OLIVER CROMWELL. 
335 
course of life grew stricter; his mind seemed wholly bent upon reli^ 
gious subjects ; and he not only exerted himself in behalf of his new 
brethren, but his house became the retreat of their persecuted 
ministers. 
The nation at large being at this time extremely dissatisfied with 
the court, he obtained through this mode of procedure a seat for the bo- 
rough of Huntingdon, as a champion of the people. Whether he was at 
this or any former period concerned in the brewing business, as his 
father had been, is difficult to ascertain ; but several lampoons, con- 
taining inferences of that kind, were published by his enemies during 
his life* Huntingdon after some time becoming disagreeable to him, 
on account of the loyalty of its corporation, and of his uncle Sir Oli- 
ver Cromwell, he sold his estates there, and took a farm at St, Ives, 
in the same county. But his new residence does not appear to have 
been long agreeable to him. The occupation he had entered into was 
not suited to his turn of mind. Indeed, it did not turn out so advan» 
tageous as he expected ; which might partly be attributed to his want 
of knowledge in the grazing business, to which the farm was appro- 
priated, and partly from his employing too much of his own and his 
servants’ time in prayer and other religious duties. 
A more pleasing revolution in his affairs, however, soon took 
place ; for, upon the death of his maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Steward, 
who died in the year 1635, without issue, he became possessed of 
very considerable estates in and near Ely ; to which he removed, after 
having resided about five or six years at St. Ives. Here those seeds 
of ambition which were implanted by nature in the breast of Oliver, 
began to distend themselves; and he seems to have neglected no 
opportunity of increasing his popularity. . For, in the year 1638, we 
find him strenuously opposing the scheme for draining the fens in 
Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely, which had been undertaken by the 
earl of Bedford and others, under the royal sanction. Nolwithstanding 
the undertaking must have proved extremely beneficial to the country, 
and had been recommended by his father, yet as it was very unpo- 
pular, particularly among the common people, because they had a 
custom of commoning and fishing in dry times, Oliver set his face 
against it; and by his plausibility, activity, and interest, at a meeting 
of the propietors held in Huntingdon, he obliged them to drop their 
intention. By doing this, he gained a great number of friends, and 
it likewise procured him the title of “ lord of the fens.” By such 
gradual steps did that popularity expand itself, which at length was 
the means of raising him to the most elevated situations. But dis- 
content for the present clouded his mind, and rendered him dissatis- 
fied with his native country. 
Having opposed by every means in his power the arbitrary pro- 
ceedings of the court, and finding that nothing would alter the system 
which Charles and his ministers had determined to pursue, he resolved 
to leave England, in order to enjoy that liberty of conscience which 
was denied him here. With this design he went to London, and em- 
barked with many other gentlemen of fashion, several of whom were of 
far better fortune than himself, particularly bis, cousin Hampden, on 
board some ships bound for New England, in North America, which 
