71 



Oliver Cromwell, H.H. the Lord Protector, and the 

 Royalist Insurrection against his Government 



Of Marcll, 1655. A Relation of the part taken therein by the 

 Protector, of the way in which his subjects regarded him and the In- 

 surrection, and of the causes and consequences thereof, by Sir Reginald 

 F. D. Palgrave, K.C.B. London : Sampson Low, Marston, & Co. 1903. 

 Cloth, 8 X pp. xiii. 106. 



The object of this work, says the author, " is to exhibit Oliver Cromwell 

 as the fosterer of the insurrection against his Government which took 

 place during March, 1655, an event of which the occupation of Salisbury 

 for a few hours by a troop of Royalists formed the most conspicuous 

 feature." It is an amplification of a lecture delivered at the Blackmore 

 Museum, reported in the Salisbury Journal of March 22nd, 1902, and 

 noticed in this Magazine, vol. xxxii., p. 251, and also of articles in the 

 Quarterly Review and The English Historical Review, July, Oct., 1888, 

 and Jan., 1889, on " Cromwell and the Insurrection of 1655." The author 

 begins by stating very shortly the facts as to the Grove and Penruddocke 

 Rising, and the six or seven simultaneous and even more abortive 

 attempts at risings which took place in other parts of England — and 

 then proceeds to show that " The Insurrection of March, 1655 was not 

 an isolated occurrence ; it formed the central link in the chain of events 

 which ensued after that memorable Tuesday, 30th of January, 1649, 

 King Charles's death day, until the close of the Protectorate." From 

 the dispersion of the Long Parliament until the close of the Protectorate 

 the army was practically the Government of England,and Cromwell speaks 

 of himself as their " drudge." They were absolutely supreme. On the 

 other hand the Royalist leaders were led to believe that a considerable 

 number of the officers were ready to declare themselves on their side, 

 and they were, the author maintains — on the authority of Clarendon 

 and Col. Cromwell — purposely encouraged in this belief, with the full 

 knowledge of Cromwell himself. Moreover as circumstances had led 

 just then to the preponderance of the rasher and fighting section in the 

 Royalist councils, they fell an easy prey to the deceitful overtures of the 

 army officers, and the abortive insurrection took place. The Venetian 

 Ambassador in 1655 wrote " The Government often invented conspiracies 

 to afford a pretext against the Royalists, and therefore to increase the 

 Army and the Guards." The rising justified the military rule of the 

 eleven major-generals. 



The Standard, May 30th, 1903, has a long review of the book. It 



