Skip to main content

Full text of "Oliver Cromwell's letters and speeches with elucidations"

See other formats 


%  »* 


CENTENARY    EDITION 


THE    WORKS    OF 
THOMAS    CARLYLE 

IN     THIRTY     VOLUMES 


VOL.  VIII 

CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 
III 


I 


,,-•• 

THOMAS    CARLYLE 


OLIVER  CROMWELL'S 

LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 

WITH  ELUCIDATIONS 


IN  FOUR  VOLUMES 
VOLUME  III 


LONDON 

CHAPMAN   AND   HALL 

LIMITED 

1902 


Originally  published  1845 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    III 
PART    VII 

THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT.        1651-53. 

PAOB 

THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT 1 

LETTER      CLXXXIV.  To  Rev.  J.  Cotton:  London,  2  Oct. 

1651 7 

Reflections  on  Public  Affairs  ;  what  Prophecies 
are  now  fulfilling. 

„  CLXXXV.  To  Mr.  Hungerford  :  London,  30  July 

1652 19 

Note  on  Private  Business. 

„  CLXXXVI.  To   A.    Hungerford,  Esq.  :    Cockpit, 

10  Dec.  1652          ....       27 
Not  at  Home  when  Hungerford  called. 

CLXXXVII.  To   Lieutenant-General    Fleetwood : 

Cockpit, 1652        .         .         .28 

Domestic-Devotional.  Difference  between  Love 
and  Fear  in  matters  of  Religion. 

CLXXXVIII.  To  Mr.  Parker :  Whitehall,  23  April 

1653 37 

Riot  in  the  Fen-Country. 

SUMMONS       . 39 

SPEECH  I.  Opening  of  the  Little  Parliament,  4  July  1653     .       40 

Retrospective :  aim  of  all  these  Wars  and  Struggles ;  chief 
events  of  them;  especially  dismissal  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment. Prospective :  dayspring  of  divine  Prophecy  and 
Hope,  to  be  struggled  towards,  though  with  difficulty. 
Demits  his  authority  into  their  hands. 


vi     CROMWELL'S  LETTERS   AND   SPEECHES 

PAGE 

LETTER  CLXXXIX.  To     Lieutenant-  General     Fleetwood  : 

Cockpit,  22  Aug.  1653      .         .         .74 
Complains  ;  heart-weary  of  the  strife  of  Parties : 
Moses  and  the  Two  Hebrews. 

CXC.  To    Committee    of   Customs:    Cockpit, 

Oct.  1653          .,      .         .         .         .75 
In  remonstrance  for  a  poor  Suitor  to  them. 

„  CXCI.  To  H.  Weston,  Esq. :  London,  16  Nov. 

1653  .        ...         .        .77 

Excuse  for  an  Oversight :  Speldhurst  Living. 

PART    VIII 

FIRST  PROTECTORATE  PARLIAMENT.        1654. 

LETTER         CXCII.  To  R.  Mayor,  Esq. :  Whitehall,  4  May 

1654  .         .         .         ...         .94 

Dare  not  undertake  the  Purchase  recommended. 

CXCIII.  To    Lord    Fleetwood  :    Whitehall,    16 

May  1654       «  .         ...         .       96 
To  dismiss  Col.  Alured. 

CXCIV.  To   Col.    Alured  :    Whitehall,    16   May 

1654         .         .         .      .;,'.'      .         .       97 
Official  Order  to  the  Colonel. 

„  CXCV.  To  Sir  T.   Vyner:    Whitehall,   5  July 

1654       :i        .         .         .         .         .100 
A  City  Preacher. 

SPEECH  II.  Meeting  of  the   First   Protectorate    Parliament, 

4  Sept.  1654   .         ...         •         .         •         .103 

Goodwin's  Sermon,  On  the  Deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  and 
Pilgrimage  towards  Canaan  through  the  Wilderness. 
Our  difficulties :  Antichrist ;  Levellers,  Fifth-Monarchists, 
Jesuits.  Our  attainments :  Some  Reform  of  Law  ;  Reform 
of  Church;  Peace,  with  almost  all  Nations.  Finance; 
necessity  of  Concord. 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

SPEECH  III.  To  the  First  Protectorate  Parliament,  12  Sept. 

1654 127 

Cannot  have  the  Foundations  of  Government  submitted  to 
debate  in  this  Assembly.  A  free  Parliament  they  ;  but 
he  also,  in  virtue  of  whom  they  sit,  must  be  an  unques- 
tioned Protector.  His  history  since  he  entered  on  these 
Public  Struggles;  Dismissal  of  the  Long  Parliament; 
Abdication  of  the  Little  Parliament;  Protectorship,  on 
what  founded,  by  whom  acknowledged.  To  proceed  no 
farther,  till  they  acknowledge  it. 

LETTER    CXCVI.  To  R.  Bennet,  Esq, :  Whitehall,  12  Jan. 

1654-5        -...' 161 

Virginia  and  Maryland. 

CXCVII.  To   Captain    Crook:    Whitehall,  20  Jan. 

1654-5 162 

To  watch  Adjutant-Gen.  Allen. 

SPEECH   IV.  Dissolution  of  the  First  Protectorate  Parliament, 

22  Jan.  1654-5 166 

Regrets  that  they  have  not  communicated  with  him :  he  was 
not  unconcerned  with  them ;  has  been  struggling  and 
endeavouring  for  them,  keeping  Peace  round  them; — 
does  not  know,  on  their  part,  whether  they  have  been 
alive  or  dead.  Of  trees  that  foster  only  things  poisonous 
under  their  shadow.  Of  disturbances,  once  well  asleep, 
awakened  into  new  perilous  activity  during  these  debates. 
Necessary  that  they  be  dissolved. 


PART    IX 

THE  MAJOR-GENERALS.        1655-56. 

CHRONOLOGICAL .     196 

LETTER  CXCVIII.  To    Gen.    Blake :    Whitehall,    13    June 

1655 207 

The  Dey  of  Tunis.     Instructions. 

VOL.  m.  b 


viii   CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 

PAGE 

LETTER      CXCIX.  To    Lord     Fleetwood :     Whitehall,     22 

June  1655    .         .         .         .         .         .     210 

By  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brewster.    Henry  Cromwell  gone 
to  Ireland.     Private  feelings. 

„  CC.  To  Mr.    Secretary  Thurloe:   Whitehall, 

28  July  1655         .         .         .         ./       .     214 
A  Scholar  for  the  Charterhouse. 

,,  CCI.  To    Gen.    Blake:    Whitehall,    30    July 

1655 


Instructions,  Not  yet  to  divide  the  Fleet.    Person 
for  Lisbon. 


JAMAICA 
LETTER 


216 


COMPLIMENT,  Swedish  Ambassador 218 

LETTER          CCII.  To   Gen.  Blake :    Whitehall,    13    Sept. 

1655 220 

Plate  Fleet. 

„  CCIII.  To  Maryland  Commissioners  :  Whitehall, 

26  Sept.  1655       .         .         .         .         .222 
Virginia  and  Maryland. 

226 


CCIV.  To   Vice-Admiral   Goodson :    Whitehall, 

Oct.  1655     .         .         ...         .     230 

Of  Jamaica :— This  and  the  Two  following. 

CCV.  To  D.  Serle,  Esq. :  Whitehall,  Oct.  1655     234 

CCVI.  To    Major-Gen.    Fortescue :    Whitehall, 

Nov.  1655    .         .         .         .         .'..;.     235 

CCVII.  To  Henry  Cromwell  :  Whitehall,  21  Nov. 

1655     .  .         .         .         .         .     239 

The  Disaffected  in  Ireland. 

CCVIII.  To  the  same  :  Whitehall,  21  April  1656  .     244 

Fatherly  Advices,  and  Encouragements. 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGB 

LETTER       CCIX.  To     Generals     Blake     and     Montague  : 

Whitehall,  28  April  1656      .         .         .246 

By  Captain  Lloyd.      Suggestions:    Cadiz,   Puntal, 
Gibraltar. 

„  CCX.  To  the  same  :  Whitehall,  6  May  1656     .     249 

Claims  on  Portugal. 

„  CCXI.  To    Gresham    Committee:    Whitehall,    9 

May  1656 252 

Geometry  Professor. 

„  CCXII.  To    Richard    Cromwell:     Whitehall,    29 

May  1656 253 

Can  sell  Newhall. 

CCXIII.  To     Henry     Cromwell :     Whitehall,     26 

Aug.  1656 259 

Dangers  in  Ireland. 

„          CCXIV.  To     Generals     Blake      and     Montague: 

Whitehall,  28  Aug.  1656       .         .         .     263 
Montague  to  come  home  and  advise. 

SPEECH  V.  Meeting  of  the  Second  Protectorate  Parliament, 

17  Sept.  1656       ..  .  267 

Our  difficulties :  Spain,  and  why  we  have  gone  to 
war  with  Spain ;  Papists,  Cavaliers,  Levellers,  Fifth- 
Monarchists  ; — the  need  there  was  of  Major-Generals. 
Our  remedies :  To  prosecute  the  War  with  vigour ; 
to  maintain  steadily  the  aim  of  all  these  struggles, 
Liberty  of  Conscience  and  a  pure  Gospel  Ministry ; 
to  reform  the  Law : — to  reform  Manners ;  that  will 
be  the  grand  remedy  of  all.  Finance,  Exhortation ; 
Divine  encouragement  and  hope  :  Eighty-fifth  Psalm. 

(Adjoined  to  this  Volume.} 

LIST  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT    .  ,     315 

LISTS  OF  THE  EASTERN-ASSOCIATION  COMMITTEES  .  341 


x     CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


LIST   OF   PLATES 

SIR  THOMAS  FAIRFAX          .        .        „        ,  frontispiece 

JOHN  MILTON         .         .         .         .         .         .  at  page  85 

MONTAGUE  EARL  OF  SANDWICH     .        .  .       „     196 


PART   SEVENTH 

THE    LITTLE    PARLIAMENT 

1651-1653 


LETTERS    CLXXXIV— CLXXXVIII 
THE    LITTLE    PARLIAMENT 

BETWEEN  Worcester  Battle  on  the  3d  of  September  1651,  and 
the  Dismissal  of  the  Long  Parliament  on  the  20th  of  April 
1653,  are  Nineteen  very  important  months  in  the  History  of 
Oliver,  which,  in  all  our  Books  and  Historical  rubbish-records, 
lie  as  nearly  as  possible  dark  and  vacant  for  us.  Poor  Dryas- 
dust has  emitted,  and  still  emits,  volumes  of  confused  noise  on 
the  subject ;  but  in  the  way  of  information  or  illumination,  of 
light  in  regard  to  any  fact,  physiognomic  feature,  event  or 
fraction  of  an  event,  as  good  as  nothing  whatever.  Indeed, 
onwards  from  this  point  where  Oliver's  own  Letters  begin  to 
fail  us,  the  whole  History  of  Oliver,  and  of  England  under 
him,  becomes  very  dim  ; — swimming  most  indistinct  in  the 
huge  Tomes  of  Thurloe  and  the  like,  as  in  shoreless  lakes  of 
ditchwater  and  bilgewater  ;  a  stagnancy,  a  torpor,  and  confused 
horror  to  the  human  soul !  No  historical  genius,  not  even 
a  RushworthX  now  presides  over  the  matter :  nothing  but 
bilgewater  Correspondences ;  vague  jottings  of  a  dull  fat 
Bulstrode  ;  vague  printed  babblements  of  this  and  the  other 
Carrion  Heath,  or  Flunky  Pamphleteer  of  the  Blessed-Re- 
storation Period,  writing  from  ignorant  rumour  and  for 
VOL.  ill.  A 


2     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT     [1651 

ignorant  rumour,  from  the  winds  and  to  the  winds.  After 
long  reading  in  very  many  Books,  of  very  unspeakable  quality, 
earning  for  yourself  only  incredibility,  inconceivability,  and 
darkness  visible,  you  begin  to  perceive  that  in  the  Speeches  of 
Oliver  himself  once  well  read,  such  as  they  are,  some  shadowy 
outlines,  authentic  prefigurements  of  what  the  real  History  of 
the  Time  may  have  been,  do  first,  in  the  huge  inane  night, 
begin  to  loom  forth  for  you, — credible,  conceivable  in  some 
measure,  there  for  the  first  time.  My  reader's  patience  is 
henceforth  to  be  still  more  severely  tried  :  there  is  unluckily 
no  help  for  it,  as  matters  stand. 

Great  lakes  of  watery  Correspondence  relating  to  the  His- 
tory of  this  Period,  as  we  intimate,  survive  in  print ;  and  new 
are  occasionally  issued  upon  mankind  :l  but  the  essence  of 
them  has  never  yet  in  the  smallest  been  elaborated  by  any 
man  ; — will  require  a  succession  and  assiduous  series  of  many 
men  to  elaborate  it.  To  pluck-up  the  great  History  of  Oliver 
from  it,  like  drowned  Honour  by  the  locks ;  and  show  it  to 
much-wondering  and,  in  the  end,  right-thankful  England ! 
The  richest  and  noblest  thing  England  hitherto  has.  The 
basis  England  will  have  to  start  from  again,  if  England  is 
ever  to  struggle  Godward  again,  instead  of  struggling  Devil- 
ward,  and  Mammonward  merely.  Serene  element  of  Cant  has 
been  tried  now  for  two  Centuries ;  and  fails.  Serene  element, 
general  completed  life-atmosphere,  of  Cant  religious,  Cant 
moral,  Cant  political,  Cant  universal,  where  England  vainly 
hoped  to  live  in  a  serene  soft-spoken  manner, — England  now 
finds  herself  on  the  point  of  choking  there ;  large  masses  of 
her  People  no  longer  able  to  get  even  potatoes  in  that  serene 
element.  England  will  have  to  come  out  of  that ;  England, 
too  terribly  awakened  at  last,  is  everywhere  preparing  to  come 
out  of  that.  England,  her  Amazon-eyes  once  more  flashing 
strange  HeavenVlight,  like  Phoebus  Apollo's  fatal  to  the 

1  Thurloe's  State-Papers,  Milton's,  Clarendon's,  Ormond's,  Sidney's,  etc.  etc. 
are  old  and  very  watery  ;  new  and  still  waterier  are  Vaughan's  Protectorate^  and 
Others  not  even  worth  naming  here, 


i]  THE    RUMP  3 

Pythian  mud-serpents,  will  lift  her  hand,  I  think,  and  her 
heart,  and  swear  <  By  the  Eternal,  I  will  not  die  in  that !  I 
had  once  men  who  knew  better  than  that  !'- 

But  with  regard  to  the  History  of  Oliver,  as  we  were 
saying,  for  those  Nineteen  months  there  is  almost  no  light  to 
be  communicated  at  present.  Of  Oliver's  own  uttering,  I  have 
found  only  Five  Letters,  short,  insignificant,  connected  with 
no  phasis  of  Public  Transactions  :  there  are  Two  Dialogues 
recorded  by  Whitlocke,  of  dubious  authenticity  ;  certain  small 
splinters  of  Occurrences  not  pointing  very  decisively  any- 
whither,  sprinkling  like  dust  of  stars  the  dark  vacancy  :  these, 
and  Dryasdust's  vociferous  commentaries  new  and  old  ; — and 
of  discovered  or  discoverable,  nothing  more.  Oliver's  own 
Speech,  which  the  reader  is  by  and  by  to  hear,  casts  backwards 
some  straggling  gleams ;  well  accordant,  as  is  usual,  with 
whatever  else  we  know  ;  and  worthy  to  be  well  believed  and 
meditated  by  Historical  readers,  among  others.  Out  of  these 
poor  elements  the  candid  imagination  must  endeavour  to 
shape  some  not  inconceivable  scheme  and  genesis  of  this  very 
indubitable  Fact,  the  Dismissal  of  the  Long  Parliament,  as 
best  it  may.  Perhaps  if  Dryasdust  were  once  well  gagged, 
and  his  vociferous  commentaries  all  well  forgotten,  such  a 
feat  might  not  be  very  impossible  for  mankind  ! — 

Concerning  this  Residue,  Fag-end,  or  'Rump'  as  it  had 
now  got  nicknamed,  of  the  Long  Parliament,  into  whose 
hands  the  Government  of  England  had  been  put,  we  have 
hitherto,  ever  since  the  King's  Death- Warrant,  said  almost 
nothing  :  and  in  fact  there  was  not  much  to  be  said.  *  States- 
men of  the  Commonwealth '  so-called  :  there  wanted  not 
among  them  men  of  real  mark  ;  brave  men,  of  much  talent, 
of  true  resolution,  and  nobleness  of  aim  :  but  though  their 
title  was  chief  in  this  Commonwealth,  all  men  may  see  their 
real  function  in  it  has  been  subaltern  all  along.  Not  in 
St.  Stephen's  and  its  votings  and  debatings,  but  in  the  battle- 
field, in  Oliver  Cromwell's  fightings,  has  the  destiny  of  this 
Commonwealth  decided  itself.  One  unsuccessful  Battle,  at 


4-     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT     [1651 

Preston  or  at  any  time  since,  had  probably  wrecked  it ; — 
one  stray  bullet  hitting  the  life  of  a  certain  man  had  soon 
ended  this  Commonwealth.  Parliament,  Council  of  State, 
they  sat  like  diligent  Committees  of  Ways  and  Means,  in  a 
very  wise  and  provident  manner :  but  the  soul  of  the 
Commonwealth  was  at  Dunbar,  at  Worcester,  at  Tredah  : 
Destiny,  there  questioned,  'Life  or  Death  for  this  Common- 
wealth ? '  has  answered,  '  Life  yet  for  a  time  ! ' — That  is  a 
fact  which  the  candid  imagination  will  have  to  keep  steadily 
in  view. 

And  now,  if  we  practically  ask  ourselves,  What  is  to 
become  of  this  small  junto  of  men,  somewhat  above  a  Hundred 
in  all,1  hardly  above  Half-a-hundred  the  active  part  of  them, 
who  now  sit  in  the  chair  of  authority  ?  the  shaping-out  of 
any  answer  will  give  rise  to  considerations.  These  men  have 
been  raised  thither  by  miraculous  interpositions  of  Providence ; 
they  may  be  said  to  sit  there  only  by  a  continuance  of  the 
like.  They  cannot  sit  there  forever.  They  are  not  Kings 
by  birth,  these  men ;  nor  in  any  of  them  have  I  discovered 
qualities  as  of  a  very  indisputable  King  by  attainment.  Of 
dull  Bulstrode,  with  his  lumbering  law-pedantries,  and  stagnant 
official  self-satisfactions,  I  do  not  speak  ;  nor  of  dusky  tough 
St.  John,  whose  abstruse  fanaticisms,  crabbed  logics,  and  dark 
ambitions,  issue  all,  as  was  very  natural,  in  '  decided  avarice ' 
at  last: — not  of  these.  Harry  Marten  is  a  tight  little 
fellow,  though  of  somewhat  loose  life :  his  witty  words  pierce 
yet,  as  light-arrows,  through  the  thick  oblivious  torpor  of  the 
generations ;  testifying  to  us  very  clearly,  Here  was  a  right 
hard-headed,  stout-hearted  little  man,  full  of  sharp  fire  and 
cheerful  light;  sworn  foe  of  Cant  in  all  its  figures;  an 

indomitable  little  Roman  Pagan  if  no   better  : but  Harry  is 

not   quite   one's   King  either;     it   would  have  been  difficult 

1  One  notices  division-numbers  as  high  as  121,  and  occasionally  lower  than 
even  40.  Godwin  (iii.  121),  '  by  careful  scrutiny  of  the  Journals,'  has  found  that 
the  utmost  number  of  all  that  had  still  the  right  to  come  '  could  not  be  less 
than  150.' 


i65i]  THE    RUMP  5 

to  be  altogether  loyal  to  Harry !  Doubtful  too,  I  think, 
whether  without  great  effort  you  could  have  worshipped  even 
the  Younger  Vane.  A  man  of  endless  virtues,  says  Dryasdust, 
who  is  much  taken  with  him,  and  of  endless  intellect ; — but 
you  must  not  very  specially  ask,  How  or  where  ?  Vane  was 
the  Friend  of  Milton  :  that  is  almost  the  only  answer  that 
can  now  be  given.  A  man,  one  rather  finds,  of  light  fibre, 
this  Sir  Harry  Vane.  Grant  all  manner  of  purity  and  eleva- 
tion ;  subtle  high  discourse ;  much  intellectual  and  practical 
dexterity  :  there  is  an  amiable,  devoutly  zealous,  very  pretty 
man  ; — but  not  a  royal  man  ;  alas,  no  !  On  the  whole,  rather  a 
thin  man.  Whom  it  is  even  important  to  keep  strictly  sub- 
altern. Whose  tendency  towards  the  Abstract,  or  Temporary- 
Theoretic,  is  irresistible ;  whose  hold  of  the  Concrete,  in 
which  lies  always  the  Perennial,  is  by  no  means  that  of  a 
giant,  or  born  Practical  King  ; — whose  '  astonishing  subtlety 
of  intellect  '  conducts  him  not  to  new  clearness,  but  to  ever 
new  abstruseness,  wheel  within  wheel,  depth  under  depth ; 
marvellous  temporary  empire  of  the  air, — wholly  vanished 
now,  and  without  meaning  to  any  mortal.  My  erudite  friend, 
the  astonishing  intellect  that  occupies  itself  in  splitting  hairs, 
and  not  in  twisting  some  kind  of  cordage  and  effectual 
draught- tackle  to.  take  the  road  with,  is  not  to  me  the  most 
astonishing  of  intellects  !  And  if,  as  is  probable,  it  get  into 
narrow  fanaticisms ;  become  irrecognisant  of  the  Perennial 
because  not  dressed  in  the  fashionable  Temporary ;  become 
self-secluded,  atrabiliar,  and  perhaps  shrill-voiced  and  spas- 
modic,— what  can  you  do  but  get  away  from  it,  with  a 
prayer,  c  The  Lord  deliver  me  from  thee  ! '  I  cannot  do  with 
thee.  I  want  twisted  cordage,  steady  pulling,  and  a  peaceable 
bass  tone  of  voice  :  not  split  hairs,  hysterical  spasmodics,  and 
treble  !  Thou  amiable,  subtle,  elevated  individual,  the  Lord 
deliver  me  from  thee  ! 

These  men  cannot  continue  Kings  forever ;  nor  in  fact  did 
they  in  the  least  design  such  a  thing ;  only  they  find  a  terrible 
difficulty  in  getting  abdicated.  Difficulty  very  conceivable  to 


6     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT     [1651 

us.  Some  weeks  after  Pride's  Purge,  which  may  be  called  the 
constituting  of  this  remnant  of  members  into  a  Parliament  and 
Authority,  there  had  been  presented  to  it,  by  Fairfax  and  the 
Army,  what  we  should  now  call  a  Bentham-Sieyes  Constitution, 
what  was  then  called  an  « Agreement  of  the  People,' l  which 
might  well  be  imperative  on  honourable  members  sitting  there; 
whereby  it  was  stipulated  for  one  thing,  That  this  present 
Parliament  should  dissolve  itself,  and  give  place  to  another 
6  equal  Representative  of  the  People,1 — in  some  three  months 
hence  ;  on  the  30th  of  April,  namely.  The  last  day  of  April 
1649:  this  Parliament  was  then  to  have  its  work  finished, 
and  go  its  ways,  giving  place  to  another.  Such  was  our  hope. 

They  did  accordingly  pass  a  vote  to  that  effect ;  fully 
intending  to  fulfil  the  same :  but,  alas,  it  was  found  impossible. 
How  summon  a  new  Parliament,  while  the  Commonwealth  is 
still  fighting  for  its  existence  ?  All  we  can  do  is  to  resolve 
ourselves  into  Grand  Committee,  and  consider  about  it.  After 
much  consideration,  all  we  can  decide  is,  That  we  shall  go 
weekly  into  Grand  Committee,  and  consider  farther.  Duly 
every  Wednesday  we  consider,  for  the  space  of  eleven  months 
and  odd  ;  find,  more  and  more,  that  it  is  a  thing  of  some  con- 
siderableness  !  In  brief,  when  my  Lord  General  returns  to  us 
from  Worcester,  on  the  16th  of  September  1651,  no  advance 
whatever  towards  a  dissolution  of  ourselves  has  yet  been  made. 
The  Wednesday  Grand  Committees  had  become  a  thing  like 
the  meeting  of  Roman  augurs,  difficult  to  go  through  with 
complete  gravity;  and  so,  after  the  eleventh  month,  have 
silently  fallen  into  desuetude.  We  sit  here  very  immovable. 
We  are  scornfully  called  the  Rump  of  a  Parliament  by  certain 
people ;  but  we  have  an  invincible  Oliver  to  fight  for  us  :  we 
can  afford  to  wait  here,  and  consider  to  all  lengths ;  and  by 
one  name  we  shall  smell  as  sweet  as  by  another. 

I  have  only  to  add  at  present,  that  on  the  morrow  of  my 
Lord  General's  reappearance  in  Parliament,  this  sleeping 

1  Commons  Journals,  2Oth  January  1648-9 :  some  six  weeks  after  the  Purge ; 
ten  days  before  the  King's  Death. 


i65i]     LETTER    CLXXXIV.     LONDON          7 

question  was  resuscitated  ; l  new  activity  infused  into  it ;  some 
show  of  progress  made  ;  nay,  at  the  end  of  three  months,  after 
much  labour  and  struggle,  it  was  got  decided,  by  a  neck-and- 
neck  division,2  That  the  present  is  a  fit  time  for  fixing  a  limit 
beyond  which  this  Parliament  shall  not  sit.  Fix  a  limit 
therefore ;  give  us  the  non-plus-ultra  of  you.  Next  Parlia- 
ment-day we  do  fix  a  limit,  Three  years  hence,  3d  November 
1654;  three  years  of  rope  still  left  us:  a  somewhat  wide 
limit  ;  which,  under  conceivable  contingencies,  may  perhaps 
be  tightened  a  little.  My  honourable  friends,  you  ought 
really  to  get  on  with  despatch  of  this  business ;  and  know  of 
a  surety  that  not  being,  any  of  you,  Kings  by  birth,  nor  very 
indubitably  by  attainment,  you  will  actually  have  to  go,  and 
even  in  case  of  extremity  to  be  shoved  and  sent ! 

LETTER    CLXXXIV 

AT  this  point  the  law  of  dates  requires  that  we  introduce 
Letter  Hundred-and-eighty-fourth ;  though  it  is  as  a  mere 
mathematical  point,  marking  its  own  whereabouts  in  Oliver's 
History ;  and  imparts  little  or  nothing  that  is  new  to  us. 

Reverend  John  Cotton  is  a  man  still  held  in  some  remem- 
brance among  our  New-England  friends.  He  had  been 
Minister  of  Boston  in  Lincolnshire ;  carried  the  name  across 
the  Ocean  with  him  ;  fixed  it  upon  a  new  small  Home  he  had 
found  there, — which  has  become  a  large  one  since ;  the  big 
busy  Capital  of  Massachusetts,  Boston,  so  called.  John  Cotton 
his  Mark,  very  curiously  stamped  on  the  face  of  this  Planet ; 

likely  to  continue  for  some  time ! For  the  rest,  a  painful 

Preacher,  oracular  of  high  Gospels  to  New  England  ;  who  in 
his  day  was  well  seen  to  be  connected  with  the  Supreme 
Powers  of  this  Universe,  the  word  of  him  being  as  a  live-coal 
to  the  hearts  of  many.  He  died  some  years  afterwards : — 

1  Commons  Journals,  1 7th  September  1651. 

2  49  to  47;  Commons  Journal 's,   I4th  November  1651  :  'Lord  General  and 
Lord  Chief  Justice,'  Cromwell  and  St.  John,  are  Tellers  for  the  Yea. 


8     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [2  OCT. 

was  thought,  especially  on  his  deathbed,  to  have  manifested 
gifts  even  of  Prophecy,1 — a  thing  not  inconceivable  to  the 
human  mind  that  well  considers  Prophecy  and  John  Cotton. 

We  should  say  farther,  that  the  Parliament,  that  Oliver 
among  and  before  them,  had  taken  solemn  anxious  thought 
concerning  Propagating  of  the  Gospel  in  New  England  ;  and, 
among  other  measures,  passed  an  Act  to  that  end  ; 2  not  un- 
worthy of  attention,  were  our  hurry  less.  In  fact,  there  are 
traceable  various  small  threads  of  relation,  interesting  recipro- 
cities and  mutualities,  connecting  the  poor  young  Infant,  New 
England,  with  its  old  Puritan  Mother  and  her  affairs,  in  those 
years.  Which  ought  to  be  disentangled,  to  be  made  con- 
spicuous and  beautiful,  by  the  Infant  herself  now  that  she 
has  grown  big ;  the  busy  old  Mother  having  had  to  shove 
them,  with  so  much  else  of  the  like,  hastily  out  of  her  way 
for  the  present ! — However,  it  is  not  in  reference  to  this  of 
Propagating  the  Gospel  in  New  England  ;  it  is  in  congratula- 
tion on  the  late  high  Actings,  and  glorious  Appearances  of 
Providence  in  Old  England,  that  Cotton  has  been  addressing 
Oliver :  introduced  to  him,  as  appears,  by  some  small  mediate 
or  direct  acquaintanceship,  old  or  new ; — founding  too  on 
their  general  relationship  as  Soldier  of  the  Gospel,  and  Priest 
of  the  Gospel,  high  brother  and  humble  one ;  appointed,  both 
of  them,  to  fight  for  it  to  the  death,  each  with  such  weapons 
as  were  given  him.  The  Letter  of  Cotton,  with  due  details, 
is  to  be  seen  in  Hutchinson's  Collection.2'  The  date  is 
«  Boston  in  New  England,  28th  of  Fifth '  (Fifth  Month,  or 
July},  «  1651  ':  the  substance,  full  of  piety  and  loyalty,  like 
that  of  hundreds  of  others,  must  not  concern  us  here, — except 
these  few  interesting  words,  upon  certain  of  our  poor  old 
Dunbar  friends  :  <  The  Scots  whom  God  delivered  into  your 
hands  at  Dunbar,'  says  Cotton,  *  and  whereof  sundry  were  sent 
hither, — we  have  been  desirous,  as  we  could  to  make  their 
yoke  easy.  Such  as  were  sick  of  the  scurvy,  or  other  diseases, 

1  Thurloe,  i.  565  ;-in  1653.  2  Scobell  (27th  July  1649),  ii.  66. 

1  Papers  relative  to  the  History  of  Massachusetts  (Boston,  1769),  p.  236. 


i6si]     LETTER    CLXXXIV.     LONDON          9 

have  not  wanted  physic  and  chirurgery.  They  have  not  been 
sold  for  Slaves,  to  perpetual  servitude ;  but  for  six,  or  seven, 
or  eight  years,  as  we  do  our  own.  And  he  that  bought  the 
most  of  them,  I  hear,  buildeth  Houses  for  them,  for  every 
Four  a  House ;  and  layeth  some  acres  of  ground  thereto, 
which  he  giveth  them  as  their  own,  requiring  them  three  days 
in  the  week  to  work  for  him  by  turns,  and  four  days  for  them- 
selves ;  and  promiseth,  as  soon  as  they  can  repay  him  the 
money  he  laid  out  for  them,  he  will  set  them  at  liberty.' 
Which  really  is  a  mild  arrangement,  much  preferable  to 
Durham  Cathedral  and  the  raw  cabbages  at  Morpeth ;  and 
may  turn  to  good  for  the  poor  fellows,  if  they  can  behave 
themselves  ! — 


FOR  MY   ESTEEMED   FRIEND   MR.    COTTON,   PASTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH 
AT   BOSTON   IN  NEW  ENGLAND  :    THESE 

"London,"  2d  October  1651. 

Worthy  Sir,  and  my  Christian  Friend, — /  received  yours  a 
few  days  since.  It  was  welcome  to  me  because  signed  by  you, 
whom  I  love  and  honour  in  the  Lord :  but  more  "  so "  to  see 
some  of  the  same  grounds  of  our  Actings  stirring  in  you  that 
are  in  us,  to  quiet  us  to  our  work,  and  support  us  therein. 
Which  hath  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  our  engagement  in 
Scotland;  by  reason  we  have  had  to  do  with  some  who  were, 
I  verily  think,  Godly,  but,  through  weakness  and  the  subtlety 
of  Satan,  "  were "  involved  in  Interests  against  the  Lord  and 
His  People. 

With  what  tenderness  we  have  proceeded  with  such,  and  that 
in  sincerity,  our  Papers  (which  I  suppose  you  have  seen)  will 
in  part  manifest  ,•  and  I  give  you  some  comfortable  assurance 
of  "  the  same."  The  Lord  hath  marvellously  appeared  even 
against  them.1  And  now  again  when  all  the  power  was 
devolved  into  the  Scottish  King  and  the  Malignant  Party, — 
they  invading  England,  the  Lord  rained  upon  them  such  snares 
1  From  Preston  downward. 


10     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [2  OCT. 

as  tJie  Enclosed1  will  show.  Only  the  Narrative  in  short  is 
this,  That  of  their  whole  Army,  when  the  Narrative  was 
framed,  not  Jive  men  were  returned. 

Surely,  Sir,  the  Lord  is  greatly  to  be  feared  and  to  be 
praised!  We  need  your  prayers  in  this  as  much  as  ever. 
How  shall  we  behave  ourselves  after  such  mercies  ?  What  is 
the  Lord  a-doing  ?  What  Prophecies  are  now  fulfilling  ? 2 
Who  is  a  God  like  ours  ?  To  know  His  will,  to  do  His  will, 
are  both  of  Him. 

I  took  this  liberty  from  business,  to  salute  you  thus  in  a 
word.  Truly  I  am  ready  to  serve  you  and  the  rest  of  our 
Brethren  and  the  Churches  with  you.  I  am  a  poor  weak 
creature,  and  not  worthy  the  name  of  a  worm ;  yet  accepted  to 
serve  the  Lord  and  His  People.  Indeed,  my  dear  Friend, 
between  you  and  me,  you  knozv  not  me, — my  weaknesses,  my 
inordinate  passions,  my  unskilfulness,  and  everyway  unfitness  to 
my  work.  Yet,  yet  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he 
will,  does  as  you  see !  Pray  for  me.  Salute  all  Christian 
friends  though  unknown.  I  rest,  your  affectionate  friend  to 
serve  you, 

OLIVER  CROMWELL* 

About  this  time,  for  there  is  no  date  to  it  but  an  evidently 
vague  and  erroneous  one,  was  held  the  famous  Conference  of 
Grandees,  called  by  request  of  Cromwell ;  of  which  Bulstrode 
has  given  record.  Conference  held  '  one  day '  at  Speaker 
LenthalFs  house  in  Chancery  Lane,  to  decide  among  the 
leading  Grandees  of  the  Parliament  and  Army,  How  this 
Nation  is  to  be  settled, — the  Long  Parliament  having  now 
resolved  on  actually  dismissing  itself  by  and  by.  The  question 
is  really  complex  :  one  would  gladly  know  what  the  leading 

1  Doubtless   the  Official  Narrative  of  Worcester  Battle  ;   published   about  a 
week  ago,  as  Preamble  to  the  Act  appointing  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving;  26th 
September  1651  ;  reprinted  in  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  59-65, 

2  See  Psalm  Hundred -and-tenth. 

*  Harris,  p.  518;  Birch's  Original,—  copied  in  Additional  Ayscough  MSS.  no. 
4156,  §70. 


1651]    CONFERENCE   AT    LENTHALL'S     11 

Grandees  did  think  of  it ;  even  what  they  found  good  to  say 
upon  it !  Unhappily  our  learned  Bulstrode's  report  of  this 
Conference  is  very  dim,  very  languid  :  nay  Bulstrode,  as  we 
have  found  elsewhere,  has  a  kind  of  dramaturgic  turn  in  him, 
indeed  an  occasional  poetic  friskiness ;  most  unexpected,  as  if 
the  hippopotamus  should  show  a  tendency  to  dance  ; — which 
painfully  deducts  from  one's  confidence  in  Bulstrode's  entire 
accuracy  on  such  occasions  !  Here  and  there  the  multi- 
tudinous Paper  Masses  of  learned  Bulstrode  do  seem  to  smack 
a  little  of  the  date  when  he  redacted  them, — posterior  to  the 
Ever-blessed  Restoration,  not  prior  to  it.  We  shall,  never- 
theless, excerpt  this  dramaturgic  Report  of  Conference  :  the 
reader  will  be  willing  to  examine  with  his  own  eyes,  even  as  in 
a  glass  darkly,  any  feature  of  that  time ;  and  he  can  remember 
always  that  a  learned  Bulstrode's  fat  terrene  mind  imaging 
a  heroic  Cromwell  and  his  affairs  is  a  very  dark  glass  indeed  ! 

The  Speakers  in  this  Conference,  —  Desborow,  Oliver's 
Brother-in-law  ;  Whalley,  Oliver's  Cousin ;  fanatical  Harrison, 
tough  St.  John,  my  learned  Lord  Keeper  or  Commissioner 
Whitlocke  himself, — are  mostly  known  to  us.  Learned  Wid- 
drington,  the  mellifluous  orator,  once  Lord  Commissioner  too, 
and  like  to  be  again,  though  at  present  '  excused  from  it 
owing  to  scruples,'  will  by  and  by  become  better  known  to 
us.  A  mellifluous,  unhealthy,  seemingly  somewhat  scrupulous 
and  timorous  man.1  He  is  of  the  race  of  that  Widdrington 
whom  we  still  lament  in  doleful  dumps, — but  does  not  fight 
upon  the  stumps  like  him.  There  were  '  many  other  Gentle- 
men,' who  merely  listened. 

4  Upon  the  defeat  at  Worcester,'  says  Bulstrode  vaguely,2 
*  Cromwell  desired  a  Meeting  with  divers  Members  of  Par- 
liament, and  some  chief  Officers  of  the  Army,  at  the  Speaker's 
house.  And  a  great  many  being  there,  he  proposed  to  them, 
That  now  the  old  King  being  dead,  and  his  Son  being  de- 

1  Wood,  in  voce. 

2  Whitlocke,  p.  491  ;  the  date,   loth   December  1651,  is  that  of  the  Paper 
merely,  and  as  applied  to  the  Conference  itself  cannot  be  correct. 


12     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT     [1651 

feated,  he  held  it  necessary  to  come  to  a  Settlement  of  the 
Nation.  And  in  order  thereunto,  had  requested  this  Meeting  ; 
that  they  together  might  consider  and  advise,  What  was  fit 
to  be  done,  and  to  be  presented  to  the  Parliament. 

'SPEAKER.  My  Lord,  this  Company  were  very  ready  to 
attend  your  Excellence,  and  the  business  you  are  pleased  to 
propound  to  us  is  very  necessary  to  be  considered.  God  hath 
given  marvellous  success  to  our  Forces  under  your  command ; 
and  if  we  do  not  improve  these  mercies  to  some  Settlement, 
such  as  may  be  to  God's  honour,  and  the  good  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, we  shall  be  very  much  blameworthy. 

«  HARRISON.  I  think  that  which  my  Lord  General  hath 
propounded,  is,  To  advise  as  to  a  Settlement  both  of  our  Civil 
and  Spiritual  Liberties;  and  so,  that  the  mercies  which  the 
Lord  hath  given-in  to  us  may  not  be  cast  away.  How  this 
may  be  done  is  the  great  question. 

<  WHITLOCKE.  It  is  a  great  question  indeed,  and  not 
suddenly  to  be  resolved  !  Yet  it  were  pity  that  a  meeting  of 
so  many  able  and  worthy  persons  as  I  see  here,  should  be 
fruitless. — I  should  humbly  offer,  in  the  first  place,  Whether 
it  be  not  requisite  to  be  understood  in  what  way  this  Settle- 
ment is  desired  ?  Whether  of  an  absolute  Republic,  or  with 
any  mixture  of  Monarchy. 

'  CROMWELL.  My  Lord  Commissioner  Whitlocke  hath  put 
us  upon  the  right  point :  and  indeed  it  is  my  meaning,  that 
we  should  consider,  Whether  a  Republic  or  a  mixed  Monarchical 
Government  will  be  best  to  be  settled  ?  And  if  anything 
Monarchical,  then,  In  whom  that  power  shall  be  placed? 

'  SIR  THOMAS  WIDDRINGTON.  I  think  a  mixed  Monarchical 
Government  will  be  most  suitable  to  the  Laws  and  People  of 
this  Nation.  And  if  any  Monarchical,  I  suppose  we  shall 
hold  it  most  just  to  place  that  power  in  one  of  the  Sons  of 
the  late  King. 

'  COLONEL  FLEETWOOD.  I  think  that  the  question,  Whether 
an  absolute  Republic,  or  a  mixed  Monarchy,  be  best  to  be 
settled  in  this  Nation,  will  not  be  very  easy  to  be  determined  ! 


i65i]    CONFERENCE  AT   LENTHALL'S     12 

'  LORD  CHIEF-JUSTICE  ST.  JOHN.  It  will  be  found,  that  the 
Government  of  this  Nation,  without  something  of  Monarchical 
power,  will  be  very  difficult  to  be  so  settled  as  not  to  shake 
the  foundation  of  our  Laws,  and  the  Liberties  of  the  People. 

4  SPEAKER.  It  will  breed  a  strange  confusion  to  settle  a 
Government  of  this  Nation  without  something  of  Monarchy. 

'  COLONEL  DESBOROW.  I  beseech  you,  my  Lord,  why  may 
not  this,  as  well  as  other  Nations,  be  governed  in  the  way  of 
a  Republic  ? 

'  WHITLOCKE.  The  Laws  of  England  are  so  interwoven 
with  the  power  and  practice  of  Monarchy,  that  to  settle  a 
Government  without  something  of  Monarchy  in  it,  would 
make  so  great  an  alteration  in  the  Proceedings  of  our  Law, 
that  you  will  scarce  have  time 1  to  rectify  it,  nor  can  we  well 
foresee  the  inconveniences  which  will  arise  thereby. 

'  COLONEL  WHALLEY.  I  do  not  well  understand  matters 
of  Law :  but  it  seems  to  me  the  best  way,  Not  to  have  any- 
thing of  Monarchical  power  in  the  Settlement  of  our  Govern- 
ment. And  if  we  should  resolve  upon  any,  whom  have  we 
to  pitch  upon  ?  The  King's  Eldest  Son  hath  been  in  arms 
against  us,  and  his  Second  Son  2  likewise  is  our  enemy. 

'  SIR  THOMAS  WIDDRINGTON.  But  the  late  King's  Third 
Son,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  is  still  among  us ;  and  too 
young  to  have  been  in  arms  against  us,  or  infected  with  the 
principles  of  our  enemies. 

6  WHITLOCKE.  There  may  be  a  day  given  for  the  King's 
Eldest  Son,3  or  for  the  Duke  of  York  his  Brother,  to  come-in 
to  the  Parliament.  And  upon  such  terms  as  shall  be  thought 

1  Between  this  and  November  1654. 

2  James ;    who  has  fled    to  the    Continent   some   time    ago,    '  in   women's 
clothes,'  with  one  Colonel  Bamfield,  and  is  getting  fast  into  Papistry  and  other 
confusions. 

3  Charles  Stuart :   '  a  day '  for  him,  upon  whose  head  there  was,  not  many 
weeks  ago,  a  Reward  of  looo/.  ?     Did  you  actually  say  this,  my  learned  friend? 
Or  merely  strive  to  think,  and  redact,  at  an  after-period,  that  you  had  said  it, — 
that  you  had  thought  it,  meant  to  say  it,  which  was  virtually  all  the  same,  in  a 
case  of  difficulty  ! 


14  PART  VII.  THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [1651 
fit,  and  agreeable  both  to  our  Civil  and  Spiritual  liberties,  a 
Settlement  may  be  made  with  them. 

<  CROMWELL.  That  will  be  a  business  of  more  than  ordinary 
difficulty !  But  really  I  think,  if  it  may  be  done  with  safety, 
and  preservation  of  our  Rights,  both  as  Englishmen  and  as 
Christians,  That  a  Settlement  with  somewhat  of  Monarchical 
power  in  it  would  be  very  effectual.' 

Much  other  discourse  there  was,  says  my  learned  friend  ; — 
but  amounting  to  little.  The  Lawyers  all  for  a  mixed  Govern- 
ment, with  something  of  Monarchy  in  it ;  tending  to  call  in 
one  of  the  King's  Sons, — I  especially  tending  that  way;  secretly 
loyal  in  the  worst  of  times.  The  Soldiers,  again,  were  all  for 
a  Republic ;  thinking  they  had  had  enough  of  the  King  and 
his  Sons.  My  Lord  General  always  checked  that  secret-loyalty 
of  mine,  and  put-off  the  discussion  of  the  King's  Son  ;  yet  did 
not  declare  himself  for  a  Republic  either ; — was  indeed,  as  my 
terrene  fat  mind  came  at  length  to  image  him,  merely  '  fishing 
for  men's  opinions,'  and  for  provender  to  himself  and  his 
appetites,  as  I  in  the  like  case  should  have  been  doing  ! — The 
Conference  broke  up,  with  what  of  '  fish '  in  this  kind  my  Lord 
General  had  taken,  and  no  other  result  arrived  at. 

Many  Conferences  held  by  my  Lord  General  have  broken- 
up  so.  Four  years  ago,  he  ended  one  in  King  Street  by 
playfully  '  flinging  a  cushion '  at  a  certain  solid  head  of  our 
acquaintance,  and  running  down-stairs.1  Here  too  it  became 
ultimately  clear  to  the  solid  head  that  he  had  been  '  fishing.' 
Alas,  a  Lord  General  has  many  Conferences  to  hold  ;  and  in 
terrene  minds,  ligneous,  oleaginous,  and  other,  images  himself 
in  a  very  strange  manner  !  —  — The  candid  imagination,  busy 
to  shape-out  some  conceivable  Oliver  in  these  Nineteen  months, 
will  accept  thankfully  the  following  small  indubitabilities,  or 
glimpses  of  definite  events. 

December    8th,    1651.       In    the    beginning    of   December 
(Whitlocke  dates  it  8th  December)  came  heavy  tidings  over 
1  Ludlow,  i.  240. 


1651]  DEATH    OF    IRETON  15 

from  Ireland,  dark  and  heavy  in  the  house  of  Oliver  especially  : 
that  Deputy  Ireton,  worn-out  with  sleepless  Irish  services,  had 
caught  an  inflammatory  fever,  and  suddenly  died.  Fell  sick 
on  the  16th  of  November  1651  ;  died,  at  Limerick,  on  the 
26th.1  The  reader  remembers  Bridget  Ireton,  the  young 
wife  at  Cornbury  • 2  she  is  now  Widow  Ireton ;  a  sorrowful 
bereaved  woman.  One  brave  heart  and  subtle- working  brain 
has  ended  :  to  the  regret  of  all  the  brave.  A  man  able  with 
his  pen  and  his  sword  ;  '  very  stiff  in  his  ways.' 

Dryasdust,  who  much  loves  the  brave  Ireton  in  a  rather 
blind  way,  intimates  that  Ireton's  '  stern  virtue '  would 
probably  have  held  Cromwell  in  awe  ;  that  had  Ireton  lived, 
there  had  probably  been  no  sacrilege  against  the  Constitution 
on  Oliver's  part.  A  probability  of  almost  no  weight,  my 
erudite  friend.  The  '  stern  virtue '  of  Ireton  was  not  sterner 
on  occasion  than  that  of  Oliver ;  the  probabilities  of  Ireton's 
disapproving  what  Oliver  did,  in  the  case  alluded  to,  are  very 
small,  resting  on  solid  Ludlow  mainly ;  and  as  to  those  of 
Ireton's  holding  Cromwell  '  in  awe,'  in  this  or  in  any  matter 
he  had  himself  decided  to  do,  I  think  we  may  safely  reckon 
them  at  zero,  my  erudite  friend ! 

Lambert,  now  in  Scotland,  was  appointed  Deputy  in 
Ireton's  room  ;  and  meant  to  go ;  but  did  not.  Some  say 
the  Widow  Ireton,  irritated  that  the  beautiful  and  showy 
Lady  Lambert  should  already  'take  precedence  of  her  in 
St.  James's  Park,'  frustrated  the  scheme  :  what  we  find  certain 
is,  That  Lambert  did  not  go,  that  Fleetwood  went ;  and 
farther,  that  the  Widow  Ireton  in  due  time  became  Wife  of 
the  Widower  Fleetwood  :  the  rest  hangs  vague  in  the  head  of 
zealous  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  solid  Ludlow,  and  empty  Rumour.3 
Ludlow,  already  on  the  spot,  does  the  Irish  duties  in  the 
interim.  Ireton  has  solemn  Public  Funeral  in  England ; 

1  Wood,  iii.  300 ;  Whitlocke,  p.  491. — Letter  (Oliver  to  his  Sister)  in 
Appendix,  No.  23.  2  Letter  XLI.  vol.  i.  p.  253 ;  and  vol.  ii.  p.  224. 

3  Hutchinson's  Memoirs  (London,  1806),  p.  195 ;  Ludlow,  pp.  414,  449, 
45°.  etc. 


16     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [1652 

copious  moneys  settled  on  his  Widow  and  Family  ;  all 
honours  paid  to  him,  for  his  own  sake  and  his  Father-in- 
law's. 

March  %5th,  1652.  Above  two  years  ago,  when  this 
Rump  Parliament  was  in  the  flush  of  youthful  vigour,  it 
decided  on  reforming  the  Laws  of  England,  and  appointed  a 
working  Committee  for  that  object,  our  learned  friend 
Buls trode  one  of  them.  Which  working  Committee  finding 
the  job  heavy,  gradually  languished  ;  and  after  some  Acts  for 
having  Law-proceedings  transacted  in  the  English  tongue,  and 
for  other  improvements  of  the  like  magnitude,  died  into  com- 
fortable sleep.  On  my  Lord  General's  return  from  Worcester, 
it  had  been  poked-up  again ;  and,  now  rubbing  its  eyes,  set 
to  work  in  good  earnest ;  got  a  subsidiary  Committee 
appointed,  of  Twenty-one  persons  not  members  of  this  House 
at  all,  To  say  and  suggest  what  improvements  were  really 
wanted :  such  improvements  they  the  working  Committee  would 
then,  with  all  the  readiness  in  life,  effectuate  and  introduce  in 
the  shape  of  specific  Acts.  Accordingly,  on  March  25th,  first 
day  of  the  new  year  1652,  learned  Bulstrode,  in  the  name  of 
this  working  Committee,  reports  that  the  subsidiary  Com- 
mittee has  suggested  a  variety  of  things  :  among  others,  some 
improvement  in  our  method  of  Transferring  Property, — of 
enabling  poor  John  Doe,  who  finds  at  present  a  terrible 
difficulty  in  doing  it,  to  inform  Richard  Roe,  '  I  John  Doe 
do,  in  very  fact,  sell  to  thee  Richard  Roe,  such  and  such  a 
Property, — according  to  the  usual  human  meaning  of  the 
word  sell ;  and  it  is  hereby,  let  me  again  assure  thee,  indis- 
putably SOLD  to  thee  Richard,  by  me  John ' :  which,  my 
learned  friend  thinks,  might  really  be  an  improvement.  To 
which  end  he  will  introduce  an  Act  :  nay  there  shall  farther 
be  an  Act  for  the  '  Registry  of  Deeds  in  each  County,1 — if  it 
please  Heaven.  '  Neglect  to  register  your  Sale  of  Land  in 
this  promised  County-Register  within  a  given  time,1  enacts 
the  learned  Bulstrode,  * such  Sale  shall  be  void.  Be  exact  in 
registering  it,  the  Land  shall  not  be  subject  to  any  in- 


1652]  DUTCH    WAR  17 

cumbrance/  Incumbrance  :  yes,  but  what  is  '  incumbrance  '  ? 
asks  all  the  working  Committee,  with  wide  eyes,  when  they 
come  actually  to  sit  upon  this  Bill  of  Registry,  and  to  hatch 
it  into  some  kind  of  perfection  :  What  is  <  incumbrance '  ? 
No  mortal  can  tell.  They  sit  debating  it,  painfully  sifting  it, 
6  for  three  months  ' ; l  three  months  by  Booker's  Almanac, 
and  the  Zodiac  Horologe  :  March  violets  have  become  June 
roses  ;  and  still  they  debate  what  '  incumbrance  '  is  ; — and 
indeed,  I  think  could  never  fix  it  at  all ;  and  are  perhaps 
debating  it,  if  so  doomed,  in  some  twilight  foggy  section  of 
Dante's  Nether  World,  to  all  Eternity,  at  this  hour  ! — Are 
not  these  a  set  of  men  likely  to  reform  English  Law  ?  Likely 
these  to  strip  the  accumulated  owl -droppings  and  foul  guano- 
mountains  from  your  rock-island,  and  lay  the  reality  bare, — 
in  the  course  of  Eternities !  The  wish  waxes  livelier  in 
Colonel  Pride  that  he  could  see  a  certain  addition  made  to 
the  Scots  Colours  hung  in  Westminster  Hall  yonder. 

I  add  only,  for  the  sake  of  Chronology,  that  on  the  fourth 
day  after  this  appearance  of  Bulstrode  as  a  Law-reformer, 
occurred  the  famous  Black  Monday ;  fearfulest  eclipse  of  the 
Sun  ever  seen  by  mankind.  Came  on  about  nine  in  the 
morning ;  darker  and  darker  :  ploughmen  unyoked  their 
teams,  stars  came  out,  birds  sorrowfully  chirping  took  to 
roost,  men  in  amazement  to  prayers  :  a  day  of  much  obscurity; 
Black  Monday,  or  Mirk  Monday,  29th  March  1652.2  Much 
noised  of  by  Lilly,  Booker,  and  the  buzzard  Astrologer  tribe. 
Betokening  somewhat  ?  Belike  that  Bulstrode  and  this 
Parliament  will,  in  the  way  of  Law-reform  and  otherwise, 
make  a  Practical  Gospel,  or  real  Reign  of  God,  in  this 
England  ? — 

July  9th,  1652.  A  great  external  fact,  which,  no  doubt, 
has  its  effect  on  all  internal  movements,  is  the  War  with  the 
Dutch.  The  Dutch,  ever  since  our  Death- Warrant  to  Charles 
First,  have  looked  askance  at  this  New  Commonwealth,  which 

1  Ludlow,  i.  430 ;  Parliamentary  History ',  xx.  84  ;  Commons  Journals,  vii. 
67,  no,  etc.  2  Balfour,  iv.  349;  Law's  Memorials,  p.  6 

VOL.    III.  B 


18     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [9  JULY 

wished  to  stand  well  with  them  ;  and  have  accumulated  offence 
on  offence  against  it.  Ambassador  Dorislaus  was  assassinated 
in  their  country ;  Charles  Second  was  entertained  there ; 
evasive  slow  answers  were  given  to  tough  St.  John,  who  went 
over  as  new  Ambassador :  to  which  St.  John  responding  with 
great  directness,  in  a  proud,  brief  and  very  emphatic  manner, 
took  his  leave,  and  came  home  again.  Came  home  again ; 
and  passed  the  celebrated  Navigation  Act,1  forbidding  that 
any  goods  should  be  imported  into  England  except  either  in 
English  ships  or  in  ships  of  the  country  where  the  goods  were 
produced.  Thereby  terribly  maiming  the  '  Carrying  Trade  of 
the  Dutch ' ;  and  indeed,  as  the  issue  proved,  depressing  the 
Dutch  Maritime  Interest  not  a  little,  and  proportionally 
elevating  that  of  England.  Embassies  in  consequence,  from 
their  irritated  High  Mightinesses ;  sea-fightings  in  consequence; 
and  much  negotiating,  apologising,  and  bickering  mounting 
ever  higher  ; — which  at  length,  at  the  date  above  given,  issues 
in  declared  War.  Dutch  War :  cannonadings  and  fierce  sea- 
fights  in  the  narrow  seas  ;  land-soldiers  drafted  to  fight  on  ship- 
board ;  and  land -officers,  Blake,  Dean,  Monk,  who  became 
very  famous  sea-officers  ;  Blake  a  thrice-famous  one ; —  poor 
Dean  lost  his  life  in  this  business.  They  doggedly  beat  the 
Dutch,  and  again  beat  them  :  their  best  Van  Tromps  and  De 
Ruyters  could  not  stand  these  terrible  Puritan  Sailors  and 
Gunners.  The  Dutch  gradually  grew  tame.  The  public 
mind,  occupied  with  sea-fights  and  sea-victories,  finds  again 
that  the  New  Representative  must  be  patiently  waited  for; 
that  this  is  not  a  time  for  turning-out  the  old  Representative, 
which  has  so  many  affairs  on  its  hands. 

But  the   Dutch  War   brings   another   consequence   in  the 

train    of   it :    renewed    severity    against    Delinquents.       The 

necessities  of  cash  for  this  War  are  great :  indeed  the  grand 

business  of  Parliament  at  present  seems  to  be  that  of  Finance, 

—finding  of  sinews  for  such  a  War.      Any  remnants  of  Royal 

1  Introduced  5th  August  1651;  passed  Qth  October  1651:  given  in  Scobell, 
ii.  176. 


i<552]     LETTER    CLXXXV.      LONDON         19 

lands,  of  Dean-and-Chapter  lands, — sell  them  by  rigorous 
auction ;  the  very  lead  of  the  Cathedrals  one  is  tempted  to 
sell ;  nay  almost  the  Cathedrals  themselves,1  if  any  one  would 
buy  them.  The  necessities  of  the  Finance  Department  are 
extreme.  Money,  money  :  our  Blakes  and  Monks,  in  deadly 
wrestle  with  the  Dutch,  must  have  money  ! 

Estates  of  Delinquents,  one  of  the  readiest  resources  from 
of  old,  cannot,  in  these  circumstances,  be  forgotten.  Search 
out  Delinquents :  in  every  County  make  stringent  inquest 
after  them  !  Many,  in  past  years,  have  made  light  settle- 
ments with  lax  Committee-men  ;  neighbours,  not  without  pity 
for  them.  Many  of  minor  sort  have  been  overlooked  alto- 
gether. Bring  them  up,  every  Delinquent  of  them ;  up 
hither  to  the  Rhadamanthus-bar  of  Goldsmiths'  Hall  and 
Haberdashers'  Hall ;  sift  them,  search  them  ;  riddle  the  last 
due  sixpence  out  of  them.  The  Commons  Journals  of  these 
months  have  formidable  ell-long  Lists  of  Delinquents ;  List 
after  List ;  who  shall,  on  rigorous  terms,  be  ordered  to  com- 
pound. Poor  unknown  Royalist  Squires,  from  various  quarters 
of  England ;  whose  names  and  surnames  excite  now  no  notion 
in  us  except  that  of  No.  1  and  No.  £  :  my  Lord  General  has 
seen  them  'crowding  by  thirties  and  forties  in  a  morning12 
about  these  Haberdasher-Grocer  Halls  of  Doom,  with  haggard 
expression  of  countenance ;  soliciting,  from  what  austere 
official  person  they  can  get  a  word  of,  if  not  mercy,  yet  at 
least  swift  judgment.  In  a  way  which  affected  my  Lord 
General's  feelings.  We  have  now  the  third  year  of  Peace  in 
our  borders  :  is  this  what  you  call  Settlement  of  the  Nation  ? 


LETTER     CLXXXV 

THE  following  Letter  6  to  my  honoured  Friend  Mr.  Hunger- 
ford  the  Elder,'  which  at  any  rate  by  order  of  time  intro- 
duces itself  here,  has  probably  some  reference  to  these 

1  Parliamentary  History ',  xx.  go.  2  Speech,  postea. 


20    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [30  JULY 

Committee  businesses  : — at  all  events,  there  hangs  by  it  a 
little  tale. 

Some  six  miles  from  Bath,  in  the  direction  towards  Salis- 
bury, are  to  be  seen, '  on  the  northeast  slope  of  a  rocky  height 
called  Farley  Hill,'  the  ruins  of  an  old  Castle,  once  well 
known  by  the  name  of  Farley  Montfort  or  Farley  Hunger/ord : 
Mansion  once  of  the  honourable  Family  of  Hungerfords,  while 
there  was  such  a  Family.  The  Hungerfords  are  extinct  above 
a  century  ago ;  and  their  Mansion  stands  there  as  a  Ruin, 
knowing  little  of  them  any  more.  But  it  chanced,  long  since, 
before  the  Ruin  became  quite  roofless,  some  Land-Steward  or 
Agent  of  a  new  Family,  tapping  and  poking  among  the 
melancholy  lumber  there, — found  '  an  old  loose  Chest '  shoved 
loosely  '  under  the  old  Chapel-altar ' ;  and  bethought  him  of 
opening  the  same.  Masses  of  damp  dust ;  unclean  accumula- 
tion of  beetle-and-spider  exuviae,  to  the  conceivable  amount : 
under  these,  certain  bundles  of  rubbish-papers,  extinct  lease- 
records,  marriage-contracts,  all  extinct  now, — among  which, 
however,  were  Two  Letters  bearing  Oliver  Cromwell's  signature. 
These  Two  the  Land -Steward  carefully  copied, — thanks  to 
him  ; — and  here,  out  of  Collinson? s  History  of  Somersetshire, 
the  first  of  them  now  is.  Very  dark  to  the  Land-Steward,  to 
Collinson,  and  to  us.  For  the  Hungerfords  are  extinct ;  their 
Name  and  Family,  like  their  old  Mansion,  a  mouldering  ruin, 
—almost  our  chief  light  in  regard  to  it,  the  Two  little  bits 
of  Paper,  rescued  from  the  old  Chest  under  the  Chapel-altar, 
in  that  romantic  manner  ! — 

There  were  three  Hungerfords  in  Parliament;  all  for 
Wiltshire  constituencies.  Sir  Edward,  (  Knight  of  the  Bath,' 
Puritan  original  Member  for  Chippenham ;  Lord  of  this 
Mansion  of  Farley,  as  we  find  : l  then  Henry,  Esq.,  <  recruiter ' 
for  Bed  win  since  1646;  probably  a  cadet  of  the  House, 
perhaps  heir  to  it :  both  these  are  now  <  secluded  Members  ' ; 
•purged  away  by  Pride  ;  nay  it  seems  Sir  Edward  was  already 

1  Collinson  (iii.  357  n.)  gives  his  Epitaph  copied  from  the  old  Chapel ;  but  is 
very  dark  and  even  self-contradictory  in  what  he  snys  farther. 


1652]      LETTER    CLXXXV.      LONDON          21 

dead,  about  the  time  of  Pride's  Purge.  The  third,  Anthony 
Hungerford,  original  Member  for  Malmesbury,  declared  for 
the  King  in  1642;  was  of  course  disabled,  cast  into  the 
Tower  when  caught ; — made  his  composition,  by  repentance 
and  due  fine,  'fine  of  2,532Z.,'  in  1646,1  when  the  First  Civil 
War  ended  ;  and  has  lived  ever  since  a  quiet  repentant  man. 
He  is  of  '  Blackbourton  in  Oxfordshire,1  this  Anthony ;  but 
I  judge  by  his  Parliamentary  connexion  and  other  circum- 
stances, likewise  a  cadet  of  the  House  of  Farley.  Of  him  by 
and  by,  when  we  arrive  at  the  next  Letter. 

For  the  present,  with  regard  to  Sir  Edward,  lord  of  the 
Farley  Mansion,  we  have  to  report,  by  tremulous  but  authentic 
lights,  that  he  stood  true  for  the  Parliament ;  had  con- 
troversies, almost  duels,  in  behalf  of  it ;  among  other  services, 
lent  it  500/.  Furthermore,  that  he  is  now  dead,  'died  in 
1648 ';  and  that  his  Widow  cannot  yet  get  payment  of  that 
500/. ;  that  she  is  yet  only  struggling  to  get  a  Committee  to 
sit  upon  it.2  One  might  guess,  but  nobody  can  know,  that 
this  Note  was  addressed  to  Henry  Hungerford,  in  reference  to 
that  business  of  Sir  Edward's  Widow.  Or  possibly  it  may  be 
Anthony  Hungerford,  the  repentant  Royalist,  that  is  now  the 
'  Elder  Hungerford ' ;  a  man  with  whom  the  Lord  General  is 
not  without  relations  ?  Unimportant  to  us,  either  way.  A 
hasty  Note,  on  some  '  business '  now  unknown,  about  which  an 
unknown  '  gentleman '  has  been  making  inquiry  and  negotia- 
tion ;  for  the  answer  to  which  an  unknown  '  servant '  of  some 
4  Mr.  Hungerford  the  Elder '  is  waiting  in  the  hall  of  Oliver's 
House, — the  Cockpit,  I  believe,  at  this  date  : — in  such  faintly 
luminous  state,  revealing  little  save  its  own  existence,  must 
this  small  Document  be  left. 


1  Commons  Journals,  iv.  565  (5th  June  1646);  ib.  iii.  526,  etc. 

2  Committee  got,  i8th  February  1652-3,  'the  Lord  General' Cromwell  in  it 
(Commons  Journals ',   vii.   260):    Danger   of  Duel  (ib.   ii.    928,   981;   iii.    185, 
January — Tune  1643).     See  ib.  ir.  161,  v.  618,  etc. 


PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [30  JULY 


FOR  MY   HONOURED   FRIEND  MR.   HUNGERFORD  THE  ELDER,   AT  HIS 
HOUSE  :    THESE 

"  London/'  30th  July  1652. 

Sir, — /  am  very  sorry  my  occasions  will  not  permit  me  to 
return l  to  you  as  I  would.  I  have  not  yet  fully  spoken  with 
the  Gentleman  I  sent  to  wait  upon  you ;  when  I  shall  do  it, 
I  shall  be  enabled  to  be  more  particular.  Being-  unwilling 
to  detain  your  servant  any  longer, — with  my  service  to  your 
Lady  and  Family,  I  take  my  leave,  and  rest,  your  affectionate 
servant,  OLIVER  CROMWELL* 

It  is  a  sad  reflection  with  my  Lord  General,  in  this 
Hungerford  and  other  businesses,  that  the  mere  justice  of  any 
matter  will  so  little  avail  a  man  in  Parliament :  you  can 
make  no  way  till  you  have  got-up  some  party  on  the  subject 
there  ! 2  In  fact,  red-tape  has,  to  a  lamentable  extent,  tied-up 
the  souls  of  men  in  this  Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England.  They  are  becoming  hacks  of  office ;  a  savour  of 
Godliness  still  on  their  lips,  but  seemingly  not  much  deeper 
with  some  of  them.  I  begin  to  have  a  suspicion  they  are  no 
Parliament !  If  the  Commonwealth  of  England  had  not  still 
her  Army  Parliament,  rigorous  devout  Council  of  Officers, 
men  in  right  life-and-death  earnest,  who  have  spent  their 
blood  in  this  Cause,  who  in  case  of  need  can  assemble  and  act 
again, — what  would  become  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England? 
Earnest  persons,  from  this  quarter  and  that,  make  petition 
to  the  Lord  General  and  Officers,  That  they  would  be  pleased 
to  take  the  matter  in  hand,  and  see  right  done.  To  which 
the  Lord  General  and  Officers  answer  always  •  Wait,  be 
patient ;  the  Parliament  itself  will  yet  do  it. 

What  the  '  state  of  the  Gospel  in  Wales '  is,  in  Wales  or 

1  reply. 

*  Collinson's  History  of  Somersetshire  (Bath,  1791),  iii.  357  note.— See 
Appendix,  No.  25.  a  Speech,  postea. 


1652]  THE    RUMP  23 

elsewhere,  I  cannot  with  any  accuracy  ascertain  ;  but  see  well 
that  this  Parliament  has  shown  no  zeal  that  way;  has  shackled 
rather,  and  tied-up  with  its  sorrowful  red-tape  the  movements 
of  men  that  had  any  zeal.1  Lamentable  enough.  The  light 
of  the  Everlasting  Truth  was  kindled  ;  and  you  do  not  fan 
the  sacred  flame,  you  consider  it  a  thing  which  may  be  left  to 
itself !  Unhappy :  and  for  what  did  we  fight,  then,  and 
wrestle  with  our  souls  and  our  bodies  as  in  strong  agony ; 
besieging  Heaven  with  our  prayers  and  Earth  and  its  Strengths, 
from  Naseby  on  to  Worcester,  with  our  pikes  and  cannon  ? 
Was  it  to  put  an  Official  Junto  of  some  Threescore  Persons 
into  the  high  saddle  in  England ;  and  say,  Ride  ye  ?  They 
would  need  to  be  Threescore  beautifuler  men  !  Our  blood 
shed  like  water,  our  brethren\s  bones  whitening  a  hundred 
fields  ;  Tredah  Storm,  Dunbar  death-agony,  and  God's  voice 
from  the  battle- whirl  wind  :  did  they  mean  no  more  but  you  ! 
— My  Lord  General  urges  us  always  to  be  patient :  Patience, 
the  Parliament  itself  will  yet  do  it.  That  is  what  we  shall 
see  ! — 

On  the  whole,  it  must  be  seriously  owned  by  every  reader, 
this  present  Fag-end  of  a  Parliament  of  England  has  failed 
altogether  to  realise  the  high  dream  of  those  old  Puritan 
hearts.  '  Incumbrance,'  it  appears,  cannot  in  the  abstract  be 
defined  :  but  if  you  would  know  in  the  concrete  what  it  is, 
look  there  !  The  thing  we  fought  for,  and  gained  as  if  by 
miracle,  it  is  ours  this  long  while,  and  yet  not  ours ;  within 
grasp  of  us,  it  lies  there  unattainable,  enchanted  under  Parlia- 
mentary formulas.  Enemies  are  swept  away  ;  extinguished  as 
in  the  brightness  of  the  Lord  :  and  no  Divine  Kingdom,  and 
no  clear  incipiency  of  such,  has  yet  in  any  measure  come  ! — 
These  are  sorrowful  reflections. 

For,  alas,  such  high  dream  is  difficult  to  realise  !      Not  the 

Stuart  Dynasty  alone  that  opposes  it ;  all   the   Dynasties  of 

the  Devil,  the  whole  perversions  of  this  poor  Earth,  without 

us  and  within  us,  oppose  it. — Yea,  answers  with  a  sigh  the 

1  Speech,  postea. 


24    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [13  AUG. 

heart  of  my  Lord  General  :  Yea,  it  is  difficult,  and  thrice 
difficult; — and  yet  woe  to  us,  if  we  do  not  with  our  whole 
soul  try  it,  make  some  clear  beginning  of  it ;  if  we  sit  defining 
6  incumbrances,'  instead  of  bending  every  muscle  to  the  wheel 
that  is  incumbered  !  Who  art  thou  that  standest  still ;  that 
having  put-to  thy  hand,  turnest  back  ?  In  these  years  of 
miracle  in  England,  were  there  not  great  things,  as  if  by 
divine  voices,  audibly  promised  ?  '  The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord  ! ' — And  is  it  all  to  end  here  ?  In  Juntos  of  Threescore  ; 
in  Grocers-Hall  Committees,  in  red-tape,  and  official  shakings 
of  the  head  ? — 

My  Lord  General,  are  there  no  voices,  dumb  voices  from 
the  depths  of  poor  England's  heart,  that  address  themselves 
to  you,  even  you  ?  My  Lord  General  hears  voices ;  and 
would  fain  distinguish  and  discriminate  them.  Which,  in  all 
these,  is  the  God's  voice?  That  were  the  one  to  follow. 
My  Lord  General,  I  think,  has  many  meditations,  of  a  very 
mixed,  and  some  of  a  very  abstruse  nature,  in  these  months. 

August  13th,  1652.  This  day  came  a  'Petition  from 
the  Officers  of  my  Lord  General's  Army,'  which  a  little  alarmed 
us.  Petition  craving  for  some  real  reform  of  the  Law ;  some 
real  attempt  towards  setting-up  a  Gospel  Ministry  in  England; 
real  and  general  ousting  of  scandalous,  incompetent  and 
plainly  diabolic  persons  from  all  offices  of  Church  and  State  ; 
real  beginning,  in  short,  of  a  Reign  of  Gospel  Truth  in  this 
England ; — and  for  one  thing,  a  swift  progress  in  that  most 
slow-going  Bill  for  a  New  Representative  ;  an  actual  ending  of 
this  present  Fag-end  of  a  Parliament,  which  has  now  sat  very 
long  !  So,  in  most  respectful  language,  prays  this  Petition  ] 
of  the  Officers.  Petition  prefaced,  they  say,  with  earnest 
prayer  to  God  :  that  was  the  preface  or  prologue  they  gave 
it; — what  kind  of  epilogue  they  might  be  prepared  to  give 
it,  one  does  not  learn :  but  the  men  carry  swords  at  their 
sides ;  and  we  have  known  them  ! — <  Many  thought  this 
kind  of  Petition  dangerous;  and  counselled  my  Lord  General 
1  Whitlocke,  p.  516. 


1652]  THE    RUMP  25 

to  put  a  stop  to  the  like  :  but  he  seemed  to  make  light  of  it,1 
says  Bulstrode.  In  fact,  my  Lord  General  does  not  disapprove 
of  it :  my  Lord  General,  after  much  abstruse  meditation,  has 
decided  on  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  it.  He,  and  a 
serious  minority  in  Parliament,  and  in  England  at  large, 
think  with  themselves,  once  more,  if  it  were  not  for  this  Army 
Parliament,  what  would  become  of  us  ? — Speaker  Lenthall 
'thanked1  these  Officers,  with  a  smile  which  I  think  must 
have  been  of  the  grimmest,  like  that  produced  in  certain 
animals  by  the  act  of  eating  thistles. 

September  14^,  1652.  The  somnolent  slow-going  Bill 
for  a  New  Representative,  which  has  slept  much,  and  now 
and  then  pretended  to  move  a  little,  for  long  years  past,  is 
resuscitated  by  this  Petition ;  comes  out,  rubbing  its  eyes, 
disposed  for  decided  activity ; — and  in  fact  sleeps  no  more ; 
cannot  think  of  sleep  any  more,  the  noise  round  it  waxing 
ever  louder.  Settle  how  your  Representative  shall  be ;  for  be 
it  now  actually  must ! 

This  Bill,  which  has  slept  and  waked  so  long,  does  not 
sleep  again  :  but,  How  to  settle  the  conditions  of  the  New 
Representative  ? — there  is  a  question  !  My  Lord  General  will 
have  good  security  against  '  the  Presbyterial  Party,1  that  they 
come  not  into  power  again ;  good  security  against  the  red- 
tape  Party,  that  they  sit  not  for  three  months  defining  an 
incumbrance  again.  How  shall  we  settle  the  New  Repre- 
sentative ; — on  the  whole,  what  or  how  shall  we  do  ?  For 
the  old  stagnancy  is  verily  broken  up  :  these  petitioning  Army 
Officers,  with  all  the  earnest  armed  and  unarmed  men  of 
England  in  the  rear  of  them,  have  verily  torn  us  from  our 
moorings ;  and  we  do  go  adrift, — with  questionable  havens, 
on  starboard  and  larboard,  very  difficult  of  entrance ;  with 
Mahlstroms  and  Niagaras  very  patent  right  ahead  !  We  are 
become  to  mankind  a  Rump  Parliament ;  sit  here  we  cannot 
much  longer ;  and  we  know  not  what  to  do  ! 

'  During  the  month  of  October,  some  ten  or  twelve  con- 
ferences took  place,1 — private  conferences  between  the  Army 


26  PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [14  SEPT. 

Officers  and  the  Leaders  of  the  Parliament  :  wherein  nothing 
could  be  agreed  upon.  Difficult  to  settle  the  New  Repre- 
sentative ;  impossible  for  this  Old  Misrepresentative  or  Rump 
to  continue  !  What  shall  or  can  be  done  ?  Summon,  without 
popular  intervention,  by  earnest  selection  on  your  and  our 
part,  a  Body  of  godly  wise  Men,  the  Best  and  Wisest  we  can 
find  in  England ;  to  them  intrust  the  whole  question ;  and 
do  you  abdicate,  and  depart  straightway,  say  the  Officers. 
Forty  good  Men,  or  a  Hundred-and-Forty ;  choose  them  well, 

—they  will  define  an  incumbrance  in  less  than  three  months, 
we  may  hope,  and  tell  us  what  to  do  !  Such  is  the  notion 
of  the  Army  Officers,  and  my  Lord  General ;  a  kind  of 
Puritan  '  Convention  of  the  Notables,'  so  the  French  would 
call  it ;  to  which  the  Parliament  Party  see  insuperable 
objections.  What  other  remedy,  then  ?  The  Parliament 
Party  mournfully  insinuate  that  there  is  no  remedy,  except, 
— except  continuance  of  the  present  Rump  ! 1 

November  1th,  1652.  'About  this  time,1  prior  or  posterior 
to  it,  while  such  conferences  and  abstruse  considerations  are  in 
progress,  my  Lord  General,  walking  once  in  St.  James's  Park, 
beckons  the  learned  Bulstrode,  who  is  also  there;  strolls  gradu- 
ally aside  with  him,  and  begins  one  of  the  most  important 
Dialogues.  Whereof  learned  Bulstrode  has  preserved  some 
record  ;  which  is  unfortunately  much  dimmed  by  just  suspicion 
of  dramaturgy  on  the  part  of  Bulstrode ;  and  shall  not  be 
excerpted  by  us  here.  It  tends  conspicuously  to  show,^r^, 
how  Cromwell  already  entertained  most  alarming  notions  ot 
*  making  oneself  a  King,1  and  even  wore  them  pinned  on  his 
sleeve,  for  the  inspection  of  the  learned  ;  and  secondly,  how 
Bulstrode,  a  secret-royalist  in  the  worst  of  times,  advised  him 
by  no  means  to  think  of  that,  but  to  call-in  Charles  Stuart, 

—who  had  an  immense  popularity  among  the  Powerful   in 

England  just  then  !      «  My  Lord  General  did  not  in   words 

express  any  anger,  but  only  by  looks  and  carriage  ;  and  turned 

aside  from   me  to  other  company,' — as  this  Editor,  in  quest 

1  Speech,  postea. 


1052]     LETTER    CLXXXV1.      COCKPIT       27 

of  certainty  and  insight,  and  not  of  doubt  and  fat  drowsy 
pedantry,  will  now  also  do  ! 

LETTER    CLXXXVI 

HERE,  from  the  old  Chest  of  Farley  Castle,  is  the  other 
Hungerford  Letter ;  and  a  dim  glance  into  the  domesticities 
again.  Antlwny  Hungerford,  as  we  saw,  was  the  Royalist 
Hungerford,  of  Blackbourton  in  Oxfordshire ;  once  Member 
for  Mahnesbury ;  who  has  been  living  these  six  or  seven  years 
past  in  a  repentant  wholesomely  secluded  state.  '  Cousin 
Dunch  '  is  young  Mrs.  Dunch  of  Pusey,  once  Ann  Mayor  of 
Hursley  ;  she  lives  within  visiting  distance  of  Blackbourton, 
when  at  Pusey;  does  not  forget  old  neighbours  while  in  Town, 
— and  occasionally  hears  gloomy  observations  from  them. 
*  Your  Lord  General  is  become  a  great  man  now!' — From  the 
Answer  to  which  we  gather  at  least  one  thing  :  That  the 
4  offer  of  a  very  great  Proposition1  as  to  Son  Richard's  marriage, 
which  we  once  obscurely  heard  of,1  was,  to  all  appearance, 
made  by  this  Anthony  Hungerford, — perhaps  in  behalf  of  his 
kinsman  Sir  Edward,  who,  as  he  had  no  Son,2  might  have  a 
Daughter  that  would  be  a  very  great  Proposition  to  a  young 
man.  Unluckily  '  there  was  not  that  assurance  of  Godliness ' 
that  seemed  to  warrant  it :  however,  the  nobleness  of  the 
Overture  is  never  to  be  forgotten. 

FOR  MY  HONOURED  FRIEND  ANTHONY  HUNGERFORD,  ESQUIRE  . 

THESE 

Cockpit,  10th  December  1652. 

Sir, — /  understand,  by  my  Cousin  Dunch,  of  so  much 
trouble  of  yours,  and  so  much  unhandsomeness  (at  least  seeming 
so)  on  my  part,  as  doth  not  a  little  afflict  me,  until  I  give  you 
this  account  of  my  innocency. 

She  was  pleased  to  tell  my  Wife  of  your  often  resorts  to  my 

1  Antea,  vol.  i.  p.  300.  a  Epitaph  in  Collmson's  Somersetshire. 


28  PART  VII.  THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [10  DEC. 
house  to  visit  me,  and  of  your  disappointments.  Truly,  Sir, 
had  I  but  once  known  of  your  being  there,  and  '  had  concealed 
my  self, '  it  had  been  an  action  so  below  a  gentleman  or  an 
honest  man,  so  full  of  ingratitude  for  your  civilities  I  have 
received  from  you,  as  would  have  rendered  me  unworthy  of 
human  society !  Believe  me,  Sir,  I  am  much  ashamed  that  the 
least  colour  of  the  appearance  of  such  a  thing  should  have 
happened;  and  "/"  could  not  take  satisfaction  but  by  this 
plain-dealing  for  my  justification,  which  I  ingenuously  offer 
you.  And  although  Providence  did  not  dispose  other  matters 
to  our  mutual  satisfaction,  yet  your  nobleness  in  that  Overture 
obligeth  me,  and  I  hope  ever  shall  whilst  I  live,  to  study  upon 
all  occasions  to  approve  myself  your  Family's  and  your  most 
affectionate  and  humble  servant,  OLIVER  CROMWELL. 

My  Wife  and  I  desire  our  service  be  presented  to  your  Lady 
and  Family.* 

LETTER    CLXXXVII 

SEEMINGLY  belonging  to  the  same  neighbourhood  is  the 
following  altogether  domestic  Letter  to  Fleetwood;  which  still 
survives  in  Autograph;  but  has  no  date  whatever,  and  no 
indication  that  will  enable  us  to  fix  its  place  with  perfect 
exactness.  Fleetwood^s  Commission  for  Ireland  is  dated  10th 
July  1652;1  the  precise  date  of  his  marriage  with  Bridget 
Ireton,  of  his  departure  for  Ireland,  or  of  any  ulterior  proceed- 
ings of  his,  is  not  recoverable,  in  those  months.  Of  Henry 
Cromwell,  too,  we  know  only  that  he  sat  in  the  Little  Parlia- 
ment-, and  indisputably  therefore,  was  home  from  Ireland 
before  summer  next.  From  the  total  silence  as  to  Public 
Affairs,  in  this  Letter,  it  may  be  inferred  that  nothing  decisive 
had  yet  been  done  or  resolved  upon ; — that  through  this 

*  Oliver  Cromwell's  Memoirs  of  the  Protector  (3d  edition,  London,  1822),  ii. 
488;  see  Collinson's  History  of  Somersetshire,  Hi.  357  note. 
1  Thurloe,  i.  212. 


1652]    LETTER    CLXXXVII.     COCKPIT     29 

strange  old  Autograph,  as  through  a  dim  Horn-Gate  (not  of 
Dreams  but  of  Realities),  we  are  looking  into  the  interior  of 
the  Cromwell  Lodging,  and  the  Cromwell  heart,  in  the  Winter 
of  1652. 


FOR  THE   RIGHT  HONOURABLE  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL   FLEETWOOD, 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  OF  THE  FORCES  IN  IRELAND  I    THESE 

"Cockpit, 1652." 

Dear  Charles, — /  thank  you  for  your  loving  Letter.  The 
same  hopes  and  desires,  upon  your  planting  into  my  Family, 
were  much  the  same  in  me  that  you  express  in  yours  towards 
me.  However,  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord  is,  to  have  it 
otherwise  for  the  present ;  and  therein  I  desire  to  acquiesce ; — 
not  being  out  of  hope  that  it  may  lie  in  His  good  pleasure,  m 
His  time,  to  give  us  the  mutual  comfort  of  our  relation :  the 
want  whereof  He  is  able  abundantly  to  supply  by  His  own 
presence ;  which  indeed  makes-up  all  defects,  and  is  the  comfort 
of  all  our  coniforts  and  enjoyments. 

Salute  your  dear  Wife  from  me.  Bid  her  beware  of  a 
bondage  spirit.1  Fear  is  the  natural  issue  of  such  a  spirit ; 
— the  antidote  is  Love.  The  voice  of  Fear  is :  If  I  had 
done  this ;  if  I  had  avoided  that,  how  well  it  had  been  with 
me !  —  /  know  this  hath  been  her  vain  reasoning :  "  poor 
Biddy ! " 

Love  argueth  in  this  wise :  What  a  Christ  have  I ;  what  a 
Father  in  and  through  Him !  What  a  Name  hath  my  Father  : 
Merciful,  gracious,  long-suffering,  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth ;  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression  and  sin.  What  a 
Nature  hath  my  Father :  He  is  LOVE  ; — -free  in  it,  unchange- 
able, infinite!  What  a  Covenant  between  Him  and  Christ, — 
for  all  the  Seed,  for  every  one :  wherein  He  undertakes  all,  and 
the  poor  Soul  nothing.  The  New  Covenant  is  Grace, — to  or 
upon  the  Soul;  to  which  it,  "  the  Soul?  is  passive  and  receptive : 

1  A  Secretary  has  written  hitherto  ;    the  Lord  General  now  begins,  himself, 
with  a  new  pen. 


30     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [1652 

I  '11  do  away  their  sins  ;  1 11  write  my  Law,  etc. ;  I  '11  put  it  in 
their  hearts  :  they  shall  never  depart  from  me,  etc.1 

This  commends  the  Love  of  God :  it  "*s  Christ  dying  for  men 
without  strength,  for  men  whilst  sinners,  whilst  enemies.  And 
shall  we  seek  for  the  root  of  our  comforts  within  us, —  What 
God  hath  done,  what  He  is  to  us  in  Christ,  is  the  root  of  our 
comfort :  in  this  is  stability ;  in  us  is  weakness.  Acts  of 
obedience  are  not  perfect,  and  therefore  yield  not  perfect  Grace. 
Faith,  as  an  act,  yields  it  not ;  but  "  only  "  as  it  carries  us  into 
Him,  who  is  our  perfect  rest  and  peace ;  in  whom  we  are 
accounted  of,  and  received  by,  the  Father, — even  as  Christ 
Himself.  This  is  our  high  calling.  Rest  we  here,  and  here 
only?' 

Commend  me  to  Harry  Cromwell :  I  pray  for  him.  Tliat 
he  may  thrive,  and  improve  in  the  knoivledge  and  love  of  Christ. 
Commend  me  to  all  the  Officers.  My  prayers  indeed  are  daily 
for  them.  Wish  them  to  beware  of  bitterness  of  spirit ;  and  of 
all  things  uncomely  for  the  Gospel.  The  Lord  give  you 
abundance  of  wisdom,  and  faith  and  patience.  Take  heed  also 
of  your  natural  inclination  to  compliance. 

Pray  for  me.  I  commit  you  to  the  Lord ;  and  rest,  your 
loving  father,  OLIVER  CROMWELL* 

The  Boy  and  Betty  are  very  well.  Show  what  kindness 
you  well  may  to  Colonel  Clayton,  to  my  nephew  Gregory,  to 
Clay  pole'' s  Brother* 

And  so  the  miraculous  Horn-Gate,  not  of  Dreams  but  of 

J  Has  been  crowding,  for  the  last  line  or  two,  very  close  upon  the  bottom  of 
the  page ;  finds  now  that  it  will  not  do  ;  and  takes  to  the  margin. 

*  Even  so,  my  noble  one  !    The  noble  soul  will,  one  day,  again  come  to  under- 
stand these  old  words  of  yours. 

3  Has  exhausted  the  long  broad  margin  ;  inverts  now,  and  writes  atop. 

*  Ayscough  MSS.  no.  4165,  f.  I.    On  the  inner  or  blank  leaf  of  this  curious  old 
Sheet  are  neatly  pasted  two  square  tiny  bits  of  Paper:  on  one  of  them,  '  Fairfax' 
in  autograph  ;  on  the  other  these  words,  «God  blesse  the  now  Lord  Protector'; 
and  crosswise,  <  Marquis  Worcester  writt  it ';— concerning  which  Marquis,  once 
'  Lord  Herbert,'  see  vol.  ii.  p.  298. 


1652]  THE    RUMP  31 

Realities  and   old   dim  Domesticities,  closes  again,  into  totally 
opaque  ; — and  we  return  to  matters  public. 

December  1652 — March  1653.  The  Dutch  War  prospers 
and  has  prospered,  Blake  and  Monk  beating  the  Dutch  in 
tough  seafights  ;  Delinquents,  monthly  Assessments,  and  the 
lead  of  Cathedrals  furnishing  the  sinews  :  the  Dutch  are  about 
sending  Ambassadors  to  treat  of  Peace.  With  home  affairs, 
again,  it  goes  not  so  well.  Through  winter,  through  spring, 
that  Bill  for  a  new  Representative  goes  along  in  its  slow  gesta- 
tion ;  reappearing  Wednesday  after  Wednesday ;  painfully 
struggling  to  take  a  shape  that  shall  fit  both  parties,  Parlia- 
ment Grandees  and  Army  Grandees  both  at  once.  A  thing 
difficult  ;  a  thing  impossible  !  Parliament  Grandees,  now 
become  a  contemptible  Rump,  wish  they  could  grow  into  a 
Reputable  Full  Parliament  again,  and  have  the  Government 
and  the  Governing  Persons  go  on  as  they  are  now  doing ;  this 
naturally  is  their  wish.  Naturally  too  the  Army  Party's  wish 
is  the  reverse  of  this :  that  a  Full  free  Parliament,  with  safety 
to  the  Godly  Interests,  and  due  subordination  of  the  Presby- 
terian and  other  factions,  should  assemble ;  but  also  that  the 
present  Governing  Persons,  with  their  red-tape  habits  unable 
to  define  an  incumbrance  in  three  months,  should  for  most 
part  be  out  of  it.  Impossible  to  shape  a  Bill  that  will  fit  both 
of  these  Parties  :  Tom  Thumb  and  the  Irish  Giant,  you  cannot, 
by  the  art  of  Parliamentary  tailoring,  clip  out  a  coat  that  will 
fit  them  both  !  We  can  fancy  '  conferences,1  considerations 
deep  and  almost  awful ;  my  Lord  General  looking  forward  to 
possibilities  that  fill  even  him  with  fear.  Puritan  Notables 
they  will  not  have ;  these  present  Governing  men  are  clear 
against  that :  not  Puritan  Notables  ; — and  if  they  themselves, 
by  this  new  Bill  or  otherwise,  insist  on  staying  there,  what  is 
to  become  of  them  ? 

Dryasdust  laments  that  this  invaluable  Bill,  now  in  process 
of  gestation,  is  altogether  lost  to  Posterity ;  no  copy  even  of 
itself,  much  less  any  record  of  the  conferences,  debates,  or  con- 


32    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [APRIL 

temporaneous  considerations  on  it,  attainable  even  in  fractions 
by  mankind.  Much  is  lost,  my  erudite  friend ; — and  we  must 
console  ourselves  !  The  substantial  essence  of  the  Bill  came 
out  afterwards  into  full  practice,  in  Oliver's  own  Parliaments. 
The  present  form  of  the  Bill,  I  do  clearly  perceive,  had  one 
clause,  That  all  the  Members  of  this  present  Rump  should 
continue  to  sit  without  reelection ;  and  still  better,  another, 
That  they  should  be  a  general  Election  Committee,  and  have 
power  to  say  to  every  new  Member,  'Thou  art  dangerous,  thou 
shalt  not  enter ;  go  ! '  This  clearly  in  the  Bill :  and  not  less 
clearly  that  the  Lord  General  and  Army  Party  would  in  no 
wise  have  a  Bill  with  this  in  it, — or  indeed  have  any  Bill  that 
was  to  be  the  old  story  over  again  under  a  new  name.  So 
much,  on  good  evidence,  is  very  clear  to  me ; — the  rest,  which 
is  all  obliterated,  becomes  not  inconceivable.  Cost  what  it 
may  cost,  this  Rump  Parliament,  which  has  by  its  conduct 
abundantly  6  defined  what  an  incumbrance  is,1  shall  go  about 
its  business.  Terrible  Voices,  supernal  and  other,  have  said  it, 
awfully  enough,  in  the  hearts  of  some  men  !  Neither  under 
its  own  shabby  figure,  nor  under  another  more  plausible,  shall 
it  guide  the  Divine  Mercies  and  Miraculous  Affairs  of  this 
Nation  any  farther. 

The  last  of  all  the  conferences  was  held  at  my  Lord  General's 
house  in  Whitehall,  on  Tuesday  evening,  19th  of  April  1653. 
Above  twenty  leading  Members  of  Parliament  present,  and 
many  Officers.  Conference  of  which  we  shall  have  some  pass- 
ing glimpse,  from  a  sure  hand,  by  and  by.1  Conference  which 
came  to  nothing,  as  all  the  others  had  done.  Your  Bill,  with 
these  clauses  and  visible  tendencies  in  it,  cannot  pass,  says  the 
one  party :  Your  Scheme  of  Puritan  Notables  seems  full  of 
danger,  says  the  other.  What  remedy  ?  '  No  remedy  except, 
— except  that  you  leave  us  to  sit  as  we  are,  for  a  while  yet ! ' 
suggest  the  Official  persons. — '  In  no  wise  ! '  answer  the  Officers, 
with  a  vehemence  of  look  and  tone,  which  my  Lord  General, 
seemingly  anxious  to  do  it,  cannot  repress.  You  must  not, 
1  Speech,  postea ;  see  also  Whitlocke,  p.  529. 


1653]  THE  RUMP  33 

and  cannot  sit  longer,  say  the  Officers ; — and  their  look  says 
even,  Shall  not !  Eulstrode  went  home  to  Chelsea,  very  late, 
with  the  tears  in  his  big  dull  eyes,  at  thought  of  the  courses 
men  were  getting  into.  Bulstrode  and  Widdrington  were  the 
most  eager  for  sitting ;  Chief-Justice  St.  John,  strange  thing 
in  a  Constitutional  gentleman,  declared  that  there  could  be  no 
sitting  for  us  any  longer.  We  parted,  able  to  settle  on  nothing, 
except  the  engagement  to  meet  here  again  tomorrow  morning, 
and  to  leave  the  Bill  asleep  till  something  were  settled  on.  '  A 
leading  person.'  Sir  Harry  Vane  or  another,  undertook  that 
nothing  should  be  done  in  it  till  then. 

Wednesday  %Qth  April  1653.  My  Lord  General  accord- 
ingly is  in  his  reception-room  this  morning,  '  in  plain  black 
clothes  and  gray  worsted  stockings '  ;  he,  with  many  Officers  : 
but  few  Members  have  yet  come,  though  punctual  Bulstrode 
and  certain  others  are  there.  Some  waiting  there  is ;  some 
impatience  that  the  Members  would  come.  The  Members  do 
not  come  :  instead  of  Members,  comes  a  notice  that  they  are 
busy  getting-on  with  their  Bill  in  the  House,  hurrying  it 
double-quick  through  all  the  stages.  Possible  ?  New  message 
that  it  will  be  Law  in  a  little  while,  if  no  interposition  take 
place  !  Bulstrode  hastens  off  to  the  House  :  my  Lord  General, 
at  first  incredulous,  does  now  also  hasten  off, — nay  orders  that 
a  Company  of  Musketeers  of  his  own  regiment  attend  him. 
Hastens  off,  with  a  very  high  expression  of  countenance,  I 
think ; — saying  or  feeling  :  Who  would  have  believed  it  of 
them  ?  '  It  is  not  honest ;  yea,  it  is  contrary  to  common 
honesty  ! ' — My  Lord  General,  the  big  hour  is  come  ! 

Young  Colonel  Sidney,  the  celebrated  Algernon,  sat  in  the 
House  this  morning  ;  a  House  of  some  Fifty-three.1  Algernon 
has  left  distinct  note  of  the  affair ;  less  distinct  we  have  from 
Bulstrode,  who  was  also  there,  who  seems  in  some  points  to  be 
even  wilfully  wrong.  Solid  Ludlow  was  far  off  in  Ireland,  but 
gathered  many  details  in  after-years  ;  and  faithfully  wrote  them 

1  That  is  Cromwell's  number ;  Ludlow,  far  distant,  and  not  credible  on  this 
occasion,  says  '  Eighty  or  a  Hundred.' 

VOL.  III.  C 


34    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [20  APR. 

down,  in  the  unappeasable  indignation  of  his  heart.  Combin- 
ing these  three  originals,  we  have,  after  various  perusals  and 
collations  and  considerations,  obtained  the  following  authentic, 
moderately  conceivable  account  i1 

4  The  Parliament  sitting  as  usual,  and  being  in  debate  upon 
the  Bill  with  the  amendments,  which  it  was  thought  would 
have  been  passed  that  day,  the  Lord  General  Cromwell  came 
into  the  House,  clad  in  plain  black  clothes  and  gray  worsted 
stockings,  and  sat  down,  as  he  used  to  do,  in  an  ordinary 
place.1  For  some  time  he  listens  to  this  interesting  debate  on 
the  Bill ;  beckoning  once  to  Harrison,  who  came  over  to  him, 
and  answered  dubitatingly.  Whereupon  the  Lord  General  sat 
still,  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  longer.  But  now  the 
question  being  to  be  put,  That  this  Bill  do  now  pass,  he 
beckons  again  to  Harrison,  says,  ' "  This  is  the  time ;  I  must 
do  it !  "  — and  so  '  rose  up,  put  off  his  hat,  and  spake.  At  the 
first,  and  for  a  good  while,  he  spake  to  the  commendation  of 
the  Parliament  for  their  pains  and  care  of  the  public  good ; 
but  afterwards  he  changed  his  style,  told  them  of  their  injustice, 
delays  of  justice,  self-interest,  and  other  faults,1 — rising  higher 
and  higher,  into  a  very  aggravated  style  indeed.  An  honour- 
able Member,  Sir  Peter  Wentworth  by  name,  not  known  to 
my  readers,  and  by  me  better  known  than  trusted,  rises  to 
order,  as  we  phrase  it ;  says,  '  It  is  a  strange  language  this ; 
unusual  within  the  walls  of  Parliament  this  !  And  from  a 
trusted  servant  too  ;  and  one  whom  we  have  so  highly  honoured ; 
and  one ' —  '  "  Come,  come  ! " '  exclaims  my  Lord  General  in  a 
very  high  key,  c  we  have  had  enough  of  this,1 — and  in  fact  my 
Lord  General  now  blazing  all  up  into  clear  conflagration, 
exclaims, '  "  I  will  put  an  end  to  your  prating,11  1  and  steps  forth 
into  the  floor  of  the  House,  and  'clapping-on  his  hat,1  and 
occasionally  '  stamping  the  floor  with  his  feet,1  begins  a  discourse 
which  no  man  can  report !  He  says — Heavens  !  he  is  heard 
saying  :  «  "  It  is  not  fit  that  you  should  sit  here  any  longer  ! " 

1  Blencowe's  Sidney  Papers  (London,  1825),  pp.  139-41  ;  Whitlocke,  p.  529; 
Ludlow,  ii.  456  ;— the  last  two  are  reprinted  in  Parliamentary  History ,  xx.  128. 


1653]       DISMISSAL    OF    THE    RUMP  35 

You  have  sat  too  long  here  for  any  good  you  have  been  doing 
lately.  "  You  shall  now  give  place  to  better  men  ! — Call  them 
in  ! " '  adds  he  briefly,  to  Harrison,  in  word  of  command  :  and 
'  some  twenty  or  thirty  "*  grim  musketeers  enter,  with  bullets  in 
their  snaphances ;  grimly  prompt  for  orders ;  and  stand  in 
some  attitude  of  Carry-arms  there.  Veteran  men  :  men  of 
might  and  men  of  war,  their  faces  are  as  the  faces  of  lions,  and 
their  feet  are  swift  as  the  roes  upon  the  mountains ; — not 
beautiful  to  honourable  gentlemen  at  this  moment ! 

4  You  call  yourselves  a  Parliament,1  continues  my  Lord 
General  in  clear  blaze  of  conflagration  :  < "  You  are  no  Parlia- 
ment ;  I  say  you  are  no  Parliament  !  Some  of  you  are 
drunkards,"1  and  his  eye  flashes  on  poor  Mr.  Chaloner,  an 
official  man  of  some  value,  addicted  to  the  bottle  ;  '  "  some  of 

you  are " '  and  he  glares  into  Harry  Marten,  and  the  poor 

Sir  Peter  who  rose  to  order,  lewd  livers  both  ;  '  living  in 
open  contempt  of  God's  Commandments.  Following  your  own 
greedy  appetites,  and  the  Devil's  Commandments.  "  Corrupt 
unjust  persons,11  1  and  here  I  think  he  glanced  '  at  Sir  Bulstrode 
Whitlocke,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Great  Seal,  giving 
him  and  others  very  sharp  language,  though  he  named  them 
not ' :  ' "  Corrupt  unjust  persons  ;  scandalous  to  the  profession 
of  the  Gospel "  :  how  can  you  be  a  Parliament  for  God's 
People  ?  Depart,  I  say  ;  and  let  us  have  done  with  you.  In 
the  name  of  God, — go  !  * 

The  House  is  of  course  all  on  its  feet, — uncertain  almost 
whether  not  on  its  head  :  such  a  scene  as  was  never  seen 
before  in  any  House  of  Commons.  History  reports  with  a 
shudder  that  my  Lord  General,  lifting  the  sacred  Mace  itself, 
said,  '"What  shall  we  do  with  this  bauble?  Take  it 
away  !  " ' — and  gave  it  to  a  musketeer.  And  now, — '  Fetch 
him  down  ! '  says  he  to  Harrison,  flashing  on  the  Speaker. 
Speaker  Lenthall,  more  an  ancient  Roman  than  anything  else, 
declares,  He  will  not  come  till  forced.  '  Sir,1  said  Harrison, 
'I  will  lend  you  a  hand 1 ;  on  which  Speaker  Lenthall  came 
down,  and  gloomily  vanished.  They  all  vanished  ;  flooding 


36   PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [23  APR. 

gloomily,  clamorously  out,  to  their  ulterior  businesses  and 
respective  places  of  abode  :  the  Long  Parliament  is  dissolved  ! 
' "  It 's  you  that  have  forced  me  to  this  " '  exclaims  my  Lord 
General  :  * "  I  have  sought  the  Lord  night  and  day,  that  He 
would  rather  slay  me  than  put  me  upon  the  doing  of  this 
work."'  'At  their  going  out,  some  say  the  Lord  General 
said  to  young  Sir  Harry  Vane,  calling  him  by  his  name,  That 
he  might  have  prevented  this  ;  but  that  he  was  a  juggler,  and 
had  not  common  honesty.'  '"Oh,  Sir  Harry  Vane,"  thou 
with  thy  subtle  casuistries  and  abstruse  hair-splittings,  thou 
art  other  than  a  good  one,  I  think  !  "  The  Lord  deliver 
me  from  thee,  Sir  Harry  Vane  ! " '  '  All  being  gone  out,  the 
door  of  the  House  was  locked,  and  the  Key  with  the  Mace, 
as  I  heard,  was  carried  away  by  Colonel  Otley ' ; — and  it  is 
all  over,  and  the  unspeakable  Catastrophe  has  come,  and 
remains. 

Such  was  the  destructive  wrath  of  my  Lord  General  Crom- 
well against  the  Nominal  Rump  Parliament  of  England. 
Wrath  which  innumerable  mortals  since  have  accounted  ex- 
tremely diabolic ;  which  some  now  begin  to  account  partly 
divine.  Divine  or  diabolic,  it  is  an  indisputable  fact ;  left  for 
the  commentaries  of  men.  The  Rump  Parliament  has  gone 
its  ways ; — and  truly,  except  it  be  in  their  own,  I  know  not 
in  what  eyes  are  tears  at  their  departure.  They  went  very 
softly,  softly  as  a  Dream,  say  all  witnesses.  '  We  did  not 
hear  a  dog  bark  at  their  going ! '  asserts  my  Lord  General 
elsewhere. 

It  is  said,  my  Lord  General  did  not,  on  his  entrance  into 
the  House,  contemplate  quite  as  a  certainty  this  strong 
measure  ;  but  it  came  upon  him  like  an  irresistible  impulse,  or 
inspiration,  as  he  heard  their  Parliamentary  eloquence  pro- 
ceed. 'Perceiving  the  spirit  of  God  so  strong  upon  me,  I 
would  no  longer  consult  flesh  and  blood.' 1  He  has  done  it, 

1  Godwin,  iii.  456  (who  cites  Echard ;    not  much  of  an  authority  in  such 
matters). 


i653j    LETTER  CLXXXVIII.     WHITEHALL    37 

at  all  events ;  and  is  responsible  for  the  results  it  may  have. 
A  responsibility  which  he,  as  well  as  most  of  us,  knows  to  be 
awful :  but  he  fancies  it  was  in  answer  to  the  English  Nation, 
and  to  the  Maker  of  the  English  Nation  and  of  him  ;  and  he 
will  do  the  best  he  may  with  it. 

LETTER    CLXXXVIII 

WE  have  to  add  here  an  Official  Letter,  of  small  signifi- 
cance in  itself,  but  curious  for  its  date,  the  Saturday  after  this 
great  Transaction,  and  for  the  other  indications  it  gives. 
Except  the  Lord  General,  '  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
Forces  raised  and  to  be  raised,"*  there  is  for  the  moment  no 
Authority  very  clearly  on  foot  in  England ; — though  Judges, 
and  all  manner  of  Authorities  whatsoever  do,  after  some  little 
preliminary  parleying,  consent  to  go  on  as  before. 

The  Draining  of  the  Fens  had  been  resumed  under  better 
auspices  when  the  War  ended ; 1  and  a  new  Company  of 
Adventurers,  among  whom  Oliver  himself  is  one,  are  vigor- 
ously proceeding  with  a  New  Bedford  Level, — the  same  that 
yet  continues.  A  '  Petition '  of  theirs,  addressed  '  To  the 
Lord  General,1  in  these  hasty  hours,  sets  forth  that  upon  the 
'  20th  of  this  instant  April 1  (exactly  while  Oliver  was  turning 
out  the  Parliament),  '  about  a  Hundred-and-fifty  persons,1  from 
the  Towns  of  Swaffham  and  Botsham, — which  Towns  had 
petitioned  about  certain  rights  of  theirs,  and  got  clear  promise 
of  redress  in  fit  time, — did  '  tumultuously  assemble,1  to  seek 
redress  for  themselves ;  did  '  by  force  expel  your  Petitioners1 
workmen  from  their  diking  and  working  in  the  said  Fens  1 ; 
did  tumble-in  again  '  the  dikes  by  them  made  1 ;  and  in  fine 
did  peremptorily  signify  that  if  they  or  any  other  came  again 
to  dike  in  these  Fens,  it  would  be  worse  for  them.  '  The  evil 
effects  of  which ' — are  very  apparent  indeed.  Whereupon 
this  Official  Letter,  or  Warrant;  written  doubtless  in  the 
press  of  much  other  business. 

1  Act  for  that  object  (Scobell,  ii.  33),  2Qth  May  1649. 


38    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [23  APR. 


"  TO  MR.  PARKER,  AGENT  FOR  THE  COMPANY  OF  ADVENTURERS  FOR 
DRAINING  THE  GREAT  LEVEL  OF  THE  FENS."" 

"  Whitehall/'  23d  April  1653. 

Mr.  Parker ', — /  hear  some  unruly  persons  have  lately  com- 
mitted great  outrages  in  Cambridgeshire,  about  Swaff'ham 
and  Botsham,  in  thr -owing-down  the  works  making  by  the 
Adventurers,  and  menacing  those  they  employ  thereabout. 
Wherefore  I  desire  you  to  send  one  of  my  Troops,  with  a 
Captain,  who  may  by  all  means  persuade  the  people  to  quiet, 
by  kiting  them  know,  They  must  not  riotously  do  anything, 
for  that  must  not  be  suffered :  but  "  that "  if  there  be  any 
wrong  done  by  the  Adventurers, — upon  complaint,  such  course 
shall  be  taken  as  appertains  to  justice,  and  right  will  be  done. 
I  rest,  your  loving  friend,  QLIVER  GROMWELL* 

The  Declaration  of  the  Lord  General  and  his  Council  of 
Officers?  which  came  out  on  the  Friday  following  the  grand 
Catastrophe,  does  not  seem  to  be  of  Oliver's  composition  :  it 
is  a  Narrative  of  calm  pious  tone,  of  considerable  length ; 
promises,  as  a  second  Declaration  still  more  explicitly  does,2  a 
Real  Assembly  of  the  Puritan  Notables ; — and,  on  the  whole, 
can  be  imagined  by  the  reader ;  nay  we  shall  hear  the  entire 
substance  of  it  from  Oliver's  own  mouth,  before  long.  These 
Declarations  and  other  details  we  omit.  Conceive  that  all 
manner  of  Authorities,  with  or  without  some  little  preambling, 
agree  to  go  on  as  heretofore ;  that  adherences  arrive  from 
Land -Generals  and  Sea-Generals  by  return  of  post ;  that  the 
old  Council  of  State  having  vanished  with  its  Mother,  a  new 
Interim  Council  of  State,  with  '  Oliver  Cromwell,  Captain 
General,'  at  the  head  of  it,  answers  equally  well ;  in  a  word, 

*  From  the  Records  of  the  Fen  Office,  in  Sergeants'  Inn,  London  ;  com- 
municated, with  other  Papers  relating  thereto,  by  Samuel  Wells,  Esq. 

1  22d  April,  Cromwelliana   p.  120.  2  3oth  April,  Ibid.  p.  122. 


1653]  SUMMONS  39 

that  all  people  are  looking  eagerly  forward  to  those  same 
'  Known  Persons,  Men  fearing  God,  and  of  approved  Integrity,' 
who  are  now  to  be  got  together  from  all  quarters  of  England, 
to  say  what  shall  be  done  with  this  Commonwealth, — whom 
there  is  now  no  Fag-end  of  a  corrupt  Parliament  to  prevent 
just  men  from  choosing  with  their  best  ability.  Conceive  all 
this ;  and  read  the  following 

'SUMMONS 

'  TO 

4  FORASMUCH  as,  upon  the  dissolution  of  the  late  Parlia- 
'  ment,  it  became  necessary  that  the  peace,  safety  and  good 
'  government  of  this  Commonwealth  should  be  provided  for  : 
'  And  in  order  thereunto,  divers  Persons  fearing  God,  and  of 

*  approved   Fidelity   and    Honesty,  are,  by   myself  with   the 
'  advice  of  my  Council  of  Officers,  nominated ;  to  whom  the 
'  great  charge  and  trust  of  so  weighty  affairs  is  to  be  com- 
'  mitted  :   And  having  good  assurance  of  your  love  to,  and 
4  courage  for,  God  and  the  interest  of  His  Cause,  and  "  that " 
'  of  the  good  People  of  this  Commonwealth  : 

'  I)  Oliver  Cromwell,  Captain  General  and  Commander-in- 

*  chief  of  all  the  Armies  and  Forces  raised  and  to  be  raised 
'  within  this  Commonwealth,  do  hereby  summon  and  require 

'  You, ,   being   one  of  the  Persons   nominated, — 

'  Personally    to    be    and    appear    at    the    Council -Cham  her, 
'  commonly  known    or  called   by  the  name  of  the   Council- 
'  Chamber   at   Whitehall,  within   the    City    of  Westminster, 
'  upon  the  Fourth  day  of  July  next  ensuing  the  date  hereof; 
'  Then  and   there  to   take  upon  you    the  said   Trust ;   unto 

*  which  you  are  hereby   called,  and   appointed  to  serve  as  a 

'  Member  for  the  County  of .      And  hereof  you  are  not 

«  to  fail. 

'  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  the  6th  day  of  June 
«  1653.  OLIVER  CROMWELL.'* 

*  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  125). 


40    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 


SPEECH    FIRST 

A  HUNDRED- AND- FORTY  of  these  Summonses  were  issued  ; 
and  of  all  the  Parties  so  summoned,  '  only  two  '  did  not  attend. 
Disconsolate  Bulstrode  says,  '  Many  of  this  Assembly  being 
persons  of  fortune  and  knowledge,  it  was  much  wondered-at 
by  some  that  they  would,  at  this  Summons,  and  from  such 
hands,  take  upon  them  the  Supreme  Authority  of  this  Nation  : 
considering  how  little  right  Cromwell  and  his  Officers  had  to 
give  it,  or  those  Gentlemen  to  take  it.'1  My  disconsolate 
friend,  it  is  a  sign  that  Puritan  England  in  general  accepts 
this  action  of  Cromwell  and  his  Officers,  and  thanks  them  for 
it,  in  such  a  case  of  extremity ;  saying  as  audibly  as  the 
means  permitted  :  Yea,  we  did  wish  it  so  !  Rather  mournful 
to  the  disconsolate  official  mind  ! — Lord  Clarendon  again, 
writing  with  much  latitude,  has  characterised  this  Convention 
as  containing  in  it  '  divers  Gentlemen  who  had  estates,  and 
such  a  proportion  of  credit '  in  the  world  as  might  give  some 
colour  to  the  business  ;  but  consisting,  on  the  whole,  of  a  very 
miserable  beggarly  sort  of  persons,  acquainted  with  nothing 
but  the  art  of  praying ;  '  artificers  of  the  meanest  trades,'  if 
they  even  had  any  trade  :  — all  which  the  reader  shall,  if  he 
please,  add  to  the  general  ^ano-mountains,  and  pass  on  not 
regarding. 

The  undeniable  fact  is,  these  men  were,  as  Whitlocke 
intimates,  a  quite  reputable  Assembly  :  got  together  by 
anxious  '  consultation  of  the  godly  Clergy  *  and  chief  Puritan 
lights  in  their  respective  Counties ;  not  without  much  earnest 
revision,  and  solemn  consideration  in  all  kinds,  on  the  part  of 
men  adequate  enough  for  such  a  work,  and  desirous  enough  to 
do  it  well.  The  List  of  the  Assembly  exists  ; 2  not  yet  entirely 
gone  dark  for  mankind.  A  fair  proportion  of  them  still 
recognisable  to  mankind.  Actual  Peers  one  or  two  :  founders 

1  Whitlocke,  p.  534.  2  Somers  Israels,  i.  216. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  41 

of  Peerage  Families  two  or  three,  which  still  exist  among 
us, — Colonel  Edward  Montague,  Colonel  Charles  Howard, 
Anthony  Ashley  Cooper.  And,  better  than  King's  Peers, 
certain  Peers  of  Nature ;  whom  if  not  the  King  and  his 
pasteboard  Norroys  have  had  the  luck  to  make  Peers  of,  the 
living  heart  of  England  has  since  raised  to  the  Peerage,  and 
means  to  keep  there, — Colonel  Robert  Blake  the  Sea-King,  for 
one.  '  Known  persons,1 1  do  think;  *  of  approved  integrity,  men 
fearing  God ' ;  and  perhaps  not  entirely  destitute  of  sense  any 
one  of  them  !  Truly  it  seems  rather  a  distinguished  Parlia- 
ment,— even  though  Mr.  Praisegod  Barbone,  '  the  Leather- 
merchant  in  Fleet-street,'  be,  as  all  mortals  must  admit,  a 
member  of  it.  The  fault,  I  hope,  is  forgivable  !  Praisegod, 
though  he  deals  in  leather,  and  has  a  name  which  can  be  mis- 
spelt, one  discerns  to  be  the  son  of  pious  parents ;  to  be 
himself  a  man  of  piety,  of  understanding  and  weight, —  and 
even  of  considerable  private  capital,  my  witty  flunky  friends  ! 
We  will  leave  Praisegod  to  do  the  best  he  can,  I  think. — And 
old  Francis  Rouse  is  there  from  Devonshire ;  once  member  for 
Truro ;  Provost  of  Eton  College ;  whom  by  and  by  they 
make  Speaker ; — whose  Psalms  the  Northern  Kirks  still  sing. 
Richard  Mayor  of  Hursley  is  there,  and  even  idle  Dick  Norton ; 
Alexander  Jaffray  of  Aberdeen,  Laird  Swinton  of  the  College 
of  Justice  in  Edinburgh ;  Alderman  Ireton,  brother  of  the 
late  Lord  Deputy,  colleague  of  Praisegod  in  London.  In  fact, 
a  real  Assembly  of  the  Notables  in  Puritan  England  ;  a  Parlia- 
ment, Parliamentum,  or  real  Speaking- Apparatus  for  the  now 
dominant  Interest  in  England,  as  exact  as  could  well  be  got, 
— much  more  exact,  I  suppose,  than  any  ballot-box,  free 
hustings  or  ale-barrel  election  usually  yields. 

Such  is  the  Assembly  called  the  Little  Parliament,  and 
wittily  Barebones's  Parliament ;  which  meets  on  the  4th  of 
July.  Their  witty  name  survives ;  but  their  history  is  gone 
all  dark  ;  and  no  man,  for  the  present,  has  in  his  head  or  in 
his  heart  the  faintest  intimation  of  what  they  did,  or  what 
they  aimed  to  do.  They  are  very  dark  to  us ;  and  will  never 


42    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 

be  illuminated  much  !  Here  is  one  glance  of  them  face  to 
face ;  here  in  this  Speech  of  Oliver's, — if  we  can  read  it,  and 
listen  along  with  them  to  it.  There  is  this  one  glance ;  and 
for  six  generations,  we  may  say,  in  the  English  mind  there 
has  not  been  another. 

Listening  from  a  distance  of  two  Centuries,  across  the 
Death-chasms  and  howling  kingdoms  of  Decay,  it  is  not  easy 
to  catch  everything  !  But  let  us  faithfully  do  the  best  we 
can.  Having  once  packed  Dryasdust,  and  his  unedifying 
cries  of  '  Nonsense  !  Mere  hypocrisy  !  Ambitious  dupery  ! ' 
etc.  etc.,  about  his  business ;  closed  him  safe  under  hatches, 
and  got  silence  established, — we  shall  perhaps  hear  a  word  or 
two ;  have  a  real  glimpse  or  two  of  things  long  vanished  ; 
and  see  for  moments  this  fabulous  Barebones's  Parliament 
itself,  standing  dim  in  the  heart  of  the  extinct  Centuries,  as  a 
recognisable  fact,  once  flesh  and  blood,  now  air  and  memory ; 
not  untragical  to  us  ! 

Read  this  first,  from  the  old  Newspapers ;  and  then  the 
Speech  itself,  which  a  laborious  Editor  has,  with  all  industry, 
copied  and  corrected  from  Two  Contemporaneous  Reports  by 
different  hands,  and  various  editions  of  these.  Note,  however : 
The  Italic  sentences  in  brackets,  most  part  of  which,  and  yet 
perhaps  not  enough  of  which  I  have  suppressed,  are  evidently 
by  an  altogether  modern  hand  ! 

'  July  4}th,  1653.  This  being  the  day  appointed,  by  the 
Letters  of  Summons  from  his  Excellency  the  Lord  General,  for 
the  meeting  of  the  Persons  called  to  the  Supreme  Authority, 
there  came  about  a  Hundred-and-twenty  of  them  to  the 
Council-Chamber  in  Whitehall.  After  each  person  had  given- 
in  a  Ticket  of  his  Name,  they  all  entered  the  room,  and  sat 
down  in  chairs  appointed  for  them,  round  about  the  table. 
Then  his  Excellency  the  Lord  General,  standing  by  the  window 
opposite  to  the  middle  of  the  table,  and  as  many  of  the 
Officers  of  the  Army  as  the  room  could  well  contain,  some  on 
his  right  hand,  and  others  on  his  left,  and  about  him, — made 
the  following  Speech  to  the  Assembly  : ' 


I6S3]  SPEECH    I  43 

4  GENTLEMEN, — I   suppose   the   Summons   that  hath   been 

'  instrumental  to  bring  you  hither  gives  you   well  to  under- 

4  stand  the  occasion   of  your  being  here.      Howbeit,   I  have 

*  something  farther  to  impart  to  you,  which  is  an  Instrument 
6  drawn-up  by  the  consent  and  advice  of  the  principal  Officers 
4  of  the  Army ;  which  is  a  little  (as  we  conceive)  more  signifi- 
4  cant  than  the  Letter  of  the  Summons.      We  have  that  here 
4  to  tender  you ;    and   somewhat  likewise  to  say  farther  for 
4  our  own  exoneration ; l    which  we  hope  may  be  somewhat 
'  farther  for  your  satisfaction.       And   withal  seeing  you  sit 
'  here  somewhat  uneasily  by  reason  of  the  scantness  of  the 
4  room  and  heat  of  the  weather,  I  shall  contract  myself  with 
'  respect  thereunto. 

*  We  have  not  thought  it  amiss  a  little  to  remind  you  of 

*  that  Series  of  Providences  wherein  the  Lord  hath  appeared, 
4  dispensing    wonderful    things    to    these    Nations    from    the 
4  beginning  of  our  Troubles  to  this  very  day. 

4  If  I  should  look  much  backward,  we  might  remind  you 
4  of  the  state  of  affairs  as  they  were  before  the  Short,  that  is 
4  the  last,  Parliament, — in  what  posture  the  things  of  this 
6  Nation  then  stood  :  but  they  do  so  well,  I  presume,  occur 
4  to  all  your  memories  and  knowledge,  that  I  shall  not  need 
4  to  look  so  far  backward.  Nor  yet  to  those  hostile  occasions 
4  which  arose  between  the  King  that  was  and  the  Parliament2 
4  that  then  followed.  And  indeed,  should  I  begin  much  later, 
4  the  things  that  would  fall  very  necessarily  before  you,  would 
4  rather  be  for  a  History  than  for  a  verbal  Discourse  at  this 
4  present. 

4  But  thus  far  we  may  look  back.  You  very  well  know, 
4  it  pleased  God,  much  about  the  midst  of  this  War,  to  win 
4  now  (if  I  may  so  say)  the  Forces  of  this  Nation ; 3  and  to 

1  '  exoneration '  does  not  here  mean  '  excuse'  or  '  shifting-away  of  blame,'  but 
mere  laying-down  of  office  with  due  form. 

2  The  Long  Parliament. 

3  Self-denying  Ordinance  ;  beginning  of  1645:  see  vol.  i.  p.  193  et  seq. 


44    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 

4  put  them  into  the  hands  of  other  men  of  other  principles 
'  than  those  that  did  engage  at  the  first.  By  what  ways  and 
'  means  that  was  brought  about,  would  ask  more  time  than 
(  is  allotted  me  to  mind  you  of  it.  Indeed,  there  are  Stories 
'  that  do  recite  those  Transactions,  and  give  you  narratives 
'  of  matters  of  fact :  but  those  things  wherein  the  life  and 
'  power  of  them  lay ;  those  strange  windings  and  turnings 
*  of  Providence ;  those  very  great  appearances  of  God,  in 
6  crossing  and  thwarting  the  purposes  of  men,  that  He  might 
'  raise  up  a  poor  and  contemptible  company  of  men,1  neither 
'  versed  in  military  affairs,  nor  having  much  natural  propensity 
'  to  them,  "  into  wonderful  success — " !  Simply  by  their 
'  owning  a  Principle  of  Godliness  and  Religion;  which  so  soon 
'  as  it  came  to  be  owned,  and  the  state  of  affairs  put  upon  the 
'  foot  of  that  account,2  how  God  blessed  them,  furthering  all 
'  undertakings,  yet  using  the  most  improbable  and  the  most 
4  contemptible  and  despicable  means  (for  that  we  shall  ever 
'  own)  :  is  very  well  known  to  you. 

'  What  the  several  Successes  and  Issues  have  been,  is  not 
'  fit  to  mention  at  this  time  neither ; — though  I  confess  I 
'  thought  to  have  enlarged  myself  upon  that  subject ;  foras- 
'  much  as  Considering  the  works  of  God,  and  the  operations 
'  of  His  hands,  is  a  principal  part  of  our  duty ;  and  a  great 
'  encouragement  to  the  strengthening  of  our  hands  and  of  our 
'  faith,  for  that  which  is  behind.3  And  among  other  ends 
'  which  those  marvellous  Dispensations  have  been  given  us  for, 
'  that 's  a  principal  end,  which  ought  to  be  minded  by  us. 

6  "  Certainly "  in  this  revolution  of  affairs,  as  the  issue  of 
4  those  Successes  which  God  was  pleased  to  give  to  the  Army, 
'  and  "  to "  the  Authority  that  then  stood,  there  were  very 
6  great  things  brought  about ; — besides  those  dints  that  came 
'  upon  the  Nations4  and  places  where  the  War  itself  was,  very 
'  great  things  in  Civil  matters  too.  "  As  first,"  the  bringing 
«  of  Offenders  to  justice, — and  the  Greatest  of  them.  Bring- 

1  Fairfax's  Army.  2  upon  that  footing. 

8  still  to  come.  4  England,  Ireland,  Scotland. 


i653]  SPEECH    I  45 

*  ing  of  the  State  of  this  Government  to  the  name  (at  least) 
4  of  a  Commonwealth.      Searching  and  sifting  of  all   persons 
4  and   places.      The  King  removed,  and  brought  to  justice ; 
4  and  many  great  ones  with  him.      The  House  of  Peers  laid 
4  aside.      The  House  of  Commons  itself,  the  representative  of 
4  the  People  of  England,  winnowed,  sifted,  and  brought  to  a 
4  handful ;  as  you  very  well  remember. 

4  And  truly  God  would  not  rest  there  : — for,  by  the  way, 
4  although  it 's  fit  for  us  to   ascribe *  our  failings  and  mis- 

*  carriages  to  ourselves,  yet  the  gloriousness  of  the  work  may 
4  well  be  attributed  to  God  Himself,  and  may  be  called  His 
4  strange  work.      You  remember  well  that  at  the  Change  of 
'  the  Government   there   was   not   an   end   of  our  Troubles, 
4  [No  /]  —  although    in    that    year    were    such    high    things 
4  transacted   as   indeed   made  it  to  be   the   most  memorable 
4  year  (I  mean  the  Year  1648)  that  this  Nation  ever  saw. 
4  So  many  Insurrections,2  Invasions,  secret  Designs,  open  and 
4  public  Attempts,  all  quashed  in  so  short  a  time,  and  this  by 
4  the  very  signal  appearance  of  God  Himself;  which,  I  hope, 
4  we  shall  never  forget ! — You  know  also,  as  I  said  before, 
4  that,  as  the  first  effect  of  that  memorable  year  of  1648  was 
4  to  lay  a  foundation,  by  bringing  Offenders  to  Punishment, 
4  so  it  brought  us  likewise  to  the  Change  of  Government : — 
4  although  it  were  worth  the  time,  "  perhaps,  if  one  had  time," 
4  to  speak  of  the  carriage  of  some  in  places  of  trust,  in  most 
4  eminent  places  of  trust,  which  was  such  as  (had  not  God 
4  miraculously   appeared)    would   have    frustrated    us   of   the 
4  hopes  of  all  our  undertakings.      I  mean  by  the  closure  of 
4  the  Treaty  that  was  endeavoured  with  the  King ; 8   whereby 
4  they  would  have  put  into  his  hands  all  that  we  had  engaged 
4  for,  and  all  our  security  should  have  been  a  little  piece  of 
;  Paper  !     That  thing  going  off,  you  very  well  know  how  it 

1  '  intitle '  in  orig. 

2  Kent,  St.  Neot's,  Colchester,  Welsh  Foyer  at  Pembroke,  Scotch  Hamilton 
at  Preston,  etc.  etc. 

8  Treaty  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  again  and  again  endeavoured. 


46    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

4  kept  this  Nation  still  in  broils  by  sea  and  land.  And  yet 
'  what  God  wrought  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  you  likewise 
'  know  ;  until  He  had  finished  these  Troubles,  upon  the 
4  matter,1  by  His  marvellous  salvation  wrought  at  Worcester. 

4  I  confess  to  you,  that  I  am  very  much  troubled  in  my 
4  own  spirit  that  the  necessity  of  affairs  requires  I  should  be 
4  so  short  in  those  things  :  because,  as  I  told  you,  this  is  the 
4  leanest  part  of  the  Transactions,  this  mere  historical  Narra- 
4  tive  of  them  ;  there  being  in  every  particular ;  in  the  King's 
4  first  going  from  the  Parliament,  in  the  pulling-down  of  the 
4  Bishops,  the  House  of  Peers,  in  every  step  towards  that 
4  Change  of  the  Government, — I  say  there  is  not  any  one  of 
4  these  things,  thus  removed  and  reformed,  but  hath  an 
4  evident  print  of  Providence  set  upon  it,  so  that  he  who 
4  runs  may  read  it.  I  am  sorry  I  have  not  an  opportunity  to 
4  be  more  particular  on  these  points,  which  I  principally 
4  designed,  this  day ;  thereby  to  stir-up  your  hearts  and  mine 
'  to  gratitude  and  confidence. 

'  I  shall  now  begin  a  little  to  remind  you  of  the  passages 
4  that  have  been  transacted  since  Worcester.  Coming  from 
4  whence,  with  the  rest  of  my  fellow-Officers  and  Soldiers,  we 
4  did  expect,  and  had  some  reasonable  confidence  our  expecta- 
4  tions  would  not  be  frustrated,  That,  having  such  an  history 
4  to  look  back  unto,  such  a  God,  so  eminently  visible,  even 
4  our  enemies  confessing  that  '  God  Himself  was  certainly 
4  engaged  against  them,  else  they  should  never  have  been 
4  disappointed  in  every  engagement,1 — and  that  may  be  used 
4  by  the  way,  That  if  we  had  but  miscarried  in  the  least, 2  all 
4  our  former  mercies  were  in  danger  to  be  lost : — I  say,  coming 
4  up  then,  we  had  some  confidence  That  the  mercies  God  had 
4  shown,  and  the  expectations  which  were  upon  our  hearts, 
4  and  upon  the  hearts  of  all  good  men,  would  have  prompted 
'  those  who  were  in  Authority  to  do  those  good  things  which 

1  Means  '  so  to  speak ' ;   a  common  phrase  of  those  times ;  a  perpetual  one 
with  Clarendon,  for  instance.  2  lost  one  battle  of  these  many. 


i653]  SPEECH    I  47 

4  might,  by  honest  men,  have  been  judged  fit  for  such  a  God, 
4  and  worthy  of  such  mercies ;  and  indeed  been  a  discharge  of 
4  duty  from  those  to  whom  all  these  mercies  had  been  shown, 
4  for  the  true  interest  of  this  Nation  !  [  Yes  /] — If  I  should 
6  now  labour  to  be  particular  in  enumerating  how  businesses 
4  have  been  transacted  from  that  time  to  the  Dissolution  of 
4  the  late  Parliament,  indeed  I  should  be  upon  a  theme  which 
4  would  be  troublesome  to  myself.  For  I  think  I  may  say  for 
4  myself  and  my  fellow-Officers,  That  we  have  rather  desired 
4  and  studied  Healing  and  Looking-forward  than  to  rake  into 
4  sores  and  to  look  backward, — to  give  things  forth  in  those 

*  colours  that  would  not  be  very  pleasing  to  any  good  eye  to 
4  look  upon.      Only  this  we  shall  say  for  our  own  vindication, 
4  as  pointing  out  the  ground  for  that  unavoidable  necessity, 
4  nay  even  that  duty  that  was  incumbent  upon  us,  to  make 
4  this  last  great  Change — I  think  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  offer 
4  a  word  or  two  to  that.     [Hear,  hear!]    As  I  said  before,  we 

*  are  loath  to  rake  into  businesses,  were  there  not  a  necessity 

*  so  to  do. 

4  Indeed,  we  may  say  that,  ever  since  the  coming-up  of 
4  myself  and  those  Gentlemen  who  have  been  engaged  in  the 
4  military  part,  it  hath  been  full  in  our  hearts  and  thoughts, 

*  To  desire  and  use  all  the  fair  and  lawful  means  we  could  to 
4  have  the  Nation  reap  the  fruit  of  all  the  blood  and  treasure 
4  that  had  been  spent  in  this  Cause  :  and  we  have  had  many 
4  desires,  and  thirstings  in  our  spirits,  ^to  find  out  ways  and 
4  means  wherein  we  might  be  anywise  instrumental  to  help  it 
4  forward.      We  were  very  tender,  for  a  long  time,  so  much  as 
4  to  petition.      For  some  of  the  Officers  being  Members ;  and 
4  others  having  very  good  acquaintance  with,  and  some  rela- 
4  tions  to,  divers  Members  of  Parliament, — we  did,  from  time 
4  to  time,  solicit  such ;  thinking  if  there  had  been  nobody  to 
4  prompt  them,  nor  call  upon  them,  these  things  might  have 
4  been  attended   to,  from   ingenuity l  and  integrity  in  those 
4  that  had  it  in  their  power  to  answer  such  expectations. 

1  ingenuousness. 


48    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 

4  Truly,  when  we  saw  nothing  would  be  done,  we  did,  as 
4  we  thought  according  to  our  duty,  a  little,  to  remind  them 
4  by  a  Petition  ;  which  I  suppose  you  have  seen  :  it  was 
'  delivered,  as  I  remember,  in  August  last.1  What  effect  that 
4  had,  is  likewise  very  well  known.  The  truth  is,  we  had  no 
4  return  at  all  for  our  satisfaction, — a  few  words  given  us ; 
4  the  things  presented  by  us,  or  the  most  of  them,  we  were 
4  told  4  were  under  consideration ' :  and  those  not  presented 
4  by  us  had  very  little  or  no  consideration  at  all.  Finding 
4  the  People  dissatisfied  in  every  corner  of  the  Nation,  and 
4  "  all  men  "  laying  at  our  doors  the  non-performance  of  these 
4  things,  which  had  been  promised,  and  were  of  duty  to  be 
4  performed, — truly  we  did  then  think  ourselves  concerned, 
4  if  we  would  (as  becomes  honest  men)  keep-up  the  reputation 
4  of  honest  men  in  the  world.  And  therefore  we,  divers 
4  times,  endeavoured  to  obtain  meetings  with  divers  Members 
4  of  Parliament ; — and  we  did  not  begin  those  till  about 
4  October  last.  And  in  these  meetings  we  did,  with  all  faith- 
4  fulness  and  sincerity,  beseech  them  that  they  would  be 
4  mindful  of  their  duty  to  God  and  men,  in  the  discharge  of 
6  the  trust  reposed  in  them.  I  believe  (as  there  are  many 
4  gentlemen  here  know),  we  had  at  least  ten  or  twelve  meet- 
4  ings ;  most  humbly  begging  and  beseeching  of  them,  That 
4  by  their  own  means  they  would  bring  forth  those  good 
4  things  which  had  been  promised  and  expected ;  that  so  it 
4  might  appear  they  did  not  do  them  by  any  suggestion  from 
6  the  Army,  but  from  their  own  ingenuity :  so  tender  were  we 
4  to  preserve  them  in  the  reputation  of  the  People.  Having 
4  had  very  many  of  those  meetings ;  and  declaring  plainly 
4  that  the  issue  would  be  the  displeasure  and  judgment  of 
4  God,  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  People,  the  putting  of  "  all " 
4  things  into  a  confusion  :  yet  how  little  we  prevailed,  we  very 
4  well  know,  and  we  believe  it's  not  unknown  to  you. 

4  At  last,  when  indeed  we  saw  that  things  would  not  be 
4  laid  to  heart,  we  had  a  very  serious  consideration  among 
1  Antea,  p.  24;  Commons  Journals,  vii.  164  (i3th  August  1652). 


1653]  SPEECH    1  49 

4  ourselves  what  other  ways  to  have  recourse  unto  [Yea,  that  is 
4  tlie  question  /]  ;  and  when  we  grew  to  more  closer  consider- 
4  ations,  then  they  "  the  Parliament  men  "  began  to  take  the 
6  Act  for  a  Representative1  to  heart,  and  seemed  exceeding 
4  willing  to  put  it  on.  And  had  it  been  done  with  integrity, 
4  there  could  nothing  have  happened  more  welcome  to  our 
4  judgments  than  that.  But  plainly  the  intention  was,  Not 
4  to  give  the  People  a  right  of  choice ;  it  would  have  been 
4  but  a  seeming  right :  that  "  semblance "  of  giving  them  a 

*  choice  was   only  to  recruit  the  House,  the   better   to   per- 
4  petuate  themselves.      And  truly,  having  been,  divers  of  us, 
4  spoken  unto  to  give  way  hereunto,  to  which  we  made  per- 
4  petual  aversions,  indeed  abominating  the  thoughts  of  it, — 
4  we  declared  our  judgments  against  it,  and  our  dissatisfaction 
'  with  it.    And  yet  they  that  would  not  hear  of  a  Representa- 
6  tive  formerly,  when  it  lay  three  years  before  them,  without 
'  proceeding  one  line,  or  making  any  considerable  progress,— 

*  I  say,  those  that  would  not  hear  of  this  Bill  formerly,  did 
4  now,  when  they  saw   us   falling   into  more  closer  consider- 
'  ations,   make,   instead    of   protracting   their   Bill,  as   much 
4  preposterous  haste  with  it  on  the  other  side,  and  run  into 
4  that  "opposite"  extremity. 

'  Finding  that  this  spirit  was  not  according  to  God  ;  and 
'  that  the  whole  weight  of  this  Cause, — which  must  needs  be 
4  very  dear  unto  us  who  had  so  often  adventured  our  lives  for 
4  it,  and  we  believe  it  was  so  to  you, — did  hang  upon  the 
4  business  now  in  hand ;  and  seeing  plainly  that  there  was 
4  not  here  any  consideration  to  assert  this  Cause,  or  provide 
4  security  for  it,  but  only  to  cross  the  troublesome  people  of 
4  the  Army,  who  by  this  time  were  high  enough  in  their  dis- 

*  pleasures  :  Truly,  I  say,  when  we  saw  all  this,  having  power 
4  in  our  hands,  44  we  could  not  resolve  "  to  let  such  monstrous 
4  proceedings  go  on,  and  so  to  throw  away  all  our  liberties 
4  into  the  hands  of  those  whom  we  had  fought  against  [Pres- 
byterian-Royalists ;    at    Preston     and    elsewhere,  —  'fought 

1  For  a  New  Parliament  and  Method  of  Election 
VOL.   III.  D 


50    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 

against?  yea  and  beaten  to  ruin,  your  Excellency  might 
4  add '] ;  we  came,  first,  to  this  conclusion  among  ourselves, 
4  That  if  we  had  been  fought  out  of  our  liberties  and  rights, 
'  Necessity  would  have  taught  us  patience ;  but  that  to  deliver 

*  them  "  sluggishly  "  up  would  render  us  the  basest  persons  in 
4  the  world,  and  worthy  to  be  accounted  haters  of  God  and  of 
4  His  People.      When  it  pleased  God  to  lay  this  close  to  our 
4  hearts ;    and    indeed    to  show  us    that  the    interest  of   His 
4  People  was  grown  cheap,  "  that  it  was  "  not  at  all   laid  to 
4  heart,  but   that   if  things   came   to   real    competition,   His 
4  Cause,  even  among  themselves,  would  also  in  every  point  go 
6  to  the  ground  :   indeed,  this  did  add  more  considerations  to 

*  us,  That  there  was  a  duty  incumbent  upon  us,  "  even  upon 
4  us."      And, — I  speak  here  in  the  presence  of  some  that  were 
6  at  the  closure  of  our  consultations,  and  as  before  the   Lord, 
4  — the  thinking  of  an  act  of  violence  was  to  us  worse  than 
6  any  battle  that  ever  we  were  in,  or  that  could  be,  to  the 
4  utmost  hazard  of  our  lives  [Hear  him  /]  :  so  willing  were  we, 
4  even  very  tender  and  desirous,  if  possible,  that  these   men 
4  might  quit  their  places  with  honour. 

4  I  am  the  longer  upon  this ;  because  it  hath  been  in  our 
4  own  hearts  and  consciences,  justifying  us,  and  hath  never  been 
'  yet  thoroughly  imparted  to  any ;  and  we  had  rather  begin 

*  with  you  than  have  done  it  before ; — and  do  think   indeed 
4  that  this  Transaction  is  more  proper  for  a  verbal  communi- 
4  cation  than  to  have  it  put  into  writing.      I  doubt,  he  whose 
4  pen  is  most  gentle  in  England  would,  in  recording  that,  have 
4  been  tempted,  whether  he  would  or  no,  to  dip  it  deep  in 
4  anger   and  wrath.       [Stifled  cries  from   Dryasdust.']  —  But 
4  affairs  being  at  this  posture ;  we  seeing  plainly,  even  in  some 
4  critical  cases,1  that  the  Cause  of  the  People  of  God  was  a 
4  despised  thing ; — truly  we  did  believe  then  that  the  hands 
4  of  other  men  44  than  these "  must  be  the  hands  to  be  used 
4  for  the  work.      And  we  thought  then,  it  was  very  high  time 
4  to  look  about  us,  and  to  be  sensible  of  our  duty.      [Olivers 

1  'things.' 


1653]  SPEECH    I  51 

voice    somewhat    rising;    Major -General   Harrison    and   Hit 
others  looking  rather  animated  /] 

4  If,  I  say,  I  should  take-up  your  time  to  tell  you  what 
4  instances  we  have  to  satisfy  our  judgments  and  consciences, 
4  That  these  are  not  vain  imaginations,  nor  things  fictitious, 
4  but  which  fell  within  the  compass  of  our  own  certain  know- 
4  ledge,  it  would  bring  me,  I  say,  to  what  I  would  avoid,  to 
4  rake-into  these  things  too  much.  Only  this.  If  anybody 
4  was  in  competition  for  any  place  of  real  and  signal  trust,  "  if 
4  any  really  public  interest  was  at  stake  in  that  Parliament," 
4  how  hard  and  difficult  a  matter  was  it  to  get  anything 
4  carried  without  making  parties, — without  practices1  indeed 
4  unworthy  of  a  Parliament !  When  things  must  be  carried 
'  so  in  a  Supreme  Authority,  indeed  I  think  it  is  not  as  it 
6  ought  to  be,  to  say  no  worse  [Nor  do  /]  ! — Then,  when  we 
4  came  to  other  trials,  as  in  that  case  of  Wales,  "  of  establish- 
4  ing  a  Preaching  Ministry  in  Wales,"  which,  I  must  confess 
4  for  my  own  part,  I  set  myself  upon, — if  I  should  relate  what 
4  discountenance  that  business  of  the  poor  People  of  God  there 
4  had  (who  had  men2  watching  over  them  like  so  many  wolves, 
4  ready  to  catch  the  lambs  so  soon  as  they  were  brought  forth 
4  into  the  world) ;  how  signally  that  Business  was  trodden 
4  under  foot  "  in  Parliament,"  to  the  discountenancing  of  the 
4  Honest  People,  and  the  countenancing  of  the  Malignant 
4  Party,  of  this  Commonwealth  —  !  I  need  but  say  it  was  so 
4  For  many  of  you  know,  and  by  sad  experience  have  felt  it  to 
4  be  so.  And  somebody  I  hope  will,  at  leisure,  better  impart 
4  to  you  the  state  of  that  Business  "  of  Wales  "  ;  which  really, 
4  to  myself  and  Officers,  was  as  plain  a  trial  of  their  spirits, 
4  "  the  Parliament's  spirits,"  as  anything, — it  being  known  to 
4  many  of  us  that  God  had  kindled  a  seed  there,8  indeed  hardly 
4  to  be  paralleled  since  the  Primitive  time. — 

4  I  would  these  had  been  all  the  instances  we  had  !     Finding, 

1  '  things.'  2  Clergymen  so-called. 

3  Expression   then  correct   enough:    '  kindle  '=kindeln   (German),    meaning 
'give  birth  to,'  '  create.'     Occurs   in  Shakspeare  more  than  once. 


52    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [4  JULY 

'  "  however,"  which  way  the  spirits  of  men  went,  finding  that 
4  good  was  never  intended  to  the  People  of  God, — I  mean, 
4  when  I  say  the  People  of  God,  I  mean  the  large  comprehen- 
4  sion  of  them,  under  the  several  Forms  of  Godliness  in  this 
4  Nation ; — finding,  I  say,  that  all  tenderness  was  forgotten 

*  to  the  Good  People  (though  it  was  by  their  hands  and  their 
4  means,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  that  those  sat  where  they 
4  did), — we  thought  this  very  bad  requital  !      I  will  not  say, 
4  they  were  come  to  an  utter  inability  of  working  Reformation, 
4  — though  I  might  say  so  in  regard  to  one  thing :  the  Re- 

*  formation  of  the  Law,  so  much  groaned  under  in  the  posture 
'  it  now  is  in.      [Hear,  hear!]       That  was  a  thing  we  had 
4  many   good    words   spoken   for ;    but   we   know   that  many 
4  months  together  were  not  enough  for  the  settling  of  one 
4  word,   4  Incumbrances '    [  Three    calendar   months !    A    grim 
4  smile  on  somefaces\ — I  say,  finding  that  this  was  the  spirit 
4  and   complexion   of  men, — although   these   were  faults   for 
4  which  no  man  should  lift-up  his  hand  against  the  Superior 
4  Magistrate ;    not  simply  for  these  faults  and  failings, — yet 
4  when  we  saw  that  this  44  New  Representative  of  theirs  "  was 
4  meant  to  perpetuate  men  of  such  spirits  ;   nay  when  we  had 
4  it  from  their  own  mouths,  That  they  could  not  endure  to 
4  hear  of  the  Dissolution  of  this  Parliament :  we  thought  this 
4  an  high  breach  of  trust.      If  they  had  been  a  Parliament 
4  never  violence  was  upon,1  sitting  as  free  and  clear  as  any  in 
4  former  ages,  it  was  thought,  this,  to  be  a  breach  of  trust, 

such  as  a  greater  could  not  be. 

4  And  that  we  might  not  be  in  doubt  about  these  matters ; 
'  having  had  that  Conference  among  ourselves  which  I  gave 
4  you  an  account  of,  we  did  desire  one  more, — and  indeed  it 
4  was  the  night  before  the  Dissolution  ;  it  had  been  desired 
4  two  or  three  nights  before  :  we  did  desire  that  we  might 
4  speak  with  some  of  the  principal  persons  of  the  House. 
4  That  we  might  with  ingenuity  open  our  hearts  to  them  ; 

*  that  we  might  either  be  convinced  of  the  certainty  of  their 
1  Had  no  Pride's  Purge,  Apprentice-riot,  or  the  like,  ever  come  upon  them. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  53 

4  intentions  ;  or  else  that  they  would  be  pleased  to  hear  our 
4  expedients  to  prevent  these  inconveniences.  And  indeed 
1  we  could  not  attain  our  desire  till  the  night  before  the 
'  Dissolution.  There  is  a  touch  of  this  in  our  Declaration.1 
'  As  I  said  before,  at  that  time  we  had  often  desired  it,  and 
'  at  that  time  we  obtained  it :  where  about  Twenty  of  them 
4  were,  none  of  the  least  in  consideration  for  their  interest 
4  and  ability ;  with  whom  we  desired  some  discourse  upon 

*  these  things  ;  and  had  it.      And  it  pleased  these  Gentlemen, 
'  who  are  here,  the  Officers  of  the  Army,  to  desire  me  to  offer 
4  their  sense  for  them,  which  I  did,  and  it  was  shortly  thus  : 
4  We  told  them  4  the  reason  of  our  desire  to  wait  upon  them 
6  now  was,  that  we  might  know  from  them,   What  security 

*  lay  in  their  manner  of  proceeding,  so  hastened,  for  a  New 

*  Representative  ;  wherein  they  had  made  a  few  qualifications, 
4  such  as  they  were  :   and  How  the  whole  business  would,  "  in 
4  actual  practice,"  be  executed  :      Of  which  we  had  as  yet  no 
'  account ;  and  yet  we  had  our  interest,  our  lives,  estates  and 
4  families  therein  concerned  ;   and,  we  thought  likewise,  the 
4  Honest  People  had  interest  in  us :  "  How  all  this  was  to 
4  be  ?  "     That  so,  if  it  did  seem  they  meant  to  appear  in  such 

*  honest  and  just  ways  as  might  be  security  to  the  Honest 
4  Interest,  we  might  therein  acquiesce  :  or  else  that  they  would 
4  hear  what  we  had  to  offer.'     Indeed,  when  this  desire  was 
4  made,  the  answer  was,  'That  nothing  would  do  good   for 
4  this  Nation  but  the  continuance  of  this  Parliament ! '     We 
4  wondered  we  should  have  such  a  return.      We  said  little  to 
4  that :  but,  seeing  they  would  not  give  us  satisfaction  that 
4  their  ways  were  honourable  and  just,  we  craved  their  leave 
4  to  make  our  objections.      We  then  told  them,  That  the  way 
4  they  were  going   in  would  be  impracticable.      "That"  we 
4  could  not  tell  how  to  send  out  an  Act  with  such  qualifica- 
4  tions  as  to  be  a  rule  for  electing  and  for  being  elected,  Until 
4  we  first  knew  who  the  persons  were  that  should  be  admitted 
4  to  elect.      And  above  all,  Whether  any  of  the  qualifications 

1  Of  April  22d  ;  referred  to,  not  given,  at  p.  38. 


51     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4 JULY 

4  reached  "  so   far   as   to   include "   the    Presbyterian    Party.1 

*  And  we  were  bold  to  tell  them,  That  none  of  that  judgment 
4  who  had  deserted  this  Cause  and  Interest 2  should  have  any 
4  power  therein.      We  did   think  we  should  profess  it,  That 
4  we  had  as  good  deliver  up  our  Cause  into  the  hands  of  any 
6  as  into  the  hands  of  those  who  had  deserted  us,  or  who  were 
4  as  neuters  !     For  it 's  one  thing  to  love  a  brother,  to  bear 
4  with  and  love  a  person  of  different  judgment  in  matters  of 
4  religion  ;   and  another  thing  to  have  anybody  so  far  set  in 
4  the  saddle  on  that  account,  as  to  have  all  the  rest  of  his 
4  brethren  at  mercy. 

*  Truly,  Gentlemen,  having  this  discourse  concerning  the 
4  impracticableness  of  the  thing,  the  bringing-in  of  neuters, 
4  and  such  as  had  deserted  this  Cause,  whom  we  very  well 
4  knew ;  objecting  likewise  how  dangerous  it  would  be  by 
4  drawing  concourses  of  people  in  the  several  Counties  (every 
4  person  that  was  within  the  qualification  or  without) ;  and 
4  how  it  did  fall  obvious  to  us  that  the  power  would  come 
4  into  the  hands  of  men  who  had  very  little  affection  to  this 
4  Cause  :  the  answer  again  was  made,  and  that  by  very 
4  eminent  persons,  *  That  nothing  would  save  the  Nation  but 
4  the  continuance  of  this  Parliament/  This  being  so,  we 
4  humbly  proposed, — since  neither  our  counsels,  our  objections 
4  to  their  way  of  proceeding,  nor  their  answers  to  justify  that, 
4  did  give  us  satisfaction  ;  nor  did  we  think  they  ever  intended 
'  to  give  us  any,  which  indeed  some  of  them  have  since 
4  declared  "  to  be  the  fact," — we  proposed  to  them,  I  say  our 
'  expedient ;  which  was  indeed  this  :  That  the  Government  of 
'  the  Nation  being  in  such  a  condition  as  we  saw,  and  things 
'  "  being  "  under  so  much  ill  sense  abroad,  and  likely  to  end 
'  in  confusion  "  if  we  so  proceeded,"" — rwe  desired  they  would 
4  devolve  the  trust  over  to  some  Well-affected  Men,  such  as 
4  had  an  interest  in  the  Nation,  and  were  known  to  be  of 

*  good    affection   to   the   Commonwealth.       Which,   we   told 

1  '  Presbytery '  in  orig. 

*  None  of  your  Royalists,  Hamilton-Invasion  Presbyterians. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  55 

'  them,  was  no  new  thing  when  this  Land  was  under  the  like 
'  hurlyburlies.  And  we  had  been  labouring  to  get  precedents 
*  "  out  of  History  "  to  convince  them  of  it ;  and  it  was  con- 
4  fessed  by  them  it  had  been  no  new  thing.  This  expedient 
4  we  offered  out  of  the  deep  sense  we  had  of  the  Cause  of 
4  Christ ;  and  were  answered  so  as  I  told  you,  That  nothing 
4  would  save  this  Nation  but  the  continuance  of  that  Parlia- 
4  ment.  "  The  continuance  "  :  they  would  not  "  be  brought 
4  to "  say  the  perpetuating  of  it,  at  this  time ;  yet  we  found 
4  their  endeavours  did  directly  tend  that  way ;  they  gave  us 
4  this  answer,  4  That  the  thing  we  offered  was  of  a  very  high 
6  nature  and  of  tender  consideration  :  How  would  money  be 
4  raised?1 — and  made  some  other  objections.  We  told  them 
4  "  how  " ;  and  that  we  here  offered  an  expedient  five  times 
4  better  than  that  44  of  theirs,"  for  which  no  reason  was  given, 
'  nor  we  thought  could  be  given  [  Why  should  the  Fag-end  of 
this  poor  old  Parliament,  now  fallen  impotent  except  to  raise 
money  for  itself,  continue  ?  No  reason  is  given,  nor  we  think 
4  can  be,  that  will  convince  mankind] ; — and  desired  them  that 
4  they  would  lay  things  seriously  to  heart !  They  told  us, 
4  They  would  take  time  for  the  consideration  of  these  things 
4  till  tomorrow  ;  they  would  sleep  upon  them,  and  consult 
4  some  friends  ;  44  some  friends,11 — though,  as  I  said,  there  were 
4  about  Twenty-three  44  of  them  here,11  and  not  above  Fifty- 
4  three  in  the  House.  And  at  parting,  two  or  three  of  the 
4  chief  of  them,  one  of  the  chief  [O,  Sir  Harry  Vane  /],  and 
4  two  or  three  more,  did  tell  us,  That  they  would  endeavour 
4  to  suspend  farther  proceedings  about  their  Bill  for  a  New 
4  Representative  until  they  had  another  conference  with  us. 
4  And  upon  this  we  had  great  satisfaction  ;  and  had  hope,  if 
4  our  expedient  could  receive  a  loving  debate,  that  the  next 
4  day  we  should  have  some  such  issue  thereof  as  would  give 
4  satisfaction  to  all.1  And  herewith  they  went  away,  "  it " 
4  being  late  at  night. 

4  The   next  morning,  we   considering  how   to   order  what 
1  '  hoping  by  conference  to  have  satisfaction  to  all '  in  orig. 


56     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

'  we  had  farther  to  offer  to  them  in  the  evening,  word  was 
4  brought  us  that  the  House  was  proceeding  with  all  speed 
4  upon  the  New  Representative  !  We  could  not  believe  it, 
4  that  such  persons  would  be  so  unworthy  ;  we  remained  there 

*  till  a  second  and  third  messenger  came,  with  tidings  That 
4  the  House  was  really  upon  that  business,  and  had  brought 
4  it  near  to  the  issue, — and  with  that  height l  as  was  never 
4  before  exercised  ;  leaving  out  all  things  relating  to  the  due 
4  exercise  of  the  qualifications  (which  had  appeared  all  along 
6  "  in  it  till  now  ") ;  and  "  meaning,11  as  we  heard,  to  pass  it 
4  only  on  paper,  without  engrossing,  for  the  quicker  despatch 
4  of   it. — Thus,    as    we    apprehend,    would  the  Liberties  of 
6  the  Nation    have    been    thrown    away    into    the   hands    of 
4  those  who  had   never   fought  for  it.      And   upon   this   we 
4  thought  it  our  duty  not  to  suffer  it.      [JVb/] — And  upon 
4  this  the  House  was  dissolved,  even  when  the  Speaker  was 
4  going  to   put  the   last  question.     [Let  HIM  travel,  at  any 

rate!] 

6  I  have  too  much  troubled  you  with  this  :  but  we  have 
4  made  this  relation,  that  you  might  know  that  what  hath 

*  been   done   in   the   Dissolution   of   the   Parliament   was   as 
4  necessary   to   be  done   as   the   preservation    of   this    Cause. 
4  And  the  necessity  which  led  us  to  do  that,  hath  brought  us 
4  to  this  "  present "  issue,  Of  exercising  an  extraordinary  way 
4  and    course    to    draw    You    together    "  here " ;    upon    this 
4  account,  that  you  are  men  who  know  the  Lord,  and  have 
4  made   observations   of  His   marvellous   Dispensations ;    and 
4  may   be  trusted,  as  far  as  men  may  be  trusted,  with  this 
4  Cause. 

*  It  remains  now  for  me  to  acquaint  you  "  a  little  "  farther 
4  with  what  relates  to  your  taking  upon  you  this  great 
4  Business.  "  But  indeed  "  that  is  contained  in  the  Paper 2 

*  here  in  my  hand,  which  will  be  offered  presently  to  you  to 

1  violence,  height  of  temper. 

2  An  Indenture  or  Instrument  of  Government,  some  account  of  which  can  be 
found,  if  any  one  is  curious  about  it,  in  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  175. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  57 

'  read.1  But  having  done  that,  we  have  done  [Dissolving  of 
the  Parliament;  which  cannot  be  repented  of,  and  need  not  be 
'  boasted  of!]  upon  such  ground  of  necessity  as  we  have 
'  "  now  "  declared,  which  was  not  a  feigned  necessity  but  a 
«  real, — "  it  did  behove  us,"  to  the  end  we  might  manifest  to 
'  the  world  the  singleness  of  our  hearts  and  our  integrity  who 
'  did  these  things,  Not  to  grasp  at  the  power  ourselves,  or 
c  keep  it  in  military  hands,  no  not  for  a  day  ;  but,  as  far 
c  as  God  enabled  us  with  strength  and  ability,  to  put  it 
4  into  the  hands  of  Proper  Persons  that  might  be  called 
'  from  the  several  parts  of  the  Nation.  This  necessity ; 
6  and  I  hope  we  may  say  for  ourselves,  this  integrity  of 

*  concluding  to  divest  the  Sword  of  all  power  in  the  Civil 
'  Administration, — hath   been    that   that   hath   moved   us  to 

*  put  You  to  this  trouble  "  of  coming  hither "  :    and  having 
'  done  that,  truly  we  think  we  cannot,  with  the  discharge  of 
6  our   own   consciences,   but  offer   somewhat   to   you   on   the 
'  devolving  of  the  burden  on  your  shoulders.2     It  hath  been 
4  the  practice  of  others  who  have,  voluntarily  and  out  of  a 
'  sense  of  duty,  divested  themselves,  and  devolved  the  Govern- 
'  ment  into  new  hands ;   I  say,  it  hath  been  the  practice  of 
'  those  that  have  done  so ;  it  hath  been  practised,  and  is  very 
'  consonant  to  reason,  To  lay  "  down,"  together  with  their 
6  Authority,  some  Charge  "  how  to  employ  it" 3  (as  we  hope 
'  we   have   done),  and   to   press  the  duty  "  of  employing  it 

1  Considerable  discrepancies  in  the  Two  Reports  throughout  this  paragraph  ; 
indicating  some  embarrassment  and  intricacy  in  the  Speaker.     Which  with  our 
best  industry  we  endeavour  to  reconcile ;    to   elicit   from  them  what  the  real 
utterance,  or  thought  and  attempted  utterance  of  the  Speaker  may  have  been. 
The  two  Reporters  being  faithful  according  to  their  ability,  and  the  Speaker 
faithful  according  to  his,  all  discrepancies  ought  to  dissolve  themselves  in  clearer 
insight  and  conviction  ;  as  we  hope  they  do. 

2  *  For  our  own  exoneration '  in  orig. 

8  He  seems  embarrassed  lest  he  be  thought  to  have  some  authority  over  this 
new  Little  Parliament,  and  to  treat  them  as  if  he  were  their  King.  The  dis- 
solving of  the  old  Parliament  has  also  its  embarrassment,  though  not  so 
prominent  here ;  and  both  together  make  an  intricate  paragraph.  Our  Two 
Reports,  from  this  point,  virtually  coincide  again. 


58     PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

(  well "  :    concerning  which  we  have  a  word  or  two  to   offer 
4  you. 

4  Truly  God  hath  called  you  to  this  Work  by,  I  think,  as 

*  wonderful  providences  as  ever  passed  upon  the  sons  of  men 
6  in  so  short  a  time.     And  truly  I  think,  taking  the  argument 
6  of  necessity,  for  the  Government  must  not  Jail ;  taking  the 
4  appearance  of  the  hand  of  God  in  this  thing, — "  I  think  " 
4  you   would   have  been    loath  it  should  have  been  resigned 
4  into  the  hands  of  wicked  men  and  enemies  !      I  am  sure, 
4  God  would  not  have  it  so.      It's  come,  therefore,  to  you  by 

*  the  way  of  necessity ;  by  the  way  of  the  wise  Providence  of 
4  God, — through  weak  hands.     And  therefore,  I  think,  coming 
4  through  our  hands,  though  such  as  we  are,  it  may  not  be  ill 

*  taken  if  we  do  offer  somewhat  (as  I  said  before)  as  to  the 
4  discharge  of  the  Trust  which  is  now  incumbent  upon  you. 
4  [Certainly  not!]     And  although  I   seem  to   speak  of  that 

*  which  may  have  the  face  and  interpretation  of  a  Charge, 

*  it 's  a  very  humble  one :  and  if  he  that  means  to  be  a  Servant 
'  to  you,  who  hath   now  called  you  to  the  exercise   of   the 
'  Supreme  Authority,  discharge  what  he  conceives  to  be  a  duty 
4  to  you,  we  hope  you  will  take  it  in  good  part. 

*  And  truly  I  shall  not  hold  you  long  in  it ;  because  I 
'  hope  it's  written  in  your  hearts  to  approve  yourselves  to 
4  God.  Only  this  Scripture  I  shall  remember  to  you,  which 
4  hath  been  much  upon  my  spirit :  Hosea,  xi.  1 &,  '  Judah  yet 
4  ruleth  with  God,  and  is  faithful  with  the  Saints.'  It 's  said 
4  before,  that  'Ephraim  compassed  God  about  with  lies,  and 
4  the  house  of  Israel  with  deceit.'  How  God  hath  been 
4  compassed  about  by  fastings  and  thanksgivings,1  and  other 

1  There  was  a  Monthly  Fast,  the  Last  Wednesday  of  every  Month,  held  duly 
for  about  Seven  Years ;  till,  after  the  King's  Death,  we  abolished  it.  Immense 
preaching  and  howling,  all  over  the  country,  there  has  been  on  these  stated 
Wednesdays ;  sincere  and  insincere.  Not  to  speak  of  due  Thanksgivings  for 
victories  and  felicities  innumerable  ;  all  ending  in  this  infelicitous  condition ! 
His  Excellency  thinks  we  ought  to  restrain  such  habits ;  not  to  imitate  Ephraim, 
or  the  Long  Parliament,  in  such.  The  rest  of  this  Discourse  is  properly  a  Sermon 
of  his  ;  and  one  conceived  in  a  different  style. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  59 

*  exercises   and   transactions,    I   think    we   have   all    cause   to 
'  lament.      Truly  you  are  called   by  God,  "  as  Judah  was,"  to 

*  '  rule  with  Him,'  and  for  Him.      And  you  are  called  to  be 
'  faithful  with  the  Saints  who  have  been  instrumental  to  your 

*  call.      "  Again,11  Second  Samuel,  xxi.  3,  '  He  that  ruleth  over 
4  men,'    the    Scripture    saith,   '  must   be  just,   ruling   in   the 
'  fear  of  God.'    [Groans  from  Dryasdust.    Patience,  my  friend! 

Really,  does  not  all  this  seem  an  incredibility ; — a  palpable 
hypocrisy,  since  it  is  not  the  mouth  of  an  imbecile  that  speaks 
it  ?     My   estimable,  timberheaded,   kadenhearted  friend,  can 
there  be  any  doubt  of  it  ?] 
'  And  truly  it 's  better  to  pray  for  you  than  to  counsel  you 

*  in  that   matter,  That  you   may  exercise    the  judgment   of 
6  mercy  and  truth  !      It 's  better,  I  say,  to  pray  for  you  than 
6  counsel  you  ;  to  ask  wisdom   from   Heaven  for  you ;  which 

*  I  am  confident  many  thousands  of  Saints  do  this  day,  "and*" 
'  have  done,  and  will  do,  through  the  permission  of  God  and 
'  His  assistance.      I  say  it 's  better  to  pray  than  advise :  yet 
'  truly   I   think   of  another   Scripture,  which  is  very  useful, 
'  though  it  seems  to  be  for  a  common  application  to  every 
'  man  as  a  Christian, — wherein  he  is  counselled  to  ask  wisdom;1 
4  and  he  is  told  what  that  is.      That 's  '  from  Above,'  we  are 
'  told ;  it 's  c  pure,  peaceable,  gentle  and  easy  to  be  entreated, 
'  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits ' ;  it 's  '  without  partiality  and 
'  without   hypocrisy.'     Truly   my   thoughts   run   much   upon 
6  this   place,  that   to   the  execution   of  judgment  (the  judg- 

*  ment   of  truth,  for   that's   the  judgment)   you   must  have 
'  wisdom  'from  Above';  and  that's  'pure.'     That  will  teach 
'  you  to  exercise  the  judgment  of  truth ;  it 's  *  without  parti- 
'  ality.'     Purity,  impartiality,  sincerity  :  these  are  the  effects 

*  of  wisdom,'  and  these  will  help  you  to  execute  the  judgment 
4  of  truth.      And  then  if  God  give  you  hearts  to  be  *  easy  to 

1  '  But  the  Wisdom  that  is  from  Above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle  and 
easy  to  be  entreated  ;  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  partiality,  and  with- 
out hypocrisy.  And  the  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in  peace  of  them  that 
makepeace'  (James  iii.  17,  18). 


60    PART  VIL    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [4  JULY 

'  be  entreated,"  to  be  *  peaceably  spirited,'  to  be  '  full  of  good 
4  fruits,"  bearing  good  fruits  to  the  Nation,  to  men  as  men,  to 
'  the  People  of  God,  to  all  in  their  several  stations, — this  will 
'  teach  you  to  execute  the  judgment  of  mercy  and  truth. 
[Yes,  ifthou  understand  it;  still  yes, — and  nothing- else  will!] 
6  And  I  have  little  more  to  say  to  this.  I  shall  rather  bend 
'  my  prayers  for  you  in  that  behalf,  as  I  said ;  and  many 
'  others  will. 

4  Truly  the  'judgment  of  truth,'  it  will  teach  you  to  be 
4  as  just  towards  an  Unbeliever  as  towards  a  Believer ;  and 
4  it's  our  duty  to  do  so.  I  confess  I  have  said  sometimes, 
'  foolishly  it  may  be :  I  had  rather  miscarry  to  a  Believer  than 
'  an  Unbeliever.1  This  may  seem  a  paradox  : — but  let 's  take 
'  heed  of  doing  that  which  is  evil  to  either !  Oh,  if  God  fill 
'  your  hearts  with  such  a  spirit  as  Moses  had,  and  as  Paul 
'  had, — which  was  not  a  spirit  for  Believers  only,  but  for  the 
'  whole  People  !  Moses,  he  could  die  for  them  ;  wish  himself 
«  *  blotted  out  of  God's  Book '  : 2  Paul  could  wish  himself 
4  '  accursed  for  his  countrymen  after  the  flesh  ' 3  [Let  us  never 
forget  that,  in  Moses  and  Paul. — Are  not  these  amazing  senti- 
'  ments,  on  their  part,  my  estimable,  timberheaded,  leadenhearted 
'friend?]:  so  full  of  affection  were  their  spirits  unto  all.  And 
'  truly  this  would  help  you  to  execute  the  judgment  of  truth, 
'  and  of  mercy  also. 

'  A  second  thing  is,  To  desire  you  would  be  faithful  with 
'  the  Saints ;  to  be  touched  with  them.  And  I  hope,  what- 
4  ever  others  may  think,  it  may  be  a  matter  to  us  all  of 
(  rejoicing  to  have  our  hearts  touched  (with  reverence  be  it 
'  spoken)  as  Christ,  '  being  full  of  the  spirit,'  was  <  touched 
'  with  our  infirmities,'  that  He  might  be  merciful.  So  should 
'  we  be ;  we  should  be  pitiful.  Truly,  this  calls  us  to  be  very 
'  much  touched  with  the  infirmities  of  the  Saints ;  that  we 
'  may  have  a  respect  unto  all,  and  be  pitiful  and  tender 
*  towards  all,  though  of  different  judgments.  And  if  I  did 

1  Do  wrong  to  a  good  than  to  a  bad  man  ;  a  remarkable  sentiment. 

2  Exodus  xxxii.  32.  »  Romans  ix.  3. 


1653]  SPEECH    I  61 

*  seem  to   speak   something   that   reflected   on   those   of  the 
6  Presbyterial  judgment, — truly   I   think   if  we  have  not  an 

*  interest  of  love  for  them  too,  we  shall *  hardly  answer  this 
'  of  being  faithful  to  the  Saints. 

*  In  my  pilgrimage,  and  some  exercises  I  have  had  abroad, 

*  I  did  read  that  Scripture  often,  Forty-first  of  Isaiah ;  where 
'  God  gave  me,  and  some  of  my  fellows,  encouragement  "  as 
'  to  "  what  He  would  do  there  and  elsewhere ;  which  He  hath 

performed  for  us.  He  said,  '  He  would  plant  in  the  wilder- 
'  ness  the  cedar,  the  shittah-tree,  and  the  myrtle  and  the 
'  oil-tree ;  and  He  would  set  in  the  desert  the  fir-tree,  and 
6  the  pine-tree,  and  the  box-tree  together.'  For  what  end 
4  will  the  Lord  do  all  this  ?  <  That  they  may  see,  and  know, 
'  and  consider,  and  understand  together,  That  the  hand  of 
'  the  Lord  hath  done  this ' ; — that  it  is  He  who  hath  wrought 
'  all  the  salvations  and  deliverances  we  have  received.  For 
'  what  end  ?  To  see,  and  know,  and  understand  together, 
'  that  He  hath  done  and  wrought  all  this  for  the  good  of 
4  the  Whole  Flock.  [Even  so.  For  "  Saints  "  read  "  Good 
4  Men  "  ,•  and  it  is  true  to  the  end  of  the  world.]  Therefore,  I 
4  beseech  you, — but  I  think  I  need  not, — have  a  care  of  the 
4  Whole  Flock  !  Love  the  sheep,  love  the  lambs ;  love  all, 
4  tender  all,  cherish  and  countenance  all,  in  all  things  that  are 
4  good.  And  if  the  poorest  Christian,  the  most  mistaken 
4  Christian,  shall  desire  to  live  peaceably  and  quietly  under 

*  you, — I  say,  if  any  shall  desire  but  to  lead  a  life  of  godliness 
4  and  honesty,  let  him  be  protected. 

4  I  think  I  need  not  advise,  much  less  press  you,  to  endea- 
'  vour  the  Promoting  of  the  Gospel ;  to  encourage  the 
4  Ministry  ;2  such  a  Ministry  and  such  Ministers  as  be  faithful 
'  in  the  Land  ;  upon  whom  the  true  character  is.  Men  that 
4  have  received  the  Spirit,  which  Christians  will  be  able  to 
'  discover,  and  do  "  the  will  of " ;  men  that  '  have  received 
4  Gifts  from  Him  who  is  ascended  up  on  high,  who  hath  led 
4  captivity  captive,  to  give  gifts  to  men,' 3  even  for  this  same 

1  'will '  in  orig.  2  Preaching  Clergy.  *  Ephesians  iv.  8. 


62    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

*  work  of  the  Ministry  !     And  truly  the  Apostle,  speaking  in 
4  another  place,  in  the  Twelfth  of  the  Romans,  when  he  has 
4  summed-up   all   the   mercies  of  God,  and  the  goodness  of 

*  God ;  and  discoursed,  in  the  former  Chapters,  of  the  founda- 
4  tions  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  those  things  that  are  the  sub- 
6  ject  of  those  first  Eleven  Chapters, — he  beseecheth  them  to 
6  4  present  their  bodies  a   living  sacrifice.'  [Note  that!]      He 
4  beseecheth  them  that  they  would  not  esteem  highly  of  them- 
6  selves,   but  be   humble  and  sober-minded,  and  not  stretch 
4  themselves    beyond   their   line ;   and   also   that   they   would 

*  have  a  care  for  those  that  '  had  received  gifts '  to  the  uses 

*  there  mentioned.      I  speak  not, — I  thank  God  it  is  far  from 

*  my  heart, — for  a  Ministry  deriving  itself  from  the  Papacy, 
4  and    pretending    to    that    which    is    so    much   insisted   on, 
4  'Succession.'     ['Hear,  hear /' from  the  Puseyites.]     The  true 
4  Succession  is  through  the  Spirit — [/  should  say  so  /] — given 
4  in  its  measure.      The  Spirit  is  given  for  that  use,  "  To  make 
4  proper  Speakers-forth  of  God's  eternal  Truth  " ;  and  that 's 
4  right  Succession.      But  I  need  not  discourse  of  these  things 
(  to  you ;  who,  I  am   persuaded,  are   taught   of  God,  much 
4  more  and  in  a  greater  measure  than  myself,  concerning  these 
4  things. 

*  Indeed  I  have  but  one  word  more  to  say  to  you ;  though 
4  in  that  perhaps  I  shall  show  my  weakness  :  it 's  by  way  of 
4  encouragement  to  go  on  in  this  Work.  And  give  me  leave 
4  to  begin  thus.  I  confess  I  never  looked  to  see  such  a  Day 
4  as  this, — it  may  be  nor  you  neither, — when  Jesus  Christ 
4  should  be  so  owned  as  He  is,  this  day,  in  this  Work.  Jesus 
4  Christ  is  owned  this  day  by  the  Call  of  You ;  and  you  own 
'  Him  by  your  willingness  to  appear  for  Him.  And  you 
4  manifest  this,  as  far  as  poor  creatures  may  do,  to  be  a  Day 
'  of  the  Power  of  Christ.  I  know  you  well  remember  that 
'  Scripture,  4  He  makes  His  People  willing  in  the  day  of  His 
'  power.'  *  God  manifests  this  to  be  the  Day  of  the  Power 

1  Psalm  ex.  3  ;    a  favourite   Psalm  of  Oliver's, — as   we  know  already,  and 
solid  Ludlow  knows. 


16531  SPEECH    I  63 

*  of  Christ  ;  having,  through  so  much  blood,  and  so  much 
4  trial  as  hath  been  upon  these  Nations,  made  this  to  be  one 
4  of  the  great  issues  thereof :  To  have  His  People  called  to 
4  the  Supreme  Authority.  [A  thing,  I  confess,  worth  striving 
'  for ;  and  the  one  thing  worth  striving  for  /]  He  makes  this 
4  to  be  the  greatest  mercy,  next  to  His  own  Son.  God  hath 
4  owned  His  Son  ;  and  He  hath  owned  you,  and  made  you 
'  own  Him.  I  confess  I  never  looked  to  have  seen  such  a 
4  day ;  I  did  not. — Perhaps  you  are  not  known  by  face  to 
'  one  another ;  "  indeed "  I  am  confident  you  are  strangers, 
4  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  Nation  as  you  do  :  but  we 
4  shall  tell  you  that  indeed  we  have  not  allowed  ourselves 
4  the  choice  of  one  person  in  whom  we  had  not  this  good 
4  hope,  That  there  was  in  him  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  love 
4  to  all  His  People  and  Saints.  [  What  a  Parliament ;  unex- 
ampled before  and  since  in  this  world!] 

4  Thus  God  hath  owned  you  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ; 
4  and  thus,  by  coming  hither,  you  own  Him  :  and,  as  it  is  in 
4  Isaiah,  xliii.  2 1 , — it 's  an  high  expression  ;  and  look  to  your 
4  own  hearts  whether,  now  or  hereafter,  God  shall  apply  it  to 
4  you :  4  This  People,'  saith  God,  4 1  have  formed  for  Myself, 
4  that  they  may  show  forth  my  praise.'  I  say,  it 's  a  memor- 
4  able  passage ;  and,  I  hope,  not  unfitly  applied  :  the  Lord 
4  apply  it  to  each  of  your  hearts  !  I  shall  not  descant  upon 
4  the  words ;  they  are  plain :  indeed  you  are  as  like  the 
4  4  forming  of  God '  as  ever  people  were.  If  a  man  should 
4  tender  a  Book  to  you  44  to  swear  you  upon,"  I  dare  appeal 
4  to  all  your  consciences,  Neither  directly  nor  indirectly  did 
4  you  seek  for  your  coming  hither.  You  have  been  passive 
4  in  coming  hither  ;  being  called, — and  indeed  that 's  an  active 
4  work, — 4<  though  not  on  your  part "  !  4  This  People  have  / 
4  formed  "* :  consider  the  circumstances  by  which  you  are 
4  4  called  "*  hither ;  through  what  strivings  [At  Marston  Moor, 
1  at  Naseby,  Dunbar  and  elsewhere],  through  what  blood  you 
'  are  come  hither, — where  neither  you  nor  I,  nor  no  man 
4  living,  three  months  ago,  had  any  thought  to  have  seen 


64    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [4  JULY 

'  such  a  company  taking  upon  them,  or  rather  being  called 

*  to  take,  the  Supreme  Authority  of  this  Nation  !     Therefore, 
6  own  your  call !      Indeed,  I  think  it  may  be  truly  said  that 
'  there  never  was  a  Supreme  Authority  consisting  of  such  a 
'  Body,  above  One-hundred-and-forty,  I  believe ;  "  never  such 
4  a  Body "  that  came  into  the  Supreme  Authority  "  before," 

*  under  such  a  notion  "as  this,""  in  such  a  way  of  owning  God, 
'  and  being  owned  by  Him.      And  therefore  I  may  also  say, 
'  never    such   a   '  People '   so   '  formed,'   for   such   a   purpose, 
'  "  were  "  thus  called  before.     [These  are  lucent  considerations ; 

lucent,  nay  radiant  /] 
*  If  it  were  a  time  to  compare  your  standing  with  "  that 

<  of"  those  that  have  been  'called1  by  the  Suffrages  of  the 
6  People — [He  does  not  say  what  the  result  would  be] — Which 
'  who  can  tell  how  soon  God  may  fit  the  People  for  such  a 
6  thing  ?     None  can  desire  it  more  than  I !     Would  all  were 
'  the  Lord's  People ;  as  it  was  said,  '  Would  all  the  Lord's 
'  People  were  Prophets  ! '  [Fit  to  sit  in  Parliament  and  make 
6  Laws :   alas,  hitherto   but  few   of  them   can   * prophesy '  /]  I 
4  would  all  were  fit  to  be  called.      It  ought  to  be  the  longing 

*  of  our  hearts  to  see  men  brought  to  own  the  Interest  of 
'  Jesus  Christ.      And  give  me  leave  to  say :  If  I  know  any- 
'  thing  in  the  world,  what  is  there  likelier  to  win  the  People 
'  to  the   interest   of  Jesus   Christ,  to  the  love  of  Godliness 
'  (and   therefore  what  stronger  duty  lies  on  you,  being  thus 

<  called),  than  an  humble  and  godly  conversation  ?     So  that 
6  they  may  see  "  that  "  you  love  them  ;  "  that "  you  lay  your- 

<  selves   out,   time   and   spirits,   for   them !     Is   not  this  the 

*  likeliest  way  to  bring  them  to  their  liberties  ?      [To  make 
them  free  by  being  servants  of  God ;  free,  and  Jit  to  elect  for 

6  Parliament  /]  And  do  not  you,  by  this,  put  it  upon  God  to 
'  find  out  times  and  seasons  for  you;  "  fit  seasons"  by  putting 
(  forth  His  Spirit  ?  At  least  you  convince  them  that,  as  men 
'  fearing  God  have  fought  them  out  of  their  bondage  under 
'  the  Regal  Power,  so  men  fearing  God  do  now  rule  them  in 
'  the  fear  of  God,  and  take  care  to  administer  Good  unto 


1653]  SPEECH    I  65 

them. — But  this  is  some  digression.      I  say,  own  your  call ; 

for  it  is  of  God  !     Indeed,  it  is  marvellous,  and  it  hath  been 

6  unprojected.      It 's  not  long  since  either  you  or  we  came  to 

know  of  it.      And  indeed  this  hath  been  the  way  God  dealt 

'  with  us  all  along,  To  keep  things  from  our  eyes  all  along, 

'  so  that  we  have  seen  nothing,  in  all  His  dispensations,  long 

'  beforehand ; — which  is  also  a  witness,  in  some  measure,  to 

(  our  integrity.      ['  Integrity !  '  from  Dryasdust. — Husht,  my 

friend,  it  is  incredible!     A  flat  impossibility,  how  can  it  be 

believed  ?     To  the  human  Owl,  living'  in  his  perennial  London 

Fog,  in  his  Twilight  of  all  imaginable  corrupt  Exhalations, 

and  with  his  poor  head,  too,  overspun   to  such  extent  with 

red-tape,  parliamentary  eloquence,  force  of  public  opinion,  and 

suchlike,  how  shall  the  Azure  Firmaments  and  Everlasting 

Stars   become   credible?       They   are   and  remain   incredible. 

From  his  shut  sense  all  light-rays  are  victoriously  repelled ; 

no  light  shall  get  admittance  there.      In   no  Heaven1  s-light 

will   he,  for   his  part,  ever  believe ; — till  at  last,  as  is  the 

necessity  withal,  it  come  to  him  as  lightning!      Then  he  will 

'  believe  it.] — I  say,  you  are  called  with  an  high  calling.     And 

c  why  should  we  be  afraid  to  say  or  think,  That  this  may  be 

'  the  door  to  usher-in  the  Things  that  God  has  promised ; 

'  which  have  been  prophesied  of ;  which  He  has  set  the  hearts 

4  of  His  People  to  wait  for  and  expect  ?  1     We  know  who  they 

'  are  that  shall  war  with  the  Lamb,  *  against  His  enemies ' : 

6  they  shall  be  '  a  people   called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful.1 

'  And  God  hath,  in  a  Military  way, — we  may  speak  it  with- 

<  out  flattering  ourselves,  and   I   believe  you   know  it, — He 

'  hath  appeared  with  them,  u  with  that  same  '  people,' "  and 

'  for  them  ;  and  now  in  these  Civil  Powers  and  Authorities 

'  u  does  not  He  appear  ? "     These   are   not   ill   prognostica- 

'  tions  of  the  God  we  wait  for.      Indeed  I  do  think  some- 

c  what   is    at    the   door  :    we    are    at    the    threshold  ; — and 

'  therefore  it  becomes  us  to  lift-up  our  heads,  and  encourage 

1  Hundred-and -tenth  Psalm,  and  other  Scriptures,  are  known  to  Ludlow  and 
us! 

VOL.  III.  B 


66    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [4  JULY 

6  ourselves  in  the  Lord.  And  we  have  thought,  some  of  us, 
4  That  it  is  our  duties  to  endeavour  this  way ;  not  merely  to 
4  look  at  that  Prophecy  in  Daniel,  4  And  the  Kingdom  shall 
4  not  be  delivered  to  another  people,1  "  and  passively  wait." 
4  Truly  God  hath  brought  this  to  your  hands ;  by  the 
4  owning  of  your  call ;  blessing  the  Military  Power.  The 
4  Lord  hath  directed  their  [our]  hearts  to  be  instrumental  to 
4  caU  you  ;  and  set  it  upon  our  hearts  to  deliver  over  the 
4  Power  'to  another  people.1  [Therefore  4  we"1  are  not  the 
4  persons  prophesied  o/Y] — But  I  may  appear  to  be  beyond 
4  my  line  here ;  these  things  are  dark.  Only,  I  desire  my 
4  thoughts l  to  be  exercised  in  these  things,  and  so  I  hope 
4  are  yours. 

6  Truly  seeing  things  are  thus,  that  you  are  at  the  edge  of 
4  the  Promises  and  Prophecies — [Does  not  say  what  results] — 
4  At  least,  if  there  were  neither  Promise  nor  Prophecy,  yet  you 
4  are  carrying-on  the  best  things,  you  are  endeavouring  after 
6  the  best  things ;  and,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,2  if  I  were  to 
4  choose  any  servant,  the  meanest  Officer  for  the  Army  or  the 
4  Commonwealth,  I  would  choose  a  godly  man  that  hath 
4  principles.  Especially  where  a  trust  is  to  be  committed. 
4  Because  I  know  where  to  have  a  man  that  hath  principles. 
4  I  believe  if  any  one  of  you  should  choose  a  servant,  you 
4  would  do  thus.  And  I  would  all  our  Magistrates  were  so 
4  chosen  : — this  may  be  done ;  there  may  be  good  effects  of 
4  this  !  Surely  it 's  our  duty  to  choose  men  that  fear  the 
4  Lord,  and  will  praise  the  Lord  :  such  hath  the  Lord  4  formed 
4  for  Himself ' ;  and  He  expects  no  praises  from  other  "  than 
4  such.""  [0,  Secretary  of  the  Home  Department,  my  right 
honourable  Jriend  !] 

4  This  being  so,  truly  it  puts  me  in  mind  of  another 
4  Scripture,  that  famous  Psalm,  Sixty-eighth  Psalm  ; 3  which 

1  *  senses '  in  orig. 

2  In  some  Speech  now  lost :— probably  in  many  Speeches ;  certainly  in  all 
manner  of  Practice  and  Action, 

3  We  remember  it  ever  since  Dunbar  morning ;  let  us  read  a  passage  or  two 


1653]  SPEECH    I  67 

*  indeed  is  a  glorious  Prophecy,  I  am  persuaded,  of  the  Gospel 
4  Churches, — it  may  be,  of  the  Jews  also.     There  it  prophesies 

*  that  « He  will  bring  His  People  again  from   the  depths  of 
4  the  Sea,  as  once  He  led  Israel  through  the  Red   Sea.'     And 
4  it  may  be,  as  some  think,  God  will  bring  the  Jews  home  to 
4  their  station  4  from  the  isles  of  the  sea,'  and  answer  their 
4  expectations  4  as  from  the  depths  of  the  sea.'     But,  "  at  all 
4  events,"  sure  I  am,  when  the  Lord  shall  set-up  the  glory  of 
4  the  Gospel  Church,  it  shall  be  a  gathering  of  people  as  4  out 
4  of  deep  waters,1   4  out   of  the  multitude  of  waters ' :    such 
4  are  His  People,  drawn  out  of  the  multitudes  of  the  Nations 
4  and  People  of  this  world. — And  truly  that  Psalm  is  very 
4  glorious  in  many  other  parts  of  it :  When  He  gathers  them, 
4  'great  was  the  company'  of  them  that  publish  His  word. 
4  *  Kings  of  Armies  did   flee  apace,  and  she  that  tarried  at 
4  home  divided  the  spoil '  [Consider  Charles  Stuart,  First  and 
4  Second ;    and   what   we  see  this  day  /] ;    and  4  Although  ye 
4  have  lain  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as  the  wings  of  a 
4  dove,  covered  with  silver,  and  her  feathers  with  yellow  gold.' 
4  [Hah !]     And  indeed  the  triumph  of  that  Psalm  is  exceed- 
4  ing  high  and  great ;    and  God  is  accomplishing  it.       And 

of  it  again:  His  Excellency  and  the  Little  Parliament  will  perhaps  wait  a 
moment ;  and  it  may  do -us  good  ! 

*  Let  God  arise,  let  His  enemies  be  scattered  :  let  them  also  that  hate  Him  flee 
before  Him.  As  smoke  is  driven  away,  so  drive  them  away ;  as  wax  melteth 
before  the  fire,  so  let  the  wicked  perish  before  the  presence  of  God.'  The 
unhappy ! 

'  But  let  the  righteous  be  glad  :  let  them  rejoice  before  God,  yea  let  them 
rejoice  exceedingly.  Sing  unto  God,  sing  praises  to  His  name.  A  father  of  the 
fatherless,  and  a  judge  of  the  widows,  is  God  in  His  holy  habitation. — 

'  O  God,  when  Thou  wentest  forth  before  Thy  People, the  Earth  shook, 

the  Heavens  also  dropped.  Kings  of  Armies  did  flee  apace ;  and  she  that 
tarried  at  home  divided  the  spoil.'  Ye  poor  and  brave,  be  ye  of  courage  ! 
1  Though  ye  have  lain  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as  the  wings  of  a  dove, 
covered  with  silver,  and  her  feathers  with  yellow  gold. 

<  The  Hill  of  God  is  as  the  Hill  of  Bashan  ;  an  high  Hill  as  the  Hill  of  Bashan.' 
Inexpugnable,  that!  'Why  leap  ye,  ye  high  Hills?  This  is  the  Hill  of  God, 
which  God  desireth  to  dwell  in :  yea,  the  Lord  will  dwell  in  it  forever.  The 
chariots  of  God  are  twenty-thousand,  even  thousands  of  Angels :  the  Lord  is 
among  them,  as  in  Sinai,  in  the  holy  place.' 


68     PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

4  the  close  of  it, — that  closeth  with  my  heart,  and  I  do  not 
'  doubt  with  yours,  *  The  Lord  shakes  the  hills  and  moun- 
4  tains,  and  they  reel.1  And  God  hath  a  Hill  too  ;  4  an  high 
«  Hill  as  the  Hill  of  Bashan  :  and  the  chariots  of  God  are 

*  twenty- thousand,  even  thousands  of  Angels,  and  God  will 
6  dwell  upon  this  Hill  for  ever  ! ' — [PROCUL  PROFANI  !       The 

man  is  without  a  soul  that  looks  into  this  Great  Soul  of  a 
man,  radiant  with  the  splendours  of  very  Heaven,  and  sees 
nothing  there  but  the  shadow  of  his  own  mean  darJcness. 
Ape  of  the  Dead  Sea,  peering  asquint  into  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  let  us  have  done  with  THY  commentaries !  Thou  canst 
not  fathom  it.] 

'  I  am  sorry  I  have  troubled  you,  in  such  a  place  of  heat 
4  as  this  is,  so  long.  All  I  have  to  say,  in  my  own  name,  and 
6  that  of  my  fellow-Officers  who  have  joined  with  me  in  this 
4  work,  is  :  That  we  shall  commend  you  to  the  grace  of  God, 
4  to  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit :  "  That "  having  thus  far 
c  served  you,  or  rather  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  in  regard  to 
'  you,"  we  shall  be  ready  in  our  stations,  according  as  the 
4  Providence  of  God  shall  lead  us,  to  be  subservient  to  the 
'  "  farther "  work  of  God,  and  to  that  Authority  which  we 
'  shall  reckon  God  hath  set  over  us.  And  though  we  have 

*  no  formal  thing  to  present  you  with,  to  which  the  hands,  or 
6  visible  expressions,  of  the  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  the  three 
'  Nations  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  "  are  set " ;  yet 

*  we  may  say  of  them,  and  we  may  say  also  with  confidence 
'  for  our  brethren  at  Sea, — with  whom  neither  in  Scotland, 
6  Ireland,  nor  at  Sea,  hath  there  been  any  artifice  used  to 
'  persuade    their   consents    to    this   work, — that   nevertheless 
'  their  consents  have  flowed  in  to  us  from  all  parts,  beyond 
6  our  expectations  :  and  we  may  with  all  confidence  say,  that 
'  as  we  have  their  approbation  and  full  consent  to  the  other 
'  work,  so  you  have  their  hearts  and  affections  unto  this,1  And 

*  not  only  theirs  :  we  have  very  many  Papers  from  the  Churches 

1  *  other  work'   delicately  means  dissolving  the   old  Parliament ;    'this'   is 
assembling  of  you,  'this  very  thing.' 


i6ss]  SPEECH    I  69 

1  of  Christ  throughout  the  Nation  ;  wonderfully  both  approving 
'  what  hath  been  done  in  removing  of  obstacles,  and  approving 
'  what  we  have  done  in  this  very  thing.  And  having  said 
'  this,  we  shall  trouble  you  no  more.  But  if  you  will  be 
'  pleased  that  this  Instrument l  be  read  to  you,  which  I  have 
'  signed  by  the  advice  of  the  Council  of  Officers, — we  shall 

*  then  leave  you  to  your  own  thoughts  and  the  guidance  of 
'  God ;  to  dispose  of  yourselves  for  a  farther  meeting,  as  you 
6  shall  see  cause.2 

*  I  have  only  this  to  add.  The  affairs  of  the  Nation 
'  lying  on  our  hands  to  be  taken  care  of;  and  we  knowing 
'  that  both  the  Affairs  at  Sea,  the  Armies  in  Ireland  and 
'  Scotland,  and  the  providing  of  things  for  the  preventing  of 
'  inconveniences,  and  the  answering  of  emergencies,  did  require 
'  that  there  should  be  no  Interruption,  but  that  care  ought  to 
4  be  taken  for  these  things  ;  and  foreseeing  likewise  that  before 
'  you  could  digest  yourselves  into  such  a  method,  both  for 
'  place,  time,  and  other  circumstances,  as  you  shall  please  to 
'  proceed  in,  some  time  would  be  required,  —  which  the 
'  Commonwealth  could  not  bear  in  respect  to  the  managing 
6  of  things :  I  have,  within  a  week  "  past,"  set-up  a  Council 

*  of  State,  to  whom  the  managing  of  affairs  is  committed. 
'  Who,  I  may  say,  very  voluntarily  and  freely,  before  they  see 
'  how  the  issue  of  things  will  be,  have  engaged  themselves  in 
4  business ;    eight   or  nine   of   them   being   Members   of   the 
'  House   that   late   was. — I   say   I    did    exercise    that   power 
'  which,  I  thought,  was  devolved  upon  me  at  that  time ;  to 
'  the   end   affairs   might   not    have   any    interval    "  or   inter- 
'  ruption."     And  now  when  you   are  met,  it  will  ask  some 
4  time  for  the  settling  of  your  affairs  and  your  way.      And, 
6  "  on  the  other  hand,"  a  day  cannot  be  lost,  "  or  left  vacant,'" 

1  The  Instrument  is  to  be  found  among  the  Old  Pamphlets  ;  but  being  of  a 
much  lower  strain,  mere  constitutionalities,  etc.,  in  phrase  and  purport  alike 
leaden,  we  do  not  read  it. 

2  Report  in  Parliamentary  History,  and  the  common  Pamphlets,  ends  here. 


70    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT   [4  JULY 

6  but  they  must  be  in  continual  Council  till  you  take  farther 
«  order.  So  that  the  whole  matter  of  their  consideration  also 
6  which  regards  them  is  at  your  disposal,  as  you  shall  see 
6  cause.  And  therefore  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  acquaint 

*  you  with  thus  much,  to  prevent  distractions  in  your  way  : 

*  That  things  have  been  thus  ordered ;  that  your  affairs  will 
<  "  not  stop,  but "  go  on,  "  in  the  meanwhile," — till  you  see 
'  cause  to  alter  this  Council  ;   they  having  no  authority   or 
6  continuance  of  sitting,  except  simply  until  you  take  farther 
'order.'* 

The  reader  has  now  struggled  through  this  First  Speech 
of  my  Lord  General's ;  not  without  astonishment  to  find  that 
he  has  some  understanding  of  it.  The  Editor  has  had  his 
difficulties  :  but  the  Editor  too  is  astonished  to  consider  how 
such  a  Speech  should  have  lain  so  long  before  the  English 
Nation,  asking,  *  Is  there  no  meaning  whatever  in  me,  then  ?  ' 
— with  negatory  response  from  almost  all  persons.  Incom- 
petent Reporters ; — still  more  the  obscene  droppings  of  an 
extensive  Owl-population,  the  accumulated  guano  of  Human 
Stupor  in  the  course  of  ages,  do  render  Speeches  unintelligible  ! 
It  ought  to  be  added,  that  my  Lord  General  always  spoke 
extempore ;  ready  to  speak,  if  his  mind  were  full  of  meaning ; 
very  careless  about  the  words  he  put  it  into.  And  never, 
except  in  one  instance,  which  we  shall  by  and  by  come  upon, 
does  he  seem  to  have  taken  any  charge  as  to  what  Report 
might  be  published  of  it.  One  of  his  Parliaments  once  asks 
him  for  a  correct  Report  of  a  certain  Speech,  spoken  some 
days  before  :  he  declares,  '  He  cannot  remember  four  lines  of 
it.'1  It  appears  also  that  his  meaning,  much  as  Dryasdust 

*  Milton  State-Papers,  pp.  106-114:  and  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  153- 
175  ;  which  latter  is  identical  with  Harleian  Miscellany  (London,  1810),  vi. 
331-344.  Our  Report,  in  some  cramp  passages,  which  could  not  always  be 
indicated  without  confusion,  is  a  tertium  quid  between  these  two.  Generally 
throughout  we  adhere  to  Milton's,  which  is  the  more  concise,  intelligible  and 
everyway  better  Report. 

1  Burton's  Diary.     Postea,  Speech  XVII. 


1653]  SPEECH  I  71 

may  wonder,  was  generally  very  well  understood  by  his 
audience  : — it  was  not  till  next  generation,  when  the  owl- 
droppings  already  lay  thick,  and  Human  Stupor  had  decidedly 
set  in,  that  the  cry  of  Unintelligibility  was  much  heard  of. 
Tones  and  looks  do  much ; — yes,  and  the  having  a  meaning 
in  you  is  also  a  great  help  !  Indeed,  I  fancy  he  must  have 
been  an  opaque  man  to  whom  these  utterances  of  such  a  man, 
all  in  a  blaze  with  such  a  conviction  of  heart,  had  remained 
altogether  dark. 

The  printed  state  of  this  Speech,  and  still  more  of  some 
others,  will  impose  hard  duties  on  an  Editor;  which  kind 
readers  must  take  their  share  of.  In  the  present  case,  it  is 
surprising  how  little  change  has  been  needed,  beyond  the  mere 
punctuation,  and  correct  division  into  sentences.  Not  the 
slightest  change  of  meaning  has,  of  course,  anywhere  seemed, 
or  shall  anywhere  seem,  permissible ;  nor  indeed  the  twentieth 
part  of  that  kind  of  liberty  which  a  skilful  Newspaper  Reporter 
takes  with  every  speech  he  commits  to  print  in  our  day. 

A  certain  Critic,  whom  I  sometimes  cite  from,  but  seldom 
without  some  reluctance,  winds-up  his  multifarious  Commen- 
taries on  the  present  Speech  in  the  following  extraordinary 
way : 

4  Intelligent  readers,1  says  he,  *  have  found  intelligibility  in 
this  Speech  of  Oliver's  :  but  to  one  who  has  had  to  read  it  as 
a  painful  Editor,  reading  every  fibre  of  it  with  magnifying- 
glasses,  has  to  do, — it  becomes  all  glowing  with  intelligibility, 
with  credibility ;  with  the  splendour  of  genuine  Veracity  and 
heroic  Depth  and  Manfulness ; — and  seems  in  fact,  as  Oliver's 
Speeches  generally  do,  to  an  altogether  singular  degree,  the 
express  image  of  the  soul  it  came  from  ! — Is  not  this  the  end 
of  all  speaking,  and  wagging  of  the  tongue  in  every  conceivable 
sort,  except  the  false  and  accursed  sorts  ?  Shall  we  call  Oliver 
a  bad  Speaker,  then ;  shall  we  not,  in  a  very  fundamental 
sense,  call  him  a  good  Speaker  ? — 

*  Art  of  Speech  ?  Art  of  Speech  ?  The  Art  of  Speech,  I 
take  it,  will  first  of  all  be  the  art  of  having  something  genuine 


72    PART  VII,    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [4  JULY 

to  speak  !  Into  what  strange  regions  has  it  carried  us,  that 
same  sublime  "  Art,"  taken  up  otherwise  !  One  of  the  saddest 
bewilderments,  when  I  look  at  all  the  bearings  of  it,  nay 
properly  the  fountain  of  all  the  sad  bewilderments,  under 
which  poor  mortals  painfully  somnambulate  in  these  genera- 
tions. "  I  have  made  an  excellent  Speech  about  it,  written 
an  excellent  Book  about  it," — and  there  an  end.  How  much 
better,  hadst  thou  done  a  moderately  good  deed  about  it, 
and  not  had  anything  to  speak  at  all  !  He  who  is  about 
doing'  some  mute  veracity  has  a  right  to  be  heard  speaking, 
and  consulting  of  the  doing  of  it ;  and  properly  no  other  has. 
The  light  of  a  man  shining  all  as  a  paltry  phosphorescence 
on  the  surface  of  him,  leaving  the  interior  dark,  chaotic, 
sordid,  dead-alive, — was  once  regarded  as  a  most  mournful 
phenomenon  ! 

'  False  Speech  is  probably  capable  of  being  the  falsest  and 
most  accursed  of  all  things.  False  Speech ;  so  false  that  it 
has  not  even  the  veracity  to  know  that  it  is  false, — as  the 
poor  commonplace  liar  still  does  !  I  have  heard  Speakers 
who  gave  rise  to  thoughts  in  me  they  were  little  dreaming  of 
suggesting  !  Is  man,  then,  no  longer  an  "  Incarnate  Word," 
as  Novalis  calls  him, — sent  into  this  world  to  utter  out  of 
him,  and  by  all  means  to  make  audible  and  visible  what  of 
GotTs-Message  he  has ;  sent  hither  and  made  alive  even  for 
that,  and  for  no  other  definable  object  ?  Is  there  no  sacred- 
ness,  then,  any  longer,  in  the  miraculous  tongue  of  man  ?  Is 
his  head  become  a  wretched  cracked  pitcher,  on  which  you 
jingle  to  frighten  crows,  and  make  bees  hive  ?  He  fills  me 
with  terror,  this  two-legged  Rhetorical  Phantasm  !  I  could 
long  for  an  Oliver  without  Rhetoric  at  all.  I  could  long  for 
a  Mahomet,  whose  persuasive-eloquence,  with  wild-flashing 
heart  and  scimitar,  is  :  "  Wretched  mortal,  give  up  that ;  or 
by  the  Eternal,  thy  Maker  and  mine,  I  will  kill  thee  !  Thou 
blasphemous  scandalous  Misbirth  of  Nature,  is  not  even  that 
the  kindest  thing  I  can  do  for  thee,  if  thou  repent  not  and 
alter,  in  the  name  of  Allah  ?  " ' — 


1653]      LETTERS    CLXXXIX— CXCI 


LETTER    CLXXXIX— CXCI 

CONCERNING  this  Puritan  Convention  of  the  Notables,  which 
in  English  History  is  called  the  Little  Parliament,  and  derisively 
Barebones's  Parliament,  we  have  not  much  more  to  say.  They 
are,  if  by  no  means  the  remarkablest  Assembly,  yet  the 
Assembly  for  the  remarkablest  purpose  who  have  ever  met  in 
the  Modern  World.  The  business  is,  No  less  than  introducing 
of  the  Christian  Religion  into  real  practice  in  the  Social 
Affairs  of  this  Nation.  Christian  Religion,  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament :  such,  for  many  hundred  years,  has 
been  the  universal  solemnly  recognised  Theory  of  all  men's 
Affairs;  Theory  sent  down  out  of  Heaven  itself:  but  the 
question  is  now  that  of  reducing  it  to  Practice  in  said  Affairs ; 
— a  most  noble,  surely,  and  most  necessary  attempt;  which 
should  not  have  been  put  off  so  long  in  this  Nation  !  We 
have  conquered  the  Enemies  of  Christ ;  let  us  now,  in  real 
practical  earnest,  set  about  doing  the  Commandments  of 
Christ,  now  that  there  is  free  room  for  us  !  Such  was  the 
purpose  of  this  Puritan  Assembly  of  the  Notables,  which 
History  calls  the  Little  Parliament,  or  derisively  Barebones's 
Parliament. 

It  is  well  known  they  failed  :  to  us,  alas,  it  is  too  evident 
they  could  not  but  fail.  Fearful  impediments  lay  against  that 
effort  of  theirs  :  the  sluggishness,  the  slavish  half-and-halfhess, 
the  greediness,  the  cowardice,  and  general  opacity  and  falsity 
of  some  ten  million  men  against  it ; — alas,  the  whole  world, 
and  what  we  call  the  Devil  and  all  his  angels,  against  it ! 
Considerable  angels,  human  and  other :  most  extensive  arrange- 
ments, investments,  to  be  sold-off  at  a  tremendous  sacrifice  ; — 
in  general  the  entire  set  of  luggage-traps  and  very  extensive 
stock  of  merchant-goods  and  real  and  floating  property,  amassed 
by  that  assiduous  Entity  above  mentioned,  for  a  thousand 
years  or  more  !  For  these,  and  also  for  other  obstructions,  it 
could  not  take  effect  at  that  time  ; — and  the  Little  Parliament 


74  PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [22  AUG. 

became   a  Barebones's   Parliament,  and  had   to   go   its   ways 
again. 

Read  these  three  Letters,  two  of  them  of  small  or  no  signi- 
ficance as  to  it  or  its  affairs ;  and  then  let  us  hasten  to  the 
catastrophe. 

LETTER    CLXXXIX 

THE  Little  Parliament  has  now  sat  some  seven  weeks ;  the 
dim  old  world  of  England,  then  in  huge  travail-throes,  and 
somewhat  of  the  Lord  General's  sad  and  great  reflections 
thereon,  may  be  dimly  read  here. 

"  FOR  THE   RIGHT  HONOURABLE    LIEUTENANT-GENERAL    FLEETWOOD, 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  OF  THE  FORCES  IN   IRELAND  :    THESE  " 

Cockpit,  22d  August  1653. 

Dear  Charles, — Although  I  do  not  so  often  as  is  desired  by 
me  acquaint  you  how  it  is  with  me,  yet  I  doubt  not  of  your 
prayers  in  my  behalf,  That  in  all  things  I  may  walk  as  be* 
cometh  the  Gospel. 

Truly  I  never  more  needed  all  helps  from  my  Christian 
Friends  than  now !  Fain  would  I  have  my  service  accepted  of 
the  Saints,  if  the  Lord  will ; — but  it  is  not  so.  Being  of 
different  judgments,  and  "  those  "  of  each  sort  seeking  most  to 
propagate  their  own,  that  spirit  of  kindness  that  is 1  to  them 
all,  is  hardly  accepted  of  any.  I  hope  I  can  say  it,  My  life 
has  been  a  willing  sacrifice, — and  I  hope, — -for  them  all.  Yet 
it  much  falls  out  as  when  the  Two  Hebrews  were  rebuked :  you 
know  upon  whom  they  turned  their  displeasure ! 2 

But  the  Lord  is  wise ,•  and  will,  I  trust,  make  manifest  that 
I  am  no  enemy.  Oh,  how  easy  is  mercy  to  be  abased : — Per- 
suade friends  with  you  to  be  very  sober !  If  the  Day  of  the 
Lord  be  so  near  as  some  say,  how  should  our  moderation 

1  *  in  me '  modestly  suppressed. 

2  '  And  he,'  the  wrongdoer  of  the  Two,  '  said  unto  Moses,  "  Who  made  thee 
a  Prince  and  a  Judge  over  us  ?    Intendest  thou  to  kill  me,  as  thou  killedst  the 
Egyptian?"!'  (Exodus  ii.  14.) 


1653]          LETTER    CXC.     COCKPIT  75 

appear !     If  every  one,  instead  of  contending,  would  justify 
his  form  "  of  judgment "  by  love  and  ineekness,   Wisdom  would 

be  'justified  of  her  children.''     But,  alas! 

/  am,  in  my  temptation,  ready  to  say,  <  Oh,  would  I  had 
wings  like  a  dove,  then  would  I,"1  etc. :  *  but  this,  I  fear,  is 
my  '  hasted  I  bless  the  Lord  I  have  somewhat  keeps  me  alive  : 
some  sparks  of  the  light  of  His  countenance,  and  some  sincerity 
above  man's  judgment.  Excuse  me  thus  unbowelling  myself  to 
you :  pray  for  me  ;  and  desire  my  Friends  to  do  so  also.  My 
love  to  thy  dear  Wife, — whom  indeed  I  entirely  love,  both 
naturally  and  upon  the  best  account ; — and  my  blessing,  if  it 
be  worth  anything,  upon  thy  little  Babe. 

Sir  George  Ayscough  having  occasions  with  you,  desired 
my  Letters  to  you  on  his  behalf:  if  he  come  or  send,  I  pray 
you  show  him  what  favour  you  can.  Indeed  his  services  have 
been  considerable  for  the  State ;  and  I  doubt  he  hath  not  been 
answered  with  suitable  respect.  Therefore  again  I  desire  you 
and  the  Commissioners  to  take  him  into  a  very  particular  care, 
and  help  him  so  far  as  justice  and  reason  will  anyways  afford. 

Remember  my  hearty  affections  to  all  the  Officers.  The 
Lord  bless  you  all.  So  prayeth  your  truly  loving  father, 

OLIVER  CROMWELL. 


All  here  love  you,  and  are  in  health,  your  Children 
and  all* 

LETTER    CXC 

IN  the  Commons  Journals,2  while  this  Little  Parliament  sat, 

1  *  then  would  I  fly  away,  and  be  at  rest.  Lo,  then  would  I  wander  far  off, 
and  remain  in  the  wilderness.  I  would  hasten  my  escape  from  the  windy  storm 
and  tempest ! '  (Psalm  Iv.  6,  7,  8.) 

*  Harleian  MSS.  no.  7502,  f.  13  :  *  Copyed  from  the  Original  in  ye  hands  of 
Mrs.  Cook  (Grandaughter  to  Lieutenant-General  Fleetwood)  of  Newington, 
Midsex:  Novr  5,  1759,  by  A.  Gifford.'  Printed,  without  reference,  incorrectly, 
in  Annual  RegLler  for  1761,  p.  49;  in  Gentleman's  Magazine,  etc.- Appendix, 
No.  27.  8  vii.  323,  23d  September  1653. 


T6    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT       [OCT. 

we  find  that,  among  other  good  services,  the  arrangement  of 
the  Customs  Department  was  new-modelled ;  that  instead  of 
Farmers  of  the  Customs,  there  was  a  '  Committee '  of  the 
Parliament  appointed  to  regulate  and  levy  that  impost : 
Committee  appointed  on  the  23d  of  September  1653  :  among 
whom  we  recognise  *  Alderman  Ireton,'  the  deceased  General's 
Brother ;  « Mr.  Mayor,1  of  Hursley,  Richard  Cromwell's  Father- 
in-Law  ;  '  Alderman  Titchborne ' ;  '  Colonel  Montague,'  after- 
wards Earl  of  Sandwich ;  and  others.  It  is  to  this  Committee 
that  Oliver's  Letter  is  addressed.  It  has  no  date  of  time  : 
but  as  the  Little  Parliament  ended,  in  Self- dissolution  and 
Protectorship,  on  the  12th  of  December,  the  date  of  the 
Letter  lies  between  the  23d  September  and  that  other  limit. 
My  Lord  General, — who  is  himself  a  Member  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, he  and  his  chief  Officers  having  been  forthwith  invited  to 
sit, — feels  evidently  that  his  recommendations,  when  grounded 
in  justice,  ought  to  be  attended  to. 

FOR  MY  HONOURED  FRIENDS,  THE  COMMITTEE  FOR  REGULATING  THE 
CUSTOMS  I    THESE  PRESENT 

"  Cockpit,  October  1653." 

Gentlemen, — I  am  sorry  after  recommendation  of  a  Friend 
of  mine  the  Bearer  hereof, — considering  him  in  relation  to 
his  poor  Parents  an  object  of  pity  and  commiseration,  yet 
well  deserving  and  not  less  qualified  for  employment, — he 
should  find  such  cold  success  amongst  you. 

His  great  necessities  and  my  love  once  more  invite  me  to 
write  unto  you,  in  his  behalf,  To  bestow  on  him,  if  it  may  not 
be  in  the  City  by  reason  of  multiplicity  of  suitors,  a  place  in 
the  Out-ports :  and  I  doubt  not  but  his  utmost  abilities  will  be 
improved  to  the  faithful  discharging  of  such  trust  as  you  shall 
impose  on  him,  for  the  good  of  the  Commonwealth.  And 
thereby  you  will  engage  him  who  remains,  your  affectionate 

n  '  OLIVER  CROMWELL.* 

*  Letter  genuine,  teste  me  ;  reference  unfortunately  lost. 


1653]         LETTER    CXCI.     LONDON  77 


LETTER    CXCI 

THIS  '  Henry  Weston,'  otherwise  unknown  to  all  Editors,  is 
a  Gentleman  of  Surrey ;  his  '  House  at  Ockham,'  not  Oakham, 
is  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Guildford  in  that  County.  So 
much,  strangely  enough,  an  old  stone  Tablet  still  legible  in 
Ockham  Church,  which  a  beneficent  hand  has  pointed  out, 
enables  me  to  say ; — an  authentic  dim  old  Stone  in  Surrey, 
curiously  reflecting  light  on  a  dim  old  Piece  of  Paper  which 
has  fluttered  far  about  the  world  before  it  reached  us  here ! 
'  Brother  Ford,'  I  find  by  the  same  authority,  is  of  knightly 
rank  in  Sussex :  and  Henry  Weston's  Father  '  lieth  buried  in 
the  Chancel  of  Speldhurst  Church '  in  Kent ;  his  Uncle,  a 
childless  man,  resting  here  at  Ockham,  *  since  the  8th  day  of 
July  1638,  in  the  clymacteric  of  his  age,  63.' 1 — 'Reverend 
Mr.  Draper'  has  not  elsewhere  come  across  me.  Happily  we 
can  hope  he  officiates  well  in  Kent ;  and  read  this  Letter 
without  other  light. 


FOR  MY  HONOURED  FRIEND  HENRY  WESTON,  ESQUIRE,  AT  HIS 
HOUSE  IN  OCKHAM  :    THESE 

"London/'  16th  Nov.  1653. 

Sir,  my  noble  Friend, — Your  Brother  Ford  was  lately  with 
me,  acquainting'  me  with  my  presumption  in  moving  for,  and 
your  civility  in  granting,  the  Advowson  of  Speldhurst  to  one 
Mr.  Draper,  who  is  now  incumbent  there,  and  who,  it  seems,  was 
there  for  three  or  four  years  before  the  death  of  the  old 
incumbent,  by  virtue  of  a  sequestration. 

Sir,  I  had  almost  forgot  upon  what  account  I  made  thus 
bold  with  you ;  but  now  have  fully  recollected.  I  understand 
the  person  is  very  able  and  honest,  well  approved  of  by  most 
of  the  good  Ministers  thereabout ;  and  much  desired  by  the 
honest  people  who  are  in  a  Religious  Association  in  those 

1  Copy  of  the  Inscription  penes  me. 


78    PART  VII.     THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [16  NOV. 

parts.1  Wherefore  I  now  most  heartily  own  and  thank  you 
for  your  favour  showed  Mr.  Draper  for  my  sake ;  beseeching 
the  continuance  of  your  respects  to  the  Gentleman, — who  shall 
be  'very  much  tied  to  pay  you  all  service ;  and  so  shall,  in  what 
lieth  in  his  power,  your  affectionate  friend  to  serve  you, 

OLIVER  CROMWELL* 

And  now  to  Parliament  affairs  again, — to  the  catastrophe 
now  nigh. 

On  the  whole,  we  have  to  say  of  this  Little  Parliament, 
that  it  sat  for  five  months  and  odd  days,  very  earnestly  striving; 
earnestly,  nobly, — and  by  no  means  unwisely,  as  the  ignorant 
Histories  teach.  But  the  farther  it  advanced  towards  real 
Christianism  in  human  affairs,  the  louder  grew  the  shrieks  of 
Sham-Christianism  everywhere  profitably  lodged  there ; — and 
prudent  persons,  responsible  for  the  issue,  discovered  that  of  a 
truth,  for  one  reason  or  another,  for  reasons  evident  and  for 
reasons  not  evident,  there  could  be  no  success  according  to 
that  method.  We  said,  the  History  of  this  Little  Parliament 
lay  all  buried  very  deep  in  the  torpors  of  Human  Stupidity, 
and  was  not  likely  ever  to  be  brought  into  daylight  in  this 
world.  In  their  five-months1  time  they  passed  various  good 
Acts  ;  chose,  with  good  insight,  a  new  Council  of  State ;  took 
wise  charge  of  the  needful  Supplies  ;  did  all  the  routine  business 
of  a  Parliament  in  a  quite  unexceptionable,  or  even  in  a  superior 
manner.  Concerning  their  Council  of  State,  I  find  this  Note ; 
which,  though  the  Council  had  soon  to  alter  itself,  and  take 
new  figures,  may  be  worth  appending  here.2 

1  Has  crossed-out  '  thereabouts ' ;  and  written  '  in  those  parts,'  as  preferable. 

*  Additional  Ayscough  MSS.  no.  12,098.  Original,  in  good  preservation; 
with  this  indorsement  in  a  newer  hand  :  '  The  Generell  Cromwell's  letter  about 
Spelderst  living ;'  and  this  Note  appended  :  '  In  an  old  Bible  I  had  from  England 
with  other  Books,  March  1726.'  Some  Transatlantic  Puritan,  to  all  appearance. 

2  Council  of  State  elected, — Tuesday  ist  November  1653  (Commons  Journals, 
vii.  344).    The  Election  is  by  ballot,  113  Members  present  ;  '  Colonel  Montague' 
(Sandwich),  « Colonel  Cromwell '  (Henry),  and  '  Sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,' 
are  three  df  the  Four  Scrutineers.     Among  the  Names  reported  as  chosen,  here 


1653]     LITTLE   PARLIAMENT  RESIGNS  79 

Routine  business  done  altogether  well  by  this  Little  Par- 
liament. But,  alas,  they  had  decided  on  abolishing  Tithes, 
on  supporting  a  Christian  Ministry  by  some  other  method 
than  Tithes ; — nay  far  worse,  they  had  decided  on  abolishing 
the  Court  of  Chancery !  Finding  grievances  greater  than 
could  be  borne ;  finding,  for  one  thing,  *  Twenty-three  thou- 
sand Causes  of  from  five  to  thirty  years1  continuance'  lying 
undetermined  in  Chancery,  it  seemed  to  the  Little  Parliament 
that  some  Court  ought  to  be  contrived  which  would  actually 
determine  these  and  the  like  Causes  ; — and  that,  on  the  whole, 
Chancery  would  be  better  for  abolition.  Vote  to  that  effect 
stands  registered  in  the  Commons  Journals  r1  but  still,  for 
near  two-hundred  years  now,  only  expects  fulfilment. — So  far 
as  one  can  discover  in  the  huge  twilight  of  Dryasdust,  it  was 
mainly  by  this  attack  on  the  Lawyers,  and  attempt  to  abolish 
Chancery,  that  the  Little  Parliament  perished.  Tithes  helped, 
no  doubt ;  and  the  clamours  of  a  safely-settled  Ministry, 
Presbyterian-Royalist  many  of  them.  But  the  Lawyers  ex- 
claimed :  '  Chancery  ?  Law  of  the  Bible  ?  Do  you  mean 
to  bring-in  the  Mosaic  Dispensation,  then ;  and  deprive  men 
of  their  properties  ?  Deprive  men  of  their  properties ;  and 
us  of  our  learned  wigs  and  lucrative  longwindednesses, — with 
your  search  for  "  Simple  Justice  "  and  "  God's  Law,"  instead 
of  Learned-Sergeant's  Law  ?' — There  was  immense  *  carousing 
in  the  Temple '  when  this  Parliament  ended  ;  as  great  tremors 
had  been  in  the  like  quarters  while  it  continued.2 

are  some,  with  the  Numbers  voting  for  them  :  Lord  General  Cromwell  (113,  one 
and  all);  Sir  Gilbert  Pickering  (Poet  Dryden's  Cousin  and  Patron, — no); 
Desborow  (74) ;  Harrison  (58) ;  Mayor  (of  Hursley, — 57) ;  Colonel  Montague 
(59) ;  Ashley  Cooper  (60) ;  Lord  Viscount  Lisle  (Algernon  Sidney's  Brother,— 
58);  Colonel  Norton  (idle  Dick,  recovered  from  the  Pride's  Purge  again,  but 
liable  to  relapse  again, — 57).  The  Council  is  of  Thirty-one  ;  Sixteen  of  the  Old 
or  Interim  Council  (above  referred  to  in  Cromwell's  Speech)  are  to  continue ; 
Fifteen  new  :  these  mentioned  here  are  all  among  the  Old,  whom  the  Lord 
General  and  his  Officers  had  already  nominated. 

1  vii.  296 ;  5th  August  1653. 

2  Exact  Relation  of  the   Transactions  of  the  late  Parliament,  by  a  Member  of 
the  same  (London,  1654) :  reprinted  in  Somers  Tracts,  vi.  266-84. 


80    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [i 2  DEC. 

But  in  brief,  on  Friday  the  2d  of  December  1653,  there 
came  a  '  Report  from  the  Tithes- Committee,1  recommending 
that  Ministers  of  an  incompetent,  simoniacal,  loose,  or  other- 
wise scandalous  nature,  plainly  unfit  to  preach  any  Gospel  to 
immortal  creatures,  should  have  a  Travelling  Commission  of 
chosen  Puritan  Persons  appointed,  to  travel  into  all  Counties, 
and  straightway  inspect  them,  and  eject  them,  and  clear 
Christ's  Church  of  them : — whereupon  there  ensued  high 
debatings :  Accept  the  Report,  or  Not  accept  it  ?  High 
debatings,  for  the  space  of  ten  days ;  with  Parliamentary 
manceuverings,  not  necessary  to  specify  here.  Which  rose 
ever  higher ;  and  on  Saturday  the  1  Oth,  had  got  so  high  that, 
as  I  am  credibly  informed,  certain  leading  persons  went  about 
colleaguing  and  consulting,  instead  of  attending  Public  Worship 
on  the  LordVday  : — and  so,  on  Monday  morning  early,  while 
the  extreme  Gospel  Party  had  not  yet  assembled  in  the  House, 
it  was  surreptitiously  moved  and  carried,  old  Speaker  Rouse 
somewhat  treacherously  assenting  to  it,  '  That  the  sitting  of 
this  Parliament  any  longer,  as  now  constituted,  will  not  be 
for  the  good  of  the  Commonwealth ;  and  that  therefore  it  is 
requisite  to  deliver-up  unto  the  Lord  General  Cromwell  the 
Powers  which  we  received  from  him  ! '  Whereupon,  adds  the 
same  Rhadamanthine  Record,  '  the  House  rose ;  and  the 
Speaker,  with  many  of  the  Members  of  the  House,  departed 
out  of  the  House  to  Whitehall :  where  they,  being  the  greater 
number  of  the  Members  sitting  in  Parliament,  did,  by  a 
Writing,'  hastily  redacted  in  the  waiting-room  there,  and 
signed  on  separate  bits  of  paper  hastily  wafered  together, 
'resign  unto  his  Excellency  their  said  Powers.  And  Mr. 
Speaker,  attended  by  the  Members,  did  present  the  same  unto 
his  Excellency  accordingly,' — and  retired  into  private  life 
again.1 

The  Lord  General  Cromwell  testified  much  emotion  and 

1  Commons  Journals,  vii.  363;  Exact  Relation,  ubi  supra  j  Whitlocke,  p.  551, 
etc. 


1653]  PROTECTOR  81 

surprise  at  this  result ; — emotion  and  surprise  which  Dryas- 
dust knows  well  how  to  interpret.  In  fact,  the  Lord  Genera] 
is  responsible  to  England  and  Heaven  for  this  result ;  and  it 
is  one  of  some  moment !  He  and  the  established  Council  of 
State,  '  Council  of  Officers  and '  non-established  '  Persons  of 
Interest  in  the  Nation,'  must  consider  what  they  will  now  do ! 

Clearly  enough  to  them,  and  to  us,  there  can  only  one 
thing  be  done  :  search  be  made,  Whether  there  is  any  King, 
Kenning,  Canning,  or  Supremely  Able- Man  that  you  can  fall- 
in  with,  to  take  charge  of  these  conflicting  and  colliding 
elements,  drifting  towards  swift  wreck  otherwise  ; — any  'Parish 
Constable,1  as  Oliver  himself  defines  it,  to  bid  good  men  keep 
the  peace  to  one  another.  To  your  unspeakable  good-luck, 
such  Supremely  Able-Man,  King,  Constable,  or  by  whatever 
name  you  will  call  him,  is  already  found, — known  to  all  persons 
for  years  past :  your  Puritan  Interest  is  not  yet  necessarily  a 
wreck  ;  but  may  still  float,  and  do  what  farther  is  in  it,  while 
he  can  float  ! 

From  Monday  onwards,  the  excitement  of  the  public  mind 
in  old  London  and  whithersoever  the  news  went,  in  those 
winter  days,  must  have  been  great.  The  '  Lord  General 
called  a  Council  of  Officers  and  other  Persons  of  Interest  in 
the  Nation,'  as  we  said  ;  and  there  was  4  much  seeking  of  God 
by  prayer,'  and  abstruse  advisings  of  this  matter, — the  matter 
being  really  great,  and  to  some  of  us  even  awful !  The 
dialogues,  conferences  and  abstruse  advisings  are  all  lost ;  the 
result  we  know  for  certain.  Monday  was  1 2th  of  December  ; 
on  Friday  16th,  the  result  became  manifest  to  all  the  world  : 
That  the  ablest  of  Englishmen,  Qliver  Cromwell,  was  hence- 
forth to  be  recognised  for  Supremely  Able ;  and  that  the 
Title  of  him  was  to  be  LORD  PROTECTOR  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH 
OF  ENGLAND,  SCOTLAND,  AND  IRELAND,  with  '  Instrument  of 
Government,1  *  Council  of  Fifteen  or  of  Twenty-one,'  and 
other  necessary  less  important  circumstances,  of  the  like 
conceivable  nature. 

The  Instrument  of  Government,  a  carefully  constitutional 

VOL.   III.  F 


82     PART  VH.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT    [1653 

piece  in  Forty-two  Articles ;  the  Ceremony  of  Installation, 
transacted  with  due  simplicity  and  much  modest  dignity,  '  in 
the  Chancery  Court  in  Westminster  Hall,'  that  Friday  after- 
noon ; — the  chair  of  state,  the  Judges  in  their  robes,  Lord 
Mayors  with  caps  of  maintenance ;  the  state- coaches,  out- 
riders, outrunners,  and  '  great  shoutings  of  the  people ' ;  the 
procession  from  and  to  Whitehall,  and  '  Mr.  Lockier  the 
Chaplain's  Exhortation '  to  us  there  :  these,  with  the  inevit- 
able adjuncts  of  the  case,  shall  be  conceived  by  ingenious 
readers,  or  read  in  innumerable  Pamphlets  and  Books,1  and 
omitted  here.  '  His  Highness  was  in  a  rich  but  plain  suit; 
black  velvet,  with  cloak  of  the  same  :  about  his  hat  a  broad 
band  of  gold.'  Does  the  reader  see  him  ?  A  rather  likely 
figure,  I  think.  Stands  some  five  feet  ten  or  more ;  a  man  of 
strong  solid  stature,  and  dignified,  now  partly  military  carriage : 
the  expression  of  him  valour  and  devout  intelligence, — energy 
and  delicacy  on  a  basis  of  simplicity.  Fifty-four  years  old, 
gone  April  last ;  ruddy-fair  complexion,  bronzed  by  toil  and 
age ;  light-brown  hair  and  moustache  are  getting  streaked 
with  gray.  A  figure  of  sufficient  impressiveness ; — not  lovely 
to  the  manmilliner  species,  nor  pretending  to  be  so.  Massive 
stature ;  big  massive  head,  of  somewhat  leonine  aspect, 
'  evident  workshop  and  storehouse  of  a  vast  treasury  of  natural 
parts.'  Wart  above  the  right  eyebrow ;  nose  of  considerable 
blunt-aquiline  proportions ;  strict  yet  copious  lips,  full  of  all 
tremulous  sensibilities,  and  also,  if  need  were,  of  all  fiercenesses 
and  rigours ;  deep  loving  eyes,  call  them  grave,  call  them 
stern,  looking  from  under  those  craggy  brows,  as  if  in  lifelong 
sorrow,  and  yet  not  thinking  it  sorrow,  thinking  it  only  labour 
and  endeavour : — on  the  whole,  a  right  noble  lion-face  and 
hero-face ;  and  to  me  royal  enough.2  The  reader,  in  his 
mind,  shall  conceive  this  event  and  its  figures. 

1  Whitlocke,  pp.  552-61  ;  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.   131,  in  Parlia- 
mentary History,  xx.);  etc.  etc. 

2  Maidston's  Letter  to  Winthrop,  in  Thurloe,  i.   763-8;  Cooper's  Portraits; 
Mask  of  Cromwell's  Face  (in  the  Statuaries'  Shops). 


i653]  PROTECTOR  83 

Conceived  too,  or  read  elsewhere  than  here,  shall  Dryas- 
dust's multifarious  unmelodious  commentaries  be, — and  like- 
wise Anti-Dryasdust's ;  the  two  together  cancelling  one 
another ;  and  amounting  pretty  well,  by  this  time,  to  zero 
for  us.  '  Love  of  power,'  as  flunkies  love  it,  remains  the  one 
credibility  for  Dryasdust ;  and  will  forever  remain.  To  the 
valet-soul  how  will  you  demonstrate  that,  in  this  world,  there 
is  or  was  anything  heroic  ?  You  cannot  do  it ;  you  need  not 
try  to  do  it. — I  cite  with  some  reluctance  from  a  Manuscript 
Author,  often  enough  referred  to  here,  the  following  detached 
sentences,  and  so  close  this  Seventh  Part. 

'  Dryasdust  knows  not  the  value  of  a  King,1  exclaims  he ; 
'the  bewildered  mortal  has  forgotten  it.  Finding  Kings'-cloaks 
so  cheap,  hung  out  on  every  hedge,  and  paltry  as  beggars' 
gabardines,  he  says,  "  What  use  is  in  a  King  ?  This  King's- 
cloak,  if  this  be  your  King,  is  naught ! " — 

4  Power  ?  Love  of  power  ?  Does  "  power "  mean  the 
faculty  of  giving  places,  of  having  newspaper  paragraphs,  of 
being  waited  on  by  sycophants?  To  ride  in  gilt  coaches, 
escorted  by  the  flunkyisms  and  most  sweet  voices, — I  assure 
thee,  it  is  not  the  Heaven  of  all,  but  only  of  many  !  Some 
born  Kings  I  myself  have  known,  of  stout  natural  limbs,  who, 
in  shoes  of  moderately  good  fit,  found  quiet  walking  handier ; 
and  crowned  themselves,  almost  too  sufficiently,  by  putting  on 
their  own  private  hat,  with  some  spoken  or  speechless,  "  God 
enable  me  to  be  King  of  what  lies  under  this !  For  Eternities 
lie  under  it,  and  Infinitudes,  and  Heaven  also  and  Hell.  And 
it  is  as  big  as  the  Universe,  this  Kingdom ;  and  I  am  to 
conquer  it,  or  be  forever  conquered  by  it,  now  while  it  is 
called  Today!"— 

'The  love  of  "power,"  if  thou  understand  what  to  the 
manful  heart  "  power  "  signifies,  is  a  very  noble  and  indispens- 
able love.  And  here  and  there,  in  the  outer  world  too,  there 
is  a  due  throne  for  the  noble  man ; — which  let  him  see  well 
that  he  seize,  and  valiantly  defend  against  all  men  and  things. 
God  gives  it  him  ;  let  no  Devil  take  it  away.  Thou  also  art 


84    PART  VII.    THE  LITTLE  PARLIAMENT  [16  DEC. 

called  by  the  God's-message  :  This,  if  thou  canst  read  the 
Heavenly  omens  and  dare  do  them,  this  work  is  thine.  Voice- 
less, or  with  no  articulate  voice,  Occasion,  god-sent,  rushes 
storming  on,  amid  the  world's  events ;  swift,  perilous ;  like  a 
whirlwind,  like  a  fleet  lightning-steed  :  manfully  thou  shalt 
clutch  it  by  the  mane,  and  vault  into  thy  seat  on  it,  and  ride 
and  guide  there,  thou  !  Wreck  and  ignominious  overthrow, 
if  thou  have  dared  when  the  Occasion  was  not  thine  •  ever- 
lasting scorn  to  thee  if  thou  dare  not  when  it  is ; — if  the 
cackling  of  Roman  geese  and  Constitutional  ganders,  if  the 
clack  of  human  tongues  and  leading-articles,  if  the  steel  of 
armies  and  the  crack  of  Doom  deter  thee,  when  the  voice  was 
God's  ! — Yes,  this  too  is  in  the  law  for  a  man,  my  poor 
quack-ridden,  bewildered  Constitutional  friends ;  and  we 
ought  to  remember  this  withal.  Thou  shalt  is  written  upon 
Life  in  characters  as  terrible  as  Thou  shalt  not, — though  poor 
Dryasdust  reads  almost  nothing  but  the  latter  hitherto.' 

And  so  we  close  Part  Seventh ;  and  proceed  to  trace  with 
all  piety,  what  faint  authentic  vestiges  of  Oliver's  Protectorate 
the  envious  Stupidities  have  not  obliterated  for  us. 


PART    EIGHTH 

FIRST    PROTECTORATE    PARLIAMENT 

1654 


LETTERS    CXCII— CXCV 

THE  3d  of  September  ever  since  Worcester  Battle  has  been 
kept  as  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving ;  commemorative  of  the  mercy 
at  Dunbar  in  1650,  and  of  the  crowning-mercy  which  followed 
next  year ;  —  a  memorable  day  for  the  Commonwealth  of 
England.  By  Article  Seventh  of  the  Instrument  of  Govern- 
ment, it  is  now  farther  provided  that  a  Parliament  shall  meet 
on  that  auspicious  Anniversary  when  it  next  comes  round. 
September  3d,  1654,  then  shall  the  First  Protectorate  Parlia- 
ment meet ;  successive  Parliaments,  one  at  least  every  Three 
years,  are  to  follow,  but  this  shall  be  the  First.  Not  to  be 
dissolved,  or  prorogued,  for  at  least  Five  months.  Free 
Parliament  of  Four-hundred ;  for  England  Three-hundred- 
and-forty,  for  Scotland  Thirty,  for  Ireland  Thirty ;  fairly 
chosen  by  election  of  the  People,  according  to  rules  anxiously 
constitutional,  laid  down  in  that  same  Instrument, — which  we 
do  not  dwell  upon  here.  Smaller  Boroughs  are  excluded ; 
among  Counties  and  larger  Boroughs  is  a  more  equable 
division  of  representatives  according  to  their  population  : 
nobody  to  vote  that  has  not  some  clearly  visible  property  to 
the  value  of  Two-hundred  Pounds ;  but  all  that  have  can 
vote,  and  can  be  voted  for, — except,  of  course,  all  such  as 
have  appeared  against  the  Parliament  in  any  of  these  Wars 
'since  the  First  of  January  1642,1  and  'not  since  given  signal 


86       PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [18  DEC. 

testimony'  of  their  repenting  that  step.  To  appearance,  a 
very  reasonable  Reform  Bill ; — understood  to  be  substantially 
the  same  with  that  invaluable  measure  once  nearly  completed 
by  the  Rump  :  only  with  this  essential  difference,  That  the 
Rump  Members  are  not  now  to  sit  by  nature  and  without 
election ;  not  now  to  decide,  they,  in  case  of  extremity,  Thou 
shalt  sit,  Thou  shalt  not  sit ; — others  than  they  will  now 
decide  that,  in  cases  of  extremity.  How  this  Parliament,  in 
its  Five-months''  Session,  will  welcome  the  new  Protector  and 
Protectorate  is  naturally  the  grand  question  during  those 
Nine  or  Ten  Months  that  intervene. 

A  question  for  all  Englishmen ;  and  most  of  all  for  Oliver 
Protector  ; — who  however,  as  we  can  perceive,  does  not  allow 
it  to  overawe  him  very  much  ;  but  diligently  doing  this  day 
the  day's  duties,  hopes  he  may  find,  as  God  has  often  favoured 
him  to  do,  some  good  solution  for  the  morrow,  whatsoever 
the  morrow  please  to  be.  A  man  much  apt  to  be  overawed 
by  any  question  that  is  smaller  than  Eternity,  or  by  any 
danger  that  is  lower  than  God's  Displeasure,  would  not  suit 
well  in  Oliver's  place  at  present !  Perhaps  no  more  perilous 
place,  that  I  know  clearly  of,  was  ever  deliberately  accepted 
by  a  man.  '  The  post  of  honour,' — the  post  of  terror  and  of 
danger  and  forlorn-hope  :  this  man  has  all  along  been  used  to 
occupy  such. 

To  see  a  little  what  kind  of  England  it  was,  and  what  kind 
of  incipient  Protectorate  it  was,  take,  as  usual,  the  following 
small  and  few  fractions  of  Authenticity,  of  various  com- 
plexion, fished  from  the  doubtful  slumber-lakes  and  dust- 
vortexes,  and  hang  them  out  at  their  places  in  the  void  night 
of  things.  They  are  not  very  luminous ;  but  if  they  were 
well  let  alone,  and  the  positively  tenebrific  were  well  for- 
gotten, they  might  assist  our  imaginations  in  some  slight 
measure. 

Sunday  18th  December  1653.  A  certain  loud-tongued  loud- 
minded  Mr.  Feak,  of  Anabaptist-Leveller  persuasion,  with  a 
Colleague,  seemingly  Welsh,  named  Powel,  have  a  Preaching- 


1653]  ANABAPTISTRY  87 

Establishment,  this  good  while  past,  in  Blackfriars  ;  a  Preach- 
ing-Establishment every  Sunday,  which  on  Monday  Evening 
becomes  a  National-Charter  Convention  as  we  should  now  call 
it :  there  Feak,  Powel  and  Company  are  in  the  habit  of 
vomiting  forth  from  their  own  inner-man,  into  other  inner- 
men  greedy  of  such  pabulum,  a  very  flamy  fuliginous  set  of 
doctrines, — such  as  the  human  mind,  supcradding  Anabaptistry 
to  Sansculottism,  can  make  some  attempt  to  conceive.  Sunday 
the  18th,  which  is  two  days  after  the  Lord  Protector's  Instal- 
lation, this  Feak-Powel  Meeting  was  unusually  large  ;  the 
Feak-Powel  inner-man  unusually  charged.  Elements  of  soot 
and  fire  really  copious;  fuliginous-flamy  in  a  very  high  degree! 
At  a  time,  too,  when  all  Doctrine  does  not  satisfy  itself  with 
spouting,  but  longs  to  become  instant  Action.  c  Go  and  tell 
your  Protector,'  said  the  Anabaptist  Prophet,  That  he  has 
deceived  the  Lord's  People ;  4  that  he  is  a  perjured  villain,' — 
4  will  not  reign  long,'  or  I  am  deceived  ;  6  will  end  worse  than 
the  last  Protector  did,'  Protector  Somerset  who  died  on  the 
scaffold,  or  the  tyrant  Crooked  Richard  himself !  Say,  I  said 
it ! — A  very  foul  chimney  indeed,  here  got  on  fire.  And 
4  Major-General  Harrison,  the  most  eminent  man  of  the 
Anabaptist  Party,  being  consulted  whether  he  would  own  the 
new  Protectoral  Government,  answered  frankly,  No ' ; — was 
thereupon  ordered  to  retire  home  to  Staffordshire,  and  keep 
quiet.1 

Does  the  reader  bethink  him  of  those  old  Leveller  Corporals 
at  Burford,  and  Diggers  at  St.  George's  Hill  five  years  ago ; 
of  Quakerisms,  Calvinistic  Sansculottisms,  and  one  of  the 
strangest  Spiritual  Developments  ever  seen  in  any  country  ? 
The  reader  sees  here  one  foul  chimney  on  fire,  the  Feak-Powel 
chimney  in  Blackfriars ;  and  must  consider  for  himself  what 
masses  of  combustible  material,  noble  fuel  and  base  soot  and 
smoky  explosive  fire-damp,  in  the  general  English  Household 
it  communicates  with  !  Republicans  Proper,  of  the  Long 
Parliament ;  Republican  Fifth -Monarchists  of  the  Little 
1  Thuiloe,  i.  641  ;  -442,  591,  621. 


88       PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [14  FEB. 

Parliament ;  the  solid  Ludlows,  the  fervent  Harrisons  :  from 
Harry  Vane  down  to  Christopher  Feak,  all  manner  of  Re- 
publicans find  Cromwell  unforgivable.  To  the  Harrison-and- 
Feak  species  Kingship  in  every  sort,  and  government  of  man  by 
man,  is  carnal,  expressly  contrary  to  various  Gospel  Scriptures. 
Very  horrible  for  a  man  to  think  of  governing  men; — whether 
he  ought  even  to  govern  cattle,  and  drive  them  to  field  and  to 
needful  penfold,  '  except  in  the  way  of  love  and  persuasion,1 
seems  doubtful  to  me  !  But  fancy  a  Reign  of  Christ  and  his 
Saints ;  Christ  and  his  Saints  just  about  to  come, — had  not 
Oliver  Cromwell  stept  in  and  prevented  it !  The  reader  discerns 
combustibilities  enough  ;  conflagrations,  plots,  stubborn  dis- 
affections  and  confusions,  on  the  Republican  and  Republican- 
Anabaptist  side  of  things.  It  is  the  first  Plot-department, 
which  my  Lord  Protector  will  have  to  deal  with,  all  his  life 
long.  This  he  must  wisely  damp-down,  as  he  may.  Wisely  : 
for  he  knows  what  is  noble  in  the  matter,  and  what  is  base  in 
it ;  and  would  not  sweep  the  fuel  and  the  soot  both  out  of 
doors  at  once. 

Tuesday  14th  February  1653-4.  « At  the  Ship-Tavern 
in  the  Old  Bailey,  kept  by  Mr.  Thomas  Amps,'  we  come  upon 
the  second  life-long  Plot-department:  Eleven  truculent,  rather 
threadbare  persons,  sitting  over  small  drink  there,  on  the 
Tuesday  night,  considering  how  the  Protector  might  be  assas- 
sinated. Poor  broken  Royalist  men ;  payless  Old-Captains, 
most  of  them,  or  suchlike ;  with  their  steeple-hats  worn  very 
brown,  and  jack-boots  slit,  —  and  projects  that  cannot  be 
executed.  Mr.  Amps  knows  nothing  of  them,  except  that 
they  came  to  him  to  drink ;  nor  do  we.  Probe  them  with 
questions ;  clap  them  in  the  Tower  for  a  while : *  Guilty, 
poor  knaves  ;  but  not  worth  hanging : — disappear  again  into 
the  general  mass  of  Royalist  Plotting,  and  ferment  there. 

The  Royalists  have  lain  quiet  ever  since  Worcester;  waiting 
what  issue  matters  would  take.  Dangerous  to  meddle  with  a 
Rump  Parliament,  or  other  steadily  regimented  thing ;  safer 
1  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  135). 


1654]  ROYALIST    PLOTTING  89 

if  you  can  find  it  fallen  out  of  rank  ;  hopefulest  of  all,  when 
it  collects  itself  into  a  Single  Head.  The  Royalists  judge, 
with  some  reason,  that  if  they  could  kill  Oliver  Protector,  this 
Commonwealth  were  much  endangered.  In  these  Easter  weeks 
too,  or  Whitsun  weeks,  there  comes  '  from  our  Court1  (Charles 
Stuart's  Court)  '  at  Paris,'  great  encouragement  to  all  men  of 
spirit  in  straitened  circumstances.  A  Royal  Proclamation 
4  By  the  King,'  drawn  up,  say  some,  by  Secretary  Clarendon ; 
setting  forth  that '  Whereas  a  certain  base  mechanic  fellow,  by 
name  Oliver  Cromwell,  has  usurped  our  throne,'  much  to  our 
and  other  people's  inconvenience,  whosoever  will  kill  the  said 
mechanic  fellow  '  by  sword,  pistol  or  poison,'  shall  have  500/. 
a-year  settled  upon  him,  with  colonelcies  in  our  Army,  and 
other  rewards  suitable,  and  be  a  made  man, — *  on  the  word 
and  faith  of  a  Christian  King.' 1  A  Proclamation  which 
cannot  be  circulated  except  in  secret ;  but  is  well  worth  read- 
ing by  all  loyal  men.  And  so  Royalist  Plots  also  succeed 
one  another,  thick  and  threefold  through  Oliver's  whole  life ; 
— but  cannot  take  effect.  Vain  for  a  Christian  King  and  his 
cunningest  Chancellors  to  summon  all  the  Sinners  of  the 
Earth,  and  whatsoever  of  necessitous  Truculent-Flunkyism 
there  may  be,  and  to  bid,  in  the  name  of  Heaven  and  of 
Another  place,  for  the  head  of  Oliver  Cromwell :  once  for  all, 
they  cannot  have  it,  that  Head  of  Cromwell ; — not  till  he  has 
entirely  done  with  it,  and  can  make  them  welcome  to  their 
benefit  from  it !  We  shall  come  upon  these  Royalist  Plots, 
Rebellion  Plots  and  Assassin  Plots,  in  the  order  of  time ;  and 
have  to  mention  them,  though  with  brevity.  Oliver  Protector, 
I  suppose,  understands  and  understood  his  Protectorship 
moderately  well,  and  what  Plots  and  other  Hydra-coils  were 
inseparable  from  it ;  and  contrives  to  deal  with  these  too,  like 
a  conscientious  man,  and  not  like  a  hungry  slave. 

Secretary  Thurloe,  once  St.  John's  Secretary  in  Holland,  has 
come  now,  ever  since  the  Little-Parliament  time,  into  decided 
action  as  Oliver's  Secretary,  or  the  State  Secretary ;   one  of 
1  Thurloe,  ii.  248.     'Given  at  Paris,  3d  May  (23d  April  by  old  style)  1654.' 


90       PART  VIII      FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [20  MAR. 

the  expertest  Secretaries,  in  the  real  meaning  of  the  word 
Secretary,  any  State  or  working  King  could  have.  He  deals 
with  all  these  Plots ;  it  is  part  of  his  function,  supervised  by 
his  Chief.  Mr.  John  Milton,  we  all  lament  to  know,  has  fallen 
blind  in  the  Public  Service ;  lives  now  in  Bird-cage  Walk, 
still  doing  a  little  when  called  upon ;  bating  no  jot  of  heart 
or  hope.  Mr.  Milton's  notion  is,  That  this  Protectorate  of 
his  Highness  Oliver  was  a  thing  called  for  by  the  Necessities 
and  the  Everlasting  Laws ;  and  that  his  Highness  ought  now 
to  quit  himself  like  a  Christian  Hero  in  it,  as  in  other  smaller 
things  he  has  been  used  to  do.1 

March  %Qth,  1653-4.  By  the  Instrument  of  Government, 
the  Lord  Protector  with  his  Council,2  till  once  the  First 
Parliament  were  got  together,  was  empowered  not  only  to 
raise  moneys  for  the  needful  supplies,  but  also  '  to  make  Laws 
and  Ordinances  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  these  Nations ' ; 
which  latter  faculty  he  is  by  no  means  slack  to  exercise.  Of 
his  '  Sixty  Ordinances '  passed  in  this  manner  before  the 
Parliament  met,  which  are  well  approved  of  by  good  judges, 
we  cannot  here  afford  to  say  much  :  but  there  is  one  bearing 
date  as  above,  which  must  not  be  omitted.  First  Ordinance 

1  Defensio  Sccunda. 

2  Fifteen  in  number,  which  he  may  enlarge  to  Twenty-one,  if  he  see  good. 
Not  removable  any  of  them,  except  by  himself  with  advice  of  the  rest.     A  very 
remarkable  Majesty's  Ministry ;— of  which,  for  its  own  sake  and  the  Majesty's, 
take  this  List,  as  it  stood  in  1654 : 

Philip  Viscount  Lisle  (Algernon  Sidney's  Brother) ;  Fleetwood ;  Lambert ; 
Montague  (of  Hinchinbrook) ;  Desborow  (Protector's  Brother-in-law) ;  Ashley 
Cooper  (Earl  of  Shaftesbury  afterwards) ;  Walter  Strickland  (Member  for  Mine- 
head  in  the  Long  Parliament,  once  Ambassador  in  Holland) ;  Colonel  Henry 
Lawrence  (for  Westmoreland  in  the  Long  Parliament,  of  whom  we  have  tran- 
siently heard, — became  President  of  the  Council) ;  Mayor  (of  Hursley) ;  Francis 
Rouse  (our  old  friend) ;  pious  old  Major-General  Skippon ;  Colonels  Philip 
Jones  and  Sydenham,  Sirs  Gilbert  Pickering  and  Charles  Wolseley,  of  whom  my 
readers  do  not  know  much.  Fifteen  Councillors  in  all.  To  whom  Nathaniel 
Fiennes  (son  of  Lord  Say  and  Sele)  was  afterwards  added ;  with  the  Earl  of 
Mulgrave ;  and  another,  Colonel  Mackworth,  who  soon  died  ( Thurloe,  iii. 
581).  Thurloe  is  Secretary  ;  and  blind  Milton,  now  with  assistants,  is  Latin 
Secretary. 


1654]    ORDINANCES:   CHURCH  GOVERNMENT     91 

relating  to  the  Settlement  of  a  Gospel  Ministry  in  this 
Nation ;  Ordinance  of  immense  interest  to  Puritan  England 
at  that  time.  An  object  which  has  long  been  on  the  anvil, 
this  same  '  Settlement " ;  much  laboured  at,  and  striven  for, 
ever  since  the  Long  Parliament  began  :  and  still,  as  all 
confess,  no  tolerable  result  has  been  attained.  Yet  is  it  not 
the  greatest  object ;  properly  the  soul  of  all  these  struggles 
and  confused  wrestlings  and  battlings,  since  we  first  met  here? 
For  the  thing  men  are  taught,  or  get  to  believe,  that  is  the 
thing  they  will  infallibly  do  ;  the  kind  of  <  Gospel '  you  settle, 
kind  of  '  Ministry '  you  settle,  or  do  not  settle,  the  root  of 
all  is  there !  Let  us  see  what  the  Lord  Protector  can 
accomplish  in  this  business. 

Episcopacy  being  put  down,  and  Presbytery  not  set  up, 
and  Church-Government  for  years  past  being  all  a  Church- 
Anarchy,  the  business  is  somewhat  difficult  to  deal  with. 
The  Lord  Protector,  as  we  find,  takes  it  up  in  simplicity  and 
integrity,  intent  upon  the  real  heart  or  practical  outcome  of 
it;  and  makes  a  rather  satisfactory  arrangement.  Thirty- 
eight  chosen  Men,  the  acknowledged  Flower  of  English 
Puritanism,  are  nominated  by  this  Ordinance  of  the  20th  of 
March,1  nominated  a  Supreme  Commission  for  the  Trial  of 
Public  Preachers.  Any  person  pretending  to  hold  a  Church- 
living,  or  levy  tithes  or  clergy-dues  in  England,  has  first  to 
be  tried  and  approved  by  these  men.  Thirty-eight,  as  Scobell 
teaches  us  :  nine  are  Laymen,  our  friend  old  Francis  Rouse  at 
the  head  of  them ;  twenty-nine  are  Clergy.  His  Highness, 
we  find,  has  not  much  inquired  of  what  Sect  they  are ;  has 
known  them  to  be  Independents,  to  be  Presbyterians,  one  or 
two  of  them  to  be  even  Anabaptists ; — has  been  careful  only 
of  one  characteristic,  That  they  were  men  of  wisdom,  and  had 
the  root  of  the  matter  in  them.  Owen,  Goodwin,  Sterry, 
Marshall,  Manton,  and  others  not  yet  quite  unknown  to  men, 
were  among  these  Clerical  Triers :  the  acknowledged  Flower 
of  Spiritual  England  at  that  time  ;  and  intent,  as  Oliver 
1  Scobell,  ii.  279-80. 


92     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [14  APRIL 

himself  was,  with  an  awful  earnestness,  on  actually  having  the 
Gospel  taught  to  England. 

This  is  the  First  branch  or  limb  of  Oliver's  scheme  for 
Church  -  Government,  this  Ordinance  of  the  20th  March 
1653-4.  A  second,  which  completes  what  little  he  could  do 
in  the  matter  at  present,  developed  itself  in  August  following 
By  this  August  Ordinance,1  a  Body  of  Commissioners,  dis- 
tinguished Puritan  Gentry,  distinguished  Puritan  Clergy,  are 
nominated  in  all  Counties  of  England,  from  Fifteen  to  Thirty 
in  each  County;  who  are  to  inquire  into  '  scandalous,  ignorant, 
insufficient,'  and  otherwise  deleterious  alarming  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel ;  to  be  a  tribunal  for  judging,  for  detecting,  eject- 
ing them  (only  in  case  of  ejection,  if  they  have  wives,  let  some 
small  modicum  of  living  be  allowed  them)  :  and  to  sit  there, 
judging  and  sifting,  till  gradually  all  is  sifted  clean,  and  can 
be  kept  clean.  This  is  the  Second  branch  of  Oliver's  form  of 
Church-Government :  this,  with  the  other  Ordinance,  makes 
at  last  a  kind  of  practicable  Ecclesiastical  Arrangement  for 
England. 

A  very  republican  arrangement,  such  as  could  be  made  on 
the  sudden ;  contains  in  it,  however,  the  germ  or  essence  of 
all  conceivable  arrangements,  that  of  worthy  men  to  judge  of 
the  worth  of  men ; — and  was  found  in  practice  to  work  well. 
As,  indeed,  any  arrangement  will  work  well,  when  the  men  in 
it  have  the  root  of  the  matter  at  heart ;  and,  alas,  all  arrange- 
ments, when  the  men  in  them  have  not,  work  ill  and  not 
well !  Of  the  Lay  Commissioners,  from  fifteen  to  thirty  in 
each  County,  it  is  remarked  that  not  a  few  are  political 
enemies  of  Oliver's :  friends  or  enemies  of  his,  Oliver  hopes 
they  are  men  of  pious  probity,  and  friends  to  the  Gospel  in 
England.  My  Lord  General  Fairfax,  the  Presbyterian ; 
Thomas  Scott,  of  the  Long  Parliament,  the  fanatical 
Republican ;  Lords  Wharton,  Say,  Sir  Arthur  Haselrig, 
Colonel  Robert  Blake,  Mayor  of  Hursley,  Dunch  of  Pusey, 
Montague  of  Hinchinbrook,  and  other  persons  known  to  us, — 
1  28th  August  1654  (Scobell,  ii.  335-47). 


1 65 4]    ORDINANCES:   CHURCH  GOVERNMENT     93 

are  of  these  Commissioners.  Richard  Baxter,  who  seldom  sat, 
is  one  of  the  Clergy  for  his  County  :  he  testifies,  not  in  the 
willingest  manner,  being  no  friend  to  Oliver,  That  these 
Commissioners,  of  one  sort  and  the  other,  with  many  faults, 
did  sift  out  the  deleterious  alarming  Ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
and  put-in  the  salutary  in  their  stead,  with  very  considerable 
success, — giving  us  (  able,  serious  Preachers,  who  lived  a  godly 
life,  of  what  tolerable  opinion  soever  they  were';  so  that 
'  many  thousands  of  souls  blessed  God '  for  what  they  had 
done ;  and  grieved  sore  when,  with  the  return  of  the  Nell- 
Gwynn  Defender,  and  his  Four  Surplices  or  what  remained 
of  them,  it  was  undone  again.1  And  so  with  these  Triers 
and  these  Expurgators  both  busy,  and  a  faithful  eye  to  watch 
their  procedure,  we  will  hope  the  Spiritual  Teaching- 
Apparatus  of  England  stood  now  on  a  better  footing  than 
usual,  and  actually  succeeded  in  teaching  somewhat. 

Of  the  Lord  Protector's  other  Ordinances ;  Ordinance 
'  declaring  the  Law  of  Treason,'  Ordinances  of  finance,  of 
Amnesty  for  Scotland,  of  Union  with  Scotland,  and  other 
important  matters,  we  must  say  nothing.  One  elaborate 
Ordinance,  in  '  sixty-seven  Articles,'  for  '  Reforming  the  Court 
of  Chancery,'  will  be  afterwards  alluded  to  with  satisfaction, 
by  the  Lord  Protector  himself.  Elaborate  Ordinance ;  con- 
taining essential  improvements,  say  some  ; — which  has  perhaps 
saved  the  Court  of  Chancery  from  abolition  for  a  while 
longer !  For  the  rest,  '  not  above  Two-hundred  Hackney- 
coaches  '  shall  henceforth  be  allowed  to  ply  in  this  Metropolis 
and  six  miles  round  it ;  the  ever-increasing  number  of  them, 
blocking  up  our  thoroughfares,  threatens  to  become  insupport- 
able.2 

April  14$,  1654.  This  day,  let  it  be  noted  for  the  sake 
of  poor  Editors  concerned  with  undated  Letters,  and  others, 
his  Highness  removed  from  his  old  Lodging  in  the  Cockpit, 
into  new  properly  Royal  Apartments  in  Whitehall,  now  ready 

1  Baxter's  Life,  part  i.  p.  *J2. 

2  Scobell,  ii.  313;  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  139). 


94       PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT      [4  MAY 

for  him,1  and  lived  there  henceforth,  usually  going  out  to 
Hampton  Court  on  the  Saturday  afternoon.  He  has 
'  assumed  somewhat  of  the  state  of  a  King ' ;  due  ceremonial, 
decent  observance  beseeming  the  Protector  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  England  ;  life-guards,  ushers,  state- coaches, — in 
which  my  erudite  friend  knows  well  what  delight  this  Lord 
Protector  had !  Better  still,  the  Lord  Protector  has  concluded 
good  Treaties ;  received  congratulatory  Embassies, — France, 
Spain  itself  have  sent  Embassies.  Treaty  with  the  Dutch, 
with  Denmark,  Sweden,  Portugal : 2  all  much  to  our  satisfac- 
tion. Of  the  Portuguese  Treaty  there  will  perhaps  another 
word  be  said.  As  for  the  Swedish,  this,  it  is  well  known,  was 
managed  by  our  learned  friend  Bulstrode  at  Upsal  itself; 
whose  Narrative  of  that  formidable  Embassy  exists,  a  really 
curious  life-picture  by  our  Pedant  friend ;  whose  qualities  are 
always  fat  and  good ; — whose  parting  from  poor  Mrs.  Whit- 
locke  at  Chelsea,  in  those  interesting  circumstances,  may  be 
said  to  resemble  that  of  Hector  from  Andromache,  in  some 
points. 

And  now  for  our  Four  small  Letters,  for  our  First  Protec- 
torate Parliament,  without  waste  of  another  word  ! 

LETTER    CXCII 

FOR  MY  LOVING  BROTHER  RICHARD  MAYOR,  ESQUIRE,  AT  HURSLEY, 
IN  HAMPSHIRE  :    THESE 

"  Whitehall/'  4th  May  1654. 

Dear  Brother, — /  received  your  loving  Letter ;  for  which  I 
thank  you :  and  surely  were  it  fit  to  proceed  in  that  Business, 
you  should  not  in  the  least  have  been  put  upon  anything  but  the 
trouble ;  for  indeed  the  land  in  Essex,  with  some  money  in  my 
hand,  should  have  gone  towards  it. 

1  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  139). 

5  Dutch  Treaty  signed,  5th  April   1654;  Swedish,  28th  April;   Portuguese, 
loth  July;  Danish  Claims  settled,  3ist  July  (Godwin,  iv.  49-56). 


1654]    LETTER  CXCII.     WHITEHALL      95 

But  indeed  I  am  so  unwilling  to  be  a  seeker  after  the  world, 
having  had  so  much  favour  from  the  Lord  in  giving  me  so 
much  without  seeking ,-  and  "  am "  so  unwitting  that  men 
should  think  me  so,  which  they  will  though  you  oiily  appear  in 
it  {for  they  will,  by  one  means  or  other,  know  if), — that  indeed 
I  dare  not  meddle  nor  proceed  therein.  Thus  I  have  told  you 
my  plain  thoughts. 

My  hearty  love  I  present  to  you  and  my  Sister,  my  blessing 
and  love  to  dear  Doll  and  the  little  one.  With  love  to  all,  I 
rest,  your  loving  brother,  OLIVER  P.* 

A  '  business '  seemingly  of  making  an  advantageous  purchase 
of  land  for  Richard ;  which  Mayor  will  take  all  the  trouble 
of,  and  even  advance  the  money  for ;  but  which  Oliver  P.,  for 
good  reasons  given,  '  dare  not  meddle  with.'  No  man  can 
now  guess  what  land  it  was, — nor  need  much.  In  the 
Pamphletary  dust-mountains  is  a  confused  story  of  Cornet 
Joyce's,1  concerning  Fawley  Park  in  Hampshire ;  which,  as  the 
dim  dateless  indications  point  to  the  previous  winter  or 
summer,  and  to  the  6  Lord  General  Cromwell '  as  looking 
towards  that  property  for  his  Son  Richard, — may  be  the 
place,  for  aught  we  know  !  The  story  sets  forth,  with  the 
usual  bewildered  vivacity  of  Joyce  :  How  Joyce,  the  same 
who  took  the  King  at  Holmby,  and  is  grown  now  a  noisy 
Anabaptist  and  Lieutenant-Colonel, — how  Joyce,  I  say,  was 
partly  minded  and  fully  entitled  to  purchase  Fawley  Park, 
and  Richard  Cromwell  was  minded  and  not  fully  entitled  : 
how  Richard's  Father  thereupon  dealt  treacherously  with  the 
said  Joyce ;  spake  softly  to  him,  then  quarrelled  with  him, 
menaced  him  (owing  to  Fawley  Park) ;  nay  ended  by  flinging 
him  into  prison,  and  almost  reducing  him  to  his  needle  and 

*  Noble,  i.  330;  Harris,  p.  515  : — one  of  the  Pusey  Letters. 

1  True  Narrative  of  the  Causes  of  the  Lord-  General  Cromwell's  anger  and 
indignation  against  Lieutenant-Colonel  George  Joyce:  reprinted  (without  date)  in 
Harleian  Miscellany,  v.  557,  etc. — Joyce  'is  in  jail,'  19th  September  1653 
(Thurloe,  i,  470). 


96       PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [i6MAY 

thimble  again, — greatly  to  the  enragement  and  distraction  of 
the  said  Joyce.  All  owing  to  Fawley  Park,  thinks  Joyce  and 
prints; — so  that  my  Lord  Protector,  if  this  Park  be  the 
place,  is  very  wise  '  not  to  meddle  or  proceed  therein.'  And 
so  we  leave  it. 

LETTER    CXCIII 

MONK,  in  these  summer  months,  has  a  desultory  kind  of 
Rebellion  in  the  Highlands,  Glencairn's  or  Middleton's  Rebel- 
lion, to  deal  with ;  and  is  vigorously  coercing  and  strangling 
it.  Colonel  Alured,  an  able  officer,  but  given  to  Anabaptist 
notions,  has  been  sent  into  Ulster  to  bring  over  certain  forces 
to  assist  Monk.  His  loose  tongue,  we  find,  has  disclosed 
designs  or  dispositions  in  him  which  seem  questionable.  The 
Lord  Protector  sees  good  to  revoke  his  Commission  to  Alured, 
and  order  him  up  to  Town. 

"  TO  THE  LORD  FLEETWOOD,  LORD  DEPUTY  OF  IRELAND  I    THESE  " 

"  Whitehall/'  16th  May  1654. 

Sir, — By  the  Letter  I  received  from  you,  and  by  the 
information  of  the  Captain  you  sent  to  me,  I  am  sufficiently 
satisfied  of  the  evil  intentions  of  Colonel  Alured;  and  by  some 
other  considerations  amongst  ourselves,  tending  to  the  making- 
up  a  just  suspicion, — by  the  advice  of  friends  here,  I  do  revoke 
Colonel  Alured  from  that  Employment. 

Wherefore  I  desire  you  to  send  for  him  to  return  to  you 
to  Dublin ;  and  that  you  cause  him  to  deliver  up  the  Instruc- 
tions and  Authorities  into  your  hands,  which  he  hath  in 
reference  to  that  Business;  as  also  such  moneys  and  accounts 
concerning  the  same, — according  to  the  Letter,  herein  enclosed, 
directed  to  him,  which  I  entreat  you  to  deliver  when  he  comes 
to  you. 

I  desire  "you""  also,  to  the  end  the  Service  may  not  be 
neglected,  nor  "for  "  one  day  stand,  it  being  of  so  great  con- 
cernment, To  employ  some  able  Officer  to  assist  in  Colonel 


1654]    LETTER    CXCIV.     WHITEHALL      97 

AlurecFs  room,  until  the  men  be  shipped-ojf  for  their  design. 

We  purpose  also,  God  willing,  to  send  one  very  speedily  who, 
we  trust,  shall  meet  them  at  the  place,  to  command  in  chief. 
As  for  provision  of  victual  and  other  necessaries,  we  shall 
hasten  them  away ;  desiring  that  these  Forces  may  by  no  means 
stay  in  Ireland;  because  we  purpose  they  shall  meet  their* 
provision  in  the  place  they  are  designed  "for? 

If  any  farther  discovery  be  with  you  about  any  other 
passages  on  Colonel  AlurecVs  part,  I  p*ay  examine  them,  and 
speed  them  to  us;  and  send  Colonel  Alured  over  hither  with 
the  first  opportunity.  Not  having  more  upon  this  subject  at 
present,  I  rest,  your  lovijig  fatJier,  OLIVER  P 

"  P.S."  I  desire  you  that  the  Officer,  whom  you  appoint 
to  assist  the  shipping  of  the  Forces,  may  have  the  money 
in  Colonel  AlurecTs  hands,  for  carrying  on  the  Service;  and 
also  that  he  may  leave  what  remains  at  CarricTcfergus  for  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  who  shall  call  for  it  there* 

This  is  the  Enclosure  above  spoken  of: 
LETTER    CXCIV 

"  TO  COLONEL  ALURED  :    THESE  " 

"Whitehall,"  16th  May  1654. 

Sir, — I  desire  you  to  deliver-up  into  the  hands  of  Lieutenant- 
General  Fleetwood  such  Authorities  and  Instructions  as  you 
had  for  the  prosecution  of  the  Business  of  the  Highlands  in 
Scotland ;  and  "  that "  you  forthwith  repair  to  me  to  London  ; 
the  reason  whereof  you  shall  know  when  you  come  hither,  which 
I  would  have  you  do  with  all  speed.  I  would  have  you  also 
give  an  account  to  the  Lieutenant-General,  before  you  come  away, 
how  far  you  have  proceeded  in  this  Service,  and  what  money 
you  have  in  your  hands,  which  you  are  to  leave  with  him.  I 
rest,  your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P.t 

*  Thurloe,  ii.  285.  t  Ibid.  ii.  286. 

VOL.  III.  G 


98       PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [16  MAY 

This  Colonel  Alured  is  one  of  several  Yorkshire  Alureds 
somewhat  conspicuous  in  these  wars ;  whom  we  take  to  be 
Nephews  or  Sons  of  the  valuable  Mr.  Alured  or  Ald'red  who 
wrote  to  '  old  Mr.  Chamberlain,1 — in  the  last  generation,  one 
morning,  during  the  Parliament  of  1628,  when  certain 
honourable  Gentlemen  held  their  Speaker  down, — a  Letter 
which  we  thankfully  read.1  One  of  them,  John,  was  Member 
in  this  Long  Parliament ;  a  Colonel  too,  and  King's  Judge ; 
who  is  now  dead.  Here  is  another,  Colonel  Matthew  Alured, 
a  distinguished  soldier  and  republican  ;  who  is  not  dead  ;  but 
whose  career  of  usefulness  is  here  ended.  '  Repairing  forthwith 
to  London,1  to  the  vigilant  Lord  Protector,  he  gives  what 
account  he  can  of  himself;  none  that  will  hold  water,  I 
perceive ;  lingers  long  under  a  kind  of  arrest  '  at  the  Mews ' 
or  elsewhere ;  soliciting  either  freedom  and  renewed  favour,  or 
a  fair  trial  and  punishment ;  gets  at  length  committal  to  the 
Tower,  trial  by  Court  Martial, — dismissal  from  the  service.2 
A  fate  like  that  of  several  others  in  a  similar  case  to  his. — 
Poor  Alured  !  But  what  could  be  done  with  him  ?  He  had 
Republican  Anabaptist  notions  ;  he  had  discontents,  enthu- 
siasms, which  might  even  ripen  into  tendencies  to  correspond 
with  Charles  Stuart.  Who  knows  if  putting  him  in  a  stone 
waistcoat,  and  general  strait- waistcoat  of  a  mild  form,  was  not 
the  mercifulest  course  that  could  be  taken  with  him  ? 

He  must  stand  here  as  the  representative  to  us  of  one  of 
the  fatalest  elements  in  the  new  Lord  Protector's  position : 
the  Republican  discontents  and  tendencies  to  plot,  fermenting 
in  his  own  Army.  Of  which  we  shall  perhaps  find  elsewhere 
room  to  say  another  word.  Republican  Overton,  Milton's 
friend,  whom  we  have  known  at  Hull  and  elsewhere ;  Okey, 
the  fierce  dragoon  Colonel  and  zealous  Anabaptist ;  Alured, 
whom  we  see  here  ;  Ludlow,  sitting  sulky  in  Ireland  :  all  these 
are  already  summoned  up,  or  about  being  summoned,  to  give 

1  Vol.  i.  p.  60  et  seq. 

2  Whitlocke,  pp.  499,    510;    Thurloe,  ii.   294,   313,  414;   Burton's  Diary 
(London,  1828),  iii.  46  ;  Commons  Journals,  vii.  678. 


1654]    LETTER  CXCIV.      WHITEHALL      99 

account  of  themselves.  Honourable,  brave  and  faithful  men  : 
it  is,  as  Oliver  often  says,  the  saddest  thought  of  his  heart  that 
he  must  have  old  friends  like  them  for  enemies  !  But  he 
cannot  help  it;  they  will  have  it  so.  They  must  go  their  way, 
he  his. 

Much  need  of  vigilance  in  this  Protector  !  Directly  on  the 
back  of  these  Republican  commotions  come  out  Royalist  ones  ; 
with  which,  however,  the  Protector  is  less  straitened  to  deal. 
Lord  Deputy  Fleet  wood  has  not  yet  received  his  Letter  at 
Dublin,  when  here  in  London  emerges  a  Royalist  Plot ;  the 
first  of  any  gravity  ;  known  in  the  old  Books  and  State-Trials 
as  Vowel  and  GerarcTs  Plot,  or  Somerset  Fox's  Plot.  Plot  for 
assassinating  the  Protector,  as  usual.  Easy  to  do  it,  as  he 
goes  to  Hampton  Court  on  a  Saturday, — Saturday  the  20th 
of  May,  for  example.  Provide  thirty  stout  men ;  and  do  it 
then.  Gerard,  a  young  Royalist  Gentleman,  connected  with 
Royalist  Colonels  afterwards  Earls  of  Macclesfield, — he  will 
provide  Fi ve- and- twenty  ;  some  Major  Henshaw,  Colonel 
Finch,  or  I  know  not  who,  shall  bring  the  other  Five. 
6  Vowel  a  Schoolmaster  at  Islington,  who  taught  many  young 
gentlemen,'  strong  for  Church  and  King,  cannot  act  in  the 
way  of  shooting;  busies  himself  consulting,  and  providing 
arms.  '  Billingsley  the  Butcher  in  Smithfield,'  he,  aided  by 
Vowel,  could  easily  '  seize  the  Troopers'  horses  grazing  in 
Islington  fields ' ;  while  others  of  us  unawares  fall  upon  the 
soldiers  at  the  Mews  ?  Easy  then  to  proclaim  King  Charles 
in  the  City ;  after  which  Prince  Rupert  arriving  with  '  Ten- 
thousand  Irish,  English,  and  French,'  and  all  the  Royalists 
rising, — the  King  should  have  his  own  again,  and  we  were  all 
made  men ;  and  Oliver  once  well  killed,  the  Commonwealth 
itself  were  as  good  as  dead !  Saturday  the  20th  of  May ; 
then,  say  our  Paris  expresses,  then  ! — 

Alas,  in  the  very  birthtime  of  the  hour,  '  five  of  the  Con- 
spirators are  seized  in  their  beds ' ;  Gerard,  Vowel,  all  the 
leaders  are  seized  ;  Somerset  Fox  confesses  for  his  life  ;  who- 
soever is  guilty  can  be  seized  :  and  the  Plot  is  like  water 


100     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [5  JULY 

spilt  upon  the  ground  ! 1  A  High  Court  of  Justice  must 
decide  upon  it ;  and  with  Gerard  and  Vowel  it  will  probably 
go  hard. 

LETTER    CXCV 

REFERS  to  a  small  private  or  civic  matter ;  the  Vicarage  of 
Christ-Church,  Newgate  Street,  the  patronage  of  which  belongs 
to  '  the  Mayor,  Commonalty  and  Citizens  of  London  as 
Governors  of  the  Royal  Hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew'  ever 
since  Henry  the  Eighth's  time.2  The  former  Incumbent,  it 
would  seem,  had  been  removed  by  the  Council  of  State ;  some 
Presbyterian  probably,  who  was,  not  without  cause,  offensive 
to  them.  If  now  the  Electors  and  the  State  could  both  agree 
on  Mr.  Turner, — it  would  '  silence '  several  questions,  thinks 
the  Lord  Protector.  Whether  they  did  agree  ?  Who 
*  Mr.  Turner,'  of  such  *  repute  for  piety  and  learning,'  was  ? 
These  are  questions. 


TO  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE  SIR  THOMAS  VYNER,  KNIGHT,  LORD 
MAYOR  OF  LONDON  :    THESE 

"Whitehall/' 5th  July  1654. 

My  Lord  Mayor, — It  is  not  my  custom  now,  nor  shall  be, 
without  some  special  cause  moving,  to  interpose  anything  to  the 
hindrance  of  any  in  the  free  course  of  their  presenting  persons 
to  serve  in  the  Public  Ministry. 

But,  well  considering  how  much  it  concerns  the  public  peace, 
and  what  an  opportunity  may  be  had  of  promoting  the  interest 
of  the  Gospel,  if  some  eminent  and  Jit  person  of  a  pious  and 
peaceable  spirit  and  conversation  were  placed  in  Christ-Church, 
- — and  though  I  am  not  ignorant  what  interest  the  State  may 
justly  challenge  to  supply  that  place,  which  by  an  Order  of 
State  is  become  void,  notwithstanding  any  resignation  that  is 
made : 

1  French  Le  Bas  dismissed  for  his  share  in  it :  Appendix,  No.  28. 
*  Elmes's  Topographical  Dictionary  of  London,  in  voce. 


1654]    LETTER   CXCV.     WHITEHALL     101 

Yet  forasmuch  as  your  Lordship  and  the  rest  of  the 
Governors  of  St.  Bartholomew"**?  Hospital  are  about  to  present 
thereunto  a  person  of  known  nobility  and  integrity  before  you, 
namely  Mr.  Turner ;  /  am  contented,  if  you  think  good  so  to 
improve  the  present  opportunity  as  to  present  him  to  the  place, 
to  have  all  other  questions  silenced; — which  will  not  alone  be 
the  fruit  thereof;  but  I  believe  also  the  true  good  of  the  Parish 
therein  concerned  will  be  thereby  much  furthered.  I  rest,  your 
aswred  friend,  OLIVER  P. 

"  P.S"  I  can  assure  you  few  men  of  his  time  in  England 
have  a  better  repute  for  piety  and  learning  than  Mr.  Turner* 

I  am  apt  to  think  the  Mr.  Turner  in  question  may  have 
been  Jerom  Turner,  of  whom  there  is  record  in  Wood  :  *  a 
Somersetshire  man,  distinguished  among  the  Puritans ;  who 
takes  refuge  in  Southampton,  and  preaches  with  zeal,  learning, 
piety  and  general  approbation  during  the  Wars  there.  He 
afterwards  removed  'to  Neitherbury,  a  great  country  Parish 
in  Dorsetshire,1  and  continued  there,  '  doing  good  in  his 
zealous  way.'  If  this  were  he,  the  Election  did  not  take 
effect  according  to  Oliver's  program ; — perhaps  Jerom  himself 
declined  it  ?  He  died,  still  at  Neitherbury,  next  year ;  hardly 
yet  past  middle  age.  *  He  had  a  strong  memory,  which  he 
maintained  good  to  the  last  by  temperance,'  says  old  Antony  : 
4  He  was  well  skilled  in  Greek  and  Hebrew,  was  a  fluent 
preacher,  but  too  much  addicted  to  Calvinism,' — which  is 
to  be  regretted.  *  Pastor  vigilantissimus,  doctrina  et  pietate 
insignis'* :  so  has  his  Medical  Man  characterised  him;  one 
'  Dr.  Loss  of  Dorchester,'  who  kept  a  Note- book  in  those 
days.  Requiescat,  requiescant. 

The  High  Court  of  Justice  has  sat  upon  Vowel  and  Gerard  ; 

*  Lansdowne  MSS.    1236,   fol.    104.     The  Signature   alone  of  the  Letter  is 
Oliver's ;  but  he  has  added  the  Postscript  in  his  own  hand. 
1  Athcnce,  iii.  404. 


102     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [5  JULY 

found  them  both  guilty  of  High  Treason ;  they  lie  under 
sentence  of  death,  while  this  Letter  is  a- writing ;  are  executed 
five  days  hence,  10th  July  1654  ;  and  make  an  edifying  end.1 
Vowel  was  hanged  at  Charing  Cross  in  the  morning ;  strong 
for  Church  and  King.  The  poor  young  Gerard,  being  of 
gentle  blood  and  a  soldier,  petitioned  to  have  beheading ;  and 
had  it,  the  same  evening,  in  the  Tower.  So  ends  Plot  First. 
Other  Royalists,  Plotters  or  suspect  of  Plotting, — Ashburnham, 
who  rode  with  poor  Charles  First  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  on  a 
past  occasion ;  Sir  Richard  Willis,  who,  I  think,  will  be 
useful  to  Oliver  by  and  by, — these  and  a  list  of  others  2  were 
imprisoned ;  were  questioned,  dismissed ;  and  the  Assassin 
Project  is  rather  co wed-down  for  a  while. 

Writs  for  the  New  Parliament  are  out,  and  much  election- 
eering interest  over  England :  but  there  is  still  an  anecdote 
connected  with  this  poor  Gerard  and  the  10th  of  July, 
detailed  at  great  length  in  the  old  Books,  which  requires  to  be 
mentioned  here.  About  an  hour  after  Gerard,  there  died,  in 
the  same  place,  by  the  same  judicial  axe,  a  Portuguese  Noble- 
man. Don  Pantaleon  Sa,  whose  story,  before  this  tragic  end 
of  it,  was  already  somewhat  twisted-up  with  Gerard's.  To 
wit,  on  the  23d  of  November  last,  this  same  young  Major 
Gerard  was  walking  in  the  crowd  of  Exeter  'Change,  where 
Don  Pantaleon,  Brother  of  the  Portuguese  Ambassador, 
chanced  also  to  be.  Some  jostling  of  words,  followed  by 
drawing  of  rapiers,  took  place  between  them  ;  wherein  as  Don 
Pantaleon  had  rather  the  worse,  he  hurried  home  to  the 
Portuguese  Embassy ;  armed  some  twenty  of  his  followers,  in 
headpieces,  breastpieces,  with  sword  and  pistol,  and  returned 
to  seek  revenge.  Gerard  was  gone ;  but  another  man,  whom 
they  took  for  him,  these  rash  Portugals  slew  there ;  and  had 
to  be  repressed,  after  much  other  riot,  and  laid  in  custody,  by 
the  watch  or  soldiery.  Assize-trial,  in  consequence,  for  Don 
Pantaleon  ;  clear  Trial  in  the  '  Upper  Bench  Court,'  jury  half 

1  State-Trials  (London,  1810),  v.  516-39. 

8  Newspapers,  ist-8th  June  1654  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  143). 


1654]  SPEECH    II  103 

foreigners ;  and  rigorous  sentence  of  death ; — much  to  Don 
Pantaleon^s  amazement,  who  pleaded  and  got  his  Brother  to 
plead  the  rights  of  Ambassadors,  all  manner  of  rights  and  con- 
siderations ;  all  to  no  purpose.  The  Lord  Protector  would 
not  and  could  not  step  between  a  murderer  and  the  Law  : 
poor  Don  Pantaleon  perished  on  the  same  block  with  Gerard ; 
two  Tragedies,  once  already  in  contact,  had  their  fifth-act 
together.  Don  Pantaleon's  Brother,  all  sorrow  and  solicit- 
ation being  fruitless,  signed  the  Portuguese  Treaty  that  very 
day,  and  instantly  departed  for  his  own  country,  with  such 
thoughts  as  we  may  figure.1 


SPEECH    II 

BUT  now  the  New  Parliament  has  got  itself  elected ;  not 
without  much  interest : — the  first  Election  there  has  been  in 
England  for  fourteen  years  past.  Parliament  of  Four-hundred, 
thirty  Scotch,  thirty  Irish ;  freely  chosen  according  to  the 
Instrument,  according  to  the  Bill  that  was  in  progress  when 
the  Rump  disappeared.  What  it  will  say  to  these  late  in- 
articulate births  of  Providence,  and  high  transactions  ? 
Something  edifying,  one  may  hope. 

Open  Malignants,  as  we  know,  could  not  vote  or  be  voted 
for,  to  this  Parliament ;  only  active  Puritans  or  quiet 
Neutrals,  who  had  clear  property  to  the  value  of  WOl. 
Probably  as  fair  a  Representative  as,  by  the  rude  method  of 
counting  heads,  could  well  be  got  in  England.  The  bulk  of 
it,  I  suppose,  consists  of  constitutional  Presbyterians  and  use- 
and-wont  Neutrals  ;  it  well  represents  the  arithmetical  account 
of  heads  in  England :  whether  the  real  divine  and  human 
value  of  thinking-souls  in  England, — that  is  a  much  deeper 
question  ;  upon  which  the  Protector  and  this  First  Parliament 
of  his  may  much  disagree.  It  is  the  question  of  questions, 
nevertheless  ;  arid  he  that  can  answer  it  best  will  come  best 
1  Whitlocke,  pp.  550,  577. 


104     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

off  in  the  long-run.  It  was  not  a  successful  Parliament  this, 
as  we  shall  find.  The  Lord  Protector  and  it  differed  widely 
in  certain  fundamental  notions  they  had  ! — 

We  recognise  old  faces,  in  fair  proportion,  among  those 
Four-hundred ; — many  new  withal,  who  never  become  known 
to  us.  Learned  Bulstrode,  now  safe  home  from  perils  in 
Hyperborean  countries,  is  here ;  elected  for  several  places,  the 
truly  valuable  man.  Old-Speaker  Lenthall  sits,  old  Major- 
General  Skippon,  old  Sir  William  Masham,  old  Sir  Francis 
Rouse.  My  Lord  Herbert  (Earl  of  Worcester's  son)  is  here ; 
Owen,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  for  Oxford  University ; — a  certain 
not  entirely  useless  Guibon  Goddard,  for  the  Town  of  Lynn, 
to  whom  we  owe  some  Notes  of  the  procedure.  Leading 
Officers  and  high  Official  persons  have  been  extensively  elected  ; 
several  of  them  twice  and  thrice  :  Fleetwood,  Lambert,  the 
Claypoles,  Dunches,  both  the  young  Cromwells  ;  Montague  for 
his  County,  Ashley  Cooper  for  his.  On  the  other  hand,  my 
Lord  Fairfax  is  here ;  nay  Bradshaw,  Haselrig,  Robert 
Wallop,  Wild  man,  and  Republicans  are  here.  Old  Sir  Harry 
Vane ;  not  young  Sir  Harry,  who  sits  meditative  in  the  North. 
Of  Scotch  Members  we  mention  only  Laird  Swinton,  and  the 
Earl  of  Hartfell ;  of  the  Irish,  Lord  Broghil  and  Commissary- 
General  Reynolds,  whom  we  once  saw  fighting  well  in  that 
country.1 — And  now  hear  the  authentic  Bulstrode ;  and  then 
the  Protector  himself. 

'September  3d,  1654. — The  Lord's-day,  yet  the  day  of  the 
Parliament's  meeting.  The  Members  met  in  the  afternoon  at 
sermon,  in  the  Abbey  Church  at  Westminster :  after  sermon 
they  attended  the  Protector  in  the  Painted  Chamber;  who 
made  a  Speech  to  them  of  the  cause  of  their  summons,'  Speech 
unreported ;  '  after  which,  they  went  to  the  House,  and 
adjourned  to  the  next  morning. 

6  Monday  September   4<th. —  The    Protector    rode   in    state 
from  Whitehall  to  the  Abbey  Church  in  Westminster.      Some 
hundreds  of  Gentlemen  and  Officers  went  before  him  bare  ; 
1  Letter  evil.  vol.  ii.  p.  67. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  105 

with  the  Life-guard ;  and  next  before  the  coach,  his  pages 
and  lackeys  richly  clothed.  On  the  one  side  of  his  coach 
went  Strickland,  one  of  his  Council,  and  Captain  of  his  Guard, 
with  the  Master  of  the  Ceremonies ;  both  on  foot.  On  the 
other  side  went  Howard,1  Captain  of  the  Life-guard.  In  the 
coach  with  him  were  his  son  Henry,  and  Lambert ;  both  sat 
bare.  After  him  came  Claypole,  Master  of  the  Horse ;  with 
a  gallant  led  horse  richly  trapped.  Next  came  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Great  Seal,1  Lisle,  Widdrington  and  I ;  '  Com- 
missioners of  the  Treasury,  and  divers  of  the  Council  in 
coaches  ;  last  the  ordinary  Guards. 

4  He  alighting  at  the  Abbey  Church  door,'  and  entering, 
*  the  Officers  of  the  Army  and  the  Gentlemen  went  first ;  next 
them  four  maces ;  then  the  Commissioners  of  the  Seal,  Whit- 
locke  carrying  the  Purse ;  after,  Lambert  carrying  the  Sword 
bare :  the  rest  followed.  His  Highness  was  seated  over 
against  the  Pulpit ;  the  Members  of  the  Parliament  on  both 
sides. 

'  After  the  sermon,  which  was  preached  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Goodwin,  his  Highness  went,  in  the  same  equipage,  to  the 
Painted  Chamber.  Where  he  took  seat  in  a  chair  of  state 
set  upon  steps,'  raised  chair  with  a  canopy  over  it,  under 
which  his  Highness  sat  covered,  *  and  the  Members  upon 
benches  round  about  sat  all  bare.  All  being  silent,  his  High- 
ness,' rising,  '  put  off  his  hat,  and  made  a  large  and  subtle 
speech  to  them.1 2 

Here  is  a  Report  of  the  Speech,  *  taken  by  one  who  stood 
very  near,'  and  '  published 3  to  prevent  mistakes.'  As  we, 
again,  stand  at  some  distance, — two  centuries  with  their 
chasms  and  ruins, — our  hearing  is  nothing  like  so  good !  To 
help  a  little,  I  have,  with  reluctance,  admitted  from  the  latest 
of  the  Commentators  a  few  annotations ;  and  intercalated 
them  the  best  I  could  ;  suppressing  very  many.  Let  us  listen 
well ;  and  again  we  shall  understand  somewhat. 

1  Colonel  Charles,  ancestor  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle.  a  Whitlocke,  p.  582 

8  By  G.  Sawbridge,  at  the  Bible  on  Ludgate  Hill,  London,  1654. 


106     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

(  GENTLEMEN, — You  are  met  here  on  the  greatest  occasion 
'  that,  I  believe,  England  ever  saw ;  having  upon  your 
4  shoulders  the  Interests  of  Three  great  Nations  with  the 
'  territories  belonging  to  them  ; — and  truly,  I  believe  I  may 
'  say  it  without  any  hyperbole,  you  have  upon  your  shoulders 
4  the  Interest  of  all  the  Christian  People  in  the  world.  And 
4  the  expectation  is,  that  I  should  let  you  know,  as  far  as  I 
4  have  cognisance  of  it,  the  occasion  of  your  assembling  to- 
4  gether  at  this  time. 

*  It  hath  been  very  well  hinted  to  you  this  day,1  that  you 
4  come  hither  to  settle  the  Interests  above  mentioned :  for 
4  your  work  here,  in  the  issue  and  consequences  of  it,  will 
4  extend  so  far,  "  even  to  all  Christian  people."  In  the  way 
4  and  manner  of  my  speaking  to  you,  I  shall  study  plainness  ; 
4  and  to  speak  to  you  what  is  truth,  and  what  is  upon  my 
4  heart,  and  what  will  in  some  measure  reach  to  these  great 
4  concernments. 

4  After  so  many  changes  and  turnings,  which  this  Nation 
1  hath  laboured  under, — to  have  such  a  day  of  hope  as  this 
1  is,  and  such  a  door  of  hope  opened  by  God  to  us,  truly  I 
'  believe,  some  months  since,  would  have  been  beyond  all  our 
*  thoughts  ! — I  confess  it  would  have  been  worthy  of  such 
4  a  meeting  as  this  is,  To  have  remembered  2  that  which  was 
4  the  rise  "of"  and  gave  the  first  beginning  to,  all  these 
4  Troubles  which  have  been  upon  this  Nation  :  and  to  have 
4  given  you  a  series  of  the  Transactions, — not  of  men,  but  of 
4  the  Providence  of  God,  all  along  unto  our  late  changes  :  as 
4  also  the  ground  of  our  first  undertaking  to  oppose  that 
'  usurpation  and  tyranny3  which  was  upon  us,  both  in  civils 
4  and  spirituals ;  and  the  several  grounds  particularly  appli- 
4  cable  to  the  several  changes  that  have  been.  But  I  have  two 
4  or  three  reasons  which  divert  me  from  such  a  way  of  proceed- 
4  ing  at  this  time. 

4  If  I  should  have  gone  in  that  way,  "  then  "  that  which 

1  in  the  Sermon  we  have  just  heard.  .  2  commemorated. 

3  of  Charles,  Wentworth,  Laud  and  Company. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  107 

'  lies  upon  my  heart  "as  to  these  things," — which  is  "so" 

*  written  there  that  if  I  would  blot  it  out  I  could  not, — 

*  would   "  itself "  have   spent   this  day  :  the  providences  and 

*  dispensations  of  God  have  been  so  stupendous.      As  David 
6  said  in  the  like  case,  Psalm  xl.  5,  4  Many,  O  Lord  my  God, 
'  are   thy  wonderful   works  which  thou   hast   done,  and    thy 
4  thoughts  which   are   to-us-ward  :   they  cannot   be  reckoned 
4  up  in  order   unto  thee  :  if  I  would  declare  and   speak  of 
4  them,  they  are  more  than  can  be  numbered.1 — Truly,  another 
4  reason,  unexpected  by  me,  you  had  today  in  the  Sermon  : l 
'  you  had  much  recapitulation  of  Providence ;  much  allusion 

*  to   a   state  and   dispensation   in   respect   of  discipline   and 
'  correction,   of   mercies   and   deliverances,   "  to   a   state   and 
4  dispensation  similar  to  ours," — to,  in  truth,  the  only  parallel 
4  of  God's  dealing  with  us  that  I  know  in  the  world,  which 
4  was   largely   and    wisely   held   forth   to   you   this   day :   To 
4  Israel's  bringing-out  of  Egypt  through  a  wilderness  by  many 
4  signs  and  wonders,  towards  a  Place  of  Rest, — I  say  towards 
4  it.  2     And  that  having  been  so  well  remonstrated   to  you 

*  this  day,  is  another  argument  why  I  shall  not  trouble  you 
4  with  a  recapitulation   of  those    things ; — though  they  are 

*  things  which  I  hope  will  never  be  forgotten,  because  written 
4  in  better  Books  than  those  of  paper ; — written,  I  am  per- 
4  suaded,  in  the  heart  of  every  good  man ! 

4  "  But"  a  third  reason  was  this  :  What  I  judge  to  be  the 
4  end  of  your  meeting,  the  great  end,  which  was  likewise 
4  remembered  to  you  this  day ; 3  to  wit,  Healing  and  Settling. 
4  The  remembering  of  Transactions  too  particularly,  perhaps 
4  instead  of  healing, — at  least  in  the  hearts  of  many  of  you, 
4  — might  set  the  wound  fresh  a-bleeding.  "  And "  I  must 
4  profess  this  unto  you,  whatever  thoughts  pass  upon  me  : 
'  That 'if  this  day,  if  this  meeting,  prove  not  healing,  what 

1  This  Sermon  of  Goodwin's  is  not  in  the  collected  Edition  of  his  Works ;  not 
among  the  King's  Pamphlets  ;  not  in  the  Bodleian  Library.     We  gather  what 
the  subject  was,  from  this  Speech,  and  know  nothing  of  it  otherwise. 

2  not  yet  at  it ;  nota  bene.  3  in  the  Sermon. 


108     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

*  shall  we  do  !  But,  as  I  said  before,  I  trust  it  is  in  the  minds 
4  of  you  all,  and  much  more  in  the  mind  of  God,  to  cause 
4  healing.      It  must  be  first  in  His  mind  : — and   He   being 

*  pleased  to  put  it  into  yours,  this  will  be  a  Day  indeed,  and 
4  such  a  Day  as  generations  to  come  will  bless  you  for ! — I 
4  say,  for  this  and  the  other  reasons,  I  have  forborne  to  make 
4  a  particular  remembrance  and  enumeration  of  things,  and 
'  of  the  manner  of  the  Lord's  bringing  us  through  so  many 
4  changes  and  turnings  as  have  passed  upon  us. 

4  Howbeit,  I  think  it  will  be  more  than  necessary  to  let 
4  you  know,  at  least  so  well  as  I  may,  in  what  condition  this 
4  Nation,  or  rather  these  Nations  were,  when  the  present 
(  Government *  was  undertaken.  And  for  order's  sake  :  It 's 
4  very  natural  to  consider  what  our  condition  was,  in  Civils  ; 

*  "  and  then  also  "  in  spirituals. 

4  What  was  our  condition !  Every  man's  hand  almost 
4  was  against  his  brother ; — at  least  his  heart  "  was  "  ;  little 
'  regarding  anything  that  should  cement,  and  might  have  a 
4  tendency  in  it  to  cause  us  to  grow  into  one.  All  the  dis- 
4  pensations  of  God ;  His  terrible  ones,  when  He  met  us  in 
4  the  way  of  His  judgment2  in  a  Ten-years'  Civil  War;  and 
4  His  merciful  ones  :  they  did  not,  they  did  not  work  upon 
4  us  ! 3  44  No."  But  we  had  our  humours  and  interests  ; — 
4  and  indeed  I  fear  our  humours  went  for  more  with  us  than 
4  even  our  interests.  Certainly,  as  it  falls  out  in  such  cases, 
4  our  passions  were  more  than  our  judgments. — Was  not 

*  everything  almost  grown  arbitrary  ?     Who  of  us  knew  where 
4  or  how  to  have  right  44  done  him,"  without  some  obstruction 
4  or  other  intervening  ?     Indeed  we  were  almost  grown  arbi- 
4  trary  in  everything. 

4  What  was  the  face  that  was  upon  our  affairs  as  to  the 

*  Interest  of  the  Nation  ?    As  to  the  Authority  in  the  Nation ; 

*  to  the  Magistracy  ;    to  the  Ranks  and  Orders  of  men, — 

1  Protectorate.  2  punishment  for  our  sins. 

*  Reiteration  of  the  word  is  not  an  uncommon  mode  of  emphasis  with  Oliver. 


i654]  SPEECH    II  109 

'  whereby  England  hath  been  known  for  hundreds  of  years  ? 

[The  Levellers  /]    A  nobleman,  a  gentleman,  a  yeoman;  "  the 

'  distinction  of  these  "  :  that  is  a  good  interest  of  the  Nation, 

*  and  a  great  one  !      The  "  natural  "  Magistracy  of  the  Nation, 
4  was  it  not  almost  trampled  under  foot,  under  despite  and 
'  contempt,  by  men  of  Levelling  principles  ?     I  beseech  you, 
'  For  the  orders  of  men  and  ranks  of  men,  did  not  that  Level- 

*  ling  principle  tend  to  the  reducing  of  all  to  an  equality  ? 
'  Did  it  "  consciously  "  think  to  do  so  ;  or  did  it  "  only  uncon- 
'  sciously "  practise  towards  that  for  property  and  interest  ? 

*  "  At  all  events,"  what  was  the  purport  of  it  but  to  make 
'  the  Tenant  as  liberal  a  fortune  as  the  Landlord  ?      Which, 
4  I  think,  if  obtained,  would  not  have  lasted  long  !     The  men 
'  of  that   principle,  after  they  had   served   their  own  turns, 
'  would  then  have  cried-up  property  and  interest  fast  enough  ! 
6  — This  instance  is  instead  of  many.      And  that  the  thing 
'  did  "  and  might  well "  extend  far,  is  manifest ;  because  it  was 

*  a  pleasing  voice  to  all  Poor  Men,  and  truly  not  unwelcome 
'  to  all  Bad  Men.     [Far-extended  classes,  these  two  both  /]     To 

*  my  thinking,  this  is  a  consideration  which,  in  your  endeavours 
4  after  settlement,  you  will  be  so  well  minded  of,  that  I  might 
6  have  spared  it  here :  but  let  that  pass. — 

'  "  Now  as  to  Spirituals."  Indeed  in  Spiritual  things  the 
'  case  was  more  sad  and  deplorable  "  still "  ; — and  that  was 
4  told  to  you  this  day  eminently.  The  prodigious  blasphemies; 

*  contempt  of  God  and  Christ,  denying  of  Him,  contempt  of 
c  Him  and   His  ordinances,  and  of  the  Scriptures  :   a  spirit 
6  visibly  acting *  those  things  foretold  by  Peter  and  Jude ;  yea 
'  those  things  spoken  of  by  Paul  to  Timothy !     Paul  declaring 

*  some  things  to  be  worse  than  the  Antichristian  state   (of 
'  which  he  had  spoken  in  the  First  to  Timothy,  Chapter  fourth, 
6  verses    first   and    second,   "  under   the   title   of  the    Latter 
4  times  "),  tells  us  what  should  be  the  lot  and  portion  of  the 
'  Last  Times.      He  says,  (Second  to   Timothy,  Chapter  third, 

1  a  general  temper  visibly  bringing  out  in  practice. 


110     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

'  verses  second,  third,  fourth),  '  In  the  Last  Days  perilous 
'  times  shall  come ;  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves, 
'  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents, 

*  unthankful,1  and  so  on.    But  in  speaking  of  the  Antichristian 
'  state,  he  told  us  (First  to   Timothy,  Chapter  fourth,  verses 

*  first  and  second),  that  *  in  the  latter  days '  that  state  shall 

*  come  in  ;  "  not  the  last  days  but  the  latter," — wherein  ( there 

*  shall  be  a  departing  from  the  faith,  and  a  giving  heed  to 
'  seducing   spirits   and   doctrines   of  devils,   speaking   lies   in 

*  hypocrisy,'  and  so  on.      This  is  only  his  description  of  the 

*  latter  times,  or  those  of  Antichrist ;   and  we  are  given  to 
6  understand  that  there  are  last  times  coming,  which  will  be 
4  worse  !  * — And  surely  it  may  be  feared,  these  are  our  times. 
6  For   when  men  forget  all   rules  of  Law   and   Nature,  and 

*  break  all  the  bonds  that  fallen  man  hath  on  him ;  "  obscur- 

*  ing "  the  remainder  of  the  image  of  God  in  their  nature, 
'  which  they  cannot  blot  out,  and  yet  shall  endeavour  to  blot 

*  out,   '  having   a  form   of  godliness   without   the   power,1 — 

*  "  surely  "  these  are  sad  tokens  of  the  last  times ! 

4  And    indeed    the    character    wherewith    this    spirit    and 

*  principle  is  described   in   that  place  "  of  Scripture,"  is  so 
6  legible  and   visible,  that  he  who  runs  may  read   it  to  be 

1  There  is  no  express  mention  of  Antichrist  either  here  or  elsewhere  in  the 
Text  of  Timothy  at  all ;  but,  I  conclude,  a  full  conviction  on  the  part  of  Cromwell 
and  all  sound  Commentators  that  Antichrist  is  indubitably  shadowed  forth  there. 
Antichrist  means,  with  them  and  him,  the  Pope  ;  to  whom  Laud  etc. ,  with  his 
'  four  surplices  at  Allhallowtide  '  and  other  clothweb  and  cobweb  furniture,  are  of 
kindred.  *  We  have  got  rid  of  Antichrist,'  he  seems  to  intimate,  '  we  have  got 
pretty  well  done  with  Antichrist :  and  are  we  now  coming  to  something  worse  ? 
To  the  Levellers,  namely  !  The  Latter  times  are  over,  then ;  and  we  are  coming 
now  into  the  Last  times  ? '  It  is  on  this  contrast  of  comparative  and  superlative, 
Latter  and  Last>  that  Oliver's  logic  seems  to  ground  itself :  Paul  says  nothing  of 
Antichrist,  nor  anything  directly  of  the  one  time  being  worse  or  better  than  the 
other;  only  the  one  time  is  'latter,'  the  other  is  'last.' — This  paragraph  is  not 
important ;  but  to  gain  any  meaning  from  it  whatever,  some  small  changes  have 
been  necessary.  I  do  not  encumber  the  reader  with  double  samples  of  what  at 
best  is  grown  obsolete  to  him  :  such  as  wish  to  see  the  original  unadulterated  un- 
intelligibility,  will  find  it,  in  clear  print,  p.  321,  vol.  xx.  of  Parliamentary  Hutoryy 
^nd  satisfy  themselves  whether  I  have  read  well  or  ill. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  111 

'  amongst  us.  For  by  such  '  the  grace  of  God  is  turned  into 
'  wantonness,1  and  Christ  and  the  Spirit  of  God  made  a  cloak 
'  for  all  villany  and  spurious  apprehensions.  [  Threatening  to  go 
a  strange  course,  those  Antinomian,  Levelling,  day-dreaming 
'  Delusionists  of  ours  /]  And  though  nobody  will  own  these 
4  things  publicly  as  to  practice,  the  things  being  so  abominable 
'  and  odious;  yet  "the  consideration"  how  this  principle  extends 
6  itself,  and  whence  it  had  its  rise,  makes  me  to  think  of  a 

*  Second  sort  of  Men,  "  tending  in  the  same  direction  " ;   who, 
'  it 's  true,  as  I  said,  will  not  practise  nor  own  these  things,  yet 
4  can  tell  the  Magistrate  *  That  he  hath  nothing  to  do  with 

*  men  holding  such  notions:  These,  "forsooth,"  are  matters  of 

*  conscience  and  opinion  :  they  are  matters  of  Religion  ;  what 

*  hath  the  Magistrate  to  do  with  these  things  ?      He  is  to  look 
6  to  the  outward  man,  not  to  the  inward,' — "  and  so  forth." 

*  And  truly  it  so  happens  that  though  these  things  do  break 
6  out  visibly  to  all,  yet  the  principle  wherewith  these  things 
4  are  carried  on  so  forbids  the  Magistrate  to  meddle  with  them, 
'  that  it  hath  hitherto  kept  the  offenders  from  punishment.1 

6  Such  considerations,  and  pretensions  to  '  liberty  of  con- 

*  science,'  "  what  are  they  leading  us  towards  "  !      Liberty  of 
'  Conscience,  and   Liberty  of  the  Subject, — two  as  glorious 
'  things  to  be  contended  for,  as  any  that  God  hath  given  us ; 
(  yet  both  these  abused  for  the  patronising  of  villanies  !     In- 
6  somuch  that  it  hath  been  an  ordinary  thing  to  say,  and  in 
(  dispute  to  affirm,   '  That  the  restraining  of  such  pernicious 
fi  notions  was  not  in  the  Magistrate's  power ;   he  had  nothing 
4  to  do  with  it.      Not  so  much  as  the  printing  of  a  Bible  in 

1  The  latest  of  the  Commentators  says  :  'This  drossy  paragraph  has  not  much 
Political  Philosophy  in  it,  according  to  our  modern  established  Litany  of  "toler- 
ation," "  freedom  of  opinion,"  "  no  man  responsible  for  what  opinions  he  may 
form,"  etc.  etc.  ;  but  it  has  some  honest  human  sagacity  in  it,  of  a  much  more 
perennial  and  valuable  character.  Worth  looking  back  upon,  worth  looking 
up  towards, — as  the  blue  skies  and  stars  might  be,  if  through  the  great  deep 
element  of  "temporary  London  Fog"  there  were  any  chance  of  seeing  them! — 
Strange  exhalations  have  risen  upon  us,  and  the  Fog  is  very  deep :  neverthelesr 
very  indubitably  the  stars  still  are.' 


PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

4  the  Nation  for  the  use  of  the  People,  "  was  competent  to  the 
'  Magistrate,"  lest  it  should  be  imposed  upon  the  consciences 
'  of  men,' — for  4  they  would  receive  the  same  traditionally  and 
'  implicitly  from  the  Magistrate,  if  it  were  thus  received  !  * 
4  The  afore-mentioned  abominations  did  thus  swell  to  this 
4  height  among  us. 

4  "  So  likewise"  the  axe  was  laid  to  the  root  of  the  Ministry.1 
;  It  was  Antichristian,  it  was  Babylonish,  "said  they."  It 
4  suffered  under  such  a  judgment,  that  the  truth  is,  as  the 
4  extremity  was  great  according  to  the  former  system,2  I  wish 
4  it  prove  not  as  great  according  to  this.  The  former  ex- 
4  tremity  "we  suffered  under"  was,  That  no  man,  though  he  had 
*  never  so  good  a  testimony,  though  he  had  received  gifts  from 
4  Christ,  might  preach,  unless  ordained.  So  now  "  I  think  we 
4  are  at  the  other  extremity,  when  "  many  affirm,  That  he  who 
4  is  ordained  hath  a  nullity,  or  Antichristianism,  stamped 
6  "  thereby  "  upon  his  calling  ;  so  that  he  ought  not  to  preach, 
6  or  not  be  heard. — I  wish  it  may  not  be  too  justly  said,  That 
4  there  was  severity  and  sharpness  "  in  our  old  system  "  !  Yea, 
4  too  much  of  an  imposing  spirit  in  matters  of  conscience ;  a 
4  spirit  unchristian  enough  in  any  times,  most  unfit  for  these 
4  "  times  ; " — denying  liberty  "  of  conscience  "  to  men  who 
4  have  earned  it  with  their  blood;  who  have  earned  civil  liberty, 
4  and  religious  also,  for  those  [Stifled  murmurs  from  the 
4  Presbyterian  Sect]  who  would  thus  impose  upon  them ! — 

4  We  may  reckon  among  these  our  Spiritual  evils,  an  evil 
4  that  hath  more  refinedness  in  it,  more  colour  for  it,  and 
4  hath  deceived  more  people  of  integrity  than  the  rest  have 
4  done ; — for  few  have  been  catched  by  the  former  mistakes 
4  except  such  as  have  apostatised  from  their  holy  profession, 
4  such  as,  being  corrupt  in  their  consciences,  have  been  for- 
4  saken  by  God,  and  left  to  such  noisome  opinions.  But,  I 
4  say,  there  is  another  error  of  more  refined  sort ;  "  which  " 
4  many  honest  people  whose  hearts  are  sincere,  many  of  them 

1  Preaching  Clergy. 

8  '  on  that  hand '  in  orig.     He  alludes  to  the  Presbyterian  system. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  113 

*  belonging   to  God,   "  have   fallen   into " :    and   that  is   the 

*  mistaken  notion  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy ' — 

[Yes,  your  Highness  ! — But  will  his  Highness  and  the  old 
Parliament  be  pleased  here  to  pause  a  little,  till  a  faithful 
Editor  take  the  great  liberty  of  explaining  somewhat  to  the 
modern  part  of  the  audience  ?  Here  is  a  Note  saved  from 
destruction  ;  not  without  difficulty.  To  his  Highness  and  the 
old  Parliament  it  will  be  inaudible ;  to  them,  standing  very 
impassive, — serene,  immovable  in  the  fixedness  of  the  old 
Eternities, — it  will  be  no  hardship  to  wait  a  little !  And  to 
us  who  still  live  and  listen,  it  may  have  its  uses. 

'  The  common  mode  of  treating  Universal  History,'  says 
our  latest  impatient  Commentator,  '  not  yet  entirely  fallen 
obsolete  in  this  country,  though  it  has  been  abandoned  with 
much  ridicule  everywhere  else  for  half  a  century  now,  was  to 
group  the  Aggregate  Transactions  of  the  Human  Species  into 
Four  Monarchies  :  the  Assyrian  Monarchy  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  Company ;  the  Persian  of  Cyrus  and  ditto ;  the  Greek  of 
Alexander ;  and  lastly  the  Roman.  These  I  think  were  they, 
but  am  no  great  authority  on  the  subject.  Under  the  dregs 
of  this  last,  or  Roman  Empire,  which  is  maintained  yet  by 
express  name  in  Germany,  Das  lieilige  Romische  Reich,  we 
poor  moderns  still  live.  But  now  say  Major-General  Harrison 
and  a  number  of  men,  founding  on  Bible  Prophecies,  Now 
shall  be  a  Fifth  Monarchy,  by  far  the  blessedest  and  the  only 
real  one, — the  Monarchy  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Saints  reigning 
for  Him  here  on  Earth, — if  not  He  himself,  which  is  probable 

or  possible, — for  a  thousand  years,  etc.  etc. O  Heavens, 

there  are  tears  for  human  destiny  ;  and  immortal  Hope  itself 
is  beautiful  because  it  is  steeped  in  Sorrow,  and  foolish  Desire 
lies  vanquished  under  its  feet !  They  who  merely  laugh  at 
Harrison  take  but  a  small  portion  of  his  meaning  with  them. 
Thou,  with  some  tear  for  the  valiant  Harrison,  if  with  any 
thought  of  him  at  all,  tend  thou  also  valiantly,  in  thy  day 
and  generation,  whither  he  was  tending ;  and  know  that,  in 

VOL.  in.  H 


114     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

far  wider  and  diviner  figure  than  that  of  Harrison,  the 
Prophecy  is  very  sure, — that  it  shall  be  sure  while  one  brave 
man  survives  among  the  dim  bewildered  populations  of  this 
world.  Good  shall  reign  on  this  Earth :  has  not  the  Most 
High  said  it  ?  To  approve  Harrison,  to  justify  Harrison, 
will  avail  little  for  thee ;  go  and  do  likewise.  Go  and  do 
better,  thou  that  disapprovest  him.  Spend  thou  thy  life  for 
the  Eternal :  we  will  call  thee  also  brave,  and  remember  thee 
for  a  while  ! ' 

So  much  for  '  that  mistaken  notion  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy': 
and  now  his  Highness,  tragically  audible  across  the  Centuries, 
continues  again  :] 

'  — Fifth  Monarchy.  A  thing  pretending  more  spirituality 
4  than  anything  else.  A  notion  I  hope  we  all  honour,  and 
'  wait,  and  hope  for  "  the  fulfilment  of" :  That  Jesus  Christ 
'  will  have  a  time  to  set  up  His  Reign  in  our  hearts ;  by 
'  subduing  those  corruptions  and  lusts  and  evils  that  are 
'  there ;  which  now  reign  more  in  the  world  than,  I  hope,  in 
'  due  time  they  shall  do.  And  when  more  fulness  of  the 
4  Spirit  is  poured  forth  to  subdue  iniquity,  and  bring-in  ever- 
'  lasting  righteousness,  then  will  the  approach  of  that  glory 
4  be.  [Most  true  ; — and  not  till  then /]  The  carnal  divisions 
4  and  contentions  among  Christians,  so  common,  are  not  the 
'  symptoms  of  that  Kingdom  ! — But  for  men,  on  this  principle, 
4  to  betitle  themselves,  that  they  are  the  only  men  to  rule 
4  kingdoms,  govern  nations,  and  give  laws  to  people,  and 
'  determine-  of  property  and  liberty  and  everything  else, — 
'  upon  such  a  pretension  as  this  is  : — truly  they  had  need  to 

•  give  clear  manifestations  of  God's  presence  with  them,  before 
wise  men  will  receive  or  submit  to  their  conclusions  !    Never- 

*  theless,  as  many  of  these  men  have  good  meanings,  which  I 
'  hope  in  my  soul  they  have,  it   will  be  the  wisdom  of  all 
'  knowing  and  experienced  Christians  to   do   as   Jude   saith. 
'  "  Jude,"  when  he   reckoned-up  those  horrible  things,  done 
'  upon   pretences,  and   haply  by   some  upon   mistakes  :    '  Of 


1654]  SPEECH    II  115 

'  some,'    says    he,   '  have    compassion,    making    a    difference ; 

*  others   save  with  fear,  pulling  them    out  of  the  fire.'1      I 
'  fear  they  will  give  too  often  opportunity  for  this  exercise  ! 
4  But  I  hope  the  same  will  be  for  their  good.      If  men  do  but 
4  "  so  much  as  "  pretend  for  justice  and  righteousness,  and  be 
4  of  peaceable  spirits,  and  will  manifest  this,  let  them  be  the 
4  subjects  of  the  Magistrate's  encouragement.       And  if  the 
'  Magistrate,  by  punishing  visible  miscarriages,  save  them  by 
6  that  discipline,  God  having  ordained  him  for  that  end, — I 
'  hope  it  will  evidence  love  and  not  hatred,  "  so "  to  punish 
6  where  there  is  cause.      [Hear  /] 

(  Indeed  this  is  that  which  doth  most  declare  the  danger2 
6  of  that  spirit.  For  if  these  were  but  notions, — I  mean 
'  these  instances  I  have  given  you  of  dangerous  doctrines  both 
1  in  Civil  things  and  Spiritual ;  if,  I  say,  they  were  but 
6  notions,  they  were  best  let  alone.  Notions  will  hurt  none 
'  but  those  that  have  them.  But  when  they  come  to  such 
'  practices  as  telling  us,  "  for  instance,"  That  Liberty  and 

*  Property  are   not  the   badges  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ ; 
1  when  they  tell  us,  not  that  we  are  to  regulate  Law,  but 
6  that  Law  is  to  be  abrogated,  indeed  subverted ;  and  perhaps 
'  wish  to  bring  in  the  Judaical  Law ' — 

[Latest  Commentator  loquitur :  '  This,  as  we  observed,  was 
the  cry  that  Westminster  raised  when  the  Little  Parliament 
set  about  reforming  Chancery.  What  countenance  this  of  the 
Mosaic  Law  might  have  had  from  Harrison  and  his  minority, 
one  does  not  know.  Probably  they  did  find  the  Mosaic  Law, 
in  some  of  its  enactments,  more  cognate  to  Eternal  Justice 
and  "  the  mind  of  God "  than  Westminster-Hall  Law  was ; 
and  so  might  reproachfully  or  admonitorily  appeal  to  it  on 
occasion,  as  they  had  the  clearest  title  and  call  to  do  :  but 
the  clamour  itself,  as  significant  of  any  practical  intention,  on 

1  Jude,  22,  23.     A  passage  his  Highness  frequently  refers  to. 

2  This  fact,  that  they  come  so  often  to  '  visible  miscarriages,'  these  Fifth- 
Monarchists  and  Speculative  Levellers,  who  '  have  good  meanings.* 


116     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

the  part  of  that  Parliament,  or  of  any  considerable  Sect  in 
England,  to  bring-in  the  Mosaic  Law,  is  very  clearly  a  long- 
wigged  one,  rising  from  the  Chancery  regions,  and  is  descrip- 
tive of  nothing  but  of  the  humour  that  prevailed  there.  His 
Highness  alludes  to  it  in  passing;  and  from  him  it  was  hardly 
worth  even  that  allusion.'] 

*  — Judaical  Law ;  instead  of  our  known  laws  settled  among 
4  us  :  this  is  worthy  of  every  Magistrate's  consideration. 
4  Especially  where  every  stone  is  turned  to  bring  in  confusion. 
4  I  think,  I  say,  this  will  be  worthy  of  the  Magistrate's  con- 
4  sideration.  [Shall  he  step  beyond  his  province,  then,  your 
Highness  ?  And  interfere  with  freedom  of  opinion  ? — 4  / 
think,  I  say,  it  will  be  worth  his  while  to  consider  about  it ! '] 
6  Whilst  these  things  were  in  the  midst  of  us ;  and  whilst 
4  the  Nation  was  rent  and  torn  in  spirit  and  principle  from 
4  one  end  to  the  other,  after  this  sort  and  manner  I  have 
4  now  told  you ;  family  against  family,  husband  against  wife, 
'-  parents  against  children ;  and  nothing  in  the  hearts  and 
4  minds  of  men  but  4  Overturn,  overturn,  overturn  ! '  (a 
4  Scripture  phrase  very  much  abused,  and  applied  to  justify 
4  unpeaceable  practices  by  all  men  of  discontented  spirits), — 
4  the  common  Enemy  sleeps  not :  our  adversaries  in  civil  and 
4  religious  respects  did  take  advantage  of  these  distractions 
4  and  divisions,  and  did  practise  accordingly  in  the  three 
4  Nations  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  We  know  very 
4  well  that  Emissaries  of  the  Jesuits  never  came  in  such 
4  swarms  as  they  have  done  since  those  things  l  were  set  on 
4  foot.  And  I  tell  you  that  divers  Gentlemen  here  can  bear 
4  witness  with  me  How  that  they,  44  the  Jesuits,"  have  had  a 
4  Consistory  abroad  which  rules  all  the  affairs  of  things 
4  [4  Affairs  of  thing's ' :  rough  and  ready  /]  in  England,  from 
4  an  Archbishop  down  to  the  other  dependants  upon  him. 
4  And  they  had  fixed  in  England, — of  which  we  are  able  to 
4  produce  the  particular  Instruments  in  most  of  the  limits  of 
1  Speculations  of  the  Levellers,  Fifth-Monarchists,  etc.  etc. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  117 

4  their  Cathedrals  "  or  pretended  Dioceses,*" — an  Episcopal 
4  Power  [Regular  Episcopacy  of  their  own!],  with  Archdeacons, 
4  etc.  And  had  persons  authorised  to  exercise  and  distribute 
4  those  things  [/  begin  to  love  that  rough-and-ready  method,  in 
4  comparison  with  some  others  !] ;  who  pervert  and  deceive  the 
4  people.  And  all  this,  while  we  were  in  that  sad,  and  as  I 

said  deplorable  condition. 
'  And  in  the  mean  time  all  endeavours  possible  were  used 

to  hinder  the  work  "  of  God  "  in  Ireland,  and  the  progress  of 
4  the  work  of  God  in  Scotland  ;  by  continual  intelligences  and 
4  correspondences,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  from  hence  into 
4  Ireland,  and  from  hence  into  Scotland.1  Persons  were  stirred 
4  up,  from  our  divisions  and  discomposure  of  affairs,  to  do  all 
4  they  could  to  ferment  the  War  in  both  these  places.  To 
4  add  yet  to  our  misery,  whilst  we  were  in  this  condition,  we 

*  were  in  a  "foreign"  War.      Deeply  engaged  in  War  with 
4  the  Portuguese  ;2  whereby  our  Trade  ceased  :  the  evil  con- 
'  sequences  by  that  War  were  manifest  and  very  considerable. 

*  And  not  only  this,  but  we  had  a  War  with  Holland ;  con- 
4  suming  our  treasure ;  occasioning  a  vast  burden  upon  the 
4  people.      A  War  that  cost  this  Nation  full  as  much  as  the 
4  "  whole  "  Taxes  came  unto  ;  the  Navy  being  a  Hundred-and- 
4  sixty  Ships,  which  cost  thi?  Nation  above  100,OOOZ.  a-month  ; 
4  besides  the  contingencies,   which  would  make  it   120,OOOZ. 
4  That  very  one  War  [sic]  did  engage  us  to  so  great  a  charge. 
4  — At  the  same  time  also  we  were  in  a  War  with  France.      [A 

Bickering  and  Skirmishing  and  Liability  to  War  ,-8 — Mazarin 
4  as  yet  thinking  our  side  the  weaker.]  The  advantages  that 
4  were  taken  of  the  discontents  and  divisions  among  ourselves 
4  did  also  ferment  that  War,  and  at  least  hinder  us  of  an 
4  honourable  peace ;  every  man  being  confident  we  could  not 
4  hold-out  long.  And  surely  they  did  not  calculate  amiss,  if 
4  the  Lord  had  not  been  exceedingly  gracious  to  us  !  I  say, 

1  Middleton-Glencairn  Revolts,  and  what  not. 

2  Who  protected  Rupert  in  his  quasi-piracies,  and  did  require  chastisement 
from  us.  3  See  Appendix,  No.  28. 


118     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [4  SEPT, 

*  at  the  same  time  we  had  a  War  with  France.      [Yes*  your 
1  Highness   said  so, — and   we   admit   it!]     And   besides   the 
6  sufferings  in  respect  to  the  Trade  of  the  Nation,  it 's  most 
4  evident  that  the  Purse  of  the  Nation   could  not  have  been 
4  able  much  longer  to  bear  it, — by  reason  of  the  advantages 
4  taken  by  other  States  to  improve  their  own,  and  spoil   our 
6  Manufacture  of  Cloth,  and  hinder  the  vent  thereof;  which 
6  is  the  great  staple  commodity  of  this  Nation  [And  has  con- 
4  tinned  to  be  /].   Such  was  our  condition  :  spoiled  in  our  Trade, 
4  and  we  at  this  vast  expense ;  thus  dissettled  at  home,  and 
4  having  these  engagements  abroad. 

*  Things  being  so, — and  I  am  persuaded  it  is  not  hard  to 
4  convince  every  person  here  they  were  so, — what  a  heap 
4  of  confusions  were  upon  these  poor  Nations  !  And  either 
4  things  must  have  been  left  to  sink  into  the  miseries  these 
4  premises  would  suppose,  or  else  a  remedy  must  be  applied. 
6  [Apparently!]  A  remedy  hath  been  applied:  that  hath  been 
4  this  Government  ;x  a  thing  I  shall  say  little  unto.  The 
4  thing  is  open  and  visible  to  be  seen  and  read  by  all  men ; 
4  and  therefore  let  it  speak  for  itself.  [Even  so,  your  High- 
ness ;  there  is  a  silence  prouder  and  nobler  than  any  speech 
6  one  is  used  to  hear.]  Only  let  me  say  this, — because  I  can 

*  speak  it  with  comfort  and  confidence  before  a  Greater  than 
4  you  all :     That  in  the  intention  of  it,  as  to  the  approving 
4  of  our  hearts  to  God,  let  men  judge  as  they  please,  it  was 
4  calculated  "  with  our  best  wisdom  "  for  the  interest  of  the 
4  People.      For  the  interest  of  the  People  alone,  and  for  their 
6  good,  without  respect  had  to  any  other  interest.      And  if 
4  that  be  not  true  [  With  animation  /],  I  shall  be  bold  to  say 
4  again,    Let    it    speak   for   itself.      Truly   I    may, — I   hope, 
4  humbly  before  God,  and  modestly  before  you, — say  some- 
4  what  on   the   behalf  of  the   Government.      [Recite  a  little 

1  He  means,  and  his  hearers  understand  him  to  mean,  *  Form  of  Government ' 
mainly ;  but  he  diverges  now  and  then  into  our  modern  acceptation  of  the  word 
'  Government,' — Administration  or  Supreme  Authority. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  119 

'  what  it '  speaks  for  itself,"*  after  all  ?~\  Not  that  I  would  dis- 
'  course  of  the  particular  heads  of  it,  but  acquaint  you  a  little 
'  with  the  effects  it  has  had  :  and  this  not  for  ostentation's 
'  sake,  but  to  the  end  I  may  at  this  time  deal  faithfully  with 
'  you,  and  acquaint  you  with  the  state  of  things,  and  what 

*  proceedings  have  been  entered  into  by  l  this  Government,  and 
'  what  the  state  of  our  affairs  is.      This  is  the  main  end  of  my 
'  putting  you  to  this  trouble. 

6  The  Government  hath  had   some  things  in  desire ;  and 

*  it   hath   done   some   things   actually.      It    hath    desired   to 
6  reform  the  Laws.      I  say  to  reform  them  [Hear  /]  : — and  for 
'  that  end  it  hath  called  together  Persons,  without  offence  be 

*  it  spoken,  of  as  great  ability  and  as  great  interest  as  are  in 
'  these  Nations, 2  to  consider  how  the  Laws  might  be   made 
4  plain  and  short,  and  less  chargeable  to  the  People ;  how  to 

*  lessen   expense,  for   the   good  of  the   Nation.      And   those 
4  things  are  in  preparation,  and  Bills  prepared ;  which  in  due 
'  time,   I  make  no  question,  will  be  tendered  to  you.      "  In 
'  the  mean  while"  there   hath  been  care  taken  to   put   the 
'  administration    of  the   Laws   into   the   hands  of  just   men 
'  [Matthew    Hale,  for   instance] ;    men   of  the    most    known 
'  integrity  and  ability.    The  Chancery  hath  been  reformed ' — 

[FROM  THE  MODERNS  i  '  Only  to  a  very  small  extent  and  in 
a  very  temporary  manner,  your  Highness  !  His  Highness 
returns  upon  the  Law,  on  subsequent  occasions,  and  finds  the 
reform  of  it  still  a  very  pressing  matter.  Difficult  to  sweep 
the  intricate  foul  chimneys  of  Law  his  Highness  found  it, — 
as  we  after  two  centuries  of  new  soot  and  accumulation  now 
acknowledge  on  all  hands,  with  a  sort  of  silent  despair,  a 
silent  wonder  each  one  of  us  to  himself,  "  What,  in  God's 
name,  is  to  become  of  all  that  ?  " '] 

'  — hath  been  reformed  ;  I  hope,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  good 

1  '  been  upon  '  in  orig. 

8  Ordinance  for  the  Reform  of  Chancery  :  antea,  p.  93. 


120     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

4  men:  and  as  for  the  things,  4or  causes,1  depending  there, 
4  which  made  the  burden  and  work  of  the  honourable  Persons 
6  intrusted  in  those  services  too  heavy  for  their  ability,  it l 
'  hath  referred  many  of  them  to  those  places  where  Englishmen 
4  love  to  have  their  rights  tried,  the  Courts  of  Law  at  West- 
'  minster. 

*  This  Government  hath,  "  farther,""  endeavoured  to  put  a 
4  stop  to  that  heady  way  (likewise  touched  of  "  in  our  Sermon*' 
4  this  day)  of  every  man  making  himself  a  Minister  and 
4  Preacher.  [Commission  of  Triers ;  Yea  /]  It  hath  endea- 
4  voured  to  settle  a  method  for  the  approving  and  sanctioning 

*  of  men  of  piety  and  ability  to  discharge  that  work.      And  I 
4  think  I  may  say  it  hath  committed  the  business  to  the  trust 
6  of  Persons,  both  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Independent  judg- 
6  ments,  of  as  known  ability,  piety  and  integrity,  as  any,  I 
'  believe,  this  Nation  hath.      And  I  believe  also  that,  in  that 

*  care  they  have  taken,  they  have  laboured  to  approve  them- 
4  selves  to  Christ,  to  the  Nation  and  to  their  own  consciences. 

*  And  indeed  I  think,  if  there  be  anything  of  quarrel  against 
4  them, — though  I  am  not  here  to  justify  the  proceedings  of 
4  any, — it  is  that  they,  44  in  fact,"  go  upon  such  a  character  as 
4  the  Scripture  warrants  :  To  put  men  into  that  great  Employ- 
4  ment,  and  to  approve  men  for  it,  who  are  men  that  have 
4  4  received  gifts  from  Him  that  ascended  up  on  high,  and  gave 
4  gifts '  for  the  work  of  the  Ministry,  and  for  the  edifying  of 
4  the  Body  of  Christ.      The  Government  hath  also  taken  care, 
4  we  hope,  for  the  expulsion  [Commission  of  Expurgation,  too,] 
4  of  all  those  who  may  be  judged  any  way  unfit  for  this  work ; 
4  who  are  scandalous,  and  the  common  scorn  and  contempt  of 
4  that  function. 

4  One  thing   more    this    Government   hath  done :    it   hath 

4  been  instrumental  to  call  a  free  Parliament ; — which,  blessed 

4  be  God,  we  see  here  this  day  !      I  say,  a  free  Parliament. 

'  \Mark  the  iteration  /]     And  that  it  may  continue  so,  I  hope 

1  The  Government. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  121 

*  is  in  the  heart  and  spirit  of  every  good  man  in  England, — 
'  save  such  discontented  persons  as  I  have  formerly  mentioned 
4  It's  that  which  as  I  have  desired  above  my  life,  so  I  shall 
'  desire  to  keep  it  above  my  life.      [Verity?]  — 

6  I  did  before  mention  to  you  the  plunges  we  were  in 
4  with  respect  to  Foreign  States ;  by  the  War  with  Portugal, 
'  France,  the  Dutch,  the  Danes,  and  the  little  assurance  we 
6  had  from  any  of  our  neighbours  round  about.  I  perhaps 
'  forgot,  but  indeed  it  was  a  caution  upon  my  mind,  and  I 
'  desire  now  it  may  be  so  understood,  That  if  any  good  hath 
'  been  done,  it  was  the  Lord,  not  we  His  poor  instruments.' — 

[Pity  if  this  pass  entirely  for  '  cant,'  my  esteemed  modern 
friends  !  It  is  not  cant,  nor  ought  to  be.  O  Higginbotham, 
there  is  a  Selbsttodtung,  a  killing  of  Self,  as  my  friend  Novalis 
calls  it,  which  is,  was,  and  for  ever  will  be,  '  the  beginning 
of  all  morality,'  of  all  real  work  and  worth  for  man  under 
this  Sun.] 

'  — I  did  instance  the  Wars  ;  which  did  exhaust  your  treasure; 

*  and  put  you  into  such  a  condition  that  you  must  have  sunk 

*  therein,  if  it  had  continued  but  a  few  months  longer :  this 
'  I   can  affirm,  if  strong   probability  may  be   a  fit  ground. 

*  And  now  you  have,  though  it  be  not  the  first  in  time, — 
(  Peace  with  Swedeland ;  an  honourable  peace ;  through  the 
6  endeavours   of  an   honourable   Person    here   present  as  the 

*  instrument.      \W~hiilocke  seen  blushing!']  I  say  you  have  an 
(  honourable  peace  with  a  Kingdom  which,  not  many  years 

*  since,   was   much   a   friend   to   France,   and   lately   perhaps 
'  inclinable   enough   to   the   Spaniard.       And    I    believe   you 

*  expect  not  much  good  from  any  of  your  Catholic  neighbours 

*  [No  ,•  we  are  not  exactly  their  darlings !]  ;  nor  yet  that  they 
'  would  be  very  willing  you  should  have  a  good  understanding 

*  with  your  Protestant  friends.      Yet,  thanks  be  to  God,  that 
4  Peace  is  concluded ;  and  as  I  said  before,  it  is  an  honourable 
'  Peace. 


PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

*  You   have   a  Peace  with  the  Danes, — a  State  that   lay 
4  contiguous  to  that  part  of  this  Island  which  hath  given  us 
4  the  most  trouble.     [Your  Montroses,  Middletons  came  always, 

with  their  Mosstroopers  and  Harpy  hosts,  out  of  the  Danish 
4  quarter.]  And  certainly  if  your  enemies  abroad  be  able  to 
4  annoy  you,  it  is  likely  they  will  take  their  advantage  (where 
4  it  best  lies)  to  give  you  trouble  from  that  country.  But  you 
4  have  a  Peace  there,  and  an  honourable  one.  Satisfaction 
4  to  your  Merchants"  ships ;  not  only  to  their  content,  but  to 
4  their  rejoicing.1  I  believe  you  will  easily  know  it  is  so, — 
4  "  an  honourable  peace."  You  have  the  Sound  open  ;  which 
4  used  to  be  obstructed.  That  which  was  and  is  the  strength 
4  of  this  Nation,  the  Shipping,  will  now  be  supplied  thence. 
4  And  whereas  you  were  glad  to  have  anything  of  that  kind 2 
4  at  secondhand,  you  have  now  all  manner  of  commerce  there, 
6  and  at  as  much  freedom  as  the  Dutch  themselves,  "  who 
4  used  to  be  the  carriers  and  venders  of  it  to  us  " ;  and  at  the 
'  same  rates  and  tolls ; — and  I  think,  by  that  Peace,  the  said 
4  rates  now  fixed-upon  cannot  be  raised  to  you  "  in  future." 

*  You  have  a  Peace  with  the  Dutch  :  a  Peace  unto  which 
4  I  shall  say  little,  seeing  it  is  so  well  known  in  the  benefit 
4  and  consequences  thereof.      And  I  think  it  was  as  desirable, 
4  and  as  acceptable  to  the  spirit  of  this  Nation,  as  any  one 
4  thing  that  lay  before  us.       And,  as  I   believe  nothing  so 
4  much  gratified  our  enemies  as  to  see  us  at  odds  "  with  that 
4  Commonwealth " ;  so  I  persuade  myself  nothing  is  of  more 
4  terror  or  trouble  to  them  than  to  see  us  thus  reconciled. 
4  4<  Truly  "  as  a  Peace  with  the  Protestant  States  hath  much 
4  security  in  it,  so  it  hath  as  much  of  honour  and  of  assurance 
4  to  the  Protestant  Interest  abroad ;  without  which  no  assist- 

1  'Danish  claims  settled,'  as  was  already  said  somewhere,  'on  the  3ist  of 
July ' :  Dutch  and  English  Commissioners  did  it,  in  Goldsmiths '  Hall ;  met  on 
the  27th  of  June  ;  if  the  business  were  not  done  when  August  began,  they  were 
then  to  be  '  shut-up  without  fire,  candle,  meat  or  drink,' — and  to  do  it  out  very 
speedily  !  They  allowed  our  Merchants  98,0007.  for  damages  against  the  Danes. 
(Godwin,  iv.  49, — who  cites  Dumont,  Traitf  24.} 

2  Baltic  Produce,  namely. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  123 

4  ance  can  be  given  thereunto.  I  wish  it  may  be  written  upon 
4  our  hearts  to  be  zealous  for  that  Interest !  For  if  ever  it 
4  were  like  to  come  under  a  condition  of  suffering,  it  is  now. 

*  In  all  the  Emperor's  Patrimonial  Territories,  the  endeavour 
4  is  to  drive  the  Protestant  part  of  the  .people  out,  as  fast  as 
4  is  possible ;  and  they  are  necessitated  to  run  to  Protestant 
4  States  to  seek  their  bread.       And   by  this  conjunction  of 
4  Interests,  I  hope  you  will  be  in  a  more  fit  capacity  to  help 
4  them.      And  it  begets  some  reviving  of  their  spirits,  that 
4  you  will  help  them  as  opportunity  shall  serve.      [  We  will  /] 

6  You  have  a  Peace  likewise  with  the  Crown  of  Portugal ; 
4  which  Peace,  though  it  hung  long  in  hand,  yet  is  lately 
4  concluded.  It  is  a  Peace  which,  your  Merchants  make  us 
4  believe,  is  of  good  concernment  to  their  trade ;  the  rate  of 
4  insurance  to  that  Country  having  been  higher,  and  so  the 
4  profit  which  could  bear  such  rate,1  than  to  other  places. 

*  And  one  thing  hath   been  obtained   in  this  treaty,  which 

*  never  "  before  "  was,  since  the  Inquisition  was  set  up  there : 
4  That  our  people  which  trade  thither  have  Liberty  of  Con- 
4  science, — 4  liberty  to  worship  in  Chapels  of  their  own.' 

4  Indeed,  Peace  is,  as  you  were  well  told  today,  desirable 
4  with  all  men,  as  far  as  it  may  be  had  with  conscience  and 
4  honour !  We  are  upon  a  Treaty  with  France.  And  we 
4  may  say  this,  That  if  God  give  us  honour  in  the  eyes  of  the 
4  Nations  about  us,  we  have  reason  to  bless  Him  for  it,  and 
4  so  to  own  it.  And  I  dare  say  that  there  is  not  a  Nation 
4  in  Europe  but  is  very  willing  to  ask  a  good  understanding 
4  with  you. 

4  I  am  sorry  I  am  thus  tedious  :  but  I  did  judge  that  it 
4  was  somewhat  necessary  to  acquaint  you  with  these  things. 
4  And  things  being  so, — I  hope  you  will  not  be  unwilling  to 
4  hear  a  little  again  of  the  Sharp  as  well  as  of  the  Sweet ! 
4  And  I  should  not  be  faithful  to  you,  nor  to  the  interest  of 
4  these  Nations  which  you  and  I  serve,  if  I  did  not  let  you 
4  know  all. 

1  '  their  assurance  being  greater,  and  so  their  profit  in  trade  thither,'  in  orig. 


PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

'  As  I  said  before,  when  this  Government  was  undertaken, 

*  we  were  in  the  midst  of  those  "  domestic  "  divisions  and  ani- 
'  mosities  and  scatterings ;  engaged  also  with  those  "  foreign  " 
'  enemies  round  about  us,  at  such  a  vast  charge, — 120,0007. 
'  a-month   for   the   very   Fleet.       Which   sum   was   the   very 
4  utmost  penny  of  your  Assessments.      Ay ;  and  then  all  your 
4  treasure   was  exhausted    and   spent  when   this  Government 
4  was  undertaken :  all  accidental  ways  of  bringing-in  treasure 
4  "  were,"    to    a    very    inconsiderable    sum,    consumed  ; — the 
4  "  forfeited "  Lands  sold,  the  sums  on  hand   spent ;   Rents, 
4  Fee-farms,   Delinquents'    Lands,    King's,    Queen's,   Bishops1, 
4  Dean-and- Chapters'  Lands,   sold.      These   were   spent   when 
4  this  Government  was  undertaken.      I  think  it's  my  duty  to 
4  let  you  know  so  much.      And   that's  the  reason  why  the 
;  Taxes  do  yet  lie  so  heavy  upon  the  People ; — of  which  we 
'  have  abated   30,0007.  a-month  for  the  next  three  months. 
4  Truly  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  let  you  know,  That  though 
4  God  hath  dealt  thus  "  bountifully  "  with  you, *  yet  these  are 

*  but  entrances  and  doors  of  hope.      Whereby,  through  the 

*  blessing  of  God,  you  may  enter  into  rest  and  peace.      But 
4  you  are  not  yet  entered  !      [Looking  up,  with  a  mournful  toss 

of  the  head,  I  think. — 4  Ah,  no,  your  Highness ;  not  yet ! '] 

'  You  were  told  today  of  a  People  brought  out  of  Egypt 
4  towards  the  Land  of  Canaan;  but  through  unbelief,  murmur- 
4  ing,  repining,  and  other  temptations  and  sins  wherewith  God 
4  was  provoked,  they  were  fain  to  come  back  again,  and  linger 
4  many  years  in  the  Wilderness  before  they  came  to  the  Place 
4  of  Rest.  We  are  thus  far,  through  the  mercy  of  God.  We 
4  have  cause  to  take  notice  of  it,  That  we  are  not  brought  into 
4  misery,  "  not  totally  wrecked  " ;  but  "  have,"  as  I  said  before, 

*  a  door  of  hope  open.      And  I  may  say  this  to  you  :   If  the 
4  Lord's  blessing  and  His  presence  go  along  with  the  manage- 
4  ment  of  affairs  at  this  Meeting,  you  will  be  enabled  to  put 
6  the  topstone  to  the  work,  and  make  the  Nation  happy.     But 
6  this  must  be  by  knowing  the  true  state  of  affairs  !   [Hear !] 

1   In  regard  to  our  Successes  and  Treaties,  etc.  enumerated  above. 


1654]  SPEECH    II  125 

4  You  are  yet,  like  the  People  under  Circumcision,  but  raw.1 

*  Your  Peaces  are  but  newly  made.      And  it 's  a  maxim  not  to 
6  be  despised,  4  Though  peace  be  made,  yet  it 's  interest  that 
4  keeps  peace ' ; — and  I  hope  you  will  not  trust  such  peace 
4  except  so  far  as  you  see  interest  upon  it.     "But  all  settlement 
4  grows  stronger  by  mere  continuance."     And  therefore  I  wish 
4  that  you  may  go  forward,  and  not  backward;  and  "in  brief" 
6  that  you  may  have  the  blessing  of  God  upon  your  endeavours ! 
4  It 's  one  of  the  great  ends  of  calling  this  Parliament,  that 
4  the  Ship  of  the  Commonwealth  may  be  brought  into  a  safe 
4  harbour ;   which,  I  assure  you,  it  will  not  be,  without  your 
4  counsel  and  advice. 

6  You   have   great   works   upon   your   hands.       You    have 

*  Ireland   to   look   unto.       There   is   not  much  done  to   the 
6  Planting  thereof,  though  some  things  leading  and  preparing 
4  for  it  are.      It  is  a  great  business  to  settle  the  Government 
'  of  that  Nation  upon  fit  terms,  such  as  will  bear  that  work2 
4  through. — You  have  had  laid  before  you  some  considerations, 
4  intimating  your  peace  with  several  foreign  States.      But  yet 

*  you  have  not  made  peace  with  all.      And  if  they  should  see 
4  we   do    not    manage   our   affairs   with   that   wisdom    which 
4  becomes  us, — truly  we  may  sink  under  disadvantages,  for  all 

*  that's  done.      [Truly,  your  Highness /]     And  our  enemies 

*  will  have  their  eyes  open,  and   be  revived,  if  they  see  ani- 

*  mosities    amongst   us ;    which   indeed    will    be    their   great 

*  advantage. 

4  I  do  therefore  persuade  you  to  a  sweet,  gracious  and  holy 
'  understanding  of  one  another,  and  of  your  business.  [Alas!] 
4  Concerning  which  you  had  so  good  counsel  this  day ;  which 
4  as  it  rejoiced  my  heart  to  hear,  so  I  hope  the  Lord  will 
4  imprint  it  upon  your  spirits, — wherein  you  shall  have  my 
4  Prayers.  [Prayers,  your  Highness  ? — If  this  be  not  4  cant,"1 

1  See,  \njoshua  v.  2-8,  the  whole  Jewish  Nation  circumcised  at  once.     So, 
too,  your  Settlements  oi  Discord  are  yet  but  indifferently  cicatrised. 

2  Of  planting  Ireland  with  persons  that  will  plough  and  pray,  instead  of  quarrel 
and  blarney  ! 


126     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [4  SEPT. 

what  a  noble  thing  is  it,  O  reader!      Worth  thinking  of ] for 

a  moment^\ 

6  Having  said  this,  and  perhaps  omitted  many  other 
6  material  things  through  the  frailty  of  my  memory,  I  shall 
6  exercise  plainness  and  freeness  with  you ;  and  say,  That  I 
4  have  not  spoken  these  things  as  one  who  assumes  to  himself 
'  dominion  over  you ;  but  as  one  who  doth  resolve  to  be  a 
6  fellow-servant  with  you  to  the  interest  of  these  great  affairs, 
'  and  of  the  People  of  these  Nations.  I  shall  trouble  you  no 
'  longer ;  but  desire  you  to  repair  to  your  House,  and  to 
*  exercise  your  own  liberty  in  the  choice  of  a  Speaker,  that  so 
'  you  may  lose  no  time  in  carrying  on  your  work.'  * 

At  this  Speech,  say  the  old  Newspapers,  *  all  generally 
seemed  abundantly  to  rejoice,  by  extraordinary  expressions 
and  hums  at  the  conclusion,' — Hum-m-m  ! *  '  His  Highness 
withdrew  into  the  old  House  of  Lords,  and  the  Members  of 
Parliament  into  the  Parliament  House.  His  Highness,  so 
soon  as  the  Parliament  were  gone  to  their  House,  went  back 
to  Whitehall,  privately  in  his  barge,  by  water.' 

This  Report  of  Speech  Second,  'taken  by  one  that  stood 
near,'  and  '  published  to  prevent  mistakes,'  may  be  considered 
as  exact  enough  in  respect  of  matter,  but  in  manner  and  style 
it  is  probably  not  so  close  to  the  Original  Deliverance  as  the 
foregoing  Speech  was.  He  4  who  stood  near '  on  this  occasion 
seems  to  have  had  some  conceit  in  his  abilities,  as  a  Reporter ; 
has  pared  off  excrescences,  peculiarities, — somewhat  desirous  to 
present  the  Portrait  of  his  Highness  without  the  warts.  He, 
or  his  Parliamentary-History  Editor  and  he,  have,  for  one  thing, 
very  arbitrarily  divided  the  Discourse  into  little  fractional  para- 
graphs ;  which  a  good  deal  obstruct  the  sense  here  and  there : 
and  have  accordingly  been  disregarded  in  our  Transcript.  Our 

*  Old  Pamphlet  cited  above  :   reprinted  in  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  318-33. 
1  Cromwelliana,  p.   147  ;   see  ftlso   Guibon  Goddard,  Member  for  Lynn  (in 
Burton,  i.  Introd.  p  xviii.). 


1654]  SPEECH    III  127 

changes,  which,  as  before,  have  been  insignificant,  are  indicated 
wherever  they  seem  to  have  importance  or  physiognomic  char- 
acter,— indicated  too  often,  perhaps,  for  the  reader's  con- 
venience. As  to  the  meaning,  I  have  not  anywhere  remained 
in  doubt,  after  due  study.  The  rough  Speech  when  read 
faithfully  becomes  transparent,  every  word  of  it ;  credible, 
calculated  to  produce  conviction,  every  word  of  it ; — and  that 
I  suppose  is  or  should  be,  as  our  impatient  Commentator  says, 
'  the  definition  of  a  good  Speech.  Other  "good  speeches,' ' '  con- 
tinues he,  *  ought  to  be  spoken  in  Bedlam; — unless,  indeed,  you 
will  concede  them  Drury  Lane,  and  admittance  one  shilling. 
Spoken  in  other  localities  than  these,  without  belief  on  the 
speaker's  part,  or  hope  or  chance  of  producing  belief  on  the 
hearer's — Ye  Heavens,  as  if  the  good-speeching  individual 
were  some  frightful  Wood-and-leather  Man,  made  at  Niirnberg, 
and  tenanted  by  a  Devil ;  set  to  increase  the  Sum  of  Human 
Madness,  instead  of  lessening  it —  ! ' — But  we  here  cut-short 
our  impatient  Commentator. — The  Reporter  of  Cromwell,  we 
may  say  for  ourselves,  like  the  painter  of  him,  has  not  to 
suppress  the  warts,  the  natural  rugged  physiognomy  of  the 
man  ;  which  only  very  poor  tastes  would  exchange  for  any 
other.  He  has  to  wash  the  natural  face  clean,  however ;  that 
men  may  see  it,  and  not  the  opaque  mass  of  mere  soot,  and 
featureless  confusions  which,  in  two  Centuries  of  considerable 
Stupidity  in  regard  to  that  matter,  have  settled  there. 


SPEECH    III 

THIS  First  Protectorate  Parliament,  we  said,  was  not  suc- 
cessful. It  chose,  judiciously  enough,  old  Lenthall  for  Speaker; 
appointed,  judiciously  enough,  a  Day  of  general  Fasting  :— 
but  took,  directly  after  that,  into  constitutional  debate  about 
Sanctioning  the  Form  of  Government  (which  nobody  was 
specially  asking  it  to  '  sanction ') ;  about  Parliament  and 
Single  Person  ;  powers  of  Single  Person  and  of  Parliament  ; 


128     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

Coordination,  Subordination  ;  and  other  bottomless  subjects ; 
— in  which  getting  always  the  deeper  the  more  it  puddled  in 
them,  inquiry  or  intimation  of  inquiry  rose  not  obscurely  in 
the  distance,  Whether  this  Government  should  be  by  a  Parlia- 
ment and  Single  Person  ?  These  things  the  honourable 
gentlemen,  with  true  industry,  debated  in  Grand  Committee, 
'  from  eight  in  the  morning  till  eight  at  night,  with  an  hour 
for  refreshment  about  noon,'  debates  waxing  ever  hotter, 
question  ever  more  abstruse,  —  through  Friday,  Saturday, 
Monday ;  ready,  if  Heaven  spared  them,  to  debate  it  farther 
for  unlimited  days.  Constitutional  Presbyterian  persons,  Use- 
and- wont  Neuters  ;  not  without  a  spicing  of  sour  Republicans, 
as  Bradshaw,  Haselrig,  Scott,  to  keep  the  batch  in  leaven. 

His  Highness  naturally  perceived  that  this  would  never  do, 
not  this ; — sent  therefore  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  late  on  Monday 
night  I  think,  to  look  after  the  peace  of  the  City ;  to  Speaker 
Lenthall,  that  he  must  bring  his  people  to  the  Painted 
Chamber,  before  going  farther :  and  early  on  Tuesday  morning, 
poor  Mr.  Guibon  Goddard,  Member  for  Lynn,  just  about  to 
proceed  again,  from  the  Eastern  parts,  towards  his  sublime 
constitutional  day's- work,  is  overwhelmed  by  rumours,  '  That 
the  Parliament  is  dissolved  !  that,  for  certain,  the  Council  of 
State,  and  a  Council  of  War,  had  sat  together  all  the  Sabbath- 
day  before,  and  had  then  contrived  this  Dissolution  ! ' 

'  Notwithstanding,'  continues  Guibon, '  I  was  resolved  to  go 
to  Westminster,  to  satisfy  myself  of  the  truth ;  and  to  take 
my  share  of  what  I  should  see  or  learn  there.  Going  by  water 
to  Westminster,  I  was  told  that  the  Parliament-doors  were 
locked  up,  and  guarded  with  soldiers,  and  that  the  Barges 
were  to  attend  the  Protector  to  the  Painted  Chamber.  As  I 
went,  I  saw  two  Barges  at  the  Privy  Stairs.'  River  and  City 
in  considerable  emotion.  '  Being  come  to  the  Hall,  I  was 
confirmed  in  what  I  had  heard.  Nevertheless  I  did  purpose 
not  to  take  things  merely  upon  trust ;  but  would  receive  an 
actual  repulse,  to  confirm  my  faith.  Accordingly,  I  attempted 
up  the  Parliament  stairs ;  but  a  guard  of  Soldiers  was  there, 


1654]  SPEECH    III  129 

who  told  me,  "  There  was  no  passage  that  way ;  the  House 
was  locked  up,  and  command  given  to  give  no  admittance  to 
any ; — if  I  were  a  Member,  I  might  go  into  the  Painted 
Chamber,  where  the  Protector  would  presently  be."  The 
Mace  had  been  taken  away  by  Commissary-General  Whalley. 
The  Speaker  and  all  the  Members  were  walking  up  and  down 
the  Hall,  the  Court  of  Requests,  and  the  Painted  Chamber; 
expecting  the  Protector's  coming.  The  passages  there  like- 
wise were  guarded  with  soldiers/ 1 

No  doubt  about  it,  therefore,  my  honourable  friend  ! 
Dissolution,  or  something,  is  not  far.  Between  nine  and  ten, 
the  Protector  arrived,  with  due  escort  of  Officers,  halberts, 
Lifeguards;  took  his  place,  covered,  under  'the  state'  as 
before,  we  all  sitting  bareheaded  on  our  benches  as  before ; 
and  with  fit  salutation  spake  to  us ; — as  follows.  '  Speech 
of  an  hour  and  a  half  long ' ;  taken  in  characters  by  the 
former  individual  who  '  stood  near ' ;  audible  still  to  modern 
men.  Tuesday  morning  12th  September  1654;  a  week  and 
a  day  since  the  last  Speech  here. 

In  this  remarkable  Speech,  the  occasion  of  which  and  the 
Speaker  of  which  are  very  extraordinary,  an  assiduous  reader, 
or  *  modern  hearer,'  will  find  Historical  indications,  significant 
shadowings-forth  both  of  the  Protectorate  and  the  Protector ; 
which,  considering  whence  they  come,  he  will  not  fail  to  regard 
as  documentary  in  those  matters.  Nay  perhaps,  here  for  the 
first  time,  if  he  read  with  real  industry,  there  may  begin  to 
paint  itself  for  him,  on  the  void  Dryasdust  Abyss,  hitherto 
called  History  of  Oliver,  some  dim  adumbration  of  How  this 
business  of  Assuming  the  Protectorate  may  actually  have  been. 
It  was,  many  years  ago,  in  reading  these  Speeches,  with  a 
feeling  that  they  must  have  been  credible  when  spoken,  and 
with  a  strenuous  endeavour  to  find  what  their  meaning  was, 
and  try  to  believe  it,  that  to  the  present  Editor  the  Common- 
wealth, and  Puritan  Rebellion  generally,  first  began  to  be 
conceivable.  Such  was  his  experience. — 

1  Ayscough  MSS.,  printed  in  Burton's  Diary,  i.  Introd.  p.  xxxiii. 
VOL.  III.  I 


130     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

But  certainly  the  Lord  Protector's  place,  that  September 
Tuesday  1654,  is  not  a  bed  of  roses  !  His  painful  assevera- 
tions, appeals  and  assurances  have  made  the  Modern  part  of 
his  audience  look,  more  than  once,  with  questioning  eyes. 
On  this  point,  take  from  a  certain  Commentator  sometimes 
above  cited  from,  and  far  oftener  suppressed,  the  following 
rough  words  : 

' "  Divers  persons  who  do  know  whether  I  lie  in  that,"  says 
the  Lord  Protector.  What  a  position  for  a  hero,  to  be 
reduced  continually  to  say  He  does  not  lie  ! — Consider  well, 
nevertheless,  What  else  could  Oliver  do  ?  To  get  on  with 
this  new  Parliament  was  clearly  his  one  chance  of  governing 
peaceably.  To  wrap  himself  up  in  stern  pride,  and  refuse  to 
give  any  explanation  .  would  that  have  been  the  wise  plan  of 
dealing  with  them  ?  Or  the  stately  and  not-so-wise  plan  ? 
Alas,  the  wise  plan,  when  all  lay  yet  as  an  experiment,  with 
so  dread  issues  in  it  to  yourself  and  the  whole  world,  was  not 
very  discoverable.  Perhaps  not  quite  reconcilable  with  the 
stately  plan,  even  if  it  had  been  discovered ! ' 

And  again,  with  regard  to  the  scheme  of  the  Protectorship, 
which  his  Highness  says  was  done  by  '  the  Gentlemen  that 
undertook  to  frame  this  Government,'  after  divers  days 
consulting,  and  without  the  least  privity  of  his  :  '  You  never 
guessed  what  they  were  doing,  your  Highness  ?  Alas,  his 
Highness  guessed  it, — and  yet  must  not  say,  or  think,  he 
guessed  it.  There  is  something  sad  in  a  brave  man's  being 
reduced  to  explain  himself  from  a  barrel-head  in  this  manner! 
Yet  what,  on  the  whole,  will  he  do  ?  Coriolanus  curled 
his  lip,  and  scowled  proudly  enough  on  the  sweet  voices : 
but  Coriolanus  had  likewise  to  go  over  to  the  Volscians ; 
Coriolanus  had  not  the  slightest  chance  to  govern  by  a  free 
Parliament  in  Rome !  Oliver  was  not  prepared  for  these 
extremities ;  if  less  would  serve.  Perhaps  in  Oliver  there  is 
something  of  better  than  "  silent  pride  "  ?  Oliver  will  have  to 
explain  himself  before  God  Most  High,  ere  long ; — and  it  will 
not  stead  him  there,  that  he  went  wrong  because  his  pride, 


i654l  SPEECH    III  131 

his  "  personal  dignity,"  his  etc.  etc.  were  concerned. Who 

would  govern  men  !  "  Oh,  it  were  better  to  be  a  poor  fisher- 
man," exclaimed  Danton,  "  than  to  meddle  with  governing  of 
men  "  !  "I  would  rather  keep  a  flock  of  sheep  ! "  said  Oliver. 
And  who  but  a  Flunky  would  not,  if  his  real  trade  lay  in 
keeping  sheep  ?  ' — 

On  the  whole,  concludes  our  Commentator  :  '  As  good  an 
explanation  as  the  case  admits  of, — from  a  barrel-head,  or 
"raised  platform  under  a  state."  Where  so  much  that  is 
true  cannot  be  said  ;  and  yet  nothing  that  is  false  shall  be 
said, — under  penalties  forgotten  in  our  Time  !  With  regard 
to  those  asseverations  and  reiterated  appeals,  note  this  also  : 
An  oath  was  an  oath  then;  not  a  solemn  piece  of  blasphemous 
cant,  as  too  often  since.  No  contemporary  that  I  have  met 
with,  who  had  any  opportunity  to  judge,  disbelieved  Oliver  in 
these  protestations ;  though  many  believed  that  he  was 
unconsciously  deceiving  himself.  Which,  of  course,  we  too, 
where  needful,  must  ever  remember  that  he  was  liable  to  do ; 
nay,  if  you  will,  that  he  was  continually  doing.  But  to  this 
Commentator,  at  this  stage  in  the  development  of  things, 
"  Apology "  seems  not  the  word  for  Oliver  Cromwell ; — not 
that,  but  a  far  other  word  !  The  Modern  part  of  his  High- 
ness's  audience  can  listen  now,  I  think,  across  the  Time-gulfs, 
in  a  different  mood ; — with  candour,  with  human  brotherhood, 
with  reverence  and  grateful  love.  Such  as  the  noble  never 
claim  in  vain  from  those  that  have  any  nobleness.  This  of 
tasking  a  great  soul  continually  to  prove  to  us  that  he  was 
not  a  liar,  is  too  unwashed  a  way  of  welcoming  a  Great  Man! 
Scrubby  Apprentices  of  tender  years,  to  them  it  might  seem 
suitable ; — still  more  readily  to  Apes  by  the  Dead  Sea  ! '  Let 
us  have  done  with  it,  my  friend ;  and  listen  to  the  Speech 
itself,  of  date,  Painted  Chamber,  12th  September  1654,  the 
best  we  can! 

'  GENTLEMEN — It  is  not  long  since  I  met  you  in  this 
'  place,  upon  an  occasion  which  gave  me  much  more  content 


PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  and  comfort  than  this  doth.  That  which  I  have  now  to  say 
4  to  you  will  need  no  preamble,  to  let  me  into  my  discourse  : 
4  for  the  occasion  of  this  meeting  is  plain  enough.  I  could 
'  have  wished  with  all  my  heart  there  had  been  no  cause 
4  for  it. 

4  At  our  former  meeting  I  did  acquaint  you  what  was  the 
4  first  rise  of  this  Government,  which  hath  called  you  hither, 
4  and  by  the  authority  of  which  you  have  come  hither. 
4  Among  other  things  which  I  then  told  you  of,  I  said,  You 
4  were  a  Free  Parliament.  And  "  truly  "  so  you  are, — whilst 
4  you  own  the  Government  and  Authority  which  called  you 
4  hither.  But  certainly  that  word  "  Free  Parliament "  implied 
4  a  reciprocity,1  or  it  implied  nothing  at  all !  Indeed  there 
6  was  a  reciprocity  implied  and  expressed  ;  and  I  think  your 
4  actions  and  carriages  ought  to  be  suitable  !  But  I  see 
4  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  now  a  little  to  magnify  my 
'  Office.  Which  I  have  not  been  apt  to  do.  I  have  been 
6  of  this  mind,  I  have  been  always  of  this  mind,  since  I  first 
4  entered  upon  my  Office,  If  God  will  not  bear  it  up,  let 
6  it  sink  !  [  Yea  /]  But  if  a  duty  be  incumbent  upon  me 
4  to  bear  my  testimony  unto  it  (which  in  modesty  I  have 
4  hitherto  forborne),  I  am  in  some  measure  necessitated 
4  thereunto.  And  therefore  that  will  be  the  prologue  to  my 
4  discourse. 

4  I  called  not  myself  to  this  place.  I  say  again,  I  called 
4  not  myself  to  this  place  !  Of  that  God  is  witness  : — and  I 
4  have  many  witnesses  who,  I  do  believe,  could  lay  down 
4  their  lives  bearing  witness  to  the  truth  of  that.  Namely, 
4  That  I  called  not  myself  to  this  place !  [His  Highness  is 
4  growing  emphatic.]  And  being  in  it,  I  bear  not  witness  to 
'  myself  "  or  my  office " ;  but  God  and  the  People  of  these 
4  Nations  have  also  borne  testimony  to  it  "and  me.""  //*my 
4  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.  [Do  you  mark  that,  and  the  air  and  manner  of 
1  '  reciprocation '  in  orig. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  133 

6  it,  my  honourable  friends  /]  I  should  be  false  to  the  trust 
4  that  God  hath  placed  in  me,  and  to  the  interest  of  the 
4  People  of  these  Nations,  if  I  did. 

6  'That  I  called  not  myself  to  this  place,'  is  my  first 
4  assertion.  4  That  I  bear  not  witness  to  myself,  but  have 
4  many  witnesses,'  is  my  second.  These  two  things  I  shall 
4  take  the  liberty  to  speak  more  fully  to  you  of. — To  make 
6  plain  and  clear  what  I  have  here  asserted,  I  must  take 
6  liberty  to  look  "a  little"  back. 

4  I  was  by  birth  a  Gentleman ;  living  neither  in  any  con- 
4  siderable  height,  nor  yet  in  obscurity.  I  have  been  called 
4  to  several  employments  in  the  Nation :  To  serve  in  Parlia- 
4  ment,  "  and  others  "  ;  and, — not  to  be  over-tedious, — I  did 
4  endeavour  to  discharge  the  duty  of  an  honest  man,  in  those 
4  services,  to  God  and  His  People's  Interest,  and  to  the 
4  Commonwealth ;  having,  when  time  was,  a  competent 
4  acceptation  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  some  evidences  thereof. 
4  I  resolve,  not  to  recite  the  times  and  occasions  and  oppor- 
4  tunities,  which  have  been  appointed  me  by  God  to  serve 
4  Him  in ;  nor  the  presence  and  blessings  of  God  therein 

*  bearing  testimony  to  me.      [Well  said,  and  well  forborne  to 
be  said  /] 

6  Having  had  some  occasions  to  see,  together  with  my 
4  brethren  and  countrymen,  a  happy  period  put  to  our  sharp 
4  Wars  and  contests  with  the  then  common  Enemy,  I  hoped, 
4  in  a  private  capacity,  to  have  reaped  the  fruit  and  benefit, 
4  together  with  my  brethren,  of  our  hard  labours  and  hazards  : 

*  the  enjoyment,  to  wit,  of  Peace  and  Liberty,  and  the  privi- 
6  leges  of  a  Christian  and  a  Man,  in  some  equality  with  others, 
(  according  as  it  should  please  the  Lord  to  dispense  unto  me. 
4  And  when,  I  say,  God  hath  put  an  end  to  our  Wars,  or  at 
4  least  brought  them  to  a  very  hopeful  issue,  very  near  an  end, 
4  — after  Worcester  Fight, — I  came  up  to  London  to  pay  my 
4  service  and  duty  to  the  Parliament  which  then  sat :  hoping 
4  that  all  minds  would  have  been  disposed  to  answer  what 
'  seemed  to  lie  the  mind  of  God,  namely,  To  give  peace  and 


134     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT   [12  SEPT. 

4  rest  to  His  People,  and  especially  to  those  who  had  bled 
4  more  than  others  in  the  carrying-on  of  the  Military  affairs, 

<  — I  Was  much  disappointed  of  my  expectation.       For  the 
4  issue  did  not  prove  so.     [Suppressed  murmurs  from  Bradshaw 
6  and  Company.]     Whatever  may  be  boasted  or  misrepresented, 
4  it  was  not  so,  not  so  ! 

4  I  can  say,  in  the  simplicity  of  my  soul,  I  love  not,  I  love 

<  not, — I  declined  it  in  my  former  Speech,1 — I  say,  I  love  not 
4  to  rake  into  sores,  or  to  discover  nakednesses  !     The  thing 
4  I  drive  at  is  this  :  I  say  to  you,  I  hoped  to  have  had  leave, 
4  44  for  my  own  part,"  to  retire  to  a  private  life.      I  begged  to 
4  be  dismissed   of  my  charge ;  I  begged  it  again  and  again  ; 
4  — and  God  be  Judge  between  me  and  all  men  if  I  lie  in  this 
4  matter !      [Groans  from  Dryasdust,  scarcely  audible,  in  the 
4  deep  silence.]     That  I  lie  not  in  matter  of  fact  is  known 
4  to  very  many   [4  Hum-m-m ! '      Look  of  4  Yea '  /  from   the 
4  Military  Party]  :  but  whether  I  tell  a  lie  in  my  heart,  as 
4  labouring  to  represent  to  you  what  was  not  upon  my  heart, 
4  I   say  the   Lord    be   Judge.2     Let   uncharitable   men,   who 
4  measure  others  by  themselves,  judge  as  they  please.      As  to 
4  the  matter  of  fact,  I  say,  It  is  true.      As  to  the  ingenuity 
4  and  integrity  of  my  heart  in  that  desire, — I  do  appeal  as 

4  before  upon  the  truth  of  that  also  ! But  I  could  not 

4  obtain  44  what  I  desired,"  what  my  soul  longed  for.      And 
4  the  plain  truth  is,  I  did  afterwards  apprehend  some  were  of 
4  opinion  (such  the  difference  of  their  judgment  from  mine), 
4  That  it  could  not  well  be.3 

4  I  confess  I  am  in  some  strait  to  say  what  I  could  say, 
4  and  what  is  true,  of  what  then  followed.  I  pressed  the 
4  Parliament,  as  a  Member,  To  period  themselves  ; — once  and 
4  again,  and  again,  and  ten,  nay  twenty  times  over.  I  told 
4  them, — for  I  knew  it  better  than  any  one  man  in  the 
4  Parliament  could  know  it ;  because  of  my  manner  of  life, 

1  Antea,  Speech  I.  p.  47. 

8  He  :  Believe  you  about  that  as  you  see  good. 

8  That  I  could  not  be  spared  from  my  post. 


i6S4]  SPEECH    III  135 

*  which  had  led  me  everywhere  up  and  down  the  Nation,1  thereby 
4  giving  me  to  see  and  know  the  temper  and  spirits  of  all  men, 
'  and   of  the  best   of  men, — that  the  Nation  loathed  their 
'  sitting.      \Hctsclngi  Scott  and  others  looking  very  grim.]     I 
'  knew  it.      And,  so  far  as  I  could  discern,  when  they  were 
6  dissolved,  there  was  not  so  much  as  the  barking  of  a  dog, 
'  or  any  general  and  visible  repining  at  it !     [How  astonishing 
6  there  should  not  have  been  /]     You  are  not  a  few  here  present 
'  who  can  assert  this  as  well  as  myself. 

'  And  that  there  was  high  cause  for  their  dissolution,  is 
'  most  evident :  not  only  in  regard  there  was  a  just  fear  of 
'  that  Parliament's  perpetuating  themselves,  but  because  it 
4  "  actually  "  was  their  design.  "  Yes  "  ;  had  not  their  heels 
4  been  trod  upon  by  importunities  from  abroad,  even  to 
'  threats,  I  believe  there  never  would  have  been  "  any " 
'  thoughts  of  rising,  or  of  going  out  of  that  Room,  to  the 
'  world's  end.  I  myself  was  sounded,  and,  by  no  mean 
'  persons  [O  Sir  Harry  Vane  /],  tempted ;  and  proposals  were 

*  made  me  to  that  very  end  :  That  the  Parliament 2  might  be 
6  thus  perpetuated  ;  that  the  vacant  places  might  be  supplied 

*  by   new   elections ; — and   so   continue    from    generation   to 
6  generation. 

4  I  have  declined,  I  have  declined  very  much,  to  open  these 
'  things  to  you.  [What  noble  man  would  not,  your  High- 

*  ness  ?]     But,  having  proceeded   thus  far,  I  must  tell   you 
'  "  this  also " :  That  poor  men,  under  this  arbitrary  power, 
4  were  driven,  like  flocks  of  sheep,  by  forty  in  a  morning ;  to 
'  the   confiscation    of  goods   and   estates ;    without   any  man 
4  being  able  to  give  a  reason  why  two  of  them  had  deserved 
'  to  forfeit  a  shilling  ! 3     I  tell  you  the  truth.      And  my  soul, 
'  and  many  persons1  whom  I  see  in  this  place,  were  exceed- 

*  ingly  grieved  at  these  things ;  and  knew  not  which  way  to 
'  help    them,    except    by    our    mournings,    and     giving    our 

1  While  soldiering,  etc.  :  the  original  has,  *  which  was  to  run  up  and  down 
the  Nation. ' 

3  « it '  in  orig.  8  Antea,  p.  19. 


136     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

'  negatives  when  occasion  served. — I  have  given  you  but  a 
6  taste  of  miscarriages  "  that  then  were.11  I  am  confident  you 
4  have  had  opportunities  to  hear  much  more  of  them  ;  for 
fc  nothing  was  more  obvious.  It 's  true  this  will  be  said,  That 
*  there  was  a  remedy  endeavoured  :  To  put  an  end  to  this 
'  Perpetual  Parliament,  by  giving  us  a  future  Representative. 
'  How  that  was  gotten,  by  what  importunities  that  was 
'  obtained,  and  how  unwillingly  yielded  unto,  is  well  known. 

'  "  But,"  what  was  this  remedy  ?  It  was  a  seeming  willing- 
'  ness  to  give  us  Successive  Parliaments.  And  what  was  "  the 
'  nature  of "  that  Succession  ?  It  was,  That  when  one  Parlia- 
'  ment  had  left  its  seat,  another  was  to  sit  down  immediately 
'  in  the  room  thereof,  without  any  caution  to  avoid  what  was 
'  the  real  danger,  namely,  Perpetuating  of  the  same  "  men 
'  in  "  Parliaments.  Which  is  a  sore,  now,  that  will  ever  be 
4  running,  so  long  as  men  are  ambitious,  and  troublesome, — 
'  if  a  remedy  be  not  found. 

'  Nay,  at  best  what  will  such  a  remedy  amount  to  ?  It  is 
'  a  conversion  of  a  Parliament  that  would  have  been  and  was 
'  Perpetual,  to  a  Legislative  Power  Always  Sitting  !  [  Which, 
'  however,  consists  of  different  men,  your  Highness  /]  And  so 
'  the  liberties  and  interests  and  lives  of  people  not  judged  by 
'  any  certain  known  Laws  and  Power,  but  by  an  arbitrary 
4  Power ;  which  is  incident  and  necessary  to  Parliaments. 
'  [  So  /]  By  an  arbitrary  Power,  I  say : l  to  make  men's 
'  estates  liable  to  confiscation,  and  their  persons  to  imprison- 
'  ment, — sometimes  "  even "  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 
4  former  times  was  not  known  to  exercise  such  a  judicature.2 

1  Such  as  the  Long  Parliament  did  continually  exert. 

2  Intricate  paragraphs,  this  and  the  foregoing  ;  treating  of  a  subject  complex 
in  itself,  and  very  delicate  to  handle  before  such  an  audience.     His  Highness's 
logic  perhaps  hobbles  somewhat :  but  this  strain  of  argument,  which  to  us  has 
fallen  so  dim  and  obsolete,  was  very  familiar  to  the  audience  he  was  now  address- 
ing,— the  staple  indeed  of  what  their  debates  for  the  last  three  days  had  been 
(Burton,  i.    Introd.  pp.   25-33;   Whitlocke,  587,   etc.).      'Perpetuating  of  the 


1654]  SPEECH    III  137 

'  This,  I  suppose,  was  the  case  "  then  before  us."  Arid,  in 
i  my  opinion,  the  remedy  was  fitted  to  the  disease  !  Especi- 
'  ally  coming  in  the  rear  of  a  Parliament  which  had  so 
'  exercised  its  power  and  authority  as  that  Parliament  had 
4  done  but  immediately  before. 

*  Truly    I    confess, — upon    these    grounds,    and    with   the 

*  satisfaction  of  divers  other  persons  who  saw  nothing  could 
4  be  had  otherwise, — that  Parliament  was  dissolved  [Not  a 
(  doubt  of  it  /]  :  and  we,  desiring  to  see  if  a  few  might  have 
'  been  called  together  for  some  short  time  who  might  put  the 
'  Nation  into  some  way  of  certain  settlement, — did  call  those 
<  Gentlemen  [The  Little  Parliament;  we  remember  them!]  out 

of  the  several  parts  of  the  Nation.  And  as  I  have  appealed 
t  to  God  before  you  already, 1 — though  it  be  a  tender  thing 
4  to  make  appeals  to  God,  yet  in  such  exigences  as  these  I 
'  trust  it  will  not  offend  His  Majesty ;  especially  to  make 
'  them  before  Persons  that  know  God,  and  know  what  cori- 
4  science  is,  and  what  it  is  to  '  lie  before  the  Lord ' !  I  say, 
'  As  a  principal  end  in  calling  that  Assembly  was  the  settle- 
'  ment  of  the  Nation,  so  a  chief  end  to  myself  was  to  lay 
'  down  the  Power  which  was  in  my  hands.  [Hum-m-m!]  I 
6  say  to  you  again,  in  the  Presence  of  that  God  who  hath 
'  blessed,  and  been  with  me  in  all  my  adversities  and  successes : 

*  That  was,  as  to  myself,  my  greatest  end  !  [Your  Highness 
— ? — And  '  God"1  with  you  ancients  is  not  a  fabulous  polite 
Hearsay r,  but  a  tremendous  all-irradiating  Fact  of  Facts,  not 

'  to  be  '  lied  before '  without  consequences  ?~\     A  desire  perhaps 

same  men  in  Parliament ' :  that  clearly  is  intolerable,  says  the  first  Paragraph. 
But  not  only  so,  says  the  second  Paragraph,  '  a  Legislative  Assembly  always 
sitting,'  though  it  consist  of  new  men,  is  likewise  intolerable:  any  Parliament, 
as  the  Long  Parliament  has  too  fatally  taught  us,  if  left  to  itself,  is,  by  its 
nature,  arbitrary,  of  unlimited  power,  liable  to  grow  tyrannous ; — ought  there- 
fore only  to  sit  at  due  intervals,  and  to  have  other  Powers  (Protectorate,  for 
example)  ready  to  check  it  on  occasion.  All  this  the  ancient  audience  under- 
stands very  well ;  and  the  modern  needs  only  to  understand  that  they  under- 
stood it. 

1  '  I  know,  and  I  hope  I  may  say  it,'  follows  in  orig., —  deleted  here,  foi 
light's  sake,  though  characteristic. 


138     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  I  am  afraid,  sinful  enough,  To  be  quit  of  the  Power  God 
4  had  most  clearly  by  His  Providence l  put  into  my  hands, 
4  before  He  called  me  to  lay  it  down  ;  before  those  honest 
6  ends  of  our  fighting  were  attained  and  settled. — I  say,  the 
4  Authority  I  had  in  my  hand  being  so  boundless  as  it  was, 
4  — for,  by  Act  of  Parliament,  I  was  General  of  all  the  Foices 
4  in  the  three  Nations  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland ;  in 
'  which  unlimited  condition  I  did  not  desire  to  live  a  day, 
4  — we  called  that  Meeting,  for  the  ends  before  expressed* 

'  What  the  event  and  issue  of  that  Meeting  was,  we  may 
4  sadly  remember.  It  hath  much  teaching  in  it,2  and  I  hope 
4  will  make  us  all  wiser  for  the  future  !  But,  "  in  short,"  that 
4  Meeting  not  succeeding,  as  I  already  said  unto  you,  and 
4  giving  such  a  disappointment  to  our  hopes,  I  shall  not  now 
4  make  any  repetition  thereof :  only  the  result  was,  That  they 
4  came  and  brought  to  me  a  Parchment,  signed  by  very  much 
4  the  major  part  of  them ;  expressing  their  re-delivery  and 
4  resignation  of  the  power  and  authority  that  had  been  com- 
4  mitted  them  back  again  into  my  hands.  And  I  can  say  it, 
4  in  the  presence  of  divers  persons  here,  who  do  know  whether 
4  I  lie  in  that  [Hum-m-m  /],  That  I  did  not  know  one  tittle 
4  of  that  Resignation  44  of  theirs,"  till  they  all  came  and 
4  brought  it,  and  delivered  it  into  my  hands.  Of  this  also 
4  there  are  in  this  presence  many  witnesses.  [Yes,  many  are 
4  convinced  of  it, — some  notJ\  I  received  this  Resignation ; 
4  having  formerly  used  my  endeavours  and  persuasions  to  keep 
4  them  together.  Observing  their  differences,  I  thought  it 
'  my  duty  to  give  advice  to  them,  that  so  I  might  prevail 
4  with  them  for  union.  But  it  had  the  effect  I  told  you ; 
4  and  I  had  my  disappointment. 

4  When  this  proved  so,  we  were  exceedingly  to  seek  how 
4  to  settle  things  for  the  future.  My  44  own "  Power  was 
4  again,  by  this  resignation,  44  become "  as  boundless  and 

1  '  most  providentially '  in  orig.  :  has  not  the  modern  meaning ;  means  only 
as  in  the  Text. 

a  Warning  us  not  to  quarrel,  and  get  into  insoluble  theories,  as  they  did. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  139 

'  unlimited  as  before  ;  all  things  being  subjected  to  arbitrari- 
'  ness ;  and  myself,  "  the  only  constituted  authority  that  was 
'  left,"  a  person  having  power  over  the  three  Nations,  without 
'  bound  or  limit  set ; — and  all  Government,  upon  the  matter, 
4  being  dissolved ;  all  civil  administration  at  an  end,1 — as  will 
'  presently  appear.  ['  A  grave  situation :  but  who  brought 
us  to  it  ? '  murmur  my  Lord  Bradshaw  and  others.] 

'  The  Gentlemen  that  undertook  to  frame  this  Govern- 
'  ment 2  did  consult  divers  days  together  (men  of  known 
'  integrity  and  ability),  How  to  frame  somewhat  that  might 
4  give  us  settlement.  They  did  consult ; — and  that  I  was  not 
'  privy  to  their  councils  they  know  it.  [A  las!]  — When  they 
'  had  finished  their  model  in  some  measure,  or  made  a  good 
6  preparation  of  it,  they  became  communicative.  [Hum-m-m  /] 
'  They  told  me  that  except  I  would  undertake  the  Govern- 
4  ment,  they  thought  things  would  hardly  come  to  a  com- 
4  posure  or  settlement,  but  blood  and  confusion  would  break 
'  in  upon  us.  [A  plain  truth  they  told.]  I  refused  it  again 
1  and  again ;  not  complimentingly, — as  they  know,  and  as 
'  God  knows  !  I  confess,  after  many  arguments,  they  urging 
4  on  me,  '  That  I  did  not  hereby  receive  anything  which  put 
*  me  into  a  higher  capacity  than  before ;  but  that  it  limited 
6  me  ;  that  it  bound  my  hands  to  act  nothing  without  the 
4  consent  of  a  Council,  until  the  Parliament,  and  then  limited 
'  "  me "  by  the  Parliament,  as  the  Act  of  Government  ex- 
'  presseth,' — I  did  accept  it.  I  might  repeat  again  to  you,  if 
'  it  were  needful,  but  I  think  it  hardly  is  :  I  was  arbitrary  in 
'  power ;  having  the  Armies  in  the  three  Nations  under  my 
'  command  ; — and  truly  not  very  ill  beloved  by  them,  nor 
«  very  ill  beloved  by  the  People.  By  the  good  People.  And 
6  I  believe  I  should  have  been  more  beloved  if  they  had  known 
'  the  truth,  as  things  were,  before  God  and  in  themselves, 
'  and  also  before  divers  of  those  Gentlemen  whom  I  but  now 
'  mentioned  unto  you.  [His  Highness  is  rallying  ,•  getting  out 

1  Civil  Office-bearers  feeling  their  commission  to  be  ended. 

2  Plan  or  Model  of  Government. 


140     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  of  the  Unutterable  into  the  Utter  able  /]  I  did,  at  the  entreaty 
4  of  divers  Persons  of  Honour  and  Quality,  at  the  entreaty  of 
4  very  many  of  the  chief  Officers  of  the  Army  then  present, 
4  — "  at  their  entreaty  "  and  at  their  request,  I  did  accept  of 
4  the  place  and  title  of  PROTECTOR  :  and  was,  in  the  presence 

*  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Great  Seal,  the  Judges,  the 
4  Lord   Mayor  and  Aldermen   of  the   City  of  London,  the 
4  Soldiery,  divers  Gentlemen,  Citizens,  and  divers  other  people 
'  and    persons   of   quality,   and    so    forth, — accompanied    to 
4  Westminster  Hall ;  where  I  took  the  Oath  to  this  Govern- 
4  ment.      [Indisputably  •  draw  your  own  inferences  from  it  /] 
4  This  was  not  done  in  a  corner  :  it  was  open  and  public  ! — 

4  This  Government  hath  been  exercised  by  a  Council ;  *  with 
4  a  desire  to  be  faithful  in  all  things  : — and,  among  all  other 
4  trusts,  to  be  faithful  in  calling  this  Parliament. 

4  And  thus  I  have  given  you  a  very  bare  and  lean  Dis- 
4  course ; 2  which  truly  I  have  been  necessitated  to  44  do,'1 — 
4  and  contracted  in  "  the  doing  of,"  because  of  the  unex- 
4  pectedness  of  the  occasion,  and  because  I  would  not  quite 
4  weary  you  nor  myself.  But  this  is  a  Narrative  that  discovers 
4  to  you  the  series  of  Providences  and  of  Transactions  leading 
4  me  into  the  condition  wherein  I  now  stand.  The  next  thing 
4  I  promised  44  to  demonstrate  to  "  you,  wherein,  I  hope,  I 
4  shall  be  briefer — Though  I  am  sure  the  occasion  does  require 
4  plainness  and  freedom! — "But  as  to  this  first  thing,"3 
4  That  I  brought  not  myself  into  this  condition  :  surely  in  my 
'  own  apprehension  I  did  not !  And  whether  I  did  not,  the 
'  things  being  true  which  I  have  told  you,  I  shall  submit  to 

1  According  to  the  '  Instrument '  or  Program  of  it.  2  Narration. 

3  This  paragraph  is  characteristic.     One  of  Oliver's  warts.     His  Highness,  in 
haste  to  be  through,  is  for  breaking-off  into  the  *  next  thing,'  with  hope  of  greater 

*  brevity ' ;  but  then  suddenly  bethinks  him  that  he  has  not  yet  quite  completely 
winded-off  the   'first  thing,'  and   so  returns  to  that.      The  paragraph,  stark 
nonsense  in  the  original  (where  they  that  are  patient  of  such  can  read  it,  Parlia- 
mentary History^  xx.   357),   indicates,   on  intense  inspection,  that  this  is  the 
purport  of  it.     A  glimpse  afforded  us,  through  one  of  Oliver's  confused  regurgi- 
tations  and  incondite  wzVutterances  of  speech,  into  the  real  inner  man  of  him, 
Of  which  there  will  be  other  instances  as  we  proceed. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  141 

4  your  judgment.  And  there  shall  I  leave  it.  Let  God  do 
'  what  He  pleaseth. 

4  The  other  thing,  I  say,  that  I  am  to  speak  of  to  you  is, 

*  4  That  I  have  not  "  borne,"  and  do  not  bear,  witness  to  my- 

*  self?     I  am  far  from  alluding  to  Him  that  said  so  ! l     Yet 
4  truth,  concerning  a  member  of  His,  He  will  own,  though 
6  men  do  not. — But  I  think,  if  I  mistake  not,  I  have  a  cloud 

*  of  witnesses.      I  think  so ;  let  men  be  as  fro  ward  as  they 
4  will.      \My  honourable  friends  /]      I  have  witness  Within, — 

*  Without, — and  Above  !      But  I  shall  speak  of  my  witnesses 
4  Without ;  having  fully  spoken  of  the  Witness  who  is  Above, 
4  and  "  who  is "  in  my  own   conscience,  before.      Under  the 
4  other   head2   I   spoke   of  these ;  because   that   subject  had 
4  more  obscurity  in  it,  and  I  in  some  sort  needed  appeals ; — 
f  and,  I  trust,  might  lawfully  make  them  (as  lawfully  as  take 
6  an    oath),    where  the  things  were  not   so  apt  to  be  made 
4  evident  "  otherwise."    [In  such  circumstances,  Yea  /]  —  I  shall 
4  enumerate  my  witnesses  as  well  as  I  can. 

4  When  I  had  consented  to  accept  of  the  Government,  there 
4  was  some  Solemnity  to  be  performed.  And  that  was 
4  accompanied  by  some  persons  of  considerableness  in  all 
4  respects  :  there  were  the  persons  before  mentioned  to  you ; 8 
4  these  accompanied  me,  at  the  time  of  my  entering  upon  this 
4  Government,  to  Westminster  Hall  to  receive  my  Oath. 
4  There  was  an  express 4  consent  on  the  part  of  these  and 
4  other  interested  persons.  And,  44  there  was  also  "  an  implied 
4  consent  of  many ;  showing  their  good  liking  and  approbation 
4  thereof.  And,  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  think  you  are  alto- 
4  gether  strangers  to  it  in  your  countries.  Some  did  not 
'  nauseate  it ;  very  many  did  approve  it. 

1  '  Then  answered  Jesus,  and  said  unto  them, If  I  bear  witness  of  myself, 

my  witness  is  not  true.  There  is  Another  that  beareth  witness  of  me'  (John  v. 
31,32.) 

z  '  upon  the  other  account '  in  orig.  3  *  before  expressed '  in  orig. 

4  '  explicit '  and  '  implicit'  in  the  original ;  but  we  must  say  *  express '  and 
'  implied,' — the  word  '  implicit '  having  now  got  itself  tacked  to  '  faith '  (implicit- 
faith),  and  become  thereby  hopelessly  degraded  from  any  independent  meaning. 


PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

'  I  had  the  approbation  of  the  Officers  of  the  Army,  in  the 
'  three  Nations  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  I  say,  of 
'  the  Officers  :  I  had  that  by  their  "  express"  Remonstrances,1 
'  and  under  signature.  But  there  went  along  with  that 
6  express  consent  of  theirs,  an  implied  consent  also  "  of  a  body" 

*  of  persons   who  had  "  had "  somewhat  to  do  in  the  world ; 
'  who   had   been   instrumental,   by   God,   to  fight   down  the 

*  Enemies  of  God  and  of  His  People  in  the  three  Nations. 
[The  Soldiery  of  the  Commonwealth.     Persons  of ( some  con- 

6  siderablenessj  these  too  /]  And  truly,  until  my  hands  were 
6  bound,  and  I  "  was  "  limited  (to  my  own  great  satisfaction,  as 
'  many  can  bear  me  witness) ;  while  I  had  in  my  hands  so 
'  great  a  power  and  arbitrariness, — the  Soldiery  were  a  very 
6  considerable  part  of  these  Nations,  especially  all  Government 
6  being  dissolved.  I  say,  when  all  Government  was  thus 
6  dissolved,  and  nothing  to  keep  things  in  order  but  the 
'  Sword !  And  yet  they, — which  many  Histories  will  not 
'  parallel, — even  they  were  desirous  that  things  might  come 
'  to  a  consistency ;  and  arbitrariness  be  taken  away ;  and  the 
6  Government  be  put  into  "  the  hands  of "  a  person  limited  and 
(  bounded,  as  in  the  Act  of  Settlement,  whom  they  distrusted 
'  the  least,  and  loved  not  the  worst.  [Hear  /]  There  was 
'  another  evidence  "  of  consent,  implied  if  not  express." 

6  I  would  not  forget  the  honourable  and  civil  entertain- 

*  ment,  with  the  approbation  I  found  in  the  great  City  of 
'  London  ;2 — which   the   City   knows   whether   I   directly    or 
'  indirectly  sought.      And  truly   I  do  not   think  it  folly  to 
6  remember  this.      For  it  was  very  great  and  high ;  and  very 
6  public ;  and  "  included "  as  numerous  a  body  of  those  that 
4  are  known  by  names  and  titles, — the  several  Corporations  and 
6  Societies  of  Citizens  in  this  City, — as  hath  at  any  time  been 
6  seen   in   England.      And   not  without   some  appearance   of 

*  satisfaction  also. — And  I  had  not  this  witness  only.      I  have 

1  Means  *  Public  Letters  of  Adherence.' 

2  Dinner,  with  all  manner  of  gala,  in  the  common  Royal  Style  j  8th  February 
1 653-4  (Whitlocke,  2d  edition,  p.  581). 


1654]  SPEECH    III  143 

'  had  from  the  greatest  County  in  England,  and  from  many 
6  Cities  and  Boroughs  and  Counties,  express  approbations. 
4  "  Express  approbations "  not  of  men  gathered  here  and 
'  there,  but  from  the  County  General  Assizes ; — the  Grand 
'  Jury,  in  name  of  the  Noblemen,  Gentlemen,  Yeomen  and 
'  Inhabitants  of  that  County,  giving  very  great  thanks  to  me 
'  for  undertaking  this  heavy  burden  at  such  a  time ;  and 
4  giving  very  great  approbation  and  encouragement  to  me 
6  to  go  through  with  it.1  These  are  plain ;  I  have  them  to 
4  show.  And  by  these,  in  some  measure,  it  will  appear  '  I  do 
'  not  bear  witness  to  myself.' 

4  This  is  not  all.  The  Judges, — truly  I  had  almost  for- 
'  gotten  it  [Another  little  window  into  his  Highness  /], — the 
*  Judges,  thinking  that  there  had  now  come  a  dissolution  to 
6  all  Government,  met  and  consulted ;  and  did  declare  one 
'  to  another,  That  they  could  not  administer  justice  to  the 
4  satisfaction  of  their  consciences,  until  they  had  received 
4  Commissions  from  me.  And  they  did  receive  Commissions 
'  from  me ;  and  by  virtue  of  those  Commissions  they  have 
4  acted  : — and  all  Justices  of  the  Peace  that  have  acted  have 
6  acted  by  virtue  of  like  Commissions.  Which  was  a  little 
6  more  than  an  implied  approbation  !  And  I  believe  all  the 
'  Justice  administered  in  the  Nation  hath  been  by  this 
(  authority.  Which  also  I  lay  before  you ;  desiring  you  to 
'  think,  Whether  all  those  persons  now  mentioned  must  not 
'  come  to  you  for  an  Act  of  Oblivion  and  General  Pardon, 
4  for  having  acted  under  and  testified  to  this  Government,  if 
'  it  be  disowned  by  you  ! — 

'  And  I  have  two  or  three  witnesses  more, — equivalent  to 
<  all  these  I  have  yet  mentioned,  if  I  be  not  mistaken,  and 
'  greatly  mistaken  !  If  I  should  say,  All  you  that  are  here 
4  are  my  witnesses, — I  should  say  no  .untruth  !  I  know  that 

1  *  Humble  Petition  and  Representation  of  the  Grand  Jury  at  the  Assizes  held 
at  York,  March  1653  (1654),  in  name  of '  etc.  etc.  :  Newspapers  ;  Perfect  Diurnal, 
3d-ioth  April  1654  (King's  Pamphlets,  large  4to,  no.  82,  §  12),  and  others.— 
Similar  recognition  '  by  the  Mayor '  etc.  etc.  *  of  the  ancient  City  of  York'  (ibid.). 


144     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

'  you  are  the  same  persons  here  that  you  were  in  your 
'  countries  l — But  I  will  reserve  this  for  a  little  ;  this  will  be 
'  the  issue,  "  the  general  outcome  and  climax,"  of  my  Proof. 
[Another  little  window : — almost  a  half-soliloquy;  you  see  the 
'  Speech  getting  ready  in  the  interior  of  his  Highness .]  I  say 
'  I  have  two  or  three  witnesses,  of  still  more  weight  than  all  I 

<  have  counted  and  reckoned  yet.      All  the  People  in  England 
'  are  my  witnesses ;  and  many  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  !     All 
'  the  Sheriffs  in  England  are  my  witnesses :  and  all  that  have 
'  come-in    upon    a   Process    issued    out    by   Sheriffs    are    my 
(  witnesses.      [My  honourable  friends,  how  did  YOU  come  in  ?  ] 

<  Yea,   the   Returns   of  the   Elections   to   the   Clerk   of  the 
4  Crown, — not  a  thing  to  be  blown  away  by  a  breath, — the 
'  Return  on  behalf  of  the  Inhabitants  in  the  Counties,  Cities 
'  and  Boroughs,  all  are  my  witnesses  of  approbation  to  the 
4  Condition  and  Place  I  stand  in. 

'  And  I  shall  now  make  you  my  last  witnesses  !  [Here 
'  comes  it,  ( the  issue  of  my  Proof"  /]  And  shall  ask  you, 
'  Whether  you  came  not  hither  by  my  Writs  directed  to  the 
4  several  Sheriffs  "  of  Counties,"  and  through  the  Sheriffs  to 
'  the  other  Officers  of  Cities  and  Liberties  ?  To  which 

<  «  Writs "  the  People  gave  obedience ;  having  also  had  the 
'  Act  of  Government  communicated  to  them, — to  which  end 
'  great  numbers  of  copies  "  thereof "  were  sent  down  to  be 

*  communicated  to  them.      And  the  Government 2  "  was  "  also 
6  required  to  be  distinctly  read  unto  the  People  at  the  place 

*  of  election,   to   avoid   surprises,    "  or  misleadings   of   them 

*  through  their    ignorance " ; —  where    also   they    signed    the 
'  Indenture,3    with    proviso,    '  That    the    Persons    so    chosen 
4  should  not  have   power   to   alter   the  Government   as    now 
'  settled   in    one    Single   Person    and   a   Parliament  ! '     [My 
6  honourable  friends —  ?] — And  thus  I  have  made  good  my 

*  second  Assertion,  *  That  I  bear  not  witness  to  myself ' ;  but 

1  Where  you  had  to  acknowledge  me  before  election,  he  means,  but  does  not 
yet  see  good  to  say. 

8  Act  or  Instrument  of  Government.  8  Writ  of  Return. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  145 

*  that    the    good   People   of    England   and   you   all   are   my 
6  witnesses. 

4  Yea,  surely  ! — And  "  now  "  this  being  so, — though  I  told 

*  you  in  my  last  Speech  'that  you  were  a  Free  Parliament,1  yet 
4  I  thought  it  was  understood  withal  that  I  was  the  Protector, 
6  and  the  Authority  that  called  you  !      That  I   was  in  posses- 
4  sion  of  the  Government  by  a  good  right  from  God  and  men  ! 
4  And  I   believe  if  the  learnedest  men  in  this  Nation  were 
4  called  to  show  a  precedent,  equally  clear,  of  a  Government 
4  so  many  ways  approved  of,  they  would  not  in  all  their  search 
4  find  it. — I  did  not  in  my  other  Speech  take  upon  me  to 
4  justify  the  "  Act  of"  Government  in  every  particular;  and  I 
4  told  you  the  reason,  which  was  plain  :   The  Act  of  Govern- 
4  ment  was  public,  and  had  long  been  published,  "  in  order " 
4  that  it  might  be  under  the  most  serious  inspection  of  all 
4  that  pleased  to  peruse  it. 

4  This  is  what  I  had  to  say  at  present  for  approving1  myself 
6  to  God  and  my  conscience  in  my  actions  throughout  this 
4  undertaking  ;  and  for  giving  cause  of  approving  myself  to 
4  every  one  of  your  consciences  in  the  sight  of  God. — And  if 
4  the  fact  be  so,  why  should  we  sport  with  it  ?  With  a 
6  business  so  serious  !  May  not  this  character,  this  stamp 
[Stamp  put  upon  a  man  by  the  Most  High  and  His  provi- 
6  dences],  bear  equal  poise  with  any  Hereditary  Interest  that 
4  could  furnish,  or  hath  furnished,  in  the  Common  Law  or 
4  elsewhere,  matter  of  dispute  and  trial  of  learning  ?  In  the 
4  like  of  which  many  have  exercised  more  wit,  and  spilt  more 
4  blood,  than  I  hope  ever  to  live  to  see  or  hear  of  again  in 
4  this  Nation  !  [Red  and  White  Roses,  for  example ;  Henry  of 
4  Bolingbroke,  and  the  last  4  Protector.''] — I  say,  I  do  not  know 
4  why  I  may  not  balance  this  Providence,  in  the  sight  of  God, 
4  with  any  Hereditary  Interest  [Nor  do  //]  ;  as  a  thing  less 
4  subject  to  those  cracks  and  flaws  which  that  44 other'"1  is 

1  '  By  what  I  have  said,  I  have  approved,'  etc.  in  orig.  :  but  rhetorical  charity 
required  the  change. 

VOL.   III.  K 


146     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  commonly  incident  unto ;   the  disputing  of  which  has  cost 

*  more  blood  in  former  times  in  this  Nation  than  we  have 
4  leisure  to  speak  of  now  ! — 

*  Now  if  this  be  thus,  and  I  am  deriving  a  title  from  God 
4  and  men  upon  such  accounts  as  these  are — Although  some 

*  men  be  fro  ward,  yet  that  your  judgments  who  are  Persons 
4  sent  from  all  parts  of  the  Nation  under  the  notion  of  approv- 
6  ing  this  Government —  [His  Highness,  bursting  with  meaning, 

completes  neither  of  these  sentences  ;  but  pours  himself,  like  an 
6  irregular  torrent,  through  other  orifices  and  openings.]  — For 
4  you  to  disown  or  not  to  own  it :  for  you  to  act  with  Parlia- 
4  mentary  Authority  especially  in  the  disowning  of  it;  contrary 
4  to  the  very  fundamental  things,  yea  against  the  very  root  it- 
4  self  of  this  Establishment :  to  sit  and  not  own  the  Authority 

4  by  which  you  sit, is  that  which  I  believe  astonisheth 

4  more  men  than  myself;  and  doth  as  dangerously  disappoint 
4  and  discompose  the  Nation  as  any  thing  44  that ""  could  have 
4  been  invented  by  the  greatest  enemy  to  our  peace  and 
4  welfare,  or  "that*"  could  well  have  happened.  [Sorrow, 

anger  and  reproach  on  his  Highnesses  countenance ;   the  voice 

risen  somewhat  into  ALT,  and  rolling  with  a  kind  of  rough 

music  in  the  tones  of  it!] 

4  It  is  true,  as  there  are  some  things  in  the  Establishment 
4  which  are  Fundamental,  so  there  are  others  which  are  not, 
4  but  are  Circumstantial.  Of  these  no  question  but  I  shall 
4  easily  agree  to  vary,  to  leave  out,  44  according  "  as  I  shall  be 
4  convinced  by  reason.  But  some  things  are  Fundamentals  ! 
4  About  which  I  shall  deal  plainly  with  you  :  These  may  not 
4  be  parted  with ;  but  will,  I  trust,  be  delivered  over  to 
4  Posterity,  as  the  fruits  of  our  blood  and  travail.  The 
4  Government  by  a  single  Person  and  a  Parliament  is  a  Funda- 
4  mental !  It  is  the  esse,  it  is  constitutive.  And  as  for  the 
4  Person, — though  I  may  seem  to  plead  for  myself,  yet  I  do 
4  not :  no,  nor  can  any  reasonable  man  say  it.  If  the  things 
4  throughout  this  Speech  be  true,  I  plead  for  this  Nation,  and 
4  for  all  honest  men  therein  who  have  borne  their  testimony 


1654]  SPEECH    III  147 

4  as  aforesaid,  and  not  for  myself!  And  if  things  should 
4  do  otherwise  than  well  (which  I  would  not  fear),  and  the 
4  Common  Enemy  and  discontented  persons  take  advantage  of 
4  these  distractions,  the  issue  will  be  put  up  before  God  :  let 
4  Him  own  it,  or  let  Him  disown  it,  as  He  pleases  ! — 

4  In  every  Government  there  must  be  Somewhat  Funda- 
4  mental  [Will  speak  now  of  Fundamentals],  Somewhat  like  a 
4  Magna  Chart  a,  which  should  be  standing,  be  unalterable. 
*  Where  there  is  a  stipulation  on  one  side,  and  that  fully 
'  accepted,  as  appears  by  what  hath  been  said, — surely  a 
4  return1  ought  to  be;  else  what  does  that  stipulation  signify? 
4  If  I  have,  upon  the  terms  aforesaid,  undertaken  this  great 
4  Trust,  and  exercised  it ;  and  by  it  called  you, — surely  it 
'  ought  44 by  you"  to  be  owned. — That  Parliaments  should  not 
4  make  themselves  perpetual  is  a  Fundamental.  [Yea;  all 
4  know  it :  taught  by  the  example  of  the  Rump  /]  Of  what 
4  assurance  is  a  Law  to  prevent  so  great  an  evil,  if  it  lie  in  the 
4  same  Legislature  to  wnlaw  it  again  ?  [Must  have  a  Single 
4  Person  to  check  your  Parliament.]  Is  such  a  Law  like  to  be 
4  lasting  ?  It  will  be  a  rope  of  sand  ;  it  will  give  no  security; 
4  for  the  same  men  may  unbuild  what  they  have  built. 

4  "Again,"  is  not  Liberty  of  Conscience  in  Religion  a  Funda- 
4  mental  ?  So  long  as  there  is  Liberty  of  Conscience  for  the 
4  Supreme  Magistrate  to  exercise  his  conscience  in  erecting  what 
4  Form  of  Church-Government  he  is  satisfied  he  should  set  up 

[4  HE  is  to  decide  on  the  Form  of  Church-Government,  then  ?' 
4  The  Moderns,  especially  the  Voluntary  Principle,  stare], — why 
4  should  he  not  give  the  like  liberty  to  others  ?  Liberty  of 
4  Conscience  is  a  natural  right ;  and  he  that  would  have  it, 
4  ought  to  give  it ;  having  "  himself  "  liberty  to  settle  what  he 
4  likes  for  the  Public.  [4  Where,  then,  are  the  limits  of  Dissent?"* 

An  abstruse  question,  my  Voluntary  friends ;  especially  with  a 

4  Gospel  really  BELIEVED  /]     Indeed  that  hath  been  one  of  the 

4  vanities  of  our  Contest.      Every  Sect  saith  :    4  Oh,  give  me 

4  liberty  ! '      But  give  it  him,  and  to  his  power  he  will  not 

1  reciprocal  engagement. 


148     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

'  yield  it  to  anybody  else.  Where  is  our  ingenuousness  ? 
'  "  Liberty  of  Conscience  " — truly  that  is  a  thing  ought  to  be 
'  very  reciprocal !  The  Magistrate  hath  his  supremacy ;  he 
6  may  settle  Religion,  "that  is,  Church-Government,"  according 
4  to  his  conscience.  And  "  as  for  the  People  " — I  may  say  it 
'  to  you,  I  can  say  it :  All  the  money  of  this  Nation  would 
'  not  have  tempted  men  to  fight  upon  such  an  account  as  they 
6  have  here  been  engaged  in,  if  they  had  not  had  hopes  of 
'  Liberty  "  of  Conscience  "  better  than  Episcopacy  granted 
4  them,  or  than  would  have  been  afforded  by  a  Scots  Presbytery, 
4  — or  an  English  either,  if  it  had  made  such  steps,  and  been 
6  as  sharp  and  rigid,  as  it  threatened  when  first  set  up  ! l 
6  This,  I  say,  is  a  Fundamental.  It  ought  to  be  so.  It  is 
'  for  us  and  the  generations  to  come.  And  if  there  be  an 
'  absoluteness  in  the  Imposer  [As  you  seem  to  argue]  without 
4  fitting  allowances  and  exceptions  from  the  rule  ['  Fitting ' : 
6  that  is  a  wide  wordfy — we  shall  have  the  People  driven  into 
*  wildernesses.  As  they  were,  when  those  poor  and  afflicted 
'  people,  who  forsook  their  estates  and  inheritances  here,  where 
'  they  lived  plentifully  and  comfortably,  were  necessitated,  for 
8  enjoyment  of  their  Liberty,  to  go  into  a  waste  howling 
'  wilderness  in  New  England ; — where  they  have,  for  Liberty's 
'  sake,  stript  themselves  of  all  their  comfort ;  embracing  rather 
'  loss  of  friends  and  want  than  be  so  ensnared  and  in  bondage. 
<  [Yea!] 

'  Another  "  Fundamental "  which  I  had  forgotten  is  the 
c  Militia.  That  is  judged  a  Fundamental  if  anything  be  so. 
'  That  it  should  be  well  and  equally  placed  is  very  necessary. 
'  For,  put  the  absolute  power  of  the  Militia  into  "  the  hands 
'  of "  one  "  Person," — without  a  check,  what  doth  it  serve  ? 
'  "  On  the  other  hand,"  I  pray  you,  what  check  is  there  upon 
'  your  Perpetual  Parliaments,  if  the  Government  be  wholly 

1  Liberty  of  Conscience  must  not  be  refused  to  a  People  who  have  fought  and 
conquered  'upon  such  an  account'  as  ours  was  !  For  more  of  Oliver's  notions 
concerning  the  Magistrate's  power  in  Church  matters,  see  his  Letter  to  the  Scotch 
Clergy,  Letter  CXLVIII.  vol.  ii.  p.  232. 


i654j  SPEECH    III  149 

;  stript  of  this  of  the  Militia  ?  "  This  as  we  now  have  it "  is  * 
equally  placed,  and  men's  desires  were  to  have  it  so ; — 
namely,  in  one  Person,  and  in  the  Parliament  "  along  with 
4  him,"  while  the  Parliament  sits.  What  signified  a  provision 
against  perpetuating  of  Parliaments,  if  this  power  of  the 
Militia  be  solely  in  them?  Think,  Whether  without  some 
check,  the  Parliament  have  it  not  in  their  power  to  alter 
4  the  Frame  of  Government  altogether, — into  Aristocracy, 
4  Democracy,  into  Anarchy,  into  anything,  if  this  "  of  the 
4  Militia  "  be  fully  in  them !  Yea,  into  all  confusion ;  and  that 
6  without  remedy  !  If  this  one  thing  be  placed  in  one  "  party," 
4  that  one,  be  it  Parliament,  be  it  Supreme  Governor,  hath 
6  power  to  make  what  he  pleases  of  all  the  rest.  \^Hum-m-m! n 
'from  the  old  Parliament.] — Therefore  if  you  would  have  a 
4  balance  at  all ;  if  you  agree  that  some  Fundamentals  must 
4  stand,  as  worthy  to  be  delivered  over  to  Posterity, — truly  I 
4  think  it  is  not  unreasonably  urged  that  "  this  power  of" 
4  the  Militia  should  be  disposed  as  we  have  it  in  the  Act  of 
4  Government ; — should  be  placed  so  equally  that  no  one 
4  party  neither  in  Parliament  nor  out  of  Parliament  have  the 
4  power  of  ordering  it.  44  Well "  ;  —  the  Council  are  the 
4  Trustees  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  all  intervals  of  Parlia- 
4  ment ;  and  have  as  absolute  a  negative  upon  the  Supreme 
4  Officer  in  the  said  intervals,  as  the  Parliament  hath  while  it 
4  is  sitting.  [So  that  we  are  safe — or  safish,  your  Highness  ? 
4  No  one  party  has  power  of  the  Militia  at  any  time.]  The 
4  power  of  the  Militia  cannot  be  made  use  of ;  not  a  man  can 
4  be  raised,  nor  a  penny  charged  upon  the  People,  nothing  can 
4  be  done,  without  consent  of  Parliament ;  and  in  the  intervals 
4  of  Parliament,  without  consent  of  the  Council.  Give  me 

*  leave  to  say,  There  is  very  little  power,  none  but  what  is 
4  coordinate,  44  placed  "  in  the  Supreme  Officer  ;  and  yet  enough 
4  in  him  in  that  particular.      He  is  bound  in  strictness  by  the 
4  Parliament,  and  out  of  Parliament  by  the  Council,  who  do  as 

*  absolutely  bind  him  as  the  Parliament  while  sitting  doth. — 

1  '  It  is '  in  orig. 


150    PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  As  for  that  of  Money — I  told  you  some  things  were 
4  Circumstantials  [Comes  to  the  Circumstantials]  ; — as,  for 
4  example,  this  is :  That  we  should  have  200, 0001.  to  defray 
'  Civil  Offices, — to  pay  the  Judges  and  other  Officers;  to  defray 
4  the  charges  of  the  Council  in  sending  their  embassies,  in 

*  keeping  intelligence,  and  doing  what  is  necessary ;   and  to 
4  support  the  Governor  in  Chief :  *     All  this  is,  by  the  Instru- 
4  ment,  supposed  and  intended.      But  it  is  not  of  the  esse  so 
4  much ;    nor  "  is  it "  limited  "  so   strictly "  as  "  even  "  the 
4  number  of  Soldiers  is, — 20,000  Foot  and   10,000  Horse. 

[Guard  even  afar  off  against  any  sinking  below  the  minimum 
4  m  that!]  Yet  if  the  spirits  of  men  were  composed,  5,000 
4  Horse  and  10,000  Foot  might  serve.  These  things  are  "Cir- 
4  cumstantial,"  are  between  the  Chief  Officer  and  the  Parlia- 
4  ment,  to  be  moderated,  u  regulated,"  as  occasion  shall  offer. 
4  Of  this  sort  there  are  many  Circumstantial  things,  which 

*  are  not  like  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.      But  the 
4  things  which  shall  be  necessary  to  deliver  over  to  Posterity, 

*  these  should  be  unalterable.      Else  every  succeeding  Parlia- 

*  ment  will  be  disputing  to  alter  the  Government ;   and  we 

*  shall  be  as  often  brought  into  confusion  as  we  have  Parlia- 

*  ments  and  so  make  our  remedy  our  disease.      The   Lord's 
4  Providence,  evil  "  effects "  appearing,  and  good  appearing, 

*  and  better  judgment  "  in  ourselves,"  will  give  occasion  for 
4  ordering  of  things  to  the  best  interest  of  the  People.     Those 

*  "  Circumstantial "   things   are   the   matter   of  consideration 
4  between  you  and  me. 

*  I  have  indeed  almost  tired  myself.  What  I  have  farther 
4  to  say  is  this  [Does  not  yet  say  it] — I  would  it  had  not  been 
k  needful  for  me  to  call  you  hither  to  expostulate  these  things 
4  with  you,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  this  !  But  Necessity 
4  hath  no  law.  Feigned  necessities,  imaginary  necessities, — 
4  44  certainly  these "  are  the  greatest  cozenage  that  men  can 
4  put  upon  the  Providence  of  God,  and  make  pretences  to 
4  break  known  rules  by.  44  Yes  ";  but  it  is  as  legal,  "  contrary 

1  Instrument  of  Government,  Art.  27  (Somers  Tracts^  vi.  294). 


1654]  SPEECH    III  151 

4  to  God  s  free  Grace,"  as  carnal,  and  as  stupid   [A   tone  of 

'  anger],  to  think    that   there   are   no  Necessities  which   are 

'  manifest  "  and  real,"   because  necessities  may  be  abused  or 

4  feigned  !     And  truly  that  were  my  case  l  if  I  should  so  think 

4  "  here "  ;  and  I  hope  none  of  you  so  think.      I  have  to  say 

4  [Says  it  now]  :   The  wilful  throwing-away  of  this  Govern- 

4  ment,  such  as  it  is,  so  owned  by  God,  so  approved  by  men, 

4  so  witnessed  to  (in  the  Fundamentals  of  it)  as  was  mentioned 

4  above,  44  were  a  thing  which," — and  in  reference  44  not  to  my 

4  good,  but"  to  the  good  of  these  Nations  and  of  Posterity, 

4  — I  can  sooner  be  willing  to  be  rolled  into  my  grave  and 

4  buried    with   infamy,   than   I   can   give   my   consent    unto ! 

[Never ! — Do  you  catch  the  tone  of  that  voice,  reverberating, 

like  thunder  from  the  roof  of  the  Painted  Chamber,  over  the 

heads  of  Bradshaw,  Haselrig,  Scott  and  Company ;  the  aspect 

of  that  face,  with  its  lion-mouth  and  mournful  eyes, — kindled 

now   and  radiant   all  of  it,  with   sorrow,  with  rebuke   and 

wrathful    defiance  ? — Bradshaw    and    Company    look    on    it 

unblanched ;  but  will  be  careful  not  to  provoke  such  a  one. 

There  lie  penalties  in  him !  ] 

4  You  have  been  called  hither  to  save  a  Nation, — Nations. 
4  You  had  the  best  People,  indeed,  of  the  Christian  world  put 
4  into  your  trust,  when  you  came  hither.  You  had  the  affairs 
4  of  these  Nations  delivered  over  to  you  in  peace  and  quiet ; 
4  you  were,  and  we  all  are,  put  into  an  undisturbed  possession, 
4  nobody  making  title  to  us.  Through  the  blessing  of  God, 
4  our  enemies  were  hopeless  and  scattered.  We  had  peace 
4  at  home ;  peace  with  almost  all  our  Neighbours  round 
4  about, — apt  "  otherwise "  to  take  advantages  where  God 
4  did  administer  them.  "  These  things  we  had,  few  days  ago, 
4  when  you  came  hither.  And  now  ? " — To  have  our  peace 
4  and  interest,  whereof  those  were  our  hopes  the  other  day, 
4  thus  shaken,  and  put  under  such  a  confusion  ;  and  ourselves 
4  [Chiejly  4  /']  rendered  hereby  almost  the  scorn  and  con- 
4  tempt  of  those  strangers  [Dutch  Ambassadors  and  the  like] 
1  To  be  legal,  and  carnal  and  stupid. 


152     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

4  who  are  amongst  us  to  negotiate  their  masters'  affairs  !  To 
4  give  them  opportunity  to  see  our  nakedness  as  they  do :  4  A 
'  people  that  have  been  unhinged  this  twelve-years  day,1  and 
4  are  unhinged  still,' — as  if  scattering,  division  and  confusion 
4  came  upon  us  like  things  we  desired  :  "  these?  which  are  the 
4  greatest  plagues  that  God  ordinarily  lays  upon  Nations  for 
4  sin  ! 

'  I  would  be  loath  to  say  these  are  matters  of  our  desire.2 
4  But  if  not,  then  why  not  matters  of  our  care, — as  wisely  as 
4  by  our  utmost  endeavours  we  might,  to  avoid  them  !  Nay 
*  if,  by  such  actings  as  these  "  now  "  are,  these  poor  Nations 
4  shall  be  thrown  into  heaps  and  confusion,  through  blood, 
4  and  ruin,  and  trouble 3 — And  upon  the  saddest  account  that 
4  ever  was,  if  breaking  44  and  confusion  "  should  come  upon  us ; 
4  — all  because  we  would  not  settle  when  we  could,  when 
4  God  put  it  into  our  hands  !  Your  affairs  now  almost  settled 
4  everywhere  :  and  to  have  all  recoil  upon  us ;  and  ourselves 
4  "  to  be "  shaken  in  our  affections,  loosened  from  all  known 
4  and  public  interests : — as  I  said  before,  who  shall  answer 
4  for  these  things  to  God  ? 

4  Who  can  answer  for  these  things  to  God,  or  to  men  ? 
4  44To  men"" — to  the  People  who  sent  you  hither;  who  looked 
4  for  refreshment  from  you  ;  who  looked  for  nothing  but  peace 
4  and  quietness,  and  rest  and  settlement  ?  When  we  come  to 
4  give  an  account  to  them,  we  shall  have  it  to  say,  4  Oh,  we 
4  quarrelled  for  the  Liberty  of  England ;  we  contested,  and 
4  "  went  to  confusion,"  for  that ! ' — "  Now,"  Wherein,  I  pray 
4  you,  for  the  4  Liberty  of  England1  ?  I  appeal  to  the  Lord, 

4  that  the  desires  and  endeavours  we  have  had Nay  the 

'  things  will  speak  for  themselves.  The  4  Liberty  of  England,1 
4  the  Liberty  of  the  People  ;  the  avoiding  of  tyrannous  imposi- 
4  tions  either  upon  men  as  men,  or  Christians  as  Christians ; 
«  — is  made  so  safe  by  this  Act  of  Settlement,  that  it  will 

1  An  old  phrase  ;  '  day  '  emphatic.  2  Politely  oblique  for  '  your  desire.' 

*  '  what  shall  we  then  say  ? '  his  Highness  means,  but  does  not  complete  the 
sentence, — as  is  sometimes  his  habit. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  153 

'  speak  for  itself.  And  when  it  shall  appear  to  the  world 
'  what  "  really "  hath  been  said  and  done  by  all  of  us,  and 
4  what  our  real  transactions  were — For  God  can  discover ;  no 

*  Privilege  [  What !   Not  even  Privilege  of  Parliament  ?]  will 

*  hinder  the  Lord  from  discovering !     No  Privilege,  or  con- 
4  dition  of  man  can  hide  from  the  Lord ;   He  can  and  will 

*  make  all  manifest,  if  He  see  it  for  His  glory  ! J — And  when 
4  these  "  things,  as  I  say,"  shall  be  manifested  ;  and  the  People 
6  will  come  and  ask,  '  Gentlemen,  what  condition  is  this  we 
4  are  in  ?     We  hoped  for  light ;  and  behold  darkness,  obscure 
4  darkness  !    We  hoped  for  rest  after  ten-years  Civil  War,  but 
4  are   plunged  into  deep   confusion   again  ! ' — Ay  ;    we  know 
4  these  consequences  will  come  upon  us,  if  God  Almighty  shall 
4  not  find  out  some  way  to  prevent  them. 

4  I  had  a  thought  within  myself,  That  it  would  not  have 

*  been  dishonest  nor  dishonourable,  nor  against  true  Liberty, 
4  no,  not  "  the  Liberty  "  of  Parliaments,  "  if,""  when  a  Parlia- 
4  ment  was  so  chosen  "  as  you  have  been,""  in  pursuance  of 

*  this  Instrument  of  Government,  and  in  conformity  to  it,  and 
4  with  such  an  approbation  and  consent  to  it, — some  Owning 

*  of  your  Call  and  of  the  Authority  which  brought  you  hither, 
4  had   been   required   before   your  entrance   into   the   House. 
4  [Deep  silence  in  the  audience.]     This  was  declined,  and  hath 
4  not  been  done,  because  I  am  persuaded  scarce  any  man  could 
4  doubt  you  came  with  contrary  minds.    And  I  have  reason  to 
4  believe  the  people  that  sent  you  least  of  all  doubted  thereof. 
4  And  therefore  I  must  deal  plainly  with  you  :  What  I  forbore 

*  upon  a  just  confidence  at  first,  you  necessitate  me  unto  now  ! 
4  [Paleness  on  some  faces.']     Seeing  the  Authority  which  called 

*  you  is  so  little  valued,  and  so  much  slighted, — till  some  such 

*  Assurance  be  given  and  made  known,  that  the  Fundamental 
4  Interest   shall   be    settled    and   approved   according   to   the 
4  proviso  in  the  44  Writ  of "  Return,  and  such  a  consent  testi- 
4  fied  as  will  make  it  appear  that  the  same  is  accepted,  I  HAVE 

1  '  Privilege '  of  Parliament,  in  those  days,  strenuously  forbids  reporting  \  but 
it  will  not  serve  in  the  case  referred  to  ! 


154    PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

'  CAUSED  A  STOP  TO  BE  PUT  TO  YOUR  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  PARLIA- 

'  MENT  HOUSE.  [You  understand  that,  my  honourable  friends  .?] 
4  I  am  sorry,  I  am  sorry,  and  I  could  be  sorry  to  the  death, 
4  that  there  is  cause  for  this  !  But  there  is  cause  :  and  if 
'  things  be  not  satisfied  which  are  reasonably  demanded,  I,  for 
'  my  part,  will  do  that  which  becomes  me,  seeking  my  counsel 
4  from  God. — There  is  therefore  Somewhat  [A  bit  of  written 
'  Parchment  /]  to  be  offered  to  you  ;  which  I  hope  will  answer, 
'  being  understood  with  the  qualifications  I  have  told  you, — 
'  "namely,  of"  reforming  as  to  Circumstantials,  and  agreeing 
'  in  the  Substance  and  Fundamentals,  "  that  is  to  say,11  in 
'  the  Form  of  Government  now  settled,  which  is  expressly 
'  stipulated  in  your  Indentures  '  not  to  be  altered.'  The 
'  making  of  your  minds  known  in  that  by  giving  your  assent 
'  and  subscription  to  it,  is  the  means  that  will  let  you  in,  to 
{  act  those  things  as  a  Parliament  which  are  for  the  good  of 
'  the  People.  And  this  thing  [The  Parchment  /],  "  when  once 
8  it  is  "  shown  to  you  and  signed  as  aforesaid,  doth  determine 
'  the  controversy ;  and  may  give  a  happy  progress  and  issue 
'  to  this  Parliament.  [Honourable  gentlemen  look  in  one 
another's  faces, — -Jind  general  blank.] 

6  The  place  where  you  may  come  thus  and  sign,  as  many  as 
'  God  shall  make  free  thereunto,  is  in  the  Lobby  without  the 
'  Parliament  Door.  [My  honourable  friends,  you  know  the 

way,  dont  you .?] 

6  The  "  Instrument  of1  Government  doth  declare  that  you 
'  have  a  legislative  power  without  a  negative  from  me.  As 
'  the  Instrument  doth  express  it,  you  may  make  any  Laws ; 
4  and  if  I  give  not  my  consent,  within  twenty  days,  to  the 
'•  passing  of  your  Laws,  they  are  ipso  facto  Laws,  whether  I 
'  consent  or  no, — if  not  contrary  to  the  "  Frame  of "  Govern- 
'  ment.  You  have  an  absolute  Legislative  Power  in  all 
'  things  that  can  possibly  concern  the  good  and  interest  of 
'  the  public ;  and  I  think  you  may  make  these  Nations  happy 
'  by  this  Settlement.  And  I,  for  my  part,  shall  be  willing  to 
'  be  bound  more  than  I  am,  in  anything  concerning  which  I 


1654]  SPEECH    III  155 

'  can  become  convinced  that  it  may  be  for  the  good  of  the 
'  People,  or  tend  to  the  preservation  of  the  Cause  and  Interest 
'  so  long  contended  for.'"* 

Go  your  ways,  my  honourable  friends,  and  sign,  so  many  of 
you  as  God  hath  made  free  thereunto  !  The  place,  I  tell  you, 
is  in  the  Lobby  without  the  Parliament  Door.  The  ( Thing,' 
as  you  will  find  there,  is  a  bit  of  Parchment  with  these  words 
engrossed  on  it.  '  /  do  hereby  freely  promise,  and  engage 
myself,  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  Indenture  whereby  I  am 
returned  to  serve  in  this  present  Parliament)  propose,  or  give 
my  consent,  to  alter  the  Government  as  it  is  settled  in  a  Single 
Person  and  a  Parliament.'1  *  Sign  that,  or  go  home  again  to 
your  countries. 

Let  honourable  gentlemen  therefore  consider  what  they  will 
do  ! — *  About  a  Hundred  signed  directly,  within  an  hour/ 
Guibon  Goddard  and  all  the  Norfolk  Members  (except  one, 
who  was  among  the  direct  Hundred)  went  and  *  had  dinner 
together,'  to  talk  the  matter  over ; — mostly  thought  it  would 
be  better  to  sign ;  and  did  sign,  all  but  some  two.  The 
number  who  have  signed  this  first  day,  we  hear,  is  a  Hundred- 
and-twenty,  a  Hundred-and-thirty,  nay  a  Hundred-and-forty.2 
Blank  faces  of  honourable  gentlemen  begin  to  take  meaning 
again, — some  mild,  some  grim.  Tomorrow  being  Fastday, 
there  is  an  adjournment.  The  recusants  are  treated  '  with  all 
tenderness ' ;  most  of  them  come-in  by  degrees :  *  Three- 
hundred  before  the  month  ends.' 

Deep  Republicans,  Bradshaw,  Haselrig,  Thomas  Scott  and 
the  like,  would  not  come-in ;  still  less  would  shallow  noisy 
ones,  as  Major  Wildman ; — went  home  to  their  countries 
again,  their  blank  faces  settling  into  permanent  grim.  My 

*  Old  Pamphlet,  brother  to  the  foregoing  ;  reprinted  in  Parliamentary  History, 
xx.  349-69- 
1  Whitlocke,  p.  587.  2  Goddard,  Whitlocke,  Letter  in  Thurloe. 


156     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [12  SEPT. 

Lord  Protector  molested  no  man  for  his  recusancy  ;  did  indeed 
take  that  absence  as  a  comparative  favour  from  the  parties. 
Harrison  and  other  suspect  persons  are  a  little  looked  after : 
the  Parliament  resumes  its  function  as  if  little  had  happened. 
With  a  singular  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  the  Public,  write 
our  correspondents,  Dutch  and  other.  The  Public,  which  I 
have  known  rebel  against  crowned  Kings  for  twitching  the 
tippet  of  a  Parliament,  permits  this  Lord  Protector  to  smite 
it  on  the  cheek,  and  say,  '  Have  a  care,  wilt  thou  ! '  Perhaps 
this  Lord  Protector  is  believed  to  mean  better  than  the  King 
did?  There  is  a  difference  in  the  objects  of  men,  as  the 
Public  understands ; — a  difference  in  the  men  too  for  rebel- 
ling against !  At  any  rate,  here  is  singular  submission  every- 
where ;  and  my  Lord  Protector  getting  ready  a  powerful 
Sea  Armament,  neither  his  Parliament  nor  any  other  creature 
can  yet  guess  for  what.1 

Goddard's  report  of  this  Parliament  is  distinct  enough ; 
brief,  and  not  without  some  points  of  interest ;  *  the  mis- 
fortune is,'  says  one  Commentator,  *  he  does  not  give  us 
names.''  Alas,  a  much  greater  misfortune  is,  the  Parliament 
itself  is  hardly  worth  naming  !  It  did  not  prove  a  successful 
Parliament ; — it  held-on  by  mere  Constitution-building  ;  and 
effected,  so  to  speak,  nothing.  Respectable  Pedant  persons  ; 
never  doubting  but  the  Ancient  sacred  Sheepskins  would  serve 
for  the  New  Time,  which  also  has  its  sacredness  ;  thinking, 
full  surely,  constitutional  logic  was  the  thing  England  now 
needed  of  them  !  Their  History  shall  remain  blank,  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  I  have  read  their  Debates,  and  counsel 
no  other  man  to  do  it.  Wholly  upon  the  4  Institution  of 
Government,'  modelling,  new-modelling,  of  that  :  endless 
anxious  spider-webs  of  constitutional  logic ;  vigilant  checks, 
constitutional  jealousies,  etc.  etc.  To  be  forgotten  by  all 
creatures. 

They  had  a  Committee  of  Godly  Ministers  sitting  in  the 

1  Dutch  Ambassadors,  French,  etc.,  in  Thurloe,  ii.  606,  613,  638  (isth,  i8th 
Sept.;  Qth  Oct.).     See  also  Appendix,  No.  28. 


1654]  SPEECH    III  157 

Jerusalem  Chamber  ;  a  kind  of  miniature  Assembly  of  Divines ; 
intent  upon  '  Scandalous  Ministers  and  Schoolmasters,'  upon 
tender  consciences,  and  the  like  objects  :  but  there  were  only 
Twenty  in  this  Assembly ;  they  could  hardly  ever  get  fairly 
under  way  at  all ; — and  have  left  in  English  History  no  trace 
that  I  could  see  of  their  existence,  except  a  very  reasonable 
Petition,  noted  in  the  Record,  that  the  Parliament  would  be 
pleased  to  advance  them  a  little  money  towards  the  purchase 
of  fire  and  candle, — in  these  cold  dark  months.  The  Parlia- 
ment, I  hope,  allowed  them  coals  and  a  few  tallow-lights ; 
but  neither  they  nor  it  could  accomplish  anything  towards 
the  Settling  of  a  Godly  Ministry  in  England :  my  Lord  Pro- 
tector and  his  Commissions  will  have  to  settle  that  too ;  an 
object  dear  to  all  good  men.  This  Parliament  spent  its  time 
in  constitutional  jangling,  in  vigilant  contrivance  of  balances, 
checks,  and  that  species  of  entities.  With  difficulty  could,  at 
rare  intervals,  a  hasty  stingy  vote,  not  for  the  indispensable 
Supplies,  but  for  some  promise  of  them,  be  wrung  from  it. 
An  unprofitable  Parliament. 

For  the  rest,  they  had  Biddle  the  Socinian  before  them  ;  a 
poor  Gloucester  Schoolmaster  once,  now  a  very  conspicuous 
Heresiarch,  apparently  of  mild  but  entirely  obstinate  manners, 
—poor  devil :  him  they  put  into  the  Gatehouse ;  him  and 
various  others  of  that  kidney.  Especially  'Theauro  John, 
who  laid  about  him  with  a  drawn  sword  at  the  door  of  the 
Parliament  House  one  day,'1 — a  man  clearly  needing  to  be 
confined, '  Theauro  John ' :  his  name  had  originally  been  John 
Davy,  if  I  recollect ;  but  the  Spirit,  in  some  preternatural 
hour,  revealed  to  him  that  it  ought  to  be  as  above.  Poor 
Davy :  his  labours,  life-adventures,  financial  arrangements,  pain- 
ful biography  in  general,  are  all  unknown  to  us ;  till,  on  this 
'Saturday  30th  December  165 4,' he  very  clearly  'knocks  loud 
at  the  door  of  the  Parliament  House,'  as  much  as  to  say,  'What 
is  this  you  are  upon  ? '  and  '  lays  about  him  with  a  drawn 
sword  ' ; — after  which  all  again  becomes  unknown.  Seemingly 
1  Whitlocke,  p.  592.  See  Goddard  (in  Burton^  i.  Introd.  cxxvi.). 


158    PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [i6NOV. 

a  kind  of  Quaker.  Does  the  reader  know  James  Nayler,  and 
the  devout  women  worshipping  him  ?  George  Fox,  in  his  suit 
of  leather,  independent  of  mankind,  looks  down  into  the  soft 
Vale  of  Belvoir,  native  '  Vale  of  Bever ' :  Do  not  the  whisper- 
ing winds  and  green  fields,  do  not  the  still  smoke-pillars 
from  these  poor  cottages  under  the  eternal  firmaments,  say 
in  one's  heart,  '  George,  canst  thou  do  nothing  for  us  ? 
George,  wilt  thou  not  help  us  from  the  wrath  to  come  ? ' 
George  finds  in  the  Vale  of  Bever  '  a  very  tender  people.1  In 
fact,  most  singular  Quakerisms,  frightful  Socinianisms,  and 
other  portents,  are  springing  up  rife  in  England. 

Oliver  objected,  now  and  always,  to  any  very  harsh 
punishment  of  Biddle  and  Company,  much  as  he  abhorred 
their  doctrines.  Why  burn,  or  brand,  or  otherwise  torment 
them,  poor  souls  ?  They,  wandering  as  we  all  do  seeking  for 
a  door  of  hope  into  the  Eternities,  have,  being  tempted  of 
the  Devil  as  we  all  likewise  are,  missed  the  door  of  hope ; 
and  gone  tumbling  into  dangerous  gulfs, — dangerous,  but 
not  yet  beyond  the  mercy  of  God.  Do  not  burn  them. 
They  meant,  some  of  them,  well;  bear,  visibly  to  me,  the 
scars  of  stern  true  battle  against  the  Enemy  of  Man.  Do 
not  burn  them ; — lock  them  up,  that  they  may  not  mislead 
others.  On  frugal  wholesome  diet  in  Pendennis  Castle,  or 
Elizabeth  Castle  in  Jersey,  or  here  in  the  Clink  Prison  at 
London,  they  will  not  cost  you  much,  and  may  arrive  at 
some  composure.  Branding  and  burning  is  an  ugly  business  ; 
— as  little  of  that  as  you  can. 

Friday  %9th  September  1654.  His  Highness,  say  the  old 
Lumber-Books,  went  into  Hyde  Park ;  made  a  small  picnic 
dinner  under  the  trees,  with  Secretary  Thurloe,  attended  by  a 
few  servants ; — was,  in  fact,  making  a  small  pleasure  excursion, 
having  in  mind  to  try  a  fine  new  team  of  horses,  which  the 
Earl  or  Duke  of  Oldenburg  had  lately  sent  him.  Dinner 
done,  his  Highness  himself  determined  to  drive, — two  in 
hand  I  think,  with  a  postillion  driving  other  two.  The 
horses,  beautiful  animals,  tasting  of  the  whip,  became  unruly  ; 


1654]  SPEECH    III  159 

galloped,  would  not  be  checked,  but  took  to  plunging ; 
plunged  the  postillion  down  ;  plunged  or  shook  his  Highness 
down,  ;  dragging  him  by  the  foot  for  some  time,'  so  that  6  a 
pistol  went  off  in  his  pocket,'  to  the  amazement  of  men. 
Whereupon  ?  Whereupon — his  Highness  got  up  again,  little 
the  worse ;  was  let  blood ;  and  went  about  his  affairs  much 
as  usual  ! l  Small  anecdote,  that  figures,  larger  than  life,  in 
all  the  Books  and  Biographies.  I  have  known  men  thrown 
from  their  horses  on  occasion,  and  less  noise  made  about  it, 
my  erudite  friend  !  But  the  essential  point  was,  his  Highness 
wore  a  pistol. — Yes,  his  Highness  is  prepared  to  defend 
himself;  has  men,  and  has  also  truculent-flunkies,  and  devils 
and  devilVservants  of  various  kinds,  to  defend  himself  against ; 
— and  wears  pistols,  and  what  other  furniture  outward  and 
inward  may  be  necessary  for  the  object.  Such  of  you  as  have 
an  eye  that  way  can  take  notice  of  it ! — 

Thursday  I6th  November  1654.  On  the  other  hand, 
what  a  glimpse  into  the  interior  domesticities  of  the  Protector 
Household  have  we  in  the  following  brief  Note  !  Amid  the 
darkness  and  buzzard  dimness,  one  light-beam,  clear,  radiant, 
mournfully  beautiful,  like  the  gleam  of  a  sudden  star,  disclosing 
for  a  moment  many  things  to  us !  On  Friday,  Secretary 
Thurloe  writes  incidentally :  '  My  Lord  Protector's  Mother, 
of  Ninety-four  years  old,  died  last  night.  A  little  before  her 
death  she  gave  my  Lord  her  blessing,  in  these  words :  "  The 
Lord  cause  His  face  to  shine  upon  you ;  and  comfort  you  in 
all  your  adversities ;  and  enable  you  to  do  great  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 
good  night ! " ' 2 — and  therewith  sank  into  her  long  sleep. 
Even  so.  Words  of  ours  are  but  idle.  Thou  brave  one, 
Mother  of  a  Hero,  farewell ! — Ninety-four  years  old :  the 
royalties  of  Whitehall,  says  Ludlow  very  credibly,  were  of 

1  Thurloe,  i.  652-3  ;  Ludlow,  ii.  508. 

3  Thurloe  to  Pell,  i;th  November  1654:  in  Vaughan's  Protectorate  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  (London,  1839),  i.  81. 


160      PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [26  DEC. 

small  moment  to  her  :  '  at  the  sound  of  a  musket  she  would 
often  be  afraid  her  Son  was  shot ;  and  could  not  be  satisfied 
unless  she  saw  him  once  a  day  at  least.'1  She,  old,  weak, 
wearied  one,  she  cannot  help  him  with  his  refractory  Pedant 
Parliaments,  with  his  Anabaptist  plotters,  Royalist  assassins, 
and  world-wide  confusions ;  but  she  bids  him,  Be  strong, 
be  comforted  in  God.  And  so  Good -night!  And  in  the 
still  Eternities  and  divine  Silences — Well,  are  they  not 
divine  ? — 

December  %6th,  1654.  The  refractory  Parliament  and 
other  dim  confusions  still  going  on,  we  mark  as  a  public 
event  of  some  significance,  the  sailing  of  his  Highnesses  Sea- 
Armament.  It  has  long  been  getting  ready  on  the  Southern 
Coast ;  sea-forces,  land-forces ;  sails  from  Portsmouth  on 
Christmas  morrow,  as  above  marked.2 — None  yet  able  to 
divine  whither  bound ;  not  even  the  Generals,  Venables  and 
Penn,  till  they  reach  a  certain  latitude.  Many  are  much 
interested  to  divine !  Our  Brussels  Correspondent  writes 
long  since,  '  The  Lord  Protector's  Government  makes  England 
more  formidable  and  considerable  to  all  Nations  than  ever  it 
has  been  in  my  days.'3 


LETTERS    CXCVI,     CXCVII 

HERE  are  Two  small  Letters,  harmlessly  reminding  us  of 
far  interests  and  of  near  ; — otherwise  yielding  no  new  light ; 
but  capable  of  being  read  without  commentary.  Read  them  ; 
and  let  us  hasten  to  dissolve  the  poor  Constitutioning 
Parliament,  which  ought  not  to  linger  on  these  pages,  or  on 
any  page. 

1  Ludlow,  ii.  488. 

8  Penn's  Narrative,  in  Thurloe,  iv.  28. 

3  Thurloe,  i.  160  (nth  March  1653-4). 


i655l    LETTER  CXCVI.    WHITEHALL    161 


LETTER    CXCVI 

TO  RICHARD  BENNET,  ESQ.,  GOVERNOR  OF  VIRGINIA  I    THESE 

Whitehall,  12th  January  1654. 

Sir, —  Whereas  the  differences  between  the  Lord  Baltimore 
and  the  Inhabitants  of  Virginia,  concerning  the  Bounds  by 
them  respectively  claimed,  are  depending  before  our  Council, 
and  yet  undetermined ;  and  whereas  we  are  credibly  informed, 
you  have  notwithstanding  gone  into  his  Plantation  in  Mary- 
land, and  countenanced  some  people  there  in  opposing  the  Lord 
Baltimore 's  Officers ;  whereby,  and  with  other  forces  from  Vir- 
ginia, you  have  much  disturbed  that  Colony  and  People,  to 
the  endangering  of  tumults  and  much  bloodshed  there,  if  not 
timely  prevented  : 

We  therefore,  at  the  request  of  the  Lord  Baltimore,  and 
"  of"  divers  other  Persons  of  Quality  here,  who  are  engaged  by 
great  adventures  in  his  interest,  do,  for  preventing  of  dis- 
turbances or  tumults  there,  will  and  require  you,  and  all  others 
deriving  any  authority  from  you,  To  forbear  disturbing  the 
Lord  Baltimore,  or  his  Officers  or  People  in  Maryland ;  and  to 
permit  all  things  to  remain  as  they  were  before  any  disturbance 
or  alteration  made  by  you,  or  by  any  other  upon  pretence  of 
authority  from  you,  till  the  said  Differences  above  mentioned  be 
determined  by  us  here,  and  we  give  farther  order  therein.  We 
rest  your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P.* 

Commissioners,  it  would  appear,  went  out  to  settle  the 
business ;  got  it,  we  have  no  doubt,  with  due  difficulty  settled. 
See  Letter  ccm., — 26th  September  1655,  'To  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Maryland.' 

*  Thurloe,  i.  724.  The  Signature  only  is  Oliver's;  signature,  and  sense. 
Thurloe  has  jotted  on  the  back  of  this  :  '  A  duplicate  also  hereof  was  writ,  signed 
by  his  Highness.' 

vox,,  in.  i 


162     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [20  JAN. 


LETTER    CXCVII 

HERE  again,  while  the  Pedant  Parliament  keeps  arguing 
and  constitutioning,  are  discontents  in  the  Army  that  threaten 
to  develop  themselves.  Dangerous  fermentings  of  Fifth- 
Monarchy  and  other  bad  ingredients,  in  the  Army  and  out  of 
it ;  encouraged  by  the  Parliamentary  height  of  temperature. 
Charles  Stuart,  on  the  word  of  a  Christian  King,  is  exten- 
sively bestirring  himself.  Royalist  preparations,  provisions  of 
arms ;  Anabaptist  Petitions :  abroad  and  at  home  very 
dangerous  designs  on  foot :  but  we  have  our  eye  upon  them. 

The  Scotch  Army  seems,  at  present,  the  questionablest. 
'  The  pay  of  the  men  is  thirty  weeks  in  arrear,"  for  one  thing ; 
the  Anabaptist  humour  needs  not  that  addition  !  Colonel 
Alured,  we  saw,  had  to  be  dismissed  the  Service  last  year ; 
Overton  and  others  were  questioned,  and  not  dismissed. 
But  now  some  desperate  scheme  has  risen  among  the  Forces 
in  Scotland,  of  deposing  General  Monk,  of  making 
Republican  Overton  Commander, — and  so  marching  off,  all 
but  the  indispensable  Garrison-troops,  south  into  England, 
there  to  seek  pay  and  other  redress.1  This  Parliament,  now 
in  its  Fourth  Month,  supplies  no  money ;  nothing  but  con- 
stitutional debatings.  My  Lord  Protector  had  need  be 
watchful  !  He  again,  in  this  December,  summons  Overton 
from  Scotland;  again  questions  him; — sees  good,  this  time, 
to  commit  him  to  the  Tower,2  and  end  his  military  services. 
The  Army,  in  Scotland  and  elsewhere,  with  no  settlement  yet 
to  its  vague  fermenting  humours,  and  not  even  money  to  pay 
its  arrears,  is  dangerous  enough. 

Of  Adjutant-General  Allen  whom  this  Letter  concerns,  it 
may  be  proper  to  say  that  Ludlow  in  mentioning  him  has 
mistaken  his  man.  The  reader  recollects,  a  good  while  ago, 

1  Postea,  Speech  iv.  ;  and  Thurloe,  iii.  no,  etc. 

2  i6th  January  1654-5  (Overton's  Letter,  Thurloe,  iii.  no). 


i655]       LETTER   CXCVII.     WHITEHALL        163 

Three  Troopers,  notable  at  the  moment,  who  appeared  once 
before  the  Long  Parliament,  with  a  Petition  from  the  Army, 
in  the  year  Forty-seven  ?  Their  names  were  Allen,  Sexby, 
Sheppard  :  Ludlow  will  have  it,  the  Trooper  Allen  was  this 
Adjutant-General  Allen ; *  which  is  a  mistake  of  Ludlow's. 
Trooper  Sexby  we  did  since  see,  as  Captain  Sexby,  after 
Preston  Fight ;  and  shall  again,  in  sad  circumstances  see  : 
but  of  Trooper  Allen  there  is  no  farther  vestige  anywhere 
except  this  imaginary  one ;  of  Trooper  Sheppard  not  even  an 
imaginary  vestige.  They  have  vanished,  these  two ;  and 
Adjutant-General  Allen,  vindicating  his  identity  such  as  it  is, 
enters  here  on  his  own  footing.  A  resolute  devout  man, 
whom  we  have  seen  before ;  the  same  who  was  deep  in  the 
Prayer- Meeting  at  Windsor  years  ago  : 2  this  is  his  third,  and 
we  hope  his  last  appearance  on  the  stage  of  things. 

Allen  has  been  in  Ireland,  since  that  Prayer-Meeting ;  in 
Ireland  and  elsewhere,  resolutely  fighting,  earnestly  praying, 
as  from  of  old ;  has  had  many  darkenings  of  mind  ;  expects, 
for  almost  a  year  past,  '  little  good  from  the  Governments  of 
this  world,'  one  or  the  other.  He  has  honoured,  and  still 
would  fain  honour,  '  the  Person  now  in  chief  place,1  having 
seen  in  him  much  6 uprightheartedness  to  the  Lord"*;  must 
confess,  however,  fi  the  late  Change  hath  more  stumbled  me 
than  any  ever  did ' ; — and,  on  the  whole,  knows  not  what  he 
will  resolve  upon.3  We  find  he  has  resolved  on  quitting 
Ireland,  for  one  thing ;  has  come  over  to  '  his  Father-in-law 
Mr.  Huish's  in  Devonshire ' : — and,  to  all  appearance,  is  not 
building  established -churches  there  !  '  Captain  Unton  Crook,1 
of  whom  we  shall  hear  afterwards,  is  an  active  man,  son  of  a 
learned  Lawyer ; 4  very  zealous  for  the  Protector's  interest ; — 

1  Ludlow,  i.  189  :  'Edward  Sexby,'  'William  Allen' ;  but  in  the  name  of  the 
third  Trooper,  which  is  not  'Philips'  but   Sheppard,  he  is  mistaken  (Common 
Journals,  3Oth  April  1647) ;  and  as  to  '  Adjutant-General  Allen  '  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  his  identity  with  this  William  Allen,  see  vol.  i.  pp.  261,  314. 

2  Vol.  i.  p.  314. 

3  Two  intercepted  Letters  of  Allen's  (Thurloe,  ii.  214-5),  ( Dublin,  6th  Ap 
1654.'  4  Made  Sergeant  Crook  in  1655  (Heath,  p.  693). 


164      PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [20  JAN. 

zealous  for  his  own  and  his  Father's  promotion,  growls  Ludlow. 
Desborow,  who  fitted-out  the  late  mysterious  Sea-Armament 
on  the  Southern  Coast  (not  too  judiciously,  I  doubt),  is 
Commander-in-chief  in  those  parts. 


"  FOR  CAPTAIN  UNTON  CROOK,  AT  EXETER  :    THESE  " 

Whitehall,  20th  January  1654. 

Sir, — Being'  informed  by  a  Letter  of  yours  and  General 
Desborow,  also  by  a  Letter  from  the  High  Sheriff  of  Devon, 
that  Adjutant-General  Allen  doth  very  ill  offices  by  multiplying 
dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  men  to  the  present  Government, 
I  desire  you  and  the  High  Sheriff  to  make  diligent  inquiry 
after  him,  and  try  to  make-out  what  can  be  made  in  this  kind, 
and  to  give  me  speedy  notice  thereof.  Not  doubting  of  your 
care  herein,  I  rest  your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P 

If  he  be  gone  out  of  the  Country,  learn  whither  he  is  gone, 
and  send  me  word  by  next  post  * 

Allen  was  not  gone  out  of  the  Country ;  he  was  seized  by 
Crook  '  in  his  Father-in-law  Mr.  Mulsh's  house,'  on  the  31st 
of  January  1654-5  ;  his  papers  searched,  and  himself  ordered 
to  be  and  continue  prisoner,  at  a  place  agreed  upon, — Sand  in 
Somersetshire, — *  under  his  note  of  hand.'  So  much  we  learn 
from  the  imbroglios  of  Thurloe ; x  where  also  are  authentic 
Depositions  concerning  Allen,  <  by  Captains  John  Copleston 
and  the  said  Unton  Crook ' ;  and  two  Letters  of  Allen's  own, 
— one  to  the  Protector ;  and  one  to  {  Colonel  Daniel  Axtel ' 
(the  Regicide  Axtel),  '  Dr.  Philip  Carteret,  or  either  of  them,' 
enclosing  that  other  Letter,  and  leaving  it  to  them  to  present 
it  or  not,  he  himself  thinking  earnestly  that  they  should. 
Both  of  these  Letters,  as  well  as  Unton  Crook's  to  the 

*  Lansdowne   MSS.    1236,   fol.    102.      Superscription    torn    off;  —  only  the 
Signature  is  in  Oliver's  hand  :  Address  supplied  here  by  inference. ' 
1  iii.  143;  see  pp.  140-1, 


i6S5]       LETTER  CXCVII.      WHITEHALL        165 

Protector,  and  the  authentic  Deposition  of  Copleston  and 
Crook  against  Allen,  are  dated  February  7th,  1654-5. 

The  witnesses  depose,1  That  he  has  bragged  to  one  '  Sir 
John  Davis  Baronet,1  of  an  interview  he  had  with  the 
Protector  not  long  since,  —  wherein  he,  Allen,  told  the 
Protector  a  bit  of  his  mind ;  and  left  him  in  a  kind  of  huff, 
and  even  at  a  nonplus ;  and  so  came  off  to  the  West  Country 
in  a  triumphant  manner.  Farther  he  talks  questionable  things 
of  Ireland,  of  discontents  there,  and  in  laud  of  Lieutenant- 
General  Ludlow ;  says,  There  is  plenty  of  discontent  in 
Ireland ;  he  himself  means  to  be  there  in  February,  but  will 
first  go  to  London  again.  The  Country  rings  with  rumour 
of  his  questionable  speeches.  He  goes  to  '  meetings '  about 
Bristol,  whither  many  persons  convene, — for  Anabaptist  or 
other  purposes.  Such  meetings  are  often  on  week-days. 
Questionabler  still,  he  rides  thither  '  with  a  vizard  or  mask 
over  his  face ' ;  '  with  glasses  over  his  eyes,' — barnacles,  so  to 
speak !  Nay,  questionablest  of  all,  riding,  c  on  Friday  the 
5th  of  last  month,'  month  of  January  1654-5,  to  a  meeting 
at  Luppit  near  Honiton,  Devon,1  there  rode  also  (but  not  I 
think  to  the  same  place  !)  a  Mr.  Hugh  Courtenay,  once  a 
flaming  Royalist  Officer  in  Ireland,  and  still  a  flaming  zealot 
to  the  lost  Cause ;  who  spake  nothing  all  that  afternoon  but 
mere  treason,  of  Anabaptists  that  would  rise  in  London,  of 
etc.  etc.  Allen,  as  we  say,  on  the  last  morning  of  January 
was  awoke  from  sleep  in  his  Father-in-law  Mr.  Huish's,  by  the 
entrance  of  two  armed  troopers ;  who  informed  him  that 
Captain  Crook  and  the  High  Sheriff  were  below,  and  that  he 
would  have  to  put-on  his  clothes,  and  come  down. 

Allen's  Letter  to  the  Lord  Protector,  from  Sand  in  Somer- 
setshire, we  rather  reluctantly  withhold,  for  want  of  room.  A 
stubborn,  sad,  stingily  respectful  piece  of  writing :  Wife  and 
baby  terribly  ill  off  at  Sand ;  desires  to  be  resigned  to  the 
Lord,  '  before  whom  both  of  us  shall  ere  long  nakedly  appear'; 
— petitions  that  at  least  he  might  be  allowed  'to  attend 

1  Thuiloe,  iii.  140. 


166     PART  VIll.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

ordinances " ;  which  surely  would  be  reasonable  !  Are  there 
not  good  horses  that  require  to  be  ridden  with  a  dexterous 
bridle-hand, — delicate,  and  yet  hard  and  strong  ?  Clearly  a 
strenuous  Anabaptist,  this  Allen ;  a  rugged,  true-hearted,  not 
easily  governable  man ;  given  to  Fifth-Monarchy  and  other 
notions,  though  with  a  strong  head  to  control  them.  Fancy 
him  duly  cashiered  from  the  Army,  duly  admonished  and 
dismissed  into  private  life.  Then  add  the  Colonel  Overtons 
and  Colonel  Alureds,  and  General  Ludlows  and  Major-General 
Harrisons,  and  also  the  Charles  Stuarts  and  Christian  Kings ; 
— and  reflect  once  more  what  kind  of  task  this  of  my  Lord 
Protector's  is,  and  whether  he  needs  refractory  Pedant  Parlia- 
ment to  worsen  it  for  him  ! 


SPEECH    IV 

FINDING  this  Parliament  was  equal  to  nothing  in  the 
Spiritual  way  but  tormenting  of  poor  Heretics,  receiving 
Petitions  for  a  small  advance  towards  coal  and  candle ;  and 
nothing  in  the  Temporal  but  constitutional  air-fabrics  and 
vigilant  checkings  and  balancings, — under  which  operations 
such  precious  fruits  at  home  and  abroad  were  ripening, — 
Oliver's  esteem  for  this  Parliament  gradually  sank  to  a 
marked  degree.  Check,  check, — like  maladroit  ship-carpenters 
hammering,  adzing,  sawing  at  the  Ship  of  the  State,  instead 
of  diligently  caulking  and  paying  it ;  idly  gauging  and 
computing,  nay  recklessly  tearing-up  and  remodelling  ; — when 
the  poor  Ship  could  hardly  keep  the  water  as  yet,  and  the 
Pirates  and  Sea-Krakens  were  gathering  round  !  All  which 
most  dangerous,  not  to  say  half-frantic  operations,  the  Lord 
Protector  discerning  well,  and  swallowing  in  silence  as  his  best 
was, — had  for  a  good  while  kept  his  eye  upon  the  Almanac, 
with  more  and  more  impatience  for  the  arrival  of  the  Third 
of  February.  That  will  be  the  first  deliverance  of  the  poor 
labouring  Commonwealth,  when  at  the  end  of  Five  Months 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  167 

we  send  these  Parliament  philosophers  home  to  their  Countries 
again.  Five  Months  by  the  Instrument  they  have  to  sit ; — 
O  fly,  lazy  Time ;  it  is  yet  but  Four  Months  and Some- 
body suggested,  Is  not  the  Soldier-month  counted  by  Four 
Weeks  ?  Eight-and-twenty  days  are  a  soldier's  Month  :  they 
have,  in  a  sense,  already  sat  five  months,  these  vigilant 
Honourable  Gentlemen  ! 

Oliver  Protector,  on  Monday  morning,  22d  of  January 
1654-5,  surprises  the  Constitutioning  Parliament  with  a 
message  to  attend  him  in  the  Painted  Chamber,  and  leave 
6  Settling  of  the  Government '  for  a  while.  They  have  yet 
voted  no  Supplies ;  nor  meant  to  vote  any.  They  thought 
themselves  very  safe  till  February  3d,  at  soonest.  But  my 
Lord  Protector,  from  his  high  place,  speaks,  and  dissolves. 

Speech  Fourth,  *  printed  by  Henry  Hills,  Printer  to  his 
Highness  the  Lord  Protector,  'is  the  only  one  of  these  Speeches 
concerning  the  reporting,  printing  or  publishing  of  which 
there  is  any  visible  charge  or  notice  taken  by  the  Government 
of  the  time.  It  is  ordered  in  this  instance,  by  the  Council 
of  State,  That  nobody  except  Henry  Hills  or  those  appointed 
by  him  shall  presume  to  print  or  reprint  the  present  Speech, 
or  any  part  of  it.  Perhaps  an  official  precaution  considered 
needful ;  perhaps  also  only  a  matter  of  copyright ;  for  the 
Order  is  so  worded  as  not  to  indicate  which.  At  all  events, 
there  is  no  trace  of  the  Report  having  been  anywhere  interfered 
with ;  which  seems  altogether  a  spontaneous  one ;  probably 
the  product  of  Rushworth  or  some  such  artist.1 

The  Speech,  if  read  with  due  intensity,  can  be  understood ; 
and  what  is  equally  important,  be  believed ;  nay,  be  found  to 
contain  in  it  a  manful,  great  and  valiant  meaning, — in  tone 
and  manner  very  resolute,  yet  very  conciliatory  ;  intrinsically 
not  ignoble  but  noble.  For  the  rest,  it  is,  as  usual,  sufficiently 
incondite  in  phrase  and  conception  ;  the  hasty  outpouring  of 
a  mind  which  isjull  of  such  meanings.  Somewhat  difficult  to 
read.  Practical  Heroes,  unfortunately,  as  we  once  said,  do  not 

1  See  Burton's  Diary. 


168     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

speak  in  blank-verse ;  their  trade  does  not  altogether  admit  of 
that !  Useless  to  look  here  for  a  Greek  Temple  with  its 
porticoes  and  entablatures,  and  styles.  But  the  Alp  Mountain, 
with  its  chasms  and  cataracts  and  shaggy  pine-forests,  and 
huge  granite  masses  rooted  in  the  Heart  of  the  World  :  this 
too  is  worth  looking  at,  to  some.  I  can  give  the  reader  little 
help  ;  but  will  advise  him  to  try. 

*  GENTLEMEN, — I  perceive  you  are  here  as  the  House  of 
4  Parliament,  by  your  Speaker  whom  I  see  here,  and  by  your 
'  faces  which  are  in  a  great  measure  known  to  me.  [Doubtless 
we  are  here,  your  Highness  /] 

6  When  I  first  met  you  in  this  room,  it  was  to  my  appre- 
'  hension  the  hopefulest  day  that  ever  mine  eyes  saw,  as  to 
'  the  considerations  of  this  world.  For  I  did  look  at,  as 
6  wrapt-up  in  you  together  with  myself,  the  hopes  and  the 

*  happiness  of, — though  not  of  the  greatest, — yet  a  very  great 
'  "  People  "  ;   and  the  best  People   in  the  world.      And  truly 
6  and  unfeignedly  I  thought  "  it "  so  :  as  a  People  that  have 
'  the   highest   and   clearest   profession   amongst  them  of  the 
'  greatest  glory,  namely  Religion  :  as  a  People  that  have  been, 
6  like   other   Nations,  sometimes  up  and  sometimes  down  in 

*  our  honour  in  the  world,  but  yet  never  so  low  but  we  might 
'  measure  with  other  Nations : — and  a  People  that  have  had 
'  a  stamp  upon  them  from  God  [Hah  /] ;  God  having,  as  it 
(  were,  summed-up  all  our  former  honour  and  glory  in  the 
'  things  that  are  of  Glory  to  Nations,  in  an  Epitome,  within 
'  these   Ten   or  Twelve  years  last  past !      So  that  we  knew 
6  one  another  at  home,  and  are  well  known  abroad. 

'  And  if  I  be  not  very  much  mistaken,  we  were  arrived, 
<  — as  I,  and  truly  I  believe  as  many  others,  did  think, — at 
'  a  very  safe  port ;  where  we  might  sit  down  and  contemplate 
'  the  Dispensations  of  God  and  our  Mercies ;  and  might 
4  know  our  Mercies  not  to  have  been  like  to  those  of  the 
4  Ancients, — who  did  make- out  their  peace  and  prosperity,  as 
6  they  thought,  by  their  own  endeavours ;  who  could  not  say, 


i655]  SPEECH    IV  169 

4  as  we,  That  all  ours  were  let-down  to  us  from  God  Hini- 
4  self!  Whose  appearances  and  providences  amongst  us  are 
4  not  to  be  outmatched  by  any  Story.  [Deep  silence ;  from  the 
4  old  Parliament :,  and  from  us^\  Truly  this  was  our  condition. 
4  And  I  know  nothing  else  we  had  to  do,  save  as  Israel  was 
4  commanded  in  that  most  excellent  Psalm  of  David  :  '  The 
4  things  which  we  have  heard  and  known,  and  our  fathers 
4  have  told  us,  we  will  not  hide  them  from  our  children ; 
4  showing  to  the  generation  to  come  the  praises  of  the 
4  Lord,  and  His  strength,  and  His  wonderful  works  that 
4  He  hath  done.  For  He  established  a  Testimony  in  Jacob, 
'  and  appointed  a  Law  in  Israel ;  which  He  commanded 

*  our  fathers  that  they  should  make  known  to  their  children ; 
4  that  the   generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even  the 
t  children  which  should  be  born,  who  should  arise  and  declare 
4  them  to  their  children :  that  they  might  set  their  hope  in 
4  God,    and    not    forget    the   works   of  God,   but   keep   His 
6  commandments.' * 

4  This  I  thought  had  been  a  song  and  a  work  worthy  of 

*  England,  whereunto  you  might  happily  have  invited  them, 
4 . — had  you  had  hearts  unto  it.    [Alas !]    You  had  this  oppor- 
4  tunity  fairly  delivered  unto  you.      And  if  a  history  shall  be 
4  written  of  these  Times  and  Transactions,  it  will  be  said,  it 
4  will  not  be  denied,  that  these  things  that  I  have  spoken  are 
4  true  !     [No  response  from  the  Moderns :  mere  silence,  stupor, 
4  not  without  sadness.]     This  talent  was  put  into  your  hands. 
4  And  I  shall  recur  to  that  which  I  said  at  the  First :  I  came 

*  with  very  great  joy  and  contentment  and  comfort,  the  first 

*  time  I  met  you  in  this  place.      But  we  and  these  Nations 
4  are,  for  the  present,  under  some  disappointment ! — If  I  had 
4  proposed  to  have   played  the   Orator, — which  I  never  did 
4  affect,  nor  do,  nor  I  hope  shall  [Hear!], — I  doubt  not  but 

*  upon   easy  suppositions,  which   I  am   persuaded   every  one 
4  among  you  will   grant,   we  did   meet   upon  such   hopes  as 
4  these. 

1  Psalm  lxxviii.3-7. 


170      PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

4  I  met  you  a  second  time  here :  and  I  confess,  at  that 
'  meeting  I  had  much  abatement  of  my  hopes ;  though  not 
'  a  total  frustration.  I  confess,  that  that  which  damped  my 
4  hopes  so  soon  was  somewhat  that  did  look  like  a  parricide. 
4  It  is  obvious  enough  unto  you  that  the  "  then  "  management 
'  of  affairs  did  savour  of  a  Not  owning, — too-too  much  savour, 
'  I  say,  of  a  Not  owning  of  the  Authority  that  called  you 
'  hither.  But  God  left  us  not  without  an  expedient  that  gave 
'  a  second  possibility — Shall  I  say  possibility  ?  It  seemed  to 
4  me  a  probability, — of  recovering  out  of  that  dissatisfied 
'  condition  we  were  all  then  in,  towards  some  mutuality  of 
'  satisfaction.  And  therefore  by  that  Recognition  \The  Parch- 
4  ment  we  had  to  sign :  Hum-m  /],  suiting  with  the  Indenture 
'  that  returned  you  hither ;  to  which  afterwards  was  also 
'  added  your  own  Declaration, 1  conformable  to,  and  in  accept- 
4  ance  of,  that  expedient : — thereby,  "  I  say,"  you  had,  though 
'  with  a  little  check,  another  opportunity  renewed  unto  you 

*  to  have  made  this  Nation  as  happy  as  it  could  have  been  if 
'  everything  had  smoothly  run  on  from  that  first  hour  of  your 
'  meeting.      And   indeed, — you   will   give   me   liberty  of  my 

*  thoughts  and  hopes, — I  did  think,  as  I  have  formerly  found 
4  in  that  way  that  I  have  been  engaged  in  as  a  soldier,  That 
6  some  affronts  put  upon  us,  some  disasters  at  the  first,  have 

*  made  way  for  very  great  and  happy  successes ; 2  and  I  did 
'  not   at   all   despond   but   the   stop  put   upon  you,  in   like 
'  manner,  would   have   made  way  for   a   blessing  from  God. 
'  That  Interruption  being,  as  I  thought,  necessary  to  divert 
6  you  from  violent  and  destructive  proceedings ;  to  give  time 
'  for  better  deliberations ; — whereby  leaving  the  Government 

*  as  you  found  it,  you  might  have  proceeded  to  have  made 
6  those  good  and  wholesome  Laws  which  the  People  expected 

from  you,  and  might  have  answered  the  Grievances,  and 
6  settled  those  other  things  proper  to  you  as  a  Parliament : 
'  for  which  you  would  have  had  thanks  from  all  that 

1  Commons  Journals >  (vii.  368),  I4th  Sept.  1654. 

8  Characteristic  sentence,  and  sentiment ; — not  to  be  meddled  with. 


1655]  SPEECH   IV  171 

'intrusted  you.  [Doubtful  *  Hum-m-m ! '  from  the  old 
Parliament.] 

'  What  hath  happened  since  that  time  I  have  not  taken 
'  public  notice  of;  as  declining  to  intrench  on  Parliament 
4  privileges.  For  sure  I  am  you  will  all  bear  me  witness, 
'  That  from  your  entering  into  the  House  upon  the  Recogni- 
fc  tion,  to  this  very  day,  you  have  had  no  manner  of  interrup- 
4  tion  or  hindrance  of  mine  in  proceeding  to  what  blessed  issue 
6  the  heart  of  a  good  man  could  propose  to  himself, — to  this 
4  very  day  "none."  You  see  you  have  me  very  much  locked 
4  up,  as  to  what  you  have  transacted  among  yourselves,  from 
4  that  time  to  this.  \^None  dare  report  us,  or  whisper  what 
6  we  do."*]  But  some  things  I  shall  take  liberty  to  speak  of 
'  to  you. 

4  As  I  may  not  take  notice  what  you  have  been  doing ;  so 
4  I  think  I  have  a  very  great  liberty  to  tell  you  That  I  do 
4  not  know  what  you  have  been  doing  !  [  With  a  certain  tone  ,• 
4  as  one  may  hear  /]  I  do  not  know  whether  you  have  been 
*  alive  or  dead.  I  have  not  once  heard  from  you  all  this 
4  time ;  I  have  not  :  and  that  you  all  know.  If  that  be  a 
4  fault  that  I  have  not,  surely  it  hath  not  been  mine  ! — If 
4  I  have  had  any  melancholy  thoughts,  and  have  sat  down  by 
4  them, — why  might  it  not  have  been  very  lawful  for  me  to 
4  think  that  I  was  a  Person  judged  unconcerned  in  all  these 
4  businesses  ?  I  can  assure  you  I  have  not  so  reckoned  myself! 
4  Nor  did  I  reckon  myself  unconcerned  in  you.  And  so  long 
'  as  any  just  patience  could  support  my  expectation,  I  would 
6  have  waited  to  the  uttermost  to  have  received  from  you  the 
'  issue  of  your  consultations  and  resolutions. — I  have  been 
'  careful  of  your  safety,  and  the  safety  of  those  that  you 
'  represented,  to  whom  I  reckon  myself  a  servant. — 

4  But  what  messages  have  I  disturbed  you  withal  ?  What 
4  injury  or  indignity  hath  been  done,  or  offered,  either  to  your 
4  persons  or  to  any  privileges  of  Parliament,  since  you  sat  ? 
4  I  looked  at  myself  as  strictly  obliged  by  my  Oath,  since  your 
1  recognising  the  Government  in  the  authority  of  which  you 


172     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

4  were  called  hither  and  sat,  To  give  you  all  possible  security, 
4  and  to  keep  you  from  any  unparliamentary  interruption. 
4  Think  you  I  could  not  say  more  upon  this  subject,  if  I  listed 
4  to  expatiate  thereupon  ?  But  because  my  actions  plead  for 
6  me,  I  shall  say  no  more  of  this.  [Old  Parliament  dubiously 
4  rolls  its  eyes.] — I  say,  I  have  been  caring  for  you,  for  your 
'  quiet  sitting;  caring  for  your  privileges,  as  I  said  before, 
4  that  they  might  not  be  interrupted ;  have  been  seeking  of 
4  God,  from  the  great  God  a  blessing  upon  you,  and  a  bless- 
4  ing  upon  these  Nations.  I  have  been  consulting  if  possibly 
4  I  might,  in  anything,  promote,  in  my  place,  the  real  good 
4  of  this  Parliament,  of  the  hopefulness  of  which  I  have  said 
4  so  much  unto  you.  And  I  did  think  it  to  be  my  business 

*  rather  to  see  the  utmost  issue,  and  what  God  would  produce 
4  by  you,  than  unseasonably  to  intermeddle  with  you. 

6  But,  as  I  said  before,  I  have  been  caring  for  you,  and  for 
4  the  peace  and  quiet  of  these  Nations  :  indeed  I  have ;  and 
4  that  I  shall  a  little  presently  manifest  unto  you.  And  it 
'  leadeth  me  to  let  you  know  somewhat, — which,  I  fear,  I  fear, 
4  will  be,  through  some  interpretation,  a  little  too  justly  put 
4  upon  you ;  whilst  you  have  been  employed  as  you  have  been, 
4  and, — in  all  that  time  expressed  in  the  Government,  in  that 
4  Government,  I  say  in  that  Government, — have  brought  forth 

*  nothing  that  you  yourselves  say  can  be  taken  notice  of  with- 
4  out  infringement  of  your  privileges  !  l     I  will  tell  you  some- 
4  what,  which,  if  it  be  not  news  to  you,  I  wish  you  had  taken 
4  very  serious  consideration  of.      If  it  be  news,  I  wish  I  had 
4  acquainted  you  with  it  sooner.      And  yet  if  any  man  will  ask 
4  me  why  I  did  it  not,  the  reason  is  given  already  :  Because 
4  I  did  make  it  my  business  to  give  you  no  interruption. 

1  An  embarrassed  sentence ;  characteristic  of  his  Highness,  '  You  have  done 
nothing  noticeable  upon  this,  "  Somewhat  "  that  I  am  about  to  speak  of, — nor, 
indeed,  it  seems  upon  any  Somewhat, — and  this  was  one  you  may,  without  much 
"interpretation,"  be  blamed  for  doing  nothing  upon.'  'Government'  means 
Instrument  of  Government :  '  the  time  expressed  '  therein  \sFive  Months, — now, 
by  my  way  of  calculating  it,  expired  !  Which  may  account  for  the  embarrassed 
iteration  of  the  phrase,  on  his  Highntss's  part. 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  173 

4  There  be  some  trees  that  will  not  grow  under  the  shadow 

*  of  other  trees  :  There  be  some  that  choose, — a  man  may 
4  say  so  by  way  of  allusion, — to  thrive  under  the  shadow  of 
4  other  trees.      I  will  tell  you  what  hath  thriven, — I  will  not 

*  say  what  you  have  cherished,  under  your  shadow ;  that  were 
4  too  hard.       Instead  of  Peace  and  Settlement, — instead  of 
4  mercy  and  truth  being  brought  together,  and  righteousness 
4  and   peace   kissing   each  other,  by  "  your "  reconciling  the 
4  Honest   People   of  these   Nations,   and    settling   the   woful 
4  distempers  that  are  amongst  us  ;  which  had  been  glorious 
4  things  and  worthy  of  Christians  to  have  proposed, — weeds 
4  and    nettles,   briers    and    thorns    have   thriven    under  your 
4  shadow  !      Dissettlement  and  division,  discontent   and   dis- 
4  satisfaction  ;   together  with   real   dangers   to   the   whole, — 
4  have  been  more  multiplied  within  these  five  months  of  your 
4  sitting,  than  in  some  years  before !     Foundations  have  also 
4  been  laid  for  the  future  renewing  of  the  Troubles  of  these 
4  Nations  by  all  the  enemies  of  them  abroad  and  at  home. 
4  Let  not  these  words  seem  too  sharp  :  for  they  are  true  as 
4  any  mathematical  demonstrations  are  or  can  be.      I  say,  the 
4  enemies  of  the  peace  of  these  Nations  abroad  and  at  home, 
4  the  discontented  humours  throughout  these  Nations,— which 
4  "products"  I  think  no  man  will  grudge  to  call   by  that 
4  name,  of  briers  and  thorns, — they  have  nourished  themselves 
4  under    your    shadow  !       [Old    Parliament    looks    still    more 

uneasy.] 

4  And  that  I  may  clearly  be  understood :  They  have  taken 
4  their  opportunities  from  your  sitting,  and  from  the  hopes 
4  they  had,  which  with  easy  conjecture  they  might  take  up  and 
4  conclude  that  there  would  be  no  Settlement ;  and  they  have 
4  framed  their  designs,  preparing  for  the  execution  of  them 
4  accordingly.  Now  whether, — which  appertains  not  to  me  to 
4  judge  of,  on  their  behalf, — they  had  any  occasion  ministered 
4  for  this,  and  from  whence  they  had  it,  I  list  not  to  make 
4  any  scrutiny  or  search.  But  I  will  say  this :  I  think  they  had 
4  it  not  from  me.  I  am  sure  they  had  not  "from  me."  From 


174      PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

'  whence  they  had,  is  not  my  business  now  to  discourse :   but 
'  that  they  had,  is  obvious   to  every  man's  sense.      What  pre- 

*  parations  they  have  made,  to  be  executed  in  such  a  season  as 

*  they  thought  fit  to  take  their  opportunity  from  :    that  I 
4  know,  not  as  men  know  things  by  conjecture,  but  by  certain 
4  demonstrable  knowledge.       That  they  have  been  for  some 
4  time  past  furnishing  themselves  with  arms ;  nothing  doubting 
4  but  they  should  have  a  day  for  it ;  and  verily  believing  that 
4  whatsoever  their  former  disappointments  were,  they  should 
4  have  more  done  for  them  by  and  from  our  own  divisions, 
4  than  they  were  able  to  do  for  themselves.      I  desire  to  be 
4  understood  That,  in  all  I  have  to  say  of  this  subject,  you 
4  will  take  it  that  I  have  no  reservation  in  my  mind, — as  I 
6  have   not, — to   mingle  things  of  guess  and  suspicion   with 
'  things  of  fact  :  but  "  that "  the  things  I  am  telling  of  are 
4  fact ;  things  of  evident  demonstration. 

'  These  weeds,  briers  and  thorns, — they  have  been  preparing, 
4  and  have  brought  their  designs  to  some  maturity,  by  the 
4  advantages  given  to  them,  as  aforesaid,  from  your  sittings 
4  and  proceedings.  [4  Hum-m-m  I ']  But  by  the  Waking  Eye 
4  that  watched  over  that  Cause  that  God  will  bless,  they  have 
4  been,  and  yet  are,  disappointed.  [Yea!]  And  having 
4  mentioned  that  Cause,  I  say,  that  slighted  Cause, — let  me 
4  speak  a  few  words  on  behalf  thereof;  though  it  may  seem 
4  too  long  a  digression.  Whosoever  despiseth  it,  and  will  say, 
4  It  is  non  Causa  pro  Causa,  "  a  Cause  without  Cause," — the 
4  All-searching  Eye  before  mentioned  will  find  out  that  man ; 
4  and  will  judge  him,  as  one  that  regardeth  not  the  works  of 
4  God  nor  the  operations  of  His  hands  !  [Modems  look 
6  astonished.]  For  which  God  hath  threatened  that  He  will 
4  cast  men  down  and  not  build  them  up.  That  "  man  who," 
4  because  he  can  dispute,  will  tell  us  he  knew  not  when  the 
4  Cause  began,  nor  where  it  is ;  but  modelleth  it  according  to 
4  his  own  intellect ;  and  submits  not  to  the  Appearances  of 
4  God  in  the  world ;  and  therefore  lifts  up  his  heel  against 
'  God,  and  mocketh  at  all  His  providences ;  laughing  at  the 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  175 

4  observations,  made  up  not  without  reason  and  the  Scriptures, 
4  and  by  the  quickening  and  teaching  Spirit  which  gives  life  to 
4  these  other  ; — calling  such  observations  4  enthusiasms  "* :  such 
4  men,  I  say,  no  wonder  if  they  4  stumble  and  fall  backwards, 
4  and  be  broken  and  snared  and  taken,' 1  by  the  things  of 

*  which  they  are  so  wilfully  and  maliciously  ignorant !     The 
4  Scriptures  say,  'The  Rod  has  a  voice,  and   He  will   make 
4  Himself  known  by  the  judgments  which  He  executeth.'    And 
4  do  we  not  think  He  will,  and  does,  by  the  providences  of 
4  mercy  and  kindness,  which  He  hath  for  His  People  and  their 
4  just  liberties ;   *  whom  He  loves  as  the  apple  of  His  eye '  ? 
4  Doth  He  not  by  them  manifest  Himself?     And  is  He  not 

*  thereby  also  seen  giving  kingdoms  for  them,  4  giving  men  for 

*  them,  and  people  for  their  lives/ — as  it  is  in  Isaiah  Forty- 
6  third  ? 2    Is  not  this  as  fair  a  lecture  and  as  clear  speaking,  as 
4  anything  our  dark  reason  left  to  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures, 
4  can  collect  from  them  ?     By  this  voice  has  God  spoken  very 
4  loud  on  behalf  of  His  People,  by  judging  their  enemies  in 
4  the  late  War,  and  restoring  them  a  liberty  to  worship,  with 
4  the  freedom  of  their  consciences,  and  freedom  in  estates  and 
4  persons  when  they  do  so.      And   thus  we  have  found   the 
4  Cause  of  God  by  the  works  of  God  ;  which  are  the  testimony 
4  of  God.      Upon  which  rock  whosoever  splits  shall  suffer  ship- 
4  wreck.      But  it  is  your  glory, — and  it  is  mine,  if  I  have  any 
4  in  the  world  concerning  the  Interest  of  those  that  have  an 
4  interest  in  a  better  world, — it  is  my  glory  that  I  know  a 
4  Cause  which  yet  we  have  not  lost;  but  do  hope  we  shall  take 
4  a  little  pleasure  rather  to  lose  our  lives  than  lose  !      [Hah !] 
4  — But  you  will  excuse  this  long  digression. 

4  I  say  unto  you,  Whilst  you  have  been  in  the  midst  of 
4  these  Transactions,  that  Party,  that  Cavalier  Party, — I  could 
4  wish  some  of  them  had  thrust-in  here,  to  have  heard  what 

1  Isaiah  xxviii.  13.    A  text  that  had  made  a  great  impression  upon  Oliver:  see 
Letter  to  the  General  Assembly,  vol.  ii.  p.  187. 

2  Isaiah  xliii.  3,  4 :  Another  prophecy  of  awful  moment  to  his  Highness  :  see 
Speech  I.  antea,  p.  63. 


176     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [22  JAN. 

k  I   say, —  have   been   designing   and   preparing   to   put   this 
4  Nation  in  blood  again,  with  a  witness.      But  because  I  am 

*  confident  there  are  none  of  that  sort  here,  therefore  I  shall 
4  say  the  less  to  that.      Only  this  I  must  tell  you  :  They  have 
4  been  making  great  preparations  of  arms ;  and  I  do  believe  it 
4  will  be  made  evident  to  you  that  they  have  raked-out  many 
4  thousands  of  arms,  even  all  that  this  City  could  afford,  for 
4  divers  months  last  past.      But  it  will  be  said,  4  May  we  not 
4  arm  ourselves  for  the  defence  of  our  houses  ?     Will  anybody 
4  find  fault  for  that  ? '     Not  for  that.      But  the  reason  for 
4  their  doing  so  hath  been  as  explicit,  and  under  as  clear  proof, 
4  as  the  fact  of  doing  so.      For  which  I  hope,  by  the  justice  of 
4  the  land,  some  will,  in  the  face  of  the  Nation,  answer  it  with 
4  their  lives  :  and  then  the  business  will  be  pretty  well  out  of 
4  doubt. — Banks  of  money  have  been  framing,  for  these  and 
4  other  suchlike  uses.      Letters  have  been  issued  with  Privy- 
4  seals,  to  as  great  Persons  as  most  are  in  the  Nation,  for  the 
4  advance  of  money, — which  "  Letters"  have  been  discovered 
4  to  us  by  the  Persons  themselves.     Commissions  for  Regiments 
4  of  horse  and  foot,  and  command  of  Castles,  have  been  like- 
4  wise  given  from  Charles  Stuart,  since  your  sitting.      And 
4  what  the  general  insolences  of  that  Party  have   been,  the 
4  Honest  People  have   been   sensible   of,  and   can   very  well 
4  testify. 

4  It  hath  not  only  been  thus.  But  as  in  a  quinsy  or 
4  pleurisy,  where  the  humour  fixeth  in  one  part,  give  it  scope, 
4  all  44  disease  "  will  gather  to  that  place,  to  the  hazarding  of 
4  the  whole :  and  it  is  natural  to  do  so  till  it  destroy  life  in 
4  that  person  on  whomsoever  this  befalls.  So  likewise  will 
4  these  diseases  take  accidental  causes  of  aggravation  of  their 
4  distemper.  And  this  was  that  which  I  did  assert,  That 

*  they   have    taken    accidental    causes    for   the   growing   and 
4  increasing   of  those   distempers, — as   much  as   would   have 
4  been  in  the  natural  body  if  timely  remedy  were  not  applied. 
'  And  indeed  things  were  come  to  that  pass, — in  respect  of 

*  which  I  shall  give  you  a  particular  account, — that  no  mortal 


i65S]  SPEECH    IV  177 

'  physician,  if  the  Great  Physician  had  not  stepped  in,  could 

*  have   cured   the   distemper.       Shall    I   lay   this    upon   your 
4  account,  or  my  own  ?     I  am  sure   I  can  lay  it  upon  God's 
4  account  :   That  if  He  had  not  stepped  in,  the  disease  had 
4  been  mortal  and  destructive  ! 

6  And  what  is  all  this  ?  "What  are  these  new  diseases  that 
4  have  gathered  to  this  point  ?"  Truly  I  must  needs  still  say  : 
4  '  A  company  of  men  like  briers  and  thorns ' ;  and  worse,  if 
4  worse  can  be.  Of  another  sort  than  those  before  mentioned 
4  to  you.  These  also  have  been  and  yet  are  endeavouring  to 
4  put  us  into  blood  and  into  confusion ;  more  desperate  and 
4  dangerous  confusion  than  England  ever  yet  saw.  [Anabaptist 
6  Levellers.]  And  I  must  say,  as  when  Gideon  commanded 
4  his  son  to  fall  upon  Zeba  and  Zalmunna,  and  slay  them, 
4  they  thought  it  more  noble  to  die  by  the  hand  of  a  man 
6  than  of  a  stripling, — which  shows  there  is  some  contentment 
4  in  the  hand  by  which  a  man  falls  :  so  it  is  some  satisfaction 

*  if  a  Commonwealth  must  perish,  that  it  perish  by  men,  and 
4  not   by  the  hands  of  persons  differing  little   from  beasts  ! 
4  That  if  it  must  needs  suffer,  it  should  rather  suffer  from  rich 
4  men  than  from  poor  men,  who,  as  Solomon  says,  4  when  they 
4  oppress,  leave  nothing  behind  them,  but  are  as  a  sweeping 
'  rain.'      Now  such  as  these  also  are  grown  up  under  your 
4  shadow.      But  it  will  be  asked,  What  have  they  done  ?      I 
4  hope,  though  they  pretend  4  Commonwealth's  Interest/  they 
4  have  had  no  encouragement  from  you ;  but  have,  as  in  the 

*  former  case,  rather  taken  it  than  that  you  have  administered 

*  any  cause  unto  them  for  so  doing.       u  Any  cause "   from 
4  delays,  from  hopes   that  this  Parliament  would  not  settle, 
4  from  Pamphlets  mentioning  strange  Votes  and  Resolves  of 
4  yours  ;  which  I  hope  did  abuse  you !     But  thus  you  see  that, 
'  whatever  the  grounds  were,  these  have  been  the  effects.     And 

*  thus  I  have  laid  these  things  before  you  ;  and  you  and  others 
4  will  be  easily  able  to  judge  how  far  you  are  concerned. 

*  4  What  these  men  have  done  ? '     They  also  have  laboured 

*  to  pervert,  where  they  could,  and  as  they  could,  the  Honest- 

VOL.   III.  M 


178    PART  viii.  FIRST  PARLIAMENT   [22  JAN. 

'  meaning  People  of  the  Nation.  They  have  laboured  to 
'  engage  some  in  the  Army : — and  I  doubt  that  not  only 
'  they,  but  some  others  also,  very  well  known  to  you,  have 
<  helped  to  this  work  of  debauching  and  dividing  the  Army. 
4  They  have,  they  have  !  [Overton,  Allen  and  Company,  your 
6  Highness  ?  ]  I  would  be  loath  to  say  Who,  Where,  and  How  ? 
'  much  more  loath  to  say  they  were  any  of  your  own  number. 
'  But  I  can  say  :  Endeavours  have  been  "  made "  to  put  the 
'  Army  into  a  distemper,  and  to  feed  that  which  is  the  worst 
8  humour  in  the  Army.  Which  though  it  was  not  a  mastering 
8  humour,  yet  these  took  advantage  from  delay  of  the  Settle- 
'  ment,  and  the  practices  before  mentioned,  and  the  stopping 
6  of  the  pay  of  the  Army,  to  run  us  into  Free-quarter,  and  to 
'  bring  us  into  the  inconveniences  most  to  be  feared  and 
'  avoided. — What  if  I  am  able  to  make  it  appear  in  fact, 
4  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  ?      Whether   these 
'  practices   were   in   favour   of  your   Liberties,  or   tended  to 

*  beget  hopes  of  Peace  and  Settlement  from  you ;  and  whether 

*  debauching  the  Army  in  England,  as  is  before  expressed,  and 
4  starving  it,  and  putting  it  upon  Free-quarter,  and  occasioning 
'  and  necessitating  the  greatest  part  thereof  in  Scotland  to 
'  march  into  England,  leaving  the  remainder  thereof  to  have 
'  their  throats  cut  there ;  and  kindling  by  the  rest  a  fire  in 

*  our  own  bosoms,  were  for  the  advantage  of  affairs  here,  let 

*  the  world  judge  ! 

*  This  I  tell  you  also :  That  the  correspondence  held  with 

*  the  Interest  of  the  Cavaliers,  by  that  Party  of  men  called 
4  Levellers,  who  call  themselves  CommonwealthVmen,  "  is  in 
c  our    hands."       Whose    Declarations    were    framed    to   that 
'  purpose,   and   ready  to  be  published  at  the  time  of  their 
*"  projected"    common    Rising;    whereof,    "I   say,"   we   are 

*  possessed ;  and  for  which  we  have  the  confession  of  themselves 
'  now  in  custody ;  who  confess  also  they  built  their  hopes  upon 

*  the  assurance  they  had  of  the  Parliament's  not  agreeing  to 


i6ss]  SPEECH   IV  179 

*  a  Settlement : — whether  these  humours  have  not  nourished 
'  themselves  under  your  boughs,  is  the  subject  of  my  present 

*  discourse ;  and  I  think  I  shall  say  not  amiss,  if  I  affirm  it  to 
6  be  so.      [His  Highness  looks  animated!]     And  I  must  say  it 

*  again,  That  that  which  hath  been  their  advantage,  thus  to 
'  raise   disturbance,   hath  been  by  the   loss  of  those   golden 
'  opportunities    which    God    had    put    into    your    hands   for 
'  Settlement.      Judge  you  whether  these  things  were  thus,  or 
'  not,  when  you  first  sat  down.      I  am  sure  things  were  not 
6  thus  !  There  was  a  very  great  peace  and  sedateness  through- 
4  out    these    Nations  ;    and    great   expectations   of   a    happy 
'  Settlement.      Which  I  remembered  to  you  at  the  beginning 
'  in  my  Speech ;  and  hoped  that  you  would  have  entered  on 

*  your  business  as  you  found  it.     [6Hum-m-m!  We  had  a  Con- 
stitution to  make!"1] 

1  There  was  a  Government  "  already "  in  the  possession  of 
6  the  People, — I  say  a  Government  in  the  possession  of  the 
'  People,  for  many  months.  It  hath  now  been  exercised  near 
«  Fifteen  Months :  and  if  it  were  needful  that  I  should  tell 
6  you  how  it  came  into  their  possession,  and  how  willingly 
c  they  received  it ;  how  all  Law  and  Justice  were  distributed 
'  from  it,  in  every  respect,  as  to  life,  liberty  and  estate ;  how 

*  it   was   owned  by  God,  as  being   the   dispensation   of  His 
'  providence     after    Twelve    Years    War ;     and    sealed    and 

*  witnessed  unto  by  the  People, — I  should  but  repeat  what  I 

*  said  in  my  last  Speech  unto  you  in  this  place :  and  therefore 
'  I   forbear.       When   you    were   entered    upon   this   Govern- 
'  ment ;  ravelling  into  it — You  know  I  took  no  notice  what 

*  you  were  doing — [Nor    will  now,   your    Highness ;    let   the 

*  Sentence  drop!] — If  you  had  gone  upon  that  foot  of  account, 
'  To  have  made  such  good  and  wholesome  provisions  for  the 

*  Good  of  the  People  of  these  Nations  "  as  were  wanted  " ;  for 
'  the  settling  of  such  matters  in  things  of  Religion  as  would 
'  have   upheld  and  given  countenance  to  a  Godly  Ministry, 
'  and  yet  "  as  "  would  have  given  a  just  liberty  to  godly  men 

*  of  different  judgments, — "  to  "  men  of  the  same  faith  with 


180     PA1IT  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [22  JAN. 

4  them  that  you  call  the  Orthodox  Ministry  in  England,  as  it 
4  is  well  known  the  Independents  are,  and  many  under  the 
4  form  of  Baptism,  who  are  sound  in  the  faith,  and  though 
4  they  may  perhaps  be  different  in  judgment  in  some  lesser 
4  matters,  yet  as  true  Christians  both  looking  for  salvation 
6  only  by  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  men  professing  the  fear 
4  of  God,  and  having  recourse  to  the  name  of  God  as  to  a 
4  strong  tower, — I  say  you  might  have  had  opportunity  to 
6  have  settled  peace  and  quietness  amongst  all  professing 
4  Godliness  ;  and  might  have  been  instrumental,  if  not  to 
4  have  healed  the  breaches,  yet  to  have  kept  the  Godly  of  all 
4  judgments  from  running  one  upon  another ;  and  by  keeping 
4  them  from  being  overrun  by  a  Common  Enemy,  "  have " 
6  rendered  them  and  these  Nations  both  secure,  happy  and 
4  well  satisfied.  [And  the  Constitution  ?  Hum-m-m !  ] 

4  Are  these  things  done  ;  or  any  things  towards  them  ?  Is 
4  there  not  yet  upon  the  spirits  of  men  a  strange  itch  ? 
4  Nothing  will  satisfy  them  unless  they  can  press  their  finger 
4  upon  their  brethren's  consciences,  to  pinch  them  there,  lo 
4  do  this  was  no  part  of  the  Contest  we  had  with  the  Common 
4  Adversary.  For  "  indeed "  Religion  was  not  the  thing  at 
4  first  contested  for  "  at  all " : l  but  God  brought  it  to  that 
4  issue  at  last;  and  gave  it  unto  us  by  way  of  redundancy;  and 
4  at  last  it  proved  to  be  that  which  was  most  dear  to  us.  And 
4  wherein  consisted  this  more  than  In  obtaining  that  liberty 
4  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Bishops  to  all  species  of  Protestants 
4  to  worship  God  according  to  their  own  light  and  consciences  ? 
4  For  want  of  which  many  of  our  brethren  forsook  their  native 
4  countries  to  seek  their  bread  from  strangers,  and  to  live  in 
4  howling  wildernesses  [Our  poor  brethren  of  New  England !  ]  ; 
4  and  for  which  also  many  that  remained  here  were  imprisoned, 
4  and  otherwise  abused  and  made  the  scorn  of  the  Nation. 
4  Those  that  were  sound  in  the  faith,  how  proper  was  it  for 
4  them  to  labour  for  liberty,  for  a  just  liberty,  that  men  might 

1  Power  of  the  Militia  was  the  point  upon  which  the  actual  War  began.     A 
statement  not  false  ;  yet  truer  in  form  than  it  is  in  essence. 


r655]  SPEECH    IV  181 

'  not  be  trampled  upon  for  their  consciences  !  Had  not  they 
'  "  themselves "  laboured,  but  lately,  under  the  weight  of 
'  persecution  ?  And  was  it  fit  for  them  to  sit  heavy  upon 
4  others  ?  Is  it  ingenuous  to  ask  liberty,  and  not  to  give  it  ? 
6  What  greater  hypocrisy  than  for  those  who  were  oppressed 
'  by  the  Bishops  to  become  the  greatest  oppressors  themselves, 
4  so  soon  as  their  yoke  was  removed  ?  I  could  wish  that  they 

*  who  call  for  liberty  now  also  had  not  too  much  of  that  spirit, 
4  if  the  power  were  in  their  hands  ! — As  for  profane  persons, 
4  blasphemers,  such  as  preach  sedition  ;  the  contentious  railers, 
4  evil-speakers,    who    seek    by    evil    words    to    corrupt    good 
4  manners ;  persons  of  loose  conversation, — punishment  from 
4  the  Civil  Magistrate  ought  to  meet  with  these.      Because,  if 
4  they   pretend    conscience ;  yet    walking   disorderly   and    not 

*  according  but  contrary  to  the  Gospel,  and  even  to  natural 
4  lights, — they  are  judged  of  all.      And  their  sins  being  open, 
'  make  them  subjects  of  the  Magistrate's  sword,   who  ought 
4  not  to  bear  it  in  vain. — The  discipline  of  the   Army  was 
4  such,  that  a  man  would  not  be  suffered  to  remain  there,  of 
4  whom  we  could  take  notice  he  was  guilty  of  such  practices 
1  as  these. — 

4  And  therefore  how  happy  would  England  have  been, 
4  and  you  and  I,  if  the  Lord  had  led  you  on  to  have  settled 
4  upon  such  good  accounts  as  these  are,  and  to  have  dis- 
'  countenanced  such  practices  as  the  other,  and  left  men  in 
4  disputable  things  free  to  their  own  consciences !  Which  was 
4  well  provided  for  by  the  "  Instrument  of "  Government ;  and 
4  liberty  left  to  provide  against  what  was  apparently  evil. 
4  Judge  you,  Whether  the  contesting  for  things  that  were  pro- 
4  vided  for  by  this  Government  hath  been  profitable  expense 
4  of  time,  for  the  good  of  these  Nations  !  By  means  whereof 
6  you  may  see  you  have  wholly  elapsed  your  time,  and  done 
4  just  nothing  ! — I  will  say  this  to  you,  in  behalf  of  the  Long 
4  Parliament :  That,  had  such  an  expedient  as  this  Govern- 
4  ment  been  proposed  to  them ;  and  could  they  have  seen 

*  the  Cause  of  God  thus  provided  for ;  and  been,  by  debates, 


182      PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

4  enlightened  in  the  grounds  "  of  it,"  whereby  the  difficulties 
'  might  have  been  cleared  "  to  them,"  and  the  reason  of  the 
4  whole  enforced,  and  the  circumstances  of  time  and  persons, 
4  with  the  temper  and  disposition  of  the  People,  and  affairs 
4  both  abroad  and  at  home  when  it  was  undertaken  might 
6  have  been  well  weighed  "  by  them  "  :  I  think  in  my  conscience, 
4  — well  as  they  were  thought  to  love  their  seats, — they  would 
4  have  proceeded  in  another  manner  than  you  have  done ! 
4  And  not  have  exposed  things  to  these  difficulties  and  hazards 
4  they  now  are  at ;  nor  given  occasion  to  leave  the  People  so 
4  dissettled  as  they  now  are.  Who,  I  dare  say,  in  the  soberest 
6  and  most  judicious  part  of  them,  did  expect,  not  a  question- 
4  ing,  but  a  doing  of  things  in  pursuance  of  the  "  Instrument 
4  of"  Government.  And  if  I  be  not  misinformed,  very  many 
4  of  you  came  up  with  this  satisfaction ;  having  had  time 

*  enough  to  weigh  and  consider  the  same. 

4  And  when  I  say  'such  an  expedient  as  this  Govern- 
4  ment,' — wherein  I  dare  assert  there  is  a  just  Liberty  to  the 
4  People  of  God,  and  the  just  Rights  of  the  People  in  these 
4  Nations  provided  for, — I  can  put  the  issue  thereof  upon  the 
4  clearest  reason  ;  whatsoever  any  go  about  to  suggest  to  the 
4  contrary.  But  this  not  being  the  time  and  place  of  such  an 

*  averment,   "  I  forbear  at  present."     For  satisfaction's  sake 
4  herein,  enough  is  said  in  a  Book  entituled  4  A   State  of'  the 
6  Case   of  the    Commonwealth?  published   in  January  1653.1 
4  And  for  myself,  I  desire  not  to  keep  my  place  in  this  Govern- 
4  ment  an  hour  longer  than  I  may  preserve  England  in  its 
4  just  rights,  and  may  protect  the  People  of  God  in  such  a 
4  just  Liberty  of  their  Consciences  as  I  have  already  mentioned. 
4  And  therefore  if  this  Parliament  have  judged  things  to  be 
4  otherwise  than  as  I  have  stated  them, — it  had  been  huge 
4  friendliness  between  persons  who  had  such  a  reciprocation  in 
4  so  great  concernments  to  the  public,  for  them  to  have  con- 

1  Read  it  he  who  wants  satisfaction  :  '  Printed  by  Thomas  Newcomb,  London, 
1653-4'; — 'wrote  with  great  spirit  of  language  and  subtilty  of  argument,' says 
the  Parliamentary  History  (xx.  419). 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  183 

'  vinced  me  in  what  particulars  therein  my  error  lay  !  Of 
4  which  I  never  yet  had  a  word  from  you  !  But  if,  instead 
'  thereof,  your  time  has  been  spent  in  setting-up  somewhat  else, 

*  upon  another  bottom  than  this  stands  "  upon," — it  looks  as 
4  if  the  laying  grounds  for  a  quarrel  had  rather  been  designed 
4  than  to  give  the  People  settlement.     If  it  be  thus,  it 's  well 
'  your  labours  have  not  arrived  to  any  maturity  at  all !  [Old 

Parliament  looks  agitated ; — agitated,  yet  constant  /] 

4  This  Government  called  you  hither ;  the  constitution 
4  thereof  being  limited  so, — a  Single  Person  and  a  Parlia- 
4  ment.  And  this  was  thought  most  agreeable  to  the  general 
4  sense  of  the  Nation  ; — having  had  experience  enough,  by 

*  trial,  of  other  conclusions ;  judging  this  most  likely  to  avoid 
4  the    extremes    of    Monarchy    on    the     one    hand,    and    of 
4  Democracy  on  the  other ; — and  yet  not  to  found  Dominium 
4  in  Gratia  "  either"     [Your  Highness  does  not  claim  to  be  here 
4  as  Kings  do,  By  Grace,  then  ?  No !]    And  if  so,  then  certainly 
1  to  make  the  Authority  more   than  a  mere  notion,  it  was 
4  requisite   that   it   should   be  as  it  is  in  this   "Frame   of" 
4  Government ;  which  puts  it  upon  a  true  and  equal  balance. 
4  It  has   been  already  submitted   to   the  judicious,  true  and 

*  honest  People  of  this  Nation,  Whether  the  balance  be  not 
4  equal  ?    And  what  their  judgment  is,  is  visible, — by  submis- 
4  sion  to  it ;  by  acting  upon  it ;  by  restraining  their  Trustees 
'  from  meddling  with  it.      And  it  neither  asks  nor  needs  any 
4  better  ratification  !      [Hear  /]      But  when  Trustees  in  Parlia- 
4  ment  shall,  by  experience,  find  any  evil  in  any  parts  of  this 

*  "Frame   of"    Government,    "a   question"   referred   by   the 
4  Government  itself  to  the  consideration  of  the  Protector  and 
4  Parliament, — of  which  evil  or  evils  Time  itself  will  be  the 
4  best  discoverer : — how  can  it  be  reasonably  imagined  that  a 
'  Person  or  Persons,  coming  in  by  election,  and  standing  under 

*  such  obligations,  and  so  limited,  and  so  necessitated  by  oath 
4  to  govern  for  the  People's   good,  and  to  make  their  love, 
4  under  God,  the  best  underpropping  and  only  safe  footing  : — 
4  how  can  it,  I  say,  be  imagined  that  the  present  or  succeeding 


184      PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

4  Protectors  will  refuse  to  agree  to  alter  any  such  thing  in  the 
4  Government  as  may  be  found  to  be  for  the  good  of  the 
4  People?  Or  to  recede  from  anything  which  he  might  be  con- 
4  vinced  casts  the  balance  too  much  to  the  Single  Person  ?  And 
4  although,  for  the  present,  the  keeping-up  and  having  in  his 
4  power  the  Militia  seems  the  hardest  "  condition,"  yet  if  the 
'  power  of  the  Militia  should  be  yielded  up  at  such  a  time  as 
'  this,  when  there  is  as  much  need  of  it  to  keep  this  Cause 
4  (now  most  evidently  impugned  by  all  Enemies),  as  there  was 
4  to  get  it  "  for  the  sake  of  this  Cause  "  : — what  would  become 
4  of  us  all  !  Or  if  it  should  not  be  equally  placed  in  him  and 
4  the  Parliament,  but  yielded  up  at  any  time, — it  determines 
4  his  power  either  for  doing  the  good  he  ought,  or  hindering 
4  Parliaments  from  perpetuating  themselves  ;  from  imposing 
4  what  Religion  they  please  on  the  consciences  of  men,  or 
4  what  Government  they  please  upon  the  Nation.  Thereby 
4  subjecting  us  to  dissettlement  in  every  Parliament,  and 
4  to  the  desperate  consequences  thereof.  And  if  the  Nation 
4  shall  happen  to  fall  into  a  blessed  Peace,  how  easily  and 
4  certainly  will  their  charge  be  taken  off,  and  their  forces  be 
4  disbanded  !  And  then  where  will  the  danger  be  to  have  the 
4  Militia  thus  stated  ? — What  if  I  should  say  :  If  there  be  a 
4  disproportion,  or  disequality  as  to  the  power,  it  is  on  the 
4  other  hand  ! — 

4  And  if  this  be  so,  Wherein  have  you  had  cause  to  quarrel  ? 
4  What  demonstrations  have  you  held  forth  to  settle  me  to 
4  your  opinion  ?  I  would  you  had  made  me  so  happy  as  to 
4  have  let  me  known  your  grounds  !  I  have  made  a  free  and 
4  ingenuous  confession  of  my  faith  to  you.  And  I  could  have 
4  wished  it  had  been  in  your  hearts  to  have  agreed  that  some 
4  friendly  and  cordial  debates  might  have  been  toward  mutual 
4  conviction.  Was  there  none  amongst  you  to  move  such  a 
4  thing  ?  No  fitness  to  listen  to  it  ?  No  desire  of  a  right 
4  understanding  ?  If  it  be  not  folly  in  me  to  listen  to 
4  Town-talk,  such  things  have  been  proposed ;  and  rejected, 
4  with  stiffness  and  severity,  once  and  again.  Was  it  not 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  185 

'  likely  to  have  been  more  advantageous  to  the  good  of  this 
'  Nation  ?  I  will  say  this  to  you  for  myself ;  and  to  that 
'  I  have  my  conscience  as  a  thousand  witnesses,  and  I  have 
4  my  comfort  and  contentment  in  it ;  and  I  have  the  witness 
4  "  too "  of  divers  here,  who  I  think  truly  "  would "  scorn 
6  to  own  me  in  a  lie  :  That  I  would  not  have  been  averse 

*  to    any   alteration,    of   the    good    of  which   I   might   have 
6  been  convinced.      Although  I  could  not  have  agreed  to  the 
4  taking  it  off  the  foundation  on  which  it  stands  ;  namely,  the 
'  acceptance  and  consent  of  the  People.      [*  Our  sanction  not 

needed,  then!"*] 

4  I  will  not  presage  what  you  have  been  about,  or  doing, 
4  in  all  this  time.      Nor  do  I  love  to  make  conjectures.      But 

*  I  must  tell  you  this  :     That  as  I  undertook  this  Government 
'  in  the  simplicity  of  my  heart  and  as  before  God,  and  to  do 

<  the  part  of  an  honest  man,  and  to  be  true  to  the  Interest, 

<  — which  in  my  conscience  "  I  think  "  is  dear  to  many  of  you ; 
'  though  it  is  not  always  understood  what  God  in  His  wisdom 
c  may   hide    from    us,   as   to   Peace   and    Settlement : — so    I 
'  can  say  that  no  particular  interest,  either  of  myself,  estate, 
'  honour  or  family,  are,  or  have  been,  prevalent  with  me  to 
6  this  undertaking.     For  if  you  had,  upon  the  old  Govern- 
(  ment,1  offered   me   this   one,   this  one   thing, — I  speak   as 

*  thus  advised,  and  before  God  ;  as  having  been  to  this  day 

*  of  this  opinion ;  and  this  hath  been  my  constant  judgment, 
'  well  known  to  many  who  hear  me  speak  : — if,  "  I  say,"  this 
'  one   thing   had    been    inserted,   this   one    thing,   That   the 

*  Government  should  have  been  placed  in  my  Family  heredi- 

*  tarily  I  would  have  rejected  it ! 2     And  I  could  have  done 
'  no  other  according  to  my  present  conscience  and  light.      I 

1  Means  'the  existing  Instrument  of  Government'  without  modification  of 
yours. 

2  The  matter  in  debate,  running  very  high  at  this  juncture,  in  the  Parliament, 
was  with  regard  to  the  Single  Person's  being  hereditary.     Hence  partly  the 
Protector's  emphasis  here. 


186     PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT     [22  JAN. 

4  will  tell  you  my  reason ; — though  I  cannot  tell   what  God 

*  will  do  with  me,  nor  with  you,  nor  with  the  Nation,  for 
4  throwing  away  precious  opportunities  committed  to  us. 

4  This  hath  been  my  principle ;  and  I  liked  it,  when  this 
4  Government  came  first  to  be  proposed  to  me,  That  it  puts 
4  us  off  that  hereditary  way.  Well  looking  that  God  hath 
4  declared  what  Government  He  delivered  to  the  Jews ;  and 
6  "  that  He  "  placed  it  upon  such  Persons  as  had  been  instru- 

*  mental   for   the   Conduct   and    Deliverance   of  His   People. 
4  And  considering  that  Promise  in  Isaiah,  6  That  God  would 
4  give  Rulers  as  at  the  first,  and  Judges  as  at  the  beginning,1 
1  I  did  not   know  but   that  God   might  "  now "  begin, — and 
4  though,   at   present,   with   a   most    unworthy   person ;    yet, 
4  as   to   the   future,   it   might  be  after   this  manner ;  and  I 

*  thought   this   might   usher   it   in !   \A    noble  thought,  your 
4  Highness!]     I   am    speaking    as   to    my  judgment  against 
4  making  Government  hereditary.      To  have  men  chosen,  for 
4  their  love  to  God,  and  to  Truth  and  Justice ;  and  not  to 
4  have  it  hereditary.      For  as  it  is  in  the  Ecclesiastes  :  4  Who 
4  knoweth  whether  he   may   beget   a   fool   or  a  wise  man  ? ' 
4  Honest  or  not  honest,  whatever  they  be,  they  must  come  in, 

*  on  that  plan ;  because  the  Government  is  made  a  patrimony! 
6  — And  this  I  perhaps  do  declare  with  too  much  earnestness ; 
4  as  being  my  own  concernment ; — and  know  not  what  place 
4  it  may  have  in  your  hearts,  and  in  those  of  the  Good  People 

*  in  the  Nation.      But  however  it  be,  I  have  comfort  in  this 

*  my  truth  and  plainness. 

6  I  have  thus  told  you  my  thoughts ;  which  truly  I  have 
4  declared  to  you  in  the  fear  of  God,  as  knowing  He  will  not 
'  be  mocked ;  and  in  the  strength  of  God,  as  knowing  and 

*  rejoicing  that  I  am  supported  in  my  speaking ; — especially 
4  when  I  do  not  form  or  frame  things  without  the  compass  of 
4  integrity  and  honesty ;  "  so "  that  my  own  conscience  gives 
6  me  not  the  lie  to  what  I  say.      And  then  in  what  I  say,  I 
4  can  rejoice. 

4  Now  to  speak  a  word  or  two  to  you.     Of  that,  I  must 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  187 

*  profess  in  the  name  of  the  same  Lord,  and  wish  there  had 
4  been  no  cause  that  I  should  have  thus  spoken  to  you  !  I 
4  told  you  that  I  came  with  joy  the  first  time;  with  some 
4  regret  the  second ;  yet  now  I  speak  with  most  regret  of 
4  all !  I  look  upon  you  as  having  among  you  many  persons 
4  that  I  could  lay-down  my  life  individually  for.  I  could, 
4  through  the  grace  of  God,  desire  to  lay-down  my  life  for 
4  you.  So  far  am  I  from  having  an  unkind  or  unchristian 
4  heart  towards  you  in  your  particular  capacities  !  I  have 
4  this  indeed  as  a  work  most  incumbent  upon  me ;  44  this  of 
4  speaking  these  things  to  you."  I  consulted  what  might  be 
4  my  duty  in  such  a  day  as  this  ;  casting  up  all  considerations. 
4  I  must  confess,  as  I  told  you,  that  I  did  think  occasion- 
4  ally,  This  Nation  had  suffered  extremely  in  the  respects 
4  mentioned  ;  as  also  in  the  disappointment  of  their  expecta- 
4  tions  of  that  justice  which  was  due  to  them  by  your  sitting 
4  thus  long.  44 Sitting  thus  long";  and  what  have  you  brought 
4  forth  ?  I  did  not  nor  cannot  comprehend  what  it  is.  I 
4  would  be  loath  to  call  it  a  Fate ;  that  were  too  paganish 
4  a  word.  But  there  hath  been  Something  in  it  that  we  had 
4  not  in  our  expectations. 

4  I  did  think  also,  for  myself,  That  I  am  like  to  meet 
4  with  difficulties ;  and  that  this  Nation  will  not,  as  it  is  fit 
4  it  should  not,  be  deluded  with  pretexts  of  Necessity  in  that 
4  great  business  of  raising  of  Money.  And  were  it  not  that 
4  I  can  make  some  dilemmas  upon  which  to  resolve  some 
4  things  of  my  conscience,  judgment  and  actions,  I  should 
4  sink  at  the  very  prospect  of  my  encounters.  Some  of  them 
4  are  general,  some  are  more  special.  [Hear  the  4  dilemmas. .'] 
4  Supposing  this  Cause  or  this  Business  must  be  carried  on, 
4  it  is  either  of  God  or  of  man.  If  it  be  of  man,  I  would  I 
4  had  never  touched  it  with  a  finger.  [Hear!]  If  I  had  not 
4  had  a  hope  fixed  in  me  that  this  Cause  and  this  Business 
4  was  of  God,  I  would  many  years  ago  have  run  from  it.  If 
4  it  be  of  God,  He  will  bear  it  up.  [Yea!]  If  it  be  of  man,  it 
4  will  tumble ;  as  everything  that  hath  been  of  man  since  the 


188      PART  VIII.     FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

4  world  began  hath  done.  And  what  are  all  our  Histories, 
'  and  other  Traditions  of  Actions  in  former  times,  but  God 
4  manifesting  Himself,  that  He  hath  shaken,  and  tumbled 
4  down  and  trampled  upon,  everything  that  He  had  not 

*  planted?     [Yes,  your  Highness;  such  is,  was  and  forever  will 
be,  the  History  of  Man,  deeply  as  we  poor  Moderns  have  now 

forgotten  it :  and  the  Bible  of  every  Nation  is  its  Own 
(  History ;  if  it  have,  or  had,  any  real  Bible  /]  And  as  this 
6  is,  so  "  let "  the  All-wise  God  deal  with  it.  If  this  be  of 
4  human  structure  and  invention,  and  if  it  be  an  old  Plotting 
4  and  Contriving  to  bring  things  to  this  Issue,  and  that  they 
4  are  not  the  Births  of  Providence, — then  they  will  tumble. 
4  But  if  the  Lord  take  pleasure  in  England,  and  if  He  will  do 
4  us  good, — He  is  very  able  to  bear  us  up !  Let  the  difficulties 
4  be  whatsoever  they  will,  we  shall  in  His  strength  be  able  to 
4  encounter  with  them.  And  I  bless  God  I  have  been  inured 
4  to  difficulties ;  and  I  never  found  God  failing  when  I 
6  trusted  in  Him.  I  can  laugh  and  sing,  in  my  heart,  when 
4  I  speak  of  these  things  to  you  or  elsewhere.  And  though 
4  some  may  think  it  is  an  hard  thing  To  raise  Money  without 
4  Parliamentary  Authority  upon  this  Nation;  yet  I  have 
4  another  argument  to  the  good  People  of  this  Nation,  if  they 
4  would  be  safe,  and  yet  have  no  better  principle :  Whether 
4  they  prefer  the  having  of  their  will  though  it  be  their 
4  destruction,  rather  than  comply  with  things  of  Necessity  ? 
4  That  will  excuse  me.  But  I  should  wrong  my  native 
4  country  to  suppose  this. 

4  For  I  look  at  the  People  of  these  Nations  as  the  blessing 
4  of  the  Lord  :  and  they  are  a  People  blessed  by  God.  They 
4  have  been  so ;  and  they  will  be  so,  by  reason  of  that 
4  immortal  seed  which  hath  been,  and  is,  among  them  :  those 
4  Regenerated  Ones  in  the  land,  of  several  judgments ;  who 
4  are  all  the  Flock  of  Christ,  and  lambs  of  Christ.  "  His," 
'  though  perhaps  under  many  unruly  passions,  and  troubles 
'  of  spirit ;  whereby  they  give  disquiet  to  themselves  and 

*  others  :  yet  they  are  not  so  to  God ;   since  to  us  He  is  a 


i655l  SPEECH    IV  189 

4  God  of  other  patience ;  and  He  will  own  the  least  of  Truth 
4  in  the  hearts  of  His  People.  And  the  People  being  the 
4  blessing  of  God,  they  will  not  be  so  angry  but  they  will 
'  prefer  their  safety  to  their  passions,  and  their  real  security 
4  to  forms,  when  Necessity  calls  for  Supplies.  Had  they  not 
4  well  been  acquainted  with  this  principle,  they  had  never  seen 
6  this  day  of  Gospel  Liberty. 

6  But  if  any  man  shall  object,  *  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  talk 

*  of  Necessities  when  men  create  Necessities  :    would  not  the 
4  Lord  Protector  make  himself  great  and  his  family  great  ? 
4  Doth  not  he  make   these  Necessities  ?     And  then  he   will 
6  come  upon  the  People  with  his  argument  of  Necessity  !  '- 

4  This  were  something  hard  indeed.  But  I  have  not  yet 
4  known  what  it  is  to  *  make  Necessities,1  whatsoever  the 
4  thoughts  or  judgments  of  men  are.  And  I  say  this,  not 
4  only  to  this  Assembly,  but  to  the  world,  That  the  man  liveth 
4  not  who  can  come  to  me  and  charge  me  with  having,  in 
4  these  great  Revolutions,  4  made  Necessities."*  I  challenge 
6  even  all  that  fear  God.  And  as  God  hath  said,  4  My  glory 
4  I  will  not  give  unto  another,'  let  men  take  heed  and  be  twice 
6  advised  how  they  call  His  Revolutions,  the  things  of  God, 
4  and  His  working  of  things  from  one  period  to  another, — 
6  how,  I  say,  they  call  them  Necessities  of  men's  creation  ! 
4  For  by  so  doing,  they  do  vilify  and  lessen  the  works  of  God, 
4  and  rob  Him  of  His  glory ;  which  He  hath  said  He  will  not 
<  give  unto  another,  nor  suffer  to  be  taken  from  Him  !  We 
4  know  what  God  did  to  Herod,  when  he  was  applauded  and 
4  did  not  acknowledge  God.  And  God  knoweth  what  He 

*  will  do  with  men,  when   they  call   His  Revolutions  human 
(-  designs,  and  so  detract  from  His  glory.      These  issues  and 
4  events  have  not  been  forecast ;  but  44  were "  sudden  Provi- 
4  dences    in    things :    whereby    carnal    and   worldly    men    are 
4  enraged  ;  and  under  and  at  which,  many,  and  I  fear  some 
'  good  men,  have  murmured  and  repined,  because  disappointed 
4  of  their  mistaken  fancies.      But  still  all  these  things  have 
4  been   the  wise  disposings  of  the  Almighty  ;   though  instru- 


190     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

6  merits  have  had  their  passions  and  frailties.      And  I  think  it 

*  is  an  honour  to  God  to  acknowledge  the  Necessities  to  have 

*  been  of  God's  imposing,  when  truly  they  have  been  so,  as 
'  indeed  they  have.     Let  us  take  our  sin  in  our  actions  to  our- 
4  selves;  it's  much  more  safe  than  to  judge  things  so  contingent, 
'  as  if  there  were  not  a  God  that  ruled  the  Earth ! 

*  We  know  the  Lord  hath  poured  this  Nation  from  vessel 
'  to  vessel,  till  He  poured  it  into  your  lap,  when  you  came 
4  first  together.  I  am  confident  that  it  came  so  into  your 
'  hands ;  and  was  not  judged  by  you  to  be  from  counterfeited 

*  or  feigned  Necessity,  but  by  Divine  Providence  and  Dispen- 
4  sation.      And  this  I  speak  with  more  earnestness,  because  I 
6  speak  for  God  and  not  for  men.      I  would  have  any  man  to 
'  come  and  tell  of  the  Transactions  that  have  been,  and  of 
6  those  periods  of  time  wherein  God  hath  made  these  Revolu- 

*  tions ;   and  find  where  he  can  fix  a  feigned  Necessity  !     I 
6  could  recite  particulars,  if  either  my  strength  would  serve 

*  me  to  speak,  or  yours  to  hear.      If  you  would  consider l  the 
6  great  Hand  of  God  in  His  great  Dispensations,  you  would 
c  find  that  there  is  scarce  a  man  who  fell  off,  at  any  period  of 
6  time  when  God  had  any  work  to  do,  who  can  give  God  or 
6  His  work  at  this  day  a  good  word. 

6  '  It  was,'  say  some,  '  the  cunning  of  the  Lord  Protector,' 
«  — I  take  it  to  myself, — <  it  was  the  craft  of  such  a  man, 
(  and  his  plot,  that  hath  brought  it  about ! '  And,  as  they 
6  say  in  other  countries,  '  There  are  five  or  six  cunning  men 
'  in  England  that  have  skill ;  they  do  all  these  things.'  Oh, 

*  what   blasphemy  is   this !     Because   men   that   are  without 
'  God  in  the  world,  and  walk  not  with  Him,  know  not  what 

*  it  is  to  pray  or  believe,  and  to  receive  returns  from  God, 
and  to  be  spoken  unto  by  the  Spirit  of  God, — who  speaks 
without  a  Written  Word  sometimes,  yet  according  to  it ! 
God  hath  spoken  heretofore  in  divers  manners.      Let  Him 
speak  as  He  pleaseth.      Hath  He  not  given  us  liberty,  nay 
is  it  not  our  duty,  To  go  to  the  Law  and  the  Testimony  ? 

1  c  if  that  you  would  revolve  '  in  orig. 


1655]  SPEECH    IV  191 

'  And  there  we  shall  find  that  there  have  been  impressions,  in 
6  extraordinary  cases,  as  well  without  the  Written  Word  as 
'  with  it.  And  therefore  there  is  no  difference  in  the  thing 
*  thus  asserted  from  truths  generally  received, — except  we 
'  will  exclude  the  Spirit ;  without  whose  concurrence  all  other 
'teachings  are  ineffectual.  [Yea,  your  Highness;  the  true 
God's-  Voice,  Voice  of  the  Eternal,  is  in  the  heart  of  every  Man  ; 
6  — there,  wherever  else  it  be.]  He  doth  speak  to  the  hearts 
'  and  consciences  of  men ;  and  leadeth  them  to  His  Law  and 
'  Testimony,  and  there  "  also "  He  speaks  to  them  :  and  so 
'  gives  them  double  teachings.  According  to  that  of  Job  : 
'  '  God  speaketh  once,  yea  twice ' ;  and  to  that  of  David  : 
'  '  God  hath  spoken  once,  yea  twice  have  I  heard  this.'  These 
'  men  that  live  upon  their  mumpsimus  and  sumpsimus  [Bul- 
'  strode  looks  astonished],  their  Masses  and  Service-books, 
'  their  dead  and  carnal  worship, — no  marvel  if  they  be 
'  strangers  to  God,  and  to  the  works  of  God,  and  to 
'  spiritual  dispensations.  And  because  they  say  and  believe 
'  thus,  must  we  do  so  too  ?  We,  in  this  land,  have  been 
'  otherwise  instructed ;  even  by  the  Word,  and  Works,  and 
4  Spirit  of  God. 

'  To  say  that  men  bring  forth  these  things  when  God  doth 
'  them, — judge  you  if  God  will  bear  this  ?  I  wish  that  every 
'  sober  heart,  though  he  hath  had  temptations  upon  him  of 
'  deserting  this  Cause  of  God,  yet  may  take  heed  how  he 
'  provokes  and  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  Living  God  by 
'  such  blasphemies  as  these  !  According  to  the  Tenth  of  the 
'  Hebrews :  '  If  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received 
'  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remains  no  more  sacrifice 
'  for  sin/  "  A  terrible  word.""  It  was  spoken  to  the  Jews 
4  who,  having  professed  Christ,  apostatised  from  Him.  What 
'  then  ?  Nothing  but  a  fearful  '  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
<  Living  God ' ! — They  that  shall  attribute  to  this  or  that 
'  person  the  contrivances  and  production  of  those  mighty 
'  things  God  hath  wrought  in  the  midst  of  us ;  and  "  fancy  " 
'  that  they  have  not  been  the  Revolutions  of  Christ  Himself, 


192     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN- 

*  *  upon    whose    shoulders    the    government    is    laid,1  —  they 
4  speak  against  God,  and  they  fall  under  His  hand  without  a 
4  Mediator.      That  is,  if  we  deny  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ 
4  the   glory   of  all   His  works  in  the  world ;    by  which    He 
4  rules  kingdoms,  and  doth  administer,  and  is  the  rod  of  His 
4  strength, — we  provoke  the  Mediator :   and  He  may  say :   I 
6  will  leave  you  to  God,  I  will  not  intercede  for  you  ;  let  Him 

*  tear   you  to   pieces  !     I  will  leave  thee  to  fall  into  God's 
6  hands  ;  thou  deniest  me  my  sovereignty  and  power  committed 
6  to  me  ;   I  will  not  intercede   nor   mediate  for   thee ;   thou 
4  fallest  into  the  hands  of  the  Living  God ! — Therefore  what- 
6  soever  you  may  judge  men  for,  howsoever  you  may  say,  4  This 
6  is  cunning,  and  politic,  and  subtle,' — take  heed  again,  I  say, 
6  how  you  judge  of  His  Revolutions  as  the  product  of  men's 
4  inventions  ! — I   may  be  thought  to  press  too   much   upon 
4  this  theme.       But  I    pray  God    it    may  stick    upon   your 
4  hearts  and  mine.     The  worldly-minded  man  knows  nothing 
4  of  this,  but  is  a  stranger  to  it ;  and  thence  his  atheisms, 
4  and  murmurings  at  instruments,  yea,  repining  at  God  Him- 
4  self.      And   no   wonder ;    considering   the   Lord   hath   done 
4  such   things  amongst   us  as   have   not  been   known  in  the 
4  world  these  thousand  years,  and  yet  notwithstanding  is  not 
4  owned  by  us  ! — 

4  There  is  another  Necessity,  which  you  have  put  upon  us, 
4  and  we  have  not  sought.  I  appeal  to  God,  Angels  and  Men, 
4  — if  I  shall  "now"  raise  money  according  to  the  Article 
4  in  the  Government,  44  whether  I  am  not  compelled  to  do 
4  it "  !  Which  "  Government "  had  power  to  call  you  hither ; 
4  and  did  ; — and  instead  of  seasonably  providing  for  the  Army, 
4  you  have  laboured  to  overthrow  the  Government,  and  the 
4  Army  is  now  upon  Free-quarter !  And  you  would  never 
4  so  much  as  let  me  hear  a  tittle  from  you  concerning  it. 
4  Where  is  the  fault  ?  Has  it  not  been  as  if  you  had  a 
4  purpose  to  put  this  extremity  upon  us  and  the  Nation  ?  I 
4  hope,  this  was  not  in  your  minds.  I  am  not  willing  to 
8  judge  so: — but  such  is  the  state  into  which  we  are  reduced. 


i655]  SPEECH    IV  193 

'  By  the  designs  of  some  in  the  Army  who  are  now  in  custody, 
4  it  was  designed  to  get  as  many  of  them  as  possible, — 
6  through  discontent  for  want  of  money,  the  Army  being  in  a 
6  barren  country,  near  thirty  weeks  behind  in  pay,  and  upon 
4  other  specious  pretences, — to  march  for  England  out  of 
4  Scotland  ;  and,  in  discontent,  to  seize  their  General  there 
4  [General  Moiik\,  a  faithful  and  honest  man,  that  so  another 
4  [Colonel  Overton\  might  head  the  Army.  And  all  this 
4  opportunity  taken  from  your  delays.  Whether  will  this  be 
6  a  thing  of  feigned  Necessity  ?  What  could  it  signify,  but 
4  4  The  Army  are  in  discontent  already;  and  we  will  make  them 
'  live  upon  stones  ;  we  will  make  them  cast-off  their  governors 
4  and  discipline '  ?  What  can  be  said  to  this  ?  I  list  not 
*  to  unsaddle  myself,  and  put  the  fault  upon  your  backs. 
4  Whether  it  hath  been  for  the  good  of  England,  whilst  men 
4  have  been  talking  of  this  thing  or  the  other  [Building"  Con- 
6  stitutions],  and  pretending  liberty  and  many  good  words,  — 
6  whether  it  has  been  as  it  should  have  been  ?  I  am  confident 
4  you  cannot  think  it  has.  The  Nation  will  not  think  so. 
4  And  if  the  worst  should  be  made  of  things,  I  know  not  what 
4  the  Cornish  men  nor  the  Lincolnshire  men  may  think,  or 
4  other  Counties ;  but  I  believe  they  will  all  think  they  are 
6  not  safe.  A  temporary  suspension  of  '  caring  for  the  greatest 
6  liberties  and  privileges '  (if  it  were  so,  which  is  denied) 
4  would  not  have  been  of  such  damage  as  the  not  providing 
4  against  Free-quarter  hath  run  the  Nation  upon.  And  if  it 
6  be  my  4  liberty '  to  walk  abroad  in  the  fields,  or  to  take  a 
6  journey,  yet  it  is  not  my  wisdom  to  do  so  when  my  house  is 
4  on  fire  ! — 

*  I  have  troubled  you  with  a  long  Speech ;  and  I  believe 
4  it  may  not  have  the  same  resentment l  with  all  that  it  hath 
4  with  some.  But  because  that  is  unknown  to  me,  I  shall 
4  leave  it  to  God ; — and  conclude  with  this  :  That  I  think 
4  myself  bound,  as  in  my  duty  to  God,  and  to  the  People  of 
4  these  Nations  for  their  safety  and  good  in  every  respect, — 

1  Means  '  sense  excited  by  it.' 
VOL.  III.  N 


194     PART  VIII.    FIRST  PARLIAMENT    [22  JAN. 

'  I  think  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  that  it  is  not  for  the  profit  of 
4  these  Nations,  nor  for  common  and  public  good,  for  you  to 
4  continue  here  any  longer.  And  therefore  I  do  declare  unto 
4  you,  That  I  do  dissolve  this  Parliament.'  * 

So  ends  the  First  Protectorate  Parliament ;  suddenly,  very 
unsuccessfully.  A  most  poor  hidebound  Pedant  Parliament ; 
which  reckoned  itself  careful  of  the  Liberties  of  England;  and 
was  careful  only  of  the  Sheepskin  Formulas  of  these ;  very 
blind  to  the  Realities  of  these  !  Regardless  of  the  facts  and 
clamorous  necessities  of  the  Present,  this  Parliament  considered 
that  its  one  duty  was  to  tie-up  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
Protector  well ;  to  give  him  no  supplies,  no  power ;  to  make 
him  and  keep  him  the  bound  vassal  and  errand-man  of  this 
and  succeeding  Parliaments.  This  once  well  done,  they 
thought  all  was  done  : — Oliver  thought  far  otherwise.  Their 
painful  new-modelling  and  rebuilding  of  the  Instrument  of 
Government,  with  an  eye  to  this  sublime  object,  was  pointing 
towards  completion,  little  now  but  the  key-stones  to  be  let  in : 
— when  Oliver  suddenly  withdrew  the  centres !  Constitutional 
arch  and  ashlar-stones,  scaffolding,  workmen,  mortar-troughs 
and  scaffold-poles  sink  in  swift  confusion ;  and  disappear, 
regretted  or  remembered  by  no  person, — not  by  this  Editor 
for  one. 

By  the  arithmetical  account  of  heads  in  England,  the  Lord 
Protector  may  surmise  that  he  has  lost  his  Enterprise.  But 
by  the  real  divine  and  human  worth  of  thinking-souls  in 
England,  he  still  believes  that  he  has  it ;  by  this,  and  by  a 
higher  mission  too ; — and  '  will  take  a  little  pleasure  to  lose 
his  life '  before  he  loses  it !  He  is  not  here  altogether  to 
count  heads,  or  to  count  costs,  this  Lord  Protector ;  he  is  in 
the  breach  of  battle ;  placed  there,  as  he  understands,  by  his 
Great  Commander .  whatsoever  his  difficulties  be,  he  must 
fight  them,  cannot  quit  them  ;  must  fight  there  till  he  die. 
This  is  the  law  of  his  position,  in  the  eye  of  God,  and  also 

*  Old  Pamphlet :  reprinted  in  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  404-431. 


i655j  SPEECH    IV  195 

of  men.  There  is  no  return  for  him  out  of  this  Protectorship 
he  has  got  into  !  Called  to  this  post  as  I  have  been,  placed 
in  it  as  I  am,  *  To  quit  it,  is  what  I  will  be  willing  to  be 
rolled  into  my  grave,  and  buried  with  infamy,  before  I  will 
consent  unto  ! ' — • 


PART    NINTH 

THE  MAJOR-GENERALS 

1655-1656 


CHRONOLOGICAL 

THE  Plots  and  perils  to  the  Commonwealth  which  my  Lord 
Protector  spoke  of  to  his  honourable  Members,  were  not  an 
imagination,  but  a  very  tragic  reality.  Under  the  shadow  of 
this  Constitutioning  Parliament  strange  things  had  been 
ripening  :  without  some  other  eye  than  the  Parliament's,  Con- 
stitution and  Commonwealth  in  general  had  been,  by  this  time, 
in  a  bad  way  !  A  universal  rising  of  Royalists  combined  with 
Anabaptists  is  in  a  real  state  of  progress.  Dim  meetings 
there  have  been  of  Royalist  Gentlemen,  on  nocturnal  moors, 
in  this  quarter  and  in  that,  'with  cart-loads  of  arms,' — 
terrified  at  their  own  jingle,  and  rapidly  dispersing  again  till 
the  grand  hour  come.  Anabaptist  Levellers  have  had  dim 
meetings,  dim  communications ;  will  prefer  Charles  Stuart 
himself  to  the  traitor  Oliver,  who  has  dared  to  attempt 
actual  '  governing '  of  men.  Charles  Stuart  has  come  down 
to  Middleburg,  on  the  Dutch  coast,  to  be  in  readiness ;  'Hyde 
is  cock-sure.' l  From  the  dreary  old  Thurloes,  and  rubbish- 
continents,  of  Spy  Letters,  Intercepted  Letters,  Letters  of 
Intelligence ;  where,  scattered  at  huge  intervals,  the  History 
of  England  for  those  years  still  lies  entombed,  it  is  manifest 

1  Manning's  Letter,  in  7  hurloe,  iii.  384. 
196 


(  >////  /'/  <  • 


1655]  CHRONOLOGICAL  197 

enough  what  a  winter  and  spring  this  was  in  England.  A 
Protector  left  without  supplies,  obliged  to  cut  his  Parliament 
adrift,  and  front  the  matter  alone  ;  England,  from  end  to 
end  of  it,  ripe  for  an  explosion ;  for  a  universal  blazing-up 
of  all  the  heterogeneous  combustibilities  it  had  ;  the  Sacred 
Majesty  waiting  at  Middleburg,  and  Hyde  cock-sure  ! 

Nevertheless  it  came  all  to  nothing ; — there  being  a  Pro- 
tector in  it.  The  Protector,  in  defect  of  Parliaments,  issued 
his  own  Ordinance,  the  best  he  could,  for  payment  of  old 
rates  and  taxes ;  which,  as  the  necessity  was  evident,  and  the 
sum  fixed  upon  was  low,  rather  lower  than  had  been  expected, 
the  Country  quietly  complied  with.  Indispensable  supply  was 
obtained :  and  as  for  the  Plots,  the  Protector  had  long  had 
his  eye  on  them,  had  long  had  his  nooses  round  them ; — the 
Protector  strangled  them  everywhere  at  the  moment  suitablest 
for  him,  and  lodged  the  ringleaders  of  them  in  the  Tower. 
Let  us,  as  usual,  try  to  extricate  a  few  small  elucidative  facts 
from  the  hideous  old  Pamphletary  Imbroglio,  where  facts  and 
figments,  ten  thousand  facts  of  no  importance  to  one  fact  of 
some,  lie  mingled,  like  the  living  with  the  dead,  in  noisome 
darkness  all  of  them  :  once  extricated,  they  may  assist 
the  reader's  fancy  a  little.  Of  Oliver's  own  in  reference 
to  this  period,  too  characteristic  a  period  to  be  omitted, 
there  is  little  or  nothing  left  us  :  a  few  detached  Letters, 
hardly  two  of  them  very  significant  of  Oliver ;  which 
cannot  avail  us  much,  but  shall  be  inserted  at  their  due 
places. 

February  l%th,  1654-5.  News  came  this  afternoon  that 
Major  John  Wildman,  chief  of  the  frantic  Anabaptist  Party, 
upon  whom  the  Authorities  have  had  their  eye  of  late,  has 
been  seized  at  Exton,  near  Marlborough,  in  Wilts;  'by  a 
party  of  Major  Butler's  horse.'  In  his  furnished  lodging ; 
*  in  a  room  upstairs ' ;  his  door  stood  open  :  stepping  softly 
up,  the  troopers  found  him  leaning  on  his  elbow,  dictating  to 
his  clerk  '  A  Declaration  of  the  free  and  well-affected  People 


198     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [11  MAR. 

of  England  now  in  Arms '  (or  shortly  to  be  in  Arms)  '  against 
the  Tyrant  Oliver  Cromwell ' : l  a  forcible  piece,  which  can 
still  be  read,  but  only  as  a  fragment,  the  zealous  Major 
never  having  had  occasion  to  finish  it.  They  carried  him  to 
Chepstow  Castle ;  locked  him  up  there  :  and  the  free  and 
well-affected  People  of  England  never  got  to  Arms  against 
the  Tyrant,  but  were  only  in  hopes  of  getting.  Wildman 
was  in  the  last  Parliament ;  but  could  not  sign  the  Recogni- 
tion ;  went  away  in  virtuous  indignation,  to  act  against  the 
Tyrant  by  stratagem  henceforth.  He  has  been  the  centre  of 
an  extensive  world  of  Plots  this  winter,  as  his  wont  from  of 
old  was :  the  mainspring  of  Royalist  Anabaptistry,  what  we 
call  the  frantic  form  of  Republicanism,  which  hopes  to  attain 
its  object  by  assisting  even  Charles  Stuart  against  the  Tyrant 
Oliver.  A  stirring  man ;  very  flamy  and  very  fuliginous : 
perhaps,  since  Freeborn  John  was  sealed-up  in  Jersey,  the 
noisiest  man  in  England.  The  turning  of  the  key  on  him  in 
Chepstow  will  be  a  deliverance  to  us  henceforth. 

We  take  his  capture  as  the  termination  of  the  Anabaptist- 
Royalist  department  of  the  Insurrection.  Thurloe  has  now 
got  all  the  threads  of  this  Wildman  business  in  his  hand  : 
the  ringleaders  are  laid  in  prison,  Harrison,  Lord  Grey  of 
Groby  and  various  others ;  kept  there  out  of  harm's  way ; 
dealt  with  in  a  rigorous,  yet  gentle,  and  what  we  must 
call  great  and  manful  manner.  It  is  remarked  of  Oliver 
that  none  of  this  Party  was  ever  brought  to  trial  :  his 
hope  and  wish  was  always  that  they  might  yet  be  reconciled 
to  him.  Colonel  Sexby,  once  Captain  Sexby,  Trooper 
Sexby,  our  old  acquaintance,  one  of  Wild  man's  people, — 
has  escaped  on  this  occasion  :  better  for  himself  had  he  been 
captured  now,  and  saved  from  still  madder  courses  he  got 
into. 

Sunday  March  Ilth,  1654-5,  in  the  City  of  Salisbury, 
about  midnight,  there  occurs  a  thing  worth  noting.  What 
may  be  called  the  general  outcome  of  the  Royalist  department 

1  Whitlocke,  p.  599;  Cromwcllianat  p.  151. 


1655]  CHRONOLOGICAL  199 

of  the  Insurrection.  This  too  over  England  generally  has,  in 
all  quarters  where  it  showed  itself,  found  some  'Major  Butler1 
with  due  '  troops  of  horse '  to  seize  it,  to  trample  it  out,  and 
lay  the  ringleaders  under  lock  and  key.  Hardly  anywhere 
could  it  get  the  length  of  fighting :  too  happy  if  it  could  but 
gallop  and  hide.  In  Yorkshire,  there  was  some  appearance, 
and  a  few  shots  fired ;  but  to  no  effect :  poor  Sir  Henry 
Slingsby,  and  a  Lord  Malevrier,  and  others  were  laid  hold  of 
here ;  of  whom  the  Lord  escaped  by  stratagem  ;  and  poor 
Sir  Henry  lies  prisoner  in  Hull, — where  it  will  well  behove 
him  to  keep  quiet  if  he  can !  But  on  the  Sunday  night 
above  mentioned,  peaceful  Salisbury  is  awakened  from  its 
slumbers  by  a  real  advent  of  Cavaliers.  Sir  Joseph  Wagstaff, 
'  a  jolly  knight'  of  those  parts,  once  a  Royalist  Colonel;  he 
with  Squire  or  Colonel  Penruddock,  '  a  gentleman  of  fair 
fortune,1  Squire  or  Major  Grove,  also  of  some  fortune,  and 
about  Two-hundred  others,  did  actually  rendezvous  in  arms 
about  the  big  Steeple  that  Sunday  night,  and  ring  a  loud 
alarm  in  those  parts. 

It  was  Assize  time ;  the  Judges  had  arrived  the  day  before. 
Wagstaff  seizes  the  Judges  in  their  beds,  seizes  the  High  Sheriff, 
and  otherwise  makes  night  hideous; — proposes  on  the  morrow 
to  hang  the  Judges,  as  a  useful  warning,  which  Mr.  Hyde 
thinks  it  would  have  been ;  but  is  overruled  by  Penruddock 
and  the  rest.  He  orders  the  High  Sheriff  to  proclaim  King 
Charles  ;  High  Sheriff  will  not,  not  though  you  hang  him  ; 
Town-crier  will  not,  not  even  he  though  you  hang  him.  The 
Insurrection  does  not  speed  in  Salisbury,  it  would  seem.  The 
Insurrection  quits  Salisbury  on  Monday  night,  hearing  that 
troopers  are  on  foot;  marches  with  all  speed  towards  Cornwall, 
hoping  for  better  luck  there.  Marches; — but  Captain  Unton 
Crook,  whom  we  once  saw  before,  marches  also  in  the  rear  of 
it ;  marches  swiftly,  fiercely  ;  overtakes  it  at  South  Molton  in 
Devonshire  '  on  Wednesday  about  ten  at  night,"  and  there  in 
few  minutes  puts  an  end  to  it.  <  They  fired  out  of  windows 
on  us,1  but  could  make  nothing  of  it.  We  took  Penruddock, 


200     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [28  MAY 

Grove,  and  long  lists  of  others  :  Wagstaff  unluckily  escaped.1 
The  unfortunate  men  were  tried,  at  Exeter,  by  a  regular  assize 
and  jury ;  were  found  guilty,  some  of  High  Treason,  some  of 
'  Horse  -stealing  ':  Penruddock  and  Grove,  stanch  Royalists 
both  and  gallant  men,  were  beheaded  ;  several  were  hanged  ; 
a  great  many  '  sent  to  Barbadoes ' ; — and  this  Royalist  con- 
flagration too,  which  should  have  blazed  all  over  England, 
is  entirely  damped  out,  having  amounted  to  smoke  merely, 
whereby  many  eyes  are  bleared  !  Indeed  so  prompt  and 
complete  is  the  extinction,  thankless  people  begin  to  say  there 
had  never  been  anything  considerable  to  extinguish.  Had 
they  stood  in  the  middle  of  it, — had  they  seen  the  nocturnal 
rendezvous  at  Marston  Moor,  seen  what  Shrewsbury,  what 
Rufford  Abbey,  what  North  Wales  in  general,  would  have 
grown  to  on  the  morrow, — in  that  case,  thinks  the  Lord 
Protector  not  without  some  indignation,  they  had  known  ! 2 
WagstafF  has  escaped,  and  Wilmot  Earl  of  Rochester  so-called; 
right  glad  to  be  beyond  seas  again ;  and  will  look  twice  at  an 
Insurrection  before  they  embark  in  it  in  time  coming. 

A  terrible  Protector  this  ;  no  getting  of  him  overset !  He 
has  the  ringleaders  all  in  his  hand,  in  prison  or  still  at  large ; 
— as  they  love  their  estates  and  their  life,  let  them  be  quiet. 
He  can  take  your  estate  : — is  there  not  proof  enough  to  take 
your  head,  if  he  pleases  ?  He  dislikes  shedding  blood  ;  but 
is  very  apt  '  to  barbadoes '  an  unruly  man, — has  sent  and 
sends  us  by  hundreds  to  Barbadoes,  so  that  we  have  made  an 
active  verb  of  it  :  *  barbadoes  you.' 3  Safest  to  let  this 
Protector  alone  !  Charles  Stuart  withdraws  from  Middleburg 
into  the  interior  obscurities ;  and  Mr.  Hyde  will  not  be  so 
cock-sure  another  time.  Mr.  Hyde,  much  pondering  how  his 
secret  could  have  been  let  out,  finds  that  it  is  an  underling  of 

1  Crook's  Letter,   '  South  Molton,   I5th    March    1654,   two  or  three  in   the 
morning'  (King's  Pamphlets,  small  4to,  no.  637,  §  15).     State  7 rials,  v.  767  et 
seqq. ;  Whitlocke,  p.  601  ;  Thurloe,  iii.  365,  384,  391,  445  ;  Cromwelliana>  pp. 
152-3  -Official  Letters  in  reference  to  this  Plot,  Appendix,  No.  28. 

2  Postea,  Speech  v. 

3  Interested  Letters,  Thurloe,  iii. 


1655]  CHRONOLOGICAL  201 

his,  one  Mr.  Manning,  a  gentleman  by  birth,  ( fond  of  fine 
clothes,"  and  in  very  straitened  circumstances  at  present,  who 
has  been  playing  the  traitor.  Indisputably  a  traitor  :  where- 
fore the  King  in  Council  has  him  doomed  to  death  ;  has 
him  shot,  in  winter  following,  '  in  the  Duke  of  Neuburg's 
territory.1 1  Diligent  Thurloe  finds  others  to  take  his  place. 

May  %8th,  1655.  Desborow,  who  commands  the  Regular 
Troops  in  that  insurrectionary  Southwest  region,  is,  by  Com- 
mission bearing  date  this  day,  appointed  Major-General  of  the 
Militia-forces  likewise,  and  of  all  manner  of  civic  and  military 
forces  at  the  disposal  of  the  Commonwealth  in  those  parts. 
Major-General  over  six  counties  specified  in  this  Document ; 
with  power  somewhat  enlarged,  and  not  easy  to  specify, — 
power,  in  fact,  to  look  after  the  peace  of  the  Commonwealth 
there,  and  do  what  the  Council  of  State  shall  order  him.2  He 
coerces  Royalists  ;  questions,  commits  to  custody  suspected 
persons ;  keeps  down  disturbance  by  such  methods  as,  on  the 
spot,  he  finds  wisest.  A  scheme  found  to  answer  well.  The 
beginning  of  a  universal  Scheme  of  MAJOR-GENERALS,  which 
develops  itself  into  full  maturity  in  the  autumn  of  this  year ; 
the  Lord  Protector  and  his  Council  of  State  having  well  con- 
sidered it  in  the  interim,  and  found  it  the  feasiblest ;  if  not 
good,  yet  best. 

By  this  Scheme,  which  we  may  as  well  describe  here  as  after- 
wards, All  England  is  divided  into  Districts ;  Ten  Districts, 
a  Major-General  for  each ;  let  him  be  a  man  most  carefully 
chosen,  a  man  of  real  wisdom,  valour  and  veracity,  a  man 
fearing  God  and  hating  covetousness ;  for  his  powers  are 
great.  He  looks  after  the  Good  of  the  Commonwealth, 
spiritual  and  temporal,  as  he  finds  wisest.  Ejects,  or  aids 
in  ejecting,  scandalous  ministers ;  summons  disaffected,  sus- 
pected persons  before  him  ;  demands  an  account  of  them ; 
sends  them  to  prison,  failing  an  account  that  satisfies  him  ; — 
and  there  is  no  appeal  except  to  the  Protector  in  Council. 

1  Clarendon,  iii.  752 ;  Whitlocke,  p.  618  (Dec.  1655)  ;  Ludlow,  ii.  6-8. 
*  Thurloe,  iii   486. 


202      PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [28  MAY 

His  force  is  the  Militia  of  his  Counties ;  horse  and  foot, 
levied  and  kept  in  readiness  for  the  occasion  ;  especially  troops 
of  horse.  Involving,  of  course,  new  expense ; — which  we 
decide  that  the  Plotting  Royalists,  who  occasion  it,  shall  pay. 
On  all  Royalist  disaffected  Persons  the  Major-General  there- 
fore, as  his  first  duty,  is  to  lay  an  Income-tax  of  Ten  per-cent ; 
let  them  pay  it  quietly,  or  it  may  be  worse  for  them.  They 
pay  it  very  quietly.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  Country 
submits  very  quietly  to  this  arrangement ; — the  Major-Generals 
being  men  carefully  chosen.  <  It  is  an  arbitrary  Government !  ' 
murmur  many.  Yes ;  arbitrary,  but  beneficial.  These  are 
powers  unknown  to  the  English  Constitution,  I  believe ;  but 
they  are  very  necessary  for  the  Puritan  English  Nation  at  this 
time.  With  men  of  real  wisdom,  who  do  fear  God  and  hate 
covetousness,  when  you  can  find  such  men,  you  may  to  some 
purpose  intrust  considerable  powers  ! 

It  is  in  this  way  that  Oliver  Protector  coerces  the  unruly 
elements  of  England  ;  says  to  them  :  '  Peace,  ye  !  With  the 
aid  of  Parliament  and  venerable  Parchment,  if  so  may  be; 
without  it,  if  so  may  not  be, — I,  called  hither  by  a  very  good 
Authority,  will  hold  you  down.  Quiet  shall  you,  for  your  part, 
keep  yourselves  ;  or  be  "  barbadoesed,"  and  worse.  Mark  it ; 
not  while  I  live  shall  you  have  dominion,  you  nor  the  Master 
of  you ! ' — Cock-matches,  Horse-races  and  other  loose  as- 
semblages are,  for  limited  times,  forbidden ;  over  England 
generally,  or  in  Districts  where  it  may  be  thought  somewhat 
is  a-brewing.  Without  cock-fighting  we  can  do ;  but  not 
without  Peace,  and  the  absence  of  Charles  Stuart  and  his 
Copartneries.  It  is  a  Government  of  some  arbitrariness. 

And  yet  singular,  observes  my  learned  friend,  how  popular 
it  seems  to  grow.  These  considerable  infringements  of  the 
constitutional  fabric,  prohibition  of  cock-fights,  amercings  of 
Royalists,  taxing  without  consent  in  Parliament,  seem  not  to 
awaken  the  indignation  of  England ;  rather  almost  the 
gratitude  and  confidence  of  England.  Next  year,  we  have 
'  Letters  of  great  appearances  of  the  Country  at  the  Assizes  ; 


i6ss]  CHRONOLOGICAL  203 

and   how    the   Gentlemen  of  the   greatest  quality  served  on 
Grand  Juries ;  which  is  fit  to  be  observed."* l 

We  mention,  but  cannot  dwell  upon  it,  another  trait 
belonging  to  those  Spring  Months  of  1655  :  the  quarrel  my 
Lord  Protector  had  in  regard  to  his  Ordinance  for  the  Reform 
of  Chancery.  Ordinance  passed  merely  by  the  Protector  in 
Council ;  never  confirmed  by  any  Parliament ;  which  never- 
theless he  insists  upon  having  obeyed.  How  our  learned 
Bulstrode,  learned  Widdrington,  two  of  the  Keepers  of  the 
Great  Seal,  durst  not  obey;  and  Lisle  the  other  Keeper 
durst; — and  Old-Speaker  Lenthall,  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
'  would  be  hanged  at  the  Rolls  Gate  before  he  would  obey/ 
What  profound  consults  there  were  among  us ;  buzz  in  the 
Profession,  in  the  Public  generally.  And  then  how  Oliver 
Protector,  with  delicate  patient  bridle-hand  and  yet  with 
resolute  spur,  made  us  all  obey,  or  else  go  out  of  that, — 
which  latter  step  Bulstrode  and  Widdrington,  with  a  sublime 
conscientious  feeling,  preferred  to  take,  the  big  heart  saying 
to  itself,  '  I  have  lost  a  thousand  pounds  a-year ! '  And 
Lenthall,  for  all  his  bragging,  was  not  hanged  at  the  Rolls 
Gate;  but  kept  his  skin  whole,  and  his  salary  whole,  and 
did  as  he  was  bidden.  The  buzz  in  the  Profession,  notwith- 
standing much  abatement  of  fees,  had  to  compose  itself 
again.2 — Bulstrode  adds,  some  two  months  hence,  'The 
Protector  being  good-natured,  and  sensible  of  his  harsh  pro- 
ceeding against  Whitlocke  and  Widdrington,'  made  them 
Commissioners  of  the  Treasury,  which  was  a  kind  of  com- 
pensation. There,  with  Montague  and  Sydenham,  they  had 
a  moderately  good  time  of  it ;  but  saw,  not  without  a  sigh, 
the  Great  Seal  remain  with  Lisle  who  durst  obey,  and  for 
colleague  to  him  a  certain  well-known  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  a 
shrewd  man,  Lord  Say  and  Sele's  son, — who  knew  nothing 
of  that  business,  says  Bulstrode,  nay  Lisle  himself  knew 
nothing  of  it  till  he  learned  it  from  us.*  Console  thyself, 

1  Whitlocke,  p.  624  (April  1656). 

2  Ibid.  pp.  602-8.  8  Mid.  p.  608. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [3  JUNE 

big  heart.      How  seldom   is  sublime  virtue  rewarded  in  this 
world  ! 

June  3d,  1655.  This  day  come  sad  news  out  of  Pied- 
mont ;  confirmation  of  bad  rumours  there  had  been,  which 
deeply  affects  all  pious  English  hearts,  and  the  Protector's 
most  of  all.  It  appears  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had,  not  long 
since,  decided  on  having  certain  poor  Protestant  subjects  of 
his  converted  at  last  to  the  Catholic  Religion.  Poor  Protestant 
people,  who  dwell  in  the  obscure  valleys  '  of  Lucerna,  of 
Perosa  and  St.  Martin,'  among  the  feeders  of  the  Po,  in  the 
Savoy  Alps  :  they  are  thought  to  be  descendants  of  the  old 
Waldenses ;  a  pious  inoffensive  people :  dear  to  the  hearts 
and  imaginations  of  all  Protestant  men.  These,  it  would 
•appear,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  the  past  year,  undertook  to 
himself  to  get  converted  ;  for  which  object  he  sent  friars  to 
preach  among  them.  The  friars  could  convert  nobody ;  one 
of  the  friars,  on  the  contrary,  was  found  assassinated, — signal 
to  the  rest  that  they  had  better  take  themselves  away.  The 
Duke  thereupon  sent  other  missionaries :  six  regiments  of 
Catholic  soldiers ;  and  an  order  to  the  People  of  the  Valleys 
either  to  be  converted  straightway,  or  quit  the  country  at 
once.  They  could  not  be  converted  all  at  once :  neither 
could  they  quit  the  country  well  ;  the  month  was  December  ; 
among  the  Alps ;  and  it  was  their  home  for  immemorial 
years  !  Six  regiments,  however,  say  they  must ;  six  Catholic 
regiments  ; — and  three  of  them  are  Irish,  made  of  the  banished 
Kurisees  we  knew  long  since ;  whose  humour,  on  such  an 
occasion,  we  can  guess  at !  It  is  admitted  they  behaved  *  with 
little  ceremony ' ;  it  is  not  to  be  denied  they  behaved  with 
much  bluster  and  violence  :  ferocities,  atrocities,  to  the  con- 
ceivable amount,  still  stand  in  authentic  black -on -white 
against  them.  The  Protestants  of  the  Valleys  were  violently 
driven  out  of  house  and  home,  not  without  slaughters  and 
tortures  by  the  road ;  —  had  to  seek  shelter  in  French 
Dauphine,  or  where  they  could ;  and,  in  mute  or  spoken 
supplication,  appeal  to  all  generous  hearts  of  men.  The 


1655]  CHRONOLOGICAL  205 

saddest  confirmation  of  the  actual  banishment,  the  actual 
violences  done,  arrives  at  Whitehall,  this  day,  3d  June 
1655.1 

Pity  is  perennial :  '  Ye  have  compassion  on  one  another,1 
— is  it  not  notable,  beautiful  ?  In  our  days  too,  there  are 
Polish  Balls  and  suchlike  :  but  the  pity  of  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector and  Puritan  England  for  these  poor  Protestants  among 
the  Alps  is  not  to  be  measured  by  ours.  The  Lord  Protector 
is  melted  into  tears,  and  roused  into  sacred  fire.  This  day  the 
French  Treaty,  not  unimportant  to  him,  was  to  be  signed : 
this  day  he  refuses  to  sign  it  till  the  King  and  Cardinal 
undertake  to  assist  him  in  getting  right  done  in  those  poor 
Valleys.2  He  sends  the  poor  exiles  2,000/.  from  his  own 
purse ;  appoints  a  Day  of  Humiliation  and  a  general  Collec- 
tion over  England  for  that  object ; — has,  in  short,  decided 
that  he  will  bring  help  to  these  poor  men ;  that  England  and 
he  will  see  them  helped  and  righted.  How  Envoys  were 
sent ;  how  blind  Milton  wrote  Letters  to  all  Protestant  States, 
calling  on  them  for  cooperation ;  how  the  French  Cardinal 
was  shy  to  meddle,  and  yet  had  to  meddle,  and  compel  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  much  astonished  at  the  business,  to  do  justice 
and  not  what  he  liked  with  his  own  :  all  this,  recorded  in  the 
unreadablest  stagnant  deluges  of  old  Official  Correspondence,3 
is  very  certain,  and  ought  to  be  fished  therefrom  and  made 
more  apparent. 

In  all  which,  as  we  can  well  believe,  it  was  felt  that  the 
Lord  Protector  had  been  the  Captain  of  England,  and  had 
truly  expressed  the  heart  and  done  the  will  of  England ; — in 
this,  as  in  some  other  things.  Milton's  Sonnet  and  Six 
Latin  Letters  are  still  readable  ;  the  Protector's  Act  otherwise 
remains  mute  hitherto.  Small  damage  to  the  Protector,  if 
no  other  suffer  thereby  !  Let  it  stand  here  as  a  symbol  to  us 
of  his  Foreign  Policy  in  general ;  which  had  this  one  object, 

1  Letter  of  the  French  Ambassador  (in  Thurloe,  iii.  470). 

2  Thurloe,  ubi  supra. 

3  Ibid,  (much  of  vol.  iii.) ;  Vaughan's  Protectorate,  etc. 


206     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS      [3  JUNE 

testified  in  all  manner  of  negotiations  and  endeavours,  noticed 
by  us  and  not  noticed,  To  make  England  Queen  of  the 
Protestant  world ;  her,  if  there  were  no  worthier  Queen.  To 
unite  the  Protestant  world  of  struggling  Light  against  the 
Papist  world  of  potent  Darkness.  To  stand  upon  God's 
Gospel,  as  the  actual  intrinsic  Fact  of  this  Practical  Earth ; 
and  defy  all  potency  of  Devil's  Gospels  on  the  strength  of 
that.  Wherein,  again,  Puritan  England  felt  gradually  that 
this  Oliver  was  her  Captain ;  and  in  heart  could  not  but  say, 
Long  life  to  him  ! — as  we  do  now. 

Let  us  note  one  other  small  private  trait  of  Oliver  in  these 
months ;  and  then  hasten  to  the  few  Letters  we  have.  Dull 
Bulstrode  has  jotted  down :  *  The  Protector  feasted  the 
Commissioners  for  Approbation  of  Ministers.'1  Means  the 
Commission  of  Triers ; 2  whom  he  has  to  dinner  with  him  in 
Whitehall.  Old  Sir  Francis,  Dr.  Owen  and  the  rest.  «  He 
sat  at  table  with  them ;  and  was  cheerful  and  familiar  in  their 
company ' :  Hope  you  are  getting  on,  my  friends  :  how  this  is, 
and  how  that  is  ?  '  By  such  kind  of  little  caresses,'  adds 
Bulstrode,  'he  gained  much  upon  many  persons.'  Me,  as  a 
piece  of  nearly  matchless  law-learning  and  general  wisdom,  I 
doubt  he  never  sufficiently  respected ;  though  he  knew  my  fat 
qualities  too,  and  was  willing  to  use  and  recognise  them  ! — 


LETTERS    CXCVIII— CCIII. 

Six  Letters  of  somewhat  miscellaneous  character  ;  which  we 
must  take  in  mass,  and  with  no  word  of  Commentary  that 
can  be  spared.  Straggling  accidental  lightbeams,  accidentally 
preserved  to  us,  and  still  transiently  illuminating  this  feature 
or  that  of  the  Protector  and  his  business, — let  them  be 
welcome  in  the  darkness  for  what  they  are. 

1  Whitlocke,  April  1655.  a  Antea,  p.  91. 


i655]       LETTER  CXCVIII.     WHITEHALL       207 


LETTER    CXCVIII 

BESIDES  the  great  Sea- Armament  that  sailed  from  Ports- 
mouth last  December,  and  went  Westward,  with  sealed  orders, 
which  men  begin  to  guess  were  for  the  Spanish  West  Indies, 
—the  Protector  had  another  Fleet  fitted  out  under  Blake, 
already  famous  as  a  Sea-General  ;  which  has  been  in  the 
Mediterranean  during  these  late  months ;  exacting  reparation 
for  damages,  old  or  recent,  done  to  the  English  Nation  or  to 
individuals  of  it,  by  the  Duke  of  Florence  or  by  others ; 
keeping  an  eye  on  Spain  too,  and  its  Plate  Fleets,  apparently 
with  still  ulterior  objects. 

The  Duke  of  Florence  has  handsomely  done  justice ;  the 
Dey  of  Tunis  was  not  so  well  advised,  and  has  repented  of  it. 
There  are  Letters,  dated  March  last,  though  they  do  not  come 
till  June  :  '  Letters  that  General  Blake  demanding  at  Tunis 
reparation  for  the  losses  of  the  English  from  Turkish  Pirates, 
the  Dey  answered  him  with  scorn,  and  bade  him  behold  his 
Castles.'  Blake  did  behold  them ;  '  sailed  into  the  Harbour 
within  musket-shot  of  them ;  and  though  the  shore  was  planted 
with  great  guns,  he  set  upon  the  Turkish  ships,  fired  nine  of 
them,'  and  brought  the  Dey  to  reason,  we  apprehend.1 


TO  GENERAL  BLAKE,  "  AT  SEA" 

Whitehall,  13th  June  1655. 

Sir, — /  have  received  yours  of  the  %5th  of  March,  which 
gives  account  of  the  late  Transactions  between  yourself  and  the 
Governors  of  Tunis,  concerning'  the  losses  which  the  English 
have  sustained  by  the  piracies  of  that  place ;  and  "  of"  the 
success  it  pleased  God  to  give  in  the  attempt  you  made  upon 
their  shipping,  after  their  positive  refusal  to  give  you  satisfac- 
tion upon  your  just  demands.  And  as  we  have  great  cause  to 
acknowledge  the  good  hand  of  God  towards  us  in  this  Action 
1  Whitlocke,  p.  608  (8th  June  1655). 


208     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [13  JUNE 

who,  in  all  the  circumstances  thereof,  as  they  have  been  repre- 
sented by  you,  was  pleased  to  appear  very  signally  with  you ; 
so  I  think  myself  obliged  to  take  notice  of  your  courage  and 
good  conduct  therein  •  and  do  esteem  that  you  have  done 
therein  a  very  considerable  service  to  this  Commonwealth. 

I  hope  you  have  received  the  former  Despatches  which  were  sent 
unto  you  by  the  way  of  Legorne,for  your  coming  into  Cadiz 
Bay  with  the  Fleet ;  as  also  those  which  were  sent  by  a  Ketch 
immediately  from  hence  ;  whereby  you  had  also  notice  of  three- 
months  provisions  then  preparing  to  be  sent, — which  have  since 
been  sent  away,  under  convoy  of  the  Frigates  the  Centurion  and 
Dragon  ;  and  "  / "  hope  they  are  safely  arrived  with  you,  they 
sailing  from  hence  about  the  %8th  of  April. 

With  this  come  farther  Instructions  concerning  your  dispos- 
ing of  the  Fleet  for  the  future ;  whereunto  we  do  refer  you. 
Besides  which,  we,  having  taken  into  consideration  the  present 
Design  we  have  in  the  West  Indies,  have  judged  it  necessary, 
That  not  only  the  King  of  Spain's  Fleets  coming  from  thence 
be  intercepted  (which  as  well  your  former  Instructions  as  those 
now  sent  unto  you  require  and  authorise  you  to  do),  but  that 
we  endeavour  also,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  to  hinder  him  from 
sending  any  relief  or  assistance  thither.  You  are  therefore, 
during  your  abode  with  the  Fleet  in  those  seas,  to  inform 
yourself,  by  the  best  means  you  can,  concerning  the  going  of 
the  King  of  Spain's  Fleet  for  the  West  Indies ;  and  shall, 
according  to  such  information  as  you  can  gain,  use  your  best 
endeavours  to  intercept  at  sea,  and  Jight  with  and  take  them, 
or  otherwise  to  fire  and  sink  them ;  as  also  any  other  of  his 
ships  which  you  shall  understand  to  be  bound  for  the  West 
Indies  with  provisions  of  War,  for  the  aid  and  assistance  of  his 
subjects  there  ;  carrying  yourself  towards  other  of  his  ships 
and  people  as  you  are  directed  by  your  general  Instructions. 
«  /  rest,  your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P."  * 

*  Thurloe,  Hi.  547.      (Same  day,  Letter  to  Poet  Waller  :  Appendix,  No 
28,  §70 


1655]     LETTER  cxcviii.    WHITEHALL     209 

The  Sea- Armament  was  for  the  West  Indies,  then  :  good 
news  of  it  were  welcome  ! 

Here  is  a  short  Letter  of  Blake's  to  the  Protector,  dated 
just  the  day  before ;  in  cipher ; — which  the  reader,  having 
never  perhaps  seen  another  Letter  of  Blake's,  will  not  be  dis- 
pleased with.  Unimportant ;  but  bringing  the  old  Seas,  with 
their  Puritan  Sea-kings,  with  their  *  Plate  Fleets,'  and  vanished 
populations  and  traffics,  bodily  before  us  for  moments. 

'George,  12th  June  1655. 

'  MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  HIGHNESS, — The  secret  Instructions 
sent  by  your  Highness,  referring  me  to  a  former  Instruction, 
touching  the  Silver  Fleet  of  Spain  coming  from  America,  I 
have  received ;  and  shall  carefully  observe  the  same.  We 
had  information  at  Cadiz  that  the  Fleet  was  expected  about 
a  month  or  five  weeks  hence.  We  are  now  off  Cape  Mary's ; 
intending  to  spread  with  our  Fleet  what  we  can,  and  to  range 
this  sea,  according  to  the  wind  and  the  information  we  can 
get ;  plying  likewise  over  towards  Cape  Sprat,  it  being  their 
most  likely  and  usual  course.  They  of  Cadiz  are  very  dis- 
trustful of  us ;  and  there  being  four  Galeons  designed  for  the 
Mediterranean,  and  six  for  New  Spain,  it  is  doubtful  how 
they  may  be  employed. 

'  We  shall  use  our  best  endeavours  to  put  the  Instructions 
in  execution,  as  God  shall  afford  an  opportunity ;  desiring 
your  Highness  to  rest  assured  of  our  diligence,  and  of  the 
integrity  of, — your  most  humble  and  faithful  servant, 

4  ROBERT  BLAKE.'  1 

June  13th  is  Wednesday.  On  the  morrow  is  universal 
Fast- Day,  Humiliation  and  Prayer,  and  public  Collection  of 
Money  for  the  Protestants  of  Piedmont.  A  day  of  much 
pious  emotion  in  England  ;  and  of  liberal  contribution,  which 
continued  on  the  following  days.  '  Clerks  come  to  every 
man's  house,'  says  a  disaffected  witness ;  <  come  with  their 

1  Thurloe,  iii.  541. 
VOL.    III.  O 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [13  JUNE 

papers,  and  you  are  forced  to  contribute.'  The  exact  amount 
realised  I  never  could  very  authentically  learn.  The  Dutch 
Ambassador  says  100,0007.  The  disaffected  witness  says, 
'  London  City  itself  gave  half-a-million,' — or  seemed  as  it 
would  give.  '  The  Ministers  played  their  part  to  the  full ' — 
the  Ministers  and  the  People  and  their  Ruler.  No  French 
Treaty  signed  or  signable  till  this  thing  be  managed.  At 
length  the  French  were  obliged  to  manage  it ;  9th  September 
of  this  same  year  the  thing  was  got  managed  ; 1 — and  by  and 
by  was  got  improved  and  still  better  managed,  the  Protector 
continuing  all  his  days  to  watch  over  it,  and  over  other  similar 
things  as  they  occurred,  and  to  insist  on  seeing  justice  done 
respecting  them. 

LETTER    CXCIX 

THE  scheme  of  Major-Generals  for  England  is  not  yet  come 
to  maturity ;  but  it  is  coming :  new  occasional  arrests  and 
barbadoesmgs  continue,  as  the  threads  of  old  Plots  are  traced 
farther  and  farther.  Monk  keeps  Scotland  quiet ;  the  hydra 
is  for  the  present  well  under  foot. 

Meanwhile  Henry  Cromwell  is  despatched  for  Ireland,  to 
see  with  his  own  eyes  how  matters  stand  there.  A  reverend 
godly  Mr.  Brewster,  hardly  known  to  us  otherwise,  is  also 
proceeding  thither ;  with  whom  the  Lord  Protector  thinks 
good  to  salute  his  Son-in-Law  Fleetwood,  the  Lord  Deputy, 
Ireton's  successor  in  Ireland.  Henry  Cromwell  was  there 
once  before,  on  a  somewhat  similar  mission,  and  acquitted 
himself  well.2  His  title,  this  second  time,  is  Major-General 
of  the  Army  in  Ireland.  He  is  to  command  the  forces  in 
Ireland ;  one  easily  believes  farther,  he  is  to  observe  well  and 
report  faithfully  how  affairs  are ;  and  do  his  best  to  assist  in 
rectifying  them.  Lord  Deputy  Fleetwood  is  by  some  thought 
to  be  of  too  lax  temper  for  his  place  :  he,  with  his  Ludlows, 

1  See  Thurloe,  iii.  549,  623,  745,  etc. 
a  March  1653-4  (Thurloe,  ii.  149). 


1655]   LETTER  CXCIX.    WHITEHALL 

Axtels  and  discontented  Republicans,  not  to  speak  of  other 
businesses,  would  need  energy,  if  he  have  it  not.  Rumour 
has  even  risen  that  Henry  Cromwell  is  now  sent  to  supersede 
him  ;  which,  however,  the  Protector  expressly  contradicts. 

The  rumour  nevertheless  proved,  if  not  true,  yet  prophetic 
of  the  truth.  Henry  Cromwell  acquitted  himself  well  this 
second  time  also ;  being,  as  we  judge,  a  man  of  real  insight, 
veracity  and  resolution  ;  very  fit  for  such  a  service.  Many  of 
his  Letters,  all  creditable  to  him,  are  in  Thurloe :  '  Petitions ' 
from  certain  Irish  parties  come  likewise  to  view  there,  That 
he  might  be  appointed  Deputy ;  which  Petitions  are,  for  the 
present,  carefully  'suppressed,'  yet  have  in  the  end  to  be 
complied  with  ; — they  and  the  nature  of  the  case,  we  suppose, 
require  compliance.  Some  fifteen  months  hence,  Henry  is 
appointed  Lord  Deputy ; *  Fleetwood,  in  some  handsome 
way,  recalled.  In  which  situation  Henry  continues  till  the 
end  of  the  Protectorate,  making  really  an  honourable  figure ; 
and  then,  the  scene  having  altogether  changed,  retires  from 
it  into  total  obscurity,  still  in  a  very  manful,  simple  and 
noble  way.2 

'My  dear  Biddy,'  in  this  Letter,  is  Bridget  Fleetwood, 
whom  we  once  saw  as  Bridget  Ireton ; 8  who,  for  her  religious 
and  other  worth,  is  '  a  joy  to  my  heart.'  Of  (  Mr.  Brewster," 
and  the  other  reverend  persons,  Spiritual  Fathers,  held  in  such 
regard  by  the  Lord  Protector  as  is  due  to  Spiritual  Fatherhood, 
and  pious  nobleness  of  Intellect  under  whatever  guise,  I  can 
say  nothing ;  they  are  Spiritual  Great-g-raraZ-fathers  of  ours, 
and  we  have  had  to  forget  them  !  Some  slight  notices  of 
Brewster,  who  I  think  was  a  Norfolk  man,  and  more  of 
Cradock,  who  was  Welsh, — zealous  Preachers  both, — are  in 
the  Milton  State-Papers  : 4  they  prove  the  fervent  zeal,  faith 
and  fearlessness  of  these  worthies ; — not  necessary  to  extract 

1  2ist  November  1657  (Thurloe,  vi.  632). 

2  His  Letter  to  Clarendon,  in  Thurloe,  i.  763 ;  see  also  Tanner  MSS.  li.  71,  a 
prior  Letter  to  Speaker  Lenthall. 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  253.  *  pp.  85,  158,  etc. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [22  JUNE 

in  this  place.  Cradock  writes  to  Cromwell  in  1652  that  his 
heart  overflows  with  prayers  and  praise  to  God  for  sending 
such  a  man ;  that  he  has  often  stept  aside  to  pray  for  him, 
in  some  thicket  or  ditch  by  the  wayside,  while  travelling 
along,  and  thinking  of  him  ; — which  Dryasdust  Nicols,  the 
Editor  of  these  Milton  State-Papers,  considers  a  very  ludicrous 
proceeding.  Godly  'Mr.  Tillinghurst,'  so  noble  a  phenomenon 
to  Oliver  and  Fleet  wood,  is  to  us  fallen  altogether  silent : — 
seemingly  some  godly  Preacher,  of  very  modest  nature ;  who, 
in  his  old  days,  being  brought  once  before  the  Lord  Protector, 
cried  it  was  a  'shame'  to  trouble  any  Lord  Protector,  or 
Sovereign  Person,  with  the  like  of  him  !  The  venerable  hoary 
man.  And  godly  Mr.  Troughton,  or  *  Through  ton,'  too,  was 
there.  O  Tillinghurst,  O  Troughton,  how  much  lies  buried  ! 1 


"  TO  THE  LORD  FLEETWOOD,  LORD  DEPUTY  OF  IRELAND  w 

"Whitehall/'  22d  June  1655. 

Dear  Charles, — /  write  not  often :  at  once  I  desire  thee  to 
know  I  most  dearly  love  thee ;  and  indeed  my  heart  is  plain 
to  thee  as  thy  heart  can  well  desire :  let  nothing  shake  thee  in 
this.  The  wretched  jealousies  that  are  amongst  us,  and  the 
spirit  of  calumny  turn  all  into  gall  and  wormwood.  My  heart 
is  for  the  People  of  God :  that  the  Lord  knows,  and  will  in  due 
time  manifest ;  yet  thence  arc  my  wounds  ; — which  though  it 
grieves  me,  yet  through  the  grace  of  God  doth  not  discourage 
me  totally.  Many  good  men  are  repining  at  everything; 
though  indeed  very  many  good  "  are "  well  satisfied,  ami 
satisfying  daily.  The  will  of  the  Lord  will  bring  forth 
good  in  due  time. 

1  Buried  but  indisputable  traces  of  this  Tillinghurst,  certain  authentic,  still 
legible  entries  concerning  him,  in  one  of  which  Brewster  too  is  named,  have 
been  detected  by  a  friendly  eye  in  the  Record-Book  of  the  Independent  Church 
at  Great  Yarmouth  ;  where  Tillinghurst,  it  clearly  enough  appears,  was  Minister 
from  1651  to  1654,  and  much  followed  and  valued  as  a  Preacher  and  Spiritual 
Guide  in  those  parts.  Brewster,  likewise  an  Independent,  was  at  Alby  in  the 
same  neighbourhood. — MS.  Excerpts  penes  me  (Note  to  Third  Edition}. 


1655]    LETTER  CXCIX.     WHITEHALL    213 

Ifs  reported  that  you  are  to  be  sent  for,  and  Harry  to  be 
Deputy  ;  which  truly  never  entered  into  my  heart.  The  Lord 
knows,  my  desire  was  for  him  and  his  Brother  to  have  lived 
private  lives  in  tlie  country:  and  Harry  knows  this  very  well, 
and  how  difficultly  I  was  persuaded  to  give  him  his  commission 
for  his  present  place.  This  I  say  as  from  a  simple  and  sincere 
heart.  The  noise  of  my  being  crowned  etc.  are  similar1 
malicious  figments. 

Use  this  Bearer,  Mr.  Brewster,  kindly.  Let  him  be  near 
you :  indeed  he  is  a  very  able  holy  man  ;  trust  me  you  will 
jind  him  so.  He  was  a  bosom-friend  of  Mr.  Tillinghurst ; 
ask  him  of  him;  you  will  thereby  know  Mr.  Tillinghursfs 
spirit.  This  Gentleman  brought  him  to  me  a  little  before  he 
died,  and  Mr.  Cradock ; — Mr.  Throughton,  a  godly  minister 
being  by,  with  "Mr.  Tillinghurst "  himself,  who  cried  ' Shame '  / 

Dear  Charles,  my  dear  love  to  thee ;  "and"  to  my  dear 
Biddy,  who  is  a  joy  to  my  heart,  for  what  I  hear  of  the  Lord 
in  her.  Bid  her  be  cheerful,  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  once  and 
again :  if  she  knows  the  Covenant?  she  cannot  but  do  "  so." 
For  that  Transaction  is  without  her  ,•  sure  and  stedfast,  between 
the  Father  and  the  Mediator  in  His  blood:  therefore,  leaning 
upon  the  Son,  or  looking  to  Him,  thirsting  after  Him,  and 
embracing  Him,  we  are  His  Seed ; — and  the  Covenant  is  sure 
to  all  the  Seed.  The  Compact  is  for  the  Seed:  God  is  bound 
in  faithfulness  to  Christ,  and  in  Him  to  us:  the  Covenant  is 
without  us  ,•  a  Transaction  between  God  and  Christ?  Look 
up  to  it.  God  engageth  in  it  to  pardon  us  ;  to  write  His  Law 
in  our  heart ;  to  plant  His  fear  "  so "  that  we  shall  never 
depart  from  Him.  We,  under  all  our  sins  and  infirmities, 
can  daily  offer  a  perfect  Christ ;  and  thus  we  have  peace  and 
safety,  and  apprehension  of  love,  from  a  Father  in  Covenant, 

1  '  like '  in  orig. 

2  Covenant   of  Grace  ;   much  expounded,  and  insisted   on,  by  Dr.   Owen, 
among  others ;    and   ever  a  most  fundamental  point  of  God's  Arrangement, 
according  to  the  theory  of  Oliver. 

3  The  reader  who  discerns  no  spiritual  meaning  in  all  this,  shall  try  it  again,  if 
I  may  advise  him. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [22  JUNE 

— who  cannot  deny  Himself'.       And   truly  in  this  is  all  my 
salvation ;  and  this  helps  me  to  bear  my  great  burdens. 

If  you  have  a  mind  to  come  over  with  your  dear  Wife  etc., 
take  the  best  opportunity  for  the  good  of  the  Public  and  your 
own  convenience.  The  Lord  bless  you  all.  Pray  for  me,  that 
the  Lord  would  direct,  and  "keep  me  his  servant.  I  bless  the 
Lord  I  am  not  my  own ; — but  my  condition  to  Jlesh  and  blood 
is  very  hard.  Pray  for  me ;  I  do  for  you  all.  Commend  me 
to  all  friends.  I  rest  your  loving  father,  OLIVER  P  * 

Courage,  my  brave  Oliver !  Thou  hast  but  some  three 
years  more  of  it,  and  then  the  coils  and  puddles  of  this  Earth, 
and  of  its  poor  unthankful  doggery  of  a  population,  are  all 
behind  thee ;  and  Carrion  Heath,  and  Chancellor  Hyde,  and 
Charles  Stuart  the  Christian  King,  can  work  their  will ;  for 
thou  hast  done  with  it,  thou  art  above  it  in  the  serene  azure 
for  evermore ! 

Fleetwood,  I  observe,  did  come  over :  in  January  next  we 
find  the  *  Lord  Deputy '  busy  here  in  London  with  Bulstrode, 
and  others  of  the  Treasury,  on  high  matters  of  State.1  He 
did  not  return  to  Ireland ;  got  into  Major-Generalings,  into 
matters  of  State,  on  this  side  the  Channel ;  and  so  ended  his 
Deputyship  ; — dropping  without  violence,  like  fruit  fully  ripe  ; 
the  management  of  Ireland  having  gradually  all  shifted  into 
Henry  Cromwell's  hand  in  the  interim. 

LETTER   CC 

HERE,  fluttering  loose  on  the  dim  confines  of  Limbo  and 
the  Night-realm,  is  a  small  Note  of  Oliver's,  issuing  one  knows 
not  whence,  but  recognisable  as  his,  which  we  must  snatch  and 
save.  A  private  and  thrice-private  Note,  for  Secretary  Thurloe; 
curiously  disclosing  to  us,  as  one  or  two  other  traits  elsewhere 
do,  that,  with  all  his  natural  courtesies,  noble  simplicities  and 
affabilities,  this  Lord  Protector  knew  on  occasion  the  word-of- 
*  Thurloe,  iii.  572.  *  Whitlocke,  p.  618  (;th  Jan.  1655-6). 


1655]       LETTER    CC.     WHITEHALL         215 

command  too,  and  what  the  meaning  of  a  Lord  Protector,  King, 
or  Chief  Magistrate  in  the  Commonwealth  of  England  was. 

'  Margery  Beacham,1  Wife  of  William  Beacham,  Mariner, 
lives,  the  somnolent  Editors  do  not  apprise  us  where, — 
probably  in  London  or  some  of  the  Out  Ports ;  certainly  in 
considerable  indigence  at  present.  Her  poor  Husband,  in  the 
course  of  '  many  services  to  the  Commonwealth  by  sea  and 
land,'  has  quite  lost  the  use  of  his  right  arm ;  has  a  poor 
'  Pension  of  Forty  shillings  allowed  him  from  Chatham ' ;  has 
Margery,  and  one  poor  Boy  Randolph,  '  tractable  to  learn," 
but  who  can  get  no  schooling  out  of  such  an  income. 
Wherefore,  as  seems  but  reasonable,  Margery  petitions  his 
Highness  that  the  said  Randolph  might  be  admitted  '  a 
Scholar  of  Sutton's  Hospital,  commonly  called  the  Charter- 
house,' in  London.1 

His  Highness,  who  knows  the  services  of  William  Beacham, 
and  even  '  a  secret  service '  of  his  not  mentioned  in  the 
Petition  or  Certificates,  straightway  decides  that  the  Boy 
Beacham  is  clearly  a  case  for  Button's  Bounty,  and  that  the 
Commissioners  of  the  same  shall  give  it  him.  But  now  it 
seems  the  Chief  Commissioner,  whose  name  in  this  Note  stands 
-Blank  Blank,  is  not  so  prompt  in  the  thing ;  will  con- 
sider it,  will  etc.  Consider  it  ?  His  Highness  dockets  the 
Petition,  '  We  refer  this  to  the  Commissioners  for  Button's 
Hospital  :  28th  July  1655 ';  and  instructs  Thurloe  to  inform 
Blank  Blank  that  he  had  much  better  not  consider  it,  but  do 
it !  Which  there  is  no  doubt  Blank  Blank  now  saw  at  once 
to  be  the  real  method  of  the  business. 

"  TO  MR.   SECRETARY  THURLOE  " 

"  Whitehall/'  28th  July  1655. 

You  receive  from  me,  this  %8th  instant,  a  Petition  front, 
Margery  Beacham,  desiring  the  admission  of  her  Son  into 
the  Charterhouse;  whose  Husband*  was  employed  one  day 

1  Her  Petition  printed,  without  date,  in  Scatcherd,  etc.  ubi  infra. 
8  '  who'  in  the  hasty  original,  as  if  Margery's  self  or  Son  were  meant. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [30  JULY 

in  an  important  secret  service,  which  he  did  effectually,  to  our 
great  benefit  and  the  Commonwealth? s. 

I  have  wrote  under  it  a  common  Reference  to  the  Commis- 
sioners;  but  I  mean  a  great  deal  more :  That  it  shall  be  done 
without  their  debate  or  consideration  of'  the  matter.  And  so 

do  you  privately  hint  to .     /  have  not  the  particular 

shining  bauble  for  crowds  to  gaze  at  or  Jcneel  to,  but — To  be 
short,  I  know  how  to  deny  Petitions;  and  whatever  I  think 
proper,  for  outward  form,  to  '  refer '  to  any  Officer  or  Office, 
I  expect  that  such  my  compliance  with  custom  shall  be  looked 
upon  as  an  indication  of  my  will  and  pleasure  to  have  the 
thing  done.  Thy  true  friend,  OLIVER  P.* 


LETTER    CCI 

WE  fear  there  is  little  chance  of  the  Plate  Fleet  this  year ; 
bad  rumours  come  from  the  West  Indies  too,  of  our  grand 
Armament  and  Expedition  thither.  The  Puritan  Sea-king 
meanwhile  keeps  the  waters  ;  watches  the  coasts  of  Spain ;  — 
which,  however,  are  growing  formidable  at  present. 

The  '  Person  bound  for  Lisbon '  is  Mr.  Meadows,  one  of 
Secretary  Thurloe's  Under-secretaries ;  concerning  whom  and 
whose  business  there  will  be  farther  speech  by  and  by.  Of 
the  '  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty '  we  name  only  Colonel 

*  Scatcherd's  History  of  Morley  (Leeds,  1830),  p.  332.  Printed  there,  and  in 
Annual  Register  (for  1758,  p.  268),  and  elsewhere;  without  commentary,  or 
indication  Whence  or  How, — with  several  impertinent  interpolations  which  are 
excluded  here.  In  the  Annual  Register  vague  reference  is  made  to  a  Book  called 
Collection  of  Letters  etc.  'compiled  by  Leonard  Howard,  D.D.,'  who  seems  to 
be  the  first  publisher  of  this  Note ;  author,  I  suppose,  of  the  impertinent  inter- 
polations, which  vary  in  different  copies,  but  being  exactly  indicated  in  all,  are 
tasily  thrown  out  again  as  here.  In  Howard's  Book  (a  disorganic  Quarto, 
London,  1753  ;  one  volume  published,  a  second  promised  but  nowhere  discover- 
able), which  is  credibly  described  to  me  as  '  one  of  the  most  confused  farragos 
ever  printed,'  search  for  this  Note  has  been  made,  twice,  to  no  purpose  ;  and 
with  little  hope  of  elucidation  there,  had  the  Note  been  found.  By  internal 
evidence  a  genuine  Note  ;  and  legible  as  we  have  it. 


1655]       LETTER   CCI.      WHITEHALL         217 

Montague  of  Hinchinbrook,  who  is  getting  very  deep  in  these 
matters,  and  may  himself  be  Admiral  one  day. 

TO  THE  GENERAL  OF  THE  FLEET,  "  GENERAL  BLAKE,  AT  SEA*" 

"  Whitehall,"  30th  July  1655. 

Sir, —  We  have  received  yours  of  the  bth,  as  also  that  of 
the  6th  instant,  both  at  once  ,•  the  latter  signifying  the  great 
preparations  which  are  making  against  you. 

Some  intelligence  of  that  nature  is  also  come  to  us  from 
another  hand.  Which  hath  occasioned  us  to  send  away  this 
Despatch  unto  you,  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  yours,  to 
let  you  know  That  we  do  not  judge  it  safe  for  you,  whilst 
things  are  m  this  condition,  to  send  away  any  part  of  the 
Fleet,  as  you  were  directed  by  our  Instructions  of  the  1 3th  of 
June ; l  and  therefore,  notwithstanding  those  Orders,  you  are 
to  keep  the  whole  Fleet  with  you,  until  you  have  executed  the 
Secret  I?u  Auctions,2  or  find  the  opportunity  is  over  for  the 
doing  t1\,reof. 

We  think  it  likewise  requisite  that  you  keep  with  you  the 
two  Frigates  which  conveyed  the  victuals  to  you;  as  also  the 
Nantwich,  which  was  sent  to  you  with  a  Person  bound  for 
Lisbon  with  our  instructions  to  that  King.  And  for  the 
defects  of  the  Fleet,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  will 
take  care  thereof;  and  be  you  confident  that  nothing  shall  be 
omitted  which  can  be  done  here  for  your  supply  and  encourage- 
ment. 

I  beseech  the  Lord  to  be  present  with  you.  I  rest,  your 
very  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P.* 

Copied  « in  Secretary  Thurloe's  hand ' ;  who  has  added  the 
following  Note :  *  With  this  Letter  was  sent  the  intelligence 
of  the  twenty  ships  coming  across  the  Straits,  and  of  the 

1  Antea,  Letter  cxcvni. 

2  In  Blake's  Letter,  antea  ;— they  concern  the  '  Silver  Fleet '  most  likely. 
*  Thurloe,  iii.  688. 


218     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [31  JULY 

thirty-one  ships  and  eight  fire-ships —  [word  lost]  — in  Cadiz1: 
dangerous  ships  and  fire-ships,  which  belong  all  now  to  the 
vanished  generations  :  and  have  sailed,  one  knows  not  whence, 
one  knows  not  whither ! 

COMPLIMENT 

PRECISELY  in  those  same  summer  days  there  has  come  a 
brilliant  Swedish  gentleman,  as  Extraordinary  Ambassador  to 
this  Country  from  the  King  of  Swedeland.  A  hot,  high- 
tempered,  clear-shining  man ;  something  fierce,  metallic  in  the 
lustre  of  him.  Whose  negotiations,  festivities,  impatiences, 
and  sudden  heats  of  temper,  occupy  our  friend  Bulstrode 
almost  exclusively  for  a  twelvemonth.  We  will  say  only,  He 
has  come  hither  to  negotiate  a  still  stricter  league  of  amity 
between  the  two  Countries ;  in  which  welcome  enterprise  the 
Lord  Protector  seems  rather  to  complicate  him  by  endeavour- 
ing to  include  the  Dutch  in  it,  the  Prussians  and  Danes  in  it, 
— to  make  it,  in  fact,  a  general  League,  or  basis  for  a  League, 
of  Protestants  against  the  Power  of  Rome,  and  Antichristian 
Babylon  at  large  \  which  in  these  days,  under  certain  Austrian 
Kaisers,  Spanish  Kings,  Italian  Popes,  whose  names  it  may  be 
interesting  not  to  remember,  is  waxing  very  formidable.  It 
was  an  object  the  Protector  never  ceased  endeavouring  after ; 
though  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  with  only  partial,  never 
with  entire  success. 

Observe  however,  as  all  Old  London  observes,  on  the  night 
of  Saturday  July  28th,  1655,  the  far-shining  Procession  by 
torchlight.  Procession  '  from  Tower- wharf  to  the  late  Sir 
Abraham  Williams's  in  Westminster ' ;  this  brilliant  Swedish 
Gentleman  with  numerous  gilt  coaches  and  innumerable  out- 
riders and  onlookers,  making  his  advent  then  and  thus ; 
Whitlocke,  Montague,  Strickland  (for  we  love  to  be  par- 
ticular) officially  escorting  him.  Observe  next  how  he  was 
nobly  entertained  three  days  in  that  Williams  House,  at  the 
Protector's  charges ;  and  on  the  third  day  had  his  audience  of 


i655]  COMPLIMENT  219 

the  Protector ;  in  a  style  of  dignity  worth  noting  by  Bulstrode. 
Sir  Oliver  Fleming ;  *  galleries  full  of  ladies,"  '  Lifeguards  in 
their  gray  frock-coats  with  velvet  welts ' ;  lanes  of  gentlemen, 
seas  of  general  public  :  conceive  it  all  ;  truly  dignified, 
decorous ;  scene  '  the  Banqueting  House  of  Whitehall,  hung 
with  arras ' :  and  how  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room  the  Lord 
Protector  was  seen  standing  '  on  a  footpace  and  carpet,  with 
a  chair  of  state  behind  him ' ;  and  how  the  Ambassador 
saluted  thrice  as  he  advanced,  thrice  lifting  his  noble  hat 
and  feathers,  as  the  Protector  thrice  lifted  his ;  and  then — 
Bulstrode  shall  give  the  rest : 

6  After  a  little  pause,  the  Ambassador  put  off  his  hat,  and 
began  to  speak,  and  then  put  it  on  again  :  and  whensoever, 
in  his  speech,  he  named  the  King  his  master,  or  Sweden,  or 
the  Protector,  or  England,  he  moved  his  hat :  especially  if 
he  mentioned  anything  of  God,  or  the  good  of  Christendom, 
he  put  off  his  hat  very  low ;  and  the  Protector  still  answered 
him  in  the  like  postures  of  civility.  The  Ambassador  spake 
in  the  Swedish  language ;  and  after  he  had  done,  being  but 
short,  his  Secretary  Berkman  did  interpret  it  in  Latin  to  this 

effect' Conceivable,  without  repetition,  to  ingenious 

readers.  A  stately,  far-shining  speech,  done  into  Latin ; 
'  being  but  short/ 

And  now  'after  his  Interpreter  had  done,  the  Protector 
stood  still  a  pretty  while ;  and,  putting  off  his  hat  to  the 
Ambassador,  with  a  carriage  full  of  gravity  and  state,  he 
answered  him  in  English  to  this  effect ' : 

'  My  Lord  Ambassador,  I  have  great  reason  to  acknow- 
'  ledge,  with  thankfulness,  the  respects  and  good  affection  of 

*  the   King    your   master   towards   this    Commonwealth,   and 

*  towards  myself  in  particular.      Whereof  I  shall  always  re- 

*  tain  a  very  grateful  memory ;   and  shall  be  ready  upon  all 
'  occasions  to  manifest  the  high  sense  and  value  I  have  of 

*  his  Majesty's  friendship  and  alliance. 

4  My  Lord,  you  are  welcome  into  England  ;   and  during 


220     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [13  SEPT. 

'  your  abode  here,  you  shall  find  all  due  regard  and  respect 
'  to  be  given  to  your  person,  and  to  the  business  about  which 
4  you  come.  I  am  very  willing  to  enter  into  a  '  nearer  and 
'  more  strict  alliance  and  friendship  with  the  King  of  Swede- 
'  land,1  as  that  which,  in  my  judgment,  will  tend  much  to 
4  the  honour  and  commodity  of  both  Nations,  and  to  the 
'  general  advantage  of  the  Protestant  Interest.  I  shall 
*  nominate  some  Persons  to  meet  and  treat  with  your  Lord- 
'  ship  upon  such  particulars  as  you  shall  communicate  to 
4  them.' 

After  which,  Letters  were  presented,  etceteras  were  trans- 
acted, and  then,  with  a  carriage  full  of  gravity  and  state,  they 
all  withdrew  to  their  ulterior  employments,  and  the  scene 
vanishes.1 

LETTER    CCII 

IT  is  too  sad  a  truth,  the  Expedition  to  the  West  Indies 
has  failed !  Sea-General  Penn,  Land-General  Venables  have 
themselves  come  home,  one  after  the  other,  with  the  disgrace- 
ful news ;  and  are  lodged  in  the  Tower,  a  fortnight  ago,  for 
quitting  their  post  without  orders.  Of  all  which  we  shall  have 
some  word  to  say  anon.  But  take  first  these  glimpses  into 
other  matters,  foreign  and  domestic,  on  sea  and  land, — as  the 
Oblivions  have  chanced  to  leave  them  visible  for  us.  '  Cascais 
Bay '  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  :  General  Blake  seems  still 
king  of  the  waters  in  those  parts. 

"  TO    GENERAL  BLAKE,    AT    SEA  " 

Whitehall,  13th  September  1655. 

Sir, —  We  have  received  yours  from  Cascais  Bay,  of  the 
QQth  of  August  ,•  and  were  very  sensible  of  the  wants  of  the 
Fleet  as  they  were  represented  by  your  last  before;  and  had 
given  directions  for  three-months''  provisions, — which  were  all 

1  Whitlocke,  pp.  609-10. 


1655]      LETTER  CCII.     WHITEHALL 

prepared^  and  sent  from  Portsmouth,  some  time  since,  under  the 
convoy  of  the  Bristol  Frigate.  But  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Admiralty  have  had  Letters  yesterday  that  they  were  forced 
back,  by  contrary  winds,  into  Plymouth,  and  are  there  now 
attending  for  the  Jirst  slack  of  wind,  to  go  to  sea  again.  And 
the  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  are  instructed1  to  quicken 
them  by  an  express ;  although  it  is  become  very  doubtful 
whether  those  provisions  can  "  now  "  come  in  time  for  supplying 
of  your  wants. 

And  for  what  concerns  thejighting  of  the  Fleet  of  Spain, 
whereof  your  said  Letter  makes  mention,  we  judge  it  of  great 
consequence,  and  much  for  the  service  of  the  Commonwealth, 
that  this  Fleet  were  fought ;  as  well  m  order  to  the  executing 
your  former  Instructions,  as  for  the  preservation  of  our  ships 
and  interest  in  the  West  Indies :  and  our  meaning  was,  by  our 
former  Order,  and  still  is,  That  the  Fleet  which  shall  come  for 
the  guarding  of  the  Plate  Fleet,  as  we  conceive  this  doth,  should 
be  attempted.  But  in  respect  we  have  not  certain  knowledge  of 
the  strength  of  the  Spanish  Fleet,  nor  of  the  condition  of  your 
Fleet,  which  may  alter  every  day, — we  think  it  reasonable^  at 
this  distance,  not  to  oblige  you  by  any  positive  order  to  engage; 
but  must,  as  we  do  hereby,  leave  it  to  you,  who  are  upon  the 
place,  and  know  the  state  of  things,  to  handle  the  rein  as  you 
shall  find  your  opportunity  and  the  ability  of  the  Fleet  to  be: 
— as  we  also  do  for  your  coming  home,  either  for  want  of 
provisions  or  in  respect  of  the  season  of  the  year,  at  such  time 
as  you  shall  judge  it  to  be  for  the  safety  of  the  Fleet.  And 
we  trust  the  Lord  will  guide  and  be  with  you  in  the  manage- 
ment of  this  thing.  Your  very  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P. 

"  P.S.n  In  case  your  return  should  be  so  soon  as  tliat  you 
should  not  make  use  of  the  Provisions  now  sent  you,  or  but 
little  thereof,  we  desire  you  to  cause  them  to  be  preserved ;  they 
may  be  applied  to  other 


1       4 


commands  of  the  Admiralty  are  required'  in  orig. 
Thurloe,  i.  724,— in  cipher;  and  seemingly  ofThurloe's  composition. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [26  SEPT. 


LETTER    CCIII 

"  TO  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  MARYLAND  " 

Whitehall,  26th  September  1655. 

Sirs,  —  It  seems  to  us  by  yours  of  tJie  %9th  of  June,  and  by 
the  relation  we  received  by  Colonel  Bennet,  that  some  mistake 
or  scruple  hath  arisen  concerning  the  sense  of  our  Letters  of  the 
\fyih  of  January  last,1  —  as  if,  by  our  Letters,  we  had  intimated 
that  we  would  have  a  stop  put  to  the  proceedings  of  those 
Commissioners  who  were  authorised  to  settle  the  Civil  Govern- 
ment of  Maryland.  Which  was  not  at  all  intended  by  us  ;  nor 
so  much  as  proposed  to  us  by  those  who  made  addresses  to  us  to 
obtain  our  said  Letter  :  but  our  intention  (as  our  said  Letter 
doth  plainly  import)  was  only,  To  prevent  and  forbid  any  force 
or  violence  to  be  offered  by  either  of  the  Plantations  of  Virginia 
or  Maryland,  from  one  to  the  other,  upon  the  differences  con- 
cerning their  bounds  :  the  said  differences  being  then  under  the 
consideration  of  Ourself  and  Council  here.  Wliich,  for  your 
most  full  satisfaction,  we  have  thought  Jit  to  signify  to  you  ; 
and  rest,  your  loving  friend,  "OLIVER  P."* 

A  very  obscure  American  Transaction;  —  sufficiently  lucid 
for  our  Cisatlantic  purposes  ;  nay  shedding  a  kind  of  light 
or  twilight  into  extensive  dim  regions  of  Oblivion  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Ocean.  Bancroft,  and  the  other  American 
authorities,  who  have  or  have  not  noticed  this  Letter,  will 
with  great  copiousness  explain  the  business  to  the  curious. 

The  Major-  Generals  are  now  all  on  foot,  openly  since  the 
middle  of  August  last  ;  2  and  an  Official  Declaration  published 
on  the  subject.  Ten  military  Major-Generals,  Ten  or  finally 
Twelve,  with  militia-forces,  horse  and  foot,  at  their  beck  ; 
coercing  Royalist  Revolt,  and  other  Anarchy  ;  '  decimating  '  it, 

1  Antea,  p.  161.  *  Thurloe,  iv.  55. 

3  Order-Book  of  the  Council  of  State  :  cited  in  Godwin  (iv.  228). 


1655]     LETTER   CGIII.     WHITEHALL 

that  is,  levying  Ten  per-cent  upon  the  Income  of  it ;  summon- 
ing it,  cross-questioning  it, — peremptorily  signifying  to  it  that 
it  will  not  be  allowed  here,  that  it  had  better  cease  in  this 
Country.  They  have  to  deal  with  Quakers  also,  with  Ana- 
baptists, Scandalous  Ministers,  and  other  forms  of  Anarchy. 
The  powers  of  these  men  are  great :  much  need  that  they  be 
just  men  and  wise,  men  fearing  God  and  hating  covetousness ; 
— all  turns  on  that !  They  will  be  supportable,  nay  welcome 
and  beneficial,  if  so.  Insupportable  enough,  if  not  so : — as 
indeed  what  official  person,  or  man  under  any  form,  except 
the  form  of  a  slave  well-collared  and  driven  by  whips,  is  or 
ought  to  be  supportable  '  if  not  so '  ?  We  subjoin  a  list  of 
their  names,  as  historically  worthy,  known  or  unknown  to  the 
reader,  here.1 

Soon  after  this  Letter,  'in  the  month  of  October  1655,1 
there  was  seen  a  strange  sight  at  Bristol  in  the  West.  A 
Procession  of  Eight  Persons  ;  one,  a  man  on  horseback,  riding 
single ;  the  others,  men  and  women,  partly  riding  double, 
partly  on  foot,  in  the  muddiest  highway,  in  the  wettest 
weather ;  singing,  all  but  the  single-rider,  at  whose  bridle 
splash  and  walk  two  women  :  '  Hosannah  !  Holy,  holy  !  Lord 

1  General  Desborow  has  the  Counties :  Gloucester,  Wilts,  Dorset,  Somerset, 
Devon,  Cornwall. 

Colonel  Kelsey  :  Kent  and  Surrey. 

Colonel  Goffe  :  Sussex,  Hants,  Berks. 

Major-General  Skippon-.  London. 

Colonel  Barkstead  (Governor  of  the  Tower) :  Middlesex  and  Westminster. 

Lord  Deputy  Fleetwood  (who  never  returns  to  Ireland) :  Oxford,  Bucks, 
Herts ;  Cambridge,  Essex,  Norfolk,  Suffolk,— for  these  last  four  he  can 
appoint  a  substitute  (Colonel  Haynes). 

General  Whalley :  Lincoln,  Notts,  Derby,  Warwick,  Leicester. 

Major  Butler :  Northampton,  Bedford,  Rutland,  Huntingdon. 

Colonel  Berry  (Richard  Baxter's  friend,  once  a  Clerk  in  the  Ironworks)  : 
Hereford,  Salop,  North  Wales. 

General  (Sea-General)  Dawkins  :  Monmouth  and  South  Wales. 

Colonel  Worscley :  Cheshire,  Lancashire,  Staffordshire. 

The  Lord  Lambert :  York,  Durham,  Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  Northum- 
berland,—  can  appoint  substitutes  (Colonel  Robert  Lilburn>  Colonel 
Charles  Howard). 


PART  IX.     THE   MAJOR-GENERALS       [OCT. 

God  of  Sabaoth  ! '  and  other  things,  '  in  a  buzzing  tone,' 
which  the  impartial  hearer  could  not  make  out.  The  single- 
rider  is  a  raw-boned  male  figure,  '  with  lank  hair  reaching 
below  his  cheeks ' ;  hat  drawn  close  over  his  brows ;  '  nose 
rising  slightly  in  the  middle ' ;  of  abstruse  <  down  look,'  and 
large  dangerous  jaws  strictly  closed ;  he  sings  not ;  sits  there 
covered,  and  is  sung-to  by  the  others  bare.  Amid  pouring 
deluges,  and  mud  knee-deep :  s  so  that  the  rain  ran  in  at 
their  necks,  and  they  vented  it  at  their  hose  and  breeches ' : 
a  spectacle  to  the  West  of  England  and  Posterity  !  Singing 
as  above ;  answering  no  question  except  in  song.  From 
Bedminster  to  Ratcliff  Gate,  along  the  streets,  to  the  High 
Cross  of  Bristol  :  at  the  High  Cross  they  are  laid  hold 
of  by  the  Authorities  ; — turn  out  to  be  James  Nayler  and 
Company.  James  Nayler,  '  from  Andersloe '  or  Ardsley  '  in 
Yorkshire,'  heretofore  a  Trooper  under  Lambert ;  now  a 
Quaker  and  something  more.  Infatuated  Nayler  and  Com- 
pany ;  given  up  to  Enthusiasm, — to  Animal-Magnetism,  to 
Chaos  and  Bedlam  in  one  shape  or  other !  Who  will  need 
to  be  coerced  by  the  Major-Generals,  I  think ; — to  be  for- 
warded to  London,  and  there  sifted  and  cross- questioned.1  Is 
not  the  Spiritualism  of  England  developing  itself  in  strange 
forms  ?  The  Hydra,  royalist  and  sansculottic,  has  many 
heads. 

George  Fox,  some  time  before  this,  had  made  his  way  to 
the  Protector  himself;  to  represent  to  him  the  undeserved 
sufferings  of  Friends, — and  what  a  faithful  people  they  were, 
though  sansculottic,  or  wearing  suits  sometimes  merely  of 
perennial  leather.  George's  huge  Journal,  to  our  regret,  has 
no  dates ;  but  his  Interview  with  the  Protector,  once  in  these 
late  months,  is  authentic,  still  visible  to  the  mind.  George, 
being  seized  in  Leicestershire,  '  carried-up  to  the  Mews,'  and 
otherwise  tribulated  by  subaltern  authorities,  contrived  to 
make  the  Protector  hear  some  direct  voice  of  him,  appoint 
some  hour  to  see  him.  '  It  was  on  a  morning ' :  George 

1  Examination  of  them  (in  Harleian  Miscellany,  vi.  424-39). 


1655]     LETTER   CCIII.     WHITEHALL      225 

went ;  was  admitted  to  the  Protector's  bedchamber,  « where 
one  Harvey,  who  had  been  a  little  among.  Friends,'1  but  had 
not  proved  entirely  obedient, — the  Harvey  who  will  write  us 
a  very  valuable  little  Pamphlet  one  day,1 — was  dressing  him. 
*  Peace  be  in  this  house  ! '  George  Fox  '  was  moved  to  say/ 
Peace,  O  George.  '  I  exhorted  him,1  writes  George,  *  to  keep 
in  the  fear  of  God,"  whereby  he  might  '  receive  Wisdom  from 
God,1  which  would  be  a  useful  guidance  for  any  Sovereign 
Person.  In  fact,  I  had  '  much  discourse '  with  him  ;  explain- 
ing what  I  and  Friends  had  been  led  to  think  '  concerning 
Christ  and  His  Apostles'  of  old  time,  and  His  Priests  and 
Ministers  of  new  ;  concerning  Life  and  concerning  Death  ; — 
concerning  this  unfathomable  Universe  in  general,  and  the 
Light  in  it  that  is  from  Above,  and  the  Darkness  in  it  that 
is  from  Below  :  to  all  which  the  Protector  <  carried  himself 
with  much  moderation/  Yes,  George ;  this  Protector  has  a 
sympathy  with  the  Perennial  ;  and  feels  it  across  the  Tem- 
porary :  no  hulls,  leathern  or  other,  can  entirely  hide  it  from 
the  sense  of  him.  '  As  I  spake,  he  several  times  said,  "  That 
is  very  good  "  and,  "  That  is  true." ' — Other  persons  coming 
in,  persons  of  quality  so-called,  I  drew  back  ;  lingered  ;  and 
then  was  for  retiring  :  '  he  caught  me  by  the  hand,'  and  with 
moist-beaming  eyes,  '  said  :  "  Come  again  to  my  house  !  If 
thou  and  I  were  but  an  hour  of  the  day  together,  we  should 
be  nearer  one  to  the  other.  I  wish  no  more  harm  to  thee 
than  I  do  to  my  own  soul." ' — '  Hearken  to  God's  voice  ! ' 
said  George  in  conclusion  :  *  Whosoever  hearkens  to  it,  his 
heart  is  not  hardened ' ;  his  heart  remains  true,  open  to  the 
Wisdoms,  to  the  Noblenesses ;  with  him  it  shall  be  well ! — 
4  Captain  Drury '  wished  me  to  stay  among  the  Lifeguard 
gentlemen,  and  dine  with  them  ;  but  I  declined,  not  being 
free  thereunto.2 

1  Passages  in  his  Highness1  s  Last  Sickness. 

2  Fox's  Journal  (Leeds,  1836),  i.  265. 


VOL.  III. 


226     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS  [14  APRIL 
LETTERS    CCIV— CCVI 

JAMAICA 

WE  said  already  the  grand  Sea- Armament,  which  sailed 
from  Portsmouth  at  Christmas  1654,  had  proved  unsuccessful. 
It  went  westward ;  opened  its  Sealed  Instructions  at  a  certain 
latitude ;  found  that  they  were  instructions  to  attack  His- 
paniola,  to  attack  the  Spanish  Power  in  the  West  Indies :  it 
did  attack  Hispaniola,  and  lamentably  failed  ;  attacked  the 
Spanish  Power  in  the  West  Indies,  and  has  hitherto  realised 
almost  nothing, — a  mere  waste  Island  of  Jamaica,  to  all 
appearance  little  worth  the  keeping  at  such  cost.  It  is 
hitherto  the  unsuccessful est  enterprise  Oliver  Cromwell  ever 
had  concern  with.  Desborow  fitted  it  out  at  Portsmouth, 
while  the  Lord  Protector  was  busy  with  his  First  refractory 
Pedant  Parliament ;  there  are  faults  imputed  to  Desborow  : 
but  the  grand  fault  the  Lord  Protector  imputes  to  himself, 
That  he  chose,  or  sanctioned  the  choice  of,  Generals  improper 
to  command  it.  Sea-General  Penn,  Land-General  Venables, 
they  were  unfortunate,  they  were  incompetent ;  fell  into  dis- 
agreements, into  distempers  of  the  bowels ;  had  critical  Civil 
Commissioners  with  them,  too,  who  did  not  mend  the  matter. 
Venables  lay  '  six  weeks  in  bed,1  very  ill  of  sad  West-India 
maladies  ;  for  the  rest,  a  covetous  lazy  dog,  who  cared  nothing 
for  the  business,  but  wanted  to  be  home  at  his  Irish  Govern- 
ment again.  Penn  is  Father  of  Penn  the  Pennsylvanian 
Quaker ;  a  man  somewhat  quick  of  temper,  '  like  to  break 
his  heart '  when  affairs  went  wrong ;  unfit  to  right  them 
again.  As  we  said,  the  two  Generals  came  voluntarily  home 
in  the  end  of  last  August,  leaving  the  wreck  of  their  forces  in 
Jamaica;  and  were  straightway  lodged  in  the  Tower  for 
quitting  their  post. 

A  great  Armament  of  Thirty,  nay  of  Sixty  Ships  ;  of  Four- 
thousand  soldiers,  two  regiments  of  whom  were  veterans,  the 


i6ss]  JAMAICA  227 

rest  a  somewhat  sad  miscellany  of  broken  Royalists,  unruly 
Levellers,  and  the  like,  who  would  volunteer, — whom  Venables 
augmented  at  Barbadoes,  with  a  still  more  unruly  set,  to  Nine- 
thousand  :  this  great  Armament  the  Lord  Protector  has  strenu- 
ously hurled,  as  a  sudden  fiery  bolt,  into  the  dark  Domdaniel 
of  Spanish  Iniquity  in  the  far  West ;  and  it  has  exploded 
there,  almost  without  effect.  The  Armament  saw  Hispaniola, 
and  Hispaniola  with  fear  and  wonder  saw  it,  on  the  14th  of 
April  1655  :  but  the  Armament,  a  sad  miscellany  of  dis- 
tempered unruly  persons,  durst  not  land  *  where  Drake  had 
landed,"*  and  at  once  take  the  Town  and  Island  :  the  Arma- 
ment hovered  hither  and  thither ;  and  at  last  agreed  to  land 
some  sixty  miles  off ;  marched  therefrom  through  thick-tangled 
woods,  under  tropical  heats,  till  it  was  nearly  dead  with  mere 
marching ;  was  then  set  upon  by  ambuscadoes ;  fought 
miserably  ill,  the  unruly  persons  of  it,  or  would  not  fight  at 
all ;  fled  back  to  its  ships  a  mass  of  miserable  disorganic 
ruin ;  and  '  dying  there  at  the  rate  of  two-hundred  a  day,' 
made  for  Jamaica.1 

Jamaica,  a  poor  unpopulous  Island,  was  quickly  taken,  as 
rich  Hispaniola  might  have  been,  and  the  Spaniards  were 
driven  away  :  but  to  men  in  biliary  humour  it  seemed  hardly 
worth  the  taking  or  the  keeping.  '  Immense  droves  of  wild 
cattle,  cows  and  horses,  run  about  Jamaica ' ;  dusky  Spaniards 
dwell  in  hatos,  in  unswept  shealings ;  *  80,000  hogs  are  killed 
every  year  for  the  sake  of  their  lard,  which  is  sold  under  the 
name  of  hog's-butter  at  Carthagena '  •  but  what  can  we  do 
with  all  that !  The  poor  Armament  continuing  to  die  as  if 
by  murrain,  and  all  things  looking  worse  and  worse  to  poor 
biliary  Generals,  Sea-General  Penn  set  sail  for  home,  whom 
Land-General  Venables  swiftly  followed;  leaving  '  Vice- Admiral 
Goodson,1  « Major-General  Fortescue,'  or  almost  whosoever 
liked,  to  manage  in  their  absence,  and  their  ruined  moribund 
forces  to  die  as  they  could  ; — and  are  now  lodged  in  the 

i  Journal  of  the  English  Army  in  the  West  Indies,  by  an  Eye-witness  (in 
Harl.  Miscell.  vi.  372-390).     A  lucid  and  reasonable  Narrative. 


228     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [14  APRIL 

Tower,  as  they  deserved  to  be.  The  Lord  Protector,  and 
virtually  England  with  him,  had  hoped  to  see  the  dark  empire 
of  bloody  Antichristian  Spain  a  little  shaken  in  the  West ; 
some  reparation  got  for  its  inhuman  massacrings  and  long- 
continued  tyrannies, — massacrings,  exterminations  of  us,  '  at 
St.  Kitts  in  1629,  at  Tortuga  in  1637,  at  Santa  Cruz  in 
1650';  so,  in  the  name  of  England,  had  this  Lord  Protector 
hoped  ;  and  he  has  now  to  take  his  disappointment. 

The  ulterior  history  of  these  Western  Affairs,  of  this  new 
Jamaica  under  Cromwell,  lies  far  dislocated,  drowned  deep  in 
the  Slumber-Lakes  of  Thurloe  and  Company ;  in  a  most  dark, 
stupefied,  and  altogether  dismal  condition.  A  history  indeed, 
which,  as  you  painfully  fish  it  up  and  by  degrees  reawaken  it 
to  life,  is  in  itself  sufficiently  dismal.  Not  much  to  be  inter- 
meddled with  here.  The  English  left  in  Jamaica,  the  English 
successively  sent  thither,  prosper  as  ill  as  need  be ;  still  die, 
soldiers  and  settlers  of  them,  at  a  frightful  rate  per  day ; 
languish,  for  most  part,  astonished  in  their  strange  new  sultry 
element ;  and  cannot  be  brought  to  front  with  right  manhood 
the  deadly  inextricable  jungle  of  tropical  confusions,  outer  and 
inner,  in  which  they  find  themselves.  Brave  Governors, 
Fortescue,  Sedgwick,  Brayne,  one  after  the  other,  die  rapidly, 
of  the  climate  and  of  broken  heart ;  their  life-fire  all  spent 
there,  in  that  dark  chaos,  and  as  yet  no  result  visible.  It  is 
painful  to  read  what  misbehaviour  there  is,  what  difficulties 
there  are.1 

Almost  the  one  steady  light-point  in  the  business  is  the 
Protector's  own  spirit  of  determination.  If  England  have  now 
a  '  West- India  Interest,'  and  Jamaica  be  an  Island  worth  some- 
thing, it  is  to  this  Protector  mainly  that  we  owe  it.  Here  too, 
as  in  former  darknesses,  '  Hope  shines  in  him,  like  a  pillar  of 
fire,  when  it  has  gone  out  in  all  the  others.1  Having  put  his 

1  Thurloe,  iii.  iv., — in  very  many  places,  all  in  a  most  unedited,  confused  con- 
dition. Luminous  Notices  too  in  Carte's  Ormond  Papers,  ii.  Long's  History  of 
Jamaica  (London,  1774),  i.  221  etseqq.,  gives  in  a  vague  but  tolerably  correct 
way  some  of  the  results  of  Thurloe  \  which  Bryan  Edwards  has  abridged.  Godwin 
(iv.  192-200)  is  exact,  so  far  as  he  goes, 


1*55]  JAMAICA 

hand  to  this  work,  he  will  not  for  any  discouragement  turn 
back.  Jamaica  shall  yet  be  a  colony ;  Spain  and  its  dark 
Domdaniel  shall  yet  be  smitten  to  the  heart, — the  enemies  of 
God  and  His  Gospel,  by  the  soldiers  and  servants  of  God.  It 
must,  and  it  shall.  We  have  failed  in  the  West,  but  not 
wholly ;  in  the  West  and  in  the  East,  by  sea  and  by  land,  as 
occasion  shall  be  ministered,  we  will  try  it  again  and  again. 

'On  the  28th  of  November  1655,  the  Treaty  with  France 
is  proclaimed  by  heralds  and  trumpets,'  say  the  Old  News- 
papers.1 Alliance  with  France,  and  Declaration  against  Spain, 
— within  the  tropics  where  there  is  never  Peace,  and  without 
the  tropics  where  Peace  yet  is,  there  shall  now  be  War  with 
Spain.  Penn  and  Venables,  cross-questioned  till  no  light  farther 
could  be  had  from  them,  are  dismissed ;  in  Penn's  stead, 
Montague  is  made  Admiral.2  We  will  maintain  Jamaica,  send 
reinforcement  after  reinforcement  to  it ;  we  will  try  yet  for 
the  Spanish  Plate  Fleets ;  we  will  hurl  yet  bolt  after  bolt  into 
the  dark  Domdaniel,  and  have  no  Peace  with  Spain.  In  all 
which,  as  I  understand,  the  spirit  of  England,  mindful  of 
Armadas,  and  wedded  once  for  all  to  blessed  Gospel  Light  and 
Progress,  and  not  to  accursed  Papal  Jesuitry  and  Stagnancy, 
cooperates  well  with  this  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England.  Land-fighting  too  we  shall  by  and  by  come  upon  ; 
in  all  ways,  a  resolute  prosecution  of  hostilities  against  Spain. 
Concerning  the  '  policy '  of  which,  and  real  wisdom  and  un- 
wisdom of  which,  no  reader  need  consult  the  current  Sceptical 
Red-tape  Histories  of  that  Period,  for  they  are  much  mis- 
informed on  the  matter. — 

Here  are  Three  Official  Letters,  or  Draughts  of  Letters,  con- 
cerning the  business  of  Jamaica ;  which  have  come  to  us  in  a 
very  obscure,  unedited  condition,  Thomas  Birch  having  been  a 
little  idle.  Very  obscure ;  and  now  likely  to  remain  so,  they 
and  the  others, — unless  indeed  Jamaica  should  produce  a  Poet 
of  its  own,  pious  towards  the  Hero-Founder  of  Jamaica,  and 
1  In  Cromwdliana,  p.  134.  *  Jan.  1655-6  (Thurloe,  iv.  338). 


230       PART  IX.     THE   MAJOR-GENERALS       [OCT. 

courageous  to  venture  into  the  Stygian  Quagmires  of  Thurloe 
and  the  others,  and  vanquish  them  on  his  and  its  behalf! 

Apparently  these  Official  Letters  are  First-draughts,  in  the 
hand  of  Thurloe  or  some  underling  of  his  ;  dictated  to  him,  as 
is  like,  by  the  Protector  :  they  would  afterwards  be  copied-fair, 
dated,  and  duly  despatched ;  and  only  the  rough  originals, 
unhappily  without  date,  are  now  left  us.  Birch  has  put  them 
down  without  much  criticism ;  the  arrangement  of  some  is 
palpably  wrong.  By  the  spelling  and  punctuation  we  judge 
them  to  be  of  Thurloe's  handwriting  ;  but  the  sense  is  clearly 
Oliver's,  and  probably,  with  some  superficial  polishings,  the 
composition.  They  cannot,  after  much  inquiry,  be  dated 
except  approximately ;  the  originals  are  gone  with  Birch,  who 
has  not  even  told  us  in  whose  handwriting  they  were,  much 
less  has  tried  to  make  any  sense  of  them  for  himself,  the  idle 
ineffectual  Editor !  In  fact,  Thurloe  in  regard  to  these 
Jamaica  businesses  has  had  to  go  without  editing ;  lies  wide- 
spread, dislocated,  dark ;  and,  in  this  passage,  read  by  Birch's 
light,  is  mere  darkness  visible.  One  of  the  Letters,  we  at 
length  find,  is  even  misaddressed, — seemingly  by  idle  Birch, 
at  random.  Happily  it  is  with  the  sense  alone  that  we  are 
much  concerned  ;  and  that  is  in  good  part  legible.  Fancy 
Penn  and  Venables  dismissed,  after  some  light  got  out  of 
them  by  cross-questioning ;  fancy  '  Vice- Admiral  Goodson, 
Major-General  Fortescue,  Daniel  Serle  Governor  of  Barbadoes, 
and  Major-General  Sedgwick'  new  from  England,  made  Com- 
missioners, with  Instructions,1  with  full  power  over  Jamaica, 
— and  then  read. 

LETTER    CCIV 

VICE-ADMIRAL  GOODSON,  as  his  title  indicates,  went  out  as 
second  under  Penn ;  whose  place  he  now  fills  as  chief.  Letters 
of  his  in  Thurloe  indicate  a  thick,  blunt,  stout-hearted  sailor 
character,  not  nearly  so  stupid  as  he  looks ;  whose  rough 

1  Given  in  Thurloe,  iv.  634. 


i6ss]     LETTER  CCIV.     WHITEHALL      JfcSl 

piety,  sense,  stoicism,  and  general  manfulness  grow  luminous 
to  us  at  last.  The  Protector  hopes  'the  Lord  may  have 
blessed  Goodson  to  have  lighted  upon  some  of  the  Enemy's 
vessels,  and  burnt  them  ' ; — which  is  a  hope  fulfilled  :  for 
Goodson  has  already  been  at  St.  Martha  on  the  Spanish  Main, 
and  burnt  it ;  but  got  few  '  ships,'  nor  any  right  load  of 
plunder  either ;  the  people  having  had  him  in  sight  for  six 
hours  before  landing,  and  run  away  with  everything  to  the 
woods.  He  got  '  thirty  brass  guns  and  two  bases J  whatever 
these  are.  The  rest  of  the  plunder,  being  *  accurately  sold 
at  the  mast  of  each  ship'  by  public  auction,  yielded  just 
47  17.  sterling,  which  was  a  very  poor  return.  At  the  Rio  de 
Hacha  ('  Rio  de  hatch '  as  we  here  write  it)  '  the  bay  was  so 
shoal '  no  great  ships  could  get  near ;  and  our  *  hoys '  and 
small  craft,  on  trying  it,  saw  nothing  feasible ;  wherefore  we 
had  drawn  back  again.  Santa  Martha,  and  plunder  sold  by 
auction  to  the  amount  above  stated,  was  all  we  could  get.1 


TO  VICE-ADMIRAL  GOODSON,  AT  JAMAICA 

Whitehall,  "October  1655." 

Sir, — /  have  written  to  Major -General  Fortescue  divers 
advertisements  of  our  purpose  and  resolution,  the  Lord  willing, 
to  prosecute  this  Business ;  and  you  shall  not  want  bodies  of 
men  nor  yet  anything  in  our  power  for  the  carrying-on  of  the 
work.  I  have  also  given  divers  hints  unto  him  of  things  which 
m.ay  probably  be  attempted,  and  should*  be  very  diligently 
looked  after  by  you  both  ;  but  are  left  to  your  better  judgments 
upon  the  place.  Wherein  I  desire  you  would  consult  together 
how  to  prosecute  your  affairs  with  that  brotherly  kindness  that 
upon  no  colour  whatsoever  any  divisions  or  distractions  should 
be  amongst  you,  but  that  you  may  have  one  shoulder  to  the 
work;  which  will  be  very  pleasing  to  the  Lord;  and  not 
unnecessary,  considering  what  an  enemy  you  are  like  to  have 
to  deal  withal. 

1  Goodson's  Letter,  in  Thurloe,  iv.  159  et  seqq.  3  *  would'  in  orig. 


PART  ix.    THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [OCT. 

We  hope  that  you  have  with  "you"  some  of  those  ships 
which  came  last,  near  Twenty  men-of-war ;  which  I  desire  you 
to  keep  equipt,  and  make  yourselves  as  strong  as  you  can  to 
beat  the  Spaniard,  who  will  doubtless  send  a  good  force  into  the 
Indies.  I  hope  by  this  time  the  Lord  may  have  blessed  you  to 
have  light  upon  some  of  their  vessels, — whether  by  burning 
them  in  their  harbours  or  otherwise.  And  it  will  be  worthy  of 
you  to  improve  your  strength,  what  you  can,  both  to  weaken 
them  by  parcels,  and  to  engage  them  as  you  have  opportunity, 
— which,  at  such  a  distance  I  may  probably  guess,  would  be 
best  "  managed "  by  not  suffering,  if  you  can  help  it,  the  new 
Fleet,  which  comes  from  Spain,  to  go  unf ought,  before  they 
join  with  the  ships  that  are  to  the  Leeward  of  you. 

J  JL  U    is 

We  are  sending  to  you,  with  all  possible  speed,  Seven  more 
stout  men-of-war,  some  of  them  forty  guns,  and  the  rest  not 
under  thirty,  for  your  assistance.  This  Ship  goes  before,  with 
instructions,  to  encourage  you  to  go  on  in  the  work ;  and  also 
with  instructions  to  Mevis,  and  the  other  Windward  Islands,  to 
bring  so  many  of  the  Plantations  as  are  free  to  come,  "  that 
they  may  settle  with  you  at  Jamaica"  And  I  desire  you,  with 
your  lesser  merchant-ships  or  such  others  as  you  can  spare,  to 
give  all  possible  assistance  for  their  removal  and  transplantation, 
from  time  to  time,  as  also  all  due  encouragement  to  remove 
them. 

You  will  see  by  the  Enclosed  what  I  have  writ  to  Major- 
General  Fortescue.  And  I  hope  your  counsels  will  enter  into 
that  which  may  be  for  the  glory  of  God  and  good  of  this 
Nation.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  the  Lord  hath  greatly 
humbled  us  in  that  sad  loss  sustained  at  Hispaniola ;  and  we 
doubt  we  have  provoked  the  Lord ;  and  it  is  good  for  us  to 
know  and  to  be  abased  for  the  same.  But  yet  certainly  His 
name  is  concerned  in  the  work;  and  therefore  though  we  should, 
and  I  hope  do,  lay  our  mouths  in  the  dust,  yet  He  would  not 
have  us  despond,  but  I  trust  give  us  leave  to  make  mention  of 
His  name  and  of  His  righteousness,  when  we  cannot  make 
mention  of  our  own.  You  are  left  there ;  and  I  pray  you  set- 


1655]     LETTER  CCIV.     WHITEHALL      233 

up  your  banners  in  the  name  of  Christ;  for  undoubtedly  it  is  His 
Cause.  And  let  the  reproach  and  shame  that  hath  been  for 
our  sins,  and  through  (also  we  may  say)  the  misguidance  of 
some,  work-up  your  hearts  to  confidence  in  the  Lord,  and  for 
the  redemption  of  His  honour  from  the  hands  of  men  who 
attribute  their  success  to  their  Idols,  the  work  of  their  own 
hands.  And  though  He  hath  torn  us,  yet  He  will  heal  us ; 
though  He  hath  smitten  us,  yet  He  will  bind  us  up ;  after  two 
days  He  will  revive  us,  in  the  third  day  He  will  raise  us  up, 
and  we  shall  live  in  his  sight.1  The  Lord  Himself  hath  a 
controversy  with  your  Enemies;  even  with  that  Roman  Babylon, 
of  which  the  Spaniard  is  the  great  underpropper.  In  that 
respect  we  Jight  the  Lord's  batiks  ; — and  in  this  the  Scriptures 
are  most  plain.  The  Lord  therefore  strengthen  you  with  faith, 
and  cleanse  you  from  all  evil :  and  doubt  not  bat  He  is  able, 
and  I  trust  as  willing,  to  give  you  as  signal  success  as  He 
gave  your  enemies  against  you.  Only  the  Covenant-fear  of 
the  Lord  be  upon  you?' 

If  we  send  you  not  by  this,  I  trust  we  shall  by  the  next,  our 
Declaration  setting  forth  the  justness  of  thi$  War.  I  remain, 
your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P.* 

The  Declaration  here  alluded  to,  of  War  with  Spain,  came 
out  on  Tuesday,  23d  October  1655;8  which  with  sufficient 
approximation  dates  this  Letter  for  us.  By  obscure  intima- 
tions, allusions  to  events,  and  even  by  recurrence  of  phrases, 
the  following  Letter  seems  to  have  the  same  or  a  closely 
subsequent  date ;  but  no  sense  could  be  made  of  it  till  the 
Address,  *  Major-General  Fortescue,  at  Jamaica'  (which,  being 
nonsense,  we  have  to  impute  to  Birch),  was  erased, — was 
altered,  by  dim  lights4  and  guessings  still  a  little  uncertain, 
as  below. 

1  Hosea  vi.  I,  2. 

2  No  other  fear  ;  nor  is  there  need  of  any  other  hope  or  strength  ! 

*  Thurloe,  iv.  130.  3  Ibid.  117 ;  Godwin,  iv.  217  ;  Antea,  p.  229. 

4  Thurloe,  iv.  633,  etc.  etc. 


234       PART  IX.     THE   MAJOR-GENERALS       [OCT. 


LETTER    CCV 

"  TO  DANIEL  SERLE,  ESQUIRE,  GOVERNOR  OF  BARBADOEs" 

"Whitehall,  October  1655." 

Sir, — These  are  Jtrst  to  let  you  know  that  myself  and  the 
Government  reckon  ourselves  beholden !  to  you  for  the  ready 
expressions  of  your  love  in  giving  assistance  to  our  late 
Design?  Which  indeed,  though  it  hath  miscarried  in  what 
we  hoped  for,  through  the  disposing  hand  of  God,  for  reasons 
best  known  to  Himself,  and  as  we  may  justly  conceive  for  our 
sins, — yet  is  not  this  Cause  the  less  His,  but  will  be  owned  by 
Him,  as  I  verily  believe :  and  therefore  we  dare  not  relinquish 
it ; 3  but  shall,  the  Lord  assisting,  prosecute  it  with  what 
strength  we  can,  hoping  for  "a"  blessing  for  His  name's  sake. 
You  will  receive  some  Instructions*  with  encouragements  to 
remove  your  people  thither.  Whereto  I  refer  you :  only  let  me 
tell  you,  that  if  you  shall  think  to  desire  some  other  things 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  those  Instructions,  "  you  may  "  rest 
upon  my  word  that  we  shall  be  most  ready  to  supply  what  they 
may  be  defective  in,  or  you  may  reasonably  demand  when  once 
you  are  upon  the  place, — where  certainly  you  may  be  better 
able  to  judge  what  may  tend  most  to  your  accommodation  than 
at  a  distance.  Surely  the  sooner  you  remove  thither?  you  will 
have  the  more  time  to  strengthen  yourself,  in  such  place  and 
upon  such  part  as  you  shall  like  of.  And  for  your  own  part, 
I  have  named  you  one  of  the  Commissioners  therefor  manag- 

1  '  beholding '  in  orig. ;  as  the  old  phrase  usually  is. 

2  Hispaniola ;  to  which  Serle,  at  Barbadoes,  had  given  due  furtherance,  as 
the  Expedition  passed. 

3  No! 

4  Thurloe,  iv.  633-7  ;  worth  reading,  though  in  great  want  of  editing. 

6  Will  mean,  if  our  Addressing  of  this  Letter  is  correct,  that  it  had  at  one  time 
been  intended  and  decided  to  send  Serle  of  Barbadoes,  an  experienced  man,  the 
ablest  and  principal  English  Governor  in  the  West  Indies,  to  take  charge  of 
Jamaica  himself.  Which  however,  in  the  quick  succession  of  new  lights  and 
occurrences,  never  came  to  pass. 


1655]     LETTER  CCVI.     WHITEHALL       235 

ing  of  the  whole  affair ;  whereby  you  will  have  your  vote  and 
interest  in  that  Government. 

Having  said  this,  I  think  Jit  to  let  you  know  that  we  have 
Twenty  men-of-war  already  there,  and  are  sending  Eight  more, 
many  whereof  have  forty  guns  and  upwards,  and  the  rest 
above  thirty. l  We  hope  the  Plantation  is  not  wanting  in 
anything;  having  at  the  least  Seven-thousand  Jighting-men 
upon  the  place:  and  we  are  providing  to  supply  them  constantly 
with  fresh  men :  and  we  trust  they  are  furnished  with  a 
twelvemonth's  victuals; — and  I  think,  if  we  have  it  in  England, 
they  shall  not  want. 

We  have  also  sent  to  the  Colonies  of  New  England  like 
offers  with  yours,2  To  remove  thither ;  our  resolution  being  to 
people  and  plant  that  Island.  And  indeed  we  have  very  good 
reason  to  expect  considerable  numbers  from  thence,  forasmuch 
as  the  last  winter  was  very  destructive,  and  the  summer  hath 
proved  so  very  sickly. 

I  pray  God  direct  you ;  and  rest,  your  loving  friend, 

"OLIVER  P."* 

Undoubtedly  to  *  Daniel  Serle,1*  or  else  to  '  Major-General 
Sedgwick,'  the  other  of  the  Four  new  Commissioners,  this 
Letter  must  have  been  addressed.  With  either  of  which 
Addresses  it  remains  historically  somewhat  obscure ;  but  is 
legible  enough  for  our  purposes  with  it  here.  The  next 
seems  to  be  of  slightly  later  date. 

LETTER    CCVI 

TO  MAJOR-GENERAL    FORTESCUE,  AT  JAMAICA 

"Whitehall,  November  1655." 

Sir, — You  will  herewith  receive  Instructions  for  the  better 
carrying-on  of  your  business  ;  which  is  not  of  small  account 

1  Same  phrase  in  the  preceding  Letter. 

2  Encouragements  to  them,  as  to  '  your '  Colony,  to  emigrate  thither. 
*  Thurloe,  iv.  130. 


236        PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS      [NOV. 

here,  though  our  discouragements  have  been  many ;  for  which 
we  desire  to  humble  ourselves  before  the  Lord,  who  hath  very 
sorely  chastened  us.  I  do  commend,  in  the  midst  of  others'' 
miscarriages,  your  constancy  and  faithfulness  to  your  trust  in 
every  "  situation  " 1  where  you  are,  and  "  your  "  taking  care  of 
a  "  company  of  poor  sheep  left  by  their  sheplierd " : 2  and  be 
assured  that,  as  that  which  you  have  done  hath  been  good  in 
itself,  and  becoming  an  honest  man,  so  it  hath  a  very  good 
savour  here  with  all  good  Christians  and  all  true  Englishmen, 
and  will  not  be  forgotten  by  me  as  opportunity  shall  serve. 

I  hope  you  have  long  before  this  time  received  that  good 
supply  which  went  from  hence  in  July  last*  whereby  you  will 
perceive  that  you  have  not  been  forgotten  here.  I  hope  also 
the  ships  sent  for  New  England  are,  before  this  time,  with 
you : 4 — and  let  me  tell  you,  as  an  encouragement  to  you  and 
those  with  you  to  Improve  the  utmost  diligence,  and  to  excite 
your  courage  in  this  business,  though  not  to  occasion  any 
negligence  in  prosecuting  that  affair,  nor  to  give  occasion  to 
slacken  any  improvement  of  what  the  place  may  afford,  That 
you  will  be  followed  with  what  necessary  supplies,  as  well 
for  comfortable  subsistence  as  for  your  security  against  the 
Spaniard,  this  place  may  afford,  or  you  want. 

And  therefore  study  Jirst  your  security  by  fortifying :  and 
although  you  have  not  moneys,  for  the  present,  to  do  it  in  such 
quantities  as  were  to  be  wished ;  yet,  your  case  being  as  that 
of  a  marching  army,  wherein  every  soldier,  out  of  principles 
of  nature,  and  according  to  the  practice  of  all  discipline,  ought 
to  be  at  pains  to  secure  the  common  quarter, — we  hope  no  man 
amongst  you  will  be  so  wanting  to  himself,  considering  food 
is  provided  for  you,  as  not  to  be  willing  to  help  to  the  uttermost 
therein.  And  therefore  I  require  you  and  all  with  you,  for 
the  safety  of  the  whole,  that  this  be  made  your  most  principal 

1  Word  torn. 

2  Fortescue's  own  expression  :  in  a  Letter  of  2ist  July  1655  (Thurloe,  iii.  675). 
8  Vaughan,  i.  303  ;  Thurloe,  iv.  4. 

4  Thurloe,  iv.  157;  one,  the  first  of  them,  did  arrive,  Nov.  1st :  'sent  from 
Jamaica  to  New  England  for  provisions.' 


I655J     LETTER   CCVI.     WHITEHALL       237 

intention.  71ie  doing  of'  this  will  require  that  you  be  very 
care/iil  not  to  scatter,  till  you  have  begun  a  security  in  some 
one  place. — Next  I  desire  you  that  you  would  consider  how  to 
form  such  a  Body  of  good  Horse  as  may,  if  tlie  Spaniard 
should  attempt  upon  you  at  his  next  coming  into  the  Indies 
with  his  Galeons,  be  in  a  readiness  to  march  to  hinder  his 
landing ;  who  will  hardly  land  upon  a  body  of  horse ;  and  if 
he  shall  land,  "you  will"  be  in  a  posture  to  keep  the  provisions 
of  the  country  from  him,  or  him  from  the  provisions,  if  he 
shall  endeavour  to  march  towards  you. 

We  have  sent  Commissioners  and  Instructions  into  New 
England,  to  try  what  people  may  be  drawn  thence.1  We  have 
done  the  like  to  the  Windward  English  Islands ;  and  both  in 
England  and  Scotland  and  Ireland,  you  will  have  what  men 
and  women  we  can  well  transport. 

We  think,  and  it  is  much  designed  amongst  us,  to  strive  with 
the  Spaniard  for  the  mastery  of  all  those  seas  :  and  therefore 
we  could  heartily  wish  that  the  Island  of  Providence  were  in 
our  hands  again ;  believing  that  it  lies  so  advantageously  in 
reference  to  the  Main,  and  especially  for  the  hindrance  of  the 
Peru  trade  and  Carthagena,  that  you  would  not  only  have 
great  advantage  thereby  of  intelligence  and  surprisal,  but 
"might"  even  block-up  Carthagena.2  It  is  discoursed  here 
that,  if  the  Spaniard  do  attempt  upon  you,  it  is  most  likely  it 
will  be  upon  the  East  end  of  the  Island,  towards  Cuba ;  as  also 
"  that "  Cuba,  in  its  chief  Town,  is  a  place  3  easily  attempted, 
and  hath  in  it  a  very  rich  copper-mine.  It  would  be  good,  for 
the  Jirst,  as  you  have  opportunity,  to  inform  yourself;  and  if 
there  be  need,  to  make  a  good  work  upon  the  East  end  of  your 
Island,  to  prevent  them.  And  for  the  other,  and  all  things 
of  that  kind,  we  must  leave  them  to  your  judgment  upon  the 
place,  to  do  therein  as  you  shall  see  cause. 

1  Long  Correspondences  about  it,  and  details,  from  assiduous  Mr.  Gookin, 
chief  of  those  Commissioners,  in  Thurlocy  iv. 

2  '  the  same '  in  orig. 

*  The  first  '  Cuba '  here  is  the  old  capital  of  the  Eastern  Department,  now 
tailed  Santiago  de  Cuba,  where  there  are  still  copper-mines. 


238       PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS        [NOV. 

To  conclude :  As  we  have  cause  to  be  humbled  for  the 
reproof  God  gave  us  at  St.  Domingo,  upon  the  account  of  our 
own  sins  as  well  as  other s\  so,  truly,  upon  the  reports  brought 
hither  to  us  of  the  extreme  avarice,  pride  and  confidence,  dis- 
orders and  debauchedness,  profaneness  and  wickedness,  commonly 
practised  amongst  the  Army,  we  can  not  only  bewail  the  same, 
but  desire  that  all  with  you  may  do  so ;  and  that  a  very  special 
regard  may  be  had  so  to  govern,  for  time  to  come,  as  that  all 
manner  of  vice  may  be  thoroughly  discountenanced,  and  severely 
punished;  and  that  such  a  frame  of  government  may  be 
exercised  that  virtue  and  godliness  may  receive  due  encourage- 
ment. «  /  rest,  your  loving  friend,  OLIVER  P."* 

The  brave  Fortescue  never  received  this  Letter ;  he  already 
lay  in  his  grave  when  it  was  written ;  had  died  in  October 
last,1  a  speedy  victim  of  the  bad  climate  and  desperate  situa- 
tion. Brave  Sedgwick,  his  Partner  and  Successor,  soon  died 
also  : 2  a  very  brave,  zealous  and  pious  man,  whose  Letters  in 
Thurloe  are  of  all  others  the  best  worth  reading  on  this 
subject.  Other  brave  men  followed,  and  soon  died ;  spending 
heroically  their  remnant  of  life-fire  there, — as  heroes  do, 
6  making  paths  through  the  impassable.'  But  we  must  leave 
the  heroisms  of  Oliver  Protector  and  his  Puritans,  in  this 
Jamaica  Business,  to  the  reader's  fancy  henceforth, — till 
perhaps  some  Jamaica  Poet  rise  to  resuscitate  and  extricate 
them.  Reinforcement  went  on  the  back  of  reinforcement, 
during  this  Protector's  lifetime :  '  a  Thousand  Irish  Girls' 
went ;  not  to  speak  of  the  rogue-and- vagabond  species  from 
Scotland, — '  we  can  help  you '  at  any  time  '  to  two  or  three 
hundred  of  these.' 3  And  so  at  length  a  West-India  Interest 
did  take  root ;  and  bears  spices  and  poisons,  and  other 
produce,  to  this  day. 

*  Thurloe,  iv.  633.  *  Ibid.  iv.  153. 

2  24th  June  1656  (Long's  History  of  Jamaica,  i.  257). 

8  Long,  i.  244  ;  Thurloe,  iv.  692-5  : — new  Admonitions  and  Instructions  from 
the  Protector,  of  Thurloe's  writing,  lyth  June  1656  (Thurloe,  v.  129-131) ;  etc. 


i655]     LETTER  CCVII.     WHITEHALL     239 


LETTERS    CCVII— CCXIV 

TAKE  the  following  Letters  in  mass ;  and  make  some  dim 
History  of  Eleven  Months  from  them,  as  best  may  be. 

LETTER    CCVII 

HENRY  CROMWELL  has  no  Major-Generals  in  Ireland,  but 
has  his  anarchies  there  also  to  deal  with.  Let  him  listen  to 
this  good  advice  on  the  subject. 

FOR  MY  SON  HENRY  CROMWELL,  AT  DUBLIN,  IRELAND 

"  Whitehall,"  21st  November  1655. 

Son, — /  have  seen  your  Letter  writ  unto  Mr.  Secretary 
Thurloe ;  and  do  Jtnd  thereby  that  you  are  very  apprehensive 
of  the  carriage  of  some  persons  with  you,  towards  yourself 
and  the  public  affairs. 

I  do  believe  there  may  be  some  particular  persons  who  are 
not  very  well  pleased  with  the  present  condition  of  things,  and 
may  be  apt  to  show  their  discontent  as  they  have  opportunity  : 
but  this  should  not  make  too  great  impressions  in  you.  Time 
and  patience  may  work  them  to  a  better  frame  of  spirit,  and 
bring  them  to  see  that  which,  for  the  present,  seems  to  be  hid 
from  them ;  especially  if  they  shall  see  your  moderation  and 
love  towards  them,  if  they  are  found  in  other  ways  towards 
you.  Which  I  earnestly  desire  you  to  study  and  endeavour, 
all  that  lies  in  you.  Whereof  both  you  and  I  too  shall  have 
the  comfort,  whatsoever  the  issue  and  event  thereof  be. 

For  what  you  write  of  more  help,  I  have  long  endeavoured 
it ;  and  shall  not  be  wanting  to  send  you  some  farther  addition 
to  the  Council,  so  soon  as  men  can  be  found  out  who  are  Jit  for 
the  trust.  I  am  also  thinking  of  sending  over  to  you  a  Jit 
person  who  may  command  the  North  of  Ireland;  which  I  believe 
stands  in  great  need  of  one  ;  and  "  7"  am  of  your  opinion  that 
Trevor  and  Colonel  Mervm  are  very  dangerous  persons,  and 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [22  NOV. 

may  be  made  the  heads  of  a  new  rebellion.  And  therefore 
I  would  have  you  move  the  Council  that  they  be  secured  in 
some  very  safe  place,  and  the  farther  out  of  their  own  countries 
the  better. 

I  commend  you   to   the   Lord;   and  rest,  your  affectionate 
father,  OLIVER  P* 

'The  Letter  writ  unto  Mr.  Secretary  Thurloe,'  which  is 
responded  to  in  this  wise  and  magnanimous  manner  does  not 
appear  in  Thurfae  or  elsewhere.  November  14th,  a  week 
before  the  date  of  this,  Henry  writing  to  Thurloe  excuses  his 
present  brevity,  his  last  Letter  having  been  so  very  copious 
that  copious  Letter,  now  lost,  is  probably  the  one  in  question 
here. 


( 


November  %%nd?  the  day  after  this  Letter,  '  came  several 
accounts  from  the  Major-Generals  out  of  divers  Counties. 
Out  of  Norfolk  it  was  certified  that  Cleveland  the  Poet  and 
one  Sherland  a  wild  Parson  were  apprehended'  at  Norwich 
'  by  Colonel  Haynes,'1  the  Lord  Fleetwood's  Substitute  in  those 
regions.  This  is  John  Cleveland  the  famous  Cantab.  Scholar, 
Royalist  Judge-Advocate,  and  thrice-illustrious  Satirist  and 
son  of  the  Muses  :  who  '  had  gone  through  eleven  editions  ' 
in  those  times,  far  transcending  all  Miltons  and  all  mortals, 
—  and  does  not  now  need  any  twelfth  edition,  that  we 
hear  of.  Still  recognisable  for  a  man  of  lively  parts,  and 
brilliant  petulant  character  ;  directed,  alas,  almost  wholly 
to  the  worship  of  clothes,  —  which  is  by  nature  a  transient 
one  !  His  good  fortune  quitted  him,  I  think,  nine  years  ago, 
when  David  Lesley  took  him  prisoner  in  Newark.  A  stinging 
satire  against  the  Scots  had  led  Cleveland  to  expect  at  least 
martyrdom  on  this  occasion  ;  but  Lesley  merely  said,  '  Let 
the  poor  knave  go  and  sell  his  ballads  '  ;2  and  dismissed  him, 

*  Thurloe,  i.  726. 

1  Newspapers  (in   Cromivelliana,  p.  154);  Thurloe,  iv.  185. 

8  Biog.  Britan.  (2nd  edit.),  iii.  531  :  —  very  ignorantly  told  there. 


1655]  CLEVELAND 

— towards  thin  diet,  and  a  darkness  which  has  been  deepening 
ever  since.  Very  low  now  at  Norwich,  where  he  is  picked-up 
by  Colonel  Haynes  :  '  Thirty  pounds  a  year ' ;  '  lives  with  a 
gentleman  to  whom  he  is  giving  some  instruction ' ; — unfor- 
tunate son  of  the  Muses.  He  indites  a  highflown  magnani- 
mous epistle  to  Cromwell,  on  this  new  misfortune ;  who 
likewise  magnanimously  dismisses  him,1  to  '  sell  his  ballads ' 
at  what  little  they  will  bring. 

Wednesday,  December  l%th,  1655.  This  day,  'in  a-with- 
drawing-room  at  Whitehall,'  presided  over  by  his  Highness, 
who  is  much  interested  in  the  matter,  was  held  '  a  Conference 
concerning  the  Jews  "* ; 2  of  which  the  modern  reader  too  may 
have  heard  something.  Conference,  one  of  Four  Conferences, 
publicly  held,  which  filled  all  England  with  rumour  in  those 
old  December  days ;  but  must  now  contract  themselves  into 
a  point  for  us.  Highest  official  Persons,  with  Lord  Chief 
Barons,  Lord  Chief  Justices,  and  chosen  Clergy  have  met  here 
to  advise,  by  reason,  Law-learning,  Scripture-prophecy,  and 
every  source  of  light  for  the  human  mind,  concerning  the 
proposal  of  admitting  Jews,  with  certain  privileges  as  of  alien- 
citizens,  to  reside  in  England.  They  were  banished  near  Four- 
hundred  years  ago  :  shall  they  now  be  allowed  to  reside  and 
trade  again  ?  The  Proposer  is  '  Manasseh  Ben  Israel,'  a 
learned  Portuguese  Jew  of  Amsterdam ;  who,  being  stirred- 
up  of  late  years  by  the  great  things  doing  in  England,  has 
petitioned  one  and  the  other,  Long  Parliament  and  Little 
Parliament,  for  this  object ;  but  could  never,  till  his  Highness 
came  into  power,  get  the  matter  brought  to  a  hearing.  And 
so  they  debate  and  solemnly  consider ;  and  his  Highness 
spake  ; — and  says  one  witness,  '  I  never  heard  a  man  speak  so 
well.1 3  His  Highness  was  eager  for  the  scheme,  if  so  might 
be.  But  the  Scripture-prophecies,  Law- learnings,  and  lights 

1  Life  of  Cleveland,  prefixed  to  his  Poems. 

2  Newspapers  (in  Cromwelliana,  p.  154). 

3  Sir  Paul  Rycaut  (in  Spence's  Anecdotes,  p.  77  ; — as  cited  by  Godwin,  iv. 
299). 

VOL.    III.  Q. 


PART  ix.    THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [12  DEC. 

of  the  human  mind  seemed  to  point  another  way  ;  zealous 
Manasseh  went  home  again  ;  the  Jews  could  not  settle  here 
except  by  private  sufferance  of  his  Highness  ; — and  the  matter 
contracts  itself  into  a  point  for  us.1 

This  same  Jew- Wednesday,  Wednesday  the  12th,  as  a 
laborious  unimportant  computation  shows,  was  the  '  evening ' 
when  Republican  Ludlow  had  the  first  interview  with  his 
Highness  and  certain  of  his  Council  '  in  the  Protector's  bed- 
chamber.12 Solid  Ludlow  has  been  in  Ireland ;  dreadfully 
sulky  ever  since  this  Protectorate  began.  Solid  Ludlow 
never  would  acknowledge  any  Single  Person,  never  he ;  not 
though  the  Single  Person  '  were  his  own  father/  He  has 
nevertheless,  by  certain  written  'engagements,1  contrived  to 
get  across  from  Ireland,  with  much  trouble  by  the  road  ;  but 
will  not  now  give  any  promise  satisfactory  to  his  Highness. 
4  He  will  be  peaceable  ;  yes,  so  long  as  he  sees  no  chance 
otherwise  :  but  if  he  see  a  chance — ! — Should  like,  notwith- 
standing, to  breathe  a  little  air  in  his  own  country;  that  is 
all  he  is  wanting  for  the  present ! '  In  fact,  our  solid  friend 
is  firm  as  brass,  or  oak-timber  ;  altogether  obstinate  indeed, 
not  to  say  dogged  and  mulish.  The  Protector,  who  has  a 
respect  for  the  solid  man,  and  whose  course  is  conciliation 
in  such  cases,  permits  him  to  reside  in  Essex ;  keeping  his 
eye  upon  him. 

We  might  speak  also  of  the  famed  '  Committee  of  Trade,1 
which  has  now  begun  its*sessions  'in  the  Old  House  of  Lords.1 
An  Assemblage  of  Dignitaries,  Chief  Merchants,  Political 
Economists,  convened  by  summons  of  his  Highness  ; 3  consult- 
ing zealously  how  the  Trade  of  this  country  may  be  improved. 
A  great  concernment  of  the  Commonwealth, '  which  his  High- 
ness is  eagerly  set  upon.1  They  'consulted  of  '  Swedish 
Copperas,1  and  suchlike ;  doing  faithfully  what  they  could. 

1  Godwin,   iv.  243-9. — To  '  Manasseth  Ben   Israel,  a  pension  of   ioo/.   per 
annum,  payable  quarterly,  and  commencing  2Oth  February  1656'  (1657)  :  Privy- 
Seals  of  Oliver ;  in  Fifth  Report  of  the  Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Public  Records 
(London,  1844),  Appendix  ii.  p.  263. 

2  Ludlow,  ii.  551  et  seqq.  3  Whitlocke,  p.  618  (2nd  Nov.  1655). 


1655]  LADY    MARY  243 

Of  these  things  we  might  speak  ;  but  prefer  to  end  the 
year  by  this  small  interesting  fraction  of  Domestic  Gossip, 
coming  to  us  in  a  small  flute-voice  across  the  loud  Dis- 
turbances, which  are  fallen  silent  now,  more  silent  now  than 
even  it  !  Sorry  only  that  nobody  can  inform  us  who  this 
blameworthy  4  person '  in  the  Lord  Henry  Cromwell's  house 
is,  or  what  her  misdoings  are  :  but  the  reader,  skilled  in 
perennial  human  nature,  can  sufficiently  supply  these,  and 
listen  to  the  ancient  small  flute-voice  with  intelligence  : 


THE  LADY  MARY  CROMWELL  TO  HENRY  CROMWELL,  MAJOR-GENERAL 
OF  THE  ARMY  IN  IRELAND 

'  "  Hampton-Court,"  7th  December  1655. 

'  DEAR  BROTHER, — I  cannot  be  any  longer  without  begging 
an  excuse  for  my  so  long  silence.  You  cannot  but  hear  of 
my  Sister's  illness ;  which  indeed  has  been  the  only  cause  of 
it.  You  might  justly  take  it  ill  otherwise,  and  think  there 
were  want  of  that  affection  I  owe  unto  you. 

'  Indeed,  dear  Brother,  it  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to 
me  to  think  I  should  give  you  any  occasion  to  think  amiss  of 
me  :  for  I  can  truly  say  it,  you  are  very  dear  to  me ;  and  it 
is  a  great  trouble  to  me  to  think  of  the  distance  we  are  from 
one  another  ;  and  would  be  more,  if  I  did  riot  think  you  are 
doing  the  Lord's  service  ; — and  truly  that  ought  to  satisfy  us ; 
for  while  we  are  here,  we  cannot  expect  but  that  we  must  be 
separated.  Dear  Brother,  the  Lord  direct  you  in  his  ways, 
and  keep  your  heart  close  unto  Himself.  And  I  am  sure, 
therein  you  will  have  true  comfort ;  and  that  will  last  when 
all  this  world  shall  pass  away. 

'  I  cannot  but  give  you  some  item  of  One  that  is  with  you, 
who,  "  it "  is  so  much  feared  by  your  friends  that  love  you,  is 
some  dishonour  to  you  and  my  dear  Sister,  if  you  have  not  a 
great  care.  For  it  is  reported  here,  that  she  rules  much  in 
your  Family  ;  and  truly  it  is  feared  that  she  is  a  disconnten- 
ancer  of  the  Godly  People.  Therefore,  dear  Brother,  take  it 


244     PART  IX.    THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [21  APRIL 

not  ill,  that  I  give  you  an  item  of  her :  for,  truly,  if  I  did  not 
love  both  you  and  your  honour,  I  would  not  give  you  notice 
of  her.  Therefore  I  hope  you  will  not  take  it  ill,  that  I  have 
dealt  thus  plainly  with  you.  I  suppose  you  know  who  it  is 
I  mean,  therefore  I  desire  to  be  excused  for  not  naming  her. 
I  desire  not  to  be  seen  in  it ;  and  therefore  desire  you  that 
you  would  not  take  the  least  notice  of  my  writing  to  you 
about  it :  because  I  was  desired  not  to  speak  of  it ;  nor 
should  I,  but  that  I  know  you  will  not  take  it  amiss  from 
your  poor  Sister  who  loves  you. 

'Dear  Brother,  I  take  leave  to  rest — your  sister  and 
servant,  MARY  CROMWELL. 

4  Her  Highness 1  desires  to  have  her  love  to  you  and  my 
Sister  ;  and  my  Sister  Franke  her  respects  to  you  both.' 2 

*  My  Sister  Franke '  and  the  Lady  Mary,  these  are  my  '  two 
little  wenches,'  grown  now  to  be  women ;  with  dress-caps, 
fresh  blossoming  hearts,  musical  glib  tongues, — not  uninterest- 
ing to  men  !  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  I  am  told,  is  looking 
towards  this  Lady  Mary ;  now  turned  of  Eighteen,3  and  a 
desirable  match  for  any  youth  of  ambition, — but  not  attain- 
able, I  doubt,  by  Ashley. 

LETTER    CCVIII 

HE  that  builds  by  the  wayside  has  many  masters  !  Henry 
Cromwell,  we  perceive  by  all  symptoms,4  has  no  holiday  task 
of  it ;  needs  energy,  vigilance,  intelligence, — needs  almost 
unlimited  patience  first  of  all.  With  a  hot  proud  temper  of 
his  own  to  strive  against,  too  ;  and  is  not  nine-and-twenty 
yet :  a  young  man  whose  carriage  hitherto  merits  high  praise. 
Anabaptist  Colonels  '  preach '  against  him  ;  Fleetwood,  at 

1  'our  Mother.'  2  Thurloe,  iv.  293.  3  Vol.  i.  p.  71. 

4  See  his  Letters  to  Thurloe  :  Thurloe,  iv.  254-608  (Letters  from  Nov.  1655  to 
April  1656). 


1656]    LETTER  CCVIIL     WHITEHALL    245 

head-quarters,  has  perhaps  a  tendency  to  favour  Anabaptist 
Colonels,  and  send  them  over  hither  to  us  ?  Colonel  Hewson, 
here  in  Ireland,  he,  with  a  leaning  that  way,  has  had  corre- 
spondences, has  even  had  an  'Answer'  from  the  Lord  Protector 
(now  lost),  whereupon  have  risen  petitionings,  colloquies, 
caballings, — much  loud  unreason  to  absorb  into  oneself,  and 
convert  at  least  into  silence  !  '  Be  not  troubled  with  that 
Business  ;  we  understand  the  men ' :  no  ; — and  on  the  whole, 
read,  and  be  encouraged,  and  go  on  your  way. 


FOR  MY  SON  HARRY  CROMWELL 

"Whitehall,"  21st  April  1656. 

Harry, — I  have  received  your  Letters,  and  have  also  seen 
some  from  you  to  others ;  and  am  sufficiently  satisfied  of  your 
burden,  and  that  if  the  Lord  be  not  with  you,  to  enable  you  to 
bear  it,  you  are  in  a  very  sad  condition. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  what  I  have  heard  of  your  carriage: 
study  still  to  be  innocent;  and  to  answer  every  occasion,  roll 
yourself  upon  God, — which  to  do  needs  much  grace.  Cry  to 
the  Lord  to  give  you  a  plain  single  heart.  Take  heed  of 
being  over-jealous,  lest  your  apprehensions  of  others  cause  you 
to  offend.  Know  that  uprightness  will  preserve  you ;  in  this 
be  confident  against  men. 

I  think  the  Anabaptists  are  to  blame  in  not  being  pleased 
with  you.  That  V  their  fault !  It  will  not  reach  you,  whilst 
you  with  singleness  of  heart  make  the  glory  of  the  Lord  your 
aim.  Take  heed  of  professing  religion  without  the  power : 
that  will  teach  you  to  love  all  who  are  after  the  similitude  of 
Christ.  Take  care  of  making  it  a  business  to  be  too  hard  for 
the  men  who  contest  with  you.  Being  over -concerned  may 
train  you  into  a  snare. — /  have  to  do  with  those  poor  men ; 
and  am  not  without  my  exercise.  I  know  they  are  weak ; 
because  they  are  so  peremptory  in  judging  others.  I  quarrel 
not  with  them  but  in  their  seeking  to  supplant  others  ;  which  is 


246    PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [28  APRIL 

done  by  some,  first  by  branding  them  with  antichristianism,  and 
then  taking  away  their  maintenance. 

Be  not  troubled  with  the  late  Business:  we  understand  the 
men.  Do  not  fear  the  sending  of  any  over  to  you  but  such  as 
will  be  considering  men,  loving  all  godly  interests,  and  men 
"that"  will  befriends  to  justice. — Lastly,  take  heed  of  studying 
to  lay  for  yourself  the  foundation  of  a  great  estate.  It  will 
be  a  snare  to  you :  they  will  watch  you  ,•  bad  men  will  be  con- 
firmed in  covetousness.  The  thing  is  an  evil  which  God  abhors. 
I  pray  you  think  of  me  'in  this. 

If  the  Lord  did  not  sustain  me,  I  were  undone :  but  I  live, 
and  I  shall  live,  to  the  good  pleasure  of  His  grace ;  I  find 
mercy  at  need.  The  God  of  all  grace  keep  you.  I  rest,  your 
loving  father,  OLIVER  P. 

My  love  to  my  dear  Daughter  (whom  I  frequently  pray  for) 
and  to  all  friends* 

Such  a  Letter,  like  a  staff  dipped  in  honeycomb  and  brought 
to  one's  lips,  is  enough  to  enlighten  the  eyes  of  a  wearied  Sub- 
Deputy  ;  and  cheer  him,  a  little,  on  his  way  !  To  prove  that 
you  can  conquer  every  opponent,  to  found  a  great  estate  :  not 
these,  or  the  like  of  these,  be  your  aims,  Son  Harry.  '  I  pray 
you  think  of  me  in  this/  And,  on  the  whole,  heed  not  the 
foolish  noises,  the  fatuous  lights ;  heed  the  eternal  Loadstars 
and  celestial  Silences, — and  vigilantly  march  :  so  shall  you  too 
perhaps  '  find  mercy  at  need."* 

LETTER    CCIX 

NEW  Sea- Armaments,  and  ever  new,  are  fitted  out  against 
the  Spaniards  and  their  Papist  Domdaniel.  Penn  being  dis- 
missed, Councillor  Colonel  Montague,  already  in  the  Admiralty, 
was  made  Sea-General  last  January  in  his  stead ;  and  now 

*  Autograph  in  the  possession  ot  Sir  W.  Betham  (Ulster  King  of  Arms), 
Dublin. 


1656]     LETTER    CCIX.     WHITEHALL     24,7 

Blake  and  he  have  their  flags  flying  somewhere  off  Cadiz  Bay, 
it  would  appear. 


TO  GENERALS  BLAKE  AND  MONTAGUE,  AT  SEA 

Whitehall,  28th  April  1656. 

My  loving  Friends, —  You  have,  as  I  verily  believe  and  am 
persuaded,  a  plentiful  stock  of'  prayers  going  "  on"  for  you 
daily,  sent  up  by  the  soberest  and  most  approved  Ministers  and 
Christians  in  this  Nation ;  and,  notwithstanding  some  dis- 
couragements, very  much  wrestling  of  faith  for  you :  which  is 
to  us,  and  I  trust  will  be  to  you,  matter  of  great  encouragement. 
But  notwithstanding  all  this,  it  will  be  good  for  you  and  us 
to  deliver  up  ourselves  and  all  our  affairs  to  the  disposition  of 
•our  All-wise  Father  ;  who,  not  only  out  of  prerogative,  but 
because  of  His  wisdom,  goodness  and  truth,  ought  to  be  resigned- 
unto  by  His  creatures,  and  most  especially  by  those  who  are 
children  of  His  begetting  through  the  Spirit.  We  have  been 
lately  taught 1  that  it  is  not  in  man  to  direct  his  way.  Indeed 
all  the  dispensations  of  God,  whether  adverse  or  prosperous,  do 
fully  read  that  lesson.  We  can  no  more  turn  away  the  Evil, 
as  we  call  it,  than  attain  the  Good:  And  therefore  Solomon's 
counsel,  of  doing  what  we  have  to  do  with  all  our  might, 
"  and  "  getting  our  hearts  wholly  submitted,  if  not  to  rejoicing, 
at  least  to  contentation  with  whatsoever  shall  be  dispensed  by 
Him  to  whom  alone  the  issues  of  all  things  do  belong,  is  worthy 
to  be  received  by  us.2 

Wherefore  we  have  thought  Jit  to  send  this  honest  man, 
Captain  Lloyd,  who  is  known  to  us  to  be  a  person  of  integrity, 
to  convey  to  you  some  thoughts, — wherein  we  do  only  offer  to 
you  such  things  as  do  arise  to  us,  partly  upon  intelligence,  and 
partly  upon  such  a  measure  as  we  at  such  a  distance  take  of 
that  great  affair  wherein  you  are  engaged;  desiring  to  give 

1  In  the  affair  of  Hispaniola,  etc. 

2  Yes,  I  should  say  so  ; — as  indeed  the  whole  Universe,  since  it  first  had  any 
glimmerings  of  intelligence  in  it,  has  said  ! 


248    PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [28  APRIL 

no  rule  to  you ;  but  building,  under  God,  much  more  upon 
your  judgments  on  the  place  than  "  upon"  our  own  ;  forasmuch 
as  our  intelligences,  coming  much  upon  the  examination  of 
Merchants'*  ships  and  such  ways,  may  not  be  true  oftentimes  in 
matter  of  fact.  And  therefore  we  do  offer  what  we  have  to 
say  rather  as  queries  than  "  as  "  resolutions. 

We  are  informed  that  not  many  of  the  Plate  Fleet  are  come 
home ;  viz.  two  Galeons  and  two  Pataches  ; l  and  we  hear  they 
are  not  so  rich  as  they  gave  out.  We  are  informed  also  that 
the  Spaniards'*  Fleet  in  Cadiz  is  in  no  preparation  to  come  out ; 
and  some  think  they  will  not  come  forth,  but  delay  you  upon 
the  coast,  until  your  victuals  are  spent,  and  you  forced  to  come 
home.  We  apprehend  that,  when  General  Blake  was  there  last 
year,  they  could  not  have  told  how  to  have  manned-out  a  Fleet, 
if  the  Merchants  there  and  gentlemen  interested  had  not  (princi- 
pally for  their  own  interest  in  the  return  of  the  "  Plate  "  Fleet) 
done  it. 

We  are  informed  that  they  sent  what  men  they  could  well 
spare,  by  those  Six  or  Seven  ships  which  they  sent  to  the  West 
Indies  in  March  last.  We  know  also  that  it  hath  ever  been 
accounted  that  the  Spaniards''  great  want  is  men, — as  well  as 
money  at  this  time.  What  numbers  are  in  and  about  Cadiz 
you  best  know.  We  only  discourse  probabilities :  Whether  now 
it  might  not  be  worthy  to  be  weighed  by  you  and  your  council 
of  war,  whether  this  Fleet  of  theirs  now  in  Cadiz  might  not  be 
burnt  or  otherwise  destroyed  ?  Whether  Puntal  and  the  Forts 
are  so  considerably  stronger  as  to  discourage  from  such  an 
attempt  ?  Whether  Cadiz  itself  be  unattemptable ,-  or  the 
Island  on  which  it  stands  be  noways  to  bo  separated  from 
relieving  the  Town  by  the  Bridge?  the  Island  being  so  narrow 
in  some  parts  of  it  ?  Whether  any  other  place  be  attemptable  ; 
especially  that  of  the  Town  and  Castle  of  Gibraltar, — which  if 

1  Galeone,  in  the  Spanish  Dictionary,  is  defined  as  an  '  Armed  ship  of  burden 
used  for  trade  in  time  of  war ' ;  Patache,  as  '  a  Tender,  or  smaller  ship  to  wait 
upon  the  Galeone. ' 

2  Means  '  noways  to  be  separated  from  the  Mainland,  by  ruining  its  Bridge ' : 
Cadiz  were  thus  in  reality  isolated. 


1656]      LETTER   CCX.     WHITEHALL       249 

possessed  and  made  tenable  by  us?  would  it  not  be  both  an 
advantage  to  our  trade  and  an  annoyance  to  the  Spaniard; 
and  enable  us,  without  keeping  so  great  a  Jleet  on  that  coast, 
with  six  nimble  frigates  lodged  there  to  do  the  Spaniard  more 
harm  than  by  a  Jleet,  and  ease  our  own  charge? 

You  may  discourse  freely  with  the  Bearer  concerning  any- 
thing contained  in  this  Letter,  to  whom  the  whole  was  communi- 
cated, that  so  he  might  be  able  to  bring  back  to  us  a  more 
particular  account  of  things.  The  Lord  guide9 you  to  do  that 
which  may  be  pleasing  in  His  sight.  I  remain,  your  very 
loving  friend,  OLIVER  P.* 

LETTER    CCX 

CADIZ  could  not  be  attempted.  Here,  eight  days  later,  is 
another  message  to  the  same  parties,  concerning  another  busi- 
ness. '  The  Portugal,'  it  appears,  has  been  behaving  in  a  very 
paltry  fashion ;  and  now  <  Mr.  Meadows,'  one  of  Thurloe's 
Under-Secretaries,  is  gone  out  to  him  ;  whose  remonstrances, 
the  Fleet  lending  them  its  emphasis,  will  probably  be  effectual ! 

TO  GENERALS  BLAKE  AND  MONTAGUE,  AT  SEA 

Whitehall,  6th  May  1656. 

Gentlemen, — You  will  perceive,  by  the  Instructions'1  herewith 
sent  you,  what  is  expected  by  the  Council  and  myself  at  your 
hands.  And  although  we  are  satisfied  that  you  will  believe  we 
have  sufficient  grounds  to  give  you  these  Directions,  yet  we 
have  thought  Jit,  for  the  farther  strengthening  you  unto  this 
Action,  to  give  you  a  short  knowledge  of  the  true  state  of  the 
Difference  between  us  and  the  King  of  Portugal. 

You  very  well  know  that  it  is  very  near  two  years  since  we 
and  the  Ambassador  of  Portugal  did  agree  a  Treaty ;  they 

1  Hear,  hear  1  *  Thurloe,  iv.  744. 

2  Thurloe,  iv.  769  :  brief  '  instructions,'  To  seize  the  Portugal's  ships,  fleets, 
almost  the  Portugal's  self,  if  he  will  not  do  justice. 


250      PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS      [6  MAY 

having  wronged  us  and  our  Merchants,  and  taken  part  with 
the  late  King  against  us.  When  the  Articles  were  fully  agreed 
by  the  Ambassador,  who  had  full  power  and  authority  to  con- 
clude with  us,  we  on  our  part  ratified  and  confirmed  the  same, 
and  sent  it  to  the  King  of  Portugal  to  be  ratified  and  executed 
by  him  also.  He,  delaying  to  do  it  according  to  the  first 
Agreement,  in  which  there  were  some  preliminaries  to  be  per- 
formed by  him  before  we  could  enter  upon  the  whole  body  of  a 
Treaty, — not  only  refused  to  give  us  satisfaction  therein,  but 
instead  thereof  sent  us  a  pretended  Ratification  of  a  Treaty,  so 
different  from  what  was  agreed  by  his  Ambassador  that  it  was 
quite  another  thing.  In  "  regard  to  "  some  essential  Articles, 
it  was  proposed  that  if  we  would  condescend  to  some  amend- 
ments, the  King  of  Portugal  would  "  then  "  agree  to  confirm 
tlie  whole. 

Whereupon  we  sent  Mr.  Maynard  to  have  the  Treaty  con- 
summated :  but  finding  by  the  answer  he  gave  us?  that  there 
was  little  reality,  and  nothing  but  delays  intended,  we  could  not 
satisfy  ourselves  without  sending  another  Person,  fully  instructed, 
and  authorised  by  us  to  take  away  all  scruples  by  yielding  to 
their  own  amendments ;  thereby  to  discern  whether  they  were 
sincere 2  or  not.  But,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  we  find,  by 
the  account  the  said  Person  hath  given  us,  that  we  are  put  upon 
it  to  recede  from  all  those  things  that  were  provisional,  either 
for  the  good  of  the  State  or  of  our  Merchants,  or  else  we  must 
have  no  Peace  with  them.8 

In  one  of  the  Articles  agreed  with  the  Ambassador,  it  was 
expressed,  That  the  Merchants  should  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience, 
in  the  worship  of  God  in  their  own  houses  and  aboard  their 
ships ;  enjoying  also  the  use  of  English  Bibles,  and  other  good 
books  ;  taking  care  that  they  did  not  exceed  this  liberty.  Now, 
upon  the  sending  of  Mr.  Meadows, — unless  we  will  agree  to 
submit  this  Article  to  the  determination  of  the  Pope,  we  cannot 
have  it :  whereby  he  would  bring  us  to  an  owning  of  the  Pope ; 
which,  we  hope,  whatever  befall  us,  we  shall  not,  by  the  grace 

J  '  by  his  return'  in  orig.  2  *  real5  in  orig.  3  Let  them  have  a  care  1 


1656]      LETTER    CCX.     WHITEHALL       251 

of  God,  be  brought  unto.1  And  upon  the  same  issue  is  that 
Article  put  whereby  it  is  provided  and  agreed  by  his  Ambas- 
sador^ That  any  ships  coming  to  that  harbour,  any  of  their 
company  that  shall  run  away  from  the  said  ships  shall  be 
brought  back  again  by  the  Magistrate ;  and  the  Commanders 
sf  the  said  ships  "  shall "  not  "  be "  required  to  pay  the  said 
runaways  their  wages,  upon  pretence  "  that "  they  are  turned 
Catholics, — which  may  be  a  colour  for  any  knave  to  leave 
his  duty,  or  for  the  Roman  Catholics  to  seduce  our  men. 
This  we  thought  necessary  to  be  provided  against.  Yet  to 
this  also,  as  I  said  before,  they  would  not  consent  without 
the  approbation  of  the  Pope,  although  it  was  agreed  by  their 
Ambassador  too. 

Upon  the  whole  matter,  we  find  them  very  false  to  us,  who 
intended  nothing  but  what  was  simply  honest.  And  truly  we 
cannot  believe  that  Article  that  was  for  our  good  was  "  ever " 
really  intended  by  them.  And  we  may  now  plainly  see  what 
the  effect  is  like  to  be  of  any  Treaty  had  or  made  with  people 
or  states  guided  by  such  principles,  who,  when  they  have  agreed, 
have  such  an  evasion  as  these  people  have  manifestly  held  forth 
in  their  dealing  with  us.  Wherefore  we  pray  you  to  be  very 
exact  in  your  prosecution  of  your  Instructions  ;  which  truly 
I  hope  do  not  arise  from  the  hope  of  gain,  but  from  a  sense  of 
duty.  For,  seeing  we  cannot  secure  our  People  in  their  lives, 
liberties  and  estates  by  a  Pretence  of  a  Treaty ;  nor  yet  answer 
the  just  demands  this  Nation  hath  for  wrongs  done  them ;  but 
must  in  some  sort  be  guilty  of  bringing  our  People  as  it  were 
into  a  net,  by  such  specious  shows  which  have  nothing  but  false- 
ness and  rottenness  in  them ; — we  are  necessitated,  having 
amongst  ourselves  found  out  no  possible  expedient,  though  we 
have  industriously  sought  it,  to  salve  these  things ;  we,  out  of 
necessity  "  /  say?  and  not  out  of  choice,  have  concluded  to  go 
in  this  way. 

You  will  receive  herewith  the  Copy  of  an  Instruction  given 
and  sent  to  Mr.  Meadows,  wherein  is  a  time  limited  for  the 

1  No! 


252     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS       [9  MAY 

King's  answer  :  and  we  desire  that  this  may  not  be  made  use 
of  by  the  King  to  delay  or  deceive  us:  nor  that  you,  upon  the 
first  sight  hereof,  delay  to  take  the  best  course  you  can  to  effect 
your  Instructions, — or  that  the  Portugal  should  get  his  Fleet 
home  before  you  get  between  him  and  home,  and  so  the  birds 
be  Jlown. 

We  know  not  what  your  affairs  are  at  the  present ;  but  are 
confident  that  nothing  will  be  wanting  on  your  part  for  the 
effectual  accomplishment  of  this  Service.  But  knowing  that 
all  ways,  and  works,  and  ourselves,  are  ever  at  the  perfect 
disposition  of  the  Lord  and  His  providence,  and  that  our  times 
are  in  His  hands, — we  therefore  recommend  you  to  the  grace 
and  guidance  of  our  good  God,  who,  we  hope,  hath  thoughts 
of  mercy  towards  us  :  and  that  He  would  guide  and  bless  you 
is  the  prayer  of,  your  very  loving  friend,  «  OLIVER  P  "  * 

In  Thurloe's  handwriting ;  but  very  evidently  Oliver's 
composition  every  sentence  of  it.  There  will  clearly  be  no 
living  for  the  Portugal,  unless  he  decide  to  throw  away  his 
jockeyings  and  Jesuitries,  and  do  what  is  fair  and  square  ! 

LETTER    CCXI 

A  SMALL  vestige,  it  is  presumable,  of  this  Protector's  solici- 
tude for  the  encouragement  of  Learning  and  Learned  Men. 
Which  is  a  feature  of  his  character  very  conceivable  to  us,  and 
well  demonstrated  otherwise  by  testimony  of  facts  and  persons. 
Such  we  shall  presume  the  purport  of  this  small  Civic  Message 
to  be: 

FOR  OUR  WORTHY  FRIENDS  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  CITY  OF  LONDON 
FOR  GRESHAM  COLLEGE  I    THESE 

Whitehall,  9th  May  1656. 

Gentlemen, —  We  understanding  that  you  have  appointed  an 
election  this  afternoon   of  a   Geometry  Professor  in  Gresham 
*  Thurloe,  iv.  768. 


1656]   LETTER  CCXII.     WHITEHALL 

College, —  We  desire  you  to  suspend  the  same  for  some  time,  till 
We  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  with  some  of  you  in 
order  to  that  business.  I  rest,  your  loving  friend, 

OLIVER  P.* 

Historical  Neal  says  zealously,  '  If  there  was  a  man  in  Eng- 
land who  excelled  in  any  faculty  or  science,  the  Protector 
would  find  him  out,  and  reward  him  according  to  his  merit/ 
The  renowned  Dr.  Cudworth  in  Cambridge,  I  have  likewise 
expressly  read,  had  commission  to  mark  among  the  ingenuous 
youth  of  that  University  such  as  he  deemed  apt  for  Public 
Employment,  and  to  make  the  Protector  aware  of  them. 
Which  high  and  indeed  sacred  function  we  find  the  Doctor,  as 
occasion  offers,  intent  to  discharge.1  The  choice  this  Protector 
made  of  men, — '  in  nothing  was  his  good  understanding  better 
discovered ' ;  <  which  gave  a  general  satisfaction  to  the  Public,1 
say  the  Histories.2  As  we  can  very  well  believe !  He  who  is 
himself  a  true  man,  has  a  chance  to  know  the  truth  of  men 
when  he  sees  them ;  he  who  is  not,  has  none :  and  as  for  the 
poor  Public  and  its  satisfactions, — alas,  is  not  the  kind  of 
6  man '  you  set  upon  it  the  liveliest  symbol  of  its,  and  your, 
veracity  and  victory  and  blessedness,  or  unveracity  and  misery 
and  cursedness  ;  the  general  summation,  and  practical  outcome, 
of  all  else  whatsoever  in  the  Public,  and  in  you  ? 

LETTER    CCXII 

ANOTHER  small  Note  still  extant ;  relating  to  very  small, 
altogether  domestic  matters. 

"  FOR  MY  LOVING  SON    RICHARD    CROMWELL,   ESQUIRE,  AT  HURSLEY  I 

THESE  " 

"  Whitehall,"  29th  May  1656. 
Son^ — You   know   there    hath   often    been   a   desire   to   sell 

*  Original,    with   Oliver's  Signature,  now   (1846)   in  the  Guildhall   Library, 
London.  J  Thurloe,  iii.  614;  v.  522;  etc. 

2  Burnet,  in  Neal,  ii.  514;  ib.  ii.  461,  494. 


254     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [29  MAY 

Newhall,  because  in  these  Jour  years  last  past  it  hath  yielded 
very  little  or  no  profit  at  all,  nor  did  I  ever  hear  you  ever  liked 
it  for  a  Seat. 

It  seems  there  may  be  a  chapman  had,  who  will  give 
18,OOOZ.  It  shall  either  be  laid  out  where  you  shall  desire; 
at  Mr.  Wallop's,  or  elsewhere,  and  the  money  put  into  feoffees'1 
hands  in  trust  to  be  so  disposed :  or  I  shall  settle  Burleigh  ,- 
which  yields  near  l^OO/.1  per  annum,  besides  the  woods. 
Waterhouse  will  give  you  farther  information.  I  rest,  your 
loving  father,  OLIVER  P. 

My  love  to  your  Father  and  Mother?  and  your  dear  Wife* 

Newhall  is  the  House  and  Estate  in  Essex  which  had  once 
belonged  to  the  great  Duke  of  Buckingham.  Burleigh  I 
guess  to  be  Burleigh  on  the  Hill,  near  Oakham,  another 
House  of  the  great  Duke's,  which  Oliver  in  the  beginning  of 
his  military  services  had  known  well :  he  took  it  by  assault 
in  1643.  Of  Oliver's  Lands,  or  even  of  his  Public  Lands 
granted  by  the  Parliament,  much  more  of  the  successive 
phases  his  Estate  assumed  by  new  purchase  and  exchange, 
there  is,  as  we  once  observed  already,  no  exact  knowledge 
now  anywhere  to  be  had.  Obscure  incidental  notices  flit 
through  the  Commons  Journals  and  other  Records  ;  but  the 
sum  of  the  matter  alike  with  the  details  of  it  are  sunk  in 
antique  Law-Parchments,  in  obliterated  Committee-Papers, 
far  beyond  human  sounding.  Of  the  Lands  he  died  possessed 
of,  there  is  a  List  extant,  more  or  less  accurate ;  which  is 
worth  looking  at  here.  On  quitting  the  Protectorship  in 
1659,  Richard  Cromwell,  with  the  hope  of  having  his  debts 
paid  and  some  fixed  revenue  allowed  him,  gave-in  a  Schedule 
of  his  Liabilities  and  of  his  Properties,  the  latter  all  in  Land  ; 
which  Schedule  poor  Noble  has  found  somewhere?  and  copied, 

1  Written  above  is  '  I26o/.'  2  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mayor  of  Hursley. 

*  Original  in  the  possession  of  Henry  William  Field,  Esq.,  of  the  Royal  Mint. 
3  Not  where  he  says  he  did,  'in  Commons  Journals,  I4th  May  1659'  (Noble, 
i-  333-4). 


16-56]    LETTER  CCXII.     WHITEHALL    255 

probably  with  blunders.  Subjoined  is  his  List  of  the  Pro- 
perties, some  of  them  misspelt,  most  likely;  the  exact  locali- 
ties of  which,  no  indication  being  given  or  sought  by  Noble, 
may  be  a  problem  for  persons  learned  in  such  matters.1  To 
us,  only  Burleigh  and  Newhall  are  of  importance  here. 

Newhall,  we  can  observe,  was  not  sold  on  the  occasion  of 
this  Letter,  nor  at  all  sold ;  for  it  still  stands  in  the  List  of 
1659  ;  and  with  some  indication,  too,  as  to  what  the  cause 
of  now  trying  to  sell  it  may  have  been.  '  For  a  Portion  to 

1  REAL  ESTATE  IN  1659. 
"1  settled  on  my  Brother  Henry  Cromwell  upon/ ^89    9     I 

f      marriage  :  worth  a-year  .  533     8     8 

Gower       J                                                                            I  479    o    o 
Newhall  with  woods,  settled  for  security  of  I5,ooo/.,  for 

a  Portion  for  my  Sister  Frances        ....  1200    o    o 

Chepstall 549     7     3 

Magore 448    o    o 

Tydenham     .        .         .' 3121     9    6 

Woolaston 664  16    6 

Chaulton  with  woods     .         ,         .         .         .         ,         .  500    o     o 

Burleigh 1236  12     8 

Okham 326  14  ii 

Egleton .  79116 

These  are  all  the  Lands  at  this  date  in  the  possession  of  the  Oliver  Family.  The 
five  names  printed  here  in  italics  are  still  recognisable  :  Villiers  (Duke  of 
Buckingham)  Properties  all  of  these ;  the  first  two  in  Leicestershire,  the  last 
three  contiguous  to  one  another  in  Rutlandshire :  of  the  others  I  at  present 
(A.D.  1845)  know  nothing.  As  to  poor  Richard's  finance-budget,  encumbered 
'with  a  2,ooo/.  yearly  to  my  Mother,'  'with  3OOO/.  of  debt  contracted  in  my 
Father's  lifetime,'  and  plentifully  otherwise, — it  shall  not  concern  us  farther. 

(Note  0/1857.)  The  other  Properties  have  now  also  been  discovered  :  Lands, 
these,  of  the  confiscated  Marquis  of  Worcester ;  all  of  them  in  the  South-Wales 
or  Ragland  quarter.  '  Gower  '  is  in  Glamorgan,  not  far  from  Swansea  ;  '  Chep- 
stall '  is  Chepstow :  '  Tydenham,'  Tidenham,  in  the  same  neighbourhood ; 
'Woolaston '  is  in  Gloucestershire,  four  miles  from  Chepstow  ;  '  Chaulton,'  one 
of  the  Charltons  in  the  same  county;  'Magore,'  Magor  (St.  Mary's)  in  Mon- 
mouthshire. For  Gower,  Tidenham,  Magor,  and  their  connexion  with  Cromwell, 
there  is  still  direct  proof ;  for  the  others,  which  are  all  Ragland  manors  too, 
there  is  thus  presumption  to  the  verge  of  proof.  So  that  all  these  Properties, 
in  Richard's  Schedule,  are  either  Buckingham  or  else  Worcester  ones, — grants 
by  the  Nation  ; — and  of  '  my  ould  land'  (now  settled  otherwise,  or  indeed  not 
concerned  in  this  question)  there  is  no  mention  here.  (Newspaper  called  Notes 
and  Queries f  Nos,  21-28  ;  London,  23d  March-nth  May  1850.) 


256     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [23  JUNE 

my  Sister  Frances,'  namely.  Noble's  citations  from  Morant's 
History  of  Essex  ;  his  and  Morant's  blunderings  and  som- 
nambulancies,  in  regard  to  this  matter  of  Newhall,  seem 
almost  to  approach  the  sublime.1 

Leaving  these,  let  us  attend  a  little  to  the  '  Portion  for 
my  Sister  Frances '  ;  concerning  which  and  whom  a  few  lines 
of  musical  domestic  gossip,  interesting  to  the  mind,  are  once 
more  audible,  from  the  same  flute -voice  above  listened  to. 
4  Mr.  Rich,'  we  should  premise,  is  the  Lord  Rich's  Son,  the 
Earl  of  Warwick's  Grandson ;  heir-apparent,  though  he  did 
not  live  to  be  heir : — pious  old  Earl  of  Warwick,  whom  we 
have  seen  heretofore  as  Admiral  in  the  Long-Parliament 
time  ;  the  poor  Earl  of  Holland's  Brother.  Here  are  affairs 
of  the  heart,  romances  of  reality,  such  as  have  to  go  on  in  all 
times,  under  all  dialects  and  fashions  of  dress-caps,  Puritan- 
Protectoral  and  other. 


THE  LADY  MARY  CROMWELL  TO  HENRY  CROMWELL,  MAJOR-GENERAL 
OF  THE  FORCES  IN  IRELAND 

' "  Hampton  Court/'  23d  June  1656. 

'  DEAR  BROTHER, — Your  kind  Letters  do  so  much  engage 
my  heart  towards  you,  that  I  can  never  tell  how  to  express 
in  writing  the  true  affection  and  value  I  have  for  you, — who, 
truly  I  think,  none  that  knows  you  but  you  may  justly  claim 
it  from.2 

CI  must  confess  myself  in  a  great  fault  in  omitting  to 
write  to  you  and  your  dear  Wife  so  long  a  time.  But  I 
suppose  you  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  reason,  which  truly 
has  been  the  only  cause  ;  which  is  the  business  of  my  Sister 
Frances  and  Mr.  Rich.  Truly  I  can  truly  say  it,  for  these 
three  months  I  think  our  Family,  and  myself  in  particular, 
have  been  in  the  greatest  confusion  and  trouble  as  ever 
poor  Family  can  be  in.  The  Lord  tell  us  His  "  mind " 3 
1  Noble,  i.  334-5.  2  Young- Lady's  grammar  !  3  Word  torn  out. 


1656]  LADY    MARY  257 

in  it ;  and  settle  us,  and  make  us  what  He  would  have  us 
to  be  !  I  suppose  you  heard  of  the  breaking- off  of  the 
business ;  and,  according  to  your  desire  in  your  last  Letter, 
as  well  as  I  can,  I  shall  give  you  a  full  account  of  it.  Which 
is  this  : 

'After  a  quarter  of  a  year's  admittance,  my  Father  and 
my  Lord  Warwick  began  to  treat  about  the  Estate ;  and  it 
seems  my  Lord  did  not  offer  that  which  my  Father  expected. 
I  need  not  name  particulars  :  for  I  suppose  you  have  had 
them  from  better  hands  :  but  if  I  may  say  the  truth,  I  think 
it  was  not  so  much  estate,  as  from  private  reasons  which  my 
Father  discovered  to  none  but  to  my  Sister  Frances  and  his 
own  Family; — which  was  a  dislike  to  the  young  person. 
Which  he  had  from  some  reports  of  his  being  a  vicious  man, 
given  to  play  and  suchlike  things  ;  which  office  was  done  by 
some  who  had  a  mind  to  break-off  the  match.  My  Sister, 
hearing  these  things,  was  resolved  to  know  the  truth  of  it  ;-1 
and  truly  did  find  all  the  reports  to  be  false  that  were 
recited  of  him.  And  to  tell  you  the  truth,  they  were  so 
much  engaged  in  affection  before  this,  that  she  could  not 
think  of  breaking  it  off.  So  that  my  Sister  engaged  me  and 
all  the  friends  she  had,  who  truly  were  very  few,  to  speak  in 
her  behalf  to  my  Father.  Which  we  did  ;  but  could  not  be 
heard  to  any  purpose  :  only  this  my  Father  promised,  That 
if  he  were  satisfied  as  to  the  report,  the  estate  should  not 
break  it  off.  With  which  she  was  satisfied. 

'  And  so  after  this,  there  was  a  second  Treaty  ;  and  my 
Lord  Warwick  desired  my  Father,  To  name  what  it  was  he 
demanded  more  ;  and  to  his  utmost  he  would  satisfy  him. 
So  my  Father  upon  this  made  new  propositions ;  which  my 
Lord  Warwick  has  answered  as  much  as  he  can.  But  it 
seems  there  are  Five-hundred  pounds  a  year  in  my  Lord 
nidi's  hands  ;  which  he  has  power  to  sell :  and  there  are 
some  people,  who  persuade  his  Highness,  that  it  would  be 
dishonourable  for  him  to  conclude  it  unless  these  500/.  a 

1  Poor  little  Frances  ! 
VOL.   III.  B. 


258     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [23  JUNE 

year  be  settled  upon  Mr.  Rich,  after  his  father's  death.  And 
my  Lord  Rich  having  no  esteem  at  all  of  his  son,  because  he 
is  not  so  bad  as  himself,  will  not  agree  to  it ;  and  these 
people  upon  this  persuade  my  Father,  That  it  would  be  a 
dishonour  to  him  to  yield  upon  these  terms ;  it  would  show, 
that  he  was  made  a  fool  of  by  my  Lord  Rich.  So  the  truth 
is,  how  it  shall  be,  I  cannot  understand,  nor  very  few  else ; 1 
and  truly  I  must  tell  you  privately,  they  are  so  far  engaged, 
that  the  match  cannot  be  broke  off !  She  acquainted  none 
of  her  friends  with  her  resolution,  when  she  did  it. 

4  Dear  Brother,  this  is,  as  far  as  I  can  tell,  the  state  of  the 
business.  The  Lord  direct  them  what  to  do.  And  all,  I 
think,  ought  to  beg  of  God  to  pardon  her  in  her  doing  of 
this  thing ; — which  I  must  say  truly  she  was  put  upon  by 
the  "  course  " 2  of  things.  Dear,  let  me  beg  my  excuses  to 
my  Sister  for  not  writing.  My  best  respects  to  her.  Pardon 
this  trouble  ;  and  believe  me  that  I  shall  ever  strive  to  approve 
myself, — dear  Brother,  your  affectionate  sister  and  servant, 

'  MARY  CROMWELL.' 8 

Poor  little  Fanny  Cromwell  was  not  yet  much  turned  of 
Seventeen,  when  she  had  these  complex  things  to  do,  with  her 
friends,  '  who  truly  were  very  few.'  What  '  people  '  they  were 
that  put,  or  strove  to  put,  such  notions  into  his  Highnesses 
head,  with  intent  to  frustrate  the  decidedly  eligible  Mr.  Rich, 
none  knows.  I  could  suspect  Ashley  Cooper,  or  some  such 
hand,  if  his  date  of  favour  still  lasted.  But  it  is  gone,  long 
months  ago.  Ashley  is  himself  frustrated ;  cannot  obtain 
this  musical  glib-tongiied  Lady  Mary,  says  Ludlow  ; 4  goes 

»  Good  little  Mary  !  2  Torn  out.  8  Thurloe,  v.  146. 

4  Here  is  the  passage,  not  hitherto  printed  ;  one  of  several  '  Suppressed 
passages  from  Ludlow's  Memoirs,'  which  still  exist  in  the  handwriting  of  John 
Locke  (now  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Lovelace),  having  been  duly  copied 
out  by  Locke  for  his  own  poor  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  to  whom  they 
all  relate  : 

*  Sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  who  was  first  for  the  King,  then  for  the  Par- 
liament ;  then,  in  Cromwell's  first  Assembly,'  the  Little  Parliament,  was  '  for 


1656]  LETTER   CCXIII.     WHITEHALL    259 

over  to  opposition  in  consequence;  is  dismissed  from  his 
Highnesses  Council  of  State  ;  and  has  to  climb  in  this  world 
by  another  ladder. — Poor  Fanny^s  marriage  did  nevertheless 
take  effect.  Both  Mary  and  she  were  duly  wedded,  Fanny 
to  Rich,  Mary  to  Lord  Fauconberg,  in  November  next  year, 
within  about  a  week  of  each  other  : 1  our  friends,  '  who  truly 
were  very  few,'  and  our  destinies,  and  our  own  lively  wits, 
brought  all  right  in  the  end. 

LETTER    CCXIII 

IT  was  last  Spring  Assizes,  as  we  saw,  that  the  '  great 
appearances  of  country  gentlemen  and  persons  of  the  highest 
quality '  took  place ;  leading  to  the  inference  generally  that 
this  Protectorate  Government  is  found  worth  acknowledging 
by  England.  Certainly  a  somewhat  successful  Government 
hitherto ;  in  spite  of  difficulties  great  and  many.  It  carries 
eternal  Gospel  in  the  one  hand,  temporal  drawn  Sword  in  the 
other.  Actually  it  has  compressed  the  turbulent  humours  of 
this  Country,  and  encouraged  the  better  tendencies  thereof, 
hitherto ;  it  has  set  its  foot  resolutely  on  the  neck  of  English 
Anarchy,  and  points  with  its  armed  hand  to  noble  onward  and 
upward  paths.  All  which,  England,  thankful  at  lowest  for 
peace  and  order,  by  degrees  recognises ;  with  acquiescence,  not 

the  reformation  ;  and  afterwards  for  Cromwell  against  the  reformation.  Now  ' 
again,  *  being  denied  Cromwell's  Daughter  Mary  in  marriage,  he  appears  against 
Cromwell's  design  in  the  last  Assembly,'  the  constitutioning  Parliament,  where 
his  behaviour  was  none  of  the  best  ;  *  and  is  therefore  dismissed  the  Council, 
Cromwell  being  resolved  to  act  there  as  the  chief  juggler  himself ;  and  one 
Colonel  Mackworth,  a  Lawyer  about  Shrewsbury,  a  person  fit  for  his  purpose, 
is  chosen  in  his  room.' — Mackworth  was  a  Soldier  as  well  as  Lawyer ;  the  same 
who,  as  Governor  of  Shrewsbury,  gave  negative  response  to  Charles  Second, 
when  he  summoned  him  on  the  road  to  Worcester,  once  upon  a  time.  Mack- 
worth  was  in  the  Council,  and  had  even  died,  and  entirely  left  the  Council, 
before  Anthony  Ashley  left  it  (Thurloe,  iii.  581  ;  and  Godwin,  iv.  288).  My 
solid  friend,  absent  in  Ireland,  sulkily  breathing  the  air  in  Essex,  falls  into  some 
errors !  Court-rumour,  this  of  his  ;  truth  in  the  heart  of  it,  details  rather 
vague  ; — not  much  worth  verifying  or  rectifying  here, 
1  Vol.  i.  p.  71. 


260     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [26  AUG. 

without  some  slow  satisfactory  feeling.  England  is  in  peace 
at  home  ;  stands  as  the  Queen  of  Protestantism  abroad  ;  defies 
Spain  and  Antichrist,  protects  poor  Piedmont  Protestants  and 
servants  of  Christ  ;  —  has  taken,  all  men  admit,  a  nobler 
attitude  than  it  ever  had  before. 

Nor  has  the  task  been  easy  hitherto ;  nor  is  it  like  to  be. 
No  holiday  work,  governing  such  an  England  as  this  of  Oliver 
Protector's ;  with  strong  Papistry  abroad,  and  a  Hydra  of 
Anarchies  at  home !  The  domestic  Hydra  is  not  slain ; 
cannot,  by  the  nature  of  it,  be  slain ;  can  only  be  scotched 
and  mowed  down,  head  after  head,  as  it  successively  protrudes 
itself; — till,  by  the  aid  of  Time,  it  slowly  die.  As  yet,  on 
any  hint  of  foreign  encouragement  it  revives  again,  requires  to 
be  scotched  and  mowed  down  again.  His  exiled  Majesty 
Charles  Stuart  has  got  a  new  lever  in  hand,  by  means  of  this 
War  with  Spain. 

Seven  years  ago  his  exiled  Majesty's  «  Embassy  to  Spain,' 
embassy  managed  by  Chancellor  Hyde  and  another,  proved 
rather  a  hungry  affair ;  and  ended,  I  think,  in  little, — except 
the  murder  of  poor  Ascham,  the  then  Parliament's  Envoy  at 
Madrid  ;  whom,  like  Dutch  Dorislaus,  as  *  an  accursed  regicide 
or  abettor  of  regicides,'  certain  cut-throat  servants  of  the  said 
hungry  Embassy  broke-in  upon,  one  afternoon,  and  slew.  For 
which  violent  deed  no  full  satisfaction  could  be  got  from 
Spain,  —  the  murderers  having  taken  *  sanctuary,'  as  was 
pleaded.1  With  that  rather  sorry  result,  and  no  other  notice- 
able, Chancellor  Hyde's  Embassy  took  itself  away  again  ;  Spain 
ordering  it  to  go.  But  now,  this  fierce  Protestant  Protector 
breathing  nothing  but  war,  Spain  finds  that  the  English 
domestic  Hydra,  if  well  operated  upon  by  Charles  Stuart, 
might  be  a  useful  thing;  and  grants  Charles  Stuart  some 
encouragements  for  that.  His  poor  Majesty  is  coming  to  the 
seashore  again ;  is  to  have  '  Seven-thousand  Spaniards '  to 
invade  England, — if  the  domestic  Hydra  will  stir  with  effect. 

1  Clarendon,  iii.  498-509 ;  Process  and  Pleadings  in  the  Court  of  Spain  upon 
the  Death  of  Anthony  Ascham  (in  Harl.  Miscell.  vi.  236-47). 


1656]    LETTER  CCXIII.    WHITEHALL    261 

The  domestic  Hydra,  I  think,  had  better  lie  quiet  for  a  while ! 
This  Letter  to  Henry  Cromwell  is  to  bid  him  too,  for  his 
part,  be  awake  in  Ireland  to  these  things. 

For  the  Hydra  is  not  dead ;  and  its  heads  are  legion. 
Major  Wildman,  for  example,  sits  safe  in  Chepstow :  but 
Sexby,  the  Anabaptist  Colonel,  whom  we  could  not  take  on 
that  occasion,  is  still  busy ;  has  been  *  trying  to  seduce  the 
Fleet,1  trying  to  do  this  and  that ;  is  now  fairly  gone  to 
Spain,  to  treat  with  Antichrist  himself  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing-in  a  Reign  of  Christ, — the  truly  desperate  Ana- 
baptist Colonel ! 1  It  is  a  Hydra  like  few.  Spiritual  and 
Practical :  Muggletonians,  mad  Quakers  riding  into  Bristol, 
Fifth-Monarchists,  Hungry  Flunkies  :  ever  scheming,  plotting 
with  or  without  hope,  to  '  seduce  the  Protectors  Guard,"  '  to 
blow-up  the  Protector  in  his  bed-room,'  and  do  '  other  little 
fiddling  things,1  as  the  Protector  calls  them,  —  which  one 
cannot  waste  time  in  specifying  !  Only  the  slow  course 
of  nature  can  kill  that  Hydra :  till  a  Colonel  Sexby  die,  how 
can  you  keep  him  quiet  ? — 

But  what  doubtless  gives  new  vitality  to  plotting,  in  these 
weeks,  is  the  fact  that  a  General  Election  to  Parliament  is 
going  on.  There  is  to  be  a  new  Parliament ; — in  which  may 
lie  who  knows  what  contentions.  The  Protector  lost  it  last 
time,  by  the  arithmetical  account  of  heads  ;  will  he  gain  it 
this  time  ?  Account  of  heads  is  not  exactly  the  Protector's 
basis ;  but  he  hopes  he  may  now  gain  it  even  so.  At  all 
events,  this  wide  foreign  and  domestic  Spanish  War  cannot  be 
carried  on  without  supplies ;  he  will  first  try  it  so, — then 
otherwise  if  not  so. 

**  TO  HENEY  CROMWELL,  MAJOR-GENERAL  OF  THE  ARMY  IN  IRELAND " 

"  Whitehall/'  26th  August  1656. 

San  Harry, —  We  are  informed,  from  several  hands,  thai 
the  old  Enemy  are  forming  designs  to  invade  Ireland,  a,s  well 

1  Clarendon,  iii.  852 ;  Thurloe,  iv.  698,  ecc. 


262     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [26  AUG. 

as  other  parts  of  the  Commonwealth ;  and  that  he  and  Spain 
have  very  great  correspondence  with  some  chief  men  in  that 
Nation,  for  raising  a  sudden  rebellion  there. 

Therefore  we  judge  it  very  necessary  that  you  take  all 
possible  care  to  put  the  Forces  into  such  a  condition  as  may 
answer  anything  that  may  fall-out  in  this  kind.  And  to  that 
end,  that  you  contract  the  Garrisons  in  Ireland,  as  many  as  may 
be ;  and  get  a  considerable  marching  Army  into  the  fold,  in 
two  or  three  bodies,  to  be  left  in  the  most  proper  and  advanta- 
geous places  for  service,  as  occasion  shall  require.  Taking 
also,  in  all  other  things,  your  best  care  you  can  to  break  and 
prevent  the  designs  and  combinations  of  the  Enemy  ; — and 
a  very  particular  regard  is  to  be  had  to  the  North,  where, 
without  question,  busy  and  discontented  persons  are  working 
towards  new  disturbances.  I  do  not  doubt  but  you  will  com- 
municate this  thing  to  Colonel  Cowper,  to  the  end  he  may  be 
more  watchfid  and  diligent  in  looking  to  this  danger.  I  rest, 
your  loving  father,  OUVER  CROMWELL* 

« Colonel  Cowper '  commands  the  Forces  in  Ulster.  Plenty 
of  details  about  him  in  Thurloe's  Fourth  Volume : — our 
readers  can  sufficiently  conceive  him  without  details.  We  are 
more  interested  to  state,  from  a  Letter  of  Thurloe's  which  goes 
along  with  this,  that  there  are  '  Fourteen  Spanish  ships  plying 
about  the  Isle  of  Islay,'  doubtless  with  an  eye  to  Carrickfergus  ; 
that  we  hope,  and  indeed  believe,  my  Lord  Henry  will  be  on 
the  alert.  For  the  rest,  the  Elections  are  going  well ;  all 
'  for  peace  and  settlement,'  as  we  hear,  *  and  great  friends  to 
the  Government.'  Ashley  Cooper,  indeed,  has  been  chosen 
for  Wilts  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  Bradshaw  has  missed  in 
Cheshire  ;  Sir  Henry  Vane  has  tried  in  three  places  and  missed 
in  all.1  This  is  of  date  26th  August  1656;  poor  England 
universally  sifting  itself ;  trying  what  the  arithmetical  account 
of  heads  will  do  for  it,  once  more. 

*  Sloane  MSS.  4157,  f.  209  ;  and  (with  insignificant  variations)  Thurloe,  v.  348. 
1  Thurloe  to  Henry  Cromwell,  date  26th  Aug.  (v.  349). 


1656]    LETTER  CCXIV.     WHITEHALL 


LETTER    CCXIV 

THE  Portugal  has  done  justice ;  reluctantly  aware  at  last 
that  Jesuitries  would  not  serve  him.1  The  Spaniards,  again, 
cower  close  within  their  harbours  ;  patient  of  every  insult ;  no 
ship  will  venture  out,  and  no  Plate  Fleet  will  come  in :  and 
as  for  '  attempting  Cadiz  or  Gibraltar,"*  the  Sea-Generals,  after 
mature  survey,  decide  that  without  other  force  it  cannot 
prudently  be  done.  This  is  what  Montague,  with  his  clear 
eyes,  has  had  to  report  to  Secretary  Thurloe  on  the  latter 
enterprise  :  '  I  perceive  much  desire  that  Gibraltar  should  be 
taken.  My  thoughts  as  to  that  are,  in  short,  these :  That  the 
likeliest  way  to  get  it  is,  By  landing  on  the  sand,  and  quickly 
cutting  it  off  between  sea  and  sea,  or  so  securing  our  men  there 
as  that  they  may  hinder  the  intercourse  of  the  Town  with  the 
Main ;  frigates  lying  near,  too,  to  assist  them  : — and  it.  is 
well  known  that  Spain  never  victualleth  any  place  for  one 
month.  This  will  want  Four  or  Five  thousand  men,  well 
formed  and  officered. — This  is  my  own  only  thought  which  J 
submit,  at  present."1 2 

Whereupon  the  Lord  Protector  sends  the  following  Orders ; 
one  other  Sea  Letter  of  his  which  we  happen  to  have  left. 
Mainly  of  Thurloe's  composition,  I  perceive  ;  but  worth  pre- 
serving on  various  accounts. 

TO  GENERALS  BLAKE  AND  MONTAGUE,  AT  SEA 

Whitehall,  28th  August  1656. 

Gentlemen, — We  have  received  your  Letters  of  the  19th  of 
June  brought  to  us  by  Captain  Lloyd,  who  arrived  here  the 
llth  of  July. 

1  Meadows  10  Blake  and  Montague,  I3th  May  1656  :  Thurloe,  v.  14;— see  ib. 
69,  116,  and  118  (the  Portugal's  Letter  to  Oliver,  24th  June  1656). 

2  Montague  to  Thurloe,  in  cipher,  2Oth  April  to  291*1  May  1656  ( Thurloe,  v.  67- 
70),  'received  by  Captain  Lloyd,  who  arrived  here  nth  July,'— and  has  brought 
other  Letters,  joint  Letters  from  the  Generals,  of  somewhat  later  date,  as  we 
shall  perceive. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS     [28  AUG. 

By  those  Letters,  and  by  what  Captain  Lloyd  related  by 
word  of  mouth, — which  is  not  contradicted  by  yours  of  the 
\st  and  3d  of  July,  "since"  received  by  the  Squadron  of  Ten 
Ships  (which  are  all  safely  arrived  in  the  Channel),  nor  by 
any  other  intelligence  received  by  other  hands, — we  find  That 
the  Spaniard  keeps  "  within "  his  Ports,  and  doth  not  yet 
prepare  any  considerable  Fleet  to  come  to  Sea ;  and  that,  in 
the  condition  you  and  they  were  then  in,  they  were  not  to  be 
attempted  in  their  Harbours.  And  as  for  any  design  upon 
Gibraltar,  we  see  by  General  Montague's  Letter  to  the  Secretary, 
that  nothing  therein  was  feasible  without  a  good  Body  of 
Landsmen. — So  that,  upon  the  whole,  there  remains  nothing 
to  be  done,  in  those  seas  for  the  present,  which  should  require 
the  whole  Fleet  now  with  you  to  remain  there.  Besides  that 
the  Great  Ships  cannot,  without  great  danger,  be  kept  out, 
the  winter-time,  upon  that  coast. 

Upon  these  grounds  we  are  of  opinion,  with  you,  That  a 
good  Squadron  of  Frigates  will,  in  this  season,  be  sufficient  to 
answer  any  opportunity  of  service  which  may  present  itself. 
And  therefore  we  have  resolved  That  about  the  number  of 
Twenty  Ships,  such  as  you  shall  judge  proper  and  Jit  for  that 
purpose,  be  kept  in  those  seas  ,•  and  the  rest  be  sent  home,  with 
the  first  opportunity  of  wind  and  weather : — and  desire  that 
you  will  give  order  therein  accordingly.  And  in  respect  it 
will  be  necessary  that  we  advise  with  one  of  you  at  least,  upon 
this  whole  affair ;  and  it  being  also  very  inconvenient  that  you 
should  be  both  from  the  head  of  the  Fleet  which  remains 
behind,  the  management  thereof  being  of  so  great  concernment 
to  the  Commonwealth, — we  would  have  General  Blake  to  stay 
with  the  Fleet,  and  General  Montague  to  come  with  the 
Squadron  which  comes  home. 

For  the  service  which  these  Ships  "that  stay1"1  should  be  applied 
to,— —we  need  say  nothing  therein ;  but  refer  you  to  the  former 
Instructions.  That  which  we  believe  the  Enemy  will  most 
intend  will  be  the  carrying-on  his  Trade  to  the  West  indies; 


1656]    LETTER  CCXIV.     WHITEHALL    265 

which  if  he  can  effectually  do,  he  will  not  much  care  for  what 
else  is  done  upon  him.  And  our  intelligence  is,  That  at  this 
time  he  is  jitting-out  some  Ships  of  war,  and  others,  to  send 
from  Cadiz  into  those  parts  ; — the  certainty  wJiereofwe  suppose 
you  may  Jcnow.  And  therefore  that  which  is  most  to  be 
endeavoured  is,  The  spoiling1  him  in  that  Trade,  by  intercepting 
his  Fleets  either  going  to  or  coming  from  those  parts,1 — and 
as  much  as  may  be  To  destroy  his  correspondencies  thither. 
It  will  be  of  great  use  also  to  prevent  the  coming  of  any 
Materials  for  Shipping,  or  other  contraband  goods  into  Cadiz 
or  any  of  his  Ports :  which  you  can  have  an  eye  to ;  and,  as 
much  as  may  be,  prejudice  his  correspondency  with  Flanders. 

Besides  these  things,  and  what  other  damage  you  may  have 
an  opportunity  to  do  the  Enemy,  we,  in  our  keeping  the  said 
Fleet  in  those  Seas,  had  an  eye  to  the  Preservation  of  the 
Trade  of  this  Commonwealth  in  the  Straits  and  to  Portugal : 2 
which  we  suppose  could  not  be  driven  on  without  a  very  good 
countenance  and  strength, — in  respect  the  Enemy  would  other- 
wise be  able  with  a  few  ships  to  obstruct  this  trade  wholly,  and 
to  take  all  that  passed  either  to  or  from  the  one  place  or  the 
other.  But  our  intention  is  not  To  reckon  up  every  particular 
wherein  this  Fleet  may  be  useful,  but  only  To  let  you  know  our 
general  scope ;  and  to  kave  the  management  and  improvement 
thereof  to  the  prudence  and  direction  of  him  who  is  to  abide 
upon  the  place.  Whom  we  beseech  the  Lord  to  be  present  with ; 
and  to  guide  him  to  that  which  may  be  for  the  good  of  this 
Commonwealth,  and  according  to  His  own  will. 

These  have  been  our  thoughts,  and  the  considerations  we 
have  had  upon  this  Affair.  If  anything  else  doth  occur  to  you 
different  from  what  is  here  expressed,  either  as  to  the  number  of 
Ships  to  remain  in  those  seas,  or  the  way  and  manner  of 
weakening  the  Enemy  and  managing  the  War  against  him, — 

1  '  thence '  in  orig. 

2  Here,  I  think,  at  the  beginning  of  this  Paragraph,  the  Protector  himself  has 
more  decidedly  struck  in. 


266      PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [28  AUG. 

we  desire  to  understand  your  sense  and  advice  hereupon,  with 
all  possible  speed ;  sooner ;  if  it  may  be,  than  the  return  of  the 
aforesaid  Squadron.  And  in  the  mean  time  we  are  not  willing 
to  tie  you  up  positively  to  the  number  of  Twenty  Ships  to 
remain  on  that  Coast ;  but  give  you  a  latitude  to  keep  a  lesser 
or  greater  number  there,  for  answering  the  ends  aforesaid,  and 
"  so  "  as  you  shall  Jind  the  occasion  to  require,  which  possibly 
may  be  very  much  varied  since  the  last  we  had  from  you. — For 
what  concerns  the  Provisions  of  victuals  and  oilier  things  which 
the  Fleet  will  stand  in  need  of,  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Admiralty  have  direction  to  write  at  large  to  you.  Unto 
whose  Letters  we  refer  you  ,• — and  desire  you  and  the  whole 
Fleet  to  rest  assured  that  nothing  shall  be  omitted  to  be  done, 
here,  for  your  supply  and  encouragement  upon  all  occasions. 
Your  loving  friend,  (t  QLIVER  p,,  * 

About  a  fortnight  ago,  August  13th,  learned  Bulstrode 
went  with  the  Swedish  Ambassador  to  dine  with  a  famed  Sea- 
General,  Sir  George  Ayscough,  of  whom  we  have  occasionally 
heard ;  who  lives  for  the  present,  retired  from  service,  *  at  his 
House  in  Surrey ' :  House  not  known  to  me  ;  which  by  the  aid 
of  <  ponds,  moats,'  and  hydraulic  contrivances,  he  has  made  to 
4  stand  environed  in  water  like  a  ship  at  sea,' — very  charming 
indeed  ;  and  says  he  has  '  cast  anchor '  here.  Our  entertain- 
ment was  superb.  The  brilliant  Swedish  Ambassador  and  Sir 
George  spake  much  about  frigates,  their  rates  of  sailing,  their 
capabilities  of  fighting,  and  other  technical  topics ;  which  a 
learned  mind  might,  without  much  tedium,  listen  to.  '  After 
dinner,  the  Ambassador  came  round  by  Hampton  Court,  to 
take  his  leave  of  the  Lady  Claypole  and  her  Sisters ' ; l — 
which  latter  small  fact,  in  the  ancient  Autumn  afternoon,  one 
rather  loves  to  remember  !  As  for  this  Swedish  Ambassador, 
he  is  just  about  quitting  England,  the  high-tempered,  clear- 
glancing  man  ;  having  settled  '  copperas,'  '  contrabanda,'  and 

*  Thurloe,  v.    363.     'Sent  to   Plymouth,   To  be  sent   to  the   Generals  by 
Captain  Hatsell.'  '  Whitlocke,  pp.  638-9. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  267 

many  other  things,  to  mutual  satisfaction  ; — nay  it  is  surmised 
he  has  thoughts  of  inviting  Ayscough  into  Sweden  to  teach 
them  seamanship  there ;  which,  however,  shall  not  concern  us 
on  this  occasion.1 


SPEECH    V 

Birr  the  new  Parliament  is  now  about  assembling  ;  wherein 
we  shall  see  what  conclusions  will  be  tried  !  A  momentous 
question  for  his  Highness  and  the  Council  of  State  ;  who  have 
been,  with  interest  enough,  perusing  and  pondering  the  List 
of  Names  returned.  On  the  whole,  a  hopeful  Parliament,  as 
Thurloe  had  expected  :  Official  persons,  these  and  others 
known  as  friends  to  this  Government,  are  copiously  elected  : 
the  great  body  of  the  Parliament  seems  to  consist  of  men 
well-affected  to  his  Highness,  and  even  loyal  to  him ;  who, 
witnessing  the  course  he  follows,  wish  him  heartily  God- 
speed thereon.  Certain  others  there  are,  and  in  considerable 
number,  of  stiff  Republican  ways,  or  given  to  turbulence  in 
general, — a  Haselrig,  a  Thomas  Scott,  an  Ashley  Cooper: 
these,  as  a  mass  of  leaven  which  might  leaven  the  whole  lump, 
and  produce  one  knows  not  what  in  the  way  of  fermentation, 
are  clearly  very  dangerous.  But  for  these  also  his  Highness 
and  the  Council  of  State,  in  the  present  anomalous  condition 
of  the  Nation,  have  silently  provided  an  expedient.  Which 
we  hope  may  be  of  service.  On  the  whole,  we  trust  this 
Parliament  may  prove  a  better  than  the  last. 

At  all  events,  on  Wednesday  17th  September  1656,  Par- 
liament, Protector,  all  in  due  state,  do  assemble  at  the  Abbey 
Church  ;  and,  with  reverence  and  credence,  hear  Doctor  Owen, 
Vice-Chancellor  of  Oxford,  very  pertinently  preach  to  them 
from  these  old  words  of  Isaiah, — old  and  yet  always  new  and 
true  :  What  shall  one  then  answer  to  the  Messengers  of  the 
Nation  ?  That  the  Lord  hath  founded  Zion,  and  the  Pool 

1  Biog.   Britan.  §  Ayscough. 


268     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

of  His  People  shall  trust  in  it.1  After  which,  all  having 
removed,  still  in  due  state,  to  the  Painted  Chamber,  and 
there  adjusted  themselves,  the  Protector,  rising  in  his  ele- 
vated place  and  taking  off  his  hat,  now  speaks.  The  Speech, 
reported  by  one  knows  not  whom,  lies  in  old  Manuscript  in 
the  British  Museum  ;  and  printed  in  late  years  in  the  Book 
called  Burton's  Diary ;  here  and  there  in  a  very  dreary, 
besmeared,  unintelligible  condition  ;  from  which,  as  hereto- 
fore, a  pious  Editor  strives  to  rescue  it.  Sufficiently  studied, 
it  becomes  intelligible,  nay  luminous.  Let  the  reader  too 
read  with  piety,  with  a  real  endeavour  to  understand. 

'GENTLEMEN, — When  I  came  hither,  I  did  think  that  a 
1  duty  was  incumbent  upon  me  a  little  to  pity  myself; 
'  because,  this  being  a  very  extraordinary  occasion,  I  thought 
'  I  had  very  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  "and  was  some- 
'  what  burdened  and  straitened  thereby."  But  truly  now, 
'  seeing  you  in  such  a  condition  as  you  are,2 1  think  I  must 
6  turn  off  "  my  pity  "  in  this,  as  I  hope  I  shall  in  everything 
'  else  ; — and  consider  you  as  certainly  not  being  able  long 
'  to  bear  that  condition  and  heat  that  you  are  now  in. — 
'  "So  far  as  possible,  on  this  large  subject,  let  us  be  brief; 
4  not  studying  the  Art  of  Rhetoricians."  Rhetoricians,  whom 
4  I  do  not  pretend  to  "  much  concern  with  " ;  neither  with 
'  them,  nor  with  what  they  use  to  deal  in  :  Words  ! 

'  Truly  our  business  is  to  speak  Things  !  The  Dispensa- 
'  tions  of  God  that  are  upon  us  do  require  it ;  and  that 
'  subject  upon  which  we  shall  make  our  discourse  is  somewhat 
'  of  very  great  interest  and  concernment,  both  for  the  glory 
'  of  God,  and  with  reference  to  His  Interest  in  the  world.  I 
6  mean  His  peculiar,  His  most  peculiar  Interest,  "  His  Church, 
4  the  Communion  of  the  faithful  Followers  of  Christ "  ; — and 
<  that  will  not  leave  any  of  us  to  exclude  His  general  Interest, 
4  which  is  the  concernment  of  the  Living  People,  "  not  as 
'  Christians  but  as  human  creatures,"  within  these  three 

1  Isaiah  xiv.  32.  2  Place  crowded,  weather  hot. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  269 

'  Nations,  and  all  the  Dependencies  thereupon.  I  have  told 
'  you  I  should  speak  to  things ;  things  that  concern  these 
«  Interests  :  The  Glory  of  God,  and  His  Peculiar  Interest  in 
'  the  world, — which  "  latter "  is  more  extensive,  I  say  more 
'  extensive,  than  the  People  of  all  these  three  Nations  with 
'  the  appurtenances,  or  the  countries  and  places,  belonging 

*  unto  them.1 

*  The  first  thing,  therefore,  that  I  shall  speak  to  is  That 

6  that  is  the  first  lesson  of  Nature  :  Being  and  Preservation. 

[Begin  at  the  basis :  How  are  we  to  get  continued  at  all  as 

a  Nation,  not  trampled  under  foot  by  Invaders,  Anarchies, 

6  and  reduced  to  wreck  ?}      As  to  that  of  Being,  I  do  think 

4  I  do  not  ill  style  it  the  first  consideration  which  Nature 

'  teacheth  the  Sons  of  Adam  : — and  then  I  think  we  shall 

4  enter  into  a  field  large  enough  when  we  come  to  consider 

6  that  of  Well-being.      But  if  Being  itself  be  not  first  well 

6  laid,  I  think  the  other  will  hardly  follow ! 

'  Now  in  order  to  this,  to  the  Being  and  Subsistence  of 
6  these  Nations  with  all  their  Dependencies  :  The  conserva- 
'  tion  of  that,  "  namely  of  our  National  Being,"  is  first  to  be 
'  viewed  with  respect  to  those  who  seek  to  undo  it,  and  so 

*  make  it  not  to  be  ;  and  then  very  naturally  we  shall  come 
'  to  the  consideration  of  what  will  make  it  be,  of  what  will 
'  keep  its  being  and  subsistence.      [His  Highnesses  heads  of 

method.] 

6  "  Now,"  that  which  plainly  seeks  the  destruction  of  the 
'  Being  of  these  Nations  is,  out  of  doubt  :  The  endeavour 
'  and  design  of  all  the  common  Enemies  of  them.  I  think, 
4  truly,  it  will  not  be  hard  to  find  out  who  those  Enemies 

*  are ;  nor  what  hath  made  them  so  !     I  think,  They  are  all 
4  the  wicked  men  in  the  world,  whether  abroad  or  at  home, 

*  that  are  the  Enemies  to  the  very  Being  of  these  Nations ; — 

1  '  More  extensive ' :  more  important  would  have  better  suited  what  went 
before  ;  yet  '  extensive '  is  in  all  likelihood  the  word,  for  his  Highness  is  here 
branching  out  into  a  second  idea,  which  he  goes  on  to  blend  with  the  primary 
one,  of  '  the  concernment  of  the  general  mass  of  the  People.' 


270     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  and  this  upon  a  common  account,  from  the  very  enmity 
•4  that  is  in  them  "  to  all  such  things."  Whatsoever  could 
6  serve  the  glory  of  God  and  the  interest  of  His  People, — 
4  which  they  see  to  be  more  eminently,  yea  more  eminently 
6  patronised  and  professed  in  this  Nation  (we  will  not  speak 

*  it  with  vanity)  than  in  all  the  Nations  in  the  world  :    this 
6  is  the  common  ground  of  the  common  enmity  entertained 
4  against  the  prosperity  of  our  Nation,  against  the  very  Being 

*  of  it. — But  we  will  not,  I  think,  take  up  our  time,  con- 
4  templating  who  these  Enemies  are,  and  what  they  are,  in 

*  the  general  notion  :  we  will  labour  to  specificate  our  Enemies  ; 
4  to  know  what  persons  and  bodies  of  persons  they  practically 

*  are  that  seek  the  very  destruction  and *  Being  of  these  Three 

*  Nations. 

4  And  truly  I  would  not  have  laid  such  a  foundation  but 
4  to  the  end  I  might  very  particularly  communicate  with  you 
4  "  about  that  same  matter. "  From  which  "  above  others," 
6  I  think,  you  are  called  hither  at  this  time  : — That  I  might 
6  particularly  communicate  with  you  about  the  many  dangers 
6  these  Nations  stand  in,  from  Enemies  abroad  and  at  home  ; 
1  and  advise  with  you  about  the  remedies,  and  means  to 
4  obviate  these  dangers.  "  Dangers "  which, — say  I,  and  I 
8  shall  leave  it  to  you  whether  you  will  join  with  me  or  no, 
4  — strike  at  the  very  Being  and  "  vital  "  interest  of  these 
4  Nations.  And  therefore,  coming  to  particulars,  I  will 
6  shortly  represent  to  you  the  estate  of  your  affairs  in  that 
4  respect :  in  respect  "  namely,"  of  the  Enemies  you  are 
4  engaged  with ;  and  how  you  come  to  be  engaged  with  those 
4  Enemies,  and  how  they  come  to  be,  as  heartily,  I  believe, 
4  engaged  against  you.  [His  Highnesses  utterance  is  terribly 
rusty  hitherto  ;  creaky,  uncertain,  difficult !  He  will  gather 
strength  by  going.  Wait  till  the  axles  get  warm  a  little  /] 

4  Why,  truly,  your  great  Enemy  is  the  Spaniard.      He  is 
4  a  natural  enemy.      He  is  naturally  so ;  he  is  naturally  so 
1  '  of  the  '  would  be  more  grammatical ;  but  much  less  Oliverian. 


1656]  SPEECH    V 

6  throughout, — by  reason  of  that  enmity  that  is  in  him  against 
1  whatsoever  is  of  God.  "  Whatsoever  is  of  God  "  which  is 
'  in  you,  or  which  may  be  in  you ;  contrary  to  that  which 
'  his  blindness  and  darkness,  led  on  by  superstition,  and  the 
'  implicitness  of  his  faith  in  submitting  to  the  See  of  Rome, 
6  actuate *  him  unto  ! — With  this  King  and  State,  I  say,  you 
'  are  at  present  in  hostility.  We  put  you  into  this  hostility. 
*  You  will  give  us  leave  to  tell  you  how.  [By  sending  out 

your  Hispaniola  Fleet,  Christmas  gone  a  year, — which  has 
'  issued  rather  sorrily,  your  Highness  /]  For  we  are  ready  to 
'excuse  "this  and"  most  of  our  actions, — and  to  justify 
'  them  too,  as  well  as  to  excuse  them, — upon  the  ground  of 
6  Necessity.  "  And  "  the  ground  of  Necessity,  for  justifying 
4  of  men's  actions,  is  above  all  considerations  of  instituted 
'  Law  ;  and  if  this  or  any  other  State  should  go  about, — 
'  as  I  know  they  never  will, — to  make  Laws  against  Events, 
'  against  what  may  happen,  "  then "  I  think  it  is  obvious 
'  to  any  man,  they  will  be  making  Laws  against  Providence ; 
'  events,  and  issues  of  things,  being  from  God  alone,  to  whom 
'  all  issues  belong. 

*  The  Spaniard  is  your  enemy ;  and  your  enemy,  as  I  tell 
'  you,  naturally,  by  that  antipathy  which  is  in  him, — "  and 
'  also  "  providentially,2  and  this  in  divers  respects.  You  could 
4  not  get  an  honest  or  honourable  Peace  from  him  :  it  was 
'  sought  by  the  Long  Parliament ;  it  was  not  attained.  It 
'  could  not  be  attained  with  honour  and  honesty.  I  say,  it 
4  could  not  be  attained  with  honour  and  honesty.  And  truly 
<•  when  I  say  that,  "  I  do  but  say,"  He  is  naturally  throughout 
'  an  enemy  ;  an  enmity  is  put  into  him  by  God.  '  I  will  put 
«  an  enmity  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed ' ; 8 — which  goes 
'  but  for  little  among  statesmen,  but  is  more  considerable 
'  than  all  things!  [Yea,  your  Highness;  it  is! — Listen  to 

what  his  Highness  himself  says  of  his  reasons  for  going  to 

1  *  acts  '  in  orig.,  now  as  always. 

2  Means,  not  '  luckily '  as  now,  but  simply  '  by  special  ordering  of  Provi- 
dence.' 3  Genesis  Hi.  15. 


272     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

war  with  Spain.      '  Statesmen '  too,  if  they  can  separate  therein 
what  is  transitory  from  what  is  perennial  and  eternal,  may  find 
it  still  very  worthy  of  attention.      He  who  has  in  him,  who 
manifests  in  the  ways  of  him,  an  'enmity  to  God,'*  and  goes 
about  patronising  unveracities,  rotten  delusions,  brazen  fal- 
sities, pestilent   injustices, — with  him,   whatever  his  seeming 
extent  of  money -capital  and  worldly  prosperity  may  be,  I  would 
advise  no   nation   nor  statesman  nor  man  to   be  prompt  in 
clapping-up  an  alliance.      He  will  not  come  to  good,  I  think ; 
not  he,  for  one.     Bad  security  in  his  firm ;  have  no   trade 
with  him.      With  him  your  only  Jit  trade  is,  Duel  to  the  death, 
'  when  the  time  comes  for  that  /]      And  he  that  considers  not 
'  such  natural  enmity,  the  providential  enmity,  as  well  as  the 
6  accidental,  I  think  he  is  not  well  acquainted  with  Scripture 
4  and  the  things  of  God.      And  the  Spaniard  is  not  only  our 
'  enemy  accidentally,  but  he  is  providentially  so ;  God  having 
<  in  His  wisdom  disposed  it  so  to  be,  when  we  made  a  breach 
'  with  the  Spanish  Nation  "  long  ago.'' 

'  No  sooner  did  this  Nation  form  what  is  called  (unworthily) 

'  the  Reformed  Religion  [It  was  not  half  reformed !]  after  the 

'  death   of  Queen  Mary,  by  the   Queen  Elizabeth  of  famous 

'  memory, — we  need  not  be  ashamed  to  call  her  so  !     [No, 

your  Highness ;  the  royal  court-phrase  expresses  in  this  case 

an  exact  truth.      She  was,  and  is,  '  of  famous  memory '] — 

*  but  the  Spaniard's  design  became,  By  all  unworthy,  unnatural 
'  means,  to  destroy  that  Person,  and  to  seek   the  ruin  and 
1  destruction   of  these   Kingdoms.       For   me   to   instance   in 
'  particulars  upon  that  account,  were  to  trouble  you  at  a  very 
'  unseasonable   time :    there    is    a    Declaration    extant    [The 
6  Council's   *  Declaration?   in   October   last],   which   very   fully 

*  hath  in  it  the  origin  of  the  Spaniard  venting  himself  upon 

*  this  Nation ;  and  a  series  of  it1  from  those  very  beginnings 
'*  to  this  present  day.      But  his  enmity  was  partly  upon  that 
'  general  account  which  all  are  agreed  "  about."     The  French, 
'  all  the  Protestants   in  Germany,  all  have  agreed,  That  his 

1  Of  '  his  ventings, '  namely. 


1656  SPEECH    V 

6  design  was  the  empire  of  the  whole  Christian  World,  if 
'not  more; — and  upon  that  ground  he  looks,  "and  hath 
'  looked,"  at  this  Nation  as  his  greatest  obstacle.  And  as  to 
'  what  his  attempts  have  been  for  that  end, — I  refer  you 
6  to  that  Declaration,  and  to  the  observations  of  men  who 
'  read  History.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  call  to  mind  the 
'  several  Assassinations  designed  upon  that  Lady,  that  great 
(  Queen  :  the  attempts  upon  Ireland,  the  Spaniards1  invading 
4  of  it ;  their  designs  of  the  same  nature  upon  this  Nation, — 
'  public  designs,  private  designs,  all  manner  of  designs,  to 
'  accomplish  this  great  and  general  end.  Truly  King  James 

*  made  a  Peace ;  but  whether  this  Nation,  and  the  interest  of 
'  all  Protestant  Christians,  suffered  not  more  by  that  Peace, 
'  than  ever  by  Spain's  hostility,  I  refer  to  your  consideration  ! 

'Thus  a  State  which  you  can  neither  have  peace  with  nor 
6  reason  from, — that  is  the  State  with  which  you  have  enmity 
4  at  this  time,  and  against  which  you  are  engaged.  And  give 
'  me  leave  to  say  this  unto  you,  because  it  is  truth,  and  most 
'  men  know  it,  That  the  Long  Parliament  did  endeavour,  but 
'  could  not  obtain  satisfaction  "  from  the  Spaniard "  all  the 
'  time  they  sat :  for  their  Messenger  [Poor  Ascham !]  was 
'  murdered  :  and  when  they  asked  satisfaction  for  the  blood  of 
'  your  poor  people  unjustly  shed  in  the  West  Indies  [Yes,  at 
'  Tortuga,  at  St.  Kitfs ;  in  many  a  place  and  time  /],  and  for 
4  the  wrongs  done  elsewhere ;  when  they  asked  liberty  of 
4  conscience  for  your  people  who  traded  thither, — satisfaction 
4  in  none  of  these  things  would  be  given,  but  was  denied.  I 
6  say,  they  denied  satisfaction  either  for  your  Messenger  that 
'  was  murdered,  or  for  the  blood  that  was  shed,  or  the 
«  damages  that  were  done  in  the  West  Indies.  No  satis- 
'. faction  at  all ;  nor  any  reason  offered  why  there  should  not 
6  be  liberty  "  of  conscience  "  given  to  your  people  that  traded 

*  thither.      Whose  trade  was  very  considerable  there,  and  drew 

*  many  of  your  people  thither ;  and  begot  an  apprehension  in 
<  us  "  as  to  their  treatment  there," — whether  in  you  or  no,  let 
'  God  judge  between  you  and  Himself.      I  judge  not :  but  all 

VOL.  in.  s 


274     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

6  of  us  know  that  the  people  who  went  thither  to  manage  the 
4  trade  there,  were  imprisoned.  We  desired  "  but "  such  a 
4  liberty  as  "  that "  they  might  keep  their  Bibles  in  their 
4  pockets,  to  exercise  their  liberty  of  religion  for  themselves, 
4  and  not  be  under  restraint.  But  there  is  not  liberty  of 
4  conscience  to  be  had  "  from  the  Spaniard  " ;  neither  is  there 
6  satisfaction  for  injuries,  nor  for  blood.  When  these  two 

*  things  were  desired,  the  Ambassador  told  us,  4  It  was  to  ask 

*  his  Master's  two  eyes ' ;  *  to  ask  both  his  eyes,  asking  these 
4  things  of  him  ! — 

'Now  if  this  be  so,  why  truly  then  here  is  some  little 
4  foundation  laid  to  justify  the  War  that  has  been  entered- 
4  upon2  with  the  Spaniard  !  And  not  only  so  :  but  the  plain 
4  truth  of  it  is,  Make  any  peace  with  any  State  that  is  Popish 
4  and  subjected  to  the  determination  of  Rome  and  "of"  the 
4  Pope  himself, — you  are  bound,  and  they  are  loose.  It  is 
4  the  pleasure  of  the  Pope  at  any  time  to  tell  you,  That 
4  though  the  man  is  murdered  [Poor  Ascham^for  example  /], 
4  yet  his  murderer  has  got  into  the  sanctuary  !  And  equally 
4  true  is  it,  and  hath  been  found  by  common  and  constant 
4  eJ  perience,  That  Peace  is  but  to  be  kept  so  long  as  the 
4  J  l>pe  saith  Amen  to  it.  [  What  is  to  be  done  with  such  a  set 
4  of  people  ?] — We  have  not  44  now  "  to  do  with  any  Popish 
v  State  except  France :  and  it  is  certain  that  they  do  not 
4  think  themselves  under  such  a  tie  to  the  Pope ;  but  think 
4  themselves  at  liberty  to  perform  honesties  with  nations 
4  in  agreement  with  them,  and  protest  against  the  obligation 
4  of  such  a  thing  as  that, — 44of  breaking  your  word  at  the 
'  Pope's  bidding.*"  They  are  able  to  give  us  an  explicit 
4  answer  to  anything  reasonably  demanded  of  them :  and 
4  there  is  no  other  Popish  State  we  can  speak  of,  save  this 
4  only,  but  will  break  their  promise  or  keep  it  as  they  please 

1  '  these  two  things ' :  Exemption  to  our  traders  from  injury  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  Liberty  to  have  Bibles  and  worship  : — SeeThurloe  (i.  760-1) ;  Bryan 
Edwards  (i.  141-3) ;  etc. 

2  '  that  was  had '  in  orig. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  275 

4  tipon  these  grounds, — being  under  the  lash   of  the   Pope, 

*  to  be  by  him  determined,  "  and  made  to  decide." 

4  In  the  time  when  Philip  Second  was  married  to  Queen 
4  Mary,  and  since  that  time,  through  Spanish  power  and 
4  instigation,  Twenty- thousand  Protestants  were  murdered  in 
6  Ireland.  We  thought,  being  denied  just  things, — we  thought 
4  it  our  duty  to  get  that  by  the  sword  which  was  not  to  be 
6  had  otherwise  !  And  this  hath  been  the  spirit  of  English- 

*  men ;  and  if  so,  certainly  it  is,  and  ought  to  be,  the  spirit 
4  of  men  that  have  higher  spirits  !  [Yes,  your  Highness :  '  Men 

that  are  Englishmen  and  more, — Believers  in  God's  Gospel, 
namely !  "* — Very  clumsily  said ;  but  not  at  all  clumsily  meant, 
and  the  very  helplessness  of  the  expression  adding  something 
(  of  English  and  Oliverian  character  to  it.] — With  that  State 
4  you  are  engaged.  And  it  is  a  great  and  powerful  State : — 
4  though  I  may  say  also,  that  with  all  other  Christian  States 
4  you  are  at  peace.  All  these  "  your  other "  engagements 
4  were  upon  you  before  this  Government  was  undertaken  : 
4  War  with  France,  Denmark, — nay,  upon  the  matter,  War, 
4  44  or  as  good  as  War,"  with  Spain  44  itself."  I  could  instance 
4  how  it  was  said  44  in  the  Long-Parliament  time,"  4  We  will 
4  have  a  war  in  the  Indies,  though  we  fight  them  not  at 
4  home.'  I  say,  we  are  at  peace  with  all  other  Nations,  and 
4  have  only  a  war  with  Spain.  I  shall  say  somewhat 44  farther  " 
4  to  you,  which  will  let  you  see  our  clearness  "  as  "  to  that, 
4  by  and  by. 

4  Having  thus  44  said,  we  are  "  engaged  with  Spain, — "  that 
4  is  the  root  of  the  matter  "  ;  that  is  the  party  that  brings  all 
4  your  enemies  before  you.  [Coming  now  to  the  Home  Malig- 
4  nants.]  It  doth  :  for  so  it  is  now,  that  Spain  hath  espoused 
4  that  Interest  which  you  have  all  along  hitherto  been  con- 
4  flicting  with, — Charles  Stuart's  Interest.  And  I  would  but 
4  meet  the  gentleman  upon  a  fair  discourse  who  is  willing  that 
4  that  Person  should  come  back  again  ! — but  I  dare  not 
4  believe  any  in  this  room  is.  [Heavens,  no;  not  one  of  its!] 
4  And  I  say,  it  doth  not  detract  at  all  from  your  Cause,  nor 


276     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT 

6  from  your  ability  to  make  defence  of  it,  That  God  by  His 
4  providence  hath  so  disposed  that  the  King  of  Spain  should 
4  espouse  that  Person.  And  I  say  "  farther  "  [His  Highnesses 
spirit  gets  somewhat  tumultuous  here,  and  blazes  up  with 
several  ideas  at  once, — producing  results  of' some  inextrw- 
6  dbleness?  as  he  himself  might  phrase  if],  No  man  but  might 
4  be  very  well  satisfied  that  it  is  not  for  aversion  to  that 
4  Person  [Not  for  his  sake  that  we  have  gone  to  war  with 
Spain : — the  Cavaliers  talk  loudly  so,  and  it  is  not  so] — ! 
4  And  the  4  choosing  out '  (as  was  said  today J)  4  a  Captain  to 
4  lead  us  back  into  Egypt  J  "  what  honest  man  has  not  an 
4  aversion  to  that  ? " — if  there  be  such  a  place  ?  I  mean 
4  metaphorically  and  allegorically  such  a  place ;  "  if  there  be," 
4  that  is  to  say,  A  returning  44  on  the  part  of  some "  to  all 
4  those  things  we  have  been  fighting  against,  and  a  destroying 
4  of  all  that  good  (as  we  had  some  hints  today)  which  we  have 
4  attained  unto — ? — I  am  sure  my  Speech  "  and  defence  of 
4  the  Spanish  War"  will  signify  very  little,  if  such  grounds 
[Grounds  indicated,  in  this  composite  4  blaze  of  ideas  J  which  is 
luminous  enough,  your  Highness ;  but  too  simultaneous  for 
4  being  very  distinct  to  strangers  /]  go  not  for  good  !  Nay,  I 
'will  say  this  to  you,  Not  a  man  in  England,  that  is  disposed 
4  to  comply  with  Papists  and  Cavaliers,  but  to  him  my  Speech 
4  here  is  the  greatest  parable,  the  absurdest  discourse  !  And 
4  in  a  word,  we  could  wish  they  were  all  where  Charles  Stuart 
4  is,  all  who  declare  [4  By  their  cavilling  at  Spanish  Wars  and 
'  so  on'' :  his  Highness  looks  animated  /]  that  they  are  of  that 
4  spirit.  I  do,  with  all  my  heart ; — and  I  would  help  them 
4  with  a  boat  to  carry  them  over,  who  are  of  that  mind  ! 
4  Yea,  and  if  you  shall  think  it  a  duty  to  drive  them  over 

*  by  arms,  I  will  help  in  that  also  ! 

4  You  are  engaged  with  such  an  Enemy ;  a  foreign  enemy, 

'  who  hath  such  allies  among  ourselves  : — this  last  said  hath  a 

4  little  vehemency  in  it  [His  Highness  repents  him  of  blazing 

4  up  into  unseemly  heat]  :  but  it  is  well  worth  your  consideration. 

1  In  Owen's  Sermon. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  277 

4  Though  I  seem  to  be,  all  this  while,  upon  the  justice  of 
4  the  business,  yet  my  desire  is  to  let  you  see  the  dangers 
4  "  and  grand  crisis  "  this  Nation  stands  in  "  thereby."  All 
4  the  honest  interests  ;  yea,  all  interests  of  the  Protestants,  in 
4  Germany,  Denmark,  Helvetia  and  the  Cantons,  and  all  the 
4  interests  in  Christendom,  are  the  same  as  yours.  If  you 
4  succeed,  if  you  succeed  well  and  act  well,  and  be  convinced 
4  what  is  God's  Interest,  and  prosecute  it,  you  will  find  that 
4  you  act  for  a  very  great  many  who  are  God's  own.  There- 
4  fore  I  say  that  your  danger  is  from  the  Common  Enemy 
4  abroad ;  who  is  the  head  of  the  Papal  Interest,  the  head  of 
4  the  Antichristian  Interest, — who  is  so  described  in  Scripture, 
4  so  forespoken  of,  and  so  fully,  under  that  characteral  name 
4  "  of  Antichrist "  given  him  by  the  Apostle  in  the  Epistle 
4  to  the  Thessalonians,  and  likewise  so  expressed  in  the 
4  Revelations ;  which  are  sure  and  plain  things  !  Except  you 
4  will  deny  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  you  must  needs  see 
'  that  that  State  is  so  described  in  Scripture  to  be  Papal  and 
4  Antichristian.  [  Who  would  not  go  to  war  with  it  /]  I  say, 
4  with  this  Enemy,  and  upon  this  account,  you  have  the 
4  quarrel, — with  the  Spaniard. 

4  And  truly  he  hath  an  interest  in  your  bowels ; *  he  hath 
4  so.  The  Papists  in  England, — they  have  been  accounted, 
4  ever  since  I  was  born,  Spaniolised.  There  is  not  a  man 
4  among  us  can  hold  up  his  face  against  that.  [The justifying 
of  the  Spanish  War  is  a  great  point  with  his  HigJiness  /] 
4  They  never  regarded  France ;  they  never  regarded  any  other 
4  Papist  State  where  a  "  hostile "  Interest  was,  "  but  Spain 
4  only."  Spain  was  their  patron.  Their  patron  all  along,  in 
4  England,  in  Ireland,  and  Scotland  :  no  man  can  doubt  of  it. 
4  Therefore  I  must  needs  say,  this  "  Spanish  "  Interest  is  also, 
4  in  regard  to  your  home-affairs,  a  great  source  of  your  danger. 
4  It  is,  and  it  evidently  is ;  and  will  be  more  so, — upon  that 
4  account  that  I  told  you  of :  He  hath  espoused  Charles  Stuart ! 
4  With  whom  he  is  fully  in  agreement ;  for  whom  he  hath 
1  Old  phrase  for  '  the  interior  of  your  own  country.' 


278     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  raised   Seven   or  Eight  Thousand   men,  and  has  them  now 

'  quartered  at  Bruges  ;  to  which  number  Don  John  of  Austria 

'  has  promised  that,  as  soon  as  the  campaign  is  ended,  which 

6  it  is  conceived  will   be  in   about  five  or  six  weeks,  he  shall 

'  have  Four   or   Five   Thousand   added.      And   the  Duke  of 

6  Neuburg,  who    is    a   Popish    prince,  hath    promised    good 

'  assistance  according  to  his  power ;  and  other  Popish  States 

'  the  like.      In  this  condition  you  are  with  that  State  "  of 

4  Spain " ;  and  in  this  condition  through  unavoidable  neces- 

'  sity ;  because  your  enemy  was  naturally  an  enemy,  and  is 

'  providentially  too   become  so.      [Always,   by  the  law  of  his 

being,  as  Antichristian  to   Christian,  a  VIRTUAL  enemy ;  and 

now  Providence,  with  beneficent  wisdom,   has  developed  him 

into  an  ACTUAL  one. — '  That  was  his  Highnesses  fundamental 

reason  for  rushing  at  him  in  the  West  Indies  ?     Because  he 

was  Antichrist?''  ask   some  Moderns. —  Why  yes,   it  might 

help,  my  red-tape  Friends  !     1  know  well,  if  I  could  fall-in 

with  Antichrist  anywhere,  with  Supreme  Quack  and  Damna- 

bility  anywhere,  I  should  be  right  happy  to  have  a  stroke  at 

him  if  there  seemed  any  chance  /] 

*  And  now  farther, — as   there  is   a  complication  of  these 

*  Interests  abroad,  so  there  is  a  complication   of  them  here. 
'  Can  we  think  that  Papists  and  Cavaliers  shake  not  hands 
4  in  England  ?     It  is  unworthy,  unchristian,  un-Englishlike,1 
'  "  say  you."     Yes ;  but  it  doth  serve  to  let  you  see,  and  for 
'  that  end  I  tell  it  you  that  you  may  see,  your  danger,  and 
'  the  source  thereof.      Nay  it  is  not  only  thus,  in  this  con- 
6  dition    of   hostility,   that   we    stand    towards    Spain ;     and 
4  towards  all  the  Interest  which  would  make  void  and  frustrate 
6  everything  that  has  been  doing  for  you  ;  namely,  towards  the 
'  Popish  Interest,  Papists  and  Cavaliers ; — but  it  is  also 

[His  Highness  finds  this  sentence  will  not  do,  and  so  tries  it 

*  another  way\ — That  is  to  say,  your  danger  is  so  great,  if 

*  you  will  be  sensible  of  it,  by  reason  of  Persons  who  pretend 
'  other    things  !      [Coming   now   to    the  great   Miscellany   of 

1  To  combine  with  Papists,  even  for  Royalists  to  do  so. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  279 

Anabaptists,   Republicans,    Levellers;    your    Aliens,    Sexbys, 

«  Overtons.]      44  Pretend,    I  say "  ;  yea   who,   though   perhaps 

'  they  do  not  all  suit  in  their  hearts  with  the  said  4<  Popish  " 

4  Interest — [Sentence  left  ruinous ;    sense   gradually    becomes 

4  visible] — Yet  every  man   knows,  and  must  know,  that  dis- 

4  contented  parties  are  among  us   somewhere  !      They   must 

4  expect  backing  and   support  somewhere.      They  must  end 

4  in  the  Interest  of  the  Cavalier  at  the  long-run.      That  must 

'  be  their  support ! — I  could  have  reckoned  this  in  another 

4  44  head  "    [Half  soliloquising,  his    Highness ;    giving  us  a 

glimpse  into   the  strange   seething,  simmering  inner-man  of 

4  him] — But  I   give  you  an  account  of  things  as  they  arise 

4  to   me.      Because    I   desire   to   clear   them   to   you !       Not 

4  discoursively,  in   the  oratoric  way  ;   but  to  let  you  see  the 

4  matter  of  fact, — to  let  you  see  how  the  state  of  your  affairs 

4  stands.      [  Well,  your  Highness ;   that  certainly  is  the  grand 

object  of  speaking  to  us.      To  show  ME  what  THOU  seest,  what 

is    in    THEE  :    why    else    should  one   human   being  dare   to 

wag  his  tongue  to  another?     It  is  frightfid  otherwise.     One 

almost  loves  this  incondite  half-articulation  of  his  Highness, 

in  comparison.] 

'  Certain  it  is,  there  was,  not  long  since,  an  endeavour 
4  to  make  an  Insurrection  in  England.  [Penruddock  at 
4  Salisbury  ; — we  heard  of  Wagstaff  and  him  /]  It  was  going 
4  on  for  some  time  before  it  broke  out.  It  was  so  before  the 
4  last  Parliament  sat.  44  Nay,"  it  was  so  not  only  from  the 
4  time  of  the  undertaking  of  this  Government ;  but  the  spirit 
4  and  principle  of  it  did  work  in  the  Long- Parliament  "  time." 
4  From  that  time  to  this,  hath  there  been  nothing  but  enter- 
4  prising  and  designing  against  you.  And  this  is  no  strange 
4  or  new  thing  to  tell  you  :  Because  it  is  true  and  certain  that 
4  the  Papists,  the  Priests  and  Jesuits  have  a  great  influence 
4  upon  the  Cavalier  Party  ;  they  and  the  Cavaliers  prevail 
4  upon  the  discontented  spirits  of  the  Nation, — who  are  not 
4  all  so  apt  to  see  where  the  dangers  lie,  nor  to  what  the 
4  management  of  affairs  tends.  Those  44  Papists  and  Cavaliers" 


280     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  do  foment  all  things  that  tend  to  disservice ;  to  propagate 
'  discontentments  upon  the  minds  of  men.      And  if  we  would 

*  instance,  in  particulars,  those  that  have  manifested  this, — 
'  we  could  tell  you  how  Priests  and  Jesuits  have  insinuated 
'  themselves  into  men's  society ;  pretending  the  same  things 
'  that   they  pretended  ; — whose  ends,  "  these    Jesuits'   ends," 
'  have,  out  of  doubt,   been   what   I   have   told  you.      [Dark 

spectres  of  Jesuits ;  knitting-up  Charles  Stuart,  the  Spaniard, 
and  all  manner  of  Levellers  and  discontented  persons,  into  one 
Antichristian  mass,  to  overwhelm  us  therewith  /] 

*  We  had  that  Insurrection.  It  was  intended  first  to  the 
4  assassination  of  my  person ; — which  I  would  not  remember 
'  as  anything  at  all  considerable  to  myself  or  to  you  [Very 
6  well,  your  Highness  /]  :  for  they  would  have  had  to  cut 
'  throats  beyond  human  calculation  before  they  could  have 
'  been  able  to  effect  their  design.  But  you  know  it  very  well, 
'  "  this  of  the  assassination  " ; — it  is  no  fable.  Persons  were 
(  arraigned  for  it  before  the  Parliament  sat ;  and  tried,  and 
6  upon  proof,  condemned  [Gerard  and  Vowel;  we  remember 
6  them  /] — for  their  designs  to  cut  the  throat  of  myself,  and 
'  three  or  four  more ;  whom  they  had  singled  out  as  being,  a 
'  little  beyond  ordinary,  industrious  to  preserve  the  peace  of 
'  the  Nation.  And  did  think  to  make  a  very  good  issue  "  in 
6  that  way,"  to  the  accomplishment  of  their  designs  !  I  say, 

*  this  was  made  good  upon  the  Trial.      Before  the  Parliament 

*  sat,  all   the  time  the  Parliament  sat,   they  were  about  it. 

*  We  did  hint  these  things  to  the  Parliament  people  by  several 
'  persons,  who  acquainted  them   therewith.      But  what  fame 
6  we    lay  under    I    know    not !       [Suspicious   of  us   in   that 
'  Parliament  /]     It   was   conceived,  it  seems,  we  had  things1 

*  which  rather  intended  to  persuade  agreement  and  consent, 

*  and  bring  money  out  of  the  people's  purses,  or  I  know  not 
8  what : — in    short,    nothing   was   believed   [  Very   beautifully 

rebutted,  your  Highness ;  without  even  anger  at  it ;    as  the 
Lion  walks  quietly  on  through  cobwebs.      We  had  '  things ' 
1  Means  '  we  made  statements  ' ;  very  Oliverian  expression. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  281 

which   rather   intended   to   etc.    etc.        What   most   articulate 

rhetoric  could  match  this  half-articulate, — articulate  enough 

6 for   the  occasion!];    though   there    was   a   series    of  things 

'distinctly  and  plainly  communicated  to  many  Members. 

'The   Parliament  rose  about  the  middle  of  January.      By 

*  the  12th  of  March  after,  the  people  were  in  arms.       But 

*  '  they  were  a    company  of  mean   fellows,' — alas  ! — '  not  a 
'  lord,  nor  a  gentleman,  nor  a  man  of  fortune,  nor  a  this  nor 
4  that,  among  them  :  but  it  was  a  poor  headstrong  people, 
4  a  company   of  rash   fellows  who  were  at  the   undertaking 
4  of   this,' — and  that  was  all  !       And  by  such  things   [His 

Highnesses  face  indicates  that  he  means  4  no-things?  4  babble- 
ments ']  have  men  "  once  well-affected  "  lost  their  consciences 

*  and  honours,  complying,  "  coming  to  agreement  with  Malig- 
4  nants,"  upon  such  notions  as  these  ! — Give  me  leave  to  tell 
4  you,  We  know  it;  we  are  able  to  prove  it.      And  I  refer  you 
4  to  that  Declaration *  which  was  for  guarding  against  Cavaliers 
4  (as   I  did   before   to   that   other  "  Declaration "  which   set 
4  down  the  grounds  of  our  War  with  Spain),  Whether  these 
6  things  were  true  or  no  ?     If  men  will  not  believe, — we  are 
4  satisfied,  we  do  our  duty.      [A  suspicious  people,  your  High- 
ness :  nay  not  suspicious,  so  much  as  incredulous,  obstinate, 
dreadfully   thick  of  skin  and  sense, — and   unused    to   such 

*  phenomena  as  your  Highness  /] — If  we  let  you  know  things 
4  and  the  ground  of  them,  it  is  satisfaction  enough  to  us:  But 
4  to  see  how  men  can  reason  themselves  out  of  their  honours 
4  and  consciences  in  their  compliance  with  those  sort  of  people 
4  — ! — Which,  truly  I  must  needs  say,  some  men  had  com- 
4  pliance  with,  who  I  thought  never  would  for  all  the  world : 
4  I  must  tell  you  so. — 

4  These  men  rise  in  March.  And  that  it  was  a  general 
4  Design,  I  think  all  the  world  must  know  and  acknowledge. 
4  For  it  is  as  evident  as  the  day,  that  the  King  [We  may  call 
4  him  '  King ']  sent  Sir  Joseph  WagstafF  and  another,  the  Earl 
4  of  Rochester,  to  the  North.  And  that  it  was  general,  we 

1  Can  be  read  in  Parliamentary  History,  xx.  434  et  seqq. 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  had  not  by  suspicion  or  imagination  ;  but  we  know  indivi- 
'  duals  !  We  are  able  to  make  appear,  That  persons  who 
'  carried  themselves  the  most  demurely  and  fairly  of  any  men 
6  in  England  were  engaged  in  this  business.  And  he  that 
'  gave  us  our  intelligence  lost  his  life  for  it  in  Neuburg 
6  Country  [Yes,  Manning  was  shot  there;  he  had  told  iis 
6  Hyde  was  cock-sure]  ; — I  think  I  may  now  speak  of  that, 
'  because  he  is  dead  : — but  he  did  discover,  from  time  to  time, 
'  a  full  intelligence  of  these  things.  Therefore,  How  men  of 
'  wicked  spirits  may  traduce  us  in  that  matter ;  or,  notwith- 
6  standing  all  that  hath  been  done,  may  still  continue  their 

*  compliances  "with  the  Malignants "  ; — I  leave  it.      [Yes,  let 
'  THEM  look  to  that.]     I  think  England  cannot  be  safe  unless 

*  Malignants  be  carried  far  away  ! — 

'  There  was  never  any  design  on  foot  but  we  could  hear 
'  it  out  of  the  Tower.  He  who  commanded  there  *  would 
'  give  us  account,  That  within  a  fortnight  or  such  a  thing2 
'  there  would  be  some  stirrings ;  for  a  great  concourse  of 
'  people  were  coming  to  them,  and  they  had  very  great 
'  elevations  of  spirit.  [Vigilant  Barkstead!]  And  not  only 
'  there ;  but  in  all  the  Counties  of  England.  We  have  had 
4  informations  that  they  were  upon  designs  all  over  England 
'  (besides  some  particular  places  which  came  to  our  particular 
'  assurance),  by  knowledge  we  had  from  persons  in  the  several 
4  Counties  of  England. 

'  And  if  this  be  so,  then,  as  long  as  commotions  can  be 
'  held  on  foot,  you  are  in  danger  by  your  War  with  Spain  ; 
6  with  whom  all  the  Papal  Interest  is  joined.  This  Pope3  is 
'  a  person  all  the  world  knows  to  be  a  person  of  zeal  for  his 
'  Religion, — wherein  perhaps  he  may  shame  iis, — and  a  man 
'  of  contrivance,  and  wisdom,  and  policy  ;  and  his  Designs  are 

1  Barkstead,  a  Goldsmith  once,   a  severe  vigilant  Colonel  now ;   who  has 
seen  much  service. 

2  'time'  might  be  the  word  ;  but  I  am  getting  to  love  this  'thing.' 

3  One   Chigi  by  natural  name,  called  Alexander  vil.  as  Pope  :  an  '  Anti- 
jansenist  Pope,'  say  the  Books.      With  whom,  beyond  the  indispensable,  let 
us  crave  not  to  be  acquainted. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  283 

'  known  to  be,  all  over,  nothing  but  an  Endeavour  to  unite 
'  all  the  Popish  Interests  in  all  the  Christian  world,  against 
'  this  Nation  above  any,  and  against  all  the  Protestant 
'  Interest  in  the  world. — If  this  be  so,  and  if  you  will  take  a 
4  measure  of  these  things  ;  if  we  must  still  hold  the  esteem 
6  that  we  have  had  "  for  Spaniards,"  and  be  ready  to  shake 
4  hands  with  them  and  the  Cavaliers, — what  doth  this  differ 
'  from  the  Bishop  of  Canterbury  [Poor  old  Laud,  and  his  Sur- 
'  plices  /]  "  striving  "  to  reconcile  matters  of  religion  ;  if  this 
'  temper  be  upon  us  to  unite  with  these  "  Popish "  men  in 

*  Civil   Things  ?      Give  me  leave  to  say,  and  speak  what   I 
'  know !      If  this  be  men's  mind,  I  tell  you  plainly, — I  hope  I 
6  need  not ;  but  I  wish  all  the  Cavaliers  in  England,  and  all 

*  the  Papists,  heard  me  declare  it,  and  many  besides  yourselves 
'  have  "  heard  me  " :  There  are  a  company  of  poor  men  that 
'  are   ready   to   spend   their  blood  against  such   compliance  ! 

[Right  so,  your  Highness ;  that  is  the  grand  cardinal  cer- 
tainty!  An  irrevocable  Act  of  Legislature  passed  in  one's  own 
heart.  In  spite  of  all  clamours  and  jargons,  and  constitu- 
tional debatings  in  Parliament  and  out  of  it,  there  is  a  man 
or  two  will  have  himself  cut  in  pieces  before  that  '  shaking 
of  hands'*  take  place.  In  fact,  I  think  Christ  and  Antichrist 
had  better  not  try  shaking  of  hands ;  no  good  will  come  of 
it ! — Does  not  his  Highness  look  uncommonly  animated  ?] 

<  — and  I  am  persuaded  of  the  same  thing  in  you  ! 

«  If  this  be  our  condition, — with  respect  had  to  this,  truly 
'  let  us  go  a  little  farther.      For  I  would  lay  open  the  danger 

*  wherein  I  think  in  my  conscience  we  stand ;    and  if  God 

*  give  not  your  hearts  to  see  and  discern  what  is  obvious,  we 
«  shall  sink,  and   the  house  will  fall  about  our  ears, — upon 
4  even  "  what  are   called "  *  such   sordid   attempts '  as   these 
'  same  !     Truly  there  are  a  great  many  people  in  this  Nation 
6  who   '  would   not   reckon-up  every  pitiful   thing,1 — perhaps 

<  like  the  nibbling  of  a  mouse  at  one's  heel ;  but  only  '  con- 

<  siderable  dangers ' !      I  will  tell  you   plainly  "  what  to  me 
'  seems   dangerous "  ;   it   is  not  a  time  for  compliments  nor 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  rhetorical   speeches, — I  have  none,  truly ; — but  to  tell  you 
4  how  we  find  things.1 

4  There  is  a  generation  of  men  in  this  Nation  who  cry-up 
4  nothing  but  righteousness  and  justice  and  liberty  [Coming 
6  now  to  the  Levellers  and  4  Commonwealths-men  *]  ;  and  these 
4  are  diversified  into  several  sects,  and  sorts  of  men ;  and 
6  though  they  may  be  contemptible  in  respect  they  are  many, 
4  and  so  not  like  to  make  a  solid  vow  to  do  you  mischief, — 
4  yet  they  are  apt  to  agree  in  aliquo  tertio.  They  are  known 
4  (yea,  well  enough)  to  shake  hands  with, — I  should  be  loath 
*  to  say  with  Cavaliers, — but  with  all  the  scum  and  dirt  of 
6  this  Nation  [Not  loath  to  say  that,  your  Highness  ?  ],  to  put 
4  you  to  trouble.  And  when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  Remedies, 
4  I  shall  tell  you  what  are  the  most  apt  and  proper  remedies 
4  in  these  respects.  I  speak  now  of  the  very  time  when  there 
'  was  an  Insurrection  at  Salisbury,  "  your  Wagstaffs  and  Pen- 

4  ruddocks  openly  in  arms  " [Sudden  prick  of  anger  stings 

his  Highness  at  the  thought  of  that  great  Peril,  and  how  it 
was  treated  and  scouted  by  the  incredulous  Thickskinned ;  and 

6  he  plunges  m  this  manner] I   doubt    whether    it    be 

6  believed  there  ever  was  any  rising  in  North  Wales  "  at  the 
6  same  time  "  ;  at  Shrewsbury ;  at  Rufford  Abbey,  where  were 
4  about  Five-hundred  horse ;  or  at  Marston  Moor ;  or  in 
4  Northumberland,  and  the  other  places, — where  all  these 
4  Insurrections  were  at  that  very  time  !  [Truly  it  is  difficult 
to  keep  one's  temper ;  sluggish  mortals  saved  from  destruction; 
4  and  won't  so  much  as  admit  it!]—  —  There  was  a  Party 
4  which  was  very  proper  to  come  between  the  Papists  and 
4  Cavaliers ;  and  that  Levelling  Party  hath  some  accession 
4  lately,  which  goes  under  a  finer  name  or  notion  !  I  think 
4  they  would  now  be  called  4  Commonwealth's  men  ' ;  who 
4  perhaps  have  right  to  it  little  enough.  And  it  is  strange 
4  that  men  of  fortune  and  great  estates  [Lord  Grey  of  Groby  ,• 

1  Paragraph  irretrievably  misreported  ;  or  indecipherable  for  want  of  the  tones 
and  looks  accompanying  it ; — in  a  dim  uncertain  manner  displays  the  above  as  a 
kind  of  meaning. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  285 

'  he-  is  m  the  Tower ;  he  and  others]  should  join  with  such  a 

'  people.     But  if  the  fact  be  so,  there  will  need  no  stretch  of 

*  wit  to  make  it  evident,  it  being  so  by  demonstration.      [Hi* 

Highness  still  harps  on  the  incredulity  of  a  thickskmned  public, 

naturally  very  provoking  to  him  in  these  perilous,  abstruse 

and  necessarily  SECRET  operations  of  his.] 

'  I  say,  this  people  at  that  very  time,  they  were  pretty 
6  numerous, — and  do  not  despise  them  ! — at  the  time  when 
'  the  Cavaliers  were  risen,  this  very  Party  had  prepared  a 
'  Declaration  against  all  the  things  that  had  been  transacted 
6  "  by  us " ;  and  called  them  by  I  know  not  what  "  names," 
'  '  tyranny,'  '  oppression/  things  '  against  the  liberty  of  the 
'subject';  and  cried  out  for  'justice,'  and  'righteousness,' 
4  and  '  liberty  ' : — and  what  was  all  this  business  for,  but  to 
'  join  the  Cavaliers  to  carry-on  that  Design?  And  these  are 
4  things, — not  words  !  That  Declaration  we  got ;  and  the 
4  Penner  of  it  we  got  [Locked  him  fast  in  Chepstow  ;  the  unruly 
4  Wildman  /] :  and  we  have  got  intelligence  also  how  the 
'  business  was  laid  and  contrived  ; — which  was  hatched  in  the 
'  time  of  the  Sitting  of  that  Parliament.  I  do  not  accuse 
'  anybody  :  but  that  was  the  time  of  it ; — an  unhappy  time  ! 
'  And  a  plausible  Petition  had  been  penned,  which  must  come 
4  to  me,  forsooth  [Through  that  obtuse  Constitutioning  Parlia- 
6  ment,  I  fancy  /],  '  To  consider  of  these  things,  and  to  give 
'  redress  and  remedies.'  And  this  was  so. — 

'  Now  indeed  I  must  tell  you  plainly,  we  suspected  a  great 
'  deal  of  violence  then  ;  and  we  did  hunt  it  out.  I  will  not 
'  tell  you  these  are  high  things  [Call  them  '  low '  if  you  like  ; 
4  mice  nibbling  at  one^s  heel  /]  :  but  at  that  time  when  the 
'  Cavaliers  were  to  rise,  a  Party  was  to  seize  upon  General 
'  Monk  in  Scotland,  and  to  commit  him  to  Edinburgh 
'  Castle,  upon  this  pretence  of  '  liberty  ' :  and  when  they  had 
'  seized  him,  and  clapped  him  by  the  heels,  "  him  "  and  some 
4  other  true  and  faithful  Officers,  they  had  resolved  a  number 
'  at  the  same  time  should  march  away  for  London  ;  leaving 
4  a  party  behind  them, — to  have  their  throats  cut  by  the 


286     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  Scots  !  Though  I  will  not  say  they  would  have  "  purposely  " 
4  brought  it  to  this  pass ;  yet  it  cannot  be  thought  but  that 
4  a  considerable  "  part  of  the "  Army  would  have  followed 

4  them  "  hither  "  at  the  heels. And  not  only  thus  :  but 

(  this  same  spirit  and  principle  designed  some  little  fiddling 
'  things  upon  some  of  your  Officers,  to  an  assassination  ; l 
6  and  an  Officer  was  engaged,  who  was  upon  the  Guard,  to 
4  seize  me  in  my  bed.  This  was  true.  And  other  foolish 
6  designs  there  were, — as,  To  get  into  a  room,  to  get  gun- 
4  powder  laid  in  it,  and  to  blow-up  the  room  where  I  lay.  And 
4  this,  we  can  tell  you,  is  true.  These  are  Persons  not  worthy 
4  naming ;  but  the  things  are  true.  And  such  is  the  state  we 
4  have  stood  in,  and  had  to  conflict  with,  since  the  last 
6  Parliament.  And  upon  this  account,  and  in  this  combina- 
4  tion,2  it  is  that  I  say  to  you,  That  the  ringleaders  to  all 
4  this  are  none  but  your  old  enemies  the  Papists  and  Cavaliers. 
6  We  have  some  "  of  them  "  in  prison  for  these  things. 

*  Now  we  would    be  loath   to   tell   you  of  notions   more 

*  seraphical !  [His  Highness  elevating  his  brows ;  face  assum- 
4  ing  a  look  of  irony,  of  rough  banter. ~\      These  are  poor  and 
4  low  conceits.      We  have  had  very  seraphical  notions  !      We 
4  have  had  endeavours  to  deal  between  two  Interests ; — one 
4  some  section  of  that  Commonwealth  Interest ;  and  another 
4  which   was   a   notion  of  a  Fifth- Monarchy   Interest  !      [A 

4  NOTION  ' ;  not  even  worth  calling  a  '  SECTION  '  or  '  PARTY," — 
4  such  moonshine  was  it !] — Which  44  strange  operation  "  I  do 
6  not  recite,  nor  what  condition  it  is  in,  as  thinking  it  not 
4  worthy  our  trouble.  But  de  facto  it  hath  been  so,  That 
4  there  have  been  endeavours  ; — as  there  were  endeavours  to 
4  make  a  reconciliation  between  Herod  and  Pilate  that  Christ 

*  might  be  put  to  death,  so  there  have  been  endeavours  of 

*  reconciliation    between    the    Fifth-Monarchy   men   and    the 
4  Commonwealth   men   that   there  might  be  union  in   order 
4  to  an  end, — no  end  can  be  so  bad  as  that  of  Herod's  was, — 

1  Means  :  'they  attempted  to  persuade  some  of  your  Officers  to  that  "little 
fiddling  thing." '  2  Identity  of  time  and  attempt. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  287 

4  but  in  order  to  end  in  blood  and  confusion  !    And,  that  you 
4  may  know,  "  to  tell  you  candidly,11 1  profess  I  do  not  believe 

*  of  these  two  last,  of  Commonwealth  men  and  Fifth-Monarchy 
4  men,  but  that  they  have  stood  at  a  distance,  4  aloof  from 
6  Charles  Stuart.11     [The  Overtons,  the  Harrisons,  are  far  above 
4  such  a  thing.]     I  think  they  did  not  participate.      I  would 
4  be  so  charitable,  I  would  be,  That  they  did  not.      But  this 
4  I  will  tell  you,  That  as  for  the  others,  they  did  not  only 
4  set  these  things  on  work  ;  but  they  sent  a  fellow  [Sexby,  the 
6  miserable  outcast!],   a  wretched  creature,  an  apostate  from 
4  religion  and  all  honesty, — they  sent  him  to  Madrid  to  advise 
4  with  the  King  of  Spain  to  land  Forces  to  invade  the  Nation. 
4  Promising  satisfaction  that  they  would  comply  and  concur 
4  with  him  to  have  both  men  and  moneys  ;  undertaking  both 
4  to  engage  the  Fleet  to  mutiny,  and  also  your  Army  to  gain 
4  a  garrison  "  on  the  coast " ;   to  raise  a  party,  "  so  "  that  if 

*  the  Spaniard  would  say  where  he  would  land,  they  would  be 

*  ready  to  assist  him  ! — This  person  was  sometimes x  a  Colonel 
4  in   the  Army.      He   went   with   Letters   to   the   Archduke 

*  Leopoldus  and   Don  John.      That  was  an  4  Ambassador '  ; 
4  — and    gave    promise   of   much    moneys  :    and    hath    been 
6  soliciting,  and  did  obtain  moneys ;   which  he  sent  hither  by 
4  Bills  of  Exchange  : — and  God,  by  His  Providence,  we  being 
4  exceeding  poor,  directed  that  we  lighted  on  some  of  them 
4  and  some  of  the  moneys  !    \Keep  hold  of  them,  your  High- 
6  ness !]      Now  if  they  be  payable,  let  them  be  called  for ! 
«  [Worft  call,  I  believe!] — If  the  House   shall   think   fit  to 
4  order  any  inspection  into  these  things,  they  may  have  it. 

«  We  think  it  our  duty  to  tell  you  of  these  things ;  and 
<  we  can  make  them  good.  Here  is  your  danger ;  that  is  it ! 
4  Here  is  a  poor  Nation  that  hath  wallowed  in  its  blood  ;— 
4  though,  thanks  be  to  God,  we  have  had  Peace  these  four  or 
4  five  years :  yet  here  is  the  condition  we  stand  in.  And  I 
4  think  I  should  be  false  to  you,  If  I  did  not  give  you  this 
4  true  representation  of  it. 

1  Means  '  at  one  time ' ;  as  almost  all  know. 


288     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [I;SEPT. 

*  I  am  to  tell  you,  by  the  way,  a  word  to  justify  a  Thing 
4  [Coming-  to  the  Major-Generals]  which,  I  hear,  is  much  spoken 

*  of.       When  we  knew  all  these  Designs  before  mentioned ; 
4  when  we  found  that  the  Cavaliers  would  not  be  .quiet-1—  — 
4  No  quiet ;   4  there   is   no   peace   to   the    wicked,1   saith   the 
4  Scripture  (Isaiah,  Fifty-seventh):  'They  are  like  the  troubled 
4  sea,  which  cannot  rest ;   whose  waters  throw  up  mire  and 

*  dirt.11     They  cannot  rest, — they  have  no  Peace  with  God 
4  in  Jesus  Christ  to  the  remission  of  sins  !     They  do  not  know 

*  what  belongs  to  that  \My  brave  one  /] ;  therefore  they  know 
6  not  how  to  be  at  rest ;   therefore  they  can  no  more  cease 

*  from  their  actions  than  they  can  cease  to  live, — nor  so  easily 
4  neither ! Truly  when  that  Insurrection  was,  and  we  saw 

*  it  in  all  the  roots  and  grounds  of  it,  we  did  find  out  a  little 

*  poor  Invention,  which  I  hear  has  been  much  regretted.    I  say, 
4  there  was  a  little  thing  invented ;  which  was,  the  erecting  of 
4  your  Major-Generals  [Yes !] :   To  have  a  little  inspection  upon 
4  the  People  thus  divided,  thus  discontented,  thus  dissatisfied, 
4  "  split"  into  divers  interests, — and  the  workings  of  the  Popish 
4  Party  !      44  Workings  "  of  the  Lord  Taaff  and  others  ; 2  the 
4  most  consisting  of  Natural-Irish  rebels,  and  all  those  men 
4  you  have  fought  against  in  Ireland,  and  have  expulsed  from 
4  thence,  as  having  had  a  hand  in  that  bloody  Massacre ; — of 
4  him  and  of  those  that  were  under  his  power ;  who  were  now 
4  to  have  joined  in  this  excellent  business  of  Insurrection  ! — 

4  And  upon  such  a  Rising  as  that  was, — truly  I  think  if 

*  ever  anything  were  justifiable  as  to  Necessity,  and  honest 
<  in  every  respect,  this   was.      And  I  could  as  soon  venture 

*  my  life  with  it  as  with  anything  I  ever  undertook  !     [His 

1  Isaiah  Ivii.  20,  21. 

2  His  Highness  suddenly  breaks  off  after  new  quarry  on  mention  of  this  Party. 
The  Lord  Taaff  is  even  now  very  busy,  at  Antwerp  ( Thurloc,  v. ),  with  Chancellor 
Hyde,  *  throwing  up  mire  and  dirt '  of  the  insurrection  kind.    He  was  in  trouble 
long  ago,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Long  Parliament,  on  the  score  of  the  Irish 
Massacre;  sat  some  time  in  the  Tower  (Clarendon,  ii.  216),  with  Lord  Dillon 
and  others  ;  a  generation  '  who  can  no  more  cease  from  their  practices  than  they 
can  cease  to  live,  nor  so  easily  neither  1 ' 


1656]  SPEECH    V  289 

'  Highness   looks  animated.]     We  did   find, — I  mean  myself 
'  and    the   Council   did, — That,  if  there  were  need  to  have 

*  greater  forces  to  carry-on  this  work,  it  was  a  most  righteous 

*  thing  to  put  the  charge  upon  that   Party  which  was  the 
4  cause  of  it.      [Yea!]     And  if  there  be  any  man  that  hath 

*  a  face  averse  to  this,  I  dare  pronounce  him  to  be  a  man 

*  against  the  Interest  of  England  ! — Upon  this  account,  upon 
'  this  ground  of  necessity ;  when  we  saw  what  game  they  were 
'  upon ;    and   knew  individual   persons,  and   of  the   greatest 
6  rank,  not  a  few,  engaged  in  this  business  (I  knew  one  man 

*  that  laid  down  his  life  for  it)  ['  Name?"1   He  must  go  unnamed, 

*  this  one !  ] ;  and  had  it  by  intercepted  Letters  made  as  clear 

*  as  the  day ; — we  did  think  it  our  duty  To  make  that  class 
'  of  persons  who,  as  evidently  as  anything  in  the  world,  were 

*  in  the  combination  "  of  the  insurrectionists,"  bear  their  share 

*  of  the  charge.      "  Bear  their  share,"  one  with  another,  for 

*  the  raising  of  the  Forces  which  were  so  necessary  to  defend 
'  us  against  those  Designs  !     And  truly  if  any  man  be  angry 

<  at  it, — I  am  plain,  and  shall  use  an  homely  expression  :  Let 
(  him  turn  the  buckle  of  his  girdle  behind  him  ! J      If  this  were 

*  to  be  done  again,  I  would  do  it. 

*  How  the  Major-Generals  have  behaved  themselves  in  that 
6  work  ?  I  hope  they  are  men,  as  to  their  persons,  of  known 
'  integrity  and  fidelity ;  and  men  who  have  freely  adventured 

<  their  blood  and  lives  for  that  good  Cause, — if  it  "  still "  be 
'  thought  such,  and  it  was  well  stated,  "  this  morning,"  against 
'  all  the  "  new"  humours  and  fancies  of  men  ! —     —And  truly 
'  England  doth  yet  receive  one  day  more  of  Lengthening- out 
'  its  tranquillity,  by  that  same  service  of  theirs.2- 

(  Well  ;  your  danger  is  as  you  have  seen.  And  truly  I  am 
'  sorry  it  is  so  great.  But  I  wish  it  to  cause  no  despondency; 

1  The  Proverb  is  in  Ray ;  but  without  commentary.  Various  friendly  Corre- 
spondents, who  have  found  it  in  Shakspeare  ( Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  Act  v. 
Scene  i)  and  elsewhere,  point  out  to  me  that  the  meaning  is,  '  Let  him  bring  his 
sword-hilt  round,  then ' ;  ready  for  drawing ;  round  to  the  front,  where  the 
«  buckle '  of  his  belt  or  '  girdle '  now  is. 

3  'that  occasion  '  in  orig. 
VOL.   Til,  T 


290     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  — as  truly,  I  think,  it  will  not :  for  we  are  Englishmen ; 
'  that  is  one  good  fact.  And  if  God  give  a  Nation  the 
4  property  of  valour  and  courage,  it  is  honour  and  a  mercy 
4  "from  Him."  [Yes,  it  is  a  great  thing,  y our  Highness!] 
6  And  much  more  "  than  English  "  !  Because  you  all,  I  hope, 
4  are  Christian  Men,  who  know  Jesus  Christ  [Yea!],  and  know 
4  that  Cause  which  hath  been  mentioned  to  you  this  day. 

'  Having  declared  to  you  my  sense  and  knowledge,— 
4  pardon  me  if  I  say  so,  my  knowledge, — of  the  condition  of 
4  these  poor  Nations,  for  it  hath  an  influence  upon  them  all, 
'  it  concerneth  them  all  very  palpably  ;  I  should  be  to  blame 
4  if  I  did  not  a  little  offer  to  you  the  Remedies.  [Second  head 
4  of  method :  the  Remedies.]  I  would  comprehend  them  under 
4  two  considerations.  They  are  both  somewhat  general.  The 
4  one  is,  The  Considering  all  things  that  may  be  done,  and 
4  ought  to  be  done,  in  order  to  Security ;  that  is  one.  And 
4  truly  the  other  is  a  common  head,  "  a  general,  nay  a  uni- 
4  versal  consideration,"" — the  other  is,  Doing  all  things  that 
4  ought  to  be  done  in  order  to  Reformation  :  and  with  that 
'  I  will  close  my  Discourse.  All  that  hath  hitherto  been 
'  hinted-at  was  but  to  give  you  a  sense  of  the  danger  ;  which 
4  44  truly  "  is  most  material  and  significant  ;  for  which  princi- 
4  pally  you  are  called  hither  to  advise  of  the  remedies. — I  do 
4  put  them,  44  the  remedies,"  into  this  twofold  method,  not 
4  but  that  I  think  they  are  scarcely  distinct.  I  do  believe, 
4  truly,  upon  serious  and  deliberate  consideration  :  That  a 
4  true  Reformation,  as  it  may,  and  will  through  God's  accept- 
4  ance,  and  by  the  endeavours  of  His  poor  servants,  be, — That 
'  that,  44 1  say,"  will  be  pleasing  in  His  sight  ;  and  will  prove 
4  not  only  what  shall  avert  the  present  danger,  but  be  a 
4  worthy  return  for  all  the  blessings  and  mercies  which  you 
'  have  received.  So,  in  my  conscience,  if  I  were  put  to  show 
4  it,  this  hour,  Where  the  security  of  these  Nations  will  lie  ? — 
4  forces,  arms,  watchings,  posts,  strength  ;  your  being  and 
4  freedom  ;  be  as  politic  and  diligent,  and  as  vigilant  as 
4  vou  can  be, — I  would  say  in  my  conscience,  and  as  before 


1656]  SPEECH    V  291 

'  Almighty  God  I  speak  it :  I  think  your  Reformation,  if  it  be 
'  honest  and  thorough  and  just,  it  will  be  your  best  security  ! 
[Hear  him  ;  Hear,  hear  /] 
'  First, v  "  however,11    with   regard    to   Security   "  outwardly 

*  considered.11     We  will  speak  a  little  distinctly  to  that.    ['  Be 
'  ye  wise  as  serpents  withal ! ']      You  will  see  where  your  War 
'  is.      It  is   with  the   Spaniard.      You   have   Peace   with   all 
'  "  other "    Nations,   or    the    most   of   them  ;    Swede,   Dane, 
'  Dutch.      At  present,  I  say,  it  is  well  ;  it  is  at  present  so. 
'  And    so    likewise    with    the    Portugal,   with    France, — the 
4  Mediterranean  Sea.      Both  these  States  ;  both  Christian  and 
6  Profane  ;  the  Mahometan  ; — you  have  Peace  with  them  all. 
4  Only  with  Spain  you  have  a  difference,  you  have  a  War.      I 
'  pray  consider  it.      Do  I  come  to  tell  you  that  I  would  tie 
'  you  to  this  War  ?     No.      "  According "  as  you   shall  find 
4  your  spirits  and  reasons  grounded  in  what  hath  been  said, 
6  so  let  you  and  me  join  in  the  prosecution  of  that  War, — 
1  "  according "  as   we   are  satisfied,   and   as   the  cause   shall 
'  appear  to  our  consciences  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.      But  if 
'  you  can  come  to  prosecute  it,  prosecute   it  vigorously,  or 
«  don't  do  it  at  all  !— 

'  Truly  I  shall  speak  a  very  great  word, — one  may  ask  a 
'  very  great  question  :  '  Unde  ;  Whence  shall  the  means  of  it 
'  come  ?  '  Our  Nation  is  overwhelmed  in  debts  !  Neverthe- 
'  less  I  think  it  my  duty  to  deal  plainly ;  I  shall  speak  what 
'  even  Nature  teacheth  us.  If  we  engage  in  a  business, — 
'  a  recoiling  man  may  haply  recover  of  his  enemy  :  but  the 
'  wisdom  of  a  man  surely  will  be  in  the  keeping  of  his  ground  ! 
'  Therefore  that  is  what  I  advise  you,  That  we  join  together 
'  to  prosecute  it  vigorously.  In  the  second  place,  I  would 
'  advise  you  to  deal  effectually, — even  because  there  is  such 
'  a  '  complication  of  interests,1  "  as  some  keep  objecting.11  If 
'  you  believe  that  there  is  such  a  complication  of  interests, — 

*  why,  then,  in  the  name  of  God,  that  excites  you  the  more 
'  to  do  it  !      Give  me  leave  to  tell  you,  I  do  not  believe  that 
'  in  any  war  that  ever  was  in  former  times,  nor  in  any  engage- 


292     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  ments  that  you  have  had  with  other  "  enemies,"  this  Nation 
(  had  more  obligation  upon  it  to  look  to  itself, — to  forbear 
4  waste  of  time,  precious  time  !  Needlessly  to  mind  things 

*  that   are  not  essential  ;  to  be  quibbling  about  words,  and 
'  comparatively   about   things   of   no  moment ;    and    in  the 

*  mean  time, — being  in  such  a  case  as  I  suppose  you  know 

*  we  are, — to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  wanting  to  a  just  defence 
4  against  the  common  Enemies  abroad,  or  not  to  be  thoroughly 
'  sensible  of  the  Distempers  that  are  at  home  l —  ! — I  know, 
4  perhaps  there  are  many  considerations  which  may  teach  you, 
'  which  may  incline  you,  to  keep  your  own  hands  tender  from 
'  men  of  one  Religion  "  with  ourselves,1' 2  and  of  an  Interest 
6  that  is  so  spread  in  the  Nation.      However,  if  they  seek  the 
6  eradication  of  the  Nation  ;  if  they  be  active  as  you  have 
'  seen,  and  "as"  it  hath  been  made  manifest  so  as  not  to 
4  be  denied,  to  the  carrying-on  of  their  Designs  ;  if  England 
6  must  be  eradicated  by  persons  complicated  with  the  Spaniard  ; 

*  if  this  must  be  brought  upon  us  through  distempers  and 
(  falseness  of  men  among  themselves, — then  the  question  is 
6  no  more  than  this  :  Whether  any  consideration  whatsoever 
4  shall   lead  us,  for  fear  of  eradicating  distempers,  to  suffer 
'  all  the   honest  Interests  of  this  Nation  to  be  eradicated  ? 

*  Therefore,   speaking   generally  of  any  of  their   distempers, 

*  "  which   are  "   of   all   sorts, — where  a   member    cannot   be 
6  cured,  the  rule  is  plain,  Ense  rescindendum  est  immedicabile 
'  vulnus.    And  I  think  it  is  of  such  an  advantage  that  nothing 
'  ever  could  more  properly  be  put  in  practice  3  since  this  or 
6  any  Nation  "  first "  was. 

'  As  to  those  lesser  Distempers  of  people  that  pretend 
c  Religion,  yet  which  from  the  whole  consideration  of  Re 
4  ligion,  would  fall  under  one  of  the  heads  of  Reformation, — 

1  Original  sentence  incomplete ;   or  tacked  with  radical  incoherency  to  the 
foregoing  :  the  sense,  on  either  hypothesis,  is  very  visible. 

2  Royalists,  and  other  Discontented  ;  Protestants,  though  Plotters, 
*  '  used  '  in  orig. 


1656]  SPEECH    V 

'  I  had  rather  put  these  under  this  head  ; l  and  I  shall  the 

*  less  speak  to  it,  because  you  have  been  so  well   spoken-to 
1  already  today  "elsewhere."      I  will  tell  you  the  truth  :  Our 

*  practice  since  the  last  Parliament  hath  been,  To  let  all  this 
'  Nation   see,   that    whatever  pretensions  to   Religion    would 
4  continue  quiet,  peaceable,  they  should  enjoy  conscience  and 
'  liberty  to  themselves  ; — and  not  to  make  Religion  a  pretence 
'  for  arms  and  blood.      Truly  we  have  suffered  them,  and  that 
4  cheerfully,  so  to  enjoy  their  own  liberties.      Whatsoever  is 

*  contrary,  "  and   not  peaceable,"  let   the   pretence   be   never 
4  so   specious, — if  it  tend   to  combination,  to  interests  and 
4  factions,  we  shall  not  care,  by  the  grace  of  God,  whom  we 
4  meet   withal,   though   never  so   specious,   "  if   they  be  not 
4  quiet "  !       And   truly    I   am   against   all   *  liberty   of   con- 
4  science '  repugnant  to  this.      If  men  will  profess, — be  they 
4  those   under   Baptism,   be   they  those   of  the   Independent 
4  judgment  simply,  or  of  the  Presbyterian  judgment, — in  the 
4  name  of  God,  encourage  them,  countenance  them  ;  so  long 
4  as  they  do  plainly  continue  to  be  thankful  to  God,  and  to 
4  make  use  of  the  liberty  given  them  to  enjoy  their  own  con- 
4  sciences  !      For,  as  it  was  said  today,  undoubtedly  '  this  is 
4  the  peculiar   Interest   all    this   while  contended  for.'*     [An 

excellent  4  Interest '  ,•  very  indispensable  in  a  state  of  genuine 
Protestantism,  which  latter  has  itself  for  some  time  been  indis- 
pensable enough .] 

'  Men  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ — that  is  the  Form  that 
4  gives  being  to  true  religion,  "  namely,"  to  Faith  in  Christ 
4  and  walking  in  a  profession  answerable  to  that  Faith  ; — 
4  men  who  believe  the  remission  of  sins  through  the  blood 
4  of  Christ,  and  free  justification  by  the  blood  of  Christ ;  who 
4  live  upon  the  grace  of  God  :  those  men  who  are  certain  they 
'  are  so  [Faith  of  assurance], — "  they  "  are  members  of  Jesus 
4  Christ,  and  are  to  Him  the  apple  of  His  eye.  Whoever 

1  Of  '  doing  all  we  can  for  Security  ' ;  they  will  stand  better  under  this,  thinks 
his  Highness.  His  Highness  half-soliloquising,  suddenly  bethinking  himself, 
again  shows  us  a  glimpse  of  his  Speech  in  a  state  of  genesis. 


294     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  hath  this  Faith,  let  his  Form  be  what  it  will  ;  he  walketh 
4  peaceably,  without  prejudice  to  others  under  other  Forms  :— 
4  it  is  a  debt  due  to  God  and  Christ  ;  and  He  will  require  it, 
'  if  that  Christian  may  not  enjoy  his  liberty.      [True  Toler- 
ance ;   a  noble  thing- :    Patience,  indifference  as   to   the   Un- 
essential ;  liveliest  impatience,  inexorable  INTOLERANCE  for  the 
Want  of  the  Essential  !\ 

4  If  a  man  of  one  form  will  be  trampling  upon  the  heels  of 
4  another  form ;  if  an  Independent,  for  example,  will  despise 
4  him  "  who  is "  under  Baptism,  and  will  revile  him,  and 
4  reproach  and  provoke  him,  I  will  not  suffer  it  in  him.  If, 
4  on  the  other  side,  those  of  the  Anabaptist  "judgment11 
4  shall  be  censuring  the  Godly  Ministers  of  the  Nation  who 
4  profess  under  that  of  Independency  ;  or  if  those  that  profess 
4  under  Presbytery  shall  be  reproaching  or  speaking  evil  of 

*  them,  traducing  and  censuring  of  them, — as  I  would  not  be 

*  willing  to  see  the  day  when  England  shall  be  in  the  power 
4  of  the  Presbytery  to  impose  upon  the  consciences  of  others 
4  that   profess   faith   in   Christ, — so   I   will    not    endure    any 
6  reproach  to  them.      But  God   give  us  hearts  and  spirits  to 

*  keep  things  equal.       Which,  truly  I  must  profess  to  you, 
4  hath  been  my  temper.      I  have  had  some  boxes  "  on  the 
4  ear,"  and  rebukes, — on   the   one   hand   and  on   the   other ; 
4  some  censuring  me  for  Presbytery ;  others  as  an  inletter  to 
4  all  the  Sects  and  Heresies  of  the  Nation.      I  have  borne  my 
6  reproach  :     but    I    have,   through    God's    mercy,   not    been 
4  unhappy  in   hindering   any   one   Religion    to   impose   upon 

*  another.      And  truly  I  must  needs  say  (I  speak  it  experi- 
4  mentally) :    I   have    found    it,   I    have,   that    those   of   the 
4  Presbyterian  judgment —  [4  Do  themselves  partly  approve  my 

plan?  he  means  to  say ;  but  starting  off  into  broken  sentences, 

4  as  he  is  liable  to  do,  never  says  ii\ I  speak  it  know- 

6  ingly,  as  having  received  from  very  many  Counties — I  have  had 
4  Petitions,  and  acknowledgments  and  professions,  from  whole 
4  Counties ;  as  from  Cornwall,  Devon,  Somerset,  and  other 
4  Counties.  Acknowledgments  that  they,  44  the  Presbyterians 


1656]  SPEECH    V  295 

*  there,"  do  but  desire  they  may  have  liberty  and  protection  in 
4  the  worshipping  of  God  according  to  their  own  judgments  ; 
6  for  the  purging  of  their  congregations,  and  the  labouring 
4  to  attain  more  purity  of  faith  and  repentance; — and  that, 
4  in  their  outward  profession,  they  will  not  strain  them- 
4  selves  beyond  their  own  line.  I  have  had  those  Petitions  ; 
4  I  have  them  to  show.  And  I  confess  I  look  at  that  as  the 
4  blessedest  thing  which  hath  been  since  the  adventuring  upon 
4  this  Government,  "or"  which  these  times  produce.  And  I  hope 
4  I  gave  them  fair  and  honest  answers.  And  if  it  shall  be  found 
4  to  be  the  Civil  Magistrate's  real  endeavour  to  keep  all  profess- 
4  ing  Christians  in  this  relation  to  one  another  ;  not  suffering 
4  any  to  say  or  do  what  will  justly  provoke  the  others ; — I 
4  think  he  that  would  have  more  liberty  than  this,  is  not 
4  worthy  of  any. 

4  This  therefore  I  think  verily,  if  it  may  be  under  consi- 
4  deration  for  Reformation  : — I  say,  if  it  please  God  to  give  you 
4  and  me  hearts  to  keep  this  straight,  "  it  may  be  a  great 
4  means  "  in  giving  countenance  to  just  Ministers, —  [In  such 
semi-articulate  uneasy  way  does  his  Highness  hustle  himself 
4  over  into  the  discussion  of  a  new  Topic]  — in  countenancing  a 
4  just  maintenance  to  them,  by  Tithes  or  otherwise.  For  my 
4  part  I  should  think  I  were  very  treacherous  if  I  took  away 
4  Tithes,  till  I  see  the  Legislative  Power  settle  Maintenance 
4  to  Ministers  another  way.  But  whoever  they  be  that  shall 
4  contend  to  destroy  Tithes, — it  doth  as  surely  cut  their  44  the 
4  Ministers  "  throats  as  it  is  a  drift  to  take  Tithes  away  before 
4  another  mode  of  maintenance,  or  way  of  preparation  towards 
4  such,  be  had.  Truly  I  think  all  such  practices  and  proceed- 
4  ings  should  be  discountenanced.  I  have  heard  it  from  as 
6  gracious  a  Minister  as  any  is  in  England ;  I  have  had  it 
4  professed  :  That  it  would  be  a  far  greater  satisfaction  to 
4  them  to  have  maintenance  another  way, — if  the  State  will 
4  provide  it.  [Sensation  among  the  Voluntaries!-  - ///.v 
Highness  proceeds  no  farther  in  that  direction  at  present. 

The  next  sentence  suddenly  drawing  itself  up  into  a  heap  ,• 


296    PART  ix.    THE  MAJOR-GENERALS  [17  SEPT. 

comprising  both  ideas,  '  TITHES  '  and  4  EQUALITY,'  and  in  free- 
flowing  half-articulate  manner  uttering  them  both  ai  once, 
must  be  given  precisely  as  it  stands, — Grammar  yielding  place 
to  something  still  need/utter,  to  TRANSPARENCY  of  Speech  with 

6  or  without  grammar.] Therefore  I  think,  for  the  keep- 

4  ing  of  the  Church  and  people  of  God  and  professors  in  their 
4  several  forms  in  this  liberty, — I  think  as  it,  "  this  of  tithes,  or 
4  some  other  maintenance,"  hath  been  a  thing  that  is  the  root 
4  of  visible  Profession  [No  public  maintenance,  no  regular  priest], 
4  the  upholding  of  this — I  think  you  will  find  a  blessing  in  it : 
(  — if  God  keep  your  hearts  to  keep  things  in  this  posture  arid 
4  balance,  which  is  so  honest  and  so  necessary.  [Better  keep- 
up  Tithes,  till  we  see  !] 

4  Truly,  there  might  be  some  other  things  offered  to  you, 
'  in  point  of  Reformation  :  a  Reformation  of  Manners,  to  wit 

6 But  I  had  forgot  one  thing  which  I  must  remember ! 

4  It  is  the  Churches   work,  you  know,  in  some  measure :  yet 

*  give  me  leave  to  ask,  and  I  appeal  unto  your  consciences, 
4  Whether  or  no  there  hath  not  been  an  honest  care  taken  for 
4  the  ejecting  of  Scandalous  Ministers,  and  for  the  bringing- 
4  in  of  them  that  have  passed  an  Approbation  ?     [Our  two 
4  Commissions  of  Triers  and  Expur gators.]     I  dare  say,  such 
4  an  Approbation  as  never  passed  in  England  before  !      And 
4  give  me  leave  to  say,  It  hath  been  with  this  difference  "  from 
4  the  old  practice,""  that  neither  Mr.  Parson  nor  Doctor  in  the 

*  University  hath  been  reckoned  stamp  enough  by  those  that 
4  made  these  Approbations  ; — though,  I  can  say  too,  they  have 
4  a  great  esteem  for  Learning ;  and  look  at  Grace  as  most 

*  useful  when  it  falls  unto  men  with  rather  than  without 44  that 
4  addition " ;  and   wish,  with  all  their  hearts,  the  flourishing 
4  of  all  those  Institutions  of  Learning,  as  much  as  any.      I 
4  think  there  hath  been  a  conscience  exercised,  both  by  myself 
4  and  the  Ministers,  towards  them  that  have  been  Approved. 
4  I  may  say,  such  an  one,  as  I  truly  believe  was  never  known 
4  in  England,  "  in  regard  to  this  matter."     And  I  do  verily 

*  believe  that  God  hath,  for  the  Ministry,  a  very  great  seed 


1656]  SPEECH    V  297 

4  in  the  youth  "  now "  in  the  Universities ;  who  instead  of 

*  studying  Books,  study  their  own  hearts.       I  do  believe,  as 

*  God  hath   made  a  very  great  and  flourishing  seed  to  that 
'  purpose ;'.  so  this  Ministry  of  England — I  think  in  my  very 
'  conscience   that  God   will   bless   and  favour   it ;    and   hath 
'  blessed  it,  to  the  gaining  of  very  many  souls.      It  was  never 

*  so   upon   the  thriving  hand  since   England  was,  as  at  this 
4  day.      Therefore  I  say,  in  these  things,  "in  these  arrange- 
6  ments  made  by  us,4"  which   tend  to  the   profession   of  the 
'  Gospel  and  Public  Ministry,  "  I  think  "  you  will  be  so  far 
4  from  hindering,  that  you  will  further  them.      And  I  shall  be 

*  willing  to  join  with  you. 

4  I  did  hint  to  you  my  thoughts  about  the  Reformation  of 
4  Manners.  And  those  abuses  that  are  in  this  Nation  through 
4  disorder,  are  a  thing  which  should  be  much  in  your  hearts. 

*  It  is  that  which,  I  am  confident,  is  a  description  and  character 
'  of  the  Interest  you  have  been  engaged  against,  "  the  Cavalier 
'  Interest "  :  the  badge  and  character  of  countenancing  Pro- 
4  faneness,   Disorder  and  Wickedness  in  all   places, — [A   hor- 
rible '  character,"1  your   Highness ;   not   undeserved   hitherto : 
and  under  OUR  new  Defender  of  the  Faith  (if  you  could  see 
into  futurity)  what  a  height  of  evidence  will  it  rise  to  !  ] — 

'  and  whatever  is  most  of  kin  to  these,  and  most  agrees  with 
'  what  is  Popery,  and  "  with  "  the  profane  Nobility  and  Gentry 
'  of  this  Nation  !  In  my  conscience,  it  was  a  shame  to  be  a 
'  Christian,  within  these  fifteen,  sixteen  or  seventeen  years,  in 

*  this  Nation  !       Whether  '  in   Caesar's  house,1  or  elsewhere  ! 
6  It  was  a  shame,  it  was  a  reproach  to  a  man  ;  and  the  badge  of 

*  '  Puritan'  was  put  upon  it. — We  would  keep  up  [He  bethinks 
'  him  of  the  above  word  'profane ']  Nobility  and  Gentry : — 
'  and  the  way  to  keep  them  up  is,  Not  to  suffer  them  to  be 
'  patronisers   or  countenancers   of  debauchery  and  disorders  ! 
'  And   you   will    hereby   be   as  labourers   in   that   work   "of 
'  keeping  them  up.""     And  a  man  may  tell  as  plainly  as  can 
'  be  what  becomes  of  us,  if  we  grow  indifferent  and  lukewarm 
'  "  in  repressing  evil,""  under  I  know  not  what  weak  preten- 


298     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  sions.      [Yes,  your  Highness ;  even  so, — were  you  and  I  in  a 

minority  of  Two  upon  it  !     4  Merry  Monarchs '  of  the  Nell- 

Gywnn  Defender  kind,  and  the  gallantest  Sir  Charles  Sedleys 

in  their  tavern-balcony  in  Bow  Street,  are  and  remain  a  most 

mournful  phenomenon  to  me  ;  mournfuler  than  Death  ; — equal 

'  to  Death  with  a  Grimaldi-mas'k  clapt  on  it  /]     If  it  lives  in 

'  us,  therefore  ;  I  say,  if  it  be  in  the  general  "  heart  of  the 

4  Nation,"    it    is    a   thing   I   am    confident    our  liberty  and 

'  prosperity  depend  upon, — Reformation.      Make  it  a  shame 

4  to  see  men  bold  in  sin  and  profaneness,  and  God  will  bless 

4  you.      You  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  Nation  ;  and  by  this, 

4  will  be  more  repairers  of  breaches  than  by  anything  in  the 

4  world.      Truly  these  things  do  respect  the  souls  of  men,  and 

'  the  spirits, — which  are  the   men.      The  mind  is   the   man. 

'  If  that  be  kept  pure,  a  man  signifies  somewhat ;  if  not,  I 

'  would  very  fain  see  what  difference  there  is  betwixt  him  and 

'  a  beast.      He  hath  only  some  activity  to  do  some  more  mis- 

1  chief.      [ A  real  l  Head  of  the  Church '  this  4  King '  ,•  not  an 

imaginary  one  /] 

4  There  are  some  things  which  respect  the  Estates  of  men ; 

•  and  there  is  one  general  Grievance  in  the  Nation.      It  is  the 
4  Law.    [4  Hear,  hear ! '  from  all  quarters  of  the  Nation J\    Not 
4  that  the  Laws  are  a  grievance  ;  but  there  are  Laws  that  are  ; 
4  and  the  great  grievance  lies  in  the  execution  and  adminis- 
4  tration.      I  think  I  may  say  it,  I  have  as  eminent  Judges  in 
4  this  land  as  have  been  had,  as  the  Nation  has  had,  for  these 
4  many  years.      [Hale  and  others ;  yea  /]  — Truly  I  could  be 
4  particular,   as   to   the   executive   part   "  of  it,"   as    to    the 
'  administration  44  of  the  Law  "  ;  but  that  would  trouble  you. 
4  The  truth  of  it  is,  There  are  wicked  and  abominable  Laws, 
4  which  "  it "   will   be   in  your  power  to  alter.      To  hang  a 
'  man  for  Six-and-eightpence,  and  I  know  not  what ;  to  hang 
4  for  a  trifle,  and  acquit  murder, — is  in  the  ministration  of 
4  the  Law,  through  the  ill-framing  of  it.      I   have  known  in 
'  my  experience  abominable  murders  acquitted.      And  to  see 

*  men  lose  their  lives  for  petty  matters :  this  is  a  thing  God 


1656]  SPEECH    V  299 

'  will  reckon  for.  [Fbwr  Highness  actually  says  so,  believes 
'  so  ?]  And  I  wish  it  may  not  lie  upon  this  Nation  a  day 
'  longer  than  you  have  an  opportunity  to  give  a  remedy ;  and 
'  I  hope  I  shall  cheerfully  join  with  you  in  it.  This  hath 
'  been  a  great  grief  to  many  honest  hearts  and  conscientious 
6  people ;  and  I  hope  it  is  in  all  your  hearts  to  rectify  it. 

'  I  have  little  more  to  say  to  you,  being  very  weary ;  and 
4  I  know  you  are  so  "  too."  Truly  I  did  begin  with  what  I 
'  thought  was  "  the  means  "  to  carry  on  this  War  (if  you  will 
'  carry  it  on),  That  we  might  join  together  in  that  vigor- 
'  ously.  And  I  did  promise  an  answer  to  an  objection  : 
'  '  But  what  will  you  prosecute  it  with  ? '  The  State  is 

*  hugely    in    debt ;     I    believe    it    comes  to [Reporter 

cannot  hear;  on   his  Paper  is  mere  Blank; — nay  I  think 
his  Highness  stutters,  does  not  clearly  articulate  any  sum.] 

'  — The  Treasure  of  the  State  is  run  out.  We  shall  not 
'  be  an  enemy  to  your  inspection ;  but  desire  it, — that  you 
'  should  inspect  the  Treasury,  and  how  moneys  have  been 
'  expended.  And  we  are  not  afraid  to  look  the  Nation 
'  in  the  face  upon  this  score.  And  therefore  we  will  say 
'  negatively,  first,  No  man  can  say  we  have  misemployed 
4  the  Treasures  of  this  Nation,  and  embezzled  it  to  parti  - 
6  cular  and  private  uses. 

'  It  may  be  we  have  not  been, — as  the  world  terms  it, 
<•  — so  fortunate  in  all  our  successes,  "  in  the  issues  of  all 
'  our  attempts "  ?  [Hispaniola  was  a  terribk  affair,  your 
Highness ;  and  Jamaica  is  yet — a  load  to  crush  any  but  a 
1  Man  of  Hope  /]  Truly  if  we  are  of  mind  that  God  may 
'  not  decide  for  us  in  these  things,  I  think  we  shall  be 

*  quarrelling  with  what  God  "  Himself "  will  answer  "  for." 
«  And  we  hope  we  are  able, — it  may  be  weakly,  I  doubt  not 
' to   give   an   answer  to  God,  and  to  give  an  answer  to 

*  every  man^s  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  the  reason 
<  of  things.      But  we  shall  tell  you,  it —  ['  It,"  the  principal 

4  reason '  we  could  give,  was  the  Plotting  of  the  Cavaliers ; 
whereat  his  Highness  bursts  into  sudden  spontaneous  combustion 


300     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  again  /]  — was  part  of  that  Arch-Fire,  which  hath  been 
6  in  this  your  time ;  wherein  there  were  flames  good  store, 
4  fire  enough ; — and  it  will  be  your  wisdom  and  skill,  and 
4  God's  blessing  upon  you,  to  quench  them  both  here  and 
4  elsewhere !  I  say  it  again,  our  endeavours — by  those  that 
4  have  been  appointed,  by  those  that  have  been  Major- 
4  Generals ;  I  can  repeat  it  with  comfort, — they  have  been 
4  effectual  for  the  Preservation  of  your  Peace  !  [  What  worlds 
of  old  terror,  rage  and  endeavour,  all  dead  now ;  what 
continents  of  extinct  fire,  of  life-volcanoes  once  blazing,  now 
sunk  in  eternal  darkness,  do  we  discern,  with  emotion,  through 
6  this  chance  crevice  in  his  Highness !  ]  It  hath  been  more 
4  effectual  toward  the  discountenancing  of  Vice  and  settling 
6  Religion,  than  anything  done  these  fifty  years  :  I  will  abide 
4  by  it,  notwithstanding  the  envy  and  slander  of  foolish  men  ! 
4  [Poor  Oliver,  noble  Oliver!]  But  I  say  there  was  a  Design 
4  — I  confess  I  speak  that  to  you  with  a  little  vehemency — 
4  But  you  had  not  peace  two  months  together,  "  nothing  but 
4  plot  after  plot " ;  I  profess  I  believe  it  as  much  as  ever  I  did 
4  anything  in  the  world  :  and  how  instrumental  they,  "  these 
4  Major-Generals,"  have  been  to  your  peace  and  for  your 
4  preservation,  by  such  means, — which,  we  say,  was  Necessity  ! 
4  More  "  instrumental "  than  all  instituted  things  in  the 

4  world  ! If  you  would  make  laws  against  whatever  things 

4  God  may  please  to  send,  "laws"  to  meet  everything  that  may 
4  happen, — you  make  a  law  in  the  face  of  God ;  you  tell  God 
4  you  will  meet  all  His  dispensations,  and  will  stay  things 
4  whether  He  will  or  no  !  *  But  if  you  make  good  laws  of 
4  Government,  that  men  may  know  how  to  obey  and  to  act 
4  for  Government,  they  may  be  laws  that  have  frailty  and 
4  weakness  ;  ay,  and  44  yet "  good  laws  to  be  observed.  But 

1  'Laws  against  events,'  insisted  on  before,  p.  271.  The  'event'  there  could 
be  no  law  against  beforehand,  was  the  universal  rising  of  the  cutthroat  Cavaliers  ; 
a  thing  not  believed-in  by  the  thickskinned,  but  too  well  known  to  his  Highness 
as  a  terrible  verity, — which  the  thickest  skin  would  have  got  acquainted  with, 
moreover,  had  it  not  been  for  him  !  Evidently  a  most  provoking  topic. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  301 

*  if  nothing  should   "  ever  "  be  done  but  what  is  « according 

*  to  Law,'  the  throat  of  the  Nation  may  be  cut  while   we 
'send  for  some  to  make  a  Law!      [The   Tyrant's  plea? 

Yes,  and  the  true  Governor's,  my  friend ;  for  extremes  meet.] 

*  Therefore  certainly  it  is  a  pitiful   beastly  notion  to  think, 
4  though   it   be   for  ordinary   Government    to    live     by    law 

<  and    rule,    yet1 — "  if   a    Government  in  extraordinary  cir- 
6  cumstances  go  beyond  the  law  even    for    self-preservation, 

*  it  is "  to  be  clamoured-at,  and  blottered-at.      [His  High- 
ness still  extremely  animated;  wants  as  if  more  tongues  than 

€  on*   to  speak  all   he  feels  /]     When   matters   of   Necessity 

*  come,  then  without  guilt   extraordinary   remedies  may   not 
'  be  applied  ?     Who  can  be  so  pitiful  a  person  ! — 

4  I  confess,  if  Necessity  be  pretended,  there  is  so  much  the 
'  more  sin.  A  laying  the  irregularity  of  men's  actions  upon 
'  God  as  if  He  had  sent  a  Necessity ; — who  doth  indeed  send 
4  Necessities  !  But  to  anticipate  these — For  as  to  an  appeal 
6  to  God,  I  own  it,  "  own  this  Necessity,'1  conscientiously  to 
'  God  ;  and  the  principles  of  Nature  dictate  the  thing : — But 

<  if  there  be  a  supposition,  I  say,  of  a  Necessity  which  is  not, 

<  every  act  so  done  hath  in  it  the  more  sin.      This  "  whether 
'  in  a  given   case,   there   is  a  Necessity  or  not,"  perhaps  is 
'  rather  to  be  disputed  than  otherwise  :  But  I  must  say  I  do 
'  not  know  one  action  "  of  this  Government,"  no  not  one,  but 
6  it  hath  been  in  order  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Nation. 
'  And  the  keeping  of  some  in  prison  [Lilburn,  Wildman,  Over- 
ton,    Grey  of  Groby,    Willoughby   of  Parham,    occasionally 
Harrison  and  others :  a  fair  stock  of  Prisoners  up  and  down  /] 

4  hath  been  upon  such  clear  and  just  grounds  that  no  man 
'  can  except  against  it.  I  know  there  are  some  imprisoned 
4  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  in  Cornwall  and  elsewhere  ;  and  the 
'  cause  of  their  imprisonment  was,  They  were  all  found  act- 
4  ing  things  which  tended  to  the  disturbance  of  the  Peace 

*  of  the  Nation.      Now  these  principles  made  us  say  to  them  : 

1  A  small  hiatus  in  the  MS.  (Burton,  p.  clxxii.),  which  imagination  can  easily 

au. 


302     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  '  Pray  live  quietly  in  your  own  countries  :  you  shall  not  be 
'  urged  with  bonds  or  engagements,  or  to  subscribe  to  the 
4  Government.'  But  they  would  not  so  much  as  say,  '  We 
4  will  promise  to  live  peaceably.1  If  others  are  imprisoned, 
6  it  is  because  they  have  done  such  things.  And  if  other 
'  particulars  strike,1  we  know  what  to  say, — as  having  endea- 
6  voured  to  walk  as  those  that  would  not  only  give  an  account 
'  to  God  of  their  actings  in  Authority,  but  had  "  withal "  to 
'  give  an  account  of  them  to  men.  [Anticlimax ; — better  than 
4  some  climaxes ;  full  of  simplicity  and  discretion.] 

6  I  confess  I  have  digressed  much.      [  Yes,  your  Highness ; 

it  has  been  a  very  loose-flowing  Discourse ; — like  a  big  tide  on 

i  shallow  shores,  with  few  banks  or  barriers !  ]  — I  would  not 

'  have  you  be  discouraged  if  you  think  the  State  is  exceeding 

'  poor.      Give  me  leave   to  tell   you,  we  have   managed   the 

•  Treasury  not  unthriftily,  nor  to  private  uses  ;  but  for  the 
'  use  of  the  Nation   and   Government ; — and  shall  give  you 
k  this  short  account.      When  the  Long  Parliament  sat,2  this 
;  Nation  owed  700,000?.      We  examined  it ;  it  was  brought 
'  unto  that, — in  that  short  Meeting  "  of  the  Little  Parliament," 
4  within  half  a  year  after  the  Government  came  into  our  hands. 
'  I  believe  there  was  more  rather  than  less.    They  the  "  Long- 
4  Parliament  people,'1  had  120,OOOZ.  a-month ;  they  had  the 

*  King's,  Queen's,  Prince's,   Bishops'  Lands  ;  all   Delinquents' 
;  Estates,  and  the  Dean-and-Chapter   Lands ; — which  was  a 
'  very  rich  Treasure.    As  soon  as  ever  we  came  to  the  Govern- 
'  ment,  we  abated   30,0007.  the  first  half-year,  and  60,OOOZ. 
'  after.      We  had  no  benefits  of  those  Estates,  at  all  consider- 
'  able  [Only  the  merest  fractions  of  them  remaining  now  unsold]  ; 
'  I  do  not  think,  the  fiftieth  part  of  what  they  had  : — and 
'  give  me  leave  to  tell  you,  You  are  not  so  much  in  debt  as  we 
4  found  you*    We  know  it  hath  been  maliciously  dispersed,  as 
'  if  we  had  set  the  Nation  into  2,500,000/.  of  debt :   but  I 

1  Means  'give  offence.' 

2  Polite  for  'ceased  to  sit.'  8  Antea,  p.  299. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  803 

4  tell  you,  you  are  not  so  much  in  debt,  by  some  thousands, — 
4  I  think  I  may  say,  by  some  hundreds  of  thousands  !  This  is 
4  true  that  I  tell  you.  We  have  honestly, — it  may  be  not  so 
'  wisely  as  some  others  would  have  done, — but  with  honest 
4  and  plain  hearts,  laboured  and  endeavoured  the  disposal  of 
4  Treasure  to  Public  Uses ;  and  laboured  to  pull  off  the 
4  common  charge  60,000/.  a-month,  as  you  see.  And  if  we 
4  had  continued  that  charge  that  was  left  upon  the  Nation, 
4  perhaps  we  could  have  had  as  much  money  "  in  hand,"  as 
4  now  we  are  in  debt. — These  things  being  thus,  I  did  think 
4  it  my  duty  to  give  you  this  account, — though  it  be  weari- 
4  some  even  to  yourselves  and  to  me. 

4  Now  if  I  had  the  tongue  of  an  Angel ;  if  I  was  so 
4  certainly  Inspired  as  the  holy  Men  of  God  have  been,  I  could 
4  rejoice,  for  your  sakes,  and  for  these  Nations'  sakes,  and  for 
4  the  sake  of  God,  and  of  His  Cause  which  we  have  all  been 
4  engaged  in,  if  I  could  move  affections  in  you  to  that  which, 
4  if  you  do  it,  will  save  this  Nation  !  If  not, — you  plunge  it, 
4  to  all  human  appearance,  "it"  and  all  Interests,  yea  and  all 
4  Protestants  in  the  world,  into  irrecoverable  ruin  ! — 

4  Therefore  I  pray  and  beseech  you,  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
4  Show  yourselves  to  be  men ;  4  quit  yourselves  like  men ' ! 
'  It  doth  not  infer  any  reproach  if  you  do  show  yourselves 
4  men  :  Christian  men, — which  alone  will  make  you  4  quit 
4  yourselves.'  I  do  not  think  that,  to  this  work  you  have 
4  in  hand,  a  neutral  spirit  will  do.  That  is  a  Laodicean 
4  spirit ;  and  we  know  what  God  said  of  that  Church  :  it  was 
4  4  lukewarm,"1  and  therefore  He  would  4  spew  it  out  of  His 
4  mouth '  !  It  is  not  a  neutral  spirit  that  is  incumbent  upon 
4  you.  And  if  not  a  neutral  spirit,  it  is  much  less  a  stupe- 
4  fied  spirit,  inclining  you,  in  the  least  disposition,  the  wrong- 
'  way  !  Men  are,  in  their  private  consciences,  every  day 
4  making  shipwreck  ;  and  it  "s  no  wonder  if  these  can  shake 
4  hands  with  persons  of  reprobate  Interests  : — such,  give  me 
'  leave  to  think,  are  the  Popish  Interests.  For  the  Apostle 
4  brands  them  so, 4  having  seared  consciences/  Though  I  do 


304     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  not  judge  every  man  : — but  the  ringleaders l  are  such.  The 
4  Scriptures  foretold  there  should  be  such.  It  is  not  such 
6  a  spirit  that  will  carry  this  work  on  !  It  is  men  in  a 
4  Christian  state  ;  who  have  works  with  faith ;  who  know 
4  how  to  lay  hold  on  Christ  for  remission  "  of  sins,"  till  a 
4  man  be  brought  to  '  glory  in  hope.'  Such  an  hope  kindled 

*  in  men's  spirits  will  actuate  them  to  such  ends  as  you  are 

*  tending   to :  and   so  many  as   are   partakers  of  that,  and 
6  do   own  your  standings,2  wherein   the  Providence    of   God 
6  hath   set   and  called   you    to    this  work,  "  so   many "   will 

*  carry  it  on. 

4  If  men,  through  scruple,  be  opposite,   you  cannot  take 
4  them  by  the  hand   to  carry  them   "  along  with  you," — it 
6  were  absurd :  if  a  man  be  scrupling  the  plain  truth  before 
4  him,  it  is  in  vain  to  meddle  with  him.      He  hath  placed 
4  another  business  in  his  mind  ;  he  is  saying,  4  Oh,  if  we  could 
4  but  exercise  wisdom  to  gain  Civil  Liberty, — Religion  would 
4  follow  ! '     [His  Highness  thinks  Religion  will  PRECEDE, — as 
I  hope   thou   also,   in    a  sense,  emphatically    thinkest.     His 
Highness  does  not  much  affect  Constitution-builders,  Oceana 
Harringtons,  and  Members  of  the  Rota  Club.     Here,  how- 
ever, he  has  his  eye  principally  upon  the  late  Parliament,  with 
4  its  Constitution-pedantries  and  parchments.]     Certainly  there 
4  are  such  men,  who  are  not  maliciously  blind,  whom  God,  for 
4  some  cause,  exercises.    [Yes,  your  Highness  ,   we  poor  Moderns 
have  had  whole  shoals  of  them,  and  still  have, — in  the  later 
6  sections  of  that  same  44  work "  you  are   engaged  in.]     It 
4  cannot  be  expected  that  they  should  do  anything  !     [Pro- 
''found  silence.]     These  men, — they  must  demonstrate  that 

4  they  are  in  bonds. Could  we  have  carried  it  thus  far, 

4  if  we  had  sat  disputing  in  that  manner  ?     I  must  profess 
4  I  reckon   that  difficulty  more  than  all  the  wrestling  with 

1  Of  the  Insurrectionary  persons,  and  the  general  Miscellany  who  favour  the 
Popish  Interests  ;  it  is  on  these  more  than  on  Papists  proper  that  his  Highness 
is  now  again  coming  to  glance. 

8  Present  official  positions. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  305 

*  flesh  and   blood.      [What  could  so  try  one  as  that  Pedant 
Parliament  did  ,-  disputing,  doling-out  pennyweights  of  dis- 
tilled constitution  ,•  and  Penruddock,  Charles  Stuart,  and  the 
Spaniards  waiting  momentarily  to  come  in,  with  Ate  and  the 
'  Scarlet  Woman  in  their  rear  ?]     Doubting,  hesitating  men, 
4  they  are  not  fit  for  your  work.      You  must  not  expect  that 
4  men  of  hesitating  spirits,  under  the  bondage  of  scruples,  will 
4  be  able  to  carry-on  this  work,  much  less  such  as  are  merely 
4  carnal,  natural ;  such  as  having  an   4  outward  profession  of 
4  Godliness,'  whom  the  Apostle  speaks  of  so  often,  4  are  enemies 
4  to   the  cross  of  Christ  ;    whose  god   is   their   belly ;    whose 
4  glory   is  in   their  shame  ;    who   mind   earthly   things.'     [A 
really  frightful   kind   of  character ; — and  not  yet  obsolete, 
4  though  its  dialect  is  changed!]      Do  you  think   these  men 
4  will   rise  to  such  a  spiritual  heat  for  the  Nation   as  shall 
'carry  you  a  Cause  like  this  ;  as  will   meet  "and  defy"  all 
4  the  oppositions  that  the  Devil  and  wicked   men  can  make  ? 
[  Not  to  BE  expected,  your  Highness  ;  not  at  all.      And  yet 
we,  two-hundred  years  later,  how  do  we  go  on  expecting  it, — 
by  the  aid  of  Ballot-boxes,  Reform-Club  Attorneys,  etc.  etc.  /] 
4  Give  me  leave  to  tell  you, — those  that  are  called  to  this 
4  work,  it  vvill  not  depend  "  for  them  "  upon  formalities,  nor 
4  notions,  nor  speeches  !      [A  certain  truculency  on  his  High- 
4  ness's  visage.]     I  do   not  look    the  work   should    be  done 
4  by  these.      44  No "  ;  but  by  men  of  honest  hearts,  engaged 
4  to    God  ;  strengthened  by  Providence ;  enlightened  in   His 
4  words,  to   know  His  Word, — to  which    He   hath    set   His 
4  Seal,  sealed  with   the   blood   of   His   Son,   with    the  blood 
4  of  His  Servants  :   that  is  such  a  spirit  as  will  carry  on  this 
4  work.      [Scant  in  the  Pedant  Parliament,  scant  in  the  Rota 
Club  ;  not  to  be  found  in  the  Reform-Club  Attorney,  or  his 
Ballot-box,  at  all.] 

4  Therefore  I  beseech  you,  do  not  dispute  of  unnecessary 

'  and  unprofitable  things  which  may  divert  you  from  carrying 

4  on   so  glorious  a  work  as  this  is.      I  think  every  objection 

4  that  ariseth  is  not  to  be  answered  ;  nor  have  I  time  for  it. 

VOL.  in.  u 


306     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

4  I  say,  Look  up  to  God ;  have  peace  among  yourselves. 
4  Know  assuredly  that  if  I  have  interest,1  I  am  by  the  voice 
''  of  the  People  the  Supreme  Magistrate  [We  will  have  no 
4  disputing  about  that, — you  are  aware  /]  ;  and,  it  may  be,  do 
4  know  somewhat  that  might  satisfy  my  conscience,  if  I  stood 
4  in  doubt !  But  it  is  a  union,  really  it  is  a  union,  "  this " 
4  between  you  and  me  :  and  both  of  us  united  in  faith  and 
4  love  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  His  peculiar  Interest  in  the 
4  world, — that  must  ground  this  work.  And  in  that,  if  I  have 
6  any  peculiar  Interest  which  is  personal  to  myself,  which  is 
4  not  subservient  to  the  Public  end, — it  were  not  an  extra- 
4  vagant  thing  for  me  to  curse  myself :  because  I  know  God 
4  will  curse  me,  if  I  have  !  [Look  in  that  countenance  of  his 
4  Highness !]  I  have  learned  too  much  of  God,  to  dally  with 
4  Him,  and  to  be  bold  with  Him,  in  these  things.  And  I 
4  hope  I  never  shall  be  bold  with  Him  ; — though  I  can  be 
4  bold  with  men,  if  Christ  be  pleased  to  assist  ! — 

4  I  say,  if  there  be  love  between  us,  so  that  the  Nations 2 
4  may  say,  4  These  are  knit  together  in  one  bond,  to  promote 
4  the  glory  of  God  against  the  Common  Enemy  ;  to  suppress 
4  everything  that  is  Evil,  and  encourage  whatsoever  is  of  God- 
4  liness,' — yea,  the  Nation  will  bless  you  !  And  really  that 
4  and  nothing  else  will  work-off  these  Disaffections  from  the 
4  minds  of  men  ;  which  are  great, — perhaps  greater  than  all 

*  the  "  other  "  oppositions  you  can  meet  with.      I  do  know 
6  what  I  say.      When  I  speak  of  these  things,  I  speak  my 
6  heart   before  God  ; — and,  as  I   said  before,  I  dare  not  be 
(  bold  with  Him.      I  have  a  little  faith  :  I  have  a  little  lived 

*  by  faith,  and  therein  I  may  be  4  bold.'     If  I  spoke  other 
6  than   the  affections  and   secrets   of  my  heart,  I   know  He 
4  would  not  bear  it  at  my  hands  !      [Deep  silence  ;  his  High- 
ness's  voice,  in  sonorous  bass,  alone  audible  in  the  Painted 

4  Chamber.]  Therefore  in  the  fear  and  name  of  God  :  Go 
4  on,  with  love  and  integrity,  against  whatever  arises  of  con- 
4  trary  to  those  ends  which  you  know  and  have  been  told  of; 
/  *  Means  '  if  you  see  me  in  power.'  2  The  Three  Nations. 


1656]  SPEECH    V  307 

*  and  the  blessing  of  God  go  with  you, — and  the  blessing  of 

*  God  will  go  with  you  !  [Amen !] 

*  I  have  but  one  thing  more  to  say.      I  know  it  is  trouble- 

*  some : — But   I  did   read   a   Psalm   yesterday  ;    which   truly 
'  may   not  unbecome   both    me   to   tell  you  of,   and   you  to 
'  observe.      It  is  the  Eighty-fifth  Psalm  ; 1  it  is  very  instruc- 
'  tive  and  significant  :   and  though  I  do  but  a  little  touch 
'  upon  it,  I  desire  your  perusal  at  pleasure.      [  We  will  many 

of  us  read  it,  this  night ;  almost  all  of  us,  with  one  view 
or  the  other  ; — and  some  of  us  may  sing  a  part  of  it  at 
evening  worship.] 

( It  begins  :  '  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  very  favourable  to  Thy 
6  Land  ;   Thou   hast   brought   back   the   captivity   of  Jacob. 

*  Thou  hast  forgiven  the  iniquity  of  Thy  People  ;  Thou  hast 
'covered  all  then-  sin.     Thou  hast  taken  away  all  the  fierce- 
<  ness   of  Thy   wrath  :  Thou   hast   turned  Thyself  from  the 
4  fierceness  of  Thine  anger.      Turn  us,  O  God  of  our  salva- 
6  tion,  and  cause  Thine  anger  toward  us  to  cease.    Wilt  Thou 
6  be  angry  with  us  forever  ;  wilt  Thou  draw  out  Thine  anger 
'  to  all  generations  ?     Wilt  Thou  not  revive  us  again,  that 
4  Thy   People   may  rejoice  in  Thee?'     Then   he  calls  upon 
6  God  as  4  the  God  of  his  salvation,' 2  and  then  saith  he  :  '  I 
'  will  hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak  •  for  He  will  speak 
'  peace   unto   His  people,  and  to   His  Saints  ;  but  let  them 

*  not   turn   again   to    folly.      Surely   His    Salvation    is    nigh 
'  them    that  fear    Him  ; '    Oh — '  that   glory    may   dwell    in 

*  our  Land  !    Mercy  and  Truth  are  met  together  ;  Righteous- 
4  ness  and  Peace  have  kissed  each  other.      Truth  shall  spring 
'  out    of    the    Earth,    and    Righteousness    shall    look    down 
6  from    Heaven.      Yea,   the   Lord    shall    give   that    which   is 

*  good,  and  our  Land  shall   yield  her  increase.      Righteous- 

1  Historical:  Tuesday,  1 6th  Sept.  1656;  Oliver  Protector  reading  the  Eighty- 
fifth  Psalm  in  Whitehall.     We  too  might  read  it ;  but  as  his  Highness  recites  it 
all  here  except  one  short  verse,  it  is  not  so  necessary. 

2  Verse  7,  '  Show  us  Thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  and  grant  us  Thy  salvation.' 


308     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  ness  shall  go  before  Him,  and  shall  set  us  in  the  way 
4  of  His  steps.'  [  What  a  vision  of  celestial  hope  is  this ! 
vista  into  Lands  of  Light ;  GocTs  Will  done  on  Earth  ,• 
this  poor  English  Earth  an  Emblem  of  Heaven ;  where  Gods 
Blessing  reigns  supreme  ;  where  ghastly  Falsity  and  brutal 
Greed  and  Baseness,  and  Cruelty  and  Cowardice,  and  Sin  and 
Fear,  and  all  the  Hell-dogs  of  Gehenna  shall  lie  chained 
under  our  feet ;  and  Man,  august  in  divine  manhood,  shall 
step  victorious  over  them,  heavenward,  like  a  god !  O  Oliver, 
I  could  weep, — and  yet  it  steads  not.  Do  not  I  too  look 
into  4  Psalm^  into  a  kind  of  Eternal  Psalm,  unalterable  as 
adamant, — which  the  whole  world  yet  will  look  into?  Courage, 
my  brave  one !] 

4  Truly  I  wish  that  this  Psalm,  as  it  is  written  in  the 
4  Book,  might  be  better  written  in  our  hearts.  That  we 
4  might  say  as  David,  <  Thou  hast  done  this,1  and  4  Thou 
4  hast  done  that ' ;  '  Thou  hast  pardoned  our  sins ;  Thou  hast 
4  taken  away  our  iniquities ' !  Whither  can  we  go  to  a  better 
4  God  ?  For  4  He  hath  done  it.'  It  is  to  Him  any  Nation 
4  may  come  in  their  extremity,  for  the  taking  away  of  His 
4  wrath.  How  did  He  do  it  ?  *  By  pardoning  their  sins, 
4  by  taking  away  their  iniquities ' !  If  we  can  but  cry  unto 
4  Him,  He  will  4  turn  and  take  away  our  sins/ — Then  let  us 
4  listen  to  Him.  Then  let  us  consult,  and  meet  in  Parlia- 
4  ment ;  and  ask  Him  counsel,  and  hear  what  He  saith,  4  for 
4  He  will  speak  peace  unto  His  People.1  If  you  be  the  People 
4  of  God,  He  will  speak  peace ; — and  we  will  not  turn  again 
«  to  folly. 

4  4  Folly ' :  a  great  deal  of  grudging  in  the  Nation  that  we 
4  cannot  have  our  horse-races,  cock-fightings,  and  the  like  ! 
4  [Abolished,  suspended,  for  good  reasons!]  I  do  not  think 
4  these  are  lawful,  except  to  make  them  recreations.  That  we 
4  will  not  endure  44  for  necessary  ends'"  [For  preventing  Royalist 
4  Plots,  and  suchlike]  to  be  abridged  of  them  : — Till  God  hath 
4  brought  us  to  another  spirit  than  this,  He  will  not  bear  with 
4  us.  Ay,  4  but  He  bears  with  them  in  France  ' ;  4  they  in 


1656]  SPEECH    V  309 

*  France  are  so  and  so' ! — Have  they  the  Gospel  as  we  haver 
'  They  have  seen  the  sun  but  a  little ;  we  have  great  lights. 

-  If  God  give  you  a  spirit  of  Reformation,  you  will 
'  preserve  this  Nation  from  *  turning  again'  to  those  fooleries: 
'  — and  what  will  the  end  be  ?  Comfort  and  blessing.  Then 
'  '  Mercy  and  Truth  shall  meet  together.'  Here  is  a  great 
4  deal  of  '  truth '  among  professors,  but  very  little  '  mercy ' ! 

*  They  are  ready  to  cut  the  throats   of  one  another.      But 
'  when  we  are  brought  into  the  right  way,  we  shall  be  merci- 

*  Jul  as  well  as  orthodox  :  and  we  know  who  it  is  that  saith, 
'  '  If  a  man  could  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  angels, 
6  and  yet  want  that,  he  is  but  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling 
'  cymbal ! ' — 

4  Therefore  I  beseech  you  in  the  name  of  God,  set  your 
4  hearts  to  this  "  work."  And  if  you  set  your  hearts  to  it, 
'  then  you  will  sing  Luther's  Psalm.1  That  is  a  rare  Psalm 
'  for  a  Christian  ! — and  if  he  set  his  heart  open,  and  can 
'  approve  it  to  God,  we  shall  hear  him  say,  '  God  is  our 
'  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble.' 
'  If  Pope  and  Spaniard,  and  Devil  and  all,  set  themselves 
'  against  us, — though  they  should  *  compass  us  like  bees,' 
'  as  it  is  in  the  Hundred-and-eighteenth  Psalm, — yet  in  the 

1  Psalm  Forty-sixth  ;  of  which  Luther's  Paraphrase,  Einefeste  Burg  ist  unset 
Gott,  is  still  very  celebrated.  Here  is  the  original  Psalm  : 

'  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength  ;  a  very  present  help  in  trouble ;  therefore 
we  will  not  fear,— though  the  Earth  be  removed,  and  though  the  mountains  be 
carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea:  though  the  waters  roar  and  be  troubled, 
though  the  mountains  shake  with  the  swelling  thereof ! 

'There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  City  of  God,  ihe 
Holy  Place  of  the  Tabernacles  of  the  Most  High.  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her  ; 
she  shall  not  be  moved  :  God  shall  help  her,  and  that  right  early.  The  Heathen 
raged,  the  Kingdoms  were  moved  :  He  uttered  His  voice,  the  Earth  melted.  The 
Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us  ;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge. 

'  Come  behold  the  works  of  the  Lord,  what  desolations  He  hath  made  in  the 
Earth  !  He  maketh  wars  to  cease  unto  the  ends  of  the  Earth  ;  He  breaketh  the 
bow,  and  cutteth  the  spear  in  sunder  ;  He  burneth  the  chariot  in  the  fire : — Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God  ;  I  will  be  exalted  among  the  Heathen,  I  will  be 
exalted  in  the  Earth  !  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  wilh  us  :  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our 
refuge.' 


310     PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

'  name  of  the  Lord  we  should  destroy  them  !      And,  as   it  is 

'  in  this  Psalm   of  Luther's  :  '  We  will  not  fear,  though   the 

4  Earth    be    removed,  and  though  the  mountains  be  carried 

f  into   the   middle   of  the   sea ;    though    the   waters    thereof 

4  roar  and  be  troubled ;   though  the   mountains   shake  with 

'  the  swelling  thereof.'     [A   terrible  scene  indeed: — but  there 

is  something'  in  the  Heart  of  Man,  then,  greater  than  any 

'  scene ' ;  which,  in  the  Name  of  the  Highest,  can  defy  any 

6  scene '  or   terror  whatsoever  ?     '  Yea?  answers  the  Hebrew 

David ;     '  Yea,"1    answers   the    German    Luther ;     '  Yea?   the 

English   Cromwell.      The  Ages  responsive   to   one   another ; 

soul  hailing  soul  across  the  dead  Abysses ;  deep  calling  unto 

6  deep.]     '  There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make 

£  glad  the  City  of  God.      God  is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  she 

'  shall  not  be  moved.'     [JVb/]     Then  he  repeats  two  or  three 

'  times,  '  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us ;  the  God  of  Jacob  is 

'  our  refuge.'     [  What  are  the  King  of  Spain,  Charles  Stuart, 

Joseph    Wagstaff,  Chancellor  Hyde,  and   your    triple-hatted 

Chimera  at  Rome  ?     What  is  the  Devil  in  General ;  for  that 

matter, — the  still  very  extensive  Entity  called  '  Devil,"*  with 

all  the  force  he  can  raise  f\ 

'  I  have  done.      All  I  have  to  say  is,  To  pray  God  that  He 
'  may  bless  you  with  His  presence ;   that  He  who  hath  your 
4  hearts  and  mine  would  show  His  presence  in  the  midst  of  us. 
(  I  desire  you  will  go  together,  and  choose  your  Speaker.  * 


The  latest  of  the  Commentators  expresses  himself  in  refer- 
ence to  this  Speech  in  the  following  singular  way  : 

'  No  Royal  Speech  like  this  was  ever  delivered  elsewhere 
in  the  world  !  It  is, — with  all  its  prudence,  and  it  is  very 
prudent,  sagacious,  courteous,  right  royal  in  spirit, — perhaps 
the  most  artless  transparent  piece  of  Public  Speaking  this 
Editor  has  ever  studied.  Rude,  massive,  genuine ;  like  a 
block  of  unbeaten  gold.  A  Speech  not  so  fit  for  Drury  Lane, 

*  Burton's  Diary i  i.,  Introd.  pp.  clviii. -clxxix.   (from  Additional  Ayscough 
MSS.  no.  6125). 


1656]  SPEECH    V  311 

as  for  Valhalla,  and  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Gods.  The  man 
himself,  and  the  England  he  presided  over,  there  and  then, 
are  to  a  singular  degree  visible  in  it ;  open  to  our  eyes,  to 
our  sympathies.  He  who  would  see  Oliver,  will  find  more 
of  him  here  than  in  most  of  the  history-books  yet  written 
about  him. 

'On  the  whole,  the  cursory  modern  Englishman  cannot 
be  expected  to  read  this  Speech  : — and  yet  it  is  pity ;  the 
Speech  might  do  him  good,  if  he  understood  it.  We  shall 
not  again  hear  a  Supreme  Governor  talk  in  this  strain  :  the 
dialect  of  it  is  very  obsolete ;  much  more  than  the  grammar 
and  diction,  forever  obsolete, — not  to  my  regret  the  dialect 
of  it.  But  the  spirit  of  it  is  a  thing  that  should  never  have 
grown  obsolete.  The  spirit  of  it  will  have  to  revive  itself 
again ;  and  shine  out  in  new  dialect  and  vesture^  in  infinitely 
wider  compass,  wide  as  God's  known  Universe;  now  is, — if 
it  please  Heaven  !  Since  that  spirit  went  obsolete,  and  men 
took  to  "  dallying  "  with  the  Highest,  to  "  being  bold  "  with 
the  Highest,  and  not  "  bold  with  men  "  (only  Belial,  and  not 
"  Christ "  in  any  shape,  assisting  them),  we  have  had  but  sorry 
times,  in  Parliament  and  out  of  it.  There  has  not  been  a 
Supreme  Governor  worth  the  meal  upon  his  periwig,  in  com- 
parison,— since  this  spirit  fell  obsolete.  How  could  there? 
Belial  is  a  desperately-bad  sleeping-partner  in  any  concern 
whatever !  Cant  did  not  ever  yet,  that  I  know  of,  turn 
ultimately  to  a  good  account,  for  any  man  or  thing.  May 
the  Devil  swiftly  be  compelled  to  call-in  large  masses  of 
our  current  stock  of  Cant,  and  withdraw  it  from  circulation  ! 
Let  the  people  "  run  for  gold,"  as  the  Chartists  say ;  demand 
Veracity,  Performance,  instead  of  mealy-mouthed  Speaking ; 
and  force  him  to  recall  his  Cant.  Thank  Heaven,  stern 
Destiny,  merciful  were  it  even  to  death,  does  now  compel 
them  verily  to  "  run  for  gold " :  Cant  in  all  directions  is 
swiftly  ebbing  into  the  Bank  it  was  issued  by.'— 

Speech   being  ended,   the   Honourable   Members  '  went  to 


PART  IX.     THE  MAJOR-GENERALS    [17  SEPT. 

the  House,"  says  Bulstrode ; l  and  in  the  Lobby,  with  consider- 
able crowding  I  think,  '  received,  from  the  Chancery  Clerk, 
Certificates  in  this  form,'* — for  instance  : 

'  COUNTY  OF  BUCKS.  These  are  to  certify  that '  Sir  Bul- 
strode  Whitlocke  '  is  returned  by  Indenture  one  of  the  Knights 
to  serve  in  this  present  Parliament  for  the  said  County,  and 
approved  by  his  Highnesses  Counsel.  NATII.  TAYLER,  Clerk 
of  the  Commonwealth  in  Chancery? 

Mr.  Tayler  has  received  Four-hundred  '  Indentures '  from 
Honourable  Gentlemen ;  but  he  does  not  give  out  Four- 
hundred  '  Certificates,1  he  only  gives  Three-hundred  and  odd. 
Nearly  One-hundred  Honourable  Gentlemen  can  get  no 
Certificate  from  Mr.  Tayler, — none  provided  for  you  ; — and 
without  Certificate  there  is  no  admittance.  Soldiers  stand 
ranked  at  the  door ;  no  man  enters  without  his  Certificate  ! 
Astonishing  to  see.  Haselrig,  Scott  and  the  stiff  Republicans, 
Ashley  Cooper  and  the  turbulent  persons,  who  might  have 
leavened  this  Parliament  into  strange  fermentation,  cannot, 
it  appears,  get  in  !  No  admittance  here :  saw  Honourable 
Gentlemen  ever  the  like  ? — 

The  most  flagrant  violation  of  the  Privileges  of  Parliament 
that  was  ever  known !  exclaim  they.  A  sore  blow  to 
Privilege  indeed.  With  which  the  Honourable  House,  shorn 
of  certain  limbs  in  this  rude  way,  knows  not  well  what  to  do. 
The  Clerk  of  the  Commonwealth,  being  summoned,  answers 
what  he  can ;  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  for  the  Council  of  State, 
answers  what  he  can  :  the  Honourable  House,  actually  intent 
on  Settling  the  Nation,  has  to  reflect  that  in  real  truth  this 
will  be  a  great  furtherance  thereto  ;  that  matters  do  stand  in 
an  anomalous  posture  at  present ;  that  the  Nation  should  and 
must  be  settled.  The  Honourable  House,  with  an  effort, 
swallows  this  injury ;  directs  the  petitioning  Excluded 
Members  '  to  apply  to  the  Council.'2  The  Excluded  Members, 
or  some  one  Excluded  Member,  redacts  an  indignant  Protest, 

1  Whitlocke,  p.  639. 

2  Commons  Journals,  vii.  424-6  (Sept.  l8th  22d) 


1656]  SPEECH    V  313 

with  all  the  names  appended  ; l  prints  it,  privately  circulates 
it,  *  in  boxes  sent  by  carriers,  a  thousand  copies  in  a  box ' : — 
and  there  it  rests ;  his  Highness  saying  nothing  to  it ;  the 
Honourable  House  and  the  Nation  saying  nothing.  In  this 
Parliament,  different  from  the  last,  we  trace  a  real  desire  for 
Settlement. 

As  the  power  of  the  Major- Generals,  'in  about  two  months 
hence,1 2  or  three  months  hence,  was,  on  hint  of  his  Highness 
himself,  to  the  joy  of  Constitutional  England,  withdrawn,  we 
may  here  close  Part  Ninth.  Note  first,  however,  as  contem- 
porary with  this  event,  the  glorious  news  we  have  from  Blake 
and  Montague  at  sea ;  who,  in  good  hour,  have  at  last  got 
hold  of  a  Spanish  Fleet,  and  in  a  tragic  manner  burnt  it,  and 
taken  endless  silver  therein.3  News  of  the  fact  comes  in  the 
beginning  of  October :  in  the  beginning  of  November  comes, 
as  it  were,  the  fact  itself, — some  Eight-and-thirty  wagonloads 
of  real  silver :  triumphantly  jingling  up  from  Portsmouth, 
across  London  pavements  to  the  Tower,  to  be  coined  into 
current  English  money  there.  The  Antichrist  King  of  Spain 
has  lost  Lima  by  an  earthquake,  and  infinite  silver  there  also. 
Heaven's  vengeance  seems  awakening.  '  Never,'  said  the  old 
Newspapers,4  '  never  was  there  a  more  terrible  visible  Hand 
of  God  in  judgment  upon  any  People,  since  the  time  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah !  Great  is  the  Lord ;  marvellous  are  His 
doings,  and  to  be  had  in  reverence  of  all  the  Nations." 
England  holds  universal  Thanksgiving  Day ;  sees  Eight-and- 
thirty  wagonloads  of  silver,  sees  hope  of  Settlement,  sees 
Major-Generals  abolished ;  and  piously  blesses  Heaven. 

J  Copy  of  it  and  them  in  Whitlocke,  pp.  641-3  ;  see  also  Thurloe,  v.  456,  490. 

2  Kimber,  p.  211.  The  real  date  and  circumstances  may  be  seen  in  Burton's 
Diary  >  i.  310  (7th  Jan.  1656-7),  Commons  Journals ,  vii.  483  (29th  Jan.);  com- 
pared with  Ludlow,  ii.  581-2.  See  Godwin,  iv.  328. 

8  Captain  Stayner's  Letter  (9th  Sept.  1656,  Thurloe,  v.  399) ;  General 
Montague's  Letter  (ib.  p.  433)  5  Whitlocke,  p.  643 ;  etc. 

4  6th  October  (in  Crornwclliana,  p.  160). 


ADJOINED  TO  VOLUME  THIRD 


LIST   OF   THE    LONG   PARLIAMENT 
LIS1S    OF   THE    EASTERN-ASSOCIATION    COMMITTEES 


LIST  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT 

IN  the  old  Parliamentary  History,1  and  in  other  Books,  is  given, 
1  compiled  from  the  Chancery  Records  and  Commons  Journals,'  a  List 
of  the  Long-Parliament  Members,  arranged  according  to  their  Counties 
and  Boroughs;  which  is  very  welcome  to  the  historical  inquirer.  But 
evidently,  for  every  purpose  of  historical  inquiry  connected  with  this 
Period,  there  is  needed  farther, — if  not  some  well-investigated  brief 
'  Biographical  Dictionary  of  the  Long- Parliament  Members,'  such  as  the 
pious  historical  student  is  free  to  imagine  for  himself,  but  will  not  soon 
get, — at  least  and  lowest,  some  Alphabetical  List  of  their  Names ;  the 
ready  index  and  memento  of  a  great  many  things  to  us.  As  no  such  List 
was  anywhere  discoverable,  I  had  to  construct  one  for  my  own  behoof;  a 
process  by  no  means  difficult  in  proportion  to  its  usefulness,  the  facts 
being  already  all  given  in  the  extant  List  by  Places,  and  only  requiring 
to  be  rearranged  for  the  new  object  of  a  List  by  Names.  This  latter 
List,  after  long  doing  duty  in  the  manuscript  state,  is  now,  for  the  use  of 
others,  appended  here  in  print, — there  being  accidentally  a  corner  of 
room  for  it  in  this  New  Edition. 

It  is  not  vitally  connected  with  Oliver  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches  ; 
vet  neither  is  it  quite  without  relation  to  the  man.  Here  are  the  Names 
of  some  five  or  six  hundred  men,  whom  Oliver  Cromwell  sat  in  view  of, 
and  worked  along  with,  through  certain  years  of  time  in  this  world  ; 
their  Names  and  Localities,  if  we  have  nothing  more.  More  is  attai liable 
concerning  several  of  them,  and  is  very  well  worth  attaining ;  but  little 
more,  to  the  general  reader,  is  yc-t  attained.  Featureless,  to  the  general 
reader;  little  other  than  ticketed  shadows,  a  strange  sanhedrim  of 

1  London,  1763,  be.  12-57. 

815 


316    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 

phantoms,  most  of  these  men ; — not  unlikely  all  of  them  to  become 
shadows  and  invisible,  except  where  kindled  by  some  contact  with  this 
the  luminous  and  living  one  !  Here  are  their  Names,  at  whatever  worth 
the  reader  may  put  upon  them  :  '  adjoined '  to  the  Name  of  Oliver  in 
this  place,  but  capable  of  being  disjoined  again  ;  and  perhaps  worth 
printing,  there  being  a  corner  of  room  for  them. 

What  is  a  more  questionable  point,  this  List  I  am  aware  is  not  quite 
free  from  errors ;  one  or  two  of  which  it  has  even  fallen  in  my  own  way 
not  only  to  surmise,  but  to  prosecute  to  their  source,  and  correct. 
Numerous  I  do  not  suppose  them  to  be,  nor  important :  but  I  cannot 
certify  that  there  are  none ;  nor  help  farther  in  removing  what  there 
may  be.  The  List  itself,  once  printed,  offers  to  all  studious  persons  the 
opportunity  to  help ;  which  certainly  it  would  be  a  beneficence  of  its  sort 
if  some  strict  antiquary,  or  series  of  antiquaries,  would  effectually  do. 
The  constituent  elements  of  the  *  most  remarkable  Parliament  that  ever 
sat/ — which  indeed  is  definable  as  the  Father  of  Parliaments  which  first 
rendered  Parliaments  supreme,  and  has  since  set  the  whole  world  upon 
chase  of  Parliaments,  a  notable  speculation  very  lively  in  most  parts  of 
Europe  at  this  day, — deserve  at  least  to  have  their  names  accurately 
given.  They  deserve,  and  perhaps  they  will  one  day  get,  much  more ; 
they  deserve  a  History,  constitutional,  biographical,  political,  practical, 
picturesque,  better  than  most  Entities  that  yet  have  one  among  us  ;  and, 
in  all  points  of  view,  they  will  be  found  not  imaginary  but  real,  and  well 
worth  remembering  and  attending  to.  Meanwhile  in  the  absence  of  all 
History,  constitutional  or  other,  of  the  Long  Parliament,  let  this  im- 
perfect foreshadow  of  the  incipiency  of  one  be  welcome. 


The  asterisk*,  prefixed  to  a  Member's  name,  denotes  that  he  was  a  "Recruiter" 
(see  Letters  and  Speeches,  vol.  i.  p.  243),  not  an  original  Member :  '  disab.' 
means  disabled,  declared  incapable  of  sitting  henceforth,  for  some  reason, 
generally  for  Royalism,  for  desertion  to  the  King ;  the  year  when,  is  also 
indicated.  '  King's  judge '  is  one  nominated  to  that  office,  and  only  in  part  or 
not  at  all  risking  to  perform  it ;  '  regicide '  is  one  who  performed  and  com- 
pleted it,  who  signed  the  Death-warrant :  both  titles,  I  find,  are  now  and  then, 
especially  in  the  cases  where  nothing  not  already  known  was  to  be  learned 
from  them,  omitted  in  this  List.  Other  contractions  will  probably  require  no 
explanation. 

Abbot,  George,  Esq.  (dead  '45)         .         .  Guildford 
*Abbot,  George,  Esq.        ....  Tamworth 
Acton,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (disab.  '44)     .  Bridgnorth 
Aldburgh,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  York- 
shire petition) Aldborough,  Yorkshire 

*Aldworth,  Richard,  Esq.         .         .         .  Bristol 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT    317 


Alford,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (disab.  '44)    . 
Alford,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (void,  though 

twice) 

Alford,  John,  Esq.    . 

Allanson,    Sir   William,    Knight  (King's 

judge)       .         .         .         .         . 
*Allen,  Francis,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

*Allen,  Matthew,  Esq 

Allestre,  William,  Esq.  (Recorder;  disab.) 
Alured,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)  . 
Anderson,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (disab.  '44) 
Andover,  Charles,  Viscount  (e.  s.  of  E.  of 

Berkshire  ;    made    Peer   '40,    in    his 

father's  lifetime)        .... 

^Andrews,  Robert,  Esq 

*Anlaby,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

*Annesley,  Arthur,  Esq 

*Apsley,  Edward,  Esq 

Armyn,  Sir  William,  Bart.  (King's  judge) 
*Armyn,  William,  Esq.  (since  '45)    . 
*Arthington,  Henry,  Esq. 
Arundel,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

*Arundel,  John,  Esq 

Arundel,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '44). 

*Arundel,  Thomas,  Esq.  (died) 

Arundel,  Thomas,  Esq.     . 

*Ash,  James,  Esq.    . 

Ashburnham,  John,  Esq.  (disab  '44) 

Ashburnham,    William,    Esq.    (army-plot 

'41  expelled) 

Ashe,  Edward,  Esq.          .         •         . 
Ashe,  John,  Esq.      ..... 

Ashton,  Ralph,  Esq 

Ashton,  Sir  Ralph,  Baronet 

Ashurst,  William,  Esq 

*Atkins,  Thomas,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Ayscough,  Sir  Edward,  Knight 
*Ayscough,  William,  Esq. 

*Baeon,  Francis,  Esq 

*Bacon,  Nathaniel,  Esq.  . 

*Bagot,  Sir  Harvey,  Knight  (disab.  '42)   . 

Bagshaw,  Edward,  Esq.  (disab,  '44) 


Arundel 

Tewkesbury 
Shoreham 

York 

Cockermouth 

Wey  mouth 

Derby 

Heydon,  Yorkshire 

Newcastle-on-Tyne 


Oxford 

Weobly,  Herefordshire 

Scarborough 

Radnorshire 

Steyning 

Grantham 

Cumberland 

Pontefract 

(St.  Michaels,  but  preferred] 

Bodmin 
West  Looe 
Lostwithiel 
West  Looe 
West  Looe 
Bath 
Hastings 

Ludgershall,  Wilts 

Heytesbury,  WUts 

Westbury,  Wilts 

Clithero 

Lancashire 

Newton,  Lancashire 

Norwich 

Lincolnshire 

Thirsk 

Ipswich 

Cambridge  University 

Staffordshire 

South  wark 


318    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


*Baker,  John,  Esq.  .... 

Baldwin,  Charles,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 

*Ball,  John,  Esq.  (dead  '48)     . 

Bampfield,  Sir  John,  Baronet  . 

Barker,  Anthony,  Esq.  (void)  .         . 

Barker,  John,  Esq.,  Alderman          .         . 

Barnardiston,  Sir  Nathaniel,  Knight 

*Barnardiston,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight 

Barnham,  Sir  Francis,  Knight  (dead  '46)  . 

*Barrington,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (King's 
judge) 

Barrington,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet  (dead 
'44) 

*Barrow,  Morris,  Esq 

Barwis,  Richard,  Esq.  (died)     .         ,         . 

Basset,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)     . 

Baynton,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (King's 
judge) 

Baynton,  Sir  Edward,  Knight . 

Bedingfield,  Sir  Anthony,  Knight    . 

Bell,  William,  Esq 

Bellasis,  Henry,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  York- 
shire petition) 

Bellasis,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  Yorkshire 
petition  ;  made  Lord  '44)  . 

Bellingham,  Sir  Henry,  Bart,  (disab.  '45) 

*Bellingham,  James,  Esq. 

Bence,  Squire,  Esq.          .... 

*Bence,  Alexander,  Esq.  (succeeded  Rains- 
borough)  ...... 

*Bendlowes,  Sir  Robert,  Knight 

*Bennet,  Thomas,  Esq.  (dead  '44)     . 

Benson,  Henry,  Esq.  (expelled  '41,  for 
selling  protections)  .... 

Berkeley,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (void)  . 

*Biddulph,  Michael,  Esq. 

*Bingham,  John,  Esq 

*Birch,  John,  Esq.  (the  Colonel ;  Walker's 
Sufferings  of  the  Clergy,  part  ii.  p.  34) 

*Birch,  Thomas,  Esq.  (from  Oct.  '49) 

Bishop,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (void)    . 

*Blackiston,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)    . 

*Blagrave,  Daniel,  Esq.  (regicide)    . 


East  Grinstead 

Ludlow 

Abingdon 

Wallingford 

Penryn 

Coventry 

Suffolk 

Bury  St.  Edmunds 

Maidstone 

Newton,  Hants 

Colchester 
Eye,  Suffolk 
Carlisle 
Bath 

Chippenham 
Devizes 
Dunwich 
Westminster 

Yorkshire 

Thirsk 

Westmoreland 
Westmoreland 
Aldborough,  Suffolk 

Aldborough,  Suffolk 
Lancaster 
Hindon,  Wilts 

Knaresborough. 
Ilchester 
Lichfield 
Shaftesbury 

Leominster 

Liverpool 

Bramber 

Newcastle-on-Tyne 

Reading 


LIST   OF  THE   LONG    PARLIAMENT    319 


*Blake,  Robert,  Esq.  (the  Admiral) 
Bludworth,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab. )  . 
Bodville,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
Bond,  Dennis,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

*Bond,  John,  LL.D 

*Boone,  Thomas,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

*Booth,  George,  Esq.  (May  '46) 

*Booth,  John,  Esq.  .... 

*Borde,  Herbert,  Esq.  (died)    .         .        . 

Borlace,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)        ,         . 

Borlace,  John,  Esq.  (void)        .         .         . 

*Boscawen,  Hugh,  Esq 

*Bosville,  Godfrey,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    . 

*Boughton,  Thomas,  Esq. 

*Bourchier,  Sir  John,  Knight  (regicide)  . 

Bowyer,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet  (disab.  '42, 
for  Chichester  garrison) 

Bowyer,  Sir  William,  (died  '40) 

*Bowyer,  John,  Esq 

Boyle,  Richard,  Viscount  Dungarvon,  (e. 
s.  of  E.  of  Cork,  whom  he  succeeded 
in  '43  ;  disab.  '43)  .... 

*Boynton,  Sir  Matthew,  Baronet  (dead  '47) 

Boys,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (dead  '46) 

*Boys,  John,  Esq.    ..... 

Brereton,  Sir  William,  Bart.  (King's  judge) 

Brett,  Henry,  Esq.  (disab.) 

*Brewster,  Robert,  Esq 

Bridgeman,  Orlando,  Esq.  (Lawyer,  see 
D'Ewes,  118;  disab.  for  assisting  Lord 
Strange  '42) 

*Briggs,  Sir  Humphrey,  Knight 

Brooke,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '43,  for 
raising  money  in  Lincolnshire)  . 

*  Brooke,  Peter,  Esq 

Brown,  Sir  Ambrose,  Baronet  . 

*Brown,  Richard,  Esq 

*Brown,  Major-Gen.  Richard  (disab.  '40) 

Brown,  Samuel,  Esq. 

*Browne,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Broxholme,  John,  Esq.  (dead  '47)    . 


Taunton 
Reigate 
Anglesea 
Dorchester 
Melcomb  Regis 
Clifton,    Dartmouth,   Hard- 
ness, (Devonshire,  united) 
Cheshire 
Portsmouth 
Steyning 
Corfe  Castle 
Marlow 
Cornwall 
Warwick 
Warwickshire 
Ripon 

Bramber 

Staffordshire 

Staffordshire 


Appleby 

Scarborough 

Dover 

Kent 

Cheshire 

Gloucester 

Dunwich 


Wigan 

Great  Wenlock 

Appleby 

Newton,  Lancashire 
Surrey 
Romney 
Wycombe 

Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hard- 
ness (united) 
Dorsetshire 
Lincoln 


820    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 

Buckhurst,  Lord  Richard  (e.  s.  of  E.   of 

Dorset,  disab. '44)     ....  (Steyning,  Sussex,  but  prefers) 

East  Grinstead 

*Bulkeley,  John,  Esq.      .        .        •        .  Newton,  Hants 

Buller,  Francis,  Esq.         .         .         .         .  -EastLooe 

Buller,  George,  Esq.  (died)       .         .         .  Saltash 

Duller,  Sir  Richard,  Knight  (dead  '46)      .  Fowey 

*Burgoyne,  Sir  John,  Baronet          .         .  Warwickshire 

*Burgoyne,  Sir  Roger,  Baronet         .         .  Bedfordshire 

Burrel,  Abraham,  Esq.  (King's  judge)       .  Huntingdon 

Button,  John,  Esq.  ....  Lymington 

Byshe,  Edward,  junior,  Esq.     .         .         .  Bletchingley 

Cage,  William,  Esq.  (dead  '44)         .         .  Ipswich 

Campbell,  James,  Esq.  •        •  Grampound 

Campion,  Henry,  Esq Lymington 

Capel,  Arthur,  Esq.  (created  Lord  '41)     .  Hertfordshire 
Carew,  Sir  Alexander  (treachery  of  Ply- 
mouth ;  beheaded  '44)       .         .         .  Cornwall 
*Carew,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)  .         .         .  Tregony,  Cornwall 

*Carew,  William,  Esq Milborn  Port 

Carnaby,  Sir  William,  Knight  (disab.  '42)  Morpeth 
Catalyn,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)    .         .  Norwich 
Cave,"  Sir  Richard,  Knight  (disab.  '42)      .  Lichfield 
Cawley,  William,  Esq.  (regicide)      .         .  Midhurst,  Sussex 
Cecil,  Robert,  Esq.  (2d  s.  of  E.  of  Salis- 
bury)        ......  Old  Sarum 

*Celya,  Thomas,  Esq.       ....  Bridport,  Dorsetshire 

*Chadwell,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)       .  St.  Michaels,  Cornwall 

*Challoner,  James,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    .  Aldborough,  Yorkshire 

*Challoner,  Thomas,  Esq.  (regicide)          .  Richmond,  Yorkshire 

*Charlton,  Robert,  Esq Bridgnorth 

Chaworth,  Dr.  (not  duly)          ...  Midhurst,  Sussex 

Cheeke,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight    •         •  (Beeralston,  Devon,  but  pre- 
ferred) Harwich 

*Chettle,  Francis,  Esq Corfe  Castle 

Cheyne,  William,  Esq.  (died)  .         .         .  Amersham 

Chichely,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  .  Cambridgeshire 

Cholmley,  Sir  Hugh  (disab.  '43)        .         .  Scarborough 

*Cholmley,  Thomas,  Esq.          .         .        .  Carlisle 

Chomley,  Sir  Henry,  Knight    .         .         .  Northallerton 

*Clark,  Samuel,  Esq Exeter 

*Clement,  Gregory,  Esq.  (regicide  ;  disab. 

'62)  . Camelford 


LtSt   OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT 


Clifton,  Sir  Gervase,  Baronet  (disab.) 

Clinton,  Lord  Edward  (e.  s.  of  E.  of  Lin- 
coln) •  « .  . 

*Clive,  Robert,  Esq.          .... 

Clotworthy,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  one 
of  the  11). 

Coke,  Henry,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  ,  . 
Coke,  Sir  John,  Knight  .... 
Colepepper,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '44; 

made  Lord  21  Oct.  '44)      .        .        , 
Combe,  Edward,  Esq.  (void)     . 
Compton,  Lord  James,   (e.    s.    of  E.    of 

Northampton  ;  disab.) 
Coningsby,  Fitzwilliam,  Esq.  (disab.  '41, 

monopolist)       .        .         .         .         • 
*Coningsby,  Humphrey,  Esq.  (disab.  '46) 
^Constable,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (regi- 
cide ;   instead  of  Benson  the  jobber, 

and  in  preference  to  Deerlove,  '42)    . 
Constantino,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '43)    . 
Cook,  Sir  Robert,  Knight  (died) 
Cook,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
*Copley,  Lionel,  Esq.  (disab.  with  the  11) 
*Corbet,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
*Corbet,  Sir  John,  Baronet 
Corbet,  Miles,  Esq.  (regicide) 
Cornwallis,  Sir  Frederick,  Baronet  (disab. 

'42,  for  sending  Officers  from  Holland) 
Coryton,  William,  Esq.  (not  duly) 
^Coventry,  John,  Esq.  (2d  s.  of  late  Lord 

Keeper,  disab.  '42)    .... 

Cowcher,  John,  Esq 

Cradock,  Matthew,  Esq.  (died  '40)  . 
Cranbourne,  Viscount  Charles  (e.  s.  of  E. 

of  Salisbury) 

Crane,  Sir  Robert,  Baronet  (dead  '44) 
Craven,  John,  Esq.  (void;   made  Baron 

Craven  21  March  '43)        ... 
Creswell,  Sergeant  Richard      . 

Crew,  John,  Esq 

Crispe,  Sir  Nicholas,  Knight  (expelled '41, 

for  monopoly  in  copperas)         . 
VOL.  ill. 


East  Retford 

St.  Michaels,  Cornwall 
Bridgnorth 

(Bossiney,  Cornwall,  but  pre- 
fers) Maiden,  Essex 
Dunwich 
Derbyshire 

Kent 
Warwickshire 

Warwickshire 

Herefordshire 
Herefordshire 


Knaresbo  ro  ugh 

Poole 

Tewkesbury 

Leicester 

Bossiney 

Bishop's  Castle,  Salop 

Shropshire 

Yarmouth 

Eye,  Suffolk 

Launceston,  alias  Dunchevit 

Evesham 

Worcester 

London 

Hertford 
Sudbury 

Tewkesbury 

Evesham 

Brackley 

Winchelsea 


CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


*Crompton,  Thomas,  Esq.         .         . 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  Esq.     .... 

*Cromwell,  Richard,  Esq. 

Crooke,  Sir  Robert,  Knight  (disab.  '43)    . 

*Crowther,  William,  Esq. 

*Crynes,  Elizeus,  Esq.      .... 

Curwen,  Sir  Patricius,  Baronet  (disab.  '44) 

Curzon,  Sir  John,  Baronet 

*Dacres,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (instead  of 

Capel) 

*Dacres,  Thomas,  Esq 

Dalston,  Sir  George,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  . 
Dalston,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (disab.  '44) 
Danby,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab.  '42, 

Yorkshire  petition)    .... 
*Danvers,  Sir  John,  Knight  (E.  Danby's 

brother;  regicide)    .... 

*Darley,  Henry,  Esq 

*Darley,  Richard,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Davies,  Matthew,  Esq.  (disab.  '43)  . 

*Davies,  William,  Esq 

Deering,  Sir  Edward,  Baronet  (disab.  '42, 

for  printing  his  speeches)  .         . 

*Deerlove,  William,  Esq.  (void) 
Denton,  Sir  Alexander,  Knight  (disab.  '44) 
*Devereux,  George,  Esq. 
D'Ewes,  Sir  Simond,  Baronet  . 
Digby,  Lord  George  (e.  s.  of  E.  of  Bristol ; 

till   10  June  '41,   writ  to   House  of 

Peers) 

Digby,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '42) 
Dives,  Sir  Lewis,  Knight  (disab.)     . 
*Dixwell,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)        .         . 
*Dobins,  Daniel,  Esq.       .... 
*Dodderidge,  John,  Esq.           .        .         . 
*Dormer,  John,  Esq.  (in  '46)    . 
*Dove,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    . 
*Downes,  John,  Esq.  (regicide) 
*Dowse,  Edward,  Esq.  (dead  '48)     . 
*Doyley,  John,  Esq.         .... 
Drake,  Sir  William,  Knight     . 
*Drake,  Francis,  Esq 


Staffordshire 

Cambridge 

Portsmouth 

Wendover,  Bucks 

Weobly 

Tavistock 

Cumberland 

Derbyshire 

Hertfordshire 
Kellington 
Cumberland 
Carlisle 

Richmond,  Yorkshire 

Malmesbury 
Malton 
Northallerton 
Christchurch,  Hants 
Carmarthen 

Kent 

Knaresborough 

Buckingham 

Montgomery 

Sudbury 


(Milborn  Port,  but  preferred) 

Dorsetshire 
Milborn  Port 
Bridport 
Dover 
Bewdley 
Barnstaple 
Buckingham 
Salisbury 
Arundel 
Portsmouth 
Oxford 

Amersham,  Bucks 
Amersham 


LIST  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT 

*Drake,  Sir  Francis,  Baronet  .         .        .  Beeralston 

Dryden,  Sir  John,  Baronet      .        •         .  Northamptonshire 

Dunch,  Edmund,  Esq.  .        •  Wallingford 

Dutton,  John,  Esq.  (disab.)      .        •         .  Gloucestershire 

*Earle,  Erasmus,  Esq.      .        •        •         .  Norwich 

Earle,  Thomas,  Esq.  .        .        .  Wareham,  Dorset 

Earle,  Sir  Walter,  Knight        .         .         .  Weymouth 

Eden,  Thomas,  LL.D.  (dead  in  '44)  .         .  Cambridge  University 

Edgecombe,  Piers,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  .  Camelford 

Edgecumbe,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.)  .         .  Newport,  Cornwall 

*Edwards,  Humphrey,  Esq.  (regicide)      .  Shropshire 

*Edwards,  Richard,  Esq.  (Nov.  '50)          .  Bedford 

*Edwards,  Richard,  Esq.  .        .        .  Christchurch,  Hants 

*Edwards,  William,  Esq.          .        .        .  Chester 

*Egerton,  Sir  Charles,  Knight         .        .  Ripon 

*Elford,  John,  Esq Tiverton 

Ellis,  William,  Esq Boston 

*Ellison,  Robert,  Esq Newcastle-on-Tyne 

Erisy,  Richard,  Esq St.  Mawes,  Cornwall 

Eure,  Sergeant  Samuel  (disab.  '44)  .        .  Leominster 

*Evelyn,  George,  Esq Reigate 

Evelyn,  Sir  John,  Knight        .        •        .  Bletchingley,  Surrey 

Evelyn,  Sir  John,  Knight        .         .         .  Ludgershall,  Wilts 

Eversfield,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  Hastings 

Exton,  Edward,  Esq Southampton 

*Fagg,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    .         .  Rye 

Fairfax,  Lord  Ferdinando  (died  '47)          .  Yorkshire 
^Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (from  7  Feb. 

'49) Cirencester 

Falkland,  Lord,  (disab.  '42,  killed  at  New- 

bery,  Sept.  '43)          ..  .  Newport,  Wight 

Fanshaw,  Sir  Thomas,  K.B.  (disab.  '43)  .  Hertford 

Fanshaw,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab.  '42)  Lancaster 

*Fell,  Thomas,  Esq.  (after  Fanshaw)        .  Lancaster 

Fenwick,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)      .         .  Morpeth 

*Fenwick,  George,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    .  Morpeth 

Fenwick,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '44)     .  (Cockermouth,  but  preferred) 

Northumberland 

*Fenwick,  William,  Esq.          .        .         .  Northumberland 

Fernfold,  Sir  Thomas  (dead  '45)       .         .  Steyning 

Ferrers,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.)         .         .  Barnstaple 

Fettiplace,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)    .         .  Berkshire 
*  Fielder,  John,  Esq.                  .         .         .St.  Ives,  Cornwall 


324    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Fiennes,  Hon.  James  (e.  s.  of  '  Old  Sub- 
tlety,' Say  and  Scale) 

*Fiennes,  Hon.  John  (3d  s.  of  Subtlety)  . 

Fiennes,  Hon.  Nathaniel  (2d  s.  of  Sub- 
tlety)   

Finch,  Sir  John,  Knight  (dead  '44) 

Fitzwilliam,  Hon.  William  (e.  s.  of  Lord 
Vise.  Fitzwilliam ;  till  Jan.  '44) 

*Fleetwood,  Charles,  Esq. 

*Fleetwood,  George,  Esq.  (regicide ;  suc- 
ceeded Goodwin,  '45) 

Fleetwood,  Sir  Miles,  Knight  (died) 

Fountaine,  Thomas,  Esq.  (in  place  of 
Hampden  ;  dead  '46) 

*Fowel,  Edmund,  Esq 

Fowel,  Sir  Edmund,  Knight     . 

*Foxwist,  William,  Esq 

Franklyn,  John,  Esq.  (dead  '45) 

Franklyn,  Sir  John,  Knight  (dead  in  '48) 

*Frye,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge  ;  against 
the  Trinity  ;  disab.  '51)  . 

Gallop,  George,  Esq 

Gamul,  Francis,  Esq.  (disab.  '44;  see  Rush- 
worth,  iv.  3.) 

*Gardiner,  Samuel,  Esq. 

*Garland,  Augustin,  Esq.  (regicide)          . 

Garton,  Henry,  Esq.  (dead  '41)        .        . 

Gawdy,  Framlingham,  Esq.      .         .         . 

*Gawen,  Thomas,  Esq.     .         •        •        • 

*Gell,  Thomas,  Esq.          .         .        . 

George,  John,  Esq.  (disab.)      .         . 

Gerrard,  Francis,  Esq.      .... 

Gerrard,  Sir  Gilbert,  Baronet  . 

Glanville,  Sergeant  John  (instead  of  Hum- 
phrey Hooke,  monopolist) 

Glanville,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Glynn,  John,  Esq.  (Recorder  ;  disab. ,  one 
of  the  11) 

Godolphin,  Francis,  Esq.  (dieab.)     . 

Godolphin,  Francis,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Godolphin,  Sidney,  Esq.  (killed  at  Saltash 
'42) 

*Gold,  Nicholas,  Esq.  (died)     . 


Oxfordshire 
Morpeth 

Banbury 
Winchelsea 

Peterborough 
Marlborough 

Buckinghamshire 
Hindon,  Wilts 

Wendover 

Tavistock 

Ashburton 

Carnarvon 

Marlborough 

Middlesex 

Shaftesbury 
Southampton 

Chester 

Evesham 

Queenborough 

Arundel 

Thetford 

Launceston,  alias  Dunchevit 

Derby 

Cirencester 

Seaford  (Cinque  Ports) 

Middlesex 

Bristol 
Camelford 

Westminster 

St.  Ives,  Cornwall 

Helston,  Cornwall 

Helston 
Fowey 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG  PARLIAMENT   325 

Goodwin,  Arthur,  Esq.  (died  May  '45)     .  Buckinghamshire 
Goodwin,  Ralph,  Esq.  (disab.  '44;  Secre- 
tary to  Rupert)          ....  Ludlow 

Goodwin,  Robert,  Esq East  Grinstead. 

Goodwyn,  John,  Esq Haslemere,  Surrey 

Gorges,  Sir  Theobald,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  Cirencester 
Goring,  Colonel   George  (disab.   '42,  for 

surrendering  Portsmouth)         .         .  Portsmouth 

*Got,  Samuel,  Esq Winchelsea 

*Gourdon,  Brampton,  jun.,  Esq.      .         .  Sudbury 

Gourdon,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge)         .  Ipswich 

Grantham,  Thomas,  Esq.  .         .         .  Lincoln 

*Gratwick,  Roger,  Esq.  (King's  judge)     .  Hastings 

*Green,  Giles,  Esq Corfe  Castle 

Greenville,  Sir  Bevil  (disab.  '42  ;  killed  at 

Lansdown,  July  '43)          .         .         .  Cornwall 
Grey,  Henry  de  (commonly  called  Lord 

Ruthen ;  House  of  Peers,  on  father  E. 

Kent's  death,  in  '43)          .         .         .  Leicestershire 
Grey,  Lord  Thomas,  of  Groby  (e.  s.  of  E. 

of  Stamford ;  regicide)      .         .         .  Leicester 

Griffith,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  .  Downton,  Wilts 

Griffith,  John,  sen.,  Esq.  (died  '42)  .  Beaumaris 

Griffith,  John,  jun.,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)       .  Carnarvonshire 

Grimston,  Harbottle,  Esq.  (afterwards  Sir)  Colchester 
Grimston,  Sir  Harbottle,  Baronet  (dead 

'47) Harwich 

*Grove,  Thomas,  Esq Milborn  Port 

Hales,  Sir  Edward,  Baronet  (disab.)          .  Queenborough,  Kent 

Hallows,  Nathaniel,  Esq.  (Alderman)       .  Derby 

Hampden,  John,  Esq.  (slain  June  '43)      .  (Wendover,     but    preferred) 

Buckinghamshire 

Harding,  Sir  Richard,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  Bedwin,  Wilts 
*Harley,  Edward,  Esq.  (till  '47 ;  one  of  the 

11) Herefordshire 

Harley,  Sir  Robert,  K.B.          .         .         .  Herefordshire 

*Harley,  Robert,  Esq Radnor 

Harman,  Richard,  Esq.  (dead  '46)     .         .  Norwich 
^Harrington,  Sir  James,  Knight  (King's 

judge) Rutlandshire 

^Harrington,  John,  Esq.  (void)         .         .  Somersetshire l 

1  Sat  afterwards  for  Castle  Carey,  as  appears ;  and  took  some  dim  meagre  Notet,  which  are 
still  in  existence  among  the  Brit.  Mus.  MSS. 


326    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


^Harris,  John,  Esq.          .... 
Harris,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
Harrison,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '43)     . 
^Harrison,  Thomas,  Esq.  (Major-General, 

regicide) 

Harrison,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '43) 

Hartnoll,  George,  Esq.  (disab.) 

*Harvey,     Edmund,     Esq.     (instead     of 

Smith ;  King's  judge) 

*Harvey,  Edward,  Esq 

Harvey,  John,  Esq.  (dead  '45) 

Haselrig,  Sir  Arthur,  Bart.  (King's  judge) 

Hatcher,  Thomas,  Esq 

Hatton,  Sir  Christopher  (disab.  '42,  array  ; 

made  Baron  '43)        .... 

Hatton,  Sir  Robert  (in  place  of  Sir  Chris- 
topher ;  disab.  '42)  .... 

*Hay,  Herbert,  Esq 

*Hay,  William,  Esq 

Hayman,  Sir  Henry,  Baronet  . 

Hayman,  Sir  Peter,  Knight  (dead  '41)      . 

Heblethwaite,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 

*Hele,  Sir  Thomas,  (disab.)      . 

Herbert,  Edward,  Esq.  (till  Jan.  '41,  made 
Attorney-General)  .... 

Herbert,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (disab.  '42, 
array) 

•^Herbert,  Henry,  Esq 

^Herbert,  John,  Esq 

^Herbert,  Hon.  James  (2d  s.  of  E.  of  Pem- 
broke)   

Herbert,  Lord  Phil.  (e.  s.  of  E.  of  Pem- 
broke)   

Herbert,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  array) 

Herbert,  William,  Esq.  (disab.,  killed  at 
Edgehill) 

Herbert,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 

Heveningham,    William,     Esq.     (King's 

judge) 

*Hill,  Roger,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    . 
Hippesley,  Gabriel,  Esq.  (void)        . 


Launceston,  alias  Dunchevit 

Liskeard 

Lancaster 

Wendover 

Queenborough 

Tiverton 

Bedwin,  Wilts 
Higham  Ferrers 
Hythe 

Leicestershire 
Stamford 

(Castle  Rising,  but  preferred) 
Higham  Ferrers 

Castle  Rising 

Arundel 

Rye 

Hythe 

Dover 

Malton 

Plimpton,  Devon 

Old  Sarum 

Bewdley 

Monmouthshire 

Monmouthshire 

Wiltshire 

Glamorganshire 
Montgomery 

Cardiff 

(Woodstock,    but  preferred) 
Monmouthshire 

Stockbridge,  Hants 

Bridport 

Marlow 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT    327 


Hippesley,  Sir  John,   Knight  . 
*Hobart,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (dead  '47)      . 
Hobby,  Peregrine,  Esq.  (in  place  of  Bor- 

lace)          .         .         . 
*Hodges,  Luke,  Esq.  (died)      .         .        . 

Hodges,  Thomas,  Esq 

*Hodges,  Thomas,  Esq 

Holborn,  Robert,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  . 
*Holcrofte,  John,  Esq.  .  .  . 
Holland,  Cornelius,  Esq.  (King's  judge  ;  in 

place  of  Roe) 

Holland,  Sir  John,  Baronet 

Holies,  Denzil,  Esq.  (till  '47  one  of  the  11) 

*Holles,  Francis,  Esq 

Holies,  Gervase,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  . 
Hooke,  Humphrey,  Esq.  (monopolist,  not 

duly  :  Evans's  Bristol,  p.  181)  . 
Hopton,  Sir  Ralph,  K.B.  (disab.  '42) 
*Horner,  George,  Esq.  (void ;  Harrington's 

partner)    ...... 

*Hoskins,  Bennet,  Esq 

Hotham,  John,  Esq.  (beheaded  1  Jan  '44) 
Hotham,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (beheaded  2 

Jan '44) 

*Houghton,  Sir  Richard,  Baronet  (from 

'45) 

*Howard,  Lord  Edward,  of  Escrick  (in 

'49;  disab.  '51)  .... 
Howard,  Sir  Robert,  K.  B.  (disab.  '42)  . 
Howard,  Thomas,  Esq.  (in  place  of  Barker ; 

disab.  '44 ;  I? Ewes,  219)   . 
Hoyle,  Thomas,  Esq.  (Alderman)     . 
*Hudson,  Edmund,  Esq.  (disab.  '47) 
Hungerford,  Anthony,  Esq.  (disab.) 
Hungerford,  Sir  Edward,  K.B. 
^Hungerford,  Henry,  Esq. 
Hunt,  Robert,  Esq.  (void,  but  re-elected ; 

disab.  '44) 

*Hunt,  Thomas,  Esq 

*Hussey,   Thomas,    Esq.    (after   Jervoise 

died)          .... 
*Hutchinson,  John,  Esq.   (the  Colonel; 

regicide)   ...... 


Cockermouth 
Norfolk 

Marlow 

Bristol 

Cricklade 

Ilchester 

St.  Michaels 

Wigan 

New  Windsor 

Castle  Rising,  Norfolk 

Dorchester 

Lostwithiel 

Great  Grimsby 

Bristol 
Wells 

Somersetshire 

Hereford 

Scarborough 

Beverley 
Lancashire 

Carlisle 

Bishop's  Castle,  Salop 

Wallingford 

York 

Lynn 

Malmesbury 

Chippenham 

Bedwin,  Wilts 

Ilchester 
Shrewsbury 

Whitchurch,  Hants 
Nottinghamshire 


328    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Hutchinson,  Sir  Thomas,    Knight  (dead 

'44) 

Hyde,  Edward,  Esq.  (Clarendon;   disab. 

'42) 

Hyde,  Sergeant  Robert,  (disab.  '42) . 
*Ingoldsby,  Richard,  Esq.  (the  signer)     . 
Ingram,  Sir  Arthur,  Knight,  (died) 
Ingram,   Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab.  '42 

for  Yorkshire  petition) 
Irby,  Sir  Anthony,  Knight 

*Ireton,  Henry,  Esq 

Jacob,   Sir  John,  Knight  (expelled   '41, 

monopolist  of  tobacco) 
Jane,  Joseph,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Jenner,  Robert,  Esq 

Jennings,  Sir  John,  Knight  (died  '42) 
^Jennings,    Richard,   Esq.    (succeeds   Sir 

John)        

Jephson,  William,  Esq 

Jermyn,  Henry,  Esq.  (disab.  '43;    Lord 

Jermyn) 

Jermyn,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab.  '44) . 
Jervoise,  Richard,  Esq.  (dead  '45)    . 
Jervoise,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  .         . 
Jesson,  William,  Esq.  (Alderman)    . 
Jones,  Arthur,  Lord  Ranelagh  (disab,)     . 
*Jones,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)  . 
*Jones,  Colonel  Philip  (in  Feb.  '50) 

*Jones,  William,  Esq 

*Kekewich,  George,  Esq.          • 
*Kemp,  John,  Esq.  .... 

Killegrew,  Henry,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) . 
King,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '43) 
Kirkby,  Roger,  Esq.  (disab.  '42^ 
*Kirkham,  Roger,  Esq.  (dead  '4(5)    . 

Kirle,  Walter,  Esq 

Kirton,  Edward,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)    . 
*Knatchbull,  Sir  Norton,  Baronet.  . 
Knightley,  Richard,  Esq. 
Knowles,  Sir  Francis,  Sen.,  Knight  (died 

'48) 

Knowles,  Sir  Francis,  jun.,  Knight  (die.l 

'45) 


Notti  ngh  am  sh  ir  e 

Saltash 
Salisbury 
Wendover 
Kellington 

Thirsk 
Boston 
Appleby 

Rye 

Liskeard 
Cricklade 
St.  Albans 

St.  Albans 
Stockbridge,  Hants 

Bury  St.  Edmunds 

Bury  St.  Edmunds 

Whitchurch,  Hants 

Whitchurch,  Hants 

Coventry 

Weobly 

Merionethshire 

Brecknockshire 

Beaumaris 

Liskeard 

Christchurch,  Hants 

West  Looe 

Melcomb  Regis 

Lancashire 

Old  Sarum 

Leominster 

Milborn  Port 

Romney 

Northampton 

Reading 
Reading 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT   329 


Lane,  Thomas,  Esq.          .... 
*Langton,  William,  Esq. 
*Lascelles,  Francis,  Esq.  (King's  judge)  . 
*Lawrence,  Henry,  Esq.  .... 
*Lechmere,  Nicholas,  Esq. 

Lee,  Richard,  Esq 

Lee,  Sir  Richard,  Baronet,  (disab.  '42)      . 
*Leech,  Nicholas,  Esq.  (dead  '47)     . 
Leeds,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '42) 
Legh,  Peter,  Esq.  (dead  '41)    . 
Legrose,  Sir  Charles,  Knight    . 

*Leigh,  Edward,  Esq 

Leigh,  Sir  John,  Knight 
*Leman,  William,  Esq.    . 
*Lenthall,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Lenthall,  William,  Esq.  (Speaker)   . 
Leveson,  Sir  Richard,  K.B.  (disab.  '42)    . 

*Lewis,  Ludovicus,  Esq 

Lewis,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (disab.,  one 

of  the  11,  in '47) 

Lewkenor,  Christopher,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  . 
Lisle,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Lisle,  Lord  Philip  (e.  s.  of  Robert  E.  of 

Leicester;  King's  judge)  . 

Lister,  Sir  John,  Knight  (died) 
*Lister,  Thomas,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
*Lister,  Sir  WiUiam,  Knight   . 
Littleton,  Sir  Edward,  Baronet  (disab.  '44) 
Littleton,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) . 
Litton,  Sir  William,  Knight     . 
*Livesey,  Sir  Michael,  Baronet  (regicide) 
Lloyd,  Francis,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

*Lloyd,  John,  Esq 

Lloyd,  Walter,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)       . 

*Long,  Lislebone,  Esq 

Long,    Richard,    Esq.    (monopolist,    not 

duly)         .... 
*Long,  Walter,  Esq.  (instead  of  Ashburii- 

ham  ;  one  of  the  11,  in  '47) 
*Love,  Nicholas,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Low,  George,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
Lower,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)     . 


Wycombe 

Preston 

Thirsk 

Westmoreland 

Droitwich 

Rochester 

Shropshire 

Newport,  Cornwall 

Steyning 

Newton,  Lancashire 

Orford,  Suffolk 

Stafford 

Yarmouth,  Wight 

Hertford 

Gloucester 

Woodstock 

Newcastle-under-Line 

Brecon 

Petersfield 
Chich  ester 
Winchester 

(St.  Ives,  Cornwall,  but  pre- 
ferred) Yarmouth,  Wight 
Hull 
Lincoln 
East  Retford 
Staffordshire 
Great  Wenlock 
Hertfordshire 
Queenborough 
Carmarthen 
Carmarthenshire 
Cardiganshire 
Wells 

Bristol 

Ludgershall,  Wilte 
Winchester 
Calne 
East  Looe 


330    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Lowry,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge  ;  see 
Harris,  Appendix)  .... 

Lucas,  Henry,  Esq.  .... 

*Luckyn,  Capel,  Esq 

*Lucy,  Sir  Richard,  Baronet    .         .         . 

Lucy,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (died  '40) 

*Ludlow,  Edmund,  Esq. 

Ludlow,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (dead  '44) 

*Ludlow,  Lieut. -General  Edmund  (regi- 
cide)   

Luke,  Sir  Oliver,  Knight 

Luke,  Sir  Samuel,  Knight  (died)      .         . 

Lumley,  Sir  Martin,  Baronet   . 

Lutterel,  Alexander,  Esq.  (dead  '44) 

Lyster,  Sir  Martin,  Knight 

*Mackworth,  Thomas,  Esq. 

Mallory,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '43)      . 

MaUory,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  York- 
shire petition)  ..... 

Manaton,  Ambrose,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Mansfield,  Charles  Viscount  (e.  s.  of  E.  of 
Newcastle,  disab.  '44)  .  .  . 

Marlot,  William,  Esq.  (dead  '46)      . 

Marten,  Henry,  Esq.  (regicide)        . 

*Martin,  Christopher,  Esq. 

*Martin,  Sir  Nicholas,  Knight 

*Masham,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (King's 
judge) 

*Masham,  William,  Esq. 

*Massey,  Edward, Esq.  (the  soldier;  disab., 
one  of  the  11)  ..... 

Masters,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (dead  '48)  . 

^Matthews,  Roger,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Mauleverer,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart,  (regicide) 
May,   Thomas,  Esq.  (not  May  historian; 

disab.  '42) 

*Maynard,  Sir  John,  K.B.  (disab.,  one  of 

the  11) 

Maynard,  John,  Esq.  (refusing  Newport, 

Cornwall,  whereupon  Prynne)    . 
*Mayne,  Simon,  Esq.  (regicide)        .        . 
Melton,  Sir  John  (died '40) 


Cambridge 

Cambridge  University 

Harwich 

Old  Sarum 

Warwick 

Hindon,  Wilts 

Wiltshire 

Wiltshire 

Bedfordshire 

Bedford 

Essex 

Minehead 

Brackley,  Northamptonshire 

Ludlow 

Ripon 

Ripon 

Launceston,  alias  Dunchevit 

East  Retford 

Shoreham 

Berkshire 

Plimpton 

Devonshire 

Essex 

Shrewsbury 

Wootton  Basset 

Canterbury 

Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardness 

(united) 
Boroughbridge 

Midhurst 
Lostwithiel 

Totness 

Aylesbury 

Newcastle-on-Tyne 


LIST   OF  THE   LONG  PARLIAMENT    331 


Merrick,  Sir  John,  Knight 

Meux,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '44) 

Middleton,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight        .        • 

*Middleton,  Thomas,  Esq. 

Middleton,  Thomas,  Esq. 

Mildmay,    Sir    Henry,    Knight    (King's 

judge) 

*Millington,     Gilbert,     Esq.     (regicide  ; 

D'Ewes,  211,  13  Dec.  '41)  . 
Monson,   William,   Viscount  Monson  in 

Ireland  (King's  judge)       .         . 
Montague,  Sir  Sydney,  Knight  (disab.  '42) 
*Montague,  Edward,  Esq.  (Colonel,  E.  of 

Sandwich ; — after  h  is  father  Sir  Sydney) 
Montague,  Edward,  Esq.  (succeeds  Lord 

M.  of  Boughton,  in  '44 ;  till  then)1    . 
*Moody,  Miles,  Esq.  (dead  '46) 
Moor,  Richard,  Esq.  (dead  '44) 


Newcastle- under- Line 

Newton,  Hants 

Denbighshire 

Flint 

Horsham 

Maiden 
Nottingham 

Reigate 
Huntingdonshire 

Huntingdonshire 

Huntingdon 
Ripon 
Bishop's  Castle 


Moor,  Thomas,  Esq Heytesbury 

*Moor,  Thomas,  Esq Ludlow 

Moore,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)    .  '      .         .  Liverpool 

More,  Sir  Poyniugs,  Baronet  (dead  '49)    .  Haslemere 

Morgan,  William,  Esq.  (dead  '49)    .         .  Brecknockshire 

Morley,  Herbert,  Esq.  (King's  judge)       .  Lewes 
Morley,  Sir  William,  Knight  (disab.  '42, 

for  garrison  there)     ....  Chichester 

Mostyn,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)        .         .  Flintshire 

Mountford,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (dead  '44)  Norfolk 

*Moyle,  John,  Esq East  Looe 

Moyle,  John,  jun.  Esq.  (dead  '46)    .         .  St.  Germains 
Musgrave,  Sir  Philip,  Baronet  (disab.  '43, 

array) Westmoreland 

Napier,  Sir  Gerard,  Knight  (disab.  '44)     .  Melcomb  Regis 

Napier,  Sir  Robert,  Baronet     .         .        .  Peterborough 

Nash,  John,  Esq.      .  .         .  Worcester 

*Needham,  Sir  Robert,  Knight        .         .  Haverford  West 

*Nelthorp,  James,  Esq.  (King's  judge)     .  Beverley 

*Nelthorp,  John,  Esq Beverley 

*Nevil,  — ,  Esq.  (from  '49)       .         .         .  East  Retford 

*Neville,  Henry,  Esq.  (from  '60)      .        .  Berkshire 

Newport,  Francis,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  .         .  Shrewsbury 

1  A  '  George  Montague '  is  also  indisputably  a  member  (Commons  Journals,  iv.  60), 
not  for  what  place. 


know 


332    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Newport,    Sir   Richard,    Knight  (disab.  ; 

made  Lord  '42)  .... 
Nicholas,  Edward,  Esq.  (Secretary  after 

Falkland;  disab.)  .... 
Nichols,  Anthony,  Esq.  (disab.  one  of  the 

11) 

Nichols,  Sergeant  Robert  (King's  judge)  . 
*Nixon,  John,  Esq.  (Alderman) 

Noble,  Michael,  Esq 

Noel,   Hon.    Baptist  (e.    s.    of  Viscount 
Camden;  disab.)        .... 
North,  Sir  Dudley,  Baronet      . 
North,  Sir  Roger,  Knight  (disab.  ?)  . 
Northcote,  Sir  John,  Baronet  . 
*Norton,  Sir  Gregory,  Baronet  (regicide) 
*Norton,  Richard,  Esq.  (Colonel)    . 
Nutt,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
Ogle,  Sir  William,  Knight  (disab.  '43)      . 
Oldsworth,  Michael,  Esq. 

Onslow,  Arthur,  Esq.  (void,  but  reflected) 
Onslow,  Sir  Richard,  Knight   . 
Osborne,  Sir  Edward,  Knight  (void) 

*Owen,  Arthur,  Esq 

Owen,  Sir  Hugh,  Knight          .  . 

Owfield,  Sir  Samuel,  Knight  (dead  '44)    . 

*Owfield,  William,  Esq 

Owner,  Edward,  Esq 

*Oxenden,  Henry,  Esq.    .... 

*Packer,  Robert,  Esq 

Packing-ton,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (disab.  '42 

array) 

*Palgrave,  Sir  John,  Baronet  . 
Palmer,  Geoffrey,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)  . 

*Palmer,  John,  M.D 

*Palmer,  Sir  Roger,  Knight,  (succeeded 

Legh  in  '42  ;  disab.  '44)    . 
Palmes,  Sir  Guy,  Knight  (disab.  '43) 
Parker,  Sir  Philip,  Knight 
Parker,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight     . 
Parkhurst,  Sir  Robert,  Knight  (died) 
Parry,  George,  LL.D.  (disab.  '44)     . 
Parteriche,  Sir  Edward,  Baronet 


Shropshire 
Newton,  Hants 

Bodmin 
Devizes 
Oxford 
Lichfield 

Rutlandshire 
Cambridgeshire 
Eye,  Suffolk 
Ashburton 
Midhurst 
Hampshire 
Canterbury 
Winchester 

(Plimpton,  Devon,   but  pre- 
ferred) Salisbury 
Bramber 
Surrey 
Berwick 
Pembrokeshire 
Pembroke 
Gatton 
Gatton 
Yarmouth 
Winchelsea 
Wallingford 

4ylesbury 
Norfolk 
Stamford 
Bridgwater 

Newton,  Lancashire 

Rutlandshire 

Suffolk 

Seaford,  (Cinque  Ports) 

Guildford 

St.  Mawes 

Sandwich 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT    333 


Paulet,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  '42) 

Peard,  George,  Esq.  (died) 

*Peck,  Henry,  Esq 

Pelham,  Henry,  Esq.  (speaker  in  tumults 
ofll) 

*Pelham,  John,  Esq 

*Pelham, Peregrine,  Esq.  (regicide;  Heath, 
P- 364) 

Pelham,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet  .         .        . 

•^Pembroke,  Philip,  Earl  of  (in  Pile's  place, 
'49.  House  of  Lords  being  abolished  ; 
died '60) 

Pennington,  Isaac,  Esq.  (King's  judge)    . 

Pennyman,  Sir  William,  Bart,  (disab.  '42) 

*Penrose,  John,  Esq 

Percival,  John,  Esq.  (dead  '44) 

*Percival,  Sir  Philip,  Knight  (dead  '47)   . 

Perfoy,  William,  Esq.  (regicide) 

Peyton,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet  (disab.  '44) 

Philips,  Edward,  Esq.  (instead  of  Berkeley, 
'40  ;  disab.  '44)  • 

Pickering,  Sir  Gilbert,  Baronet  (Poet 
Dry  den's ;  King's  judge) 

Pickering,  Robert,  Esq.  (void  '46)    . 

Piercy,  Henry,  Esq.  (Earl  of  Northumber- 
land's brother ;  expelled,  Army-plot, 
'41  made  Baron  '43)  .... 

Pierpoint,  Francis,  Esq.  (3d  s.  of  Earl  of 
Kingston)  ..... 

Pierpoint,  William,  Esq.  (2d  s.  of  do.)     . 

*Pigot,  Gervase,  Esq 

*Pile,  Sir  Francis,  Baronet  (died  '49) 

Playters,  Sir  William,  Baronet 

Pleydall,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

Pole,  Sir  William,  Knight  (disab. '43) 

Polewheel,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)    . 

Pollard,  Sir  Hugh,  Knight  (expelled  '41 
for  plot  of  bringing  up  army)  . 

Poole,  Edward,  Esq 

Poole,  Sir  Nevil,  Knight 

*Pope,  Roger,  Esq.  (dead  '47) 

Popham,  Alexander,  Esq. 


Somersetshire 

Barnstaple 

Chichester 

Grantham 
Hastings 

Hull 

Sussex 


Berkshire 

London 

Richmond,  Yorkshire 

Helston 

Lynn 

Newport,  Cornwall 

Warwick 

Sandwich 

Ilch  ester 

Northamptonshire 
East  Grinstead 


(Portsmouth,  but  preferred] 
Northumberland 

Nottingham 

Great  Wenlock,  Sal..;- 

Nottinghamshire 

Berkshire 

Orford,  Suffolk 

Wootton  Basset 

Honitou 

Tregony 

Beeralston 
Wootton  Basset 
Malmesbury 
Merionethshire 
Bath 


334    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


*Popham,  Edward,  Esq.  (from  '45)  . 
Popham,  Sir  Francis  (dead  '44) 
Porter,  Endymion,  Esq.  (disab.  '43) 
Portman,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (disab.  '44) 
Potter,  Hugh,  Esq.  (disab.)      . 
Potts,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (died)         . 

*Povey,  Thomas,  Esq 

Price,  Charles,  Esq.  (disab.)     .  . 

Price,  Herbert,  Esq.  (disab.)     .         .         . 
Price,  Sir  John,  Baronet,  (disab.  '45) 
*Price,  Sir  Richard,  Baronet    . 
Price,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)       . 
Prideaux,  Edmund,  Esq.  .         .        . 

^Priestley,  William,  Esq. 

Prynne,  William,  Esq 

Pury,  Alderman  Thomas  (took  notes,  see 

Burton's  Diary,  where  the  name  is,  by 

mistake,  printed  e  Davy ') 
*Pury,  Thomas,  jun.  Esq.  (of  Gloucester) 
*Pye,  Sir  Robert,  Knight 

*Pym,  Charles,  Esq 

Pym,  John,  Esq.  (died  Dec.  '43)      . 

Pyne,  John,  Esq 

*Radcliff,  John,  Esq 

Rainsborough,  Captain,  (died  '41)    . 
*Rainsborough,  Colonel  Thomas,  (killed 

at  Doncaster,  29  Oct  '48) 
Rainsford,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (dead  '41) 
*Rainsford,  Henry,  Esq. 

*Raleigh,  Carew,  Esq 

Ramsden,  Sir  John  (disab.  for  Selby  fight, 

'44) 

Rashleigh,  Jonathan,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 

Ravenscroft,  Paul,  Esq 

Reynolds,  Robert,  Esq.  (King's  judge)  . 

*Rich,  Charles,  Esq 

*Rich,  Nathaniel,  Esq.  (from  Feb.  '49)  . 
Rich,  Robert  Lord  (e.  s.  of  Robert  E.  of 

Warwick;  called  to  Peers,  Jan.  27. 

'41 ;  Rushworth,  iv.  4)  ... 
Rigby,  Alexander,  Esq.  (King's  judge)  . 


Minehead 

Minehead 

Droitwich 

Taunton 

Plimpton 

Norfolk 

Liskeard 

Radnorshire 

Brecon 

Montgomeryshire 

Cardiganshire 

Merionethshire 

Lyme  Regis 

St.  Mawes 

Newport,1  Cornwall 


Gloucester 

Monmouth 

Woodstock 

Beeralston 

Tavistock 

Poole 

Chester 

Aldborough,  Suffolk 

Droitwich 

Andover 

St.  Ives,  Cornwall 

Kellington,  Cornwall 

Northallerton 

Fowey 

Horsham 

Hindon,  Wilts 

Sandwich 

Cirencester 


Essex 
Wigan 


1  'Newport,  soon  after  the  Parliament  sat1;  not  'Bristol  in  '45,    as  the  Parliamentary 
History  gives  it. 


LIST  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT   335 


Rivers,  — ,  Esq.  (dead  '41) 

*Robinson,  Luke,  Esq.     .... 

•^Rochester,  Charles,  Lord  Viscount  (e.  s. 
of  E.  of  Somerset) 

Rodney,  Sir  Edward  (disab.  '42) 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (not  duly) 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (dead  in  '44)     . 

Rogers,  Hugh,  Esq.          .... 

Rogers,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)    . 

Rolle,  John,  Esq 

*Rolle,  Sir  Samuel,  Knight  (died)    . 

Rose,  Richard,  Esq.          .         .        ,         • 

*Rossiter,  Edward,  Esq.  .         .         ,         . 

Rouse,  Francis,  Esq.         .         .        •        . 

Rudyard,  Sir  Benjamin,  Knight 

*Russel,  Francis,  Esq 

Russel,  Lord  William  (e.  s.  of  E.  of  Bed- 
ford ;  till  '41) 

*Russel,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

St.  Hill,  Peter,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

St.  John,  Sir  Beauchamp,  Knight    .         . 

St.  John,  Oliver,  Esq.  (Sol. -Gen.  in  '40)  . 

Salisbury,  John,  jun.  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

*Salisbury,  William,  Earl  of  (in  '49) 

Sal  way,  Humphrey,  Esq.  (King's  judge)  . 

*Salway,  Richard,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

Sanders,  — ,  Esq.  (not  duly)    . 

Sandys,  Samuel,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)     . 

Sandys,  Thomas,  Esq 

Sandys,  William,  Esq.  (expelled  '41,  as 
monopolist) 

*Saville,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (disab.  '42, 
Yorkshire  petition)  .... 

*Say,  William,  Esq.  (regicide) 

*Sayer,  John,  Esq 

*Scawen,  Robert,  Esq 

*Scot,  Thomas,  Esq.  (dead  '47)          • 

*Scott,  Thomas,  Esq.  (regicide) 

*Scudamore,  James,  Esq.  (disab.)     . 

Seabourne,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.  '46) 

Searle,  George,  Esq 

Selden,  John,  Esq. 

Seymour,  Edward,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 


Lewes 
Scarborough 

St.  Michaels 

Wells 

New  Windsor 

Oxford  University 

Calne 

Dorsetshire 

Truro 

Devonshire 

Lyme  Regis 

Great  Grimsby 

Truro 

Wilton 

Cambridgeshire 

Tavistock 

Tavistock 

Tiverton 

Bedford 

Totness 

Flint 

Lynn 

Worcestershire 

Appleby 

Gatton 

Droitwich 

Gatton 

Evesham 

Old  Sarum 

Camelford 

Colchester 

Berwick 

Aldborough,  Yorkshire 

Aylesbury 

Hereford 

Hereford 

Taunton 

Oxford  University 

Devonshire 


336    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Seymour,  Sir  Francis,  Knight  (made  Lord 
'41) 

*Seymour,  Sir  John,  Knight    . 

*Shapcot,  Robert,  Esq 

*Shelley,  Henry,  Esq.  (after  Rivers) 

Shuckburgh,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.;  instead 
of  Combe) 

Shuttleworth,  Richard,  Esq.     . 

Shuttleworth,  Richard,  Esq.     . 

Siddenham,  Sir  Ralph  (in  place  of  Clot- 
worthy;  disab.  '42)  .... 

*Sidney,  Algernon,  Esq.  (after  Herbert; 
King's  judge) 

*Skeffington,  Sir  Richard,  Knight  (dead 
'47) 

*Skinner,  Augustin,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

*Skippon,  Philip,  Esq.  (the  soldier ;  King's 
judge) 

*Skutt,  George,  Esq. 

Slanning,  Sir  Nicholas,  Knight  (disab.  '42 ; 
killed  at  Bristol)  .... 

Slingsby,  Sir  Henry,  Baronet  (disab.  '42, 

Yorkshire  petition  ;  beheaded  '58)     . 
*Smith,     John,     Esq.      (succeeds     Lord 

Andover ;  soon  disab.)      .        . 

*Smith,  Philip,  Esq 

Smith,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)      . 
*Smith,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '42)    . 
Smith,  Sir  Walter,  Knight  (disab.  '44)     . 
*Smith,  William,  Esq.  (disab.) 
*Smyth,  Henry,  Esq.  (regicide) 

*Snelling,  George,  Esq 

Sneyd,  Ralph,  jun.  Esq.  (disab.  '43,  taken 

prisoner  at  Stafford) 

Snow,  Simon,  Esq 

Soame,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight      . 

*Spelman,  John,  Esq. 

*Spring,  Sir  William,  Bart.  (afU  .  Jermyn) 

*Springet,  Herbert,  Esq. 

Spurstow,  William,  Esq.  merchant  (dead 

'46) 

Stamford,  Sir  Thomas  (not  duly)      . 


Marlborough 
Gloucestershire 
Tiverton 
Lewes 

Warwickshire 

Clithero 

Preston 


Cardiff 

Staffordshire 
Kent 

Barnstaple 
Poole 

(Plimpton,  Devon,  but  pre- 
ferred) Penryn 

Knaresborough 

Oxford 
Marlborough 
Chester 
Bridgwater 
Bedwin,  Wilts 
Winchelsea 
Leicestershire 
South  wark 

Stafford 

Exeter 

London 

Castle  Rising,  Norfolk 

Bury  St.  Edmunds 

Shoreham 

Shrewsbury 
Cockermouth 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT    337 


Standish,  Thomas,  Esq.  (dead  '44)    . 
Stanhope,  Ferdinaudo,  Esq.  (4th  s.  of  E. 

of  Chesterfield  ;  disab.  '43) 
Stanhope,  William,  Esq.  (disab.)      . 
*Stapleton,  Bryan,  Esq.   .... 
Stapleton,  Sir  Philip,  Knight  (disab.,  one 

of  the  11 ;  died  '47)  .... 

*Stapleton,  Henry,  Esq 

Staply>  Anthony,  Esq.  (regicide)      .         . 

*Starre,  Colonel (dead  '47)       . 

Stawell,  Sir  John,  K.B.  (disab.  '42) 
Stephens,  Edward,  Esq.   (two  elections; 

not  duly,  then  lost,  at  last  duly;  died) 

^Stephens,  John,  Esq 

Stephens,  Nathaniel,  Esq.         .        . 
^Stephens,  William,  LL.D.      . 
Stepney,  Sir  John,  Baronet  (disab.).         . 
*Stockdale,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Stonehouse,  Sir  George,  Bart,  (disab.  '44) 
*Stoughton,  Nicholas,  Esq.  (dead  '45)      . 
Strangways,  Giles,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
Strangways,  Sir  John,  Knight  (disab.  Sept. 

'42)  . 

Strickland,  Sir  Robert,  Knight  (disab.  '43) 
•^Strickland,  Walter,  Esq.  (from  '45) 
Strickland,  Sir  William,  Knight 
*Strode,  Sir  Richard,  Knight  . 

*Strode,  William,  Esq 

Strode,  William,  Esq.  (died  '45)       . 

Sutton,  Robert,  Esq.  (disab. ;  made  I1  ..11 
Lexington,  21  Nov.  '45)  . 

*Swynfen,  John,  Esq.       .... 

*Sydenham,  William,  jun.  Esq. 

Tate,  Zouch,  Esq.  (Self-denying  Ordin- 
ance) .  •  •  •  •  • 

Taylor,  William,  Esq.  (instead  of  a  mono- 
polist ;  disab.  '45,  Siege  of  Bristol)  , 

Taylor,  William,  Esq.  (in  place  of  Waller; 
expelled  May  '41,  on  Stratford's  ac- 
count)   

*Temple,  James,  Esq.  (regicide) 

*Temple,  Sir  John,  Knight      ,         , 
VOL.  Til. 


Preston 

Tamworth 
Nottingham 
Aldborough,  Yorkshire 

Boroughbridge 

Boroughbridge 

Sussex 

Shaftesbury 

Somersetshire 

Tewkesbury 

Tewkesbury 

Gloucestershire 

Newport,  Wight 

Haverford  West 

Knaresborough 

Abingdon 

Guildford 

Bridport 

Wey  mouth 

Aldborough,  Yorkshire 
Minehead 
Heydon,  Yorkshire 
Plimpton 
Ilchester 

(Tamworth,     but    prefers) 
Beeralston 

Nottinghamshire 
Stafford 
Melcomb  Regis 

Northampton 
Bristol 


New  Windsor 

Bramber 

Chichester 


338    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


*Temple,  Peter,  Esq.  (regicide) 

Temple,  Sir  Peter,  Baronet  (King's  judge) 

*Temple,  Thomas,  Esq 

*Terrick,  Samuel,  Esq 

Theloall,  Simon,  jun.  Esq.        .         . 
*Thistlethwaite,  Alexander,  Esq. 

Thomas,  Edward,  Esq 

*Thomas,  Isaiah,  Esq.       .... 
*Thomas,  John,  Esq.        .... 
Thomas,  William,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 
^Thompson,  George,  Esq. 
*Thornhaugh,  Francis,  Esq.  (dead  '48)     . 
*Thorpe,  Sergeant  Francis  (King's  judge). 
*Thynn,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Thynne,  Sir  James,  Knight  (disab.).        . 

Toll,  Thomas,  Esq 

*Tolson,  Richard,  Esq 

Tomkins,  Thomas,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 
*Trefusis,  Nicholas,  Esq. 
Trenchard,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 
*Trenchard,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight 
Trevanion,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  ;  killed  at 

Bristol) 

Trevor,  Sir  John,  Knight 

*Trevor,  John,  Esq.          .... 

*Trevor,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  . 

Trevor,  Thomas,  Esq.  (till  '44,  then  void) 

Tufton,  Sir  Humphrey,  Knight 

Tulsey,  Henry,  Esq.  (dead  '42) 

Turner,  Samuel,  M.D.  (disab.  '44)   . 

*Twisden,  Thomas,  Esq 

Upton,  Arthur,  Esq.  (died  '41) 

*Upton,  John,  Esq 

Uvedale,  Sir  William,  Knight  (disab.)       . 

*Vachel,  Tanfield,  Esq 

Valentine,  Benjamin,  Esq.  .  •  • 
Vane,  George,  Esq.  (disab.)  .  •  • 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  .  .  . 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  jun.  Knight  .  . 
Vassal,  Samuel,  Esq.,  merchant  .  . 
*Vaughan,  Charles,  Esq.  .  . 

*Vaughan,  Edward,  Esq.  .         . 


Leicester 

Buckingham 

Huntingdon 

Newcastle-under-Line 

Denbigh 

Downton,  Wilts 

Okehampton,  Devonshire 

Bishop's  Castle 

Helston 

Carnarvon 

Southwark 

East  Retford 

Richmond,  Yorkshire 

Saltash 

Wiltshire 

Lynn 

Cumberland 

Weobly 

Cornwall 

Wareham,  Dorsetshire 

Dorsetshire 

Lostwithiel 
Grampound 
Flintshire 
Tregony 
Monmouth 
Maidstone 
Christchurch,  Hants 
Shaftesbury 
Maidstone 

Clifton,   Dartmouth,    Hard- 
ness (united) 
Fowey 
Petersfield 
Reading 
St.  Germains 
Kellington 
Wilton 
Hull 
London 
Honiton 
Montgomeryshire 


LIST  OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT    339 


Vaughan,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (disab.) 
Vaughan,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '45) 
Venables,  Peter,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)     . 
*Venn,  John,  Esq.  (regicide)    . 
Verney,   Sir    Edmund,    Knight    Marshal 

(killed  at  Edgehill,  Oct.  '42,  where  he 

bore  the  King's  standard)  . 
Verney,  Sir  Ralph,  Knight  (disab.  '45)     . 
Vernon,  Henry,  Esq.  (not  duly)        .        . 
Vivian,  Sir  Richard,  Knight  (disab.  '44)  . 

*Walker,  Clement,  Esq 

Walker,  Robert,  Esq.  (disab.  '43)    . 
Waller,  Edmund,  Esq.  (in  place  of  Lord 

Lisle ;  disab.  '43)       .... 

*Waller,  Thomas,  Esq 

Waller,  Thomas,  Esq.  (not  duly)      . 
Waller,  Sir  William,  Knight  (instead  of 

Vernon;  one  of  the  11)     . 
Wallop,  Sir  Henry,  Knight  (dead  '44)      . 
*Wallop,  Robert,  Esq.  (King's  judge)       . 
Walsingham,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight    . 
Walton,  Valentine,  Esq.  (regicide)  . 
*Warmouth,  — ,  Esq.  (void)     . 
Warton,  Michael,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)  . 
Warwick,  Philip,  Esq.  (disab.  '44)   . 


Wastell,  John,  Esq 

Watkins,  William,  Esq.  (void  in  '44) 

*Wayte,  Thomas,  Esq.  (regicide)      . 

*Weaver,  John,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

Weaver,  Richard,  Esq.  (dead  May  '42)     . 

*Weaver,  Edmund,  Esq.  (after  '46) 

Webb,  Thomas,  Esq.  (expelled  '42,  mono- 
polist) .  ...  Romney 

Wenman,  Thomas,  Lord  Viscount,  in  Ire- 
land   Oxfordshire 

Wentworth,  Sir  George,  of  Wooley, 

Knight  (disab.  '42,  Yorkshire  petition)  Pontefract 

Wentworth,  Sir  George,  Knight  (Straf- 

ford's  brother,  disab.  '44)  .  .  .  Pontefract 

'Wentworth,  Sir  Peter,  K.B.  (King's 

judge) Tarn  worth 

1  '  Agmondesham,'  says  Biogr.  Britan.  (vi.  4103). 


Carmarthenshire 
Cardigan 
Cheshire 
London 


Wycombe 

Aylesbury 

Andover 

Tregony 

Wells 

Exeter 

St  Ives,  Cornwall » 

Bodmin 

New  Windsor 

Andover 
Hampshire 
Andover 
Rochester 
Huntingdonshire 
Newcastle-on-Tyne 
Beverley 

(Romney,  but  preferred)  Rad- 
nor. 
Malton 
Monmouth 
Rutlandshire 
Stamford 
Hereford 
Hereford 


340    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Wentworth,  Lord  Thomas  (Earl  of  Cleve- 
land's eldest  son  ;  to  House  of  Peers, 
25th  Nov.  '40,  by  writ)  . 

*West,  Edmund,  Esq 

*Weston,  Benjamin,  Esq.  (King's  judge) 

Weston,  Nicholas,  Esq.  (disab.  '42,  for 
Goring's  business)  .... 

Weston,  Richard,  Esq.  (disab.)         .         . 

*Westrow,  Thomas,  Esq.          .        . 

Whaddon,  John,  Esq.      .... 

Wheeler,  William,  Esq 

Whistler,  John,  Esq.  (disab.)  . 

Whitacre,  Lawrence,  Esq.  (Borough  being 
restored  to  its  rights) 

Whitaker,  William,  Esq.  (dead  '46) 

White,  John,  Esq.  (died  '45)   . 

White,  John,  Esq.  (disab.  '44) 

*White,  William,  Esq.  (Secretary  to  Sir 
T.  Fairfax) 

WTiitehead,  Richard,  Esq. 

Whitlocke,  Bulstrode,  Esq.  (in  place  of 
Hippesley) 

Whitmore,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (disab. 
'44) 

Widdrington,  Sir  Thomas,  Knight  (Rush- 
worth,  ii.  179)  .  .  .  .  . 

Widdrington,  Sir  William,  Baronet  (disab. 
'42  ;  killed  at  Worcester) 

*Willes,  Henry,  Esq 

Williams,  Sir  Charles,  (dead  '41)      . 

Wilmot,  Henry,  Esq.  (expelled,  Army 
plot  '41 ;  made  Baron  '43) 

*Wilson,  Rowland,  Esq.  (Alderman  of 
London;  King's  judge)  . 

Windebank,  Sir  Francis,  Knight  (Secre- 
tary :  fled  '41) 

Wingate,  Edward,  Esq 

*Winwood,  Richard,  Esq. 

Wise,  — ,  Esq.  (died  before  '41) 

Wogan,  John,  sen.  Esq.  (dead  '44)  .         . 

*Wogan,  Thomas,  Esq.  (regicide)     .         . 

Woodhouse,  Sir  Thomas,  Baronet    ,         . 


Bedfordshire 

(Wendover,    but    preferred) 

Buckinghamshire 
Dover 

Portsmouth 

Stafford 

Hythe  (Cinque  Ports) 

Plymouth 

Westbury,  Wilts 

Oxford 

Okehampton,  Devon 

Shaftesbury 

Southwark 

Rye 

Pontefract 
Hampshire 

Marlow 

Bridgnorth 

Berwick 

Northumberland 

Saltash 

Monmouthshire 

Tamworth 
Calne 

Corfe  Castle 

St.  Albans 

New  Windsor 

Devonshire 

Pembrokeshire 

Cardigan 

Thetford 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION  COMMITTEES     341 

Worsley,  Sir  Henry,  Baronet  .         .         .  Newport,  Wight 

Wray,  Sir  Christopher,  Knight  (dead  '45)  Great  Grimsby 

Wray,  Sir  John,  Baronet          .         .         .  Lincolnshire 

*Wray,  William,  Esq.      ....  Great  Grimsby 

Wroth,  Sir  Peter,  Knight  (dead  '44)         .  Bridgwater 
*Wroth,    Sir    Thomas,    Knight    (King's 

judge) Bridgwater 

*Wylde,  Edmund,  Esq.  (King's  judge)     .  Droitwich 

Wylde,  Sergeant  John     ....  Worcestershire 
Wyndham,  Edmund,  Esq.  (expelled  '41, 

monopolist) Bridgwater 

*Wynn,  Sir  Richard,  Knight   .         .         .  Carnarvonshire 

Wynn,  Sir  Richard,  Baronet  (dead  '49)    .  Liverpool 

Yelverton,  Sir  Christopher,  Knight          .  Bossiney 

Young,  Sir  John,  Knight         .         .         .  Plymouth 

Young,  Walter,  Esq Honiton 


LISTS    OF   THE    EASTERN-ASSOCIATION 
COMMITTEES 

The  Committee  Lists  of  the  Eastern  Association  are  taken  from 
Husband's  Second  Collection?  where,  in  three  successive  general  Acts, 
dated  1st  April  1643,  7th  May  (and  1st  June)  1643,  and  3d  August  1643, 
—  followed  by  a  few  partial  amendments  and  enlargements  for  specific 
places  at  different  dates, — the  Committees  of  all  Parliamentary  or  Anti- 
Royalist  Counties  and  principal  Boroughs,  as  settled  at  that  stage  of  the 
contest,  are  named.  Earlier  and  earliest  Committees  are  in  Husband's 
First  Collection  2  and  elsewhere  ;  but  these,  as  transient  and  now  abrogated 
combinations,  do  not  concern  us  here. 

The  Committee  of  April  is  named  for  managing  the  Sequestration  of 
Delinquents'  Estates;  those  of  May  and  August  for  raising  money  by  other 
methods,  chiefly  by  Weekly  Assessments ;  and  each  has  its  specific  Act  and 
instructions  ;  but  as  the  essential  business  of  all  these  Committees  was  to 
carry  on  the  War  by  furnishing  the  sinews  of  war,  and  as,  with  trifling 
variations,  the  same  persons  sat  on  all,  it  may  well  be  imagined  their 
functions,  even  to  the  members  themselves,  became  gradually  much 
blended  ;  and  for  us  they  have  become  inextricably  blended,  or  not  worth 

1  Collection  of  all  the  Public  Orders^  Ordinances  etc.  of  Parliament,  from  March  1642-3  to 
December  1646 :  Printed  for  Edward  Husband  (London,  folio,  1646). 

a  An  exact  Collection  of  all  Remonstrances  ttc.  tic.  (London,  small  410,  1643)  •'  Printed  for 
Edward  Husband*  (sic),  p.  891  etc. 


342    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 

the  huge  labour  of  attempting  to  extricate  and  distinguish.  Committees, 
all,  essentially  of  Finance  and  general  Administration;  appointed,  we  may 
say,  to  care  generally  that  the  Parliamentary  Cause  suffer  no  damage  by 
lack  of  money  or  otherwise, — against  whom,  and  their  despotic  procedure, 
rise  loud  complaints  and  denunciations  in  the  old  Pamphlets  of  a  royalist 
or  neutral  stamp.  An  assiduous  hand,  searching  on  my  behalf  through 
every  corner  of  these  Lists  and  Supplementary  Lists,  as  they  He  in  bewild- 
ering disorder,  scattered  over  the  vast  surface  of  Husband, — has  painfully 
added  to  each  Name  an  exact  note  of  the  several  Committees  on  which  he 
sat :  but,  not  to  encumber  the  Printer  and  the  Reader  with  what  would 
little  if  in  any  degree  profit,  I  have  omitted  these  specialties  at  present, — 
all  but  the  following  two  : 

Under  date  10th  August  1643  (with  Supplementary  or  subsequent  Acts, 
in  some  cases)  is  a  particular  settling  and  assorting  of  the  Association  Com- 
mittees as  a  distinct  body ;  with  instructions  and  directions  ;  directing, 
for  one  thing,  how  they  are  to  choose  the  Central  Committee  which  sits  at 
Cambridge  ; — indicating  to  us  who  they  now  are,  and  most  probably  who 
they  were  hitherto,  that  showed  themselves  most  and  took  the  chief 
management :  these,  as  in  some  sort  peculiar,  I  have  found  good  to  note  : 
all  that  sit  on  this  Committee  are  distinguished  by  an  asterisk  (*)  ;  those 
that  sit  on  this  only,  or  are  new  men  at  the  passing  of  the  Act,  have  their 
names  printed  in  italics.  And  observe  here :  Among  those  of  the  asterisk  the 
'  Deputy  Lieutenants/  appointed  long  before  and  with  superior  powers, 
of  whom  there  is  sometimes  mention  in  Oliver's  Letters  and  elsewhere,  will 
be  found ;  but  not  in  a  distinguishable  state :  their  names  as  a  body, 
though  '  read  publicly,'  in  1642,  and  even  ordered  to  be  printed,1  do  not 
occur  in  Husband.  This  is  the  first  specialty  of  indication,  attempted 
here.  Then  secondly,  under  date  16th  Feb.  1644-5,  on  Fairfax's  appoint- 
ment to  be  Commander-in-chief,  there  occurs  a  revision  or  new-model  of 
Committees,  in  the  Association  as  everywhere  else,  for  raising  assessments 
to  support  Fairfax :  such  men  as  were  added  for  serving  on  this  Committee, 
are  designated  by  an  (/.).  Farther  distinctions,  as  threatening  rather  to 
confuse  than  illuminate  the  reader,  are  not  given  at  present. 

Our  only  change  from  those  Lists  of  Husband's  is  the  arrangement,  an 
important  and  indispensable  one,  in  alphabetical  order ;  and  the  correction 
of  what  mistakes  were  palpable, — the  number  and  nature  of  which  still 
testify  how  hurriedly  that  old  Parliamentary  operation,  in  all  stages  of  it, 
was  done.  The  spelling  especially,  with  its  incessant  variations,  has  been 
an  intricate  business,  not  to  be  settled  sometimes  except  partly  by  guess. 
Our  'Esq.,'  'Gent.,'  and  occasional  omission  of  all  Title,  are  correctly 
what  we  find  in  the  old  Book. 

1  Names  'read  before  the  House,"  i7th  March  1641-2  (Commons  Journals,  ii-  483);  ordered 
'  to  be  printed,'6th  Oct.  following  (ib.  797) :  not  given  in  either  case. 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION  COMMITTEES     343 

Under  the  given  circumstances,  Husband's  List  may  be  taken  as  substan- 
tially correct :  but  of  course  those  Committees,  even  for  specified  objects, 
were  liable,  at  all  times,  both  to  be  supplemented  and  to  be  sifted  down  ; 
which  renders  their  exact  composition  a  fluctuating  object,  dependent  on 
date  in  some  measure. 


CAMBRIDGESHIRE 

Cambridgeshire  Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643:  1st  April  (with  Supplement, 
15th  September),  p.  16,  p.  322 ; — 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and  Revisals, 
21st  June,  3d  August,  20th  September),  p.  169,  p.  225,  p.  6  Appendix,  p.  329 ; 
Association  specially,  10th  August  (and  4th  September),  p.  284,  p.  308.  For 
support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to  the  end  of  the  War  :  15th  February  1644-5, 
p.  603. 

Those  that  sat  exclusively  on  this  Fairfax  Committee  have  an  (/.)  appended;  those 
of  10th  August  (among  whom  are  the  Deputy-Lieutenants)  are  marked  with  an 
asterisk  (*),  and  such  of  them  as  were  then  new  are  in  italics  :  (e.)  means,  For 
Ely  only ;  (t.),  For  Town  and  University  only. 

Aldmond,  Edward,  (t.  /) 
*Becket,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Bendish,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Blackley,  James,  (t.  /.) 
*Browne,  — 

Browning,  Edward,  Esq. 
Butler,  Henry,  Esq. 
Butler,  Nevill,  Esq. 
*Castle,  Robert,  Esq. 
*Castle,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Chennery,1  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
Clapthorn,  George,  Esq. 
Clark,  Edward,  Esq. 
*Clark,  Robert,  Esq. 
*Clench,  Edward,  Esq. 
Clopton,  Walter,  Esq. 
*Coohe,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Cromwell,  Oliver,  Esq. 
*Cutts,  Sir  John,  Kt. 
Dalton,  Michael,  jun.  Esq. 
Dalton  Michael,  sen,  Esq.  (/*.) 
Desborow,  Isaac. 
Diamond,  Tristram,  Gent.  («./.) 
*Ducket,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Eden,  Dr.  (/) 


Fiennes,  Aid. 
Fisher,  William,  Esq. 
*Foxton,  Richard,  Esq. 
French,  Thomas  (t.) 
*Hobart,  John,  Esq. 
Hynde,  Robert 
Janes,  William,  Esq.  (/.) 
Leeds,  Edward,  Esq. 
Lowry,  John  (t.) 
Male,  Edmund 
*March,  Humberston,  Esq. 
*Marsh,  William,  Esq. 
*Martin,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt. 
*Mayor  for  the  time  being  (t.) 
North,  Sir  Dudley,  Kt 
Parker,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Partridge,  Sir  Edward,  Kt  (e.f.) 
Pepys,  Samuel,  Esq. 
Pepys,  Talbotj  Recorder  (t.} 
*Pope,  Dudley,  Esq. 
Raven,  John,  Esq.  (/!) 
Reynolds,  James,  Esq.  (/.) 
Reynolds,  Sir  James  (f.) 
Robson,  Robert  (t.) 
*Russel,  Francis,  Esq. 


Spelt  also  Chymtry. 


344    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Russel,  Killiphet,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Sandys,!  Sir  Miles,  Kt. 
Sherwood,  John  (t.) 
Smith,  Henry 
*Spalding,  Samuel  ft.) 
Staughton,  Robert 
Story,  Philip,  Esq. 
Stone,  Richard,  M.D.  (e.  f.) 


Symonds,  Thomas,  Esq. 
^Thompson,  James,  Esq. 
Towers,  John,  Esq. 
Walker,  Thomas 
*Welbore,  John,  Esq. 
Welbore,  William  (t.) 
Wendy,  Francis,  Esq. 
Wright,  John 


ESSEX 

Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643:  1st  April  (with  Supplement,  1st  June), 
p.  17,  p.  194 ;— 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and  Revisals,  1st  June,  3d  August, 
20th  September),  p.  170,  p.  194,  p.  7  Appendix,  p.  328 ;— Association  specially, 
10th  August,  p.  284.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to  the  end  of  the 
War:  15th  February  1644-5,  p.  603. 

The  (/. )  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men ;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  10th 
August,  the  then  new  ones  of  whom  are  in  italics ;  (c.)  means,  For  Colchester. 


Adams,   Thomas,    of  Thaxted, 

Gent. 

Allen,  Isaac,  of  Haseley,  Esq. 
*Alliston,2  John,  Gent. 
*Atwood,  John,  Esq. 
*Atwood,  William,  Esq. 
Aylet,  Jeremy,  Esq. 
Aylett,   Thomas,    of   Kelldon, 

Gent. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  Esq. 
*Barnc.rdiston,  Arthur,  Esq. 
Barrington,  Henry,  Gent,  (c.) 
Barrington,  Robert,  Esq.  (/) 
Barrington,  Sir  John,  Kt. 
Barrington,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart. 
Berkhead,  Edward,  Esq. 
Bourn,  Robert,  Esq. 
Brook,  John,  Esq. 
Burket,  John,  Esq. 
Buxton,  Robert,  Gent,  (c.) 
*Calthorp,  Robert,  Esq. 
Cheeke,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt 
Clapton,  Thomas,  Esq. 


Cletheroe,  Captain. 
Collard,  William,  Esq. 
Cook,  William,  Aid.  (c.) 
Cooke,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Cooke,  Thomas,  Gent. 
Crane,  Robert,  Esq. 
Eden,  John,  Esq. 
*Eldred,  John,  Esq. 
*Everard,  Sir  Richard,  Bart. 
Farr,  Henry,  Esq. 
Penning,  John,  Gent. 
Friborne,  Samuel,  Esq. 
Gambeil,3  James,  Esq.  (/.) 
Goldingham,  William,  Esq. 
Grimston,  Harbottle,  Esq.  (also  c. 

Recorder) 

Grimston,  Sir  Harbottle,  Bart. 
*Harlackenden,  Richard,  Esq. 
Harlackenden,  William,  Gent. 
Harrison,  Ralph,  Aid  (c.) 
Harvey,  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
Hawkin,    Richard,    of   Harwich, 

Gent. 


Spelt  also  Sands,  Sandes,  Satidis.  2  Spelt  also  Aliston,  E  listen,  etc.  etc. 

3  Spelt  also  Cambell. 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION  COMMITTEES     345 


Herne,  James,  Esq. 
Hicks,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
*Holcroft,  Sir  Henry,  Kt. 
*Honywood,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt 
Jocelyn,  John,  Esq.  (also  c.  Deputy 

Recorder) 

Johnson,  Thomas  (c.) 
Kemp,  Sir  Robert,  Kt.  (/.) 
Langley,  John,  of  Colchester,  Esq. 

(also  c.) 

Langton,  John,  Gent,  (c.) 
Lumley,  Sir  Martin,  Bart. 
Luther,  Anthony,  Esq. 
Maidstone,  Robert,  Gent. 
Martin,  Sir  William,  Kt. 
Masham,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
Masham,  William,  Esq. 
Matthews,  Joachim,  Esq.  (f.) 
Mayor  for  the  time  being  (c.) 
Mead,  John,  Esq. 
*Middleton,  Timothy,  Esq. 
Mildmay,  Gary,  Esq. 
Mildmay,  Henry,  of  Graves,  Esq. 
Mildmay,  Sir  Henry,  of  Wanstead, 

Bart. 

Nicholson,  Francis,  Gent. 
*Palmer,  Edward,  Esq. 
Pike,  John,  Esq. 
Plume,1  Samuel,  Gent. 
Raymond,  Oliver,  Esq. 
*Reade,  Dr. ,  of  Birchanger 
*Rowe,  Sir  William,  Kt. 


*Sayer,  John,  Esq. 
Shaw,  John,  jun.  Gent.  (/) 
Sheffield,  Samson,  Esq.  (/.) 
Smith,  Robert,  Esq. 
*Sorrell,2  John,  Esq. 
Stonehard,  Francis,  Esq. 
Talcot,  Robert,  of  Colchester,  Gent. 
Talcot,  Thomas,  Gent.  (/.) 
Thomas,  Captain 
Thorogood,  George,  Esq. 
Thorogood,  John,  of  Walden,Gent 
*Tindall,  Deane,  Esq. 
Topsfield,  — ,  Esq.  (/) 
Turner,    William,    of    Wimbish, 

Gent. 

*Umphrevill,3  William,  Esq. 
Vesey,  Robert,  Gent. 
Wade,  Thomas,  Aid.  (c./.) 
Walton,  George,  Esq. 
Ward,  Aid.  (c.) 
Watkins,  John,  Esq. 
Whitcombe,  Peter,  Esq. 
Williamson,  Francis,  of  Walden, 

Gent. 

Wincall,  Isaac,  Gent. 
Wiseman,  Henry,  Esq. 
Wiseman,  Richard,  Gent. 
Wiseman,    Robert,    of  Mayland, 

Esq. 

*Wright,4  John,  Esq. 
*  Young,  John,  Gent. 
Young,  Robert,  Esq. 


HERTFORDSHIRE 

Hertfordshire  Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643:  1st  April  (with  Supplements, 
1st  June,  21st  June),  p.  18,  p.  194,  p.  225 ;— 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and 
Kevisals,  3d  August,  20th  September),  p.  171,  p.  8  Appendix,  p.  329 ;— Associa- 
tion specially,  10th  August,  p.  284.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to 
the  end  of  the  War :  15th  February  1644-5,  p.  604. 

The  (/.)  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  10th 
August;  (a.)  means,  For  St.  Albans. 


1  Spelt  also  Plum,  Plumme,  Plain,  Playne,  Plague. 
8  Spelt  also  Hum/revile,  etc. 


2  Spelt  also  SerrillxnA  Correll. 
«  Spelt  also  Weight. 


346    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Atkins,  Edward,  Esq.,  Sergeant- 
at-law 

*  Barber,  Gabriel,  Esq. 
Carter,  William,  of  Offley,  Gent. 
Cecil,  Robert,  Esq. 

Combes,  Toby,  Esq. 
Cranbourne,    Charles,  Lord    Vis- 
count 

Dacres,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt. 
Fairecloth,  Litton,  Esq. 

*  Freeman,  Ralph,  Esq. 

*  Garret, l  Sir  John,  Bart. 
Harrison,  Sir  John 
*Heydon,  John,  Esq. 
Humberston,  John,  sen.  Gent. 
Jennings,  Richard,  Esq. 

*  King,  Dr.  John,  M.D. 

*  Leman,2  William,  Esq. 
Litton,  Rowland,  Esq.  (/.) 
Litton,  Sir  William,  Kt. 
Lucy,  Sir  Richard,  Bart.  (/.) 
Marsh,  John,  Gent. 


Mayor  for  the  time  being  (a.) 
Mayor  of  Hertford  for  the  time 

being 

Meade,  Thomas,  Gent. 
*Mewtys,  Henry,  Esq. 
Norton,  Gravely,  Esq. 
Pemberton,  John,  Esq. 

*  Pemberton,  Ralph,  Esq.  (a.) 

*  Porter,  Richard,  Esq. 

*  Priestley,  William,  Esq. 
Puller,  Isaac,  Gent. 

*  Read,  Sir  John,  Bart. 
*Robotham,  John,  Esq.  (a.) 
Sadler,  Thomas,  Esq. 

*  Scroggs,  John,  Esq. 
Tooke,  John,  Esq. 
*Tooke,  Thomas,  Esq. 

*  Washington,  Adam,  Esq. 

*  Wilde,  Alexander,  Esq. 
Wingate,  Edward,  Esq. 

*  Witterong,3  Sir  John,  Kt. 


HUNTINGDONSHIRE 

Huntingdonshire  Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643  :  1st  April  (with  Supplement, 
8th  July),  p.  18,  p.  229 ;— 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and  Revisals,  3d  August, 
20th  September),  p.  171,  p.  8  Appendix,  p.  329 ;— Association  specially,  10th 
August,  p.  284.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to  the  end  of  the  War  : 
15th  February  1644-5,  p.  604. 

The  (/.)  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  10th 
August,  the  then  new  ones  of  whom  are  in  italics. 


Armyn,  Sir  William,  Bart.  (/.) 
Bonner,  John,  Gent.  (./!) 
Bulk  ley,  John,  Esq. 
*Burrell,  Abraham,  Esq. 
Castle,  John,  Esq. 
Cotton,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart. 
*  Cromwell,  Oliver,  Esq. 
Desborow,  Isaac,  Gent. 
Drury,  William  (/.) 


*Fullwood,  Gervaise,  Gent. 
*Harvey,  Robert,  Gent. 
Hewet,  Sir  John,  Kt. 
Ingram,  Robert,  Gent. 

*  Joceline,  Terrill,  Esq. 
King,  William,  Gent. 

*  Montague,  Edward,  Esq. 
Montague,  George,  Esq.  ( 
Offley,  John,  Gent. 


1  Spelt  also  Gerrat  and  Jerratt.  2  Spelt  also  Lea-man,  Lemon,  etc.  etc. 

8  Spelt    also    Whitterong,    Whitteronge,    Wittcwrong,    Witewrong,    Witteroungc,     and 
Witteroung. 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION   COMMITTEES    347 


Petton,  John,  Gent. 

*  Temple,  Thomas,  Esq. 

*  Vintner,  Robert,  Gent. 


Walton,  Valentine,  Esq.  (/) 
*  Winch,  Onslow,  Esq. 


LINCOLNSHIRE 

Lincolnshire  Committees  (Husband,  ii. ),  in  1643 :  1st  April,  p.  18 ; — 7th  May  (with 
Supplements  and  Revisals,  1st  June,  3d  August,  20th  September),  p.  171,  p. 
194,  p.  9  Appendix,  p.  329.  3d  July  1644  (County  now  got;  corresponds  to 
10th  August  1643,  for  the  other  Counties),  p.  515.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in 
1644-5,  and  to  the  end  of  the  War :  15th  February  1644-5  (with  Supplements, 
3d  April,  llth  August),  p.  604,  p.  633,  p.  707. 

The  (/. )  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men ;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  3d  July 
1644,  the  then  new  ones  of  whom  are  in  italics ;  (L )  means,  For  Lincoln. 


Anderson,  Edmund,  Esq. 
Archer,  John,  Esq. 
Armyn,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
*Ashton,  Peter,  Esq. 
*Askham,  Thomas 
Ayscough,  Sir  Edward,  Kt. 
Ayscough,  Edward,  Esq. 
Bernard,  John,  Gent. 
Bowtal,  Barnaby,  Esq. 
Brassbridge,  Aid.  (/.  /.) 

*  Browne,  John,  Gent. 
Brownlow,  Sir  John,  Bart. 
Brownlow,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
Broxholme,  John,  Esq.  (also/.) 
Bryan,  Richard,  Esq. 

*  Bury,1  William,  Esq. 

*  Cave,  Morris,  Esq. 
Cawdron,  Robert,  Esq. 
*Cholmley,  Montague,  Esq. 
*Coppledike,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Cornwallis,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Cust,  Samuel,  Esq. 
Davison,  William,  Gent.  (/.) 
Dawson,  Stephen,  Aid.  (/.) 

*  Disney,  John,  sen.  Esq. 

*  Disney,  Mollineux,  Esq. 
Disney,  Thomas,  Esq.  (/.) 

*  Disney,  William,  Esq. 


*  Ellis,  Edmund,  Esq. 
Ellis,  William,  Esq. 
*Emmerson,  Alexander,  Esq. 
*Empson,  Charles,  Esq. 
Empson,  Francis,  Gent.  (/.) 
*Erle,  Sir  Richard,  Bart 
Escote,  Captain 

Filkin,  Richard,  Gent.  (/.) 

*  Fines,  Francis,  Esq. 
Fisher,  Francis,  Esq.  (/.) 
Grantham,  Thomas,  Esq.  (also  /.) 

*  Godfrey,  William,  Esq. 
*Hal'l,  Charles,  Esq. 

Hall,  — ,  of  Kettlethorpe,  Esq. 
Hall,  Thomas,  Gent. 
Harrington,  James,  Esq.  (/.) 
Harrington,  John,  Esq. 
Hatcher,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Hitchcott,  Edmund,  Esq. 
Hickman,  Willoughby,  Esq. 
Hobson,  John,  Gent.  (/.) 
*Hobson,  William,  Esq. 
Hudson,  Christopher,  Esq. 
Irby,  Sir  Anthony,  Knight. 
*Irby,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Johnson,  Martin,  Gent. 
King,  Edward,  Esq. 
*Knight,  Isaac. 


Spelt  also  Burg  and  Btny. 


348    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Leigh,  Samuel,  Esq. 
Lister,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Lister,  William,  Esq. 
*Luddington,  William,  Esq. 
Marshal,  William,  Mayor  (/.) 
*Massinbeard,1  Draynard,  Esq. 
*Massinbeard,1  Henry,  Esq. 
Massingden,  — ,  Esq. 
Mayor  of  Boston  for  the  time  being 
Mayor  of  Lincoln   for  the  time 

being  (/.) 

*Miscendyne,  Francis,  Esq. 
Moorcroft,  Robert,  Aid.  (/.) 
Munckton,  Michael,  Gent.  (/.) 
*Nelthorp,  Edward,  Esq. 
Nelthorp,  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Nethercote,  Thomas,  Gent. 
Owfield,  Sir  Samuel,  Kt. 
Owfield,  William,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Parkins,  Wyat,  Gent. 
*Pelham,  Henry,  Esq. 
*Pierpoint,  Francis,  Esq. 
Rawson,  Nehemiah,  Gent. 
*Rossiter,  Edward,  Esq.  (the  Col.) 
Rossiter,  Thomas,  Esq.  (/.) 
Samuel,  Arthur,  Esq.  (/.) 
Savile,  Thomas,  Esq. 


*Savile,  William,  Esq. 
Sheffield,  John,  Esq. 
Skipworth,  Edward,  Esq. 
Tharrald,  Nathaniel,  Gent. 
^Thompson,  William,  Gent. 
Tilson,  Edmund,  Esq. 
^Trollop,  James,  Gent. 
Trollop,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart. 
*Walcott,  Humphrey,  Esq. 
Watson,  William,  Aid.  (/.) 
Welby,  Thomas,  Gent. 
*  Welcome,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Whitchcot,  Edward,  Esq. 
Whitchcot,  Sir  Hamond,  Kt. 
Whiting,  John,  Gent.  (/.) 
Willesby,  John,  Esq. 
Williamson,  Richard,  Esq.  (/) 
Williamson,  Thomas,  Esq.  (/.) 
Willoughby,  Hickman,  Esq. 
Willoughby,    Lord     Francis,    of 

Parham 

Wincopp,2  John,  Gent. 
*Woolley,  William,  Esq. 
Wrath,  John,  Esq. 
Wray,  Sir  Christopher,  Kt. 
Wray,  Sir  John,  Bart. 
Wray,  John,  Esq. 


NORFOLK 

Norfolk  Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643:  1st  April  (with  Supplement,  18th 
April),  p.  19,  p.  38 ;— 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and  Kevisals,  1st  June,  3d 
August,  20th  September),  p.  171,  p.  194,  p.  9  Appendix,  p.  328 ;— Association 
specially,  10th  August,  p.  283.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to  the 
end  of  the  War ;  15th  February  1644-5,  p.  605. 

The  (/.)  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  10th 
August,  the  then  new  ones  of  whom  are  in  italics ;  (n.)  means,  For  Norwich. 


*Ashley,  Sir  Edward,  Kt. 
*Ashley,  Sir  Isaac,  Kt. 
Bailiffs  of  Yarmouth. 
Bainham,  Robert,  Esq.  (/.) 


Baker,  Thomas,  Esq.  (n.) 
Barkham,  Sir  Edward,  Bart 
Barret,  Christopher,  Esq.  (n.) 
Barret,  Thomas,  Sheriff,  (n.  /.) 


Spelt  also  Massingbcard,  Massingberde,  Massingburgh^  Massinbred,  and  Massinberg. 
Spelt  also  Wincock  and  Wincocks. 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION  COMMITTEES     349 


Beddingfield,  Philip,  Esq. 
Berkham,  John 
Berney,1  Sir  Richard,  Bart. 
Blofield,  Jeremy,  of  Alby. 
*Brewster,  John,  Esq. 
Brewster,  Samuel,  Gent,  (n./.) 
Brown,  John,  of  Sparks 
*Burnam,  Edmund,  Aid.  (n.) 
Buxton,  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
Calthorp,  James,  Esq. 
Calthorp,  Philip,  Esq. 
Chamberlain,  Edward,  Esq.  (/.) 
Church,  Bernard,  Sheriff  (n.  /.) 
Clarke,  of  Gaywood. 
Collier,  John,  Gent.  (n.  f. ) 
Collyns,  of  Blackborne  Abbey 
Coney,  William 
*Cooke,2  John,  Esq. 
*Cooke,  William,  Esq. 
Corbet,  Miles,  Esq. 
Dagly,  Robert,  of  Alsham 
Day,  Sucklin 

Doylie,  Sir  William,  Kt.  (/.) 
Earl,  Erasmus,  Esq.  (/.) 
Felsham,  Robert,  of  Sculthrop 
Fountain,  Briggs,  Esq. 
Fryer,3  Tobias,  Esq. 
Gasley,  William,  of  Holcan 
Gawdy,  Edward,  Esq.  (/) 
Gawdy,  Framlingham,  Esq.  (/) 
*Gawdy,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt. 
*Gawsell,4  Gregory,  Esq. 
Gibbon,6  John,  Esq. 
Gibbon,6  Sir  Thomas,  Kt 
Gooch,  Robert,  of  Elham 
Gower,    Robert,     of    Yarmouth, 

Gent.  (/) 

^Greenwood,  John,  Sheriff  (n.) 
Grey,  James  de,  Esq.  (/.) 

1  Spelt  also  Berne,  Bernay,  and  Barney. 
*  Spelt  also  Frere,  Friar,  and  Fryar. 
B  Spelt  also  Guibon. 
1  Spelt  also  Parks,  Parker, 


Grey,  John,  Gent,  (w./.) 
Harman,  Richard,  Esq. 
Harvye,  Richard 
Heveningham,  William,  Esq. 
Heyward,  Edward,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Hobart,  Sir  John,  Bart. 
*Hobart,  Sir  Miles,  Kt 
Holland,  Sir  John,  Bart 
Houghton,  John,  Esq. 
Houghton,  Robert,  Esq.  (/) 
*Huggen,6  Sir  Thomas,  Kc. 
Hunt,  George,  Esq.  (/.) 
Jaye,  John,  of  Ersham 
*Jermy,  Francis,  Esq. 
Jermy,  Robert,  Esq. 
Johnson,  Thomas,  Gent 
Ket,  Robert,  of  Wicklewood 
Kettle,  Henry,  of  Thetford  (/.) 
King,  Henry,  Gent. 
Lincoln,  Thomas,  of  Thetford,  Esq. 

Aid. 

*Lindsey,  Matthew,  Aid.  (n.) 
Long,  Robert,  Esq.  (/) 
May,  John,  of  Lynn,  Aid.  (/) 
Mayor  of  Lynn  for  the  time  being 
Mayor  of  Norwich  for  the  time 

being  (n.) 

Money,  Samuel,  of  Binnam 
Mountford,  Sir  Edmund,  Kt 
Owner,  Edward,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Palgrave,  Sir  John,  Bart 
Parkes,7  Samuel,  Gent. 
*Parmenter,  Adrian,  Esq.  (n.) 
Paston,  Sir  William,  Bart  (/.) 
*Peckoner,8  Matthew,  Aid.  (n.) 
Pell,  Sir  Valentine,  Kt  Vicecomes 

(/•) 

Percivall,  John,  Esq.  of  Lynn. 
Pots,  Sir  John,  Bart 

2  Spelt  also  Crook  and  Coke. 
4  Spelt  also  Causell,  GousaU,  and  Gausey. 
«  Spelt  also  Hogan,  Hoogan,  Hoggin. 
8  Spelt  also  Peckover  and  Ptckford, 


350    CROMWELL'S  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 


Raymes,1  John,  Esq.  of  Oxtron 
Rich,  Robert,  Esq. 
Rower,  Robert,  Gent. 
*Russell,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Salter,  John,  Gent.  (n.  /.) 
Seamier,  Adam,  Esq.  (/.) 
Seamier,  James,  Esq. 
Scottow,  Timothy,  Gent.  (».  /.) 
*Sedley,2  Martin,  Esq. 
Sheppard,  Robert,  Esq. 
Sheriffs  of  Norwich 
Sherwood,  Livewell,  Aid.  (n.) 
Shouldham,  Francis,  of  Fulmer- 

ston 

Skippon,  Philip,  Esq.  (/.) 
*Smith,  Samuel,  Esq. 
*Sotherton,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Spelman,  John,  Esq. 
Springall,  Thomas,  of  St.  Mary's. 
Steward,  — ,  Esq.  (n.  /.) 
Swalter,  John,  of  Southcreak 
*Symonds,  William,  of  Norwich, 

Aid.  (n.) 
Taylor,  Henry,  Esq.  (/) 


*Thacker,  John,  Aid.  (n.) 
Thorisby,  Edmund,  Esq.  (/.) 
Tofts,  John,  Gent,  (n.f.) 
Tofts,  Thomas,  Aid.  (n.f.) 
Toll,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Tooley,  John,  Esq.  (n.) 
Townsend,  Roger,  Esq.  (f.) 
Utber,  Thomas 
Vincent,  John,  of  Crinisham 
Walpool,  John,  Esq. 
Walter,  of  Deram. 
Ward,  Hamon,  Esq.  (/) 
Warner,  Richard,  of  Little  Brand 
Wasted,  Thomas,  Gent,  (n.f.) 

*  Watts,  Henry,  Aid.  (n.) 
Web,  John,  Esq.  (/) 
Weld,  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Wilton,3  Robert,  Esq. 
Windham,  Sir  George,  Kt.  (/) 
*Windham,  Thomas,  Esq. 
With,  of  Brodish 

*Wood,  Robert,  Esq. 
Woodhouse,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart. 

*  Wright*  Thomas,  Esq. 


SUFFOLK 

Suffolk  Committees  (Husband,  ii.),  in  1643:  1st  April  (with  Supplement,  29tn 
September),  p.  19,  p.  321 ;— 7th  May  (with  Supplements  and  Revisals,  1st  June, 
3d  August,  20th  September),  p.  172,  p.  193,  p.  10  Appendix,  p.  328 :— Associa- 
tion specially,  10th  August,  p.  284.  For  support  of  Fairfax  in  1644-5,  and  to 
the  end  of  the  War :  15th  February  1644-5,  p.  605. 

The  (/.)  designates  the  exclusively  Fairfax  men  ;  the  asterisk  (*)  those  of  the  10th 
August ;  (i.)  means,  For  Ipswich ;  (e.)  Bury  St.  Edmunds ;  (a.)  Aldborough. 


Aldermen  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds  (e.) 
Aldus,  John,  Gent.  (*.) 
*Appleton,  Is«ac,  Esq. 
Bacon,  Sir  Butts,  Bart. 
*Bacon,  Sir  Edmund,  Bart. 
*Bacon,  Francis,  Esq. 
*Bacoii,  Nathaniel,   of  Freeston, 
Esq. 


*Bacon,  Nathaniel,  of  Ipswich,  Esq. 
Bacon,  Nicholas,  Esq. 
Bacon,  Thomas,  Esq.  (/.) 
Bailiffs  of  Aldborough  (a.) 
Bailiffs  of  Ipswich  (t.) 
*Baker,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Barnardiston,  Sir  Nathaniel,  Kt 
*Barnardiston,  Sir  Thomas,  Kt. 


1  Spelt  also  ReygneS)  Keyves,  Rtimes  and  Regin. 
9  Spelt  also  Wilson. 


2  Spelt  also  Sidley  and  RedUy. 
4  Spelt  also  Weight. 


EASTERN-ASSOCIATION   COMMITTEES     351 


^*Barrow,  Maurice,  Esq. 
Basse,1  John,  Esq. 
Bence,  Alexander,  Esq.  (f.) 
Bence,  Squire,  Esq. 
Blosse,  Thomas,  Esq.  (/) 
*Bloyse,  William,  Esq. 
Bokenham,  Wiseman,  Esq. 
Brandling,  John  (t.) 
Brewster,  Francis,  Esq. 
*Brewster,2  Robert,  Esq. 
Bright,  — ,  Gent,  (e.) 
Brook,  Sir  Robert,  Kt. 
Brooke,  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
Cage,3  William,  Esq. 
Chaplin,  Thomas,  Gent,  (e.) 
Chapman,  Thomas,  Esq.  (e.) 
Cheney,  Henry  (a.  f.) 
Clinch,  John,  sen.  Esq. 
Clinch,  John,  of  Culpho,  Esq. 
*Cole,  Thomas,  Esq. 
Cotton,  John,  Esq.  (/) 
D'Ewes,  Sir  Simond,  Bart.  (/.) 
Duke,  Sir  Edward,  Kt. 
Buncombe,4  Robert,  Gent,  (i.) 
Fisher,  Peter  (i.) 
Gale,  Jacob,  Gent,  (i.) 
Gibbs,  Thomas,  Aid.  (e.) 
Gurdon,  Brampton,  Esq. 
Gurdon,  Brampton,  jun.  Esq. 

1  Spelt  also  Bates,  Base,  and  Bace. 

*  Spelt  also  Gage. 

•  Spelt  also  Jackson. 

1  Spelt  also  Rivet  and  Ryvet. 


Gurdon,  John,  Esq. 
*Harvey,  Edmund,  Esq. 
Heveningham,  William,  Esq. 
*Hobart,  James,  Esq. 
Hodges,  John,  Esq.  (/.) 
Johnson,5  Thomas,  Gent,  (a.) 
^Lawrence,  William,  Esq. 
*Lucas,  Gibson,  Esq. 
Moody,  Samuel  (e.) 
North,  Henry,  sen.  Esq. 
North,  Henry,  jun.  Esq. 
North,  Sir  Roger,  Kt. 
Parker,  Sir  Philip,  Kt. 
Parker,  Sir  William,  Kt. 
Pemberton,  Joseph,  Gent,  (t.) 
Pepys,  Richard,  Esq. 
Playters,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
Puplet,6  Richard,  Gent.  (».) 
•  Read,  Edward,  Esq. 
Reynolds,  Robert,  Esq. 
River,7  William,  of  Bilson,  Esq. 
Rous,  Sir  John,  Kt. 
Sicklemer,  John,  Gent,  (i.) 
*Soame,  Sir  William,  Kt. 
*Spring,  Sir  William,  Bart. 
*Terrell,8  Thomas,  Esq. 
*Vaughan,  Theophilus,  of  Beccles, 

Esq. 
Wentworth,  Sir  John,  Kt. 

2  Spelt  also  Brechoster. 
*  Spelt  also  Duncam  and  Duncan. 
«  Spelt  also  Pupler,  Purplet,  Pulfit. 
8  Spelt  also  Tirrill. 


END  OF  VOL.  III. 


Edinburgh  :  Printed  by  T.  and  A.  CONSTABLE, 


•I'  .-* 

v/%  .  • 


Cromvell,  0. 

Oliver  Cromwell's  letters  and 
speeches 


DA 

U26 

.A19 

v.3