The History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of King George the Fifth Part 44

Cromwell discharged him in 1658; but he was again sent to Newgate in 1662, where he died the same year.--See Vita Bidelli, the short account; Journals, Dec. 12, 13, 1654; Wood, iii. 594; and Biog. Brit.]

to break the designs of his adversaries. They proceeded with the revision of "the instrument;" their labours were embodied in a bill,[a] and the bill was read a third time. During two days the courtiers prolonged the debate by moving a variety of amendments; on the third Cromwell summoned[b] the house to meet him in the Painted Chamber. Displeasure and contempt were marked on his countenance; and the high and criminatory tone which he a.s.sumed taught them to feel how inferior the representatives of the people were to the representative of the army.

They appeared there, he observed, with the speaker at their head, as a house of parliament. Yet, what had they done as a parliament? He never had played, he never would play, the orator; and therefore he would tell them frankly, they had done nothing. For five months they had pa.s.sed no bill, had made no address, had held no communication with him. As far as concerned them, he had nothing to do but to pray that G.o.d would enlighten their minds and give a blessing to their labours. But had they then done nothing? Yes: they had encouraged the Cavaliers to plot against the commonwealth, and the Levellers to intrigue with the Cavaliers. By their dissension they had aided the fanatics to throw the nation into confusion, and by the slowness of their proceedings had compelled the soldiers to live at free quarters on the country. They supposed that he sought to make the protectors.h.i.+p hereditary in his family. It was not true; had they inserted such a provision in "the instrument," on that ground alone he would have rejected it. He spoke in the fear of the Lord, who would not be mocked, and with the satisfaction that his conscience did not belie his a.s.sertion. The

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. Jan. 19.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1655. Jan. 22.]

different revolutions which had happened were attributed to his cunning.

How blind were men who would not see the hand of Providence in its merciful dispensations, who ridiculed as the visions of enthusiasm the observations "made by the quickening and teaching Spirit!" It was supposed that he would not be able to raise money without the aid of parliament. But "he had been inured to difficulties, and never found G.o.d failing when he trusted in him." The country would willingly pay on account of the necessity. But was not the necessity of his creation? No: it was of G.o.d; the consequence of G.o.d's providence. It was no marvel, if men who lived on their ma.s.ses and service-books, their dead and carnal wors.h.i.+p, were strangers to the works of G.o.d; but for those who had been instructed by the Spirit of G.o.d, to adopt the same language, and say that men were the cause of these things, when G.o.d had done them, this was more than the Lord would bear. But that he might trouble them no longer, it was his duty to tell them that their continuance was not for the benefit of the nation, and therefore he did then and there declare that he dissolved the parliament.[1]

This was a stroke for which his adversaries were unprepared. "The instrument" had provided that the parliament should continue to sit during five months, and it still wanted twelve days of the expiration of that term. But Cromwell chose to understand the clause not of calendar but of lunar months, the fifth of which had been completed on the preceding evening. Much might have been urged against such an interpretation; but a military force was ready to

[Footnote 1: Printed by Henry Hills, printer to his highness the lord-protector, 1654. Whitelock, 610-618. Journals, Jan. 19, 20, 22.]

support the opinion of the protector, and prudence taught the most reluctant of his enemies to submit.

The conspiracies to which he had alluded in his speech had been generated by the impatience of the two opposite parties, the republicans and the royalists. Of the republicans some cared little for religion, others were religious enthusiasts, but both were united in the same cause by one common interest. The first could not forgive the usurpation of Cromwell, who had reaped the fruit, and destroyed the object of their labours; the second asked each other how they could conscientiously sit quiet, and allow so much blood to have been spilt, and treasure expended, so many tears to have been shed, and vows offered in vain. If they "hoped to look with confidence the King of terrors in the face, if they sought to save themselves from the bottomless pit, it was necessary to espouse once more the cause of Him who had called them forth in their generation to a.s.sert the freedom of the people and the privileges of parliament."[1] Under these different impressions, pamphlets were published exposing the hypocrisy and perjuries of the protector; letters and agitators pa.s.sed from regiment to regiment; and projects were suggested and entertained for the surprisal of Cromwell's person, and the seizure[a] of the castle of Edinburgh, of Hull, Portsmouth, and other places of strength. But it was not easy for the republicans to deceive the vigilance, or elude the grasp of their adversary. He dismissed all officers of doubtful fidelity from their commands in the army, and secured the obedience of the men by the subst.i.tution of others more devoted to his interest; by his order, Colonel Wildman was surprised in the very act of dictating

[Footnote 1: See Thurloe, iii. 29; and Milton's State Papers, 132.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. Feb. 10.]

to his secretary a declaration against the government, of the most offensive and inflammatory tendency; and Lord Grey of Groby, Colonels Alured, Overton, and others, were arrested, of whom some remained long in confinement, others were permitted to go at large, on giving security for their peaceable behaviour.[1]

The other conspiracy, though more extensive in its ramifications, proved equally harmless in the result. Among the royalists, though many had resigned themselves to despair, there were still many whose enthusiasm discovered in each succeeding event a new motive for hope and exultation.

They listened to every tale which flattered their wishes, and persuaded themselves, that on the first attempt against the usurper they would be joined by all who condemned his hypocrisy and ambition. It was in vain that Charles, from Cologne, where he had fixed his court, recommended caution; that he conjured his adherents not to stake his and their hopes on projects, by which, without being serviceable to him, they would compromise their own safety. They despised his warnings; they accused him of indolence and apathy; they formed a.s.sociations, collected arms, and fixed the 14th of February for simultaneous risings in most counties of England.[2] The day was postponed to March 7; but Charles, at their request, proceeded in disguise to Middleburgh in Zeeland, that he might be in readiness to cross over to England; and Lord Wilmot, lately created earl of Rochester, with Sir Joseph Wagstaff, arrived to take the command of the insurgents,

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. pa.s.sim. Whitelock, 608-620. Bates, 290, 291.]

[Footnote 2: Clarendon (Hist. iii. 552) is made to a.s.sign the 18th of April for the day of rising; but all the doc.u.ments, as well as his own narrative, prove this to be an error.]

the first in the northern, the second in the western counties. It was the intention of Wagstaff to surprise Winchester during the a.s.sizes; but the unexpected arrival[a] of a troop of cavalry deterred him from the attempt.

He waited patiently till the judges proceeded to Salisbury; and, learning that their guard had not accompanied them, entered that city with two hundred men at five o'clock in the morning of Monday.[b] The main body with their leader took possession of the market-place; while small detachments brought away the horses from the several inns, liberated the prisoners in the gaol, and surprised the sheriff and the two judges in their beds. At first Wagstaff gave orders that these three should be immediately hanged; for they were traitors acting under the authority of the usurper; then, pretending to relent, he discharged the judges on their parole, but detained the sheriff a prisoners because he had refused to proclaim Charles Stuart. At two in the afternoon he left Salisbury, but not before he had learned to doubt of the result. Scarcely a man had joined him of the crowd of gentlemen and yeomen whom the a.s.sizes had collected in the town; and the Hamps.h.i.+re royalists, about two hundred and fifty horse, had not arrived according to their promise. From Salisbury the insurgents marched through Dorsets.h.i.+re into the county of Devon. Their hopes grew fainter every hour; the further they proceeded, their number diminished; and, on the evening of the third day,[c] they reached Southmolton in a state of exhaustion and despondency. At that moment, Captain Crook, who had followed them for several hours, charged into the town with a troop of cavalry. Hardly a show of resistance was made; Penruddock, Grove, and Jones, three of the leaders, with some fifty others, were made

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. March 7.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1655. March 11.]

[Sidenote c: A.D. 1655. March 14.]

prisoners; the rest, of whom Wagstaff had the good fortune to be one, aided by the darkness of the night, effected their escape.[1]

The Hamps.h.i.+re royalists had commenced their march for Salisbury, when, learning that Wagstaff had left that city, they immediately dispersed.

Other risings at the same time took place in the counties of Montgomery, Shrops.h.i.+re, Nottingham, York, and Northumberland, but everywhere with similar results. The republicans, ardently as they desired to see the protector humbled in the dust, were unwilling that his ruin should be effected by a party whose ascendancy appeared to them a still more grievous evil. The insurgents were ashamed and alarmed at the paucity of their numbers; prudence taught them to disband before they proceeded to acts of hostility; and they slunk away in secrecy to their homes, that they might escape the proof, if not the suspicion, of guilt. Even Rochester himself, sanguine as he was by disposition, renounced the attempt; and, with his usual good fortune, was able to thread back his way, through a thousand dangers, from the centre of Yorks.h.i.+re to the court of the exiled sovereign at Cologne.[2]

Whether it was through a feeling of shame, or apprehension of the consequences, Cromwell, even under the provocations which he had received, ventured not to bring to trial any of the men who had formerly fought by his side, and now combined against him because he trampled on the liberties of the nation. With the royalists it was otherwise. He knew that their sufferings would excite little commiseration in those whose

[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 620. Thurloe, iii. 263, 295, 306. Heath, 367.

Clarendon, iii. 551, 560. Ludlow, ii. 69. Vaughan, i. 149.]

[Footnote 2: Whitelock, 618, 620. Heath, 368. Clarendon, iii. 560.]

favour he sought; and he was anxious to intimidate the more eager by the punishment of their captive a.s.sociates. Though they had surrendered[a]

under articles, Penruddock and Grove were beheaded at Exeter; about fifteen others suffered in that city and in Salisbury; and the remainder were sent to be sold for slaves in Barbadoes.[1] To these executions succeeded certain measures of precaution. The protector forbade all ejected and sequestered clergymen of the church of England to teach as schoolmasters or tutors, or to preach or use the church service as ministers either in public or private; ordered all priests belonging to the church of Rome to quit the kingdom under the pain of death; banished all Cavaliers and Catholics to the distance of twenty miles from the metropolis; prohibited the publication in print of any news or intelligence without permission from the secretary of state; and placed in confinement most of the n.o.bility and princ.i.p.al gentry in England, till they could produce bail for their good behaviour and future appearance. In addition, an ordinance was published that "all who had ever borne arms for the king, or declared themselves to be of the royal party, should be decimated, that is, pay a tenth part of all the estate which they had left, to support the charge which the commonwealth was put to by the unquietness of their temper, and the just cause of jealousy which they had administered." It is difficult to conceive a more iniquitous imposition. It was subversive of the act of oblivion formerly procured by Cromwell himself, which pretended to abolish the memory of all past offences; contrary to natural justice, because it involved the innocent and guilty in the same punishment; and productive

[Footnote 1: State Trials, v. 767-790.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. May 16.]

of the most extensive extortions, because the commissioners included among the enemies of the commonwealth those who had remained neutral between the parties, or had not given satisfaction by the prompt.i.tude of their services, or the amount of their contributions. To put the climax to these tyrannical proceedings, he divided the country into eleven, and, at one period, into fourteen, military governments, under so many officers, with the name and rank of major-generals, giving them authority to raise a force within their respective jurisdictions, which should serve only on particular occasions; to levy the decimation and other public taxes; to suppress tumults and insurrections; to disarm all papists and Cavaliers; to inquire into the conduct of ministers and schoolmasters; and to arrest, imprison, and bind over, all dangerous and suspected persons. Thus, this long and sanguinary struggle, originally undertaken to recover the liberties of the country, terminated in the establishment of a military despotism. The inst.i.tutions which had acted as restraints on the power of preceding sovereigns were superseded or abolished; the legislative, as well as the executive authority, fell into the grasp of the same individual; and the best rights of the people were made to depend on the mere pleasure of an adventurer, who, under the mask of dissimulation, had seized, and by the power of the sword retained, the government of three kingdoms.[1]

[Footnote 1: Sagredo, who had lately arrived as amba.s.sador extraordinary, thus describes the power of Cromwell:--"Non fa caro del nome, gli basta possedere l'autorita e la potenza, senza comparazione majore non solo di quanti re siano stati in Inghilterra, ma di quanti monarchi stringono presentamente alcun scetro nel mondo. Sment.i.te le legge fondamentali del regno, egli e il solo legislatore: tutti i governi escono dalle sue mane, e quelli del consiglio, per entrarvi, devono essere nominati da sua altezza, ne possono divenir grandi, se non da lui inalzati. E perche alcuno non abbia modo di guadagnar autorita sopra l'armata, tutti gli avanzamenti, senza pa.s.sar per alcun mezzo, sono da lui direttamente conosciuti."--Sagredo, MS.]

From domestic occurrences, we may now turn to those abroad. During the last year, the two armaments which had so long engaged the attention of the European nations, had sailed from the English ports. Their real, but secret, destination was to invade the American colonies and surprise the Plate fleet of Spain, the most ancient and faithful ally of the commonwealth. To justify the measure, it was argued in the council that, since America was not named in the treaties of 1604 and 1630, hostilities in America would be no infraction of those treaties; that the Spaniards had committed depredations on the English commerce in the West Indies, and were consequently liable to reprisals; that they had gained possession of these countries by force against the will of the natives, and might, therefore, be justly dispossessed by force; and, lastly, that the conquest of these transatlantic territories would contribute to spread the light of the gospel among the Indians and to cramp the resources of popery in Europe.[1]

That such flimsy pretences should satisfy the judgment of the protector is improbable; his mind was swayed by very different motives--the prospect of reaping, at a small cost, an abundant harvest of wealth and glory, and the opportunity of

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 760, 761; ii. 54, 154, 570. Ludlow, ii. 51, 105.

The article of the treaty of 1630, on which Cromwell rested his claim of a free trade to the Indies, was the first, establis.h.i.+ng peace between _all the subjects_ of the two crowns (subditos quosc.u.mque); that which, the Spaniards alleged, was the seventh, in which as the king of Spain, would not consent to a free trade to America, it was confined to those countries in which, such free trade had been exercised before the war between Elizabeth of England and Philip of Spain--words which excluded America as effectually as if it had been named.--See Dumont, iv. part ii. p. 621.]

engaging in foreign service the officers of whose fidelity at home he had good reason to be jealous.

The Spanish cabinet, arguing from circ.u.mstances, began to suspect his object, and, as a last effort, sent[a] the marquess of Leyda amba.s.sador extraordinary to the court of London. He was graciously received, and treated with respect; but, in defiance of his most urgent solicitations, could not, during five months, obtain a positive answer to his proposals.

He represented to the protector the services which Spain had rendered to the commonwealth; adverted to the conduct of De Baas, as a proof of the insidious designs of Mazarin; maintained that the late insurrection had been partially instigated by the intrigues of France; and that French troops had been collected on the coast to accompany Charles Stuart to England, if his friends had not been so quickly suppressed; and concluded by offering to besiege Calais, and, on its reduction, to cede it to Cromwell, provided he, on his part, would aid the prince of Conde in his design of forcing his way into Bordeaux by sea. At length, wearied with delays, and esteeming a longer residence in England a disgrace to his sovereign, he demanded[b] pa.s.sports, and was dismissed with many compliments by the protector.[1]

In the mean while, Blake, who commanded one of the expeditions, had sailed to the Straits of Gibraltar, where he received many civilities from the Spanish authorities. Thence he proceeded up the Mediterranean, capturing, under pretence of reprisals, the French vessels, whether merchantmen or men-of-war, and seeking, but in vain, the fleet under the duke of Guise.

Returning to the south, he appeared before

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 761; ii. 54, 154, 570. Dumont, v. part ii. 106.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. June 18.]

Algiers, and extorted from that government an illusory promise of respect to the English flag. From Algiers he proceeded[a] to Tunis. To his demands the dey replied: "There are Goletta, Porto Ferino, and my fleet; let him destroy them if he can." Blake departed,[b] returned unexpectedly to Porto Ferino, silenced the fire of the castle, entered the harbour, and burnt the whole flotilla of nine men-of-war. This exploit induced the dey of Tripoli to purchase the forbearance of the English by an apparent submission; his Tunisian brother deemed it prudent to follow his example; and the chastis.e.m.e.nt of the pirates threw an additional l.u.s.tre on the fame of the protector. There still remained, however, the great but concealed object of the expedition,--the capture of the Plate fleet laden with the treasures of the Indies; but Blake was compelled to remain so long before Cadiz that the Spaniards discovered his design; and Philip, though he professed to think the protector incapable of so dishonourable a project, permitted the merchants to arm in defence of their property. More than thirty s.h.i.+ps were manned with volunteers: they sailed[c] from Cadiz under the command of Don Pablos de Contreras, and continued for some days in sight of the English fleet; but Pablos was careful to give no offence; and Blake, on the reperusal of his instructions, did not conceive himself authorized to begin the attack. After a long and tedious cruise, he received intelligence that the galleons, his destined prey, were detained in the harbour of Carthagena, and returned to England with a discontented mind and shattered const.i.tution. In regard to the princ.i.p.al object, the expedition had failed; but this had never been avowed; and the people were taught to rejoice at the laurels won in the destruction

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. March 10.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April 18.]

[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. August 15.]

of the Tunisian fleet, and the lesson given to the piratical tribes on the northern coast of Africa.[1]

The other expedition consisted[a] of thirty sail and a military force of three thousand men, under the joint command of Penn, as admiral, and of Venables, as general. They spent several weeks among the English settlements in the West Indies, and by the promise of plunder allured to their standard many of the planters, and mult.i.tudes of the English, Scottish, and Irish royalists, who had been transported thither as prisoners of war. When they reached Hispaniola, Venables numbered ten thousand men under his command; and, had the fleet boldly entered the harbour of St. Domingo, it was believed that the town, unprepared for resistance, must have immediately submitted. But the greater part of the army was landed[b] at a point about forty miles distant, the expectations of the men were disappointed by a proclamation, declaring that the plunder was to be considered the public property of the commonwealth; the length of the march, the heat of the climate, and the scarcity of water added to the general discontent, and almost a fortnight elapsed before the invaders were able to approach[c] the defences of the place. Their march lay through a thick and lofty wood; and the advance suddenly found itself in front of a battery which enfiladed the road to a considerable distance. On the first discharge, the men rushed back on a regiment of foot; that, partaking in the panic, on a squadron of

[Footnote 1: See in particular Blake's letters in Thurloe, iii. 232, 392, 541, 611, 620, 718; iv. 19. He complains bitterly of the bad state of the s.h.i.+ps, and of the privations suffered by the men, from the neglect of the commissioners of the navy. The protector's instructions to him are in Thurloe, i. 724.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan. 29.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April.]

[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. April 25.]

horse; and, while the infantry and cavalry were thus wedged together in inextricable confusion, the Spanish marksmen kept up a most destructive fire from behind the trees lining the road. After a long effort, the wood was cleared by a body of seamen who served among the infantry, and darkness put an end to the action, in which not fewer than a thousand men had fallen. In the morning the English retired to their last encampment, about ten miles from the town.