CROMWELL, OLIVER 



CROMWELL, RICHARD. 



hundred member* who war* obnoxious to him. Thus ' purified,' this 

 MMmbly voted a renunciation of all title to the throne in the family 

 of the StuarU ; and Colonel Jephson moved Ut the crown iboultl lx- 

 bestowed upon Cromwell A conference WM soon afterwanli appointed 

 (1617), at which the Protector's scruples respecting the assumption of 

 the title of king were stated and argued. His mind wis wavering 

 whether he should accept or whether he should forbear. But his 

 prudence ultimately prevailed ; he knew that the danger of acceding 

 would be imminent, while the increase of power would be trifling ; the 

 odium In which the arm; bad been taught to hold the regal title 

 could never be overcome, and therefore he consented unwillingly to 

 reject it. The proposition fur a house of lords, whiclt accompanied 

 the offer of the crown to hitmelf, he however adopted ; and an upper 

 house of sixty-three persons was summoned, January 20th, 1658. lint 

 this experiment failed ; the houses neither agreed with each other, nor 

 supported him ; and on the 4th of February, after a session of only a 

 fortnight, they were unceremoniously dissolved. 



As Cromwell's treatment of bis parliaments was arbitrary, so also 

 wen his dealings with the courts of justice. He degraded throe 

 judges, and so intimidated the barristers that they feared to uphold 

 clients whose catuee were contrary to the Protector's wishes. To give an 

 instance of this oppression One Cory having refused to pay the heavy 

 tax of ten per cent, which was ordered to be levied upon the ]>ro|>erty 

 of ail royaiiste, sued the collector. Three eminent counsel, Maynard, 

 TwUdeu, and Wyndham, were employed in his cause ; but Cromwell, 

 without suffering them to enter into their argument, sent them to the 

 Tower even for accepting the brief. Sir Poter Wentworth having 

 brought a similar action, was asked by the council if he would give it 

 up. ''If you command me," he replied to Cromwell, "I must 

 submit" The Protector did command, and tho action wns with- 

 drawn. Equally tyrannical were the means which were used far the 

 erection of the courts, by which, in 1654, Gerard and Vowel, nod, iu 

 1658, Sliogsby and Hewit, were brought to the scaffold. These, nud 

 similar acts, rendered Cromwell hateful to a large number of his 

 subjects. He had suppressed some royalist insurrections at Salisbury, 

 and executed the leaders in 1655 ; but now he entertained fears from 

 the republicans also. Major Wildman, a republican, was arrested for 

 conspiracy againtt him ; and such was the ill-will shown to him by 

 the democratic soldiery as to cause anxiety for his personal safety. 

 One Sindercome, who by an accident alone bad been prevented from 

 murdering him, was arrested and condemned ; but ho committed 

 suicide before the day appointed for his execution. 



The foreign policy of the protector was magnanimous, enterprising, 

 and ultimately successful. Ho interfered more than would be regarded 

 as tolerable now ; but his interferences were generally to protect the 

 oppressed ; and by bin firmness and prudence he made his govern- 

 ment respected by foreign princes as scarcely any English government 

 bad ever been before. Many memorable victories were achieved under 

 the parliament and under Cromwell " It is jut to say," observes 

 Mr. Hallum ('Const Hist,' vol. ii.), "that the maritime glory of 

 England may first be triced from the era of the Commonwealth in a 

 track of continuous light" A treaty, consequent on the successes of 

 Blake, was honourably concluded with the Dutch. Ati expedition, 

 more politic than just, was made against the West India colonies of 

 Spain ; it ended in failure and di-appointtnent, although it gained for 

 England the island of Jamaica, a greater and more advantageous pos- 

 wion than many triumphs have produced. An alliance was con- 

 cluded with Prance in 1656 to act iu conjunction against the Spanish 

 forces in the Low Countries; Mardyke and Dunkirk were taken, and 

 the Spaniard* were afterwards wholly defeated at Dunes. Deumark, 

 Portugal, and Sweden eagtrly sought the protector's friendship ; am- 

 bassadors flocked to bis court, bearing the most conciliatory and 

 adulatory menaces. The anxiety of all princes to bo allied with so 

 an usurper i in fact not a little remarkable. The servility of 

 powers was extreme, as has been proved by several curious 

 ncee which have been collected by Mr. Harris. (' Life of Crom- 

 well' p. 852; and see the Appendix to Ouijcot's ' Life, of Cromwell.') 



Towards the end of his lif, Cromwell appears to have become 

 moody and suspicions. He knew that be had few persona! adherents, 

 that his life was in danger from thu more un*crupuloui of both tho 

 parties whose hopes be had crushed, and all whose machinations he 

 bad hitherto discovered and thwarted. Hu saw too that neither iu 

 bis own family nor among the public servant* were there any fitted to 

 carry on th work lie had commenced. That he was personally un- 

 popular, that hi* government was hateful to the people, be could have 

 little doubt; and no wonder is it therefore that a he felt ago rapidly 

 coming on and bolth filling be should have grown melancholy, and 

 looked with gloomy anticipation* to the future. His death was 

 hastened by that of his favourite danghUr, Lady Clay pole, wi. 

 at Hampton flour*, Augurt 0, 1658, aged twenty-nine. A fortnight 

 later he himself was stricken down by fever. Hy tho advice of his 

 physicians, he was removed for better air to Whitehall, and there be 

 die-l, <m the 3rd of S -ptetnber 1658, the anniversary of tho victory of 

 Dunbar, and of the 'crowning glory' of Wore ster. His body was laid 

 in state at Somermt House, and then buried with the utmost possible 

 solemnity in that famou. .-|,i,lc!ira of the kings, Henry VII.'.. ' 

 at Westminster. Hut after the restoration liin corpse was disiaterred, 

 and having been by the orders of the poor-spirited monarch first hung 



on the gallows at Tyburn, the head was fixed upon a pole at West- 

 minuter Hall, and the rest of the poor remains were thrust into a hole 

 at the foot of the gallows. 



The character of Cromwell has formed a fertile subject for historians 

 and essayists. Wo have no iutentiou to add to the number. It may 

 be enough here to remark that the real greatness of the man, whatever 

 be thought of his conduct iu seizing on the supreme authority, it now 

 becoming more and more generally understood and acknowledge! by 

 thoughtful men of all shades of opinion. For this better appreciation 

 of Cromwell, much is undoubtedly due to his ' Letters and 8p<- 

 as edited and 'elucidated' by Carlyle; and to that work wo rof. r tho 

 student who is desirous of coining ns near as may be to the inner 

 workings of Cromwell's mind, and of understanding the re .1 t-ignifi- 

 cance of this great period in English history. He will do well alsa 

 to peruse carefully the calm and impartial examination uf Cromwell 

 and his times by one of the most distinguished of living French states- 

 men, M. Ouizot, whoso position an.! experience, no loss than lun 

 attainments and ability, eminently qualify him for such a tusk. 



The resemblance between tho fortunes of Cromwell and of him who 

 in more recent times raised himself from insignificance to a throne, is 

 strong enough to strike the generality of readers. Mr. Hall . 

 stated ('Const Hist.') the most striking points in the parallel. But 

 the conclusion of Bonaparte's life was very unlike that of the Pro- 

 tector ; tho fortunes of one had declined for years before his 

 the other retained his authority to the lost hour. 



Cromwell left six children, two sons and four daughters. Of the 

 daughters, Bridget was twice married, first to Irctou, and afterwards 

 to Fleetwood ; Elizabeth was the wife of John Clayton, Kxq. ; Man- 

 married Lord Faueonbcrg; and Frances wa-i wife first to Mr. Kiel 

 afterwards to Sir John Russell of Chippenham. The sons are noticed 

 below. His widow survived till 1665, when she died in the house of 

 her son-in-law C'laypole, at Norborough iu Lincolnshire. 



(Clarendon, Hist, of Rebellion ; Hnllam, Contt. llitl,; Noble, Memoir* 

 of Cromwell' I Family; Tracts on UK Civil Wart; Hurrin, Life uf 

 Cromwell ; Carlyle, Oliver Cramaelfi Letter! ; ; Southcy ; 



Ouizot; Villemain; and the various Jlittoriei of England.) 



CROMWELL, RICHARD, the third son of Oliver Cromwell tho 

 Protector, but the eldest that survived him, was born at Huntingdon 

 on the 4th of October 1626. He was educated at Felatead, in Ki-sex, 

 with his brothers Henry and Oliver, and thence removed to Lincoln's 

 Inn, where he was admitted in 1017. His study of the law was only 

 nominal, his time being in fact to a great extent wasted iu the pursuit 

 of pleasure. Although he had arrived at an age when it would have 

 been most natural for him to have desired t j join his father's troops, 

 he appears to have shown little inclination to do so. Besides indolence 

 and apathy, many causes have been assigned for this want of enter- 

 prise; some have supposed that his father would not suffer him to 

 take arms ; others, that Richard Cromwell's political opinions differed 

 from the Protector's ; and that as his companions wore chiefly cava- 

 liers, and the king's health had often been drunk at their carousals, 

 ho was favourable tu the royal rather than the parliamentary cause. 

 There is however no clear evidence to prove this last fact, unless we 

 may reckon as such the fact that Richard, averse to spilling blood, 

 when the king was condemned, petitioned his father for a remission 

 of the sentence. 



At the age of twenty-three he married Dorothy, the eldest daughter 

 of Richard Major, Esq., of Hursley, in Hampshire, a lady sprung from 

 a good family, endowed with many virtues, and possessed of a con- 

 siderable fortune. This change in his circumstances induced him to 

 leave his residence in London, and to establish himself at Hursley, 

 whore he lived iu complete retirement, following the sports of tbo 

 field and other rural pursuits. As soon however as Oliver Cromwell 

 was made Protector, ho called Richard from bis obscurity, and nomi- 

 nated him for the counties of Moumouth and Southampton, for which 

 be was elected member of parliament in 1654. His appointment as 

 first lord of trade and navigation followed his election. In hi.,*;. he 

 was again chosen member of parliament for Hampshire and the 

 University of Cambridge ; and in tbo following year succeeded his 

 father in the chancellorship of Oxford. 



An accident now befel him which nearly cost him his life. After 

 a levee held by the Protector, whilst he and other members of parlia- 

 ment were standing on the upper steps within the banqneting-house, 

 the supporters gave way, and the whole staircase full with an alarming 

 crash ; youth and a good constitution alone enabled him to recover 

 from the fractures and other injuries that he sustained. After his 

 health was restored, his father, stilt anxious for his elevation, made 

 him a privy councillor, a colonel in tbo army, and leader of the 

 newly-constituted House of Lords, When his father felt that his life 

 was drawing to a close, in the summer of 1658, ho sent for his eldest 

 on to attend him in his sickness. Richard Cromw, 11 immediately 

 obeyed the summons, and found the symptoms of his father's illness 

 such as to make him extremely apprehensive for its result. In a 

 letter written in August to a friend near Aliiugdon (' Parl. Hi*t.' -1, 

 [>. 223), he expresses in feelin<: and sensible terms the fears whiuh IP- 

 entertained for his life. On the 3rl of September 1658, Oliver 

 Cromwell died, and on the next day Richard Cromwell received the 

 sceptre of the Commonwealth. 



For a short time tho peace of the kingdom was undisturbed, and 



