and four daughters. 1. Richard his successor, married to the eldest daughter of Richard Major, Esq; 2. Henry, who married a daugh a and went up and down from man to man to get hands thereunto. The petition was not read, but layed by, and some moved, that the house would take it into their consideration, as a breach of priviledge; but that was neither thought fit to be hearkned unto. It is hard to guesse what will be done next." However, it was on the 22d of May resolved by the parliament that, instead of the paragraph relating to the title of king in the Humble Petition and Advice, the following clause should be inserted; viz. “That your highness would be pleased, by and under the name and style of lord protector of the commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, to hold and exercise the office of chief magistrate of these nations; and to govern according to this petition and advice, in all things therein contained; and in all other things according to the laws of these nations and not otherwise."- -On the 25th, the humble petition and advice being presented by the parliament, was solemnly sworn to by his highness, who with great pomp was then anew inaugurated.--Thus Cromwell was baulked in his hopes of the diadem by his near relations and intimate friends! Men of principle we may suppose, who chose rather to disoblige him, and forfeit their employments than to build again what they had destroyed. Rare examples of integrity.--Had the crown been placed on the head of the protector, in pursuance of the advice of the parliament, it is not improbable it might have strengthened his own government, and enabled him to transmit to posterity many very valuable privileges. But for want of this, his house of peers was of no weight; his army was ter of Sir Francis Russel of Chippenham in Cambridgeshire. His daughters were, 1. Bridget, married to commissary general Ireton, and necessary, but troublesome; and he was perpetually exposed to the clamours or conspiracies of several factions. Certain it is, it was eligible in his own eye, and in the eye of Thurloe, and therefore it may well be supposed they saw many advantages in it.It appears at first sight that it would have restored the constitution, as founded on an original contract. As mention has been made more than once of Cromwell's house of lords, it is proper the reader should have some information concerning them. The second article of the petition and advice recommended the calling of parliaments consisting of two houses. This suited well with the title of king, which was at first intended for the protector; and probably, if that had been assumed, many of the antient nobility and gentry would have been pleased to have had seats in the upper house. But though the crown was refused, the project of a house of lords was continued. The number was not to exceed seventy, nor to be less than forty. Their nomination was placed in the protector, with the approbation of the house of commons. Cromwell was under some difficulty about the choice. Some were fit, but not willing to serve, others willing and desirous, but very unfit. At length, on the 10th of December, 1657, another house was nominated, and writs issued out for summoning the members of it; who on the 20th of January following, sat in that which was formerly the house of lords. The number of the members of this house were sixty-two, among whom were the earls of Manchester, Mulgrave, and Warwick; the lords Say and Sele, Fauconberg, Wharton, Eure, and Howard, afterwards earl of Carlisle; the viscount Lisle, eldest son of the earl of Leicester, the lord Broghill, and the earl of Cassils; besides many gentlemen of the best families, such as Montague, Russel, Hobart, Onslow, St. John, Pierpoint, Crew, Popham, Hampden and afterwards to lieutenant-general Fleetwood. 2. Elizabeth, wife to John Cleypole, Esq. 3. Mary, married to lord Fauconberg. 4. Frances, wife to Mr. Rich, grandson of the earl of War To others. Intermixed with these were men who had risen by their own valour and interest from very small beginnings and mean employments; of which sort were Jones, Pride, Hewson, Barkstead, Whalley, Goff, Berry and Cooper, these were added the protector's two sons, his sons-in-law Cleypole and Fleetwood, the commissioners of the great seal, and of the treasury, with others of near relation to the court. All the old nobility, lord Eure excepted, refused to sit in this new assembly, on account, I suppose, of the mean original of some of the company, or of the authority by which they were convened. However, they did nothing of any importance. The secluded members being admitted into the house of commons, as before observed, turned all things against the court; refused any intercourse with the new house of lords, and behaved so ill in the eye of the protector, that, in great heat, he dissolved them. This was the last parliament that sat during Cromwell's life, "he being compelled to wrestle with the difficulties of his place, says Mr. Maidstone, so well as he could, without parliamentary assistance, and in it met with so great a burden, as (I doubt not to say it, drank up his spirits, of which his natural constitution yielded a vast stocke,) and brought him to his grave." This seems to confirm what Burnet says, "that it was generally believed that his life and all his arts were exhausted at once, and that if he had lived much longer, he could not have held things together" Mr. Cowley observes, "that he seemed evidently to be near the end of his deceitful glories, and his own army grew at last a Walkly's New Catalogue of Lords, &c. and Second Narrative of the late Parliament, &c. printed in the 5th year of England's slavery under its new monarchy. 4to. 1658. Thurloe, vol. I. Vol. I. p. 68. wick, and afterwards to Sir John Russel, of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire. In his death he displayed his wonted TM firmness and enthusiasm. His body was buried as weary of him as the rest of the people." In another place he tells us, "it was believed Cromwell died with grief and discontent, because he could not attain to the honest name of a king, and the old formality of a crown, though he had before exceeded the power by a wicked usurpation." -That care, anxiety, disappointment and vexation prey on the spirits, and waste the constitution, is known to all; that these were the lot of Cromwell, as they are of most of those who are placed on the pinnacle of glory, and attentive to their duty and their fame, may very easily be conceived by such as have read the foregoing notes; that the government of Cromwell was greatly embarrassed by the madness of parties, the estrangement of friends, and the want of money to pay the armies which it was necessary to keep on foot: I say that this was so, is too evident to be denied.But had the life of the protector been prolonged, it is not impossible he might have got the better of his difficulties, and maintained his post in spite of all opposition. For we are to remember it was Cromwell who had dared to seize the government; to raise money by his own authority; to create and dissolve parliaments; to combat with kings, and to scatter terror through the nations.-By what means he would have done this, whether by securing Fleetwood and Desbrowe, to whom he owed his disappointment, in assuming the crown, and calling another parliament, must be left to the conjecture of the reader. The latter he certainly had thoughts of before his sickness b. 74 In his death he displayed his wonted firmness and enthusiasm.] "When the symptoms of death," says Mr. Discourse on the government of Oliver Cromwell, p. 96. Vol. VII. p. 99. Thurloe, with more than regal magnificence in Westminster-Abbey, from whence, after the Restoration, it was removed and treated with all pos Ludlow, "were apparent upon him, and many ministers and others assembled in a chamber at Whitehall, praying for him, whilst he manifested so little remorse of conscience for his betraying the publick cause, and sacrificing it to the idol of his own ambition, that some of his last words were rather becoming a mediator than a sinner, recommending to God the condition of the nation that he had so infamously cheated, and expressing a great care of the people whom he had so manifestly despised. But he seemed, above all, concerned for the reproaches he said men would cast upon his name, in trampling on his ashes when dead. In this temper of mind he departed this life"."-I fancy Mr. Ludlow had in his eye the following expressions which Cromwell is said to have made use of in his sickness, in a prayer addressed to the Supreme Being. "Lord, although I am a miserable and wretched creature, I am in covenant with thee, through grace, and I may, I will come to thee for thy people, thou hast made me (though very unworthy) a mean instrument to do them some good, and thee service: and many of them. have set too high a value upon mee, though others wish, and would be glad of my death; but Lord, however thou dost dispose of mee, continue and go on to do good for them. Give them consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual love, and go on to deliver them, and with the work of reformation, and make the name of Christ glorious in the world. Teach those, who look too much upon thy instruments, to depend more upon thyself; pardon such as desire to trample upon the dust of a poor worm, for they are thy people too ".". -This was all in character.- -Two expressions, when death was in his or three more of his a The expences of his funeral are said to have amounted to 60,0001. Ludlow, vol. II. p. 612. Jate Highnesse, in the time of his chamber. 4to. Lond. p. 12. 1659. Collection of several passages concerning his sickness, by one that was groom of his bed |
