CHAPTER IV. FROM 1658 TO 1668. DEATH OF CROMWELL.-HOWE STILL REMAINS AT WHITEHALL.- CITATION WHEN Cromwell died,* Howe did not, as might have been expected from the preceding letters, relinquish his situation at Whitehall. It is by no means improbable that, in addition to those general reasons, which had already induced him to sacrifice his own inclination to what his friend Baxter represented as a duty, the personal character of the new Protector had no inconsiderable share in reconciling him to his office. It is certain, at all events, that the principal reason for relinquishing that office, must have ceased with the life of Oliver. To Richard Cromwell, he could have had no personal objections; on the contrary, he uni * September 3, 1658. formly expressed the highest opinion of his worth and integrity. His situation was rendered still more tolerable, from his having effected those arrangements with regard to Torrington, to which a reference has been already made. This is fully proved by a letter to Baxter, inserted in this chapter. From that letter, it appears, that the first visit which he paid to Torrington, in pursuance of those arrangements, was almost immediately after the Protector's death. He remained in the west for some months, and consequently could have resumed his duties at Whitehall only a very short time before Richard's deposition.* Richard Cromwell was little capable of governing that distracted empire, which tasked to the full even the sagacious and powerful intellect of his father. His deposition, therefore, soon became inevitable. He was not destitute of abilities, but they were such as fitted him rather for private than public life; least of all for wielding such a sceptre as his predecessor had bequeathed him. Nor did he want merely the energy and ambition of the old * In a little more than three weeks after Cromwell's death, (Sept. 29,) the congregational brethren met at the Savoy, and drew up that "confession of faith," &c., still known by the name of the "Savoy Confession." Howe, it appears, was present at their deliberations. It was, in all probability, within a very few days after this, that he departed on his visit to Torrington Protector: he could not employ the same unscrupulous policy; he was a man of virtue, honour, and humanity; one of the few, who would have preferred the humblest obscurity to the most splendid diadem, which must have been purchased or retained by a single act of violence or treachery.* Immediately after Richard Cromwell's deposition, Howe, at the request of a relative, addressed the subjoined letter to Baxter, in explanation of the recent changes. It is now. published for the first time, and will be read, I feel confident, with considerable interest. In this letter the conduct of Richard Cromwell, which all historians admit to have indicated as much disinterestedness and patriotism as it betrayed of timidity and irresolution, is represented by Howe-and no man was more likely to be acquainted with the truth than himself— in a light still more favourable, than that in which it has been generally regarded. It appears, that even that fatal dissolution of the Parliament, which was the death-warrant of his power, was a deliberate sacrifice of his own interests to patriotism. He saw, from the first, the full effects of this measure,-but, as it was * Howe always held the character of Richard in the highest veneration. In this there is nothing surprising. No man could more highly appreciate than Howe the moderation of mind, the disinterestedness, the private worth, which adorned the character of the younger Cromwell. inevitable, resolved to venture upon it himself, rather than suffer it to be taken, with more hazard to the country, by others. The letter also shows, that both Richard and his father, the one from principle, the other from a sagacious policy, had long desired the diminution of the military power, and the "civill settlement" of the nation. Cromwell, at the close of life, had learned, for good reasons, to dread the predominant influence of that very army, which, at an earlier period, had been the great instrument of his successful ambition. In this instance, as in many others, it was found more easy to set the elements of political power at liberty, than to reclaim or control them. TO THE REV. RICHARD BAXTER. "Rev. and dear B', Since my return from the West, (where I suppose you may have heard I spent some months of late,*) I have often been putting pen to paper to write to you; but have deferred, being still held in expectation of some further issue, that might be a ground of some action or treatie * This letter is dated May 21, that is (evidently) of the year 1659, immediately after Richard Cromwell's deposition. Soon after the death of Oliver, Howe, as already mentioned, had paid a visit to Torrington, where he remained to the spring of the following year. He had now, it would appear, returned to London, where, it is plain, this letter was written. He could not, therefore, have officiated at Whitehall more than a month or two, during the short period of the younger Cromwell's protectorate. It cannot be new for the churche's good. Such expectations are now at an end. I know not to what purpose it will now be to fill a letter with complaints of man's iniquity, and our present and approaching miseries. My kinsman, Mr. Upton, (now in towne,) showed me a letter of yours, wherein you expressed your wonder at our late turnes, as well you may. He hath made it my taske to give what account I can. to you that y council in y old Protector's time was divided into two parties; the one was for a settlement on such tearmes as might please the nation, as he himself also was; those, except one of late, had no present relation to the army; the other, who were (the chief of them) army-men, were not much pleased with, nor did study any such thing; but thought it their duty, in order to the safety of religion and liberty of conscience, to keep up the power of the army as much as they could, and thereby to curb and repress the spirit of the nation, as they use to phrase it. The young Protector following (in this) his father's steps, I mean in the study and endeavour of a civill settlement, whereby a just provision might be made also for religious liberty, without having the nation under a force, and that things might run in their natural channel; is looked upon with a jealousy by the military part of the council; least hee sha mingle interests with the nation, |