members being appointed to persuade his highness thereto. The principal arguments used were these that the title of king had obtained from the very infancy of this nation; that sometimes the person of the king had been unpleasant to the people, but not his title or office; that the title was interwoven in the laws, accommodated to the genius of the people, approved by the suffrages of parliaments; that it was for the honor of the nation to call their supreme governor king; that by the statutes of the 9th of Edward IV. and 3d of Henry VII., it was enacted that none taking up arms for the king, although unjustly, should be punished therefore; that it was more upon account of these laws, than of any affection, that many took part with the king in the late wars; that as to Providence, that would be no less conspicuous in turning the government again into monarchy for avoiding confusion, and bridling the tumults of the people, than in changing the name of monarchy into protectorship; and that good and pious men would acquiesce in the decree of parliament, although, perhaps, they might seem privately to differ. Cromwell urged his reasons against these arguments, declaring that he did not find it his duty to God and the country to accept the proposed new title. He desired time to reflect upon this part of "the great machine of England's government, called the Petition and Advice;" but, as to that other great clause of the paper, which recalled into existence the House of Peers, he did not hesitate for a moment. Meanwhile, certain of the Fifth-monarchy men had resolved that there should be no king but Jesus Christ, and no parliament but a sanhedrim, to consist entirely of saints-that is, of themselves. Through the vigilance of Thurloe this precious plot was discovered, and a number of the conspirators were arrested with arms in their hands. Their leader appeared to be one Venner, a winecooper (called, by Thurloe, "a desperate and bloody spirit"); but Major-general Harrison, Viceadmiral Lawson, Colonel Rich, and other officers of that stamp, were implicated, and were all seized and sent to the Tower. By the laws passed in the Long Parliament the offense of these men was capital, but not one of them suffered death. The discovery of the plot interrupted the proceedings about the petition and advice, and the kingly title, That they (the petitioners) had hazarded their lives against monarchy, and were still ready to do so in defense of the liberties of the nation; that, having observed in some men great endeavors to bring the nation again under their old servitude, by pressing their general to take upon him the title and government of a king, in order to destroy him and weaken the hands of those who were faithful to the public; they, therefore, humbly desired that they would discountenance all such persons and endeavors, and continue steadfast to the old cause, for the preservation of which they, for their parts, were most ready to lay down their lives." Therefore, if Cromwell (and, after all that has been said by his enemies of all colors, the subject is still open to doubt) had set his heart upon the mere title of king (the power he had), he was disappointed, and obliged to recede. On the 19th upon him, calling that which is earthly, sensual, and devilish, to be of May, after he had submitted several papers to 1 Whitelock.-Thurloe, State Papers." This insurrection," says Thurloe, "was to have been upon Thursday night: the place of their first meeting was to have been at Mile-End Green. The party engaged to begin this insurrection (for this was to have been but as a forlorn) were those who falsely and profanely style themselves the Fifth-monarchy, and pretend to have no king but Jesus; for they do most impiously and wickedly father all their counsels and Satan's delusions the working of the Holy Spirit, and the power of Christ's love in them. . They encouraged one another with this, that though they were but worms, yet they should be made instrumental to thresh mountains..... That which they relied upon was, that many thousands would soon flock to them out of the city, and that others in the country would be also up. And though they speak great words of the reign of the saints, and the beautiful kingdom of holies which they would erect, yet the baits they lay to catch men with are, taking away taxes, excise, customs, and tithes. . . . . Upon their first meeting there was a book read among them called A Healing Question.' They had their correspondents at Bedford, Manchester, Abingdon, Oxford, Portsmouth, Hull, Bristol, Lincoln, and many other places." 1 Ludlow, Memoirs.-"The protector," says Whitelock, "often advised about this and other great businesses with the Lord Broghill, Pierpoint, Whitelock, Sir Charles Wolsey, and Thurloe, and would be shut up three or four hours together in private discourse, and none were admitted to come in to him: he would sometimes be very cheerful with them, and laying aside his greatness, he would be exceeding familiar with them, and, by way of diversion, would make verses with them, and every one must try his fancy. He commonly called for tobacco, pipes, and a candle, and would now and then take tobacco himself; then he would fall again to his serious and great business, and advise with them in these affairs." The reverse exhibits the Cross of Scotland surmounted by Cromwell's Paternal Arms. From Simon's Medals. the House, it was voted that his title should continue to be that of lord protector; on the 22d the House fixed "the bounds and limits of the title of lord protector;" and on the 25th a committee waited upon his highness" with the "Petition and Advice," which had been slightly modified in a few other particulars. By this instrument the knights, citizens, and burgesses, in parliament assembled, acknowledged their thankfulness to the wonderful mercy of Almighty God in delivering them from that tyranny and bondage, both in their spiritual and civil concernments, which the late king and his party designed to bring them under; their obligations to his highness, whose person the same gracious God had preserved in so many battles, and who had been an instrument for restoring peace and tranquillity, although environed by enemies abroad and unquiet spirits at home; and their conviction that the destruction of his person would throw all back into blood and confusion. They begged that he would be pleased to hold and exercise the office of chief magistrate, by and under the name and style of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, &c.; to appoint and declare, during his lifetime, the person who should be his successor; and to create the "Other House," the members to be such as should be nominated by his highness and approved by the Commons. By the same instrument it was provided that those who had advised, assisted, or abetted the rebellion of Ireland, and those who did or should profess the popish religion, should be dis The commonwealth-men, it appears, would tolerate neither the thing was, therefore, termed "the Other House;" that branch of the legislature losing not less in real power than it lost in name or dignity: they were not to exceed seventy in number, nor to be less than forty, whereof one-and-twenty were to form a quorum; they were not to give any vote by proxy; on death or removal no new members were to be admitted to sit and vote but by consent of the House of Commons, &c. designation "House of Lords," nor that of "Upper House." The abled and made incapable forever to be elected or to give any vote in elections, and that the same disability should be extended to all who had aided, abetted, advised, or assisted in any war against the parliament since the 1st of January, 1641, unless they had since borne arms for the parliament, or for his highness, or had otherwise given signal testimony of their good affection to the commonwealth; that the House should have an exclusive jurisdiction over its privileges and constituent members, &c., &c. When the clerk of the parliament had read this long instrument, Cromwell, after a solemn speech, said, "The lord protector doth consent." On the 25th of June the parliament ordered the master of the ceremonies to give notice to foreigu ambassadors of the inauguration of the protector; and on the next day that ceremony was performed with pomp and circumstance little inferior to those which attend a coronation. It was appointed by the parliament to be performed in Westminster Hall, where, in the upper end, there was an ascent raised, where a chair and canopy of state was set, and a table with another chair for the speaker, with seats built scaffoldwise, for the parliament, on both sides; and places below for the aldermen of London and the like: all which being in readiness, the protector came out of a room adjoining to the Lords' House (having come thither from Whitehall by water), and in this order proceeded into the Hall. First went his gentlemen, then a herald; next the aldermen, another herald, the attorneygeneral; then the judges, then Norroy, the lords commissioners of the Treasury, and the seal carried by Commissioner Fiennes; then Garter, and after him the Earl of Warwick with the sword borne before the protector, bareheaded, the Lord Mayor Tichborn carrying the city sword by his left hand. Being seated in his chair, on the left hand thereof stood the lord mayor and the Dutch ambassador; From an Anonymous Print of the Period, in which she is styled, "Protectress and a Drudge." the French ambassador and the Earl of Warwick | Whitehall, and the members to the parliament on the right; next behind him stood his sons, Richard, Fleetwood, Claypole, and the privy council; upon a lower descent stood the Lord Viscount Lisle, Lord Montague, and Mr. Whitelock, with drawn swords." When the protector had taken his place, standing up under a cloth of estate, the speaker, in the name of the parliament, presented to him a robe of purple velvet lined with ermine (which the speaker, assisted by Whitelock and others, put upon his highness); then he delivered to him the Bible richly gilt and bossed; and the speaker girt the sword about his highness, and put into his hand the scepter of massy gold, and then made a speech to him upon those several things, wished him all prosperity in his government, and administered the new oath. This done, Mr. Manton, one of the chaplains, made a long prayer, recommending his highness, the parliament, the council, the forces by land and sea, and the people of the three nations, to the blessing and protection of God. And after this prayer, the heralds, by sound of trumpet, proclaimed his highness Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging; requiring all persons to yield him due obedience. Hereupon the trumpets sounded again, and the people (after the usual manner) gave several acclamations, with loud shouts, crying God save the lord protector!' At the end of all, the protector, with his train, returned to 1 Perfect Politician. house, where they prorogued their sitting to the next January."" The court and the manner of life of Cromwell continued quiet and modest, as they ever had been; not wanting, however, a certain sober dignity, which was more imposing than the tinsel and parade of most royalties. Every thing at Hampton Court, his favorite residence, had an air of sobriety and decency: there was no riot, no debauchery, seen or heard of; yet it was not a dull place, the protector's humor being naturally of a cheerful turn. "He now provided him a guard of halberdiers in gray coats, welted with a black velvet, over whom Walter Strickland was captain. He frequently diverted himself at Hampton Court, whither he went and returned, commonly in post. with his guards behind and before. His own diet was spare and not curious, except in public treatments, which were constantly given the Monday in every week, to all the officers in the army not below a captain, where he used to dine with them. A table was likewise spread every day of the week for such officers as should casually come to court. He was a great lover of music, and entertained the most skillful in that science in his pay and family. He respected all persons that were eximious in any art, and would procure them to be sent or brought to him. Sometimes he would, for a frolic, before he had half dined, give order for the drum to beat and call in his foot-guards, 1 Perfect Politician.-Whitelock. who were permitted to make booty of all they found on the table. Sometimes he would be jocund with some of the nobility, and would tell them what company they had lately kept; when and where they had drunk the king's health and the royal family's; bidding them, when they did it again, to do it more privately; and this without any passion, and as festivous, droll discourse." He delighted especially to surround himself with the master minds of his age and country-with men who had left immortal names behind them. Milton, the Latin secretary, was his familiar; honest Andrew Marvel was his frequent guest; Waller was his friend and kinsman; nor was the more youthful genius of Dryden excluded. Hartlib, a native of Poland, the bosom-friend of Milton, and the advocate of education, was honored and pensioned; and so was Usher, the learned and amiable archbishop, notwithstanding his prelacy; and John Biddle, called the father of English Unitarians, received an allowance of a hundred crowns a year. Even the fantastic, plotting Catholic, Sir Kenelm Digby, was among the protector's guests, and received support or assistance, on account, chiefly, of his literary merits. The general course of the protector's government was mild and just. One who was his physician, but not his panegyrist, says "Justice (that we may not scourge him beyond his desert) was renewed almost to her former grace and splendor, as well distributive as commutative; the judges executing their office with equity and justice, far from covetousness; and the laws suffered, without delay or let, to have their full force upon all (a few excepted, where he himself was immediately concerned). The lives of men, outwardly at least, became reformed, either by withdrawing the incentives to luxury, or by means of the ancient laws now of new put into execution. There was also a strict discipline kept in his court; one could find none here that was either drunkard or whoremaster, none that was guilty of extortion or oppression, but he was severely rebuked. trade began to flourish; and (to say all in a word) all England over there were halcyon days."2 Now About six weeks after Cromwell's inauguration he was afflicted by receiving the news of the death of the brave Blake, who, with wonderful success, had asserted in all seas the supremacy of the British flag-who had done the most eminent service to parliament, to commonwealth, to the protectorwho had been the "first man that declined the old track, and made it manifest that the science might be attained in less time than was imagined, and despised those rules which had long been in practice to keep his ship and men out of danger, which had been held, in former times, a point of great ability and circumspection, as if the principal art requisite in the captain of a ship had been to be sure to come safe home again-the first man who brought the ships to contemn castles on shore, which had been thought ever very formidable-the first that infused that proportion of courage into the seamen, by making them see what mighty things they could do if they were resolved, and taught them to fight in fire as well as upon water."1 "The last part he ever acted in a sea of blood," says a quaint but spirited and correct narrator, "was against the Spaniards at Santa Cruz: here, with twenty-five sail, he fought (as it were in a ring) with seven forts, a castle, and sixteen ships, many of them, being of greater force than most of those ships Blake carried in against them: yet, in spite of opposition, he soon calcined the enemy and brought his fleet back again to the coast of Spain full fraught with honor." But his constitution was now worn out by long services and by the sea-scurvy; and he "who would never strike to any other enemy, struck his topmast to Death," as he was entering Plymouth Sound. The protector, drawing more closely to France, according to a private agreement, had prepared troops to join the French army under Turenne; and six thousand foot, some of them veterans, but most new recruits, were sent over to Boulogne under the command of Sir John Reynolds and Colonel Morgan. These red-coats marched with Turenne into Spanish Flanders, and took Mardick, a very strong fort about two miles from Dunkirk. In the course of the following winter, while the English were in quarters, the Duke of York, the late king's second son, took the field suddenly with a strong body of Spaniards, and endeavored to drive the English out of Mardick; but he was repulsed with great loss. Abandoned and cast out by the French, and hoping little from the Spaniards, Charles II., who was quite capable of meaner things, offered to espouse one of Cromwell's daughters; but the lord protector told Orrery, who recommended the match, that Charles was so damnably debauched, he would undo them all.3 A.D. 1658. On the 28th of January the parliament met according to their adjournment, and received into the House their fellow-members who had been prevented from taking their seats in the preceding session; this being done upon the fourth article of "The Petition and Advice," by which it was provided that no member legally chosen should be excluded from performance of his duty, but by consent of parliament. In the interval of the parliament's sitting, the protector had provided his peers who were to make up the other House, and these quasilords had been summoned by the same form of writs which had formerly been used for calling the peers to parliament. They were in all sixty, and among them were several noblemen, knights, and gentle 1 Clarendon. 2 Perfect Politician.-The writer of this rich little volume adds, "He was a man wholly devoted to his country's service, resolute in his undertakings, and most faithful in the performance: with him, valor seldom missed its reward, nor cowardice its punishment. When news was brought him of a metamorphosis in the state at home he would then encourage the seamen to be most vigilant abroad. For (said he) 'tis not our duty to mind state affairs, but to keep foreigners from fooling us. In all his expeditions the wind seldom deceived him, but most an end stood his friend; especially in his last undertaking at the Canary Islands. To his last he lived a single life, never being espoused to any but his country's quarrels. As he lived bravely, he died gloriously, and was buried in Henry VII's Chapel; yet enjoying at this time no other monument but what is reared by his valor, which time itself can hardly deface." Whitelock tells us that Blake's funeral was performed with great solemnity, and that, at the time of it, new plots were discovered against the protector. 3 Burnet.-Orrery's Letters. Commons, being sent for by the black rod, came to the Lords' House, where the protector made a solemn speech to them, "but was short by reason of his indisposition of health."1 Indeed, at the opening of this stormy session, wherein he was to enemies, and by his old friends, the Independents, who had become his worst enemies, his iron constitution was giving way under the effect of labor, anxiety, and grief: his daughter, the Lady Claypole, the darling of his heart, was visibly declining, and in no human heart were the domestic affections ever stronger than in that of this wonderful man. In his short speech, however, he told the republicans or the levelers some unpalatable truths, and betrayed no fear, no misgiving as to his own powers of preserving peace in the land. When he had done, the Lord Commissioner Fiennes harangued "my lords and gentlemen of both the most honorable Houses of Parliament," quoting Scripture most copiously, yet not more copiously than was sanctioned by the then general custom. He told them to reflect upon the posture that the three nations were then in-a posture of peace-a quiet posture, a posture looking toward a settlement, a perfect settlement, with the blessed fruits thereof, justice and piety, plenty and prosperity: he alluded to the republicans, the party most feared, as to others "who would build upon contrary foundations, or upon no foundation at all. I need not," continued Fiennes, "say much of them either; for those who conceit Utopias of I know not what kind of imaginary commonwealths, or day-dreams of the return of I know not what golden age, their notions are rather bottomed in conceit than in reason, and must rather be worn out by experience than argued down by reason; for, when they come to be put in practice, they presently discover their weakness and inconsistency, and that they are altogether unpracticable and infeasible, or of very short durance and continuance; as hath appeared so often as they have been assayed or attempted." From hearing his long discourse, the Commons returned to their men of ancient family and good estates, the rest being for the most part colonels and officers of the army. Foremost on the list appear the names of the Lord Richard Cromwell, the protector's eldest son, the Lord Henry Cromwell, his other son, lord deputy of Ireland, Nathaniel Fiennes, Lisle, Fleet-be assaulted on all sides by his old Presbyterian wood, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Mulgrave, the Earl of Manchester, Lord Eure, Viscount Saye, Viscount Lisle, Lord John Claypole, Charles Viscount Howard, Lord Wharton, Lord Falconbridge, General Monk, commander-in-chief of his highness' forces in Scotland, and Lord Edward Montague; and Whitelock, Hazelrig, Whalley, Barkstead, Pride, Goff, Sir Christopher Pack, the ex-lord mayor of London, St. John, and other old friends of the protector, were among the remainder.' If Cromwell had been ever so much disposed to call upon the old peers, and if that aristocracy had been ever so well inclined to obey the summons, such a measure was rendered impracticable by the last constitutional instrument, “The Petition and Advice," expressly stipulating that the members of "the Other House" should be subject to the same excluding clauses as the members of the House of Commons; and with this additional bar, that all the members of that other House, though nominated by his highness, must be approved by the Commons, who, in truth, having with difficulty consented to the formation of a second chamber or house, were determined that it should be second and inferior in all senses. But nearly every possible circumstance set strongly against the revival of the ancient Upper House; the vast majority of the peers had been devoted to the late king, and even the feeble minority of their number that remained at London with the parliament had refused taking any part in the king's trial; with the exception of a few united to him by old ties of friendship, or by their marrying into his family, there was not a single old peer that would trust Cromwell, or that he could trust; the whole of that body feared to commit their hereditary right by sitting in an assembly where the tenure was only during life (the commonwealth-men utterly abhorred the notion of an hereditary peerage), and in the pride and insol-own House with irritated and hostile feelings; and ence of an aristocracy not yet accustomed to this kind of recent creations, they disdained to sit in a House with men who had made their fortune with their sword or by their genius in war or law. Even the Earl of Warwick, who had gone along with the commonwealth-men in most things, and whose grandson and presumed heir had married one of the protector's daughters, declared that he could not sit in the same assembly with Colonel Hewson, who had been a shoemaker, and Colonel Pride, who had been a drayman. And Manchester, Saye, and the other members of the old House of Lords, who have been named, contemptuously kept aloof, not one of them, it should appear, taking his seat except Lord Eure. The rest of the members of the other House took their seats as the old lords used to do formerly, and the protector went thither to open the session according to the ancient and royal form. And the speaker, with the House of 1 Thurloe, State Papers.-Whitelock. there it was soon seen that the protector, by removing so many of his friends to "the Other House," had left himself in a deplorable minority in this; and also that those members who had taken their seats by virtue of, and in acknowledgment of, "The Petition and Advice," were determined to destroy that last instrument of government, and to aim their first blows at the new House, which was an integral and essential part of that constitution. The attack was led by Hazelrig, who, though nominated to "the Other House," persisted in retaining his place in the Commons, by Scot, a most resolute republican, and by others who detested any approach to the old aristocratic House of Lords. On the fourth day of the session a message "from the Lords," delivered by two of the judges, who all attended as formerly in the Upper House, desired the concurrence of the Commons in an address to the protector for a day of humiliation and fast. The Commons 1 Whitelock. |