FOOTNOTE:[2]"Tenalia," a kind of advanced defensive work, which takes its name from its resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lips of a pair of pincers (Carlyle).
[2]"Tenalia," a kind of advanced defensive work, which takes its name from its resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lips of a pair of pincers (Carlyle).
[2]"Tenalia," a kind of advanced defensive work, which takes its name from its resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lips of a pair of pincers (Carlyle).
(Excerpt.)
Source.—Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum.Vol. ii., p. 559.
For the Increase of the Shipping and the Encouragement of the Navigation of this Nation, which under the good Providence and Protection of God, is so great a means of the Welfareand Safety of this Commonwealth; Be it Enacted by this present Parliament, and the Authority thereof, That from and after the First day of December, One thousand six hundred fifty and one, and from thence forwards, no Goods or Commodities whatsoever, of the Growth, Production or Manufacture of Asia, Africa or America, or of any part thereof; or of any Islands belonging to them, or any of them, or which are described or laid down in the usual Maps or Cards of those places, as well of the English Plantations as others, shall be Imported or brought into this Commonwealth of England, or into Ireland, or any other Lands, Islands, Plantations or Territories to this Commonwealth belonging, or in their Possession, in any other Ship or Ships, Vessel or Vessels whatsoever, but onely in such as do truly and without fraud belong onely to the People of this Commonwealth, or the Plantations thereof, as the Proprietors or right Owners thereof; and whereof the Master and Mariners are also for the most part of them, of the People of this Commonwealth, under the penalty of the forfeiture and loss of all the Goods that shall be Imported contrary to this Act; as also of the Ship (with all her Tackle, Guns and Apparel) in which the said Goods or Commodities shall be so brought in and Imported; the one moyety to the use of the Commonwealth, and the other moyety to the use and behoof of any person or persons who shall seize the said Goods or Commodities, and shall prosecute the same in any Court of Record within this Commonwealth.
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Goods or Commodities of the Growth, Production or Manufacture of Europe, or of any part thereof, shall after the First day of December, One thousand six hundred fifty and one, be imported or brought into this Commonwealth of England, or into Ireland, or any other Lands, Islands, Plantations or Territories to this Commonwealth belonging, or in their possession, in any Ship or Ships, Vessel or Vessels whatsoever, but in such as do truly and without fraud belong onely to the people of this Commonwealth, as the true Owners and Proprietors thereof, and in no other, except onely such ForeinShips and Vessels as do truly and properly belong to the people of that Countrey or Place, of which the said Goods are the Growth, Production or Manufactures; or to such Ports where the said Goods can onely be, or most usually are first shipped for Transportation; And that under the same penalty of forfeiture and loss expressed in the former Branch of this Act, the said Forfeitures to be recovered and employed as is therein expressed.
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Goods or Commodities that are of Forein Growth, Production or Manufacture, and which are to be brought into this Commonwealth, in Shipping belonging to the People thereof, shall be by them Shipped or brought from any other place or places, Countrey or Countreys, but onely from those of their said Growth, Production or Manufacture; or from those Ports where the said Goods and Commodities can onely, or are, or usually have been first shipped for Transportation; and from none other Places or Countreys, under the same penalty of forfeiture and loss expressed in the first Branch of this Act, the said Forfeitures to be recovered and employed as is therein expressed.
Source.—Hobbes,Leviathan, 1651. P. 108.
But as men, for the attaining of peace, and conservation of themselves thereby, have made an Artificial Man, which we call a Common-wealth; so also have they made Artificial Chains, called civil laws, which they themselves, by mutual covenants, have fastened at one end, to the lips of that man, or assembly, to whom they have given the sovereign power; and at the other end to their own ears. These Bonds, in their own nature but weak, may neverthelesse be made to hold, by the danger, though not by the difficulty, of breaking them.
In relation to these Bonds only it is, that I am to speak now, of theLibertyofSubjects. For seeing there is no Common-wealth in the world, wherein there be rules enough set down, for the regulating of all the actions, and words of men,(as being a thing impossible:) it followeth necessarily, that in all kinds of actions, by the laws prætermitted, men have the Liberty of doing what their own reasons shall suggest, for the most profitable to themselves. For if we take Liberty in the proper sense, for corporal Liberty; that is to say, freedom from chains and prison, it were very absurd for men to clamor as they do, for the Liberty they so manifestly enjoy. Again, if we take Liberty for an exemption from Laws, it is no less absurd for men to demand, as they do, that Liberty, by which all other men may be masters of their lives. And yet as absurd as it is, this is it they demand; not knowing that the laws are of no power to protect them, without a sword in the hands of a man, or men, to cause those laws to be put in execution. The Liberty of a Subject lieth therefore only in those things which, in regulating their actions, the Sovereign hath prætermitted: such as is the Liberty to buy, and sell, and otherwise contract with one another; to choose their own abode, their own diet, their own trade of life, and institute their children as they themselves think fit; and the like.
Neverthelesse we are not to understand, that by such Liberty, the Sovereign Power of life and death is either abolished or limited. For it has been already shewn, that nothing the Sovereign Representative can do to a Subject, on what pretence soever, can properly be called Injustice, or Injury; because every subject is author of every act the Sovereign doth; so that he never wanteth Right to any thing, otherwise than as he himself is the Subject of God, and bound thereby to observe the laws of Nature. And therefore it may, and doth often happen in Common-wealths, that a Subject may be put to death by the command of the Sovereign Power; and yet neither do the other wrong: As when Jeptha caused his daughter to be sacrificed: In which, and the like cases, he that so dieth had Liberty to do the action, for which he is neverthelesse without injury put to death. And the same holdeth also in a Sovereign Prince, that putteth to death an innocent subject. For though the action be againstthe law of Nature, as being contrary to Equity, (as was the killing of Uriah by David;) yet it was not an injury to Uriah; but to God. Not to Uriah, because the right to do what he pleased was given him by Uriah himself. And yet to God, because David was God's Subject; and prohibited all iniquity by the law of Nature. Which distinction David himself, when he repented the fact, evidently confirmed, saying,To Thee only have I sinned.
Source.—An Exact and Perfect Relation of the Terrible and Bloody Fight between the English and the Dutch Fleets in the Downs on Wednesday, May 19, 1652.Brit. Mus., E. 665.
To Mr. Richard Bostock of London, Merchant.
Worthy Sir,Myservice to you, wishing all happiness. On the 18th of May inst. the Hollanders' fleet, consisting of 42 sail of stout ships, all men of war, came by the Eastward, and lay by the lee of the South Foreland, and from thence sent two of their fleet into the Downs to Major Bourn, who was then Admiral (General Blake being absent). The Captains of those ships, coming aboard, desired leave of him to anchor their ships in the Downs. The Admiral asked them why they came into our seas with their flags up, so near our Navy. They answered they had orders not to strike their flags to any they should meet with; whereupon the Major answered them, that within two days' time they should know whether there was room enough for them to anchor in or not. Yet notwithstanding this the Hollanders anchored in Dover road, and rode there till the 19th. About two of the clock in the afternoon, Major Bourne came out of the Downs into Dover road with 10 sail, and Col. Blake from the rest with 13 sail more: the Dutch Fleet, seeing this, weighed anchor, and stood up to the coast of France with their flags up, near upon two hours, and then bore up to Gen. Blake, each ship havinga man at the topmast head, as if they intended to have struck their flags.
When they came within shot of our Admiral, he made one shot at them for to strike, but they refused, still coming towards him, whereupon he made two shot more at them, and then the Hollanders gave him one shot, still making nearer to him; and coming up to him, saluted our Admiral with a whole volley of small shot and a broadside of gunshot, and Col. Blake returned him the like, and bearing up after him, they two charged three or four broadsides at each other. Thirteen of the Hollanders gave our Admiral each of them a broadside, before any of our ships came up to second him; then theGeneral of Folkestonecame up between the Hollanders and our Admiral, and gave them a breathing time, and in an hour's time the ship called theTriumphcame up to them and fell up into the whole fleet.
About six of the clock at night the Dutch Admiral bore away, and Gen. Blake after him; but Van Tromp went better than our Admiral, insomuch that he could not come up with them, but followed them within shot till nine of the clock, in which time the Hollanders had so shattered our General's sails and rigging, that they had neither sheets, tacks, nor brace, and his foresail was all torn in pieces; by means whereof Van Tromp sailed away and all his fleet after him; only one of our Frigates boarded one of them who had 150 in her; whereof 50 were slain and the rest wounded and taken: we also shot another Dutch ship's mainmast overboard and took her, she having 37 guns in her, but finding six foot of water in her hold, we only took out the Captain and two more, and left her not able to swim, but sank shortly afterwards....
Our ships are all now (God be praised) safe in the Downs, and have brought in two Hollanders, one of them thought to be an Adviser. I was aboard our fleet in the Downs, and there came six Hollanders that were merchantmen within a league of our fleet, whereupon a Frigate of ours came up to the Admiral, and asked leave to fetch them in; but the Admiral answered that they were men about honest occasions,and he had no order from the Council of State to meddle with them, and so let them pass about their occasions.
While I was aboard the Admiral, there came a Dutch man-of-war, supposing it to be Van Tromp, but theSpeakerFrigate quickly fetched him up, and brought him into our fleet.
There were 36 of the Hollanders ships that engaged with our fleet in the aforesaid fight, that ride about deep, every one of them being about 1,000 or 1,500 tons, most of them pitifully torn and battered, and many of them without either mast, sails, or flags, having lost the company of their Admiral.
Sir, your assured friend,Thomas White.
Dover,May 22, 1652.
Source.—Carlyle,Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, September 12, 1654.
I pressed the Parliament, as a member, to period themselves—once, and again, and again, and ten, nay twenty times over. I told them—for I knew it better than any one man in the Parliament could know it, because of my manner of life which led me everywhere up and down the nation, thereby giving me to see and know the temper and spirits of all men, and of the best of men,—that the nation loathed their sitting. I knew it. And, so far as I could discern, when they were dissolved, there was not so much as the barking of a dog, or any general or visible repining at it! You are not a few here present that can assert this as well as myself.
And that there was high cause for their dissolution, is most evident; not only in regard there was a just fear of that Parliament perpetuating themselves, but because it was theirdesign. Had not their heels been trod upon by importunities from abroad, even to threats, I believe there never would have been thoughts of rising or of going out of that room, tothe world's end. I myself was sounded, and by no mean persons tempted; and proposals were made to me to that very end: that the Parliament might be thus perpetuated; that the vacant places might be supplied by new elections;—and so continue from generation to generation.
Source.—Old Parliamentary History.Vol. xx., p. 248.
The Government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging.
I. That the supreme legislative authority of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, shall be and reside in one person, and the people assembled in Parliament: the style of which person shall be the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
II. That the exercise of the chief magistracy and the administration of the government over the said countries and dominions, and the people thereof, shall be in the Lord Protector, assisted with a council, the number whereof shall not exceed twenty-one, nor be less than thirteen.
IV. That the Lord Protector, the Parliament sitting, shall dispose and order the militia and forces, both by sea and land, for the peace and good of the three nations, by consent of Parliament; and that the Lord Protector, with the advice and consent of the major part of the council, shall dispose and order the militia for the ends aforesaid in the intervals of Parliament.
V. That the Lord Protector, by the advice aforesaid, shall direct in all things concerning the keeping and holding of a good correspondency with foreign kings, princes, and states; and also, with the consent of the major part of the council, have the power of war and peace.
VI. That the laws shall not be altered, suspended, abrogated, or repealed, nor any new law made, nor any tax, charge,or imposition laid upon the people, but by common consent in Parliament, save only as is expressed in the thirtieth article.
VII. That there shall be a Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster upon the third day of September, 1654, and that successively a Parliament shall be summoned once in every third year, to be accounted from the dissolution of the present Parliament.
VIII. That neither the Parliament to be next summoned, nor any successive Parliaments, shall, during the time of five months, to be accounted from the day of their first meeting, be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved, without their own consent.
IX. That as well the next as all other successive Parliaments shall be summoned and elected in manner hereafter expressed; that is to say, the persons to be chosen within England, Wales, the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall be, and not exceed, the number of four hundred. The persons to be chosen within Scotland, to sit and serve in Parliament, shall be, and not exceed, the number of thirty; and the persons to be chosen to sit in Parliament for Ireland shall be, and not exceed, the number of thirty.
[Here follows a detailed schedule of redistribution.]
XIV. That all and every person and persons, who have aided, advised, assisted, or abetted in any war against the Parliament, since the first day of January, 1641 (unless they have been since in the service of the Parliament, and given signal testimony of their good affection thereunto), shall be disabled and incapable to be elected; or to give any vote in the election of any members to serve in the next Parliament, or in the three succeeding Triennial Parliaments.
XVII. That the persons who shall be elected to serve in Parliament, shall be such (and no other than such) as are persons of known integrity, fearing God, and of good conversation, and being of the age of twenty-one years.
XVIII. That all and every person and persons seised or possessed to his own use, of any estate, real or personal, to the value of £200, and not within the aforesaid exceptions, shall be capable to elect members to serve in Parliament for counties.
XX. That in case writs be not issued out, as is before expressed, but that there be a neglect therein, fifteen days after the time wherein the same ought to be issued out by the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal; that then the Parliament shall, as often as such failure shall happen, assemble and be held at Westminster, in the usual place, at the times prefixed.
XXIV. That all Bills agreed unto by the Parliament, shall be presented to the Lord Protector for his consent; and in case he shall not give his consent thereto within twenty days after they shall be presented to him, or give satisfaction to the Parliament within the time limited, that then, upon declaration of the Parliament that the Lord Protector hath not consented nor given satisfaction, such Bills shall pass into and become laws, although he shall not give his consent thereunto; provided such Bills contain nothing in them contrary to the matters contained in these presents.
XXVII. That a constant yearly revenue shall be raised, settled, and established for maintaining of 10,000 horse and dragoons, and 20,000 foot, in England, Scotland and Ireland, for the defence and security thereof, and also for a convenient number of ships for guarding of the seas; besides £200,000 per annum for defraying the other necessary charges of administration of justice, and other expenses of the Government, which revenue shall be raised by the customs, and such other ways and means as shall be agreed upon by the Lord Protector and the Council, and shall not be taken away or diminished, nor the way agreed upon for raising the same altered, but by the consent of the Lord Protector and the Parliament.
XXXII. That the office of Lord Protector over these nations shall be elective and not hereditary; and upon the death of the Lord Protector, another fit person shall be forthwith elected to succeed him in the Government; which election shall be by the Council, who, immediately upon the death of the Lord Protector, shall assemble in the Chamber where they usually sit in Council; and, having given notice to all their members of the cause of their assembling, shall, being thirteen at least present, proceed to the election; and, before they depart, the said Chamber shall elect a fit person to succeed in the Government, and forthwith cause proclamation thereof to be made in all the three nations as shall be requisite; and the persons that they, or the major part of them, shall elect as aforesaid, shall be, and shall be taken to be, Lord Protector over these nations of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging. Provided that none of the children of the late King, nor any of his line or family, be elected to be Lord Protector or other Chief Magistrate over these nations, or any the dominions thereto belonging. And until the aforesaid election be past, the Council shall take care of the Government, and administer in all things as fully as the Lord Protector, or the Lord Protector and Council are enabled to do.
XXXIII. That Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the forces of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, for his life.
XXXVII. That such as profess faith in God by Jesus Christ (though differing in judgment from the doctrine, worship or discipline publicly held forth) shall not be restrained from, but shall be protected in, the profession of the faith and exercise of their religion; so as they abuse not this liberty to the civil injury of others and to the actual disturbance of the public peace on their parts: provided this liberty be not extended to Popery or Prelacy, nor to such as, under the profession of Christ, hold forth and practise licentiousness.
Source.—Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple.British Museum, Add. MSS. 33,975. Letter 39.
There are a great many ingredients must go to the making me happy in a husband; first, as my Cousin F. says, our humours must agree; and to do that he must have that kind of breeding that I have had, and used that kind of company; that is, he must not be so much a country gentleman as to understand nothing but hawks and dogs, and be fonder of either than of his wife; nor of the next sort of them whose aim reaches no further than to be Justice of Peace, and once in his life High Sheriff, who reads no books but statutes, and studies nothing but how to make a speech interlarded with Latin that may amaze his disagreeing poor neighbours, and fright them rather than persuade them into quietness. He must not be a thing that began the world in a free school, was sent from thence to the University, and is at his furthest when he reaches the Inns of Court, has no acquaintance but those of his form in these places, speaks the French he has picked out of old laws, and admires nothing but the stories he has heard of the revels that were kept there before his time. He may not be a town gallant neither, that lives in a tavern and an ordinary, that cannot imagine how an hour should be spent without company unless it be in sleeping, that makes court to all the women he sees, thinks they believe him, and laughs and is laughed at equally. Nor a travelled Monsieur whose head is all feather inside and outside, that can talk of nothing but dances and duels, and has courage enough to wear slashes, when everybody else dies with cold to see him. He must not be a fool of no sort, nor peevish, nor ill-natured, nor proud, nor covetous, and to all this must be added that he must love me and I him as much as we are capable of loving. Without all this, his fortune, though never so great, would not satisfy me; and with it a very moderate one would keep me from ever repenting my disposal....
I have been thinking of sending you my picture till I couldcome myself; but a picture is but dull company, and that you need not; besides I cannot tell whether it be very like me or not, though 'tis the best I ever had drawn for me, and Mr. Lely will have it that he never took more pains to make a good one in his life, and that was it, I think, that spoiled it. He was condemned for making the first that he drew of me a little worse than I, and in making this better he has made it as unlike as t' other. He is now, I think, at my Lord Paget's at Marlow, where I am promised he shall draw a picture of my Lady for me—she gives it me, she says, as the greatest testimony of her friendship to me, for by her own rule she is past the time of having pictures taken of her. After eighteen, she says, there is no face but decays apparently: I would fain have had her except such as had never been beauties, for my comfort, but she would not.
Source.—Richard Baxter,Reliquæ Baxterianæ. Vol. i., p. 72.
One of the chief works which he [Cromwell] did was the purging of the Ministry; of which I shall say somewhat more. And here I suppose the reader to understand that the Synod of Westminster was dissolved with the Parliament; and therefore a society of ministers with some others were chosen by Cromwell to sit at Whitehall, under the name of Triers, who were mostly Independents, but some sober Presbyterians with them, and had power to try all that came for institution or induction, and without their approbation none were admitted. This assembly of Triers examined themselves all that were able to come up to London, but if any were unable, or were of doubtful qualification between worthy or unworthy, they used to refer them to some ministers in the country where they lived, and to approve them iftheyapproved them.
And because this assembly of Triers is most heavily accused and reproached by some men, I shall speak the truth of them, and suppose my word shall be the rathertaken, because most of them took me for one of their boldest adversaries as to their opinions, and because I was known to disown their power, insomuch that I refused to try any under them upon their reference, except a very few, whose importunity and necessity moved me (they being such as for their episcopal judgment, or some such cause, the Triers were like to have rejected). The truth is that, though their authority was null, and though some few over busy and over rigid Independents among them were too severe against all that were Arminians, and too particular in enquiring after evidences of Sanctification in those whom they examined, and somewhat too lax in their admission of unlearned and erroneous men that favoured Antinomianism or Anabaptism; yet to give them their due, they did abundance of good to the church. They saved many a congregation from ignorant ungodly drunken teachers; that sort of men that intended no more in the ministry than to say a sermon, as readers say their Common Prayers, and so patch up a few good words together to talk the people asleep with on Sunday; and all the rest of the week go with them to the alehouse and harden them in their sin. And that sort of Ministers that either preached against a holy life, or preached as men that never were acquainted with it; all those that used the ministry but as a common trade to live by and were never likely to convert a soul, all these they usually rejected, and in their stead admitted of any that were able serious Preachers, and lived a godly life, of what tolerable opinion soever they were. So that though they were many of them somewhat partial for the Independents, Separatists, Fifth Monarchy men and Anabaptists, and against the Prelatists and Arminians, yet so great was the benefit above the hurt which they brought to the Church, that many thousands of souls blessed God for the faithful ministers whom they let in, and grieved when the Prelatists afterwards cast them out again.
Source.—Carlyle,Cromwell's Letters and Speeches.
I.To Sir William Spring and Maurice Barrow, Esq., Cambridge, September, 1643.
I had rather have a plain russet coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else. I honour a gentleman that is so indeed!
II.To the Speaker after Naseby, June 14, 1645.
... Sir, this is none other but the hand of God; and to Him alone belongs the glory, wherein none are to share with Him. The General served you with all faithfulness and honour; and the best commendation I can give him is, that I dare say he attributes all to God and would rather perish than assume to himself. Which is an honest and a thriving way:—and yet as much for bravery may be given to him, in this action, as to a man. Honest men served you faithfully in this action. Sir, they are trusty; I beseech you in the name of God, not to discourage them. I wish this action may beget thankfulness and humility in all that are concerned in it. He that ventures his life for the liberty of his country, I wish he trust God for the liberty of his conscience, and you for the liberty he fights for.
III.To the Speaker, September 14, 1645.
For being united in forms, commonly called Uniformity, every Christian will for peace' sake study and do, as far as conscience will permit. And for brethren, in things of the mind we look for no compulsion, but that of light and reason. In other things, God hath put the sword into the Parliament's hands—for the terror of evil-doers and the praise of them that do well.
IV.To the Lord Mayor of London, June 10, 1647.
The sum of our desires as soldiers is no other than this; Satisfaction to our undoubted claims as soldiers; and reparation upon those who have, to the utmost, improved all opportunities and advantages, by false suggestions, misrepresentations and otherwise, for the destruction of this army with a perpetual blot of ignominy upon it.
V.To Oliver St. John, September 1, 1648.
Remember my love to my dear brother, H. Vane. I pray he make not too much, nor I too little, of outward dispensations:—God preserve us all, that we, in the simplicity of our spirits, may patiently attend upon them. Let us all be not careful what men will make of these actings. They, will they, nill they, shall fulfil the good pleasure of God; and we—shall serve our generations. Our rest we expect elsewhere: that will be durable. Care we not for to-morrow, nor for anything.
VI.To Col. R. Hammond, November 25, 1648.
My dear Friend, let us look into Providences; surely they mean somewhat. They hang so together: have been so constant, so clear, unclouded. Malice, swoln malice against God's people now called "Saints": to root out their name;—and yet they getting arms, and therein blessed with defence and more!
VII.To Mr. Speaker, September 4, 1650.
If there be any one that makes many poor to make a few rich, that suits not a Commonwealth.
VIII.To Lord Wharton, September 4, 1650.
I have known my folly do good, when affection[3]has overcome my reason.
IX.To the Little Parliament, 1653.
"The hand of the Lord hath done this"—it is He who hath wrought all the salvations and deliverances we have received. For what end! To see and know and understand together, that he hath done and wrought all this for the good of the whole flock. Therefore I beseech you—but I think I need not,—have a care of the whole flock! Love the sheep, love the lambs; love all, tender all, cherish and countenance all, in all things that are good. And if the poorest Christian, the most mistaken Christian, shall desire to live peaceably and quietly under you,—I say if any shall desire but to live a life of godliness and honesty, let him be protected.
And indeed this hath been the way God dealt with us all along, to keep things from our eyes all along, so that we have seen nothing in all his dispensations long beforehand;—which is also a witness, in some measure, to our integrity.
X.Speech V.September 12, 1654.
Indeed that hath been one of the vanities of our contest. Every sect saith, "O, give me liberty!" But give it to him and to his power he will not yield it to anybody else....
XI.To the First Protectorate Parliament, January 22, 1654-55.
Is it ingenuous to ask liberty, and not to give it? What greater hypocrisy than for those who were oppressed by the bishops to become the greatest oppressors themselves so soon as their yoke was removed. I could wish that they who call for liberty now also had not too much of that spirit, if the power were in their hands!
As for profane persons, blasphemers, such as preach sedition; the contentious railers, evil speakers, who seek by evil words to corrupt good manners, persons of loose conversation—punishment from the Civil Magistrate ought to meet with these. Because, if they pretend conscience; yet walkingdisorderly and not according but contrary to the gospel and even to natural lights, they are judged of all. And their sins being open make them subjects of the magistrate's sword, who ought not to bear it in vain.—The discipline of the Armywassuch, that a man would not be suffered to remain there, of whom we could take notice that he was guilty of such practices as those....
... And if it be my "liberty" to walk abroad in the fields, or to take a journey, yet it is not my wisdom to do so when my house is on fire!
XII.Speech to the Major-Generals.
Why, truly, your great enemy is the Spaniard. He is a natural enemy. He is naturally so, he is naturally so throughout,—by reason of that great enmity that is in him against whatsoever is of God.
Well, your danger is as you have seen. And truly I am sorry it is so great. But I wish it to cause no despondency;—as truly, I think it will not: for we are Englishmen; that is one good fact.
To hang a man for six-and-eightpence, and I know not what; to hang for a trifle and acquit murder,—is in the ministration of the law through the ill-framing of it. I have known in my experience abominable murders committed. And to see men lose their lives for petty matters: this is a thing God will reckon for.
XIII.To the Second Protectorate Parliament, January 23, 1657.
Truly, I shall in a word or two congratulate you with goodyouare in possession of, and in some respect, I also with you. God hath bestowed upon you, and you are in possession of it,—Three Nations, and all that appertains to them. Which in either a geographical, or topical consideration, are Nations.In which also there are places of honour and consideration, not inferior to any in the known world,—without vanity it may be spoken. Truly God hath not made so much soil, furnished with so many blessings, in vain! But it is a goodly sight, if a man behold ituno intuitu. And therefore this is a possession of yours, worthy of congratulation.
This is furnished,—give me leave to say, for I believe it is true,—with the best People in the world, possessing so much soil. A People in civil rights,—in respect of their rights and privileges,—very ancient and honourable. Andinthis People, in the midst of this People, you have, what is still more precious, aPeople(I know every one will hear and acknowledge it) that are to God "as the apple of His eye,"—and He says so of them, be they many, or be they few! But they are many. A People of the blessing of God; a People under His safety and protection. A People calling upon the Name of the Lord; which the Heathen do not. A People knowing God; and a People (according to the ordinary expressions) fearing God. And you have of this no parallel; no, not in all the world! You have in the midst of you glorious things.
XIV.April 13, 1657.
Truly I have, as before God, often thought that I could not tell what my business was, nor what I was in the place I stood in, save comparing myself to a good Constable set to keep the peace of the parish.
XV.Speech XI.April 13, 1657.
I had a very worthy friend then; and he was a very noble person, and I know his memory is very grateful to all,—Mr. John Hampden. At my first going out into this engagement, I saw our men were beaten at every hand. I did indeed; and desired him that he would make some additions to my Lord Essex's Army, of some new regiments; and I told him I would be serviceable to him in bringing such men in as I thoughthad a spirit that would do something in the work. This is very true that I tell you; God knows I lie not. "Your troops," said I, "are most of them old decayed serving-men, and tapsters, and such kind of fellows; and," said I, "their troops are gentlemen's sons, younger sons and persons of quality: do you think that the spirits of such base and mean fellows will ever be able to encounter gentlemen, that have honour and courage and resolution in them?" Truly I did represent to him in this manner conscientiously; and truly I did tell him: "You must get men of a spirit: and take it not ill what I say,—I know you will not,—of a spirit that is likely to go as far as gentlemen will go—or else you will be beaten still."
XVI.To the Committee of Ninety-Nine, April 21, 1657.
But surely the Laws need to be regulated! And I must needs say, I think it would be a sacrifice acceptable to God, upon many accounts. And I am persuaded that it is one of the things God looks for, and would have. I confess if any man should ask me, "Why, how would you have it done?" I confess I do not know how. But I think verily at the least, the delays in suits, and the excessiveness in fees, and the costliness of suits, and those various things which I do not know what names they bear—I hear talk of "Demurrers" and such-like things, which I scarce know—But I say certainly, the people are greatly suffering in this respect; they are so.
XVII.To the Second Protectorate Parliament, February 4, 1658.
I can say in the presence of God, in comparison with whom we are but like poor creeping ants upon the earth,—I would have been glad to have lived under my woodside, to have kept a flock of sheep—rather than undertake such a Government as this. But undertaking it by the Advice and Petition of you, I did look that you who had offered it unto me should make it good.
FOOTNOTE:[3]I.e., passion.
[3]I.e., passion.
[3]I.e., passion.
Source.—Journal of George Fox.London, 1694. Vol. i., pp. 136-138.
After this I went into the country, and had several Meetings, and came to Swannington where the soldiers came again, but the Meeting was quiet, and the Lord's power was over all, and the soldiers did not meddle. Then I went to Leicester, and from Leicester to Whetstone. But before the meeting began, there came about seventeen troopers of Colonel Hacker's regiment, with his Marshal, and they took me up before the meeting, though Friends were beginning to gather together, for there were several Friends come out of several parts. I told the Marshal, "He might let all the Friends go, I would answer for them all;" whereupon he took me and let all the Friends go; only Alexander Parker went along with me. At night they had me before Col. Hacker and his Major, and Captains, a great company of them; and a great deal of discourse we had about the priests, and about meetings (for at this time there was a noise of a plot against O. Cromwell).... Then Col. Hacker asked me again "If I would go home and stay at home?" I told him "If I should promise him so, that would manifest that I was guilty of something, to go home and make my home a prison. And if I went to Meetings, they would say I broke their Order." Therefore I told them I should go to Meetings as the Lord should order me; and therefore could not submit to their requirings; but I said we were a peaceable people. "Well then," said Colonel Hacker, "I will send you to-morrow morning by six o'clock to my Lord Protector by Captain Drury, one of his life guard." That night I was kept a prisoner at the Marshalsea; and the next morning by the sixth hour I was ready, and delivered to Captain Drury. I desired he would let me speak with Col. Hacker before I went, and he had me to his bedside. Col. Hacker at me presently again "To go home and keep no more Meetings." I told him I could not submit to that.... "Then," said he, "you must go before theProtector." Whereupon I kneeled on his Bedside and besought the Lord to forgive him, for he was as Pilate, though he would wash his hands; and when the day of his misery and trial should come upon him, I bid him then remember what I had said to him.... Afterwards when this Col. Hacker was in prison in London, a day or two before he was executed, he was put in mind of what he had done against the innocent....
Now was I carried up a prisoner by Captain Drury aforesaid from Leicester.... So he brought me to London, and lodged me at the Mermaid over against the Mews at Charing Cross. And on the way as we travelled I was moved of the Lord to warn people at the inns and places where I came of the day of the Lord that was coming upon them. And William Dewsbury and Marmaduke Stor being in prison at Northampton, he let me go and visit them.
After Captain Drury had lodged me at the Mermaid, he left me there and went to give the protector an account of me. And when he came to me again, he told me the Protector did require that I should promise not to take up a carnal sword or weapon against him or the government as it then was, and that I should write it, in what words I saw good, and set my hand to it. I said little in reply to Captain Drury. But the next morning, I was moved of the Lord to write a paper "to the Protector by the name of Oliver Cromwell," wherein I did in the presence of God declare that I did deny the wearing and drawing of a carnal sword, or any other outward weapon against him or any man. And that I was sent of God to stand a witness against all violence and against the works of Darkness, to turn the people from Darkness to Light and to bring them from the occasion of war and fighting to the peaceable Gospel.... When I had written what the Lord had given me to write, I set my name to it and gave it to Captain Drury to give to O. Cromwell, which he did.
Then after some time Captain Drury brought me before the Protector himself at Whitehall. It was in a morning before he was dressed.... When I came in, I was moved to say "Peace be in this House," and I bid him keep in the fear ofGod that he might receive wisdom from him.... I spake much to him of Truth, and a great deal of Discourse I had with him about Religion; wherein he carried himself very moderately. But he said we quarrelled with the priests whom he called Ministers. I said we did not quarrel with them, but they quarrelled with me and my friends. "But," I said, "if we own the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles, we cannot hold up such teachers, prophets and shepherds, as the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles declared against...." As I spake, he would several times say it was very good, and it was truth. I told him that all Christendom (so-called) had the Scriptures, but they wanted the power and spirit that they had which gave forth the Scriptures.... Many more words I had with him; but people coming in, I drew a little back. And as I was turning, he catched me by the hand and with tears in his eyes, said "Come again to my House, for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other," adding, that he wished me no more ill than he did to his own soul. I told him; if he did, he wronged his own soul. And I bid him hearken to God's voice, ... and if he did not hear God's voice, his heart would be hardened. And he said: it was true. Then went I out. And when Captain Drury came out after me, he told me his Lord Protector said, I was at liberty, and might go whither I would. Then I was brought into a great Hall where the Protector's gentlemen were to dine, and I asked them what they did bring me thither for. They said it was by the Protector's order that I might dine with them. I bid them let the Protector know I would not eat a bit of his bread nor drink a sup of his drink. When he heard this he said: "Now I see there is a people risen and come up, that I cannot win either with gifts, honours, offices or places: but all other sects and people I can." But it was told him again, that we had forsook our own and were not like to look for such things from him.
Now I, being set at liberty, went up to the Inn again, where Captain Drury had at first lodged me. This Captain Drury, though he sometimes carried fairly, was an enemy tome and to truth and opposed it ... and would scoff at trembling and call us Quakers, as the Presbyterians and Independents had nicknamed us before. But afterwards he came on a time and told me, that as he was lying on his bed to rest himself in the daytime, a sudden trembling seized on him that his joints knocked together ... and he was so shaken that he had not strength enough to rise. But he felt the power of the Lord was upon him and he tumbled off his bed and cried to the Lord and said, he would never speak against the Quakers more, such as trembled at the word of God.
(Preface.)
Source.—Harleian Miscellany.Vol. IV., p. 289.
To His Highness Oliver Cromwell.
May it please Your Highness,HowI have spent some hours of the leisure your Highness has been pleased to give me, the following paper will give your Highness an account; how you will please to interpret it, I cannot tell; but I can with confidence say, my intention in it is to procure your Highness that justice nobody yet does you, and to let the people see, the longer they defer it, the greater injury they do both themselves and you. To your Highness justly belongs the honour of dying for the people; and it cannot choose but be an unspeakable consolation to you, in the last moments of your life, to consider with how much benefit to the world you are like to leave it. It is then only, my Lord, that the title you now usurp will be truly yours: you will then be indeed the Deliverer of your country, and free it from a bondage little inferior to that from which Moses delivered his. You will then be that true Reformer which you would now be thought; religion shall then be restored, liberty asserted, and parliaments have those privileges they have fought for. We shall then hope that other laws will have place besides those of the sword, and justice shall be otherwise defined than as the Will and Pleasureof the Strongest; and we shall then hope men will keep oaths again, and not have the necessity of being false and perfidious to preserve themselves and to be like their rulers. All this we hope from your Highness's happy expiration, who are the true father of your country: for while you live, we can call nothing ours, and it is from your death that we hope for our inheritances. Let this consideration arm and fortify your Highness's mind against the fear of death and the terrors of your evil conscience, that the good you will do by your death will somewhat balance the evils of your life. And if, in the black catalogue of high malefactors, few can be found that have lived more to the affliction and disturbance of mankind than your Highness hath done; yet your greatest enemies will not deny, but there are likewise as few that have expired more to the universal benefit of mankind, than your Highness is like to do. To hasten this great good is the chief end of my writing this paper, and if it have the effects I hope it will, your Highness will be quickly out of reach of men's malice and your enemies will only be able to wound you in your memory, which strokes you will not feel. That your Highness may speedily be in this security, is the universal wish of your grateful country; this is the desire and prayer of the good and of the bad, and, it may be, is the only thing wherein all sects and factions do agree in their devotions, and is our only Common Prayer. But amongst all that put in their requests and supplications for your Highness's speedy deliverance from all earthly troubles, none is more assiduous, nor more fervent than he that (with the rest of this nation) hath the honour to be, may it please your Highness,
Your Highness's present slave and vassal,W. A.
Source.—Sir Philip Warwick's Memoirs, 1701. P. 247.
I have no mind to give an ill character of Cromwell; for in his conversation towards me he was ever friendly; tho' at the latter end of the day finding me ever incorrigible, andhaving some inducements to suspect me a tamperer, he was sufficiently rigid. The first time that ever I took notice of him, was in the very beginning of the Parliament held in November, 1640, when I vainly thought myself a courtly young Gentleman: (for we Courtiers valued our selves much upon our good clothes). I came one morning into the House well clad, and perceived a Gentleman speaking (whom I knew not) very ordinarily apparelled; for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an ill country-tailor; his linen was plain, and not very clean; and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band, which was not much larger than his collar; his hat was without a hat-band: his stature was of a good size, his sword stuck close to his side, his countenance swoln and reddish, his voice sharp and untunable, and his eloquence full of fervour; for the subject matter would not bear much of reason; it being in behalf of a servant of Mr. Prynne's, who had dispersed libells against the Queen for her dancing and such innocent and courtly sports; and he aggravated the imprisonment of this man by the Council Table unto that height, that one would have believed the very Government itself had been in great danger by it. I sincerely profess it lessened much my reverence unto that great council; for he was very much hearkened unto. And yet I lived to see this very Gentleman, whom out of no ill will to him I thus describe,—by multiplied good successes, and by real (but usurped) power, (having had a better tailor, and more converse among good company)—in my own eye, when for six weeks together I was a prisoner in his Serjeant's hands, and daily waited at Whitehall, appear of a great and majestic deportment and comely presence. Of him therefore I will say no more, but that verily I believe, he was extraordinarily designed for those extraordinary things, which one while most wickedly and facinorously he acted, and at another as successfully and greatly performed.
UNWIN BROTHERS, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND WOKING.