kind ever came from them, he would retaliate to the uttermost, and never would desist till he had totally exterminated the royal family. This menace, more than all his guards, contributed to the security of his person. As the army was the principal and the only basis of his power, he displayed the greatest abilities in managing it. He kept his soldiers under a strict discipline, and augmented their pay; by these means he rendered them less odious and burthensome to the people, and made them sensible that their interests were closely connected with those of their general and protector. Besides, nothing could better secure their affection to him than the success of almost all the enterprises in which he employed them. But the wild fanaticism which he had so constantly fostered among them, when he wanted to seduce them into his criminal measures against the late monarchy, was far from being extinguished, and rendered them now much more difficult to be governed, as having been so often taught, that the office of king was an usurpation upon Christ; it seemed impossible to prevent them from suspecting, that the office of a protector, invested with powers much more absolute and extensive, was more incompatible with that divine authority. The difficulty was still increased by the contrary opinions of many officers in the army, who still persevered in the same revolutionary spirit, and some of whom had already, on that account, declared themselves against the protectorship, and the protector himself. Cromwell found no other means to obviate the consequences of such dangerous dispositions than to deprive these officers of their commissions, and this measure answered his purpose completely. Much has been said about the pretended good fortune of the protector, which has been since repeated, and will for ever continue to be so, of all triumphant usurpers. Almost all his successful enterprises were ascribed only to his good fortune. But impartial history, though disgusted with the enormity of his crimes, and with his hypocrisy, the most odious and degrading of all human vices, cannot but acknowledge, that in the greatest part of his enterprises, his success was the natural and necessary effect both of his personal prudence, sound judgment, and abilities, and of those of the persons he constantly employed in all the situations which required the same qualifications. All the chief offices in the courts of justice were filled by men. of superior learning and integrity, and their decisions were upright and impartial. His generals, his admirals, his ambassadors, were chosen on the only recommendation of acknowledged talents and merit; thus every one of them contributed in their several spheres to the honour and interest of the nation, and to consolidate his government. Cromwell being convinced that England could not see without great satisfaction his administration attended with so much success and glory abroad, so much order and tranquillity at home, was not apprehensive of meeting the representatives of the nation, and accordingly the commissioners of the great seal issued writs for summoning a new parliament, to meet on the 17th of September next. Cromwell, however, not trusting entirely to the good-will of the people, used every art which his new model of representation allowed him to employ, in order to influence the elections and fill the parliament with his own creatures. Ireland being entirely under the influence of the army, chose some of the officers the most attached to him, and Scotland shewed a like compliance. Notwithstanding these precautions Cromwell found that the majority was unfavourable to him; he therefore, on the opening of the session, set guards on the door of the house, who permitted none to enter but such as produced a warrant from his council, who rejected about a hundred, who either refused recognition of the protector's government, or were on other accounts obnoxious to him. The excluded members published a remonstrance, declaring their right to sit in the house, and protesting against the legality of all acts passed without their concurrence. But their representations were equally overlooked by the parliament and by the council. The parliament having chosen the speaker, passed an act of renunciation of any title that Charles Stuart, or any of his family might pretend. With as little opposition they voted, that any attempt against the life of the protector should be high treason. Then they passed several acts for raising money by way of contribution, in a greater proportion than had ever yet been raised, and granted tonnage and poundage to the protector for his life. Colonel Jephson, one of the members, in order to sound the inclinations of the house, went so far as to move, that the parliament should bestow the crown on Cromwell; and no surprise or reluctance was discovered on the occasion. In order to pave the way to this resolution, for which he secretly, but very ardently, longed, Cromwell determined to sacrifice his majors-general, who were extremely odious to the nation. This measure was no less necessary for his own security, as these officers, being possessed of so much distinct jurisdiction, began to establish a separate title to power independent of his own. Ann. 1657. A motion for investing the protector with the royal dignity is made by one of the city members, and supported by great many others, among whom were chiefly remarked some men who had always had the reputation of great fidelity to the king, while Cromwell's own relations, and many of his acknowledged adherents, were the warmest opponents to the motion; and "it cannot be denied," says Clarendon, "that very many of the king's party were so deceived in their judgment, as' really to believe, that the making Cromwell king "for the present, was the best expedient for the "restoration of his majesty; and that the army "and the whole nation would then have been "united, rather to restore the true, than to admit "of a false sovereign, whose hypocrisy and tyranny "being now detected, would be the more detested. "But the more sober persons of the king's party "trembled at this overture, and considered it as "the only way utterly to destroy the king, and to "pull up all future hopes of the royal family by the Lambert, a man of great interest in the army, and the most powerful of the majors-general, entertaining the ambition of succeeding Cromwell in the protectorship, raised up a formidable party against the motion, as he foresaw, that with royalty hereditary right must be restored. The bill was voted, however, by a considerable majority, and a committee was appointed to wait upon the protector, to inform him of the very earnest desire of the house, that he would assume the title of king. He affected great surprise at this overture, and answered, he wondered how any such thing came into their minds; that it was neither fit for them to offer nor for him to receive; that he was sure they could discover no such ambition in him; and that his conscience would not give him leave to own such a title. The committee represented to him, that they hoped he would not reject so suddenly what the parliament had desired so long, and so maturely debated; that they had no doubt that the motives of this bill, when he had vouchsafed to hear them, would make upon him the same impression they had made upon them in the house. He civilly appointed another day for them to attend him. The conference lasted for several days. The difficulty was, not to persuade Cromwell; both his inclination and his judgment were entirely on the side of the committee; nor was he anxious about the opposition which came from Lambert and his adherents, whom he now regarded as his enemies, and was resolved on the first occasion to deprive them of all authority; but he was most perplexed with the obstinate resistance of Fleetwood and Desborow, his son-in-law and his brother-in-law, who, though the most devoted to him both by inclination and by interest, could by no persuasion, artifice, or entreaty, be induced to consent that their friend and patron should be invested with regal dignity, and told him, that if he accepted of the crown, they would instantly throw up their commissions, and should never afterwards have it in their power to serve him. In the mean time he had to consider, that royalty had been painted to the soldiers in such horrible colours that there were no hopes of reconciling them suddenly to it, even though bestowed upon their general, to whom they were so much devoted. Upon the whole, Cromwell, after a long agony of doubts and anxieties, resolved at last to refuse that crown which the representatives of the nation had so solemnly tendered to him. But the most curious and almost incredible circumstance in this transaction, is the nonsense, absurdity, and unintelligibility of Cromwell's answer to the committee. The following passage, taken at random, will give an exact idea of the whole discourse, as it is all of a piece. "I confess, for it behoves me to deal plainly. |