of the States had refused to submit; and Cromwell was content to accept
two other articles, which, while they appeared equally to affect the
two nations, were in reality directed against the Stuart family and its
adherents. It was stipulated that neither commonwealth should harbour or
aid the enemies, rebels, or exiles of the other; but that either, being
previously required, should order such enemies, rebels, or exiles to
leave its territory, under the penalty of death, before the expiration of
twenty-eight days. To the demand, that the same respect which had been paid
to the flag of the king should be paid to that of the commonwealth, the
Dutch did not object. The only questions which latterly retarded the
conclusion of the treaty related to the compensation to be made to the
merchants for the depredations on their trade in the East Indies before,
and the detention of their ships by the king of Denmark during, the war. It
was, however, agreed that arbitrators should be chosen out of both
nations, and that each government should be bound by their award.[1] These
determined[a] that the island of Polerone should be restored, and damages
to the amount of one hundred and seventy thousand pounds should be paid to
the English East India Company; that three thousand six hundred and fifteen
pounds should be distributed among the heirs of those who suffered at
Amboyna; and that a compensation of ninety-seven thousand nine hundred and
seventy-three pounds should be made to the traders to the Baltic.[2]
[Footnote 1: Dumont, v. part ii. 74.]
[Footnote 2: See the award, ibid. 85, 88. By Sagredo, the Venetian
ambassador, who resided during the war at Amsterdam, we are told that the
Dutch acknowledged the loss of one thousand one hundred and twenty-two
men-of-war and merchantmen; and that the expense of this war exceeded
that of their twenty years' hostilities with Spain. He states that their
inferiority arose from three causes: that the English ships were of greater
bulk; the English cannon were of brass, and of a larger calibre; and the
number of prizes made by the English at the commencement crippled the
maritime resources of their enemies.--Relazione, MS. Le Clerc states that
the Dutch employed one hundred thousand men in the herring-fishery (i.
321).]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. August 30.]
On one subject, in the protector's estimation of considerable importance,
he was partially successful. Possessed of the supreme power himself, he
considered Charles as a personal rival, and made it his policy to strip the
exiled king of all hope of foreign support. From the prince of Orange, so
nearly allied to the royal family, Cromwell had little to fear during his
minority; and, to render him incapable of benefiting the royal cause in his
more mature age, the protector attempted to exclude him by the treaty
from succeeding to those high offices which might almost be considered
hereditary in his family. The determined refusal of the States had induced
him to withdraw the demand; but he intrigued, through the agency of
Beverning, with the leaders of the Louvestein party;[1] and obtained a
secret article, by which the states of Holland and West Friesland promised
never to elect the prince of Orange for their stadtholder, nor suffer him
to have the chief command of the army and navy. But the secret transpired;
the other states highly resented this clandestine negotiation; complaints
and remonstrances were answered by apologies and vindications; an open
schism was declared between the provinces, and every day added to the
exasperation of the two parties. On the whole, however, the quarrel was
favourable to the pretensions of the young prince,
[Footnote 1: The leaders of the republicans were so called, because they
had been confined in the castle of Louvestein, whence they were discharged
on the death of the late prince of Orange.]
from the dislike with which the people viewed the interference of a foreign
potentate, or rather, as they termed him, of an usurper, in the internal
arrangements of the republic.[1]
The war[a] in which the rival crowns of France and Spain had so long
been engaged induced both Louis and Philip to pay their court to the new
protector. Alonzo de Cardenas, the Spanish ambassador, had the advantage
of being on the spot. He waited on Cromwell to present to him the
congratulations of his sovereign, and to offer to him the support of the
Spanish monarch, if he should feel desirous to rise a step higher, and
assume the style and office of king. To so flattering a message, a most
courteous answer was returned; and the ambassador proceeded to propose an
alliance between the two powers, of which the great object should be to
confine within reasonable bounds the ambition of France, which, for so
many years, had disturbed the tranquillity of Europe. This was the sole
advantage to which Philip looked; to Cromwell the benefit would be, that
France might be compelled to refuse aid and harbour to Charles Stuart and
his followers; and to contract the obligation of maintaining jointly with
Spain the protector in the government of the three kingdoms. Cromwell
listened, but gave no answer; he appointed commissioners to discuss the
proposal, but forbade them to make any promise, or to hold out any hope
of his acquiescence. When Don Alonzo communicated to them the draft of a
treaty which he had all but concluded with the deputies appointed by the
late parliament, he was
[Footnote 1: Dumont, 79. Thurloe, vol. ii. iii. Vaughan, i. 9, 11. La
Déduction, or Defence of the States in Holland, in Le Clerc, i. 345, and
Basnage, i. 342.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1653.]
asked whether the king of Spain would consent to a free trade to the West
Indies, would omit the clause respecting the Inquisition, reduce to an
equality the duties on foreign merchandise, and give to the English
merchant the pre-emption of the Spanish wool. He replied, that his master
would as soon lose his eyes as suffer the interference of any foreign power
on the two first questions; as to the others, satisfactory adjustments
might easily be made; This was sufficient for the present. Cromwell
affected to consider the treaty at an end; though the real fact was, that
he meditated a very different project in his own mind, and was careful not
to be precluded by premature arrangements.[1]
The French ambassador, though he commenced his negotiation under less
propitious auspices, had the address or good fortune to conduct it to
a more favourable issue. That the royal family of France, from its
relationship to that of England, was ill-disposed towards the commonwealth,
there could be no doubt; but its inclinations were controlled by the
internal feuds which distracted, and the external war which demanded, the
attention of the government. The first proof of hostility was supposed to
be given before the death of the king, by a royal _arrét_[a] prohibiting
the importation into France of English woollens and silks; and this was
afterwards met by an order of parliament[b] equally prohibiting the
importation into England of French woollens, silks, and wines. The alleged
infraction of these commercial
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 705, 759, 760. Dumont, v. part ii. p. 106. The
clause respecting the Inquisition was one which secured the English
traders from being molested by that court, on condition that they gave no
scandal,--modo ne dent scandalum. This condition Cromwell wished to be
withdrawn.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1648. Oct. 21.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1649. August 23.]
regulations led to the arrest and subsequent condemnation of vessels
belonging to both nations; each government issued letters-of-marque to
the sufferers among its subjects; and the naval commanders received
instructions to seek that compensation for the individuals aggrieved which
the latter were unable to obtain of themselves.[1] Thus the maritime trade
of both countries was exposed to the depredations of private and national
cruisers, while their respective governments were considered as remaining
at peace. But in 1651, when the Cardinal Mazarin had been banished from
France, it was resolved by Cromwell, who had recently won the battle of
Worcester, to tempt the fidelity of d'Estrades, the governor of Dunkirk
and a dependant on the exiled minister. An officer of the lord-general's
regiment made to d'Estrades the offer of a considerable sum, on condition
that he would deliver the fortress into the hands of the English; or of the
same sum, with the aid of a military force to the cardinal, if he preferred
to treat in the name of his patron. The governor complained of the insult
offered to his honour; but intimated[a] that, if the English wished to
purchase Dunkirk, the proposal might be addressed to his sovereign. The
hint was taken, and the offer was made, and debated in the royal council at
Poictiers. The cardinal, who returned to France at the very time, urged its
[Footnote 1: See the instructions to Popham. "In respect that many of the
English so spoiled are not able to undergo the charge of setting forth
ships of their own to make seizures by such letters-of-marque; ... you
shall, as in the way and execution of justice, seize, arrest, &c. such
ships and vessels of the said French king, or any of his subjects, as you
shall think fit,... and the same keep in your custody, till the parliament
declare their further resolution concerning the same."--Thurloe, i. 144.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1652. Feb.]
acceptance;[1] but the queen-mother and the other counsellors were so
unwilling to give the English a footing in France, that he acquiesced in
their opinion, and a refusal was returned. Cromwell did not fail to resent
the disappointment. By the facility which he afforded to the Spanish levies
in Ireland, their army in Flanders was enabled to reduce Gravelines, and,
soon afterwards, to invest[a] Dunkirk. That fortress was on the point of
capitulating when a French flotilla of seven sail, carrying from twenty to
thirty guns each, and laden with stores and provisions, was descried[b]
stealing along the shore to its relief. Blake, who had received secret
orders from the council, gave chase; the whole squadron was captured, and
the next day[c] Dunkirk opened its gates.[2] By the French court this
action was pronounced an unprovoked and unjustifiable injury; but Mazarin
coolly calculated the probable consequences of a war, and, after some time,
sent[d] over Bordeaux, under the pretence of claiming the captured ships,
but in reality to oppose the intrigues of the agents of Spain, of the
prince of Condé, and of the city of Bordeaux, who laboured to obtain the
support of the commonwealth in opposition to the French court.[3]
Bordeaux had been appointed[e] ambassador to the parliament; after the
inauguration of Cromwell, it became necessary to appoint him ambassador to
his
[Footnote 1: Here Louis XIV., to whom we are indebted for this anecdote
observes; that it was the cardinal's maxim de pourvoir, à quelque prix
qu'il fût, aux affaires présentes, persuadé que les maux à venir,
trouveroient leur remède dans l'avenir même.--Oeuvres de Louis XIV. i.
170.]
[Footnote 2: Ibid. 168-170. See also Heath, 325; Thurloe, i. 214;
Whitelock, 543.]
[Footnote 3: Journals, 14 Dec. 1652. Clar. Pap. iii. 105, 123, 132.
Thurloe, i. 436.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1652. May 8.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1652. Sept. 5.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1652. Sept. 6.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1652. Dec. 10.]
[Sidenote e: A.D. 1653. Feb. 21.]
highness the protector. But in what style was Louis to address the usurper
by letter? "Mon cousin" was offered and refused; "mon frère," which
Cromwell sought, was offensive to the pride of the monarch; and, as a
temperament between the two, "monsieur le protecteur" was given
and accepted. Bordeaux proposed a treaty of amity, by which all
letters-of-marque should be recalled, and the damages suffered by the
merchants of the two nations be referred to foreign arbitrators. To thwart
the efforts of his rival, Don Alonzo, abandoning his former project,
brought forward the proposal of a new commercial treaty between England and
Spain. Cromwell was in no haste to conclude with either. He was aware that
the war between them was the true cause of these applications; that he held
the balance in his hand, and that it was in his power at any moment to
incline it in favour of either of the two crowns. His determination,
indeed, had long been taken; but it was not his purpose to let it
transpire; and when he was asked the object of the two great armaments
preparing in the English ports, he refused to give any satisfactory
explanation.[1]
In this state of the treaty, its further progress was for a while suspended
by the meeting[a] of the protector's first parliament. He had summoned
it for the 3rd of September, his fortunate day, as he perhaps believed
himself, as he certainly wished it to be believed by others. But the 3rd
happened in that year to fall on a Sunday; and, that the Sabbath might not
be profaned
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 760; ii. 61, 113, 228, 559, 587. An obstacle
was opposed to the progress of the treaty by the conduct of Le Baas, a
dependant on Mazarin, and sent to aid Bordeaux with his advice. After some
time, it was discovered that this man (whether by order of the minister, or
at the solicitation of the royalists, is uncertain) was intriguing with the
malcontents. Cromwell compelled him to return to France.--Thurloe, ii. 309,
351, 412, 437.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Sept. 3.]
by the agitation of worldly business, he requested the members to meet him
at sermon in Westminster Abbey on the following morning.[a] At ten
the procession set out from Whitehall. It was opened by two troops of
life-guards; then rode some hundreds of gentlemen and officers, bareheaded,
and in splendid apparel; immediately before the carriage walked the pages
and lackeys of the protector in rich liveries, and on each side a captain
of the guard; behind it came Claypole, master of the horse, leading a
charger magnificently caparisoned, and Claypole was followed by the great
officers of state and the members of the council. The personal appearance
of the protector formed a striking contrast with the parade of the
procession. He was dressed in a plain suit, after the fashion of a country
gentleman, and was chiefly distinguished from his attendants by his
superior simplicity, and the privilege of wearing his hat. After sermon,
he placed himself in the chair of state in the Painted Chamber, while the
members seated themselves, uncovered on benches ranged along the walls. The
protector then rose, took off his hat, and addressed them in a speech which
lasted three hours. It was, after his usual style, verbose, involved, and
obscure, sprinkled with quotations from Scripture to refresh the piety
of the saints, and seasoned with an affectation of modesty to disarm the
enmity of the republicans. He described the state of the nation at the
close of the last parliament. It was agitated by the principles of the
Levellers, tending to reduce all to an equality; by the doctrines of the
Fifth-monarchy men, subversive of civil government; by religious theorists,
the pretended champions of liberty of conscience, who condemned an
established ministry as Babylonish and antichristian;
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Sept. 4.]
and by swarms of Jesuits, who had settled in England an episcopal
jurisdiction to pervert the people. At the same time the naval war with
Holland absorbed all the pecuniary resources, while a commercial war with
France and Portugal cramped the industry of the nation. He then bade them
contrast this picture with the existing state of things. The taxes had been
reduced; judges of talent and integrity had been placed upon the bench; the
burthen of the commissioners of the great seal had been lightened by the
removal of many descriptions of causes from the court of Chancery to the
ordinary courts of law; and "a stop had been put to that heady way for
every man, who pleased, to become a preacher." The war with Holland had
terminated in an advantageous peace; treaties of commerce and amity had
been concluded with Denmark and Sweden;[1] a similar treaty, which would
place the British trader beyond the reach of the Inquisition, had been
signed with Portugal, and another was in progress with the ambassador of
the French monarch. Thus had the government brought the three nations by
hasty strides towards the land of promise; it was for the parliament to
introduce them into it. The prospect was bright before them; let them not
look
[Footnote 1: That with Sweden was negotiated by Whitelock, who had been
sent on that mission against his will by the influence of Cromwell. The
object was to detach Sweden from the interest of France, and engage it to
maintain the liberty of trade in the Baltic, against Denmark, which was
under the influence of Holland. It was concluded April 11. After the peace
with Holland, the Danish monarch hastened to appease the protector; the
treaty which, though said by Cromwell to be already concluded, was not
signed till eleven days afterwards, stipulated that the English traders
should pay no other customs or dues than the Dutch. Thus they were enabled
to import naval stores on the same terms, while before, on account of
the heavy duties, they bought them at second hand of the Dutch.--See the
treaties in Dumont. v. part ii. p. 80, 92.]
back to the onions and flesh-pots of Egypt. He spoke not as their lord, but
their fellow-servant, a labourer with them in the same good work; and would
therefore detain them no longer, but desire them to repair to their own
house, and to choose their speaker.[1]
To procure a parliament favourable to his designs, all the power of the
government had been employed to influence the elections; the returns had
been examined by a committee of the council, under the pretext of seeing
that the provisions of the "instrument" were observed; and the consequence
was, that the Lord Grey of Groby, Major Wildman, and some other noted
republicans, had been excluded by command of the protector. Still he found
himself unable to mould the house to his wishes. By the court, Lenthall was
put in nomination for the office of speaker; by the opposition, Bradshaw,
the boldest and most able of the opposite party. After a short debate,
Lenthall was chosen, by the one, because they knew him to be a timid and a
time-serving character; by the other, because they thought that, to place
him in the chair, was one step towards the revival of the long parliament,
of which he had been speaker. But no one ventured to propose that he should
be offered, according to ancient custom, to the acceptance of the supreme
magistrate. This was thought to savour too much of royalty.[2]
[Footnote 1: Compare the official copy printed by G. Sawbridge, 1654, with
the abstract by Whitelock (599, 600), and by Bordeaux (Thurloe, ii. 518).
See also Journals, Sept. 3, 4.]
[Footnote 2: It appears from the Council Book (1654, Aug. 21), that, on
that day, letters were despatched to the sheriffs, containing the names of
the members who had been approved by the council, with orders to give them
notice to attend. The letters to the more distant places were sent first,
that they might all be received about the same time.]
It was not long before the relative strength of the parties was
ascertained. After a sharp debate,[a] in which it was repeatedly asked
why the members of the long parliament then present should not resume the
authority of which they had been illegally deprived by force, and by what
right, but that of the sword, one man presumed to "command his commanders,"
the question was put, that the house resolve itself into a committee, to
determine whether or not the government shall be in a single person and a
parliament; and, to the surprise and alarm of Cromwell, it was carried[b]
against the court by a majority of five voices.[1] The leaders of the
opposition were Bradshaw, Hazlerig, and Scot, who now contended in the
committee that the existing government emanated from an incompetent
authority, and stood in opposition to the solemn determination of a
legitimate parliament; while the protectorists, with equal warmth,
maintained that, since it had been approved by the people, the only real
source of power, it could not be subject to revision by the representatives
of the people. The debate lasted several days,[c] during which the
commonwealth party gradually increased in number. That the executive power
might be profitably delegated to a single individual, was not disputed;
but it was contended that, of right, the legislative authority belonged
exclusively to the parliament. The officers and courtiers, finding that the
sense of the house was against them, dropped[d] the question of right,
and fled to that of expediency; in the existing circumstances, the public
safety required a
[Footnote 1: Journals, Sept. 8. Many of those who voted in the majority did
not object to the authority of the protector, but to the source from which
it emanated,--a written instrument, the author of which was unknown. They
wished it to be settled on him by act of parliament.--Thurloe, ii. 606.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Sept. 7.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. Sept. 8.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. Sept. 9.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1654. Sept. 11.]
check on the otherwise unbounded power of parliament; that check could be
no other than a co-ordinate authority, possessing a negative voice; and
that authority was the protector, who had been pointed out to them by
Providence, acknowledged by the people in their addresses, and confirmed by
the conditions expressed in the indentures of the members. It was replied,
that the inconveniency of such a check had induced the nation to abolish
the kingly government; that the addresses of the people expressed their joy
for their deliverance from the incapacity of the little parliament, not
their approbation of the new government; that Providence often permits what
it disapproves; and that the indentures were an artifice of the court,
which could not have force to bind the supreme power. To reconcile the
disputants, a compromise between the parties had been planned; but Cromwell
would not suffer the experiment to be tried.[1] Having ordered[b] Harrison,
whose partisans were collecting signatures to a petition, to be taken into
custody, he despatched three regiments to occupy the principal posts in the
city, and commanded the attendance of the house in the Painted Chamber.
There, laying aside that tone of modesty which he had hitherto assumed, he
frankly told the members that his calling was from God, his testimony from
the people; and that no one but God and the people should ever take his
office from him. It was not of his seeking; God knew that it was his
utmost ambition to lead the life of a country gentleman; but imperious
circumstances had imposed it upon him. The long parliament brought their
dissolution upon themselves by despotism, the little parliament
[Footnote 1: See introduction to Burton's Diary, xxiv.-xxxii.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Sept. 12.]
by imbecility.[1] On each occasion he found himself invested with absolute
power over the military, and, through the military, over the three nations.
But on each occasion he was anxious to part with that power; and if, at
last, he had acquiesced in the instrument of government, it was because it
made the parliament a check on the protector, and the protector a check on
the parliament. That he did not bring himself into his present situation,
he had God for a witness above, his conscience for a witness within, and a
cloud of witnesses without; he had the persons who attended when he took
the oath of fidelity to "the instrument;" the officers of the army in the
three nations, who testified their approbation by their signatures; the
city of London, which feasted him, the counties, cities, and boroughs, that
had sent him addresses; the judges, magistrates, and sheriffs, who acted by
his commission; and the very men who now stood before him, for they came
there in obedience to his writ, and under the express condition that "the
persons so chosen should not
[Footnote 1: It is remarkable that, in noticing the despotism of the long
parliament, he makes mention of the very same thing, which his enemy
Lilburne urged against it: "by taking the judgment, both in capital and
criminal things, to themselves, who in former times were not known to
exercise such a judicature." He boldly maintains that they meant to
perpetuate themselves by filling up vacancies as they occurred, and had
made several applications to him to obtain his consent. He adds, "Poor men,
under this arbitrary power, were driven like flocks of sheep by forty in a
morning, to the confiscation of goods and estates, without any man being
able to give a reason that two of them had deserved to forfeit a shilling.
I tell you the truth; and my soul, and many persons whose faces I see in
this place, were exceedingly grieved at these things, and knew not which
way to help it, but by their mournings, and giving their negatives when the
occasion served." I notice this passage, because since the discovery of the
sequestrators' papers it has been thought, from the regularity with which
their books were kept, and the seeming equity of their proceedings, as they
are entered, that little injustice was done.]
have power to change the government as settled in one single person and the
parliament." He would, therefore, have them to know, that four things were
fundamental: 1. That the supreme power should be vested in a single person
and parliament; 2. that the parliament should be successive, and not
perpetual; 3. that neither protector nor parliament alone should possess
the uncontrolled command of the military force; and 4. that liberty of
conscience should be fenced round with such barriers as might exclude both
profaneness and persecution. The other articles of the instrument were less
essential; they might be altered with circumstances; and he should always
be ready to agree to what was reasonable. But he would not permit them to
sit, and yet disown the authority by which they sat. For this purpose
he had prepared a recognition which he required them to sign. Those who
refused would be excluded the house; the rest would find admission, and
might exercise their legislative power without control, for his negative
remained in force no longer than twenty days. Let them limit his authority
if they pleased. He would cheerfully submit, provided he thought it for the
interest of the people.[1]
The members, on their return, found a guard of soldiers at the door of the
house, and a parchment for signatures lying on a table in the lobby. It
contained the recognition of which the protector had spoken; a pledge that
the subscribers would neither propose nor consent to alter the government,
as it was settled in one person and a parliament. It was immediately signed
by Lenthall, the speaker; his example was followed by the court party; and
in the course of a few
[Footnote 1: Printed by G. Sawbridge, 1654.]
days almost three hundred names were subscribed. The Stanch republicans
refused; yet the sequel showed that their exclusion did not give to the
court that ascendancy in the house which had been anticipated.[1]
About this time an extraordinary accident occurred. Among the presents
which Cromwell had received from foreign princes, were six Friesland
coach-horses from the duke of Oldenburg. One day,[a] after he had dined
with Thurloe under the shade in the park, the fancy took him to try the
mettle of the horses. The secretary was compelled to enter the carriage;
the protector, forgetful of his station, mounted the box. The horses at
first appeared obedient to the hand of the new coachman; but the too
frequent application of the lash drove them into a gallop, and the
protector was suddenly precipitated from his seat. At first, he lay
suspended by the pole with his leg entangled in the harness; and the
explosion of a loaded pistol in one of his pockets added to the fright and
the rapidity of the horses; but a fortunate jerk extricated his foot from
his shoe, and he fell under the body of the carriage without meeting with
injury from the wheels. He was immediately taken up by his guards, who
followed at full speed, and conveyed to Whitehall; Thurloe leaped from the
door of the carriage, and escaped with a sprained ancle and some severe
bruises. Both were confined to their chambers for a long time;
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, ii. 606. Whitelock, 605. Journals, Sept. 5-18.
Fleetwood, from Dublin, asks Thurloe, "How cam it to passe, that this
last teste was not at the first sitting of the house?" (ii. 620). See in
Archæol. xxiv. 39, a letter showing that several, who refused to subscribe
at first through motives of conscience, did so later. This was in
consequence of a declaration that the recognition did not comprehend all
the forty-two articles in "the instrument," but only what concerned the
government by a single person and successive parliaments.--See Journals,
Sept. 14.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Sept. 24.]
but by many, their confinement was attributed as much to policy as to
indisposition. The Cavaliers diverted themselves by prophesying that, as
his first fall had been from a coach, the next would be from a cart: to
the public, the explosion of the pistol revealed the secret terrors which
haunted his mind, that sense of insecurity, those fears of assassination,
which are the usual meed of inordinate and successful ambition.[1]
The force so lately put on the parliament, and the occasion of that
force, had opened the eyes of the most devoted among his adherents. His
protestations of disinterestedness, his solemn appeals to Heaven in
testimony of his wish to lead the life of a private gentleman, were
contrasted with his aspiring and arbitrary conduct; and the house, though
deprived of one-fourth of its number, still contained a majority jealous
of his designs and anxious to limit his authority. The accident which had
placed his life in jeopardy naturally led to the consideration of the
probable consequences of his death; and, to sound the disposition of
the members, the question of the succession was repeatedly, though not
formally, introduced. The remarks which it provoked afforded little
encouragement to his hopes; yet, when the previous arrangements had been
made, and all the dependants of the government had been mustered, Lambert,
having in a long and studied speech detailed the evils of elective, the
benefits of hereditary, succession, moved[a] that the office of protector
should be limited to the family of Oliver Cromwell, according to the known
law of inheritance. To the surprise and the mortification
[Footnote 1: Heath, 363. Thurloe, ii. 652, 653, 672. Ludlow, ii. 63.
Vaughan, i. 69.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Oct. 13.]
of the party, the motion was negatived by a division of two hundred against
eighty voices; and it was resolved that, on the death of the protector, his
successor should be chosen by the parliament if it were sitting, and by the
council in the absence of parliament.[1]
This experiment had sufficiently proved the feelings of the majority.
Aware, however, of their relative weakness, they were careful to give
Cromwell no tangible cause of offence. If they appointed committees to
revise the ordinances which he had published, they affected to consider
them as merely provisional regulations, supplying the place of laws till
the meeting of parliament. If they examined in detail the forty-two
articles of "the instrument," rejecting some, and amending others, they
still withheld their unhallowed hands from those subjects which _he_
had pronounced sacred,--the four immovable pillars on which the new
constitution was built. Cromwell, on his part, betrayed no symptom of
impatience; but waited quietly for the moment when he had resolved
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 668, 681, 685. Whitelock, 607. Journals, Nov. 30.
Though the house was daily occupied with the important question of the
government, it found leisure to inquire into the theological opinions of
John Biddle, who may be styled the father of the English Unitarians. He had
been thrice imprisoned by the long parliament, and was at last liberated by
the act of oblivion in 1652. The republication of his opinions attracted
the notice of the present parliament: to the questions put to him by the
speaker, he replied, that he could nowhere find in Scripture that Christ
or the Holy Ghost is called God; and it was resolved that he should be
committed to the Gatehouse, and that a bill to punish him should be
prepared. The dissolution saved his life; and by application to the Upper
Bench, he recovered his liberty; but was again arrested in 1655, and sent
to the isle of Scilly, to remain for life in the castle of St. Mary.
Cromwell discharged him in 1658; but he was again sent to Newgate in
1662, where he died the same year.--See Vita Bidelli, the short account;
Journals, Dec. 12, 13, 1654; Wood, iii. 594; and Biog. Brit.]
to break the designs of his adversaries. They proceeded with the revision
of "the instrument;" their labours were embodied in a bill,[a] and the bill
was read a third time. During two days the courtiers prolonged the debate
by moving a variety of amendments; on the third Cromwell summoned[b] the
house to meet him in the Painted Chamber. Displeasure and contempt were
marked on his countenance; and the high and criminatory tone which he
assumed taught them to feel how inferior the representatives of the people
were to the representative of the army.
They appeared there, he observed, with the speaker at their head, as a
house of parliament. Yet, what had they done as a parliament? He never had
played, he never would play, the orator; and therefore he would tell them
frankly, they had done nothing. For five months they had passed no bill,
had made no address, had held no communication with him. As far as
concerned them, he had nothing to do but to pray that God would enlighten
their minds and give a blessing to their labours. But had they then done
nothing? Yes: they had encouraged the Cavaliers to plot against the
commonwealth, and the Levellers to intrigue with the Cavaliers. By their
dissension they had aided the fanatics to throw the nation into confusion,
and by the slowness of their proceedings had compelled the soldiers to live
at free quarters on the country. They supposed that he sought to make the
protectorship hereditary in his family. It was not true; had they inserted
such a provision in "the instrument," on that ground alone he would have
rejected it. He spoke in the fear of the Lord, who would not be mocked, and
with the satisfaction that his conscience did not belie his assertion. The
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. Jan. 19.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1655. Jan. 22.]
different revolutions which had happened were attributed to his cunning.
How blind were men who would not see the hand of Providence in its merciful
dispensations, who ridiculed as the visions of enthusiasm the observations
"made by the quickening and teaching Spirit!" It was supposed that he would
not be able to raise money without the aid of parliament. But "he had been
inured to difficulties, and never found God failing when he trusted in
him." The country would willingly pay on account of the necessity. But was
not the necessity of his creation? No: it was of God; the consequence of
God's providence. It was no marvel, if men who lived on their masses and
service-books, their dead and carnal worship, were strangers to the works
of God; but for those who had been instructed by the Spirit of God, to
adopt the same language, and say that men were the cause of these things,
when God had done them, this was more than the Lord would bear. But that
he might trouble them no longer, it was his duty to tell them that their
continuance was not for the benefit of the nation, and therefore he did
then and there declare that he dissolved the parliament.[1]
This was a stroke for which his adversaries were unprepared. "The
instrument" had provided that the parliament should continue to sit during
five months, and it still wanted twelve days of the expiration of that
term. But Cromwell chose to understand the clause not of calendar but
of lunar months, the fifth of which had been completed on the preceding
evening. Much might have been urged against such an interpretation; but a
military force was ready to
[Footnote 1: Printed by Henry Hills, printer to his highness the
lord-protector, 1654. Whitelock, 610-618. Journals, Jan. 19, 20, 22.]
support the opinion of the protector, and prudence taught the most
reluctant of his enemies to submit.
The conspiracies to which he had alluded in his speech had been generated
by the impatience of the two opposite parties, the republicans and the
royalists. Of the republicans some cared little for religion, others were
religious enthusiasts, but both were united in the same cause by one common
interest. The first could not forgive the usurpation of Cromwell, who had
reaped the fruit, and destroyed the object of their labours; the second
asked each other how they could conscientiously sit quiet, and allow so
much blood to have been spilt, and treasure expended, so many tears to have
been shed, and vows offered in vain. If they "hoped to look with confidence
the King of terrors in the face, if they sought to save themselves from the
bottomless pit, it was necessary to espouse once more the cause of Him who
had called them forth in their generation to assert the freedom of the
people and the privileges of parliament."[1] Under these different
impressions, pamphlets were published exposing the hypocrisy and perjuries
of the protector; letters and agitators passed from regiment to regiment;
and projects were suggested and entertained for the surprisal of Cromwell's
person, and the seizure[a] of the castle of Edinburgh, of Hull, Portsmouth,
and other places of strength. But it was not easy for the republicans to
deceive the vigilance, or elude the grasp of their adversary. He dismissed
all officers of doubtful fidelity from their commands in the army, and
secured the obedience of the men by the substitution of others more devoted
to his interest; by his order, Colonel Wildman was surprised in the very
act of dictating
[Footnote 1: See Thurloe, iii. 29; and Milton's State Papers, 132.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. Feb. 10.]
to his secretary a declaration against the government, of the most
offensive and inflammatory tendency; and Lord Grey of Groby, Colonels
Alured, Overton, and others, were arrested, of whom some remained long in
confinement, others were permitted to go at large, on giving security for
their peaceable behaviour.[1]
The other conspiracy, though more extensive in its ramifications, proved
equally harmless in the result. Among the royalists, though many had
resigned themselves to despair, there were still many whose enthusiasm
discovered in each succeeding event a new motive for hope and exultation.
They listened to every tale which flattered their wishes, and persuaded
themselves, that on the first attempt against the usurper they would be
joined by all who condemned his hypocrisy and ambition. It was in vain that
Charles, from Cologne, where he had fixed his court, recommended caution;
that he conjured his adherents not to stake his and their hopes on
projects, by which, without being serviceable to him, they would compromise
their own safety. They despised his warnings; they accused him of indolence
and apathy; they formed associations, collected arms, and fixed the 14th of
February for simultaneous risings in most counties of England.[2] The day
was postponed to March 7; but Charles, at their request, proceeded in
disguise to Middleburgh in Zeeland, that he might be in readiness to cross
over to England; and Lord Wilmot, lately created earl of Rochester, with
Sir Joseph Wagstaff, arrived to take the command of the insurgents,
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. passim. Whitelock, 608-620. Bates, 290, 291.]
[Footnote 2: Clarendon (Hist. iii. 552) is made to assign the 18th of April
for the day of rising; but all the documents, as well as his own narrative,
prove this to be an error.]
the first in the northern, the second in the western counties. It was the
intention of Wagstaff to surprise Winchester during the assizes; but the
unexpected arrival[a] of a troop of cavalry deterred him from the attempt.
He waited patiently till the judges proceeded to Salisbury; and, learning
that their guard had not accompanied them, entered that city with two
hundred men at five o'clock in the morning of Monday.[b] The main body with
their leader took possession of the market-place; while small detachments
brought away the horses from the several inns, liberated the prisoners in
the gaol, and surprised the sheriff and the two judges in their beds. At
first Wagstaff gave orders that these three should be immediately hanged;
for they were traitors acting under the authority of the usurper; then,
pretending to relent, he discharged the judges on their parole, but
detained the sheriff a prisoners because he had refused to proclaim Charles
Stuart. At two in the afternoon he left Salisbury, but not before he had
learned to doubt of the result. Scarcely a man had joined him of the crowd
of gentlemen and yeomen whom the assizes had collected in the town; and the
Hampshire royalists, about two hundred and fifty horse, had not arrived
according to their promise. From Salisbury the insurgents marched through
Dorsetshire into the county of Devon. Their hopes grew fainter every hour;
the further they proceeded, their number diminished; and, on the evening
of the third day,[c] they reached Southmolton in a state of exhaustion
and despondency. At that moment, Captain Crook, who had followed them for
several hours, charged into the town with a troop of cavalry. Hardly a show
of resistance was made; Penruddock, Grove, and Jones, three of the leaders,
with some fifty others, were made
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. March 7.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1655. March 11.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1655. March 14.]
prisoners; the rest, of whom Wagstaff had the good fortune to be one, aided
by the darkness of the night, effected their escape.[1]
The Hampshire royalists had commenced their march for Salisbury, when,
learning that Wagstaff had left that city, they immediately dispersed.
Other risings at the same time took place in the counties of Montgomery,
Shropshire, Nottingham, York, and Northumberland, but everywhere with
similar results. The republicans, ardently as they desired to see the
protector humbled in the dust, were unwilling that his ruin should be
effected by a party whose ascendancy appeared to them a still more grievous
evil. The insurgents were ashamed and alarmed at the paucity of their
numbers; prudence taught them to disband before they proceeded to acts of
hostility; and they slunk away in secrecy to their homes, that they might
escape the proof, if not the suspicion, of guilt. Even Rochester himself,
sanguine as he was by disposition, renounced the attempt; and, with his
usual good fortune, was able to thread back his way, through a thousand
dangers, from the centre of Yorkshire to the court of the exiled sovereign
at Cologne.[2]
Whether it was through a feeling of shame, or apprehension of the
consequences, Cromwell, even under the provocations which he had received,
ventured not to bring to trial any of the men who had formerly fought by
his side, and now combined against him because he trampled on the liberties
of the nation. With the royalists it was otherwise. He knew that their
sufferings would excite little commiseration in those whose
[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 620. Thurloe, iii. 263, 295, 306. Heath, 367.
Clarendon, iii. 551, 560. Ludlow, ii. 69. Vaughan, i. 149.]
[Footnote 2: Whitelock, 618, 620. Heath, 368. Clarendon, iii. 560.]
favour he sought; and he was anxious to intimidate the more eager by the
punishment of their captive associates. Though they had surrendered[a]
under articles, Penruddock and Grove were beheaded at Exeter; about fifteen
others suffered in that city and in Salisbury; and the remainder were
sent to be sold for slaves in Barbadoes.[1] To these executions succeeded
certain measures of precaution. The protector forbade all ejected and
sequestered clergymen of the church of England to teach as schoolmasters
or tutors, or to preach or use the church service as ministers either in
public or private; ordered all priests belonging to the church of Rome
to quit the kingdom under the pain of death; banished all Cavaliers and
Catholics to the distance of twenty miles from the metropolis; prohibited
the publication in print of any news or intelligence without permission
from the secretary of state; and placed in confinement most of the nobility
and principal gentry in England, till they could produce bail for their
good behaviour and future appearance. In addition, an ordinance was
published that "all who had ever borne arms for the king, or declared
themselves to be of the royal party, should be decimated, that is, pay a
tenth part of all the estate which they had left, to support the charge
which the commonwealth was put to by the unquietness of their temper, and
the just cause of jealousy which they had administered." It is difficult
to conceive a more iniquitous imposition. It was subversive of the act of
oblivion formerly procured by Cromwell himself, which pretended to abolish
the memory of all past offences; contrary to natural justice, because it
involved the innocent and guilty in the same punishment; and productive
[Footnote 1: State Trials, v. 767-790.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655. May 16.]
of the most extensive extortions, because the commissioners included among
the enemies of the commonwealth those who had remained neutral between
the parties, or had not given satisfaction by the promptitude of their
services, or the amount of their contributions. To put the climax to these
tyrannical proceedings, he divided the country into eleven, and, at one
period, into fourteen, military governments, under so many officers, with
the name and rank of major-generals, giving them authority to raise a
force within their respective jurisdictions, which should serve only on
particular occasions; to levy the decimation and other public taxes; to
suppress tumults and insurrections; to disarm all papists and Cavaliers;
to inquire into the conduct of ministers and schoolmasters; and to arrest,
imprison, and bind over, all dangerous and suspected persons. Thus,
this long and sanguinary struggle, originally undertaken to recover the
liberties of the country, terminated in the establishment of a military
despotism. The institutions which had acted as restraints on the power of
preceding sovereigns were superseded or abolished; the legislative, as well
as the executive authority, fell into the grasp of the same individual; and
the best rights of the people were made to depend on the mere pleasure of
an adventurer, who, under the mask of dissimulation, had seized, and by the
power of the sword retained, the government of three kingdoms.[1]
[Footnote 1: Sagredo, who had lately arrived as ambassador extraordinary,
thus describes the power of Cromwell:--"Non fa caro del nome, gli basta
possedere l'autorità e la potenza, senza comparazione majore non solo di
quanti re siano stati in Inghilterra, ma di quanti monarchi stringono
presentamente alcun scetro nel mondo. Smentite le legge fondamentali del
regno, egli è il solo legislatore: tutti i governi escono dalle sue mane, e
quelli del consiglio, per entrarvi, devono essere nominati da sua altezza,
ne possono divenir grandi, se non da lui inalzati. E perchè alcuno non
abbia modo di guadagnar autorità sopra l'armata, tutti gli
avanzamenti, senza passar per alcun mezzo, sono da lui direttamente
conosciuti."--Sagredo, MS.]
From domestic occurrences, we may now turn to those abroad. During the last
year, the two armaments which had so long engaged the attention of the
European nations, had sailed from the English ports. Their real, but
secret, destination was to invade the American colonies and surprise
the Plate fleet of Spain, the most ancient and faithful ally of the
commonwealth. To justify the measure, it was argued in the council that,
since America was not named in the treaties of 1604 and 1630, hostilities
in America would be no infraction of those treaties; that the Spaniards had
committed depredations on the English commerce in the West Indies, and were
consequently liable to reprisals; that they had gained possession of these
countries by force against the will of the natives, and might, therefore,
be justly dispossessed by force; and, lastly, that the conquest of these
transatlantic territories would contribute to spread the light of the
gospel among the Indians and to cramp the resources of popery in Europe.[1]
That such flimsy pretences should satisfy the judgment of the protector is
improbable; his mind was swayed by very different motives--the prospect of
reaping, at a small cost, an abundant harvest of wealth and glory, and the
opportunity of
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 760, 761; ii. 54, 154, 570. Ludlow, ii. 51, 105.
The article of the treaty of 1630, on which Cromwell rested his claim of a
free trade to the Indies, was the first, establishing peace between _all
the subjects_ of the two crowns (subditos quoscumque); that which, the
Spaniards alleged, was the seventh, in which as the king of Spain, would
not consent to a free trade to America, it was confined to those countries
in which, such free trade had been exercised before the war between
Elizabeth of England and Philip of Spain--words which excluded America as
effectually as if it had been named.--See Dumont, iv. part ii. p. 621.]
engaging in foreign service the officers of whose fidelity at home he had
good reason to be jealous.
The Spanish cabinet, arguing from circumstances, began to suspect his
object, and, as a last effort, sent[a] the marquess of Leyda ambassador
extraordinary to the court of London. He was graciously received, and
treated with respect; but, in defiance of his most urgent solicitations,
could not, during five months, obtain a positive answer to his proposals.
He represented to the protector the services which Spain had rendered to
the commonwealth; adverted to the conduct of De Baas, as a proof of the
insidious designs of Mazarin; maintained that the late insurrection had
been partially instigated by the intrigues of France; and that French
troops had been collected on the coast to accompany Charles Stuart to
England, if his friends had not been so quickly suppressed; and concluded
by offering to besiege Calais, and, on its reduction, to cede it to
Cromwell, provided he, on his part, would aid the prince of Condé in his
design of forcing his way into Bordeaux by sea. At length, wearied with
delays, and esteeming a longer residence in England a disgrace to
his sovereign, he demanded[b] passports, and was dismissed with many
compliments by the protector.[1]
In the mean while, Blake, who commanded one of the expeditions, had sailed
to the Straits of Gibraltar, where he received many civilities from the
Spanish authorities. Thence he proceeded up the Mediterranean, capturing,
under pretence of reprisals, the French vessels, whether merchantmen or
men-of-war, and seeking, but in vain, the fleet under the duke of Guise.
Returning to the south, he appeared before
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, i. 761; ii. 54, 154, 570. Dumont, v. part ii. 106.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. June 18.]
Algiers, and extorted from that government an illusory promise of respect
to the English flag. From Algiers he proceeded[a] to Tunis. To his demands
the dey replied: "There are Goletta, Porto Ferino, and my fleet; let him
destroy them if he can." Blake departed,[b] returned unexpectedly to Porto
Ferino, silenced the fire of the castle, entered the harbour, and burnt the
whole flotilla of nine men-of-war. This exploit induced the dey of Tripoli
to purchase the forbearance of the English by an apparent submission;
his Tunisian brother deemed it prudent to follow his example; and the
chastisement of the pirates threw an additional lustre on the fame of the
protector. There still remained, however, the great but concealed object of
the expedition,--the capture of the Plate fleet laden with the treasures of
the Indies; but Blake was compelled to remain so long before Cadiz that the
Spaniards discovered his design; and Philip, though he professed to think
the protector incapable of so dishonourable a project, permitted the
merchants to arm in defence of their property. More than thirty ships were
manned with volunteers: they sailed[c] from Cadiz under the command of Don
Pablos de Contreras, and continued for some days in sight of the English
fleet; but Pablos was careful to give no offence; and Blake, on the
reperusal of his instructions, did not conceive himself authorized to begin
the attack. After a long and tedious cruise, he received intelligence
that the galleons, his destined prey, were detained in the harbour of
Carthagena, and returned to England with a discontented mind and shattered
constitution. In regard to the principal object, the expedition had failed;
but this had never been avowed; and the people were taught to rejoice at
the laurels won in the destruction
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. March 10.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April 18.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. August 15.]
of the Tunisian fleet, and the lesson given to the piratical tribes on the
northern coast of Africa.[1]
The other expedition consisted[a] of thirty sail and a military force of
three thousand men, under the joint command of Penn, as admiral, and
of Venables, as general. They spent several weeks among the English
settlements in the West Indies, and by the promise of plunder allured
to their standard many of the planters, and multitudes of the English,
Scottish, and Irish royalists, who had been transported thither as
prisoners of war. When they reached Hispaniola, Venables numbered ten
thousand men under his command; and, had the fleet boldly entered the
harbour of St. Domingo, it was believed that the town, unprepared for
resistance, must have immediately submitted. But the greater part of the
army was landed[b] at a point about forty miles distant, the expectations
of the men were disappointed by a proclamation, declaring that the plunder
was to be considered the public property of the commonwealth; the length of
the march, the heat of the climate, and the scarcity of water added to the
general discontent, and almost a fortnight elapsed before the invaders were
able to approach[c] the defences of the place. Their march lay through a
thick and lofty wood; and the advance suddenly found itself in front of a
battery which enfiladed the road to a considerable distance. On the first
discharge, the men rushed back on a regiment of foot; that, partaking in
the panic, on a squadron of
[Footnote 1: See in particular Blake's letters in Thurloe, iii. 232, 392,
541, 611, 620, 718; iv. 19. He complains bitterly of the bad state of the
ships, and of the privations suffered by the men, from the neglect of the
commissioners of the navy. The protector's instructions to him are in
Thurloe, i. 724.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan. 29.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. April 25.]
horse; and, while the infantry and cavalry were thus wedged together in
inextricable confusion, the Spanish marksmen kept up a most destructive
fire from behind the trees lining the road. After a long effort, the wood
was cleared by a body of seamen who served among the infantry, and darkness
put an end to the action, in which not fewer than a thousand men had
fallen. In the morning the English retired to their last encampment, about
ten miles from the town.
Here Venables called a council of officers, who, having previously sought
the Lord, determined[a] to "purge" the army. Some of the runaways were
hanged; the officer who commanded the advance was broken, and sent on board
the hospital ship to wait on the sick; the loose women who had followed the
army were apprehended and punished; and a solemn fast was proclaimed and
observed. But no fasting, praying, or purging could restore the spirits of
men humbled by defeat, enfeebled by disease, and reduced to the necessity
of feeding on the horses belonging to the cavalry. The attempt was
abandoned;[b] but, on their return, the two commanders made a descent on
the island of Jamaica. The Spanish settlers, about five hundred, fled to
the mountains; a capitulation[c] followed; and the island was ceded to
England. Could its flourishing condition in a subsequent period have been
foreseen, this conquest might have consoled the nation for the loss at
Hispaniola, and the disgrace of the attempt. But at that time Jamaica
was deemed an inconsiderable acquisition; the failure of the expedition
encouraged men to condemn the grounds on which it had been undertaken; and
Cromwell, mortified and ashamed, vented his displeasure
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. April 28.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. May 3.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. May 10.]
on Penn and Venables, the two commanders, whom, on their arrival, he
committed[a] to the Tower.[1]
To many it seemed a solecism in politics, that, when the protector
determined to break with Spain, he did not attempt to sell his services to
the great enemy of Spain, the king of France. For reasons which have never
been explained, he took no advantage of this circumstance; instead of
urging, he seemed anxious to retard, the conclusion of the treaty with that
power; after each concession he brought forward new and more provoking
demands; and, as if he sought to prevail by intimidation, commissioned
Blake to ruin the French commerce, and to attack the French fleet in the
Mediterranean. By Louis these insults were keenly felt; but his pride
yielded to his interest; expedients were found to satisfy all the claims of
the protector; and at length the time for the signature of the treaty was
fixed, when an event occurred to furnish new pretexts for delay, that
event, which by Protestants has been called the massacre, by Catholics the
rebellion, of the Vaudois.
About the middle of the thirteenth century the peculiar doctrines of the
"poor men of Lyons" penetrated
[Footnote 1: Carte's Letters, ii. 46-52. Thurloe, iii. 504, 509, 689, 755;
iv. 28. Bates, 367. Penn and Venables having resigned their commissions,
were discharged.--Council Book, 1655, Oct. 26, 31. It appears from the
papers in Thurloe that Cromwell paid great attention to the prosperity of
the West Indian colonies, as affording facilities to future attempts on the
American continent. To increase the population, he had, as the reader is
already aware, forcibly taken up a thousand young girls in Ireland, and
sent them to Jamaica; in 1656, while Sagredo was in London, he ordered all
females of disorderly lives to be arrested and shipped for Barbadoes for
the like purpose. Twelve hundred were sent in three ships. Ho veduto prima
del mio partire piu squadre di soldati andar per Londra cercando donne di
allegra vita, imbarcandone 1,200 sopre tre vascelli per tragittarle all'
isola, a fine di far propagazione.--Sagredro, MS.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. August 31.]
into the valleys of Piedmont, where they were cherished in obscurity till
the time of the Reformation, and were then exchanged in a great measure,
first for Lutheranism, and then for the creed publicly taught at Geneva.
The duke of Savoy by successive grants confirmed to the natives the
free exercise of their religion, on condition that they should confine
themselves within their ancient limits;[1] but complaints were made that
several among the men of Angrogna had abused their privileges to form
settlements and establish their worship in the plains; and the court of
Turin, wearied with the conflicting statements of the opposite parties,
referred[a] the decision of the dispute to the civilian Andrea Gastaldo.[2]
After a long and patient hearing, he pronounced a definitive judgment, that
Lucerna and some other places lay without the original boundaries, and that
the intruders should withdraw under the penalties of forfeiture and death.
At the same time, however, permission was given to them to sell for their
own profit the lands which they had planted, though by law these lands had
become the property of the sovereign.[3]
The Vaudois were a race of hardy, stubborn, half-civilized mountaineers,
whose passions were readily kindled, and whose resolves were as violent as
they were sudden. At first they submitted sullenly to the
[Footnote 1: These were the four districts of Angrogna, Villaro, Bobbio,
and Rorata.--Siri, del Mercurio, overo Historia de' Correnti Tempi Firenze,
1682, tom. xv. p. 827.]
[Footnote 2: Gilles, Pastore de la Terre, p. 72, Geneve, 1644; and Rorengo,
Memorie Historiche, p. 8, 1649.]
[Footnote 3: The decree of Gastaldo is in Morland, History of the
Evangelical Churches in the valleys of Piedmont, p. 303. The grounds of
that decree are at p. 408, the objections to it at p. 423. See also Siri,
xv. 827, 830; Chiesa, Corona Reale di Savoia, i. 150; Denina, iii. 324;
Guichenon, iii. 139.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1655 June 19.]
judgment of Gastaldo, but sent deputies to Turin, to remonstrate; in a
few days a solemn fast was proclaimed; the ministers excommunicated every
individual who should sell his lands in the disputed territory; the natives
of the valleys under the dominion of the king of France met those of the
valleys belonging to the duke of Savoy; both bound themselves by oath to
stand by each other in their common defence; and messengers were despatched
to solicit aid and advice from the church of Geneva and the Protestant
cantons of Switzerland. The intelligence alarmed the Marquess of Pianeze,
the chief minister of the duke; who, to suppress the nascent confederacy,
marched from Turin with an armed force, reduced La Torre, into which the
insurgents had thrown a garrison of six hundred men, and, having made an
offer of pardon to all who should submit, ordered his troops to fix their
quarters in Bobbio, Villaro, and the lower part of Angrogna. It had
previously been promised[a] that they should be peaceably received; but
the inhabitants had already retired to the mountains with their cattle and
provisions; and the soldiers found no other accommodation than the bare
walls. Quarrels soon followed between the parties; one act of offence was
retaliated with another; and the desire of vengeance provoked a war of
extermination. But the military were in general successful; and the
natives found themselves compelled to flee to the summits of the loftiest
mountains, or to seek refuge in the valleys of Dauphiné, among a people of
similar habits and religion.[1]
[Footnote 1: Siri, xv. 827-833. It would be a difficult task to determine
by whom, after the reduction of La Torre, the first blood was wantonly
drawn, or to which party the blame of superior cruelty really belongs. The
authorities on each side are interested, and therefore suspicious; the
provocations alleged by the one are as warmly denied by the other; and
to the ravages of the military in Angrogna and Lucerna, are opposed the
massacres of the Catholics in Perousa and San Martino. In favour of the
Vaudois may be consulted Leger, Histoire Générale des Eglises Evangéliques,
&c. (he was a principal instigator of these troubles); Stouppe, Collection
of the several papers sent to his highness, &c. London, 1655; Sabaudiensis
in Reformatam Religionem Persecutionis Brevis Narratio, Londini, 1655;
Morland, 326-384, and the papers in Thurloe, iii. 361, 384, 412, 416, 430,
444, 459, 538. Against them--A Short and Faithful Account of the late
Commotions &c., with some reflections on Mr. Stouppe's Collected Papers,
1655; Morland, 387-404; Siri, xv. 827-843, and Thurloe, iii. 413, 464, 475,
490, 502, 535, 535, 617, 626, 656.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. April 7.]
Accounts of these transactions, but accounts teeming with exaggeration and
improbabilities, were transmitted to the different Protestant states by the
ministers at Geneva. They represented the duke of Savoy as a bigoted and
intolerant prince; the Vaudois as an innocent race, whose only crime was
their attachment to the reformed faith. They implored the Protestant
powers to assume the defence of their persecuted brethren, and called for
pecuniary contributions to save from destruction by famine the remnant
which had escaped the edge of the sword.[1] In England the cause was
advocated[a] by the press and from the pulpit; a solemn fast was kept, and
the passions of the people were roused to enthusiasm. The ministers in a
body waited on Cromwell to recommend the Vaudois to his protection; the
armies in Scotland and Ireland presented addresses, expressive of their
readiness to shed their blood in so sacred a cause; and all classes of men,
from the highest to
[Footnote 1: The infidelity of these reports is acknowledged by Morland,
the protector's agent, in a confidential letter to secretary Thurloe. "The
greatest difficulty I meet with is in relation to the matter of fact in the
beginning of these troubles, and during the time of the war. For I find,
upon diligent search, that many papers and books which have been put out in
print on this subject, even by some ministers of the valleys, are lame in
many particulars, and in many things not conformable to truth."--Thurloe,
iv. 417.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. May.]
the lowest, hastened to contribute their money towards the support of the
Piedmontese Protestants. It was observed that, among those who laboured to
inflame the prejudices of the people, none were more active than the two
ambassadors from Spain, and Stouppe, the minister of the French church in
London.[1] Both had long laboured to prevent the conclusion of the treaty
with France; and they now hoped to effect their purpose, because Savoy was
the ally of France, and the principal barbarities were said to have been
perpetrated by troops detached from the French army.[2]
These events opened a flattering prospect to the vanity of Cromwell. By his
usurpation he had forfeited all claim to the title of the champion of civil
liberty; he might still come forward, in the sight of Europe, in the more
august character of the protector of the reformed faith. His first care was
to make, through Stouppe, a promise to the Vaudois of his support, and an
offer to transplant them to Ireland, and to settle them on the lands of
the Irish Catholics; of which the first was accepted with expressions of
gratitude, and the other respectfully declined.[3] He next solicited the
king of France to join with him in mediating between the duke of Savoy and
his subjects of the valleys; and received for answer, that
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. 470, 680. Siri, xv. 468.]
[Footnote 2: Under Pianeze were some troops detached from the French army
commanded by Prince Thomas of Savoy. It was reported that a regiment
of Irish Catholics formed a part of this detachment; and to them were
attributed, of course, the most horrible barbarities.--Leger, iii. Stouppe,
Preface. Thurloe, iii. 412, 459, 460. On inquiry, it was discovered that
these supposed Irishmen were English. "The Irish regiment said to be there
was the earl of Bristol's regiment, a small and weak one, most of
them being English. I hear not such complaints of them as you set
forth."--Thurloe, iii. 50.]
[Footnote 3: Thurloe, iii. 459.]
Louis had already interposed his good offices, and had reason to expect a
favourable result. Lastly, he sent[a] Morland as ambassador to Turin, where
he was honourably received, and entertained at the duke's expense. To
his memorial in favour of the Vaudois, it was replied,[b] that out of
compliment to Cromwell their rebellion, though unprovoked, should be
forgiven; but his further interference was checked by the announcement that
the particulars of the pacification had been wholly referred to Servien,
the French ambassador.[1]
At home, Cromwell had signified his intention of postponing the signature
of the treaty with France till he was acquainted with the opinion of Louis
on the subject of the troubles in Piedmont. Bordeaux remonstrated[c]
against this new pretext for delay; he maintained that the question bore no
relation to the matter of the treaty; that the king of France would never
interfere with the internal administration of an independent state; that
the duke of Savoy had as good a right to make laws for his Protestant
subjects, as the English government for the Catholics of the three
kingdoms; and that the Vaudois were in reality rebels who had justly
incurred the resentment of their sovereign. But Cromwell was not to be
diverted[d] from his purpose. It was in vain that the ambassador asked for
a final answer; that he demanded[e] an audience of leave preparatory to his
departure. At last he was relieved from his perplexity by an order[f] to
announce that the duke, at the request of the king of France, had granted
an amnesty to the Vaudois, and confirmed their ancient privileges; that the
boon had been gratefully received by the insurgents; and that
[Footnote 1: Thurloe iii. 528, 608, 636, 656, 672. Siri, ibid. Vaugh. 248.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. May 22.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1656. June 21.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1656. May 24.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1656. June 18.]
[Sidenote e: A.D. 1656. June 21. [Sidenote f: A.D. 1656. August 20.]
the natives of the valleys, Protestants and Catholics had met, embraced
each other with tears, and sworn to live in perpetual amity together. The
unexpected intelligence was received by Cromwell with a coldness which
betrayed his disappointment.[1] But, if the pacification broke the new
projects which he meditated,[2] it served to raise his fame in the
estimation of Europe; for it was evident that the Vaudois owed the
favourable conditions which they obtained,[a] not so much to the good-will
of Louis, as to his anxiety that no pretext should remain for the future
interference of the protector.[3]
But though tranquillity was restored in Piedmont, Cromwell was still
unwilling to conclude the treaty till he had ascertained what impression
had been made on the king of Spain by the late attempt on Hispaniola.
To Philip, already engaged in war with France, it was painful to add so
powerful an adversary to the number
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iii. 469, 470, 475, 535, 568, 706, 724, 742, 745.
Siri, xv. 843.]
[Footnote 2: The Protestant cantons of Switzerland had sent Colonel Mey to
England, offering to raise an army in aid of the Vaudois, if Cromwell would
furnish a subsidy of ten thousand pounds per month.--Siri, Mercurio, xv.
472. In consequence Downing was despatched as envoy to these cantons; but
the pacification was already concluded; and on his arrival at Geneva, he
received orders, dated Aug. 30, to return immediately.--Thurloe, iii. 692,
694; iv. 31. Still the design was not abandoned, but intrusted to Morland,
who remained at Geneva, to distribute the money from England. What were his
secret instructions may be seen, ibid. p. 326.]
[Footnote 3: The conditions may be seen in Morland, 652; Dumont, vi. part
ii. p. 114; and Leger, 216. The subscription for the Vaudois, of which
two thousands pounds was given by the protector, amounted to thirty eight
thousand two hundred and twenty-eight pounds four shillings and twopence.
Of this sum twenty-five thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight pounds
eight shillings and ninepence was sent at different times to the valleys;
four hundred and sixty-three pounds seventeen shillings was charged
for expenses; and about five hundred pounds was found to be clipt or
counterfeit money.--Journals, 11 July, 1559.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. August 8.]
of his enemies; but the affront was so marked, so unjust, so unprovoked,
that to submit to it in silence was to subscribe to his own degradation. He
complained,[a] in dignified language, of the ingratitude and injustice of
the English government; contrasted with its conduct his own most scrupulous
adhesion both to the letter and the spirit of the treaties between the
kingdoms; ordered that all ships, merchandize, and property belonging to
the subjects of the commonwealth should be seized and secured in every part
of his dominions, and instructed his ambassador in London to remonstrate
and take his leave.[1] The day after the passport was delivered to Don
Alonzo, Cromwell consented[b] to the signature of the treaty with France.
It provided that the maritime hostilities, which had so long harassed the
trade of the two nations, should cease, that the relations of amity and
commerce should be restored; and, by a separate, and therefore called a
secret, article, that Barriere, agent for the prince of Condé, and nine
other Frenchmen, equally obnoxious to the French ministry, should be
perpetually excluded from the territory of the commonwealth; and that
Charles Stuart, his brother the duke of York, Ormond, Hyde, and fifteen
other adherents of the exiled prince, should, in the same manner, be
excluded from the kingdom of France.[2] The protector had persuaded
[Footnote 1: Thurloe, iv. 19, 20, 21, 82, 91.]
[Footnote 2: Dumont, vi. part ii. p. 121. In the body of the treaty,
neither the king nor the protector is named; all the articles are
stipulated between the commonwealth of England and the kingdom of France.
In the preamble, however, the king of France is mentioned, and in the first
place, but not as if this arose from any claim of precedency; for it merely
relates, that the most Christian king sent his ambassador to England, and
the most serene lord, the protector, appointed commissioners to meet him.
When the treaty was submitted to Bordeaux, previously to his signature, he
discovered an alteration in the usual title of his sovereign, Rex Gallorum
(the very title afterwards adopted by the National Assembly), instead
of Rex Galliarum, and on that account refused to sign it. After a
long contestation, he yielded to the arguments of the Dutch
ambassador.--Thurloe, iv. 115.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1656. Sept. 1.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1656. Oct. 24.]
himself that, if the house of Stuart was to be restored, it must be through
the aid of France; and he hoped, by the addition of this secret article,
to create a bitter and lasting enmity between the two families. Nor was
he content with this. As soon as the ratifications had been exchanged, he
proposed a more intimate alliance between England and France. Bordeaux
was instructed to confine himself in his reply to general expressions of
friendship. He might receive any communications which were offered; he was
to make no advances on the part of his sovereign.