CROMWELL. 



563 



Cromwtll. adequate instruments for the prosecution of his ambi- 

 tious purpose, he seized on the person of the king ; and 

 having got him into his power, he played off the king, 

 parliament, and army, against one another. The king 

 was completely deceived in his character and designs ; 

 the parliament, trusting rather to his professions of obe- 

 dience and respect to them than to his actions, was 

 equally deceived ; and the army were ready to follow 

 the man, who, when the parliament were obliged to 

 erase their own declaration respecting them out of their 

 journals, assured them that " now they might be an 

 army as long as they lived." As soon as the parlia- 

 ment discovered the real character and designs of Crom- 

 well, they endeavoured to crush him ; but he had now 

 gained such a powerful influence with the army, that 

 they compelled it to acquiesce in all that he did ; and, 

 in December 1648, they took forcible possession of the 

 House of Commons. 



When it was first proposed to try the king, Crom- 

 well declared, that "if any man moved this upon design, 

 he should think him the greatest traitor in the world ; 

 but since Providence and necessity had cast them upon 

 it, he should pray God to bless their counsels, though 

 he was not provided on the sudden to give them coun- 

 sel." Shortly afterwards, however, he pretended, that 

 as he was praying for a blessing from God on his un- 

 dertaking to restore the king to his former state and 

 power, his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, 

 that he could not speak one word more, which he took 

 as a return of prayer that God had rejected him from 

 being king. Within a very few days after the king's 

 death, Cromwell became a principal member in the 

 council of state, in whose hands the executive power 

 was placed. He seemed now near the grand object of 

 his ambition, when a circumstance occurred which 

 threatened to snatch it from him by those very means 

 which he had employed to gain it. Part of the army 

 which he commanded being dissatisfied, sent a remon- 

 strance to their general ; the ringleaders were seized 

 and punished in an ignominious manner, but the mu- 

 tiny and dissatisfaction spread, and Cromwell's own 

 regiment put white cockades in their hats, and fixed on 

 Wales as the place of their assembling. In this critical 

 emergency, the promptitude, decision, and personal 

 bravery for which he was distinguished, were abso- 

 lutely necessary — nor were they wanting ; with two 

 regiments of horse he surrounded the mutineers, and 

 falling out four men by name, he obliged them to throw 

 dice for their lives, and the two that escaped were or- 

 dered to shoot the others. . 



In 1 6'49, England being quiet, and the Scotch inti- 

 midated, though discontented, Cromwell embarked 

 with his army for Ireland, and, in less than twelve 

 months, the whole of that island was subdued. During 

 his absence, the Scotch recovered their courage, invited 

 Charles II. and prepared to invade England. To repel 

 this invasion Mas the duty of Fairfax, but Fairfax had 

 taken the covenants, and would not fight against the 

 Scotch. Cromwell therefore was appointed general and 

 commander-in-chief, and in conformity to one of his 

 military maxims, that one invasion ought to be pre- 

 vented by another, he marched into Scotland. Igno- 

 rant of the nature of the country, or of the face and si- 

 tuation of the Scotch armies, his supplies were cut off 

 in the neighbourhood &l Dunbar ; his troops became 

 sickly, and his retreat was intercepted. Had the Scotch 

 general continued in his position on the heights, the 

 English army must have surrendered ; but his opera- 

 were controlled or impeded by a committee of 



church and state, who blamed him for his reluctance to Cromwel!. 

 extirpate the sectaries. Goaded by these reproaches, <— -~V-~ 

 and in obedience to their peremptory orders, the com- 

 mander of the Scotch army quitted the hills, saved the 

 army of Cromwell, and ruined his own. At the mo- 

 ment when the Scotch were making this disastrous 

 movement, Cromwell ana his officers were engaged in 

 a solemn fast ; when he perceived it, he exclaimed, 

 " They are coming down, the Lord hath delivered 

 them into our hands !" In 16'51, he gained the battle 

 of Worcester, which, in hi9 letter to the parliament, he 

 styled the " crowning victory." From this time he as- 

 sumed more loftiness of manner, and betrayed less equi- 

 vocal symptoms than usual, of his designs and his 

 hopes. Before, however, he could expect to succeed, it 

 was necessary to subvert the parliament ; and on this 

 point, disguised under the idea and phrase of establish- 

 ing the kingdom, he had frequent conferences with the 

 most eminent and leading men in the nation, and par- 

 ticularly with the Lord Commissioner Whitlocke. He 

 soon found that it was absolutely necessary to proceed 

 with great caution and deliberation ; the parliament 

 were alarmed and put on their guar 1, and they framed 

 a bill to continue their sittings till the 5th of Novem- 

 ber 1654. Cromwell being informed of this proposed 

 measure, marched to Westminster with a party of 300 

 soldiers, whom he placed round the House. He him- 

 self went in, and listened to their debates for some time 

 in silence, till the question being put for passing the 

 bill, he rose and abused the members in the most vio- 

 lent and gross terms, and when some of them began to 

 speak he stepped into the middle of the House, and ex- 

 claimed, " Come, come, I v/ill put an end to your 

 prating ; — you are no parliament, I say you are no par- 

 liament !" he then gave the signal, by stamping with 

 his foot, for the soldiers to rush in, and bade one of 

 them take away that bauble, pointing to the speak- 

 er's mace. The soldiers next cleared the House of all 

 the members, and the doors were locked up. Having 

 thus forcibly dissolved the parliament, he treated the 

 council of state in the same manner. 



On the 16th of December 165 •, he was solemnly in- 

 vested with the office of Protector of the common- 

 wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in the court 

 of chancery, in Westminster Hall ; and he lost no time 

 in directing his thoughts to the arrangement and set- 

 tlement of public affairs, both foreign and domestic. 

 Abroad he was feared, and made the rights of England 

 respected. At home his administration of justice was 

 pure and impartial ; the courts were filled with able 

 judges, and the practice of the law was freed from many 

 imperfections and abuses. He declared his unalterable 

 resolution to maintain liberty of conscience, and in his 

 conduct he adhered to this resolution. 



Notwithstanding he thus endeavoured to gain popu- 

 larity and stability to his government, discontent pre- 

 vailed ; he found himself under great difficulties for 

 want of money, and he was at last obliged to call a 

 parliament. The superstitious cast of his mind dis- 

 played itself on this occasion ; he fixed the third of 

 September for the day on which the parliament was to 

 assemble, esteeming it particularly fortunate to him, 

 and on that day, though it happened to be a Sunday, 

 the parliament met. It was, however, soon dissolved, 

 for finding that they wished to take away his authori- 

 ty, and were not disposed to vote him any money, hs 

 sent for them into the painted chamber, and, after a 

 long and bitter speech, dismissed them. 



This violent proceeding increased the discontent and 

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