The History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of King George the Fifth Part 45

Here Venables called a council of officers, who, having previously sought the Lord, determined[a] to "purge" the army. Some of the runaways were hanged; the officer who commanded the advance was broken, and sent on board the hospital s.h.i.+p to wait on the sick; the loose women who had followed the army were apprehended and punished; and a solemn fast was proclaimed and observed. But no fasting, praying, or purging could restore the spirits of men humbled by defeat, enfeebled by disease, and reduced to the necessity of feeding on the horses belonging to the cavalry. The attempt was abandoned;[b] but, on their return, the two commanders made a descent on the island of Jamaica. The Spanish settlers, about five hundred, fled to the mountains; a capitulation[c] followed; and the island was ceded to England. Could its flouris.h.i.+ng condition in a subsequent period have been foreseen, this conquest might have consoled the nation for the loss at Hispaniola, and the disgrace of the attempt. But at that time Jamaica was deemed an inconsiderable acquisition; the failure of the expedition encouraged men to condemn the grounds on which it had been undertaken; and Cromwell, mortified and ashamed, vented his displeasure

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. April 28.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. May 3.]

[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. May 10.]

on Penn and Venables, the two commanders, whom, on their arrival, he committed[a] to the Tower.[1]

To many it seemed a solecism in politics, that, when the protector determined to break with Spain, he did not attempt to sell his services to the great enemy of Spain, the king of France. For reasons which have never been explained, he took no advantage of this circ.u.mstance; instead of urging, he seemed anxious to r.e.t.a.r.d, the conclusion of the treaty with that power; after each concession he brought forward new and more provoking demands; and, as if he sought to prevail by intimidation, commissioned Blake to ruin the French commerce, and to attack the French fleet in the Mediterranean. By Louis these insults were keenly felt; but his pride yielded to his interest; expedients were found to satisfy all the claims of the protector; and at length the time for the signature of the treaty was fixed, when an event occurred to furnish new pretexts for delay, that event, which by Protestants has been called the ma.s.sacre, by Catholics the rebellion, of the Vaudois.

About the middle of the thirteenth century the peculiar doctrines of the "poor men of Lyons" penetrated

[Footnote 1: Carte's Letters, ii. 46-52. Thurloe, iii. 504, 509, 689, 755; iv. 28. Bates, 367. Penn and Venables having resigned their commissions, were discharged.--Council Book, 1655, Oct. 26, 31. It appears from the papers in Thurloe that Cromwell paid great attention to the prosperity of the West Indian colonies, as affording facilities to future attempts on the American continent. To increase the population, he had, as the reader is already aware, forcibly taken up a thousand young girls in Ireland, and sent them to Jamaica; in 1656, while Sagredo was in London, he ordered all females of disorderly lives to be arrested and s.h.i.+pped for Barbadoes for the like purpose. Twelve hundred were sent in three s.h.i.+ps. Ho veduto prima del mio partire piu squadre di soldati andar per Londra cercando donne di allegra vita, imbarcandone 1,200 sopre tre vascelli per tragittarle all'

isola, a fine di far propagazione.--Sagredro, MS.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. August 31.]

into the valleys of Piedmont, where they were cherished in obscurity till the time of the Reformation, and were then exchanged in a great measure, first for Lutheranism, and then for the creed publicly taught at Geneva.

The duke of Savoy by successive grants confirmed to the natives the free exercise of their religion, on condition that they should confine themselves within their ancient limits;[1] but complaints were made that several among the men of Angrogna had abused their privileges to form settlements and establish their wors.h.i.+p in the plains; and the court of Turin, wearied with the conflicting statements of the opposite parties, referred[a] the decision of the dispute to the civilian Andrea Gastaldo.[2]

After a long and patient hearing, he p.r.o.nounced a definitive judgment, that Lucerna and some other places lay without the original boundaries, and that the intruders should withdraw under the penalties of forfeiture and death.

At the same time, however, permission was given to them to sell for their own profit the lands which they had planted, though by law these lands had become the property of the sovereign.[3]

The Vaudois were a race of hardy, stubborn, half-civilized mountaineers, whose pa.s.sions were readily kindled, and whose resolves were as violent as they were sudden. At first they submitted sullenly to the

[Footnote 1: These were the four districts of Angrogna, Villaro, Bobbio, and Rorata.--Siri, del Mercurio, overo Historia de' Correnti Tempi Firenze, 1682, tom. xv. p. 827.]

[Footnote 2: Gilles, Pastore de la Terre, p. 72, Geneve, 1644; and Rorengo, Memorie Historiche, p. 8, 1649.]

[Footnote 3: The decree of Gastaldo is in Morland, History of the Evangelical Churches in the valleys of Piedmont, p. 303. The grounds of that decree are at p. 408, the objections to it at p. 423. See also Siri, xv. 827, 830; Chiesa, Corona Reale di Savoia, i. 150; Denina, iii. 324; Guichenon, iii. 139.]

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

judgment of Gastaldo, but sent deputies to Turin, to remonstrate; in a few days a solemn fast was proclaimed; the ministers excommunicated every individual who should sell his lands in the disputed territory; the natives of the valleys under the dominion of the king of France met those of the valleys belonging to the duke of Savoy; both bound themselves by oath to stand by each other in their common defence; and messengers were despatched to solicit aid and advice from the church of Geneva and the Protestant cantons of Switzerland. The intelligence alarmed the Marquess of Pianeze, the chief minister of the duke; who, to suppress the nascent confederacy, marched from Turin with an armed force, reduced La Torre, into which the insurgents had thrown a garrison of six hundred men, and, having made an offer of pardon to all who should submit, ordered his troops to fix their quarters in Bobbio, Villaro, and the lower part of Angrogna. It had previously been promised[a] that they should be peaceably received; but the inhabitants had already retired to the mountains with their cattle and provisions; and the soldiers found no other accommodation than the bare walls. Quarrels soon followed between the parties; one act of offence was retaliated with another; and the desire of vengeance provoked a war of extermination. But the military were in general successful; and the natives found themselves compelled to flee to the summits of the loftiest mountains, or to seek refuge in the valleys of Dauphine, among a people of similar habits and religion.[1]

[Footnote 1: Siri, xv. 827-833. It would be a difficult task to determine by whom, after the reduction of La Torre, the first blood was wantonly drawn, or to which party the blame of superior cruelty really belongs. The authorities on each side are interested, and therefore suspicious; the provocations alleged by the one are as warmly denied by the other; and to the ravages of the military in Angrogna and Lucerna, are opposed the ma.s.sacres of the Catholics in Perousa and San Martino. In favour of the Vaudois may be consulted Leger, Histoire Generale des Eglises Evangeliques, &c. (he was a princ.i.p.al instigator of these troubles); Stouppe, Collection of the several papers sent to his highness, &c. London, 1655; Sabaudiensis in Reformatam Religionem Persecutionis Brevis Narratio, Londini, 1655; Morland, 326-384, and the papers in Thurloe, iii. 361, 384, 412, 416, 430, 444, 459, 538. Against them--A Short and Faithful Account of the late Commotions &c., with some reflections on Mr. Stouppe's Collected Papers, 1655; Morland, 387-404; Siri, xv. 827-843, and Thurloe, iii. 413, 464, 475, 490, 502, 535, 535, 617, 626, 656.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. April 7.]

Accounts of these transactions, but accounts teeming with exaggeration and improbabilities, were transmitted to the different Protestant states by the ministers at Geneva. They represented the duke of Savoy as a bigoted and intolerant prince; the Vaudois as an innocent race, whose only crime was their attachment to the reformed faith. They implored the Protestant powers to a.s.sume the defence of their persecuted brethren, and called for pecuniary contributions to save from destruction by famine the remnant which had escaped the edge of the sword.[1] In England the cause was advocated[a] by the press and from the pulpit; a solemn fast was kept, and the pa.s.sions of the people were roused to enthusiasm. The ministers in a body waited on Cromwell to recommend the Vaudois to his protection; the armies in Scotland and Ireland presented addresses, expressive of their readiness to shed their blood in so sacred a cause; and all cla.s.ses of men, from the highest to

[Footnote 1: The infidelity of these reports is acknowledged by Morland, the protector's agent, in a confidential letter to secretary Thurloe. "The greatest difficulty I meet with is in relation to the matter of fact in the beginning of these troubles, and during the time of the war. For I find, upon diligent search, that many papers and books which have been put out in print on this subject, even by some ministers of the valleys, are lame in many particulars, and in many things not conformable to truth."--Thurloe, iv. 417.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. May.]

the lowest, hastened to contribute their money towards the support of the Piedmontese Protestants. It was observed that, among those who laboured to inflame the prejudices of the people, none were more active than the two amba.s.sadors from Spain, and Stouppe, the minister of the French church in London.[1] Both had long laboured to prevent the conclusion of the treaty with France; and they now hoped to effect their purpose, because Savoy was the ally of France, and the princ.i.p.al barbarities were said to have been perpetrated by troops detached from the French army.[2]

These events opened a flattering prospect to the vanity of Cromwell. By his usurpation he had forfeited all claim to the t.i.tle of the champion of civil liberty; he might still come forward, in the sight of Europe, in the more august character of the protector of the reformed faith. His first care was to make, through Stouppe, a promise to the Vaudois of his support, and an offer to transplant them to Ireland, and to settle them on the lands of the Irish Catholics; of which the first was accepted with expressions of grat.i.tude, and the other respectfully declined.[3] He next solicited the king of France to join with him in mediating between the duke of Savoy and his subjects of the valleys; and received for answer, that

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. 470, 680. Siri, xv. 468.]

[Footnote 2: Under Pianeze were some troops detached from the French army commanded by Prince Thomas of Savoy. It was reported that a regiment of Irish Catholics formed a part of this detachment; and to them were attributed, of course, the most horrible barbarities.--Leger, iii. Stouppe, Preface. Thurloe, iii. 412, 459, 460. On inquiry, it was discovered that these supposed Irishmen were English. "The Irish regiment said to be there was the earl of Bristol's regiment, a small and weak one, most of them being English. I hear not such complaints of them as you set forth."--Thurloe, iii. 50.]

[Footnote 3: Thurloe, iii. 459.]

Louis had already interposed his good offices, and had reason to expect a favourable result. Lastly, he sent[a] Morland as amba.s.sador to Turin, where he was honourably received, and entertained at the duke's expense. To his memorial in favour of the Vaudois, it was replied,[b] that out of compliment to Cromwell their rebellion, though unprovoked, should be forgiven; but his further interference was checked by the announcement that the particulars of the pacification had been wholly referred to Servien, the French amba.s.sador.[1]

At home, Cromwell had signified his intention of postponing the signature of the treaty with France till he was acquainted with the opinion of Louis on the subject of the troubles in Piedmont. Bordeaux remonstrated[c]

against this new pretext for delay; he maintained that the question bore no relation to the matter of the treaty; that the king of France would never interfere with the internal administration of an independent state; that the duke of Savoy had as good a right to make laws for his Protestant subjects, as the English government for the Catholics of the three kingdoms; and that the Vaudois were in reality rebels who had justly incurred the resentment of their sovereign. But Cromwell was not to be diverted[d] from his purpose. It was in vain that the amba.s.sador asked for a final answer; that he demanded[e] an audience of leave preparatory to his departure. At last he was relieved from his perplexity by an order[f] to announce that the duke, at the request of the king of France, had granted an amnesty to the Vaudois, and confirmed their ancient privileges; that the boon had been gratefully received by the insurgents; and that

[Footnote 1: Thurloe iii. 528, 608, 636, 656, 672. Siri, ibid. Vaugh. 248.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. May 22.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1656. June 21.]

[Sidenote c: A.D. 1656. May 24.]

[Sidenote d: A.D. 1656. June 18.]

[Sidenote e: A.D. 1656. June 21. [Sidenote f: A.D. 1656. August 20.]

the natives of the valleys, Protestants and Catholics had met, embraced each other with tears, and sworn to live in perpetual amity together. The unexpected intelligence was received by Cromwell with a coldness which betrayed his disappointment.[1] But, if the pacification broke the new projects which he meditated,[2] it served to raise his fame in the estimation of Europe; for it was evident that the Vaudois owed the favourable conditions which they obtained,[a] not so much to the good-will of Louis, as to his anxiety that no pretext should remain for the future interference of the protector.[3]

But though tranquillity was restored in Piedmont, Cromwell was still unwilling to conclude the treaty till he had ascertained what impression had been made on the king of Spain by the late attempt on Hispaniola.

To Philip, already engaged in war with France, it was painful to add so powerful an adversary to the number

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. 469, 470, 475, 535, 568, 706, 724, 742, 745.

Siri, xv. 843.]

[Footnote 2: The Protestant cantons of Switzerland had sent Colonel Mey to England, offering to raise an army in aid of the Vaudois, if Cromwell would furnish a subsidy of ten thousand pounds per month.--Siri, Mercurio, xv.

472. In consequence Downing was despatched as envoy to these cantons; but the pacification was already concluded; and on his arrival at Geneva, he received orders, dated Aug. 30, to return immediately.--Thurloe, iii. 692, 694; iv. 31. Still the design was not abandoned, but intrusted to Morland, who remained at Geneva, to distribute the money from England. What were his secret instructions may be seen, ibid. p. 326.]

[Footnote 3: The conditions may be seen in Morland, 652; Dumont, vi. part ii. p. 114; and Leger, 216. The subscription for the Vaudois, of which two thousands pounds was given by the protector, amounted to thirty eight thousand two hundred and twenty-eight pounds four s.h.i.+llings and twopence.

Of this sum twenty-five thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight pounds eight s.h.i.+llings and ninepence was sent at different times to the valleys; four hundred and sixty-three pounds seventeen s.h.i.+llings was charged for expenses; and about five hundred pounds was found to be clipt or counterfeit money.--Journals, 11 July, 1559.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. August 8.]

of his enemies; but the affront was so marked, so unjust, so unprovoked, that to submit to it in silence was to subscribe to his own degradation. He complained,[a] in dignified language, of the ingrat.i.tude and injustice of the English government; contrasted with its conduct his own most scrupulous adhesion both to the letter and the spirit of the treaties between the kingdoms; ordered that all s.h.i.+ps, merchandize, and property belonging to the subjects of the commonwealth should be seized and secured in every part of his dominions, and instructed his amba.s.sador in London to remonstrate and take his leave.[1] The day after the pa.s.sport was delivered to Don Alonzo, Cromwell consented[b] to the signature of the treaty with France.

It provided that the maritime hostilities, which had so long hara.s.sed the trade of the two nations, should cease, that the relations of amity and commerce should be restored; and, by a separate, and therefore called a secret, article, that Barriere, agent for the prince of Conde, and nine other Frenchmen, equally obnoxious to the French ministry, should be perpetually excluded from the territory of the commonwealth; and that Charles Stuart, his brother the duke of York, Ormond, Hyde, and fifteen other adherents of the exiled prince, should, in the same manner, be excluded from the kingdom of France.[2] The protector had persuaded

[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iv. 19, 20, 21, 82, 91.]

[Footnote 2: Dumont, vi. part ii. p. 121. In the body of the treaty, neither the king nor the protector is named; all the articles are stipulated between the commonwealth of England and the kingdom of France.

In the preamble, however, the king of France is mentioned, and in the first place, but not as if this arose from any claim of precedency; for it merely relates, that the most Christian king sent his amba.s.sador to England, and the most serene lord, the protector, appointed commissioners to meet him.

When the treaty was submitted to Bordeaux, previously to his signature, he discovered an alteration in the usual t.i.tle of his sovereign, Rex Gallorum (the very t.i.tle afterwards adopted by the National a.s.sembly), instead of Rex Galliarum, and on that account refused to sign it. After a long contestation, he yielded to the arguments of the Dutch amba.s.sador.--Thurloe, iv. 115.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. Sept. 1.]

[Sidenote b: A.D. 1656. Oct. 24.]

himself that, if the house of Stuart was to be restored, it must be through the aid of France; and he hoped, by the addition of this secret article, to create a bitter and lasting enmity between the two families. Nor was he content with this. As soon as the ratifications had been exchanged, he proposed a more intimate alliance between England and France. Bordeaux was instructed to confine himself in his reply to general expressions of friends.h.i.+p. He might receive any communications which were offered; he was to make no advances on the part of his sovereign.