Suspicious of Assassins.

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" contains the names of those who aspire to the honor of delivering their country; His Highness is not secure at his table or in his bed; death is at his heels wherever he moves." He was compelled to use every guard for the safety of his life; he wore a steel shirt under his dress, and carried his loaded pistols and his dagger incessantly. At his residence of Whitehall, several different chambers were appropri ated for his own use, each of which had a secret door, and whenever he rode out, he took with him a large body of devoted attendants, and ordering his postillions to urge the horses to the top of their speed, always diverged from the usual routes, and never returned by the same road he set out. Cromwell became naturally suspicious of all but his own family and of a few of his most devoted friends, of whom his secretary, Thurlow, was the most trusted. He was in daily, almost hourly, association with this latter indefatigable servant. There was a secret passage from the garden to Thurlow's office in Lincoln's Inn, made expressly for Cromwell, which he was in the constant habit of using. On one occasion, late at night, the Protector sought his faithful secretary and intelligent counsellor, through this concealed way, and found him in his office, where, beginning to confer with Thurlow on some business of the highest moment, Cromwell's attention was attracted by the presence of Moreland, one of the clerks, who, with his head reclined upon his desk, seemed to be fast

asleep. But the Protector, suspicious that the man's sleep was only a pretense, and that he had overheard him, drew his dagger and approached, ready to dispatch the clerk, when Thurlow held back Cromwell's hand, and urged him to desist, as he could assure him Moreland was fast asleep, since he had sat up for two nights together.

Cromwell's proud heart could turn from this humiliating contest at home with the spy and the assassin, to the contemplation of his power and glory abroad, where mighty sovereigns and great nations readily yielded to the supremacy of his genius. The magnificent Louis XIV. eagerly caught at an offer of alliance with the Protector, and came down from the splendor of Versailles, with his Queen and his proud court, to the very shore at Calais, and extended his arms to receive within their royal embrace, Cromwell's ambassador and son-in-law, Falconbridge. The French King had spread a royal tent upon the quay, that he might extend his welcome to the furthest limit of his dominion, and leave nothing but the natural barrier of the narrowest strait, to separate his Majesty from the might of Oliver Cromwell. Falconbridge was honored with unusual attentions from that most magnificent of monarchs, Louis XIV. The king, uncovering in the presence of the English ambassador, conversed with him on the most familiar terms. The haughty Cardinal Mazarin so far unbent from his grandeur as to attend Falconbridge to his

Alliance with France.

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carriage an honor the proud priest had not even deigned to confer upon royalty itself. Louis XIV., on parting, bestowed upon the English ambassador his portrait in a costly frame, for himself, and a splendid sword for the Protector; while Mazarin sent some of the richest tapestry of the famous fabric of France as a gift to Cromwell.

The purpose of the alliance between England and France was an attack upon the Spanish power in the Netherlands, and that purpose was effectively served. Cromwell had sent some five thousand of his choicest troops, who, being newly armed, and showing by their martial bearing the discipline which they had acquired as veterans in the civil war, won the admiration of the King and all his experienced officers. Great hope was entertained of them, and it was greatly fulfilled. They fought to the death and conquered. All the officers of the regiment, led by Lockhart, who was Cromwell's nephew-in-law, and his ambassador to France, were killed, with the exception of two. Marshal Turenne, who led the French, was incessant in his praise of the spirited conduct of the English. Dunkirk was won for England by this campaign, and the keys of the citadel given up to the English ambassador, in spite of the opposition of the French court and army, who coveted this important possession, and were jealous of the power this place gave to the English on the ContiCardinal Mazarin, who was the chief minister

nent.

of Louis XIV., was held responsible for this act, and his submission to England gave rise to the witty remark at Versailles: "The Cardinal is more afraid of Oliver than of the devil.”

Cromwell had often said that he would make the name of an Englishman as great as ever that of a Roman had been; and in this, as in all, his great acts responded to his great words.

CHAPTER XII.

ROMWELL was in the fullness of his power,

CRO

strong in authority, secure in the establishment of order at home, and triumphant in victory over his enemies abroad. His well-disciplined veteran army, who had been tried in all the experiences of warfare but defeat, were firm in fidelity, in spite of factious attempts to loosen it, and when their old commander, who had always led them to victory, appealed to their allegiance, against the treason of his enemies, there was not a soldier in the ranks who did not join in the loyal acclamation: "We will live and die for you."

The great enemy of Protestant England, Catholic. Spain, had been humbled by Cromwell, and was compelled to strike her flag at sea and on land, at the approach of his dreaded Englishmen. The fertile island of Jamaica, the stronghold of Dunkirk, and the opulent tribute of gold and silver from the Spanish possessions of the east and west, had been wrested from the might of Spain, and now added to the strength, enriched the treasury, and magnified the