch the Duke of Gloucester from France, ib. ; writes to the Scottish ministers, and assures the Nuncio that he only sent for his brother to keep the royalists on his side, 1 24 ; urges the royalists to rise, 125 ; does not make up his mind on the proposed postponement of the rising, 127; goes to Middelburg, 130; Manning acts as a spy in the court of, 163 ; excluded from France, 423 ; over- tures from the Levellers to, 458 ; refuses to change his religion, 464 ; receives overtures from Sexby, ib. ; has hopes of desertions from the fleet under Blake and Montague, 466 ; his treaty with Spain, 470 ; removes to Bruges, 47 1 ; his relations with Lucy Walter, ib. Charles X., King of Sweden, threatens to attack Poland, 425 ; his position on the Continent, 427 ; sends Coyet to England, 430 ; offers commercial privileges to England, 433 ; his victories in Poland, 438 ; his demands on the Elector of Branden- burg, 441 ; signs a treaty with the Elector, 444 ; offers to guarantee the treaty of Osnabriick, 445 Charles Emmanuel II., Duke of Savoy, leaves the government in his mother's hands, 408 : offers to pardon the Vaudois, 420 ; pardon issued by, 421 Charters, a committee on, 289 INDEX. 493 Cheshire, placed under Worsley, 197 ; proceedings of Worsley in, 203 ; Worsley wishes to transport nearly sixty gentlemen of, 241 Chester, failure of a royalist attempt on the castle of, 144; suppression of alehouses at, 247 Chipping Wycombe, alterations in the corporation of, 266, 267 Chirk Castle, endangered by the royalists, 135 Christina, Duchess of Savoy, governs Piedmont in the name of her son, 408 ; resolves to force the Vaudois to live within their original limits, 409 ; sends Pianezza to enforce obedience, 410 ; justifies her action, 419 Churcli of the Protectorate, the, a com- mittee appointed to enquire into, 43; attem^jt of Owen to narrow, 62 ; spread of the system of voluntary associations in, 231 City of London, see London, City of Civil Survey, the, 326 Clare, see Connaught and Clare Clarendon, Earl of, view of the popu- larity of the royalist insurgents taken in the history of, 143 Clarke, Paine, charges of Butler against, 244 Clarke, William, omits to pass on Monk's orders to Overton, 74 Clergy, the episcopalian, not to be kept as chaplains or tutors, 177; Bax- ter's opinion of, 188 ; royalists ordered to expel, 190; a petition presented by Ussher in favour of, 191 ; I'elaxation of the persecution of, 192 ; partial toleration accorded to, 226-228 Cleveland, John, imprisonment and liberation of, 201 Clonmel, expulsion of Irish from, 335 Cock-fights, suppression of , 241 Colchester, number of Parliamentary electors in, 7 ; election at, 13 ; state of the franchise in, 268; charter of Charles I. to, ib. ; reac- tion against Parliament in, 269 ; a municipal coup d'etat in, 270 ; Harrington's influence in, 271 ; opposition to Barrington in, 272 ; character of Goffe's candidature at, 273 ; municipal elections at, 274 ; expulsion of members of the corpo- ration of, 275 ; the Upper Bench gives judgment for the restoration of the persons expelled from the corjioration of, 276 ; interference of the Protector with, 277 ; restoration of the expelled members of the corporation of, 279 ; party divisions at, 280 ; appearance of Haynes at. 283 ; exclusion of burgesses from the corporation of, 284 ; composi- tion of parties at, 285 ; Evelyn notes the prevalence of sects at, 287 ; a petition for a revision of the charter from, 289 ; a new charter granted to, 290 ; nomination of the new corporation of, 291 ; its parties compared with those in the nation, 292 Cologne, Charles II. establishes him- self at, 123 Commissioners, see the Great Seal, the Treasury, Commissioners of. Com- missioners for Ireland, see Ireland Commissioners for securing the peace of the Commonwealth, the, duties of, 175; work harmoniously with the Major-Generals, 198 Commissioners over the West Indian expedition, see West Indies, the, the expedition to Common Prayer Book, the, used at St. Gregory's, 191 ; Ussher's admis- sion concerning, ib. ; its use confined to private houses, 226-228 ; recited from memory by Sanderson, 229 Conde, taken by the Spaniards, 483 Conde, Prince of, the (Louis de Bour- bon), Oliver's appreciation of, 387 Connaught and Clare, fixed as the districts to which Irishmen are to be transplanted, 309, 311 ; fewactually remove to, 315 ; desolate condition of, 316 ; seizure of the corn of those neglecting to transplant to, 328 ; Hetherington executed for not transplanting to, 329 Constantinople, massacre of English feared at, 385 Constituencies, the, proportion between the borough and county, 6 ; franchise in, 7 ; indenture required from, 8 Cony, George, case of, 150; sub- mission of 153 Cooper, Anthony Ashley, elected for Wiltshire, 12; is probably a medi- ator between Protector and Parlia- ment, 36 ; seconds a motion for making the Protector king, 61 ; absents himself from the Council, 85 Copplestone, John, Colonel, prepares to intercept the royalist insurgents, 140 494 INDEX. Copyholders, proposal to give the franchise to, 78 Corbett, Miles, acts as a commissioner of Parliament in Ireland, 297 Cornwall ,placed under Desborough, 1 97 Corporations, the, system of govern- ment prevailing in, 260 ; their rela- tions to the central authority, 261 Cossacks, at war with Poland, 426 Cotton, John, compares the conquest of the West Indies to the drying up of the Euphrates, 345 Council, the, members added to, 6 ; a proposal to call on members of Parliament to affirm the engage- ment of their constituencies dis- cussed in, 14 ; its claim to regulate the admission of members of Parlia- ment resisted, 20; alteration pro- posed in the mode of appointment to, 41 ; Harrison and others summoned before, 1 16 ; Chief Justice Rolle and Cony's advocates before, 152; Sir Peter Wentworth before, 153 ; the revival of king- ship discussed in, 156; condemns Noi'bury's petition, 1 59 ; adopts the oi'dei's for securing the peace of the Commonwealth, 175; unfavourable to Biddle, 209 ; its attitude towards the re-admission of the Jews, 217 ; appoints a committee to report on the requests of Manasseh Ben Is- rael, 219 ; is slow to order the trans- portation of persons living loosely, 244 ; refers the Colchester petitions to a committee, 276 ; war with Spain resolved in, 399 ; views taken on the Swedish alliance in, 432 Counties, the, the franchise in, 7 ; vote restored to the forty- shilling free- holders in, 78 County commissioners, the, see Com- missioners for securing the peace of the Commonwealth Courtney, Hugh, summoned before the Council, 116; committed to Carisbrooke, 117; his liberation ordered, but countermanded, 468, 469 Coventry, enforced resignation of an alderman at, 263 Coventry, second Lord, 1640 (Thomas Coventry), arrest of, 165 Cowley, Abraham, abandons his secretaryship under Jermyn, 233 Coyet, Peter Julius, his mission from Charles X., 430 ; asks to levy men in Scotland, 431 Cracow, surrenders to Charles X,, 438 DEC Cranston, third Lord (William Cranston), proposed as commander of a force raised in Scotland for Charles X., 431 ; is allowed to levy 1 ,000 men, 439 Croke, Unton, Captain, marches against the royalist insurgents, 139 ; takes them prisoners at South Molton, 140 Cromwell, Elizabeth (mother of the Protector), death of, 47 Cromwell, Henry, seconds a motion for making the Protector king, 67 ; the London militia mustered before, 147; his mission to Ireland, 317; talk of his being sent to Ireland as commander of the forces, 318; appointed commander of the army in Ireland and a councillor, 337 ; lands in Dublin, 338 ; his reception in Ireland, 340 ; modification of the transplantation policy by, ib. ; offers to send Irish girls to Jamaica, 453 Cromwell, Oliver, see Oliver, Lord Protector Cromwell, Richard, the London militia mustered before, 147 ; named a member of the Committee for Trade, 442 Crowne, William, Colonel, ordered to raise a regiment in Shropshire, 134 Cumberland, Charles Howard and Robert Lilburne Deputy Major- Generals over, 197 Custice, Edmund, imprisonment of , 77 Customs, the. Cony questions the right of the Protector to exact pay- ment of, 151 Czarnova, Charles X. defeats the Poles at, 438 Dallington, John, takes part in a plot, 69 Danzig, holds out against Charles X., 438 Davenant, William, gives an enter- tainment at Rutland House, 233 Dawkins, Rowland, Deputy Major- General in South Wales, 197 Day, Cornet, imprisoned for reading Vavasor Powell's manifesto at Allhallows, 253 Day, Robert, Clerk of the Passage at Dover, connives at the movements of royalists, 129 Decimation of royalists, the, estab- lishment of, 176, 177 ; defended by INDEX. 495 the Protector, 183-185; process of exacting, 199 Denbigh, the royalists hope to seize, 120 Denham, John, verses by, 194, note i Denmark, her relations with Sweden, 429 Derbyshire, placed under Whalley, 197 Desborough, John, general at sea, afterwards Major-General, sent to quiet the crews of Penn's fleet, 56 ; appointed Major-General of the West, 138; pursues the royalist in- surgents, ib. ; commissioned to com- mand the militia in the West, 149 ; confirmed in the Major-General- ship of the West, 196; reproved by Fox, 211; refuses to liberate Fox, 213; condemned by Fox for playing bowls, 214; obtains the resignation of three aldermen at Bristol, 264 ; dismisses alderman, magistrates, and common councillors at Tewkes- bury and Gloucester, 265 ; charged by Venables with putting bad stores on board the fleet, 353 Devonshire, placed under Desborough, 197 Divines, Assembly of, see Assembly of Divines Dormido, Manuel Martinez, petitions for the resettlement of the Jews, 217 Dorset, placed under Desborough, 197 Dove, John, Colonel, High Sheriff of Wilts, seized by the royalists, 137 ; hberated, 138 Dover, assistance given to royalists by officials at, 129 Down Stcrvey, the, Petty appointed to carry out, 327 Downing, George, despatched to Turin, 421 Doyley, Edward, Colonel, appointed President of the Council of Officers in Jamaica, 451 Drama, the, see Plays and Interludes Drunkenness and immorality, the justices of the peace ai'e slow to enforce the laws against, 246 Dublin, expulsion of Irish from, 335 Duddoe, a royalist insurrection dis- persed at, 133 Dunkirk, privateers sent out from, 477 ; prizes taken by the privateers of, 478 ; desire of the Protector to take possession of, ib. ; Lockhart's nego- tiations with Mazarin about an attack on, 481-484 Durham, sends members to Parliament, 7 Durham, county of, Robert Lilburne Deputy Major-General over, 197 Dutch, the, see Netherlands, United Provinces of the Dutch slaves at Algiers, escape of, 386 Ecclesiastical System, the, see Church of the Protectorate Ejectors, tbe, to be urged to activity by the Major-Generals, 175 ; allow Pocock to retain his living, 233, note 2 ; roused to action by the Major- Generals, 239 ; case of Bushnell before, ib. Elbe, the, Swedish position on, 427 Elbing, surrenders to Charles X., 438 Elections, to the first Protectorate Parliament, 6 ; royalists declared incapable of taking part in, 261 Emperor, proposal to confer on Oliver the title of, 156 Essex, placed under Haynes as Fleet- wood's deputy, 197 ; royalist reaction in, 269 Esthonia, under Swedish rule, 427 Evelyn, John, laments the suppression of the services according to the Prayer Book, 191 ; complains that the Church of England is reduced to a conventicle, 226 ; complains that there is no practical preaching, 229; notes the prevalence of sects at Colchester, 287 Exeter, trials of the royalist insurgents at, 142 Eyre, William, Colonel, arrested as a plotter, 70 ; his part in Wildman's plot, 72, note I Fairfax, third Viscount, 1648 (Thomas Fairfax), Milton's panegyric on, i ; rumour that he will assist the royalists, 131 ; Rochester expects to open negotiations with, 132 Falkland, third Viscount (Henry Caiy), sent for by the Council, 165 Faringdon, Anthony, silenced as a preacher, 227 Feake, Christopher, imprisonment of, 112, 113; removed to the Isle of Wight, 207 ; allowed to remain in London under guard, 208 Fenwick, George, Wildman's expecta- tions from, 72, note i Ferdinand III., Emperor, Oliver hopes 496 INDEX. to stir up Charles X. to make war on, 435 ; persecutes Protestants in his own dominions, but has no wish to attack other Protestant States, 436 ; anxious to keep out of war, 446 Fiennes, Nathaniel, becomes a mem- ber of the Council, 6 ; appointed a commissioner of the Great Seal, 154; opposed to the Swedish alli- ance, 432 Fiesco, Ugo, Genoese ambassador in England, 374 Fifth Monarchy men, take part in the Wiltshire election, 12; are hostile to the Protectorate, 112; denounce the Protector, 207 ; abandoned by Simpson, 253; the Protector attempts to conciliate, 468 Finances, the. Birch's scheme for settling, 80 ; estimates of, 82, note I ; are embarrassed after the dis- solution of Parliament, 104 Finland, under Swedish rule, 427 Fleetwood, Charles, Lieutenant- General, appointed Major-Gene- ral over seven counties, 197 ; appoints deputies, ib. ; advocates John Lilburne's cause, 206 ; arrives in Ireland as a commissioner, 305 ; appointed Lord Deputy, 317; is unwilling to use the power of dis- pensation from transplanting, 318 ; is embittered against the Irish, ib. ; his opinion of Gookin, 322; grants additional land to the soldiers, 327 ; ill-treatment of Gookin by, 336 ; his differences with the Protector, 337 ; attempts to extend the scope of the transplantation, 339 ; returns to England, 340 Fleetwood, George, brother of Charles Fleetwood, employed to levy High- landers for Sweden, 439 Fleetwood, George, Deputy Major- General conjointly with Packer over Bucks, 197 Fortescue, Richard, Major-General, acts as commissioner in Jamaica, 449 ; death of, 45 1 Forty-shilling freeholders, the, vote for restoring the franchise to, 78 Fox, 'Francis, transported to Barbados, 160 Fox, George, his interview with the Protector, no; receives permission to address meetings, in: his mis- sionary journey in the West, 211; sent to Launceston gaol, ib. ; fined for contempt of court, 212; an order for the liberation of, 213; denounces Desborough for playing bowls, 214; Goffe complains of, 215 Fox, Somerset, transported to Barba- dos, 160 France, Oliver refuses to agree to the terms of, 388 ; improvement in Oliver's relations with, 406 ; hin- drance wrought by the persecution of the Vaudois to the negotiation with, 407 ; treaty drawn up with, 422 ; signature of the treaty with, 423 ; negotiation for an alliance with Spain in, 482 ; an agreement for an alliance with England made in, 484; unpopularity of the English alliance in, 485 Franchise, the, in boroughs and coun- ties, 7; at Reading, 10; vote re- storing the forty- shilling freeholders to, 78 Frederick William, Elector of Bran- denburg, character and aims of, 428 ; holds East Prussia from the Polish crown, 429 ; forms an alli- ance with the United Provinces, 430 ; his connection with the Stuarts, 440 ; sends Schlezer to England, ib. ; signs the treaty of Konigsberg with Charles X., 444 Friends, the Society of, see ' Quakers ' Fuensaldaiia, Count of (Luis Perez de Vivero), proposals of Sexby to, 459 ; seeks a direct understanding with Charles, 470 Fundamentals, the Four, required from Parliament by Oliver, 30 Gage, Thomas, career of, 345 ; under- estimates the difficulties of a war in the West Indies, 346 Galway, expulsion of Irish from, 335 Game-cocks, killed by Pride's orders, 241 Gardiner, Colonel, transpoi'ted to Barbados, 160 Garland, Augustine, proposes to confer the crown on the Protector, 67 Gauden, John, forgery by, 192, note 3 Genoa, attempt to transfer English trade from Leghorn to, 374 Giavarina, Francesco, remains at Venetian residence after Sagredo's departure, 226, 449 Gibraltar, proposed attack on, 473 Gloucester, raises men for defence against the royalists, 139: com- INDEX. 497 mon councillors dismissed by Desborough at, 265 INDEX. 505 Protestants, 435 ; his ignorance of German opinion, 436 ; hesitates to make an aUiance with Sweden against the Dutch, 437 ; is pleased at the Swedish victories in Poland, 438; allows the levy of 1,000 men for Sweden, 439 ; proposes a quad- ruple alliance, ib. ; welcomes a mission from the Elector of Bran- denburg, 440; opens his mind to Schlezer, 441 ; urges Sweden to attack the Emperor, 443; congratu- lates Charles X. on the birth of an heir, 445 ; fails to come to an agree- ment with Sweden, 446; invites New Englanders and West Indian colo- nists to settle in Jamaica, 454, 455; attempts to conciliate the Fifth Monarchists, 468 ; a new lifeguard for, 469 ; sends Meadowe to Lisbon, 474; orders the fleet to Lisbon, 475 ; supports Blake against Mon- tague, 477 ; desires to occupy Dunkirk, 478; dissatisfied that France does not offer a closer alliance, 479 ; proposes to support the Swiss Protestant Cantons, and sends Lockhart to France, ib. ; his claim to be the champion of the Protestant interest displeases Louis XIV., 485 O'Neill, Daniel, sent to England by Charles II., 127; his movements connived at by the officials at Dover, 129; expects the insurrec- tion to succeed, 131 ; escape of, 144 Orange, Mary Princess Dowager of, expects a visit from Charles II., 121 ; visits the tomb of Charles the Great, 122 Orders for securing the peace of the Commonwealth accepted by the Council, 175 ; no pretence made to the legality of the, 178 Ormond Marquis of, 1642 (James Butler), sent to bring the Duke of Gloucester from France, 123; sympathises with those who plot the murder of the Protector, 462 Osnabriick, the treaty of, Charles X. offers to guarantee, 445 Ostend, privateers sent out from, 477 Overton, Eobert, Major-General, Milton's panegyric on, 2 ; his rela- tions with the Protector, 71 ; I'eceives an appointment in Scot- land and confers with Wildman, ib. ; Thurloe's notes on his relation with Wildman's plot, 72, note i ; his relations with he discontented officers in Scotland, 73 ; arrested and sent to England, 74 ; impri - soned in the Tower, 75 Owen, John, his attitude toward-s toleration, 46; his twenty funda- mentals rejected, 62 Oxfordshire placed under Packer, as Fleetwood's deputy, 197 Packer, William, Deputy Major- General in Oxon and Herts, and, jointly with George Fleetwood, in Bucks, 197 Packington, Sir John, arrest of, 77 Palmer, Geoffrey, arrest of, 164 Parliament, the first Protectorate, Oliver hopeful of the success of, 6 ; character of the constituencies of, i6.; indenture required from the electors to, 7 ; elections to, 9 ; questions at issue at the elections for, 1 1 ; result of the elections for, 12; opening of, 14; Lenthall chosen Speaker of, 17 ; appoints a com- mittee on election petitions, 18; debate on freedom of speech in, 19 ; maintains its claim to judge elec- tions, 20 ; refers the Instrument to a committee, 21 ; attempts to im- pose restrictions on the Protector, 22 ; formation of a central party in, 23 ; compromise offered by, 24 ; the Protector's speech to, ib. ; terms offered by the Protector tc, 30 ; Kecognition proposed to, 32 ; mem- bers refusing to sign the Recogni- tion excluded from, 34 ; explains the Eecognition, 35 ; goes into com- mittee on the Instrument, 36 ; proposes the substitution of a veto for a prohibition of constitutional changes, ib. ; accepts two of the Pro- tector's four fundamentals, 37 ; leaves the management of the army to the Protector for his life, ib. ; votes that the appointment of councillors shall be subject to its approval, 38 ; claims the right, when sitting, of declaring war, 39 ; refuses heredi- tary right to the Protectorate, 40 ; settles the mode of appointing the council and officers of state, 41 ; wishes to reduce the army, 42 ; appoints a committee on religious affairs, 43; claims to be a consti- tuent body, but agrees to a com- ;o6 INDEX. promise, 44; comes to a com- promise on the negative voice, 45 ; asks the Protector to reduce military expenses, ib. ; limits the control of the army to the present Protector, 47 ; discusses the disposal of the army after the Protector's death, 48 : its failure predicted, 59 ; is dissatisfied with the interference of the oflficers, and proposes to reduce the army, 60 ; restrictions on toleration imposed by, 61 ; the twenty fundamentals rejected by, 62 ; commits Biddle to prison, 63 ; proceeds with the Assessment Bill, 64 ; report of the sub-committee of revenue to, 65 ; proposal to substi- tute militia for regular soldiers made in, ib. ; reads the Assessment Bill a third time, 65 ; throws over its compromise with the Govern- ment, 77 ; proposes to extend the qualifications for elections,79 ; grants ^1,000,000 to the Protector, 83; hints of a dissolution of, 84 ; becomes more conciliatory, 85 ; orders the pre- paration of a charge against Biddle, 86 ; dissatisfied with the political influence of the army, 87 ; increases the grant to the Protector, 88; throws itself into opposition to the Government, 89 ; appoints a committee to disband part of the army, and asserts its control over the militia, 90 ; aims of the opposi- tion in, 91 ; causes of the failure of, 92 ; speech of the Protector to, 95 ; dissolution of, 99 Parliamentarism, difficulty of recon- ciling the army to, 5 ; Oliver's views on, ib. Pearson, Anthony, present at Wild- man's meetings, 72, note i Peeke, Thomas, chosen mayor of Col- chester, 272 ; charges against, 278 Pell, John, directed to support Mor- land, 420 Pemberton, Goddard, recommended by Butler for transportation, 202 ; 244 Penn, William, general at sea, dis- content in the fleet of, 55 ; an- nounces that his crews are satisfied, 56 ; question of his royalism dis- cussed, 57, note 2 ; appointed one of the commissioners for the West Indian expedition, 347 ; his rela- tions with Venables, 348 ; grant of Irish land to, 349 ; Oliver's appeal to, 350 ; on bad terms with Vena- bles, 356; offers to assist in the attack on San Domingo, 365 ; re- turns to England, 367 ; imprison- ment and liberation of, 369, 370 Penraddock, John, Colonel, is pro- minent amongst the Wiltshire royalists, 136; saves the lives of the judges at Salisbury, 137; pro- claims Charles II. at Blandford, 138 ; is captured at South Molton, 140 ; trial and execution of, 142 Penruddock's rising, see Royalist in- surgents Petit-Bourg, Captain du, his evidence on the massacre of the Vaudois, 413 Petre, fourth Lord, 1638 (William Petre), arrest of, 165 Petty, William, Dr., estimate of the population of Ireland by, 299, note I ; discusses the transplanta- tion question with Gookin, 320; is the author of part of Gookin's book, 321 ; recommends marriages between English and Irish, 321, note I ; appointed to carry out the Down Survey, 327 Peyton, Sir Thomas, offers to seize Teignmouth, 120 Philip IV., King of Spain, Blake com- mended to, 372 ; lays an embargo on English ships and goods, 399 ; gives a dilatory answer to Sexby, 462 ; his treaty with Charles II., 470; is anxious for peace with France, 481 Pianezza, the Marquis of, attacks and massacres the Vaudois, 411-415 Pillau, Charles X. desires to occupy, 441 : half its tolls ceded to Charles X., 444 Plain Dealing, published by Richard- son, 254 Plate fleet, the, course taken by, 348 ; Blake on the look out for, 393 Plays and interludes, the Major Generals ordered to forbid, 178; Davenant's entertainment, a pre- cursor of the revival of, 233 Plymouth, the royalists propose to seize, 120, 463 Pocock, Edward, allowed by the ejectors to retain his living, 233, note 2 Poland, design of Charles X. to make war on, 426 ; East Prussia held by feudal tenure from, 429 ; victories of Charles X. in, 438 INDEX. 507 Pomerania, Western, assigned to Sweden by the treaties of West- phalia, 427 Pontoise, Abbot of, see Montague, Walter Popham, Alexander, present once at Wildman's meetings, 72, note i Port Morant, settlement at, 458 Portland, Sexby conceals himself at 118; Harrison removed from, 119 Porto Farina, Blake anchors off, 378 ; Blake's return to, 379 ; change of the coast line at, 381 note i ; Blake destroys ships at, 382, 383 Portsmouth, proposed seizure of, 120 Portugal, mission of Meadowe to, 474 Portugal, John IV., King of, holds back from ratifying Peneguiao's treaty, 474 ; ratifies the treaty, 476 Powell, Vavasor, prepares a petition assailing the Protector, 251 ; Berry's kind treatment of, 252 ; his petition read publicly, 253 ; answered in Plain Dealing and in Animadver- sions on a Letter, 254, 255 Presbyterians, the, as a political force, 11; abandon the discipline, 12; take part in the Wiltshire election, ih. ; influence of, in the first Protec- torate Parliament, 13, note i ; Oliver attempts to win, 14, 15 Press, enforcement of the licensing ordinances, 234 ; the newspaper, ib. Preston, extended itranchise in, 7 Pride, Thomas, Colonel, his alleged complicity in a plot, 75 ; kills bears, and has game-cocks put to death, 240, 241 Prior, William, takes part in a plot, 69 Protector, the Lord, see Oliver Protectorate, the, difficulties before, $ ; fundamental rights claimed by Oliver for, 30 ; Parliamentary dis- cussion on the control of the army i"> 37 ; position of the Council in, 38 ; power of war and peace in, 39 ; question of the succession to, 40 ; method of choosing the council of, 41 ; dispute on the negative voice in, 44 ; question of the disposal of the army and navy under, 45 ; consti- tutional difficulties of, 49 ; amount of popular support to, 145, 146; proposed revival of the legislative power of, 1 56 ; pamphlets in defence of, 254, 255 ; nature of the opposi- tion to, 292 Protestants, the Irish royalist, penal- ties on, 3CX3 ; concessions to, 336 Providence, the Protector justifies the English occupation of, 4O2 Prussia, East, held from the Polish crown by the Elector of Brandenburg 429; Charles X. wishes to occupy the ports of, 441 ; stipulations in the treaty of Konigsberg concerning the ports of, 444 Prussia, West, Swedish designs on, 429 Puritanism, Milton's view of its influence on politics, 4 Pyne, Hugh, Wildman's expectations from, 72, note i ' Quakers,' scandal given by, 106 ; proclamation directed against their interruption of religious services, 107; ill-treatedby Hacker, no ; the Protector's treatment of, in; held to be blasphemers, 112; reasons for the unpopularity of, 210; attitude of the Protector towards, 213 ; com- plaints of the Major-Generals of, 214; liberation of nine, 215; dis- turbances of religious services by, ib. Qualifications for Parliament, the, the Council claims to issue certificates of, 20 ; proposal to extend, 79 Radhams, Thomas, chosen mayor of Colchester, 278; re-elected, 280; retains his seat as an alderman under the new charter, 291 Rayner, John, charges against, 278; elected chamberlain at Colchester, 280 Read, Lieutenant, a letter from Charles II. found in the possession of , 127 Reading, election at, 10 Recognition, the, its acceptance demanded by the Protector, 32 ; signatures given to, 34 ; Parliamen- tary explanation of, 35 Registration of voters, the instrument makes no provision for, 9 Religious liberty, claimed by the Pro- tector as a fundamental, 30 ; the Protector's proclamation on, 107 Reynolds, Thomas, leader of the anti- Barrington party at Colchester, 274 ; recommended to have an honest mayor chosen, 280 Rich, Nathaniel, Colonel, asks for Rogers's liberation, 115 ; summoned before the Council, 1 16 ; allowed to 5o8 INDEX. remain at liberty to attend on his wife, 117; is probably released, 469 Richardson, Samuel, publishes Plain Dealing in defence of the Govern- ment, 254 Robles, Antonio Rodrigues, case of, 222; indirect consequences of the decision in the case of, 223 Rochester, Earl of, 1652 (Henry Wil- mot), crosses to England, 129; re- ceives discouraging information in London, 131 ; goes to Yorkshire, 132 ; appears at Marston Moor, 133 ; escape of, 144; reaches Cologne, 145 Rogers, John, denounces the Protector, 114; his liberation demanded, ib.; his conference with the Protector, 115; removed to the Isle of Wight, 207 ; is ill-treated at Carisbrooke, 208 Eolle, Henry, Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, seized by the royal- ists at Salisbury, 137 ; summoned before the Council to account for his conduct in Cony's case, 152; resignation of, 153 ; gives judgment in Barrington's case, 275 Kolt, Edward, sent to Charles X., 432 Ross, Thomas, carries a message to Charles II., 126; his movements connived at by the officials at Dover, 129 Royalist insurgents, the, unprepared- ness of, 131 ; day fixed for the rising of, 1 32 ; ineffectual gatherings of, ib.; dispersal of, 133; fail in Shropshire, 135 ; propose to at- tack Winchester, 136 ; seize the judges and the high sheriff at Salisbury, 137 ; flight and defeat of, 138; capture of, 140; trials of, 141, 142; escape of some of, 143; mainly composed of gentle- men and their dependents, 146 ; released on bail in the north, 1 50 ; transportation of, 194 ; sentences by the Major-Generals on, 200 Royalists, the, return to Parliament of some of, 9; suspicious movements of, 76; the Protector declares his knowledge of the plots of, 96 ; report by Colonel Stephens on the position of, 119; hope to secure fortified posts, 120; are urged by Charles to rise, 125 ; differences of opinion amongst, 126; postpone- ment of the rising of, 1 27 ; conni- vance of the officials at Dover with the movements of, 129; Manning gives information about, 163 ; arrests of, 164 ; imprisonment of large numbers of, 165 ; banished from London, 166 Oliver defends him- self for arresting, 169 ; are to be de- prived of arms, 173 ; their estates sequestrated or subjected to decima- tion, 177 ; their clergy silenced, ib. ; proclamation against the election to office of, T78 bonds required from, 179 ; treated as a class apart, 184 ; are not a preponderant force, 186; forbidden to keep arms or to main- tain any of the ejected clergy, 190 ; release of, 193 ; expelled from Lon- don, 194 ; decimation exacted from, 199 ; disarmament of, ib.; strength- ened by the efforts of the Major- Generals to enforce morality, 250 ; excluded from taking part in elec- tions, 261 Rufford, royalist gathering at, 133 Russia, at war with Poland, 426 Rutland, placed under Butler, 197 Sabbath-breaking, Worsley aims at suppressing, 247 ; action of the Middlesex quarter sessions about, 249 Sagredo , Giovanni, arrives as Venetian ambassador, 205 ; allows his chapel to be attended by Englishmen, ib. ; wishes to draw the Protector into a war against the Turks, 448 ; leaves England, 449 St. Gregory's, use of the Common Prayer at, 191 ; the use of the Common Prayer no longer allowed at, 226 St. Kitts, recruits obtained by Vena- bles at, 355 Salisbury, seizure of the judges by the royalists at, 137 ; trial of insurgents at, 141 ; a new charter granted to, 292 Salisbury Plain, a meeting of dis- affected persons to take place on, 70 Sanderson, Robert, recites parts of the Prayer-book from memory, 229 San Domingo, believed to be weakly fortified, 353 ; resolution to attack, 356 ; the fleet arrives off, 357 ; retreat from before, 363 San Geronimo, Fort of, Venables re- pulsed at, 364 INDEX. 509 Sandwich, offer of Colonel Grey to seize, 120 Sankey, Hierome, Colonel, Wildman's expectations from, 72, note i Santiago de la Vega, occupied by Venables, 366 Satisfaction, Act of, see Act of Satis- faction Saunders, Robert, Colonel, signs the three colonels' petition, 52 ; de- prived of his commission, 58 ; his support expected to a plot, 70 ; part taken in Wildman's plot by, 72, note I Saunders, Thomas, transported to Barbados, 160 Savile, Sir George, is absent from home at the time of the royalist insurrection, 133 Savona, proposal to hold a peace con- ference at, 480 Savoy, Duchess of, see Christina Savoy, Duke of, see Charles Em- manuel II. Schlezer, Johann Friedrich, sent to England as the agent of the Elector of Brandenburg, 440 ; receives Oliver's confidences, 441 Scot, Thomas, elected to Parliament, 9 ; Wildman expects support from, 72, note I ; his connection with Chipping Wycombe, 267 Scotland, Parliamentary representa- tion of, 8 ; temper of the army in, 70 ; proceedings of discontented officers in, 73 ; arrest of Overton in, 74 ; design to seize Monk in, 75 ; discontented officers cashiered in, 76 ; request of Coyet to levy soldiers for Sweden in, 430 ; hesitation of the Protector to allow levies in, 431 Screven, Colonel, offers to seize Shrewsbury, 120 Sealed Knot, the, advise the postpone- ment of the insurrection, 126 Seamen's petition, the, drawn up, 55 ; forwarded to the Protector, 56 ; attempt to circulate on land, 69 Searle, Daniel, governor of Barbados, appointed a commissioner for the West Indian expedition, 347 ; re- mains in Barbados, 449 Sedgwick, Robert, Major, sent to invite New England to attack New Amsterdam, 388 ; seizes French forts in Acadia, 389 ; sent as a commissioner to Jamaica, 449 ; his report on the state of the island, 450 ; death of, 455 Sedgwick, William, alleged author of Animadversions on a Letter, 255 Sellick and Leader, propose to trans- port Irishwomen to New England, 331 Servien, Abel, French ambassador at Turin, alleged to have instigated the massacre of the Vaudois, 406 ; sends Petit-Bourg to mediate, 414 ; refuses to participate in the Duke of Savoy's pardon to the Vaudois, 421 Settlement, Act of, see Act of Settle- ment Sexby, Edward, search for, 118; es- capes to the Continent, 119; makes overtures to the royalists, 458 ; visits Spain, 461 ; returns to Antwerp, 462 Seymour, Henry, arrest of, 165 Sherborne, passage of the royalist insurgents through, 138 Shrewsbury, proposed seizure of, 1 20 ; reinforcements sent to the garrison of, 134; failure of the attempt on, 135; dissolute persons imprisoned at, 202 ; suppression of alehouses at, 248 Shropshire, placed under Berry, 197; order for the suppression of inns and alehouses in, 248 Simpson, John, holds a discussion with the Protector, 112; libei-ated, 113; abandons the Fifth Mon- archists, 253 Sinclair, sixth Earl of (John Sin- clair), removed from the Tower, 162 Single person and Parliament, a, declaration required from the electors relating to, 9; Parlia- mentary debate on the authority of, 21 Skippon, Major-General for London, 197, 236; Barkstead acts as substi- tute for, 237 Slingsby, Sir Henry, imprisonment of, 200 Sobota, Charles X. defeats the Poles at, 438 Socinians, the Protector holds that the Instrument does not grant liberty of conscience to, 210 Somerset, raises men against the royalists, 139; placed under Des- borough, 197 South Molton, capture of the royalist insurgents at, 140 South Wales, Dawkins and Nicholas Deputy Major-Generals in, 197 5IO INDEX. Southwark, election at, 1 1 Spain, her position in the West Indies, 342, 343 ; Oliver's ex- pectation that he can wage war in the Indies alone, 344 ; support given to Blake by, 386; breach with, 390-399; Oliver's manifesto against, 4CX3; unpopu- larity of the war with, 449 ; Sexby's reception in, 462 ; treaty of Charles II. with, 470 ; her priva- teers, 477 ; mission of Bonifaz to, 481 ; Lionne's negotiation in, 482 Spanish merchants, warned to with- draw their goods from Spain, 390; advised to set out privateers, 399 Spanish Town, see Santiago de la Staffordshire, placed under Worsley, 197 Stamford, Earl of, 1628 (Henry Grey), takes his seat in Parlia- ment without a certificate from the Council, 20 Steele, William, Chief Baron, gives an opinion that the Jews are not ex- cluded from England by law, 221 Stephens, John, Colonel, conveys Charles's commissioners to England, 77 ; lays before Charles a state- ment on the position of the Eoyalists, 119 Stokes, Luke, appointed commissioner in Jamaica, 455 ; removes to Jamaica, 457 ; death of, 458 Strickland, Walter, sent to the North to remove the difficulties of the judges, 150 ; opposed to the Swedish alliance, 432 Suffolk, placed under Haynes as Fleet- wood's deputy, 197 Surrey, royalist movements in, 120; placed under Kelsey, 196 Sussex, royalist movements in, 120 ; placed under Goffe, 196 Sweden, warlike tendencies of, 426; her possessions beyond the Baltic, 427 ; her relations with Eussia, Brandenburg, and Denmark, 428, 429 ; proposed levy of Highlanders for, 431 ; opposition of the Dutch to the policy of, 432 Switzerland, the Protestant cantons of, send envoys to Turin, 420 ; re- monstrate with Schwytz for per- secuting Protestants, 443; Oliver's intention to send money to, 479; make peace with the Catholic can- tons, ib. Sydenham, William, Colonel, is a Treasury commissioner, 155 Taaffe, Viscount, 1642 (Theobald Taaffe), conveys a message from Charles to the Nuncio, 124 Talbot, Peter, supports Sexby's pro- posals, 459 Talbot, Eichard, arrest and escape of, 462 Taney, Thomas (Theauro-John), pro- ceedings of, 79 ; arrest of, 80 ; set at liberty, 105, 106 Tewkesbury, dismissal of magistrates at, 265 Theauro-John, see Taney, Thomas Thomas, Eowland, imprisoned, 77 ; transported to Barbados, 160 Thorn, surrenders to Charles X., 438 Thorpe, Francis, Baron of the Ex- chequer, sent to try the northern insurgents, 149; dismissal of, 150 Three colonels, the, petition of, 52 ; condemnation of, 58 Thurloe, John, injured in a carriage accident, 38 ; thinks the officers too devoted to the Instrument, 59 ; his opinion of the Levellers, 117; holds that the royalist insurgents are unpopular, 142; receives in- telligence from Manning, 163 ; doubts whether Animadversions on ' a Letter ought to be suppressed, 257 ; assures Nieupoort that he agrees with his Baltic policy, 432 Timolin, murders at, 330 Toleration, the Protector is ready to limit, 16 ; attitude of Owen and Baxter towards, 46 ; votes in Parliament on, 61 ; Oliver's position towards, 86, 105 ; not allowed to Socinians, 209 ; limited in the case of ' Quakers,' 210-216; allowed by connivance to Jews, 216-222 ; parti- ally conceded to Eoman Catholics, 224-226 Tories, the, ravages by, 329 ; murders by, 330 Tortuga, Oliver justifies the English occupation of, 402 Tower, the, reinforcement of the garri- son of, 76 Tansplantation, see Ireland, and Con- naught and Clare Transportation to Barbados, 160 ; condition of those subjected to, 161, note 2 ; of insurgents in Exeter INDEX. 511 gaol, 194 ; miserable state of those ordered to, 195 ; increasingly inflic- ted by executive order, ih. ; recom- mended by Butler and Berry for dissolute persons, 202 ; Worsley wishes nearly sixty gentlemen to be sentenced to, 241 ; views of Goffe and Butler in favour of, 242, 243 ; the Protector and Council are slow to order, 244 ; Major-Generals direc- ted to send in lists of persons suited for, ib. ; popularity of, 245 ; of Peter Bath for not transplanting, 316 ; of Irish vagrants, 331 ; fate of those condemned to, 332-334 Trapani, Blake's visit to, 379 Treason Ordinance, the, debate on, 19 Treasury, the, appointment of new commissioners of, 155 Tuckney, Anthony, his attitude to- wards Calvinism, 230 Tunis, hostility to England at, 377 ; Blake's proceedings at, 378-385 Tuscany, Grand Duke of, the (Ferdi- nand II.), his relations with the Protector, 374-376 Twysden, Thomas, his argument in Cony's case, 151 ; imprisonment and release of, 152 Tynemouth Castle, proposed seizure of, 120 United Provinces, the, see Nether- lands, United Provinces of the Unlicensed printing, orders against, 234 Ussher, James, Archbishop of Armagh, presents a petition on behalf of the episcopalian clergy, 191 ; death of, ih. note 5 Valenciennes, siege and relief of, 482, 483 Vaudoia, the, history of, 407 ; tole- rated within certain limits, 408 ; settle outside their limits, but are ordered to retire, 409 ; attack on, in; massacre of, 413; Oliver's appeal on behalf of, 415 ; a collec- tion ordered for, 416; pardon issued to, 421 ; Milton's sonnet on, 424 Venables, Robert, General, his con- nection with the royalists discussed, 57, note 2 ; appointed a commis- sioner for the West Indian expedi- tion, 347 ; his relations with Penn, 348 ; complains of the forces under his command, 351 ; hurried embark- ation of the army under, 352 ; blames Desborough for the bad quality of his stores, 353; com- plains of the West Indian levies, 355 ; is compelled to forbid pillage, 356 ; conducts the advance in His- paniola, 358 ; alleged misconduct of, 362, note I ; orders a retreat, 363 ; goes on board ship, ib. ; is routed, 364 ; lands his troops in Jamaica, 366 ; returns to England, 368 ; imprisonment and liberation of, 369, 370 Verden, Duchy of, assigned to Sweden by the treaties of Westphalia, 427 Verney, Sir Ealph, imprisonment of, 193, note 3 Vernon, Edward, arrest of, 77 Vernon, Walter, arrest of, 77 Villafranca, Oliver proposes an attack on, 421, note 3 Vines, Kichard, shares Baxter's views on toleration, 46 Vistula, the, desire of Sweden to secure the mouth of, 427 Wagstaff, Sir Joseph, crosses to England, 130 ; sent to command the Western royalists, 136; wishes to hang the judges at Salisbury, 137; escapes from South Molton, 140 ; escapes from England, 144 Wales, placed under Berry, 197 ; Berry's account of the state of, 241 Waller, Edmund, his verses on the Protector, 425 Waller, Sir William, reported to be ready to join the Cavaliers, 132 Wallis, John, is one of the society for the study of natural science, 232 Walter, John, escape of, 144 Walter, Lucy, career of, 471 ; sent out of England, 472 Walton, Brian, receives the paper for his Polyglot Bible free of custom, 233, note 2 War and peace, the power of making, Parliamentary provisions for, 39 Warcup, Eobert, election of, 1 1 Ward, Seth, is one of the society for the study of natural science, 232 Warnemiinde, occupied by Sweden, 427 Warsaw, occupied by Charlss X„ 438 512 INDEX. Warwick, the royalists hope to seize, 120 Warwickshire, placed under Whalley, 197 ; Whalley suppresses alehouses in, 248 Weaver, John, promotes a petition from the City, 72, note i ; acts as a Commissionei c i Parliament in Ireland, 297 ; sent to England, 298 Weights and measures, use of false, 245 Wclau, the treaty of Konigsberg some- times called the treaty of, 444, note 3 Wentworth, Sir Peter, refuses to pay taxes, 153 Weser, the Swedish position on, 427 West Indies, the, the expedition to, objects of, 342-344 ; Oliver under- estimates the difficulties of, 345 ; five commissioners appointed to control, 347 ; misunderstanding between the commanders of, 348; instructions to Venables for, 349 ; character of the army appointed for, 351 ; sent off hurriedly, 352 ; in- tended to be strengthened on arrival, 353 ■> puts to sea, ib. ; seizes Dutch vessels at Barbados, 354 ; bad quality of the new levies for, 355 ; pillage forbidden in, 356 ; arrives off San Domingo, 357; lands in His- paniola, 358 ; hardships suffered by, 358-362 ; retreat of, 363 ; rout of, 364 ; the attack on San Domingo abandoned by, 365 ; lands in Jamaica, 366 ; deserted by Penn and Vena- bles, 368 ; the Protector's responsi- bility for the failure of, 370, 371. gee Jamaica Westminster, extended franchise in, 7 Westmorland, Charles Howard Deputy Major-Gen eral over, 197 Wexford, expulsion of Irish from, 335 Whalley, Edward, Major- General for the Shires of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Leicester, 197 ; takes up his work at Newark, ib.; allows a horse race, 240; wishes to clear the gaols, 242 ; en- forces the law against enclosures, 245 ; complains of the tricks of inn- keepers and of officials in charge of markets, ib.; is active in suppress- ing alehouses, 248; complains of wicked magistrates, 262 ; procures the removal of an alderman at Coventry, 263 ■Whichcote, Benjamin, opposes Calvin- istic dogmatism, 230 ; the latitudi- narians spiritually descended from, 231 Whitelocke, Bulstrode, resists the Protector's chancery reforms, and resigns the commissionership of the Great Seal, 154; becomes com- missioner of the Treasury, 155 Widdrington, Sir Thomas, resists the Protector's chancery reforms and resigns the commissionership of the Great Seal, 154 ; appointed commissioner of the Treasury, 155 Wilde, Dr., uses the Common Prayer at St. Gregory's, 191 ; preaches in a private house, 227 Wildman, John, prepares a petition to be signed by the three colonels, 52 ; confers with Eobert Overton, 71 ; Thurloe's notes on the plot of, 72, note I ; arrested, 118 Wilkins, John, warden of Wadham, is one of the society for the study of natural science, 232 Wilks, Timothy, Colonel, his alleged participation in a plot against Monk, 75 ; the Protector's letter to, 93 Willis, Thomas, Dr., the Common Prayer used at the house of, 227 Willoughby of Parham, fifth Lord, 161 8? (Francis Willoughby), pro- mises that the Presbyterians will join the Cavaliers, 132; arrest of, 164 Wilmers, ■ ?, Wildman's expecta- tions from, 72, note i Wilson, Thomas, Captain, ordered to detain royalist passengers at Dover. 129 Wiltshire, an election in, 12; royal- ist movements in, 136; placed under Desborough, 197 Winchester, proposed royalist attack on, 136; Goffe thinks the jus- tices are bent on a reformation at, 241 Windham, Wadham, argues in Cony's case, 151 ; imprisonment and re- lease of, 152 Winslow, Edward, appointed a com- missioner for the West Indian expedition, 347 ; death of, 366, 449 Wismar, assigned to Sweden by the treaties of Westphalia, 427 Wittenberg, Arvid, Field Marshal, crosses the Polish frontier, 438 Wolves, to be destroyed in Ireland, 308 Worcestershire, placed under Berry, 197 INDEX. 513 Worden, Robert, Colonel, abandons the hope of surprising Chester Castle, 134 Worsley, Benjamin, employed to carry out a survey of Irish land, 325 ; his controversy with Petty, 327 Worsley, Charles, Major-General over Cheshire, Lancashire, and Stafford- shire, 197 ; proceedings of, in Lancashire and Cheshire, 202, 203; complains of 'Quakers,' 214; his activity in Lancashire, 239 ; prohibits horse races in Cheshire, 240 ; wishes nearly sixty Cheshire gentlemen to be transported, 241 ; attempts to enforce the laws against drunkenness and immo- rality, 246, 247 Wren, Christopher, is one of the society for the study of natural science, 232 Wycombe, see Chipping Wycombe Yeovil, passage of the royalist insur- gents through, 138 York, its support claimed for the Instrument, 29 York, Duke of, 1633 (James Stuart), countenances a plot to murder the Protector, 167 ; excluded from France, 423 Yorkshire, its support claimed for the Instrument, 29 ; Robert Lilburna Deputy Major-General over, 197 PniVTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., KEW-&TREET SQUAKS LONDON VOL. III. . L L o H (Tlassifieb Catalogue OF WORKS IN GENERAL LITERATURE PUBLISHED BY LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.G. 91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, and 32 HORNBY ROAD, BOMBAY. CONTENTS. BADMINTON LIBRARY (THE). - BIOGRAPHY, PERSONAL ME- MOIRS, &c. CHILDREN'S BOOKS CLASSICAL LITERATURE, TRANS- LATIONS, ETC. - . . - COOKERY, DOMESTIC MENT, &c. EVOLUTION, &c. MANAGE- ANTHROPOLOGY. 28 - 17 FICTION, HUMOUR, &c. - - - 20 FUR, FEATHER AND FIN SERIES 12 HISTORY, POLITICS, POLITY, POLITICAL MEMOIRS, &c. - - 3 LANGUAGE, HISTORY AND SCIENCE OF 16 MENTAL, MORAL, AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 14 MISCELLANEOUS AND CRITICAL WORKS 29 MISCELLAN^US THEOLOGICAL WORKS - ..... ... 32 POETRY AND THE rmAMA - - 19 POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ECO- NOMICS 17 POPULAR SCIENCE - - - .24 SILVER LIBRARY (THE) - - 26 SPORT AND PASTIME . . - 10 STONYHURST PHILOSOPHICAL SERIES 16 TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE, THE COLONIES, &c. . . . - 9 WORKS OF REFERENCE- . - 25 INDEX OF AUTHORS AND EDITORS. Page Abbott (Evelyn) - 3, 18 (T. K.) - -14,15 (E. A.) - - 14 Acland (A. H. D.) - 3 Acton (Eliza) - - 28 Adeane(J. H.)- - 8 iEschylus - - 18 Ainger (A. C.) - - 12 Albemarle (Earl of) - 10 Allen (Grant) - - 24 Amos (S.) - - 3 Anstey (F.) - - 20 Aristophanes - - 18 Aristotle - - - 14 Arnold (Sir Edwin) - 9, 19 (Dr. T.) - - 3 Ashbourne (Lord) - 3 Ashby (H.) - - 28 Ashley (W. J.)- - 3.17 Avebury (Lord) - 17 Ayre (Rev. J.) - - 25 Bacon - - - 7, 14 Baden-Powell (B. H.) 3 Bagehot (W.) Bagwell (R.) - Bain (Alexander) Baker (Sir S. W.) Balfour (A. J.) 7. 17. 29 3 14 - 9, 10 - 11.32 Page Balfour (Lady Betty) 5 Ball (John) - - 9 Banks (M. M.) - - 20 Baring-Gould(Rev.S.)27,29 Barnett (S. A. and H.) 17 Baynes (T. S.) - - 29 Beaconsfield (Earl of) 20 Beaufort (Duke of) - 10, ii Becker (W. A.) - 18 Beddard (F. E.) - 24 Beesly (A. H.) - - 7 Bell (Mrs. Hugh) - 19 Bent (J. Theodore) - g Besant (Sir Walter)- 3 Bickerdyke (J.) 11, 12, 13 Birt (A.) - - . 20 Blackburne (J. H.) - 13 Bland (Mrs. Hubert) 20 Boase (Rev. C. W.) - Boedder (Rev. B.) - Bosanquet (B.) Boyd (Rev. A. K. H Brassey (Lady) (Lord) Bray (C.) - Bright (Rev. J. F.) - Broadfoot (Major W.) Browning (H. Ellen) 9 Bruce (R. L) - - 3 16 14 29. 32 9 12 14 3 Buck (H. A.) - Buckland (Jas.) Buckle (H. T.)- Buckton (C. M.) Bull (T.) - Burke (U. R.) - Burns (C. L.) - Burrows (Montagu) Butler (E. A.) - (Samuel) - Page 12 25 3 28 28 3 29 4 24 18, 20 Calder (J.) - - 29 Cameron of Lochiel 12 Campbell(Rev.Lewis) 18,32 Camperdown (Earl of) 7 Cawthorne(Geo. Jas.) 13 Chesney (Sir G.) - 3 Childe-Pemberton(W.S.) 7 Cholmondeley-Pennell (H.) - - - II Churchill(W. Spencer) 3, 20 Cicero - . - 18 Clarke (Rev. R. F.) - 16 Clodd (Edward) - 17, 24 Clutterbuck (W. J.)- 9 Colenso (R. J.) - 29 Coleridge (S. T.) - 19 Comparetti (D.) - 30 Conington (John) - 18 Conway (Sir W. M ) Conybeare (Rev. W. J.) & Howson (Dean) Coolidge (W. A. B.) Corbin (M.) - Corbett (Julian S.) - Coutts (W.) - Coventry (A.) - Cox (Harding) Crake (Rev. A. D.) - Crawford (J. H.) - Creiehton (Bishop) - Crozier (J. B.) - - 7, Curzon of Kedleston (Lord) - Custance (Col. H. - Cutts (Rev. E. L.) - Dallinger (F. W.) - 5 Davidson (W. L.) 15, 16, 32 ^ " " "' 18 *i 29 4 17 4 30 Davies (J. F.) - Dent (C. T.) - De Salis (Mrs.) De Tocqueville (A.) - Devas (C. S.) - Dickinson (G. L.) - • (W. H.) - Dougall (L.) - Dowden (E.) - INDEX OF Pagt Doyle (A. Conan) Du Bois (W. E. B.)- 5 Dufferin (Marquis of) 12 Dunbar (Mary F.) - 20 Ebrington (Viscount) 12 Ellis (J. H.) • - 13 (R. L.) - - 14 Evans (Sir John) - 30 AUTHORS AND EDITORS— eon^mwei^. Page Farrar (Dean) - - 16, 21 Folkard (H. C.) - 13 ( Ford (H.) - - - 13 (W.J.) - - 13 Fowler (Edith H.) - 21 Foxcroft (H. C.) - 7 Francis (Francis) - 13 Francis (M. E.) - 21 Freeman (Edward A.) 4 Treshfield (D. W.) - 11 Froude (James A.) 4, 7, 9, 21 Furneaux (W.) - 24 ■Gardiner (Samuel R.) 4 Oathorne-Hardy (Hon. A. E.) - - 12 .13 Gibbons (J. S.) Gibson (Hon. H.) - 12 13 (C. H.) - - 14 (Hon. W.) 32 Gleig (Rev. G. R.) - 8 Goethe - 19 Going (C. B.) - 25 Gore-Booth (Sir H. W )ii Graham (P. A.) 13 (G. F.) - - 16 Granby (Marquis of) 12 Grant (Sir A.) - 14 Graves (R. P.) - 8 Green (T. Hill) 15 Greene (E. B.)- 5 Greville (C. C. F.) - 4 Grose (T. H.) - 15 Gross (C.) 4. 5 Grove (F. C.) - 11 (Mrs. Lilly) II Gurnhill (J.) - 15 Gwilt (J.) - 25 Haggard (H. Rider)- 21, 30 Hake (O.) - - - 12 Halliwell-Phillipps(J.) 8 Hamlin (A. D. F.) - 30 Hammond (Mrs. J. H.) 4 Harding (S. B.) - 5 Hardy (A. Gathorne-) 12,13 Harte (Bret) - - 21 Harting(J.E.)- - 12 Hartwig (G.) - - 24 Hassall (A.) - - 7 Haweis (H. R.) - 8, 30 Heath (D. D.) - - 14 Heathcote (J. M.) - 12 (C. G.) - - 12 (N.) - - - 9 Helmholtz (Hermann von) - - - 24 Henderson (Lieut- Col. G. F.) - 8 Henry (W.) - - 12 Henty (G. A.) - - 26 Herbert (Col. Kenney) 12 Herod (Richard S.) - 13 Hiley (R. W.) - - 8 Hillier (G. Lacy) - 10 Hime (H. W. L.) - 18 Hodgson (Shadworth)i5, 30 Hoenig (F.) 30 Hogan (J. F.) - 7 Holmes (R. R.) 8 Homer 18 Hope (Anthony) 21 Horace - 18 Houston (D. F.) 5 Howitt (W.) - 9 Hudson (W. H.) - 24 HuUah (J.) 30 Page Hume (David) - - 15 Hunt (Rev. W.) - 4 Hunter (Sir W.) - 5 Hutchinson (Horace G.) II. 13 Ingelow (Jean) - ig Ingram (T. D.) - 5 Jackson (A. W.) - 8 James (W.) - - 15 Jefferies (Richard) - 30 Jekyll (Gertrude) - 30 Jerome (Jerome K.)- 22 ohnson(J. & J. H.) 30 ones (H. Bence) - 25 Jordan (W. L.) - 17 Jowett (Dr. B.) - 17 Joyce (P. W.) - 5, 22, 30 Justinian : - - 15 Kant (I.) - - - 15 Kaye (Sir J. W.) - 5 Kelly (E.)- - - 15 Kent (C. B. R.) - 5 Kerr (Rev. J.) - - 12 Killick (Rev. A. H.) - 15 Kingsley (Rose G.) - 30 Kitchin (Dr. G. W.) 4 Knight (E. F.) - - 9, 12 Kostlin (J.) - - 8 Kristeller (P.) - • 30 Ladd (G. T.) - - 15 Lang (Andrew) 5, 10, 11, 13, I7,i8,i9^20;2i,22, 26, 30,32 5 10, 12 5 II 29 15. 19 9 Lapsley (G. T. Lascelles (Hon. G.) Laurie (S. S.) - Lawley (Hon. F.) - Lear (H. L. Sidney) - Lecky (W. E. H.) 5 Lees (J. A.) - Leslie (T. E. Cliffe) - 17 Levett-Yeats (S.) - 22 Lillie(A.)- - - 13 Lin - Pemberton (W.^ S. Childe-) Pembroke (Earl of) - Pennant (C. D.) Phillipps-Wolley(C.) 10, Phillips (Mrs. Lionel) Pitman (C. M.) Pleydell-Bouverie (E. O.) Pole (W.) - Pollock (W. H.) - II, Poole (W. H. and Mrs.) Pooler (C. K.) - Poore (G. V.) - Pope (W. H.) - Powell (E.) Praeger (S. Rosamond) Prevost (C.) - Pritchett (R. T.) Proctor (R. A.) 14, 24, 28 Macaulay (Lord) - 6, 19 Macdonald (G.) - 9 (Dr. G.) - - 19, 32 Macfarren(Sir G. A.) 31 Mackail (I. W.) - 8, 18 Mackinnon (J.) - 6 Macleod (H. D.) - 17 Macpherson (Rev. H. A.)i2 Madden (D. H.) - 13 Magnusson (E.) - 22 Maher (Rev. M.) - 16 Malleson(Col. G.B.) 5 Mann (E. E.) - - 29 Marbot (Baron de) - 8 Marshman (J, C.) - 8 Martineau (Dr. James) 32 Mason (A. E. W.) - 22 Maskelyne (J. N.) - 13 Maunder (S.) - - 25 Max Miiller (F.) 8,15, 16, 22, 31, 32 May(SirT. Erskine) 6 Meade (L. T.) - - 26 Melville (G. J. Whyte) 22 Merivale (Dean) - 6 Merriman (H. S.) - 22 Raine (Rev. James) - 4 Rankin (R.) - - 20 Ransome (Cyril) - 3, 6 Raymond (W.) - 22 Reader (Emily E.) - 23 Rhoades(l.) - - 18 Ribblesdale (Lord) - 14 Rice (S. P.) - - 10 Rich (A.) - - - 18 Richardson (C.) - 10, 12 Richter (J. Paul) - 31 Rickaby (Rev. John) 16 (Rev. Joseph) - 16 Ridley (Sir E.) - - 18 Riley (J. W.) - - 20 Roget (Peter M.) - 16, 25 Romanes (G. J.) 8, 15, 17, 20, 32 (Mrs. G.J.) - 8 Ronalds (A.) - - 14 Roosevelt (T.) - - 4 Ross (Martin) - - 23 Rossetti (Maria Fran- cesca) - - - 31 Rowe (R. P. P.) - II Russell (Lady)- - 8 — -(R.) - - - 32 Saintsbury (G.) - 12 Sandars (T. C.) - 15 Seebohm (F.) - - 6, 8 Selous (F. C.) - - 10, 14 Senior (W.) - - 11, 12 Sewell (Elizabeth M.) 23 Shakespeare - - 20 Shand (A I.) - - 12 Shaw (W. A.) - - 6 Shearman (M.) - 10, 11 Sinclair (A.) - - 12 Smith (R. Bosworth) 6 (T. C.) - - 5 Smith(W.P.Haskett) Somerville (E.) - 23 Sophocles - - 18 Soulsby (Lucy H.) - 31 Southey (R.) - - 31 Spahr (C. B.) - - 17 Spedding) J.) - - 7, 14 Stanlev (Bishop) - 24 (Lady) - - 8 Stebbing (W.) - - 8, 23 Steel (A. G.) - - 10 Stephen (Leslie) - 10 Stephens (H. Morse) 6 Stevens (R. W.) - 31 Stevenson (R. L.) - 23, 26 Stock (St. George) - 15 Storr (F.) - - - 14 Strong (S. A.) - - 30 Stuart-Wortley (A.J.) 11,1a Stubbs(J.W.)- - 6 Suffolk & Berkshire (Earl of) - - II Sullivan (Sir E.) - 12 Sully (James) - - 16 Sutherland (A. and G.) 7 (Alex.) - - i6, 31 Suttner (B. von) - 23 Swinburne (A. J.) - 16 Symes (J. E.) - - 17 Tavlor (Meadows) — '- (Una) Tebbutt (C. G.) Terry (C. S.) - ThornhilKW. J.) Todd (A.) - Toynbee (A.^ Trevelyan (Sir G. O.) 6, 7, 8 (G. M.) TroUope (Anthony) - Turner (ri. G.) Tyndall (J.) - Tvrrell (R. Y.) - 6.7 23 31 Upton(F.K.and Bertha) 26 Van Dyke (J. C.) - 31 Verney (Frances P. and Margaret M.) 8 Virgil . - - 18 Wagner (R.) - - 20 Wakeman (H. O.) - 7 Walford (L. B.) - 23 Wallas (Graham) - 8 Walpole (Sir Spencer) 7 Walrond (Col. H.) - 10 Walsingham(Lord)- 11 Waher(J.) - - 8 Ward (Mrs. W.) - 23 Warwick (Countess of) 31 Watson (A. E.T.) 10,11,12 Webb (Mr. and Mrs. Sidney) -. - i? (T. E.) - - 16, 19 Weber (A.) - - 16 Weir (Capt. R.) - 11 West (B. B.) - - 23 Weyman (Stanley) - 23 Whately(Archbishop) 14. 16 (E. Jane) - - 16 Whitelaw (R.) - - 18 Wilcocks (J. C.) - 14 Wilkins(G.) - - 18 Willard (A. R.) - 3' Williams (T.) - - 7 Willich (C. M.) - 25 Witham (T. M.) - 12 Wood (Rev. J. G.) - 25 Wood-Martin (W. G.) 7 Wordsworth (W.) - 20 Wright (C. D.) - 17 Wyatt (A. J.) - - 19 Wylie (J. H. - - 7 Zeller(E.) - - 16 MESSRS. LONGMANS & CO.'S STANDARD AND GENERAL WORKS. History, Polities, Polity, Political Memoirs, &e. Abbott. — A History of Greece. By Evelyn Abbott, M.A., LL.D. Part L — From the Earliest Times to the Ionian Revolt. Crown 8vo., los. 6d. Part IL — 500-445 B.C. Crown 8vo., 105. 6d. Part in. — From the Peace of 445 b.c. to the Fall of the Thirty at Athens in 403 B.C. Crown 8vo., los. 6d. Acland and Ransome.— ^ Hand- book IN Outline of the Political His- TORY OF England to 1896. Chronologically Arranged. By the Right Hon. A. H. Dyke Acland, and Cyril Ransome, M.A. Crown 8vo., 6s. Amos. — Primer of the English Constitution and Government. 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