2»'» S. No 71., May 9. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



371 



LINES TBOM A COMMON-rLACE BOOK — HILL. 



(2"^ S. iii. 291.) 



In the lines published by P. H. there is given a 

 description of the tyrannical conduct of the Crom- 

 wellians when invested with supreme power in 

 England. The murder of the sovereign was fol- 

 lowed by the despotism of the Protector, the insti- 

 tution of Major- Generals, and the establishment of 

 commissioners, by whom were not only " patriot 

 nobles " and loyal gentry spoliated of their estates, 

 but those in an inferior rank in life were trans- 

 ported and doomed to slavery, without any form 

 of trial whatsoever. 



The misdeeds of the republicans have never 

 yet been fully exposed, nor properly commented 

 upon. The tendency of most writers since the 

 Revolution of 1G88 has been to dwell upon the 

 crimes of the Stuarts as arbitrary monarchs, and to 

 throw a veil over the misdeeds of the republicans, 

 because amongst the republicans and their de- 

 scendants were the opponents of James II. 



"He" (Cromwell) "divided England into Cantons, 

 over each of which he placed a Bashaw under the title of 

 Major-General, who was to have the inspection and 

 government of inferior commissioners in every County', 

 witli orders to seize the persons and distrain the estates of 

 such as should be refractory, and to put in execution such 

 further directions as they should receive from him." 



These are the words of one of the purest repub- 

 licans — Lieutenant- General Ludlow. I quote 

 from the Vevay edition of 1698, vol. ii. p. 519. 



Let us now see if there cannot be found in the 

 same author an illustration of the lines quoted 

 by P. H. : 



" In the mean time the Major- Generals carried things 

 with unheard-of insolence in their several precincts, de- 

 cimating to extremity whom they pleased, and interrupting 

 the proceedings at law upon petitions of those who pretended 

 themselves aggrieved, threatening such as would not 

 yield a readj' submission to their orders with transportation 

 to Jamaica or some plantations in the West Indies," &c. — 

 Vol. ii. p. 539. 



And again we are told of Cromwell — 



"Not contenting himself with the death of many of 

 those who had raised arms against him, and seizure of the 

 goods of that party, he transported whole droves of them at 

 a time into foreign parts without any legal trial," — Vol. ii. 

 p. 533. 



I believe the same author — Ludlow — helps 

 us to a knowledge of the person described in the 

 first line quoted by P. H. : 



" In robes of state the woodman's son appears." 



Ludlow refers more than once to a Cromwellian 

 named Brown as " the tvoodmonger " ; and this 

 Brown having by his evidence on the trials of the 

 Regicides aided in bringing one of them to the 

 block, and so procuring a pardon for himself, is 

 denounced by Ludlow us " thjit apostute ]3rown, 



the woodmonger " (vol. iii, p. 18.), " that renegade 

 Brown" (vol. iii. p. 45.). The same person is re- 

 ferred to in vol. i. pp. 175. 178. 



I am not in a position to say who is " the Hill " 

 respecting whom P. H. seeks information. In 

 Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iv. p. 117., there is a 

 list, but manifestly not a complete list, of the 

 Major- Generals appointed by Cromwell in 1655. 

 In it is not comprised either the names of Brown 

 or Hill ; but in one of the letters addresse<l by 

 Secretary Thurloe to H. Cromwell, Major-General 

 of the army in Ireland, there Is an allusion made 

 to a Colonel Hill in somewhat remarkable words : 



" Soe much as I Knowe bj'' hym, he seemes to bo a 

 usefull man, and not to be disobliged." — Vol. iv. p. 773. 



I hope the Query of P. H. may lead to some 

 further N'otes upon the Cromwellian misgovern- 

 ment in England, Scotland, and Ireland. 



W. B. Mac Cabe. 



"Weinig Tijd voor 't verhaalde Treuerspel vlogen twee 

 Ooyevaars een van 't dak der Loon-raad, d' ander uit de 

 vyver van 't Prinsen-hof boven op 't dwars hout der wip 

 van 't Haagsche schavot, zagen met omgekromde halsea 

 nederwaards ; een koddige Artz zeide tot sijn metgezel, 

 ' Is niet d' een de Water-graef en die de Land-graef ? ' 

 Hy meinde Cornells en Joan de Wit. Dese Breeders 

 waaren elkander gelijk, en lange gestalte en angezicht ; 

 doch d' oudeste konde geenzints haalen by 't diepzinnig 

 vernuft des jonger. De bruske hoogmoed des oude stond 

 jeder in de weg. Men sraaalde op de Rok van staat, Hel- 

 bardiers en schildery binnen 't Dortsche Raadhuis: ' Wat 

 liet zich de zoon van een kaale hout-koper voorstaan, 

 over dwars gedreven door Lovenstcinsche zijdigheid? ' " 

 — Leven en Oorlogsdaden van Wilhem Heniik den Derden, 

 door G. Montanus, i. 429., Amsterdam, 1705. 



Aaron Hill was enough a poet to have written 

 the lines, but he was not born till 1685; and when 

 he began to write, the circumstances of the murder 

 of the De Wits must have ceased to be matters of 

 familiar allusion. 



The stork is not generally reputed " foul," or of 

 evil omen. " The exclusive law " is the Perpetual 

 Edict of August 5, 1667, abolishing the stadhol- 

 dership. As it was confirmed by the oaths of the 

 Prince of Orange and the nobles, it might be said 

 to keep him from " his own," but had no such 

 effect on them. 



I do not know what is meant by " awes the 

 judgment-seat," but the halberdiers and robe of 

 state are noticed in another work : 



" d'Heer Cornelia de Wit, out Burgemeester der staat 

 Dordrecht en Ruart van den Land van Putten, was nu 

 U3't 't Lands Oorlogs-vloet, daar by {met en kostelljken 

 Rok van Staat gekleedt, en 12 Halberdiers des Lands Li- 

 vrejen dragende, omringt) het opporste gezag had, en 

 daarom de zee of Water- Prins bygenaamt wiert, vant schip 

 van d' Heer L. Ad. Gen. de Ruyter (na dat den victo- 

 rieusen Zeeslag te Dordrect te huys gekommen, alwaar 

 by zyn kamer en Bedde most blj'ven houden." — Binnen- 

 Landtse Borgerlyke Beroerten, p. 35., Amst, 1676. 



The De Wits were an important family in th^ 



