out of France; but, on the contrary, why should he not be allowed to remain there? He strongly desired to remain, and the Queenmother desired it still more; he would thus be kept separate from his brother and from Spain: perhaps, in imitation of his example, and by means of his influence, the Irish regiments would remain in the service of Louis XIV. Mazarin sounded Cromwell on this subject, and he gladly fell in with the idea: it suited them both thoroughly, both in substance and in appearance. Mazarin, by treating with kindness one of those proscribed princes whom he had recently been constrained to abandon, gave pleasure to both his King and Queen, did a secret service to Cromwell, and kept in his hand an instrument which might one day be useful. Cromwell proved his generosity by consenting to the plan, and at the same time divided the forces of his enemies. But in order to obtain success in this scheme, it was necessary to create some dispute between the two brothers, which would prevent them from combining and acting together an intrigue managed by the skilful hands of Mazarin, temporarily produced this result. In consequence of certain pretensions and domestic dispute which arose between the servants of the two Princes, the Duke of York, who, in obedience to the orders of Charles II., had gone to join him at Bruges, escaped one day from Flanders, and passed into Holland, in order to return into France through Germany. It was believed that the two brothers had quarrelled irreconcilably; and on the 26th of December, 1656, Cromwell wrote to Mazarin : I must return your Eminency thanks for your judicious management of our weightiest affair; an affair wherein your Eminency is concerned, though not in equal degree and measure with myself. I must confess that I did fear that the Duke had condescended to his brother. But if I am not mistaken in his character, as I received it from your Eminency, that fire which is kindled between them will not ask bellows to blow it and keep it burning. The obligations and many

instances of affection which I have received from your Eminency, do engage me to make returns suitable and commensurate to your merits; but although I have this set home upon my spirit, yet! may not (shall I tell you I cannot ?), at this juncture of time, and as the face of my affairs now stands, answer to your call for tolera tion. I believe, however, that under my government, your Eminency, in behalf of the Catholics, has less reason for complaint to rigour upon men's consciences, than under the Parliament. Truly, I have plucked many out of the fire-the raging fire of per secution, which did tyrannise over their consciences, and encroached by an arbitrariness of power upon their estates. And herein it is

as

thi my purpose, as soon as I can remove impediments, and some weights that press me down, to make a farther progress, and discharge my promise to your Excellency; but I cannot now give a public declaration of my sense in that point."

Mazarin would have been glad if, in return for his good offices, Cromwell had not compelled him to receive his ambassador Lockhart in Paris. He was at every moment beside him, a troublesome witness of his tergiversations, his double manoeuvres, and his coquettings with the enemies of the Protector. As he was less powerful at Court than in the Council, he was afraid that in that gay scene there might be scandal spoken, insults offered, thoughtless or premeditated impertinences committed, perhaps even attacks made, of which the ambassador of the regicide usurper would be the subject and victim. Bordeaux, on his return to London, in April, 1656, had orders to use all his efforts to prevent Lockhart's departure; but it was in vain; and when, after insinuations which no one would understand, he ventured to speak to Thurloe of the inconveniences which might attend such an embassy, "the secretary," he says, "after giving me very patient attention, told me that its sole object was a desire to confirm to his Majesty the sentiments which the Protector had expressed to me here; that propriety would not permit them to alter a resolution which had once been adopted; and that, as joy had been felt on my return here, so Colonel Lockhart would doubtless find a similar feeling in Paris." Mazariu resigned himself to his fate, but not, as he usually did, with courtesy and compliments. Lockhart, who arrived in Paris at the beginning of May, met at first with a cool, and sometimes even disagreeable reception; but he was as adroit as he was highspirited, and he spoke in the name of a powerful master of whom the Cardinal had need. He quickly surmounted the difficulties of his position, and became the object of Mazarin's caresses, who was too able a statesman not to feel how important it was to secure the good will of a man of such capacity, and so much influence with the Protector. It is part of the consummate art of great politicians to treat matters simply and frankly when they know they are in presence of rivals who will allow themselves to be neither intimidated nor deceived. Mazarin possessed this art, and Cromwell almost always reduced him to this necessity. There was, between these two men, a constant interchange of concessions and resistances,

Thurloe's State Papers, vol. v. pp. 735, 736; Memoirs of James II., vol. i. p. 373; Clarendon's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 318; Bordeaux to Mazarin, April 10, 1656; Mazarin to Bordeaux, April 26, 1656; in the Archives des Affaires Etrangères de France.

services and refusals, in which they ran little risk of quarrelling, for they mutually understood each other, and did not require from one another anything which could not be granted, without doing them greater injury than the grant would have done them service. The Protector would have been glad for the Cardinal to have furnished him with money for the vigorous execution of his enterprises against Spain in America; but Mazarin, who could see no advantage France or himself in such a course, formally declined all proposals of this nature; and Cromwell was not offended. Mazarin, who, in reality, was desirous to arrive at peace with Spain as well as with England, and who was already preparing the way for the Treaty of the Pyrenees, sent M. de Lionne to Madrid, in June, 1656, to open negotiations; and Cromwell, who had just been treating with France as to the basis of their common war against Spain, was somewhat suspicious of this proceeding; but Mazarin clearly explained to Lockhart the motives which had led to this mission, and the cir cumstances which rendered it almost impossible for peace to ensue from it. Lockhart saw his meaning, and communicated it to Cromwell; M. de Lionne returned from his embassy without having accomplished any result; and far from having been shaken by this tem porary distrust, the union between the Cardinal and the Protector was strengthened and confirmed. They both judged wisely of their mutual necessities and powers, and maintained, with somewhat sus picious independence, the policy which they had adopted in common.

Cromwell, by that policy, had achieved greatness in Europe, and his greatness was not contested on the Continent as it was in England, for it rested, abroad, on skilful and successful power, unstained by crime or tyranny. If he had not always scrupulously respected the law of nations, he had at least done nothing to reveal a limitless and unbridled ambition; though raised to power by a revolution, he had not sought to revolutionise even those States with which he was on hostile terms; he had been by turns peaceful and warlike, and more frequently peaceful than warlike; with the exception of the defeat at St. Domingo, and that had led to a useful conquest, he had succeeded in all his undertakings. He was bound by sincere friendship to all the Protestant States, in active alliance with the most powerful of Catholic sovereignseverywhere present, influential, respected, and feared. External

1 Bordeaux to Brienne, May 1-29, 1656; the same to the same, April 10, 1656; Bordeaux to Mazarin, April 10, 1656; Mazarin to Bordeaux, April 26, 1656, in the Archives des Affaires Etrangères de France; Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iv. pp. 739, 759, 771, vol. v. pp. 8, 32, 36, 131, 210, 217, 317, 318, 319, 368; Dumont's Histoire des Traités de Paix, vol. i. p. 606.

2

1

testimonies of the respect which his name and powers inspired, reached him from all parts; independently of the foreign ministers who habitually resided at his Court, ambassadors extraordinary were sent from Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Italy, solemnly to present him with the homage or overtures of their masters. Medals, sometimes of quaintly coarse design, were struck in Holland, to celebrate his glory, and humble kings before him. An equestrian portrait of him was displayed in the streets of Paris, accompanied by some disrespectful verses regarding the princes of the Continent. The Grand Duke of Tuscany sent to request his portrait for the picturegallery of his palace at Florence; and the Venetian ambassador, Giovanni Sagredo, who had come to London from Paris, thus wrote on the 6th of October, 1656, in the peculiar style of his age and country: "I am now in England: the aspect of this country is very different from that of France; here we do not see ladies going to court, but gentlemen courting the chase; not elegant cavaliers, but cavalry and infantry; instead of music and ballets, they have trumpets and drums; they do not speak of love, but of Mars; they have no comedies, but tragedies; no patches on their faces, but muskets on their shoulders; they do not neglect sleep for the sake of amusement, but severe ministers keep their adversaries in incessant wakefulness. In a word, everything here is full of disdain, suspicion, and rough menacing faces. King Charles was too good for such bad times. Cromwell has expelled the Parliament; he speaks, and he alone; he has the authority of a king, though he has not the name. His title is that of Protector, but he is destroying the nobility. Such a number of troops secure his power, but they ruin and overburden the country. All pay is for the soldiers. The machine is strong, but I do not think it durable; it works too violently."

3

Cromwell himself, in the midst of his power and glory, felt that his position was not secure, and longed to change it; for more than eighteen months he had governed alone and arbitrarily; his strong good sense warned him that absolute power soon wears itself out; and that, even though blessed with good fortune, no man can long govern in isolation and without supporters. The war with Spain had already involved him, and threatened to involve him still more deeply, in expenses which he would be unable to meet without fresh taxes. He perceived the necessity of his position; and he believed that, after so many successes, the day had come for establishing a legal and durable order of things: he convoked another Parliament.

1 Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 502, 540.

2 Dixon's Life of Blake, p. 294.

3 Lettere Inedite di Messer Giovanni Sagredo, p. 29 (Venice, 1839).

BOOK VIII.

PROGNOSTICS OF A NEW PARLIAMENT-VANE'S PAMPHLET- -THE ELECTIONSCROMWELL'S SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE SESSION-EXCLUSION OF NEARLY A HUNDRED MEMBERS-SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH FLEET OFF CADIZ- THOROUGH ADHERENCE OF THE PARLIAMENT TO CROMWELLPROPOSITIONS AND INTRIGUES TO MAKE CROMWELL KING-THE HUMBLE PETITION AND ADVICE-FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT - NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE PROTECTORATE-CLOSE OF THE SESSION-MANOEUVRES OF CROMWELL-DEATH OF BLAKE -SECOND SESSION OF THE PARLIAMENT IN TWO HOUSES QUARREL BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES CROMWELL DIS SOLVES THE PARLIAMENT AGITATION OF PARTIES--ROYALIST AND REPUB. 1ICAN PLOTS-CROMWELL'S ACTIVE ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE-HIS SUCCESSES ON THE CONTINENT-CAPTURE OF MARDYKE AND DUNKIRK-EMBASSY OF LORD FAUL.CONBRIDGE TO PARIS, AND OF THE DUKE DE CREQUI TO LONDON -CROMWELL CONTEMPLATES THE CONVOCATION OF A NEW PARLIAMENT DECLINE OF HIS HEALTH-HIS FAMILY-HIS MOTHER, WIFE, AND CHILDEN DEATH OF HIS DAUGHTER, LADY CLAYPOLE-ILLNESS OF CROMWELL-STATE OF HIS MIND-HIS DEATH-CONCLUSION.

SOME months before adopting this resolution, either from premedi tation or instinct, Cromwell had done an act which revealed his intention to call upon the country to support his power. On the 14th of March, 1656, he published a proclamation ordaining general fast and public prayers throughout England, for the purpose of invoking a blessing from on high on his government, and beseech ing "the Lord to discover the Achan, who had so long obstructed the settlement of these distracted kingdoms." Such ceremonies were then so frequent that they often passed unnoticed, as simple manifestations of ordinary and official piety. But the most eminent of the republican leaders, Sir Harry Vane, did not mistake the meaning of the present solemnity. Ever since the establishment

1 Forster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth, vol. iii. p. 104; Godwin's History of the Commonwealth, vol. iv. p. 200.