A Modest Vindication of Oliver Cromwell, from the Unjust Aspersi­ons of Lieutenant-General Ludlow, in his Memoirs, &c.

COnsidering how Lieutenant-General Ludlow has stated the Grounds and Reasons of his Disgust against Oliver Cromwell, the Question, as to Ludlow's particular, is not so much whether Oliver's Actions were just and laudable, or no; but whether the Lieutenant-General, who as it plainly appears was a Person sway'd by a violent Bigotry to his own Party, were a competent Judge of the Goodness or Badness of those Actions which he so vehemently reproaches in Cromwell. As for his own Personal Parts, he was never look'd upon to be a Man of such an Extraor­dinary Headpiece, as to render him eminently distinguish'd in the Management of Civil Af­fairs. Neither did his Military Employments ever rear him up those Monuments to his Glo­ry, which Others rais'd themselves by their Prowess and Conduct. And then for these Memoirs of his, They likewise were writ in [Page 2] the Decline of his Years, when Age had ri­veted into his Mind those Sentiments of past Transactions, which younger Discontents and Animosities had imprinted in his Thoughts, and now had made the Objects of a half craz'd Judgment to make such Reflections on, as are usually the effects of morose and sowre Mis­understandings. For when Blood was in his Prime of Action, and sent over to Geneva by a Party then meditating Disturbance of the Government, as believing Ludlow the most proper Person to Head and Command 'em, that Man of a quick and penetrating Judg­ment, brought over but a very slender Account of that Great Lieutenant-General of Horse. For Blood's Report, which he often upon other occasions signified to others, was, That he found him very unable for such an Employ­ment; only that he was writing a History, as he call'd it, which as he told the Collonel would be as True as the Gospel; and which in all probability were these Two Volumes of Memoirs now lately printed. Nor indeed did the Character which then he gave his little Embrio of a History, shew him to be other then what the Collonel spoke him. But per­haps the Lieutenant-General thought it neces­sary for him to believe himself Inspir'd, when [Page 3] he was defending and writing the History of the Sacred R U M P. However, as certain as these Memoirs are, there is one Truth more which must be added to the rest, That his Truths are of very little value; such minute Stories, the greatest part of 'em that concern himself, of his Military Performances in War­dour-Castle, and other parts of Wiltshire, that all of 'em put together would never have procu­red him so much as a petty Ovation in Old Rome. Nevertheless he seems to have crowded 'em together on purpose to make out his extra­ordinary Devotion to the Rump, and his Sin­cerity to the Cause; and from thence takes an occasion to insinuate his own high Deserts, and Oliver's Contempt and Slight of those that were most zealous for the Public Good, by which he means the Republican Interest, the peculiar Darling of his most Ardent Affections. Tho' all this while I can discover nothing so much through the whole Contexture of these Memoirs, as a continu'd Prosecution of Envy and Revenge, ripen'd into Invective by the Sullenness of his Age: Yet such a sort of En­vy, that I could not have expected to have found in a Man of Lieutenant-General Lud­low's Principles; that repines more at the Me­rits of Cromwell's Actions, then the Glory of [Page 4] his Trophies: As if the High Commands and Power which he was deem'd worthy of, and for which he was cull'd out by those that knew not where else to supply their pressing Wants of such another, had been the Acquisitions of his Ambitious Industry and over-reaching Po­litics, rather then conferr'd upon him for the sensible Benefits of his continu'd Victories and Successes. This seems to imply, that L. G. Ludlow was willing enough that the Republic­can Party should have enjoy'd the Fruits of Cromwell's unweari'd Labours, no less then Grandeur equal to Royal, and Supreme Au­thority; but in the height of his Gratitude, the L. G. of the Horse would have had 'em kick'd down the Instrument of their Glorious Fruitions, when they were out of Danger. He complains that his petty Skirmishes at Wardour Castle, and in other parts of Wiltshire, where Fortune was as frequently unkind as gracious to him, and suffer'd him to be taken Pris'ner, were never sufficiently recompenc'd: But he mentions with Regret a Donative of Four or Five Thousand a Year given to Cromwell, for the Conquest of Three Kingdoms, and saving the Common Cause from utter Downfal. Such a sort of Envy as this it was, that plagu'd the Fam'd Polonian Tarnovius, of whom Thumus re­ports, [Page 5] that after he had subdu'd the Moldavians and Russians, and freed his Country from the frequent Incursions of the Tartars, it was incre­dible how he was envy'd at home by those that suspected the very Name of General, which he had merited by his great Atchieve­ments. But there are a great many people of the Lieutenant-General's Humour, what­ever is above their own Merit displeases 'em; tho there are not many so inadvertent to shew it with so much formal Sincerity as the Lieu­tenant-General has done. When such people behold an extraordinary Merit in any person, they look upon it as an Object that reproaches their Imperfections, an Object that affronts 'em, and renders 'em so much the more Con­temptible. These are the true reasons that kindl'd the Lieutenant-General's Anger against Cromwell; so that after long Meditation, he at length found out the usual way of lay­ing hold upon the common pretences of Ju­stice and Equity to condemn him according to the motions of his own passion.

His desire of Revenge is no less apparent, and very unbecoming a Soldier; whose part it is to Combat his Enemy living, and if he can, to Kill him fairly in the Field; but thus to assail and quarrel with a dead Man in his [Page 6] Tomb, to Stigmatize the Fame of one De­ceas'd, for only having been more fortunate in the same Cause, which his own Sword had weakly Defended, is an Act of Malice so much the more unworthy and misbecoming a Man of Honour, by how much it is altoge­ther insignificant, and gratifies only an inve­terate and ignorant Passion, condemn'd by all magnanimous and heroic spirits. For I can never believe that ever they who took up Cromwell's Carkass, to hang it ignominiously upon the Gallows, and poorly insulted over the Bones of a Man who had so often Vanquish'd 'em in Battel, gain'd any great Honour by such a Pusillanimous Act; much less did it become our L. G. to rake into the Ashes of One who had never been his Enemy, but by his own Confession had given him such a Character in Publick, as rais'd him to his highest Prefer­ment; however, the Lieutenant-General was pleased to put an ill interpretation upon it. But Men of his Maligning Temper have ma­ny times this Misfortune attending 'em, That while they are labouring and delving to the Prejudice of others, they do themselves the greatest harm. For assuredly when the world shall observe him so frequently interlacing his own Murmurs and Discontents, with his [Page 7] disgusts against Cromwell, for only disappoint­ing the Party which himself had so nearly espous'd, never blaming him for Fighting against his Sovereign, nor bringing him to the Block; it must be thought that his Memoirs must smell very strong of the Garlick of Self­Interest, which will very much enervate the credit of his Recriminations upon Cromwell, especially in the Sentiments of remoter Poste­rity, that will judge of those Transactions with a more sincere Impartiality. And here the Question may not be unseasonably put, What the Aim and Design of Publishing these Memoirs could be? For if it were to gratify the expiring Remains of that same Party, against whom Cromwell Fought with such Success; What favour can our Lieutenant-General of the Horse in Ireland, gain among them, by telling 'em a long Story of Cromwell's Dismounting the Rumponians from the Saddles of their Authori­ty? Who had they been sent to the Crows some years before, that Party would not have re­pin'd at it: rather he merits their severest In­dignation, for justifying and approving Crom­well all the while he contributed to the Down­fal of their Martyr, and Reproaching him for so much as offering to Treat with him. On the other side, if these Relations were set forth [Page 8] to endear the Memory of the Lieutenant-Ge­neral to his own Party, What kindness can it be to them, to be reviv'd for a Company of Fools that could not keep the Government, when they had it in their own hands, but suf­fer'd themselves to be baffl'd, outwitted, and turn'd out of doors by their own Underling and Servant, as they call'd him? But what car'd the Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of the Forces in Ireland? for so he could but inculcate into the world a bad Opinion of Cromwell and his Actions, though it were to the Disgrace of his own Party, he values not to what Censures and Sarcasms he exposes the fondlings of his Devotion: Which being the main drift of his Memoirs, they cannot chuse but be infinitely beholding to him for it. He pretends to have had a prospect of Cromwell's Ambitious Designs, as he calls'em, long before they were brought to perfection: To much purpose; for had he been a true Emulator of Cromwell's Gallantry, he might, perhaps, have made a much better use of his Lieutenant-General­ship, and his Command of the Forces in Ireland in the Rescue of his distressed Minions, then to sit an Exil'd Scribler of Trivial Memoirs, that dropp'd from his Pen, more to the shame of his own Darlings, then the Defamation of [Page 9] Cromwell in those Matters where the Stress of his Reproaches lye. And thus much for the Memoirs in general.

To come to Particulars: There is little worth Observation in the First Volume, which is no more then a succinct Relation of the Military Transactions of those Times, both in England and Ireland, for the greatest part, from the Beginning of the Combustions, to the first Dutch War: Wherein however, he is ve­ry particular and tedious in the Account which he gives of his own Exploits when he was Governor of Wardour Castle, and High Sheriff of the County of Wilts, larded with such Im­pertinent Circumstances, of a dozen Pasties of p 62 his Father's Ven'son, which the Enemy had just bak'd, and would have carri'd away, had he not come in timely and manfully with Forty Horse to their Rescue. He holds out Wardour Castle in his Relation, almost as long as the Enemy lay before it, enlarging his Recital on purpose to magnify his Courage, his Resolu­tion, and Zeal to the Cause, ev'n to Vanity. The rest of the Pages, after he had deliver'd the Castle, and was become a Pris'ner of War, from 92 to 112, are all no less a Panegyric upon himself. Not consid'ring, that the Prai­ses which come from Others, are pleasing to [Page 10] the Ear; but the Elogies which a man ascribes to himself, are ever most troublesome. He omits not to tell ye how he took up one of p 116 his Troopers behind him, least he should be taken by the pursuing Enemy; which was doubtless to notify his Charity and Compassi­on. He gives yee a just and exact Account of the Death of his Cousin Gabriel Ludlow, and of the Misfortunes that befel his two Ser­vants,p 129 Stent, and Henry Coles; with a world of p 141 other minute Stories of the same nature; a plain demonstration of the Narrowness of his Soul, and the Lowness of his Genius.

But the main thing remarkable in his First Volume is, That because he would make the World believe him to be a Man of Parts, and one that was able to balance a Party, he takes great Care to display his Intimacy with Lieute­nant p 185 General Cromwell. ‘One Morning, says he, as I was walking with L. G. Cromwell in Sir Robert Cotton's Garden, he inveigh'd bit­terly against those that accompani'd the Earl of Essex to his Grave; saying in a familiar way to me, If thy Father were alive, he would let some of 'em hear what they de­serve; adding farther, That it was a mise­rable thing to serve a Parlament; to whom let a Man be never so faithful, if one Prag­matical [Page 11] Fellow rise up and asperse him, he shall never wipe it off. Whereas, said he, when one serves under a General, he may do as much Service, and yet be free from all Blame and Envy.’

From these words Ludlow it seems persuaded himself that Cromwell had at that time con­ceiv'd the Design of destroying the Civil Au­thority, and setting up himself; and that he took that Opportunity to feel his Pulse, whe­ther he were a fit Instrument to be employ'd to those Ends.

We shall not dispute the Truth of this Discourse, nor will we deny but that the Au­thor of the Memoirs Conjecture might be as true, That Cromwell might speak the Words, to take the Dimensions of Ludlow's Capacity. But seeing there is not the least Ground for the drawing of any such Inference as he makes from the Words, we must rather believe that the Lieutenant-General in Ireland's Surmise was of a later date; like those who pretend to have prophesi'd of things after they are come to pass. Nevertheless, that Cromwell upon his Canting Answer had enough of him, we look upon as a thing beyond all Controversy: For Cromwell was a Person who never sounded the Breast of any Man, but he soon reach'd the Depth of it.

[Page 12] However, soon after this, the Author of p 189 the Memoirs tells yee of another great piece of Familiarity between him and Cromwell. For he says, That the Parliament being displeas'd with the Carriage of the Army, some mena­cing Expressions fell from some of the Mem­bers; upon which Cromwell took an Occasion to whisper the following Words in his Ear, These Men will never leave, till the Army pull 'em out by the Ears. But here I am afraid the Lieutenant-General in Ireland a little forgets himself: For after he had told us but two Pa­ges before, That Cromwell not finding him fit for his purpose, He never heard from him any more upon that Point; meaning the Point of Destroying the Civil Authority, and setting up for himself: Here he introduces Cromwell altering his Mind, and whispering to him a Secret of far greater Im­portance; and a much clearer Demonstration of the Evil Design which the Lieutenant Ge­neral suspected him to be meditating against the Civil Authority, then any he could gather from his former Discourse. I must confess this does not hang well together. Cromwell did but feel the Lieutenant General's Pulse be­fore; now he begins to be downright, and to open his Heart: And yet Cromwell was never taken to be a Blab of his Tongue. Neither [Page 13] is it probable that Cromwell, a Person so reserv'd as he was, would have utter'd such a dange­rous Expression in the midst of his Enemies, to a Man whose Imbecilities and Bigottry he had so lately try'd. Why did not the Lieutenant­General in Ireland immediately charge him with it? It would have been the best piece of Service he could have done for those, who, as he says himself, were at the same time for se­curing Cromwell; and who from hence might p 190 have taken a just Occasion to prosecute their Design, which would have been the best day's Work that e're they did in their Lives, for their own Security. But Ludlow believing that this would be objected against him, tells yee, That he would have resented it, if the p 189 state of his Parties Affairs would have permitted. A very lame excuse, and which lays the total Overthrow of his Party at his own door: For if this be true, That Cromwell should be so in­advertent to whisper those words into his Ear, 'tis plain that Fortune put an Opportunity into Ludlow's hands to have preserv'd his Party; but he was so simple that he knew not how to make use of it. And now I appeal to all un­bias'd Men, whether this manifest slip be not sufficient to invalidate the whole Testimony of the Irish Lieutenant-General, and to render [Page 14] suspected what he shall henceforward advance in the Derogation of Cromwell's Proceedings, as being only the Murmurs of Self-interest.

But this great Familiarity between the En­glish and the Irish Lieutenant-Generals, broke off on the part of the Author of the Memoirs, upon Cromwell's and the Armies Treating with p 223 the King; which Ludlow calls, A driving on a Bargain for the People's Liberty by Oliver alone: For it was the Opinion of the Author of the Memoirs, that which way soever the King had bin Restor'd, he might easily have gratified his Friends, and reveng'd himself upon his Enemies. So that the Lieutenant-General in Ireland was clearly for a Republick, and he knew that so long as there was a King, there could be no Republick in Israel. But in regard that Cromwell's Treating with the King was impu­ted to him as a Crime by none but Ludlow's Republicans, while the Presbyterians and Scots did the same; and if Cromwell made any Bar­gains with his Royal Pris'ner for his own Ad­vantage, it was no more then what General Monk did afterwards, we shall pass from our Author's Memento's upon those Transactions, which bring a far more general Odium upon himself then upon Cromwell, while he was one of those, who under the Name of Common­wealths-men, [Page 15] declar'd, That Monarchy was nei­ther p 238, 239 good in it self, nor for the Nation; that the King had broken his Oath, and thereby dissolv'd our Allegiance; and that the King having appeal'd to the Sword for the decision of the Dispute, and thereby caus'd the Effusion of a deludge of the People's Blood, it seem'd to be a Duty incumbent upon the Representatives of the People to call him to an account, and then proceed to the Establishment of an Equal Commonwealth founded upon the Consent of the Peo­ple, as being most just, and in all respects most condu­cing to the Happiness and Prosperity thereof. Now that Ludlow was one of this Cabal is plain, by the same token, as he says himself, that Cromwell, after he had learnt what he could of the Principles and Inclinations of those present at the p 240 Conference, he took up a Cushion, and flung it at the Irish Lieutenant-General's Head, and then ran down Stairs: But the undaunted Commander in Chief of the Forces in Ireland, soon overtook him with another, which made him hasten down faster then he desir'd. And here certainly after such a Victory as this, the Irish Lieutenant-General ought to have clos'd his Memoirs, and set up his Hercules's Pillars; for after such an At­chievement as this, no less then the putting to Flight one of the most Victorious Captains of his Age, and till then Invincible, What [Page 16] could he expect to do greater, or that could more Eternize his Fame? At least, it is to be wonderd, that his Party did not take from hence a prosperous Omen to set so valiant a Champion up in Opposition to Cromwell; since they had great reason to hope, that he who had put the famous Cromwell to Flight with a Cushion, would easily subdue him with his Arms in his Hand.

In the mean time this Passage is of that na­ture, as evidently demonstrates Ludlow to be as deep in the Mud, as Cromwell was in the Mire; nay, he may rather be thought the worse of the Two: For Ludlow was one of those that were already Premeditating to call the King to an Account, and then to alter the Monarchical Government of the Kingdom, and set up a Commonwealth. These dis­dain'd all manner of Treaty with the King; whereas Cromwell design'd his Restoration, and may be said to have acted not so much by pre­meditated Design, as by the impulse of a dri­ving Fate, that push'd him on by degrees, by the encouragement of concurring Events, and conduct of opportune Prosperities. And therefore it is much to be admir'd that the Publishers, or at least the Over-viewers of these Memoirs did not strike out this and many [Page 17] other Passages of the same nature, before they let 'em see the Light. Certainly they did not consult the Honour of the Author, to let such an Antimonarchist as Ludlow to appear in Eng­land with his Helvetian Commonwealth Medi­tations, barefac'd and in all his Republican Colours, at a Time when Monarchy had re­cover'd her Ancient Splendor in the Kingdom. His best Friends most certainly could never be­lieve that either his Person or his Works could be acceptable or welcome here, or procure him any Esteem in a Nation wholly Monar­chical. And all this to blacken the Actions of Cromwell, who was so far from being a Ha­ter of Monarchy, that he at length set up for a Monarch himself; chiefly too by those Acti­ons which to this day are no way displeasing to the greatest Asserters of Monarchy. So that if these Memoirs were publish'd to prejudice Cromwell's Memory, they will miss very much of their Aim; seeing that the Reputation of a Bad Man can never receive much damage from the Accusations of one that is worse then himself. And it is to be fear'd that all the Recompence that Ludlow will get by these Me­moirs of his, will be only the Sarcasm of Juvenal, ‘Clodius accusat Moechos, Catilina Cethegum.’

[Page 18] But whatever Jealousies and Suspicions the Republicans had of Cromwell, when they thought themselves secure, yet whenever any imminent Danger threaten'd'em, they flew to him for Refuge. And therefore by the Con­fession of the Author of the Memoirs him­self, when Hamilton was upon his March into England with Twenty thousand Scots, and Langdale ready to join him with Five thousand p 258 English more, several who had oppos'd his Proceed­ings as Arbitrary and Selfish, then thought them­selves oblig'd to strengthen his hands, in a Work which they call'd necessary, and assur'd him of all the Assistance they could give him.

And now you have the Lieutenant-General of the Horse in Ireland making another Con­fession, That it was not Cromwell who broke off the Treaty with the King in the Isle of Wight, but that he himself was one of the main In­struments that did the King that kind Office.p 262, 263 For he tells yee, that the Treaty with the King being press'd on with more Heat then ever, which he calls a visible Design to render all their Victories useless, he went to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and told him, That a Design was driving on to be­tray the Cause, in which so much of the Peoples Blood had been shed; and that the King being un­der Restraint, would not think himself oblig'd to [Page 19] any thing he should promise under such Circumstances; assuring him at the same time, That they who were most eager for the Treaty, never intended that the King should be bound to the performance of his word, only they design'd to use his Authority to de­stroy the Army, which ought to be his care to prevent. Nay, that he might ascribe all the Honour of this Enterprize to himself and his Party, to the Exclusion of Cromwell, the Lieutenant­General of the Horse in Ireland tells yee a Story some Pages before, how that Cromwell, being inclin'd to close with the Common­wealth Party, invited some of 'em to confer with him at his Chamber: with which when he acquainted our Author of the Memoirs, he affronted him with a very rude and uncivil Answer, telling him, That when he had an occa­sion p 241 to make use of the Republicans, he knew how to cajole 'em and give 'em good words; which put Cromwell into such a Passion, that he gave him as rude a Reply, That the Republicans were a proud sort of People, and only considerable in their own conceits. And thus the Irish Lieutenant­General would seem to insinuate that Cromwell could be none of their Cabal, but only that they made use of him as their Plantain Tree, whose spreading shade might secure 'em from the Swelter of Trouble and Danger. Tho' [Page 20] 'tis not rational to believe, but that they were influenc'd altogether by his Counsels and Di­rections; however, Cromwell knowing their Humour, let 'em alone, and play'd with 'em as an Angler does with a Pike, when he has the unruly Fish fast in his Hook. More then that, as our Author says, he was so complai­sant, as to declare at his arrival from Scot­land, p 272 that he was not acquainted with the De­sign; only since it was done he was glad of it: And thus far he was still their Friend, in conceding 'em the Honour which they so ar­dently desir'd.

It farther appears that Ludlow would seem to make himself more then ordinarily busy in this Transaction. For finding Fairfax Irre­solute, he presently repair'd to Ireton to Ne­gotiate their Grand Affair; and still he would make the World believe that he was the main Instrument of the Revolution. But what was the effect of all his Labour? Why, the Army having wonderfully dispers'd their Enemies on every side, began to consider how to secure them­selves and the Common Cause against those Counsels that were carry'd on in Opposition to 'em, and to that end drew up a Declaration at St. Albans, &c. and so the Irish Lieutenant­General was turn'd out of his Employment. [Page 21] However, tho' Cromwell and the Army had lay'd him aside, yet still in exaltation of himself, he would make yee believe, they were afraid of displeasing him. And there­fore he now pretends to be a Confident of Ireton's, who upon the Armies drawing to­wards London, in order to purge the Parlia­ment, wrote to the Irish Lieutenant-General, that now he hop'd they should please him; which as he acknowledges, they did, not from any particular Advantages that he expected from it, if you will believe him, but that the People of England might be preserv'd in their just Rights from the Oppression of Violent men; being fully per­suaded that an Accommodation with the King was un­safe to the People of England, and unjust and wicked in the nature of it. And thus you see, the Irish Lieutenant-General writes with a two­edg'd Pen, with one side to gash the Repu­tation of Cromwell; and with the other to Sli­ver the Devotion of those who venerate Charles the I. for a Martyr.

And now we are come to the last Act consi­derable in the first Volume; wherein our Author is very Industrious by extenuating, to advance his own worth, to shew the continuance of his Familiarity with Cromwell, and display his own Ingratitude to his Friend. And here it is [Page 22] observable in the first place, that he still made Cromwell the Aggressor in his Discourses with him: An evident Sign that he affected to have it believ'd by all the World that Cromwell had a high Opinion of him for his Abilities, and the Infallible Counsels of his Oracular Fore­fight: Whereas all Judicious Men that read his Memoirs will find, that Oliver, who was a Man of a deep reach indeed, had quite ano­ther Aim. For Cromwell well knowing that his Bigotry to the Party had gain'd him a Re­putation for his fidelity to the Cause among 'em, and that he was for that reason entrusted with all their Secrets, addrest himself to the Irish Lieutenant General as one of the weakest among 'em; that by sifting his Thoughts, he might understand the Judgment of the rest of the Party, or at least of the more Cunning sort.

He tells us, That Cromwell, after the Par­liament had voted him General, as our Au­thor was sitting by him in the House, express'd an Extraordinary Sorrow to observe an Altera­tion in his looks and carriage towards him, by which p 316 he apprehended that his dear Friend Ludlow had en­tertain'd some Suspicions of him. Which Address of Cromwell's might be very probable; not that it is to be thought that Cromwell car'd a rush [Page 23] for his Looks or his Carriage; but it was a Com­plement proper to draw an Easy man into the Nooze that better Cunning was preparing for him. After this, nothing would serve Crom­well but a Meeting with this same Seraskier of the Irish Spahi's, to remove the Grounds of their Mistakes and Misapprehensions, and ac­cordingly they met in the Queen's Guard­Chamber; where, as he says, Cromwell endea­vour'd p 317 to persuade him of the Necessity incumbent upon him of doing several things that appear'd ex­traordinary in the Judgment of some Men, who in opposition to him, would bring Ruin upon themselves, as well as Him and the Public Cause. Presently Ludlow consters these Extra­ordinary Things, to be Cromwell's Treating with the King, and shooting to death one of the Soldiers, and imprisoning the rest, that mutiny'd at Ware upon the account of that Treaty, and testifies his dislike of those Actions, as being done for sinister ends. However, since the Army and He had manifested themselves convinc'd of their Errors by their Adherence to the Commonwealth, he was willing to wait for the accomplishment of those good things which he expected from him, so soon as he should return with Victory home again (for Crom­well was then going to invade Scotland) but [Page 24] p 318 then he hop'd, that the General's Interests and Principles would lead him to do what was most agree­able to the Constitution of a Commonwealth, and the good of Mankind. Nor did he forget his own particular Grievance by the bye, which was the too partial Hand of the Parlament and General in their Distributions of Gratuities; considering how he had held out Wardour Ca­stle, and expos'd his Life in Wiltshire, and ne­ver got any thing for his pains. Now if you will believe our Author, nor is it material to contradict him, can any man of sense persuade himself that Cromwell, at that time a General, and a Man oppress'd with Ponderous Affairs, would have spent his time in soothing up the Humour of an Empty Bigot, and wasted above an hour in preaching upon the 110th Psalm, p 319 to tickle his Fancy, had it not been for some other Reason then our Author first pretended. 'Tis a vanity to think it. But Cromwell was then ready to march for Scotland, and wanted a Journyman for his Son Ireton in Ireland. Some he thought too nimble and cunning, some too faithless to be trusted; but here was one for his turn, stout of his Hands, a weak Head­piece, and one that would be easily rul'd, if well manag'd; but for want of Understand­ing, displeas'd with his Extraordinary Pro­ceedings, [Page 25] and for that reason to be fondl'd into a good Humour again. And therefore so soon as the General saw him mollify'd, he not only propounded the Preferment he design'd him for the foremention'd Reasons, to himself, but propos'd him to the Council of State, and they to the Parlament, and so got him chosen in a manner in despight of his teeth; when others far more deserving and experienc'd in the Irish Affairs, such as the Lord Broghil, and Sir Hardress Waller, sollicited for the same Em­ployment at the same time. And indeed he would make yee believe it was really so: For as he says, he not only pleaded the common Excuses, and Goodly good Morrows of Ina­bility and Unfitness, but the apparent Emer­gencies of his Estate and Family. But Crom­well, who knew he had committed a proper Tool into the hands of a good Workman, would admit of no denial.

However, he had no sooner receiv'd his Commission, but his Advancement puffing him up with a high Opinion of himself, he so order'd it, that his Friends gave out; That the Opportunity was taken by the General to remove p 303 him out of the way, least he should prove an Obstru­ction to his Designs; yet himself still standing upon his guard of Modesty, and telling the [Page 26] world, that he could not think himself so consider­able. Nor could his Friends believe it, what­e're they Publish'd, who knew so well it was not Cromwell's way to remove, but quite to lay aside those Persons whom he acccounted Dangerous, or lookt upon as Obstructors of his Designs. Besides, that such affected self­debasements seldom find belief with Men of Sense, as being incompatible with Truth, in Men that so often complain of unrewarded Merit, as our Author does.

Seeing then, that this great Preferment was not forc'd upon him, least he should obstruct the General's designs, as our Author himself pretends, but as he rather conceives, for his Merit, it follows that the world must con­clude him guilty of a great share of Ingrati­tude, so to bespatter, as he does, with the Epithites of Ambitious, Wicked and Impi­ous (for in such Heats and Passions we shall find the Lieutenant General of the Forces in Ireland in the next Volume) his only Bene­factor, and the very Person that exalted him to the highest Dignity that ever he attain'd to in this world, and Higher then e're he could have expected from his own Deserts. So that whatever hard Opinion the worst of Cromwell's Enemies may have of him himself, they can [Page 27] never be so ungenerous to have any kind thoughts of the Author of these Memoirs, who has so unbeseemingly trampl'd upon the dust of his Benefactor.

It may be Objected, That Ludlow had no Enmity or Hatred against the Person of Crom­well in his private Capacity; but that he con­demns his Publick Actions only, his Violation of the Laws, his Subversion of the Govern­ment, his Arbitrary Proceedings, his Trea­chery to those from whom he deriv'd all his Authority, and his Assuming to himself the Su­pream Power out of the hands of those who were invested with it; and no man is bound to re­taliate the Benefits of an Enemy of his Country.

But 'tis readily answer'd, that this Obje­ction had bin of some force indeed, if Lud­low had bin in the undoubted Right, and Crom­well in the unquestionable Wrong. But ge­neral Opinion concludes, that Both were in the Wrong; and then Ludlow's Accusations and Impeachments of Cromwell's Actions are Unjust and Injurious, as being grounded upon no true Foundation. For the Subjects of praise or dispraise must be such as are uni­versally tak'n pro Concesso; otherwise he that condemns another for that which is not cer­tainly Evil in it self, or by the Fundamental [Page 28] Laws of the Land, condemns him only up­on the Instigations of Passion and Prejudice, and makes that a Crime, which others at the same time may look upon as a Virtue. But granting that Ludlow did firmly believe him­self and his Party to be in the Right, yet he could not be so infatuated to his Bigotry, as not to see that Two of the Principal and most numerous Judgments of the Nation were against him; and then it was a high piece of Ingratitude to lay general imputations of Im­pious, Wicked, and Arbitrary, upon his Friend that had bin so kind to him, for acts committed against his particular Party, where the Controversy was so dubious, and the Ba­lance so unequal against him.

Upon these wrong foundations Ludlow pro­ceeds, and taxes Cromwell, for that after the Battel of Worcester he took upon him a more stately p 365 Behaviour, chose new Friends, and after the Fight, frown'd upon and dismiss'd those who had assisted him against the common Enemy, though he knew they had deserv'd as much Honour as himself and the stand­ing Army. And wherefore was it? Because he knew that a Useful and Experienc'd Militia was more likely to obstruct, then second him in his Am­bitious Designs. But these are the Murmurs of Envy and Prejudice. For what would our [Page 29] Commander in Chief of the Forces in Ireland have had the English General have done with the Militia when there was no farther use of 'em? He that pretended to have bin always so tender of burthening the Nation. He would have had the General, instead of Frowning upon 'em (for which we have only his bare word) have Kiss'd 'em Man by Man, and Rewarded 'em every one with so many Points and a White Loaf, like the Procession Boys at Whitsontide. But he should have blam'd the Parlament for that Omission; that was none of the General's business. He would have had the Parlament have kept 'em up to obstruct the General's Ambitious Designs. But to their Misfortune they were not so quick-sighted as our foreseeing Author of the Memoirs, and therefore they sent 'em home agen to their Wives and Children; whither, no question, they were as willing to return, as the General was to send 'em away. How­ever, afterwards the same Militia Petition'd for bringing Delinquents to speedy Punish­ment; and then, I hope, they pleas'd our Commander in Chief of the Irish Forces, as well as if they had kept the Field. Now for the Ambitious Designs of Cromwell, with which our Author often makes a great noise, I would [Page 30] fain know, What was the difference between the Ambitious Design of setting up a Tyrannical Republick, and the Ambitious Design of ad­vancing a single Usurpation? The latter I'm sure was more consonant to the Ancient Go­vernment of the Nation; for that restor'd the Monarchy, though not the Person; but the other would have pull'd down the very Fa­brick and Constitution of the English Govern­ment. And now let him cry out as much as he pleases against our Ambitious Design, we will not exchange with him; because our Am­bitious Design was better then his. Nay, they were so fond of this Ambitious Design of theirs, that they would have Brib'd the Ge­neral to have let 'em alone to sit still, till they had rear'd their Triumphant Arch of a Com­monwealth. But they were such narrow­Soul'd People, that their stingy Avarice would not suffer 'em to offer any more then p 371 Four thousand Pound a Year for the Disposal of the whole Revenue os the Nation, besides what they might have added to it. Now I appeal to any Conscionable Man, whether that were enough to oblige a General, who had the Power of the Sword in his hands, to the Performance of his Duty.

[Page 31] However, while he is thus degrading the Reputation of the Father in Law, no sooner is the Son in Law dead, but he extols him to the Skies, and raises him a Monument as high as his slender Elocution will permit him. A clear Argument that Lieutenant-General Lud­low was no other then a thick-skull'd Officer of Horse, who might have enter'd into Battel invulnerable in the Forhead; so to extol as he does the Son in Law, who was the Framer and Contriver of many of those very Designs, which he calls Impious and Wicked, at the same time that he expends all the small Shot of his Indignation against the Father in Law, for putting 'em prudently and resolutely in exe­cution. He applauds his departed Friend for his Affection to his Country, his Abilities of Mind, p 381 his Impartial Justice, and his Diligence in the Public Service; and at length embalms his Memory in a Venomous Effluvium against the generality of Kings both past and to come; affirming that his Virtues were a far greater Honour to it, then a Dormitory among the Ashes of Kings, who as they govern'd Others by their Passions, so were they Them­selves no less govern'd by 'em.

And now you shall find the sincere and up­right Compiler of these Memoirs in a second palpable Contradiction of himself. For he [Page 32] tells yee before, That when his Friends would have perswaded him that Cromwell took the Opportunity of preferring him; to remove him out of the way, least he should prove an Obstruction to his Designs; he made'em an­swer,p 303 That he could not think himself so considera­ble, and therefore could not concur with'em in their Opinion. But now upon Lambert's Refusal to go over without any Character into Ireland, less then that of Deputy, a certain Speech of Mr. Weaver, tending to continue him in his p 414 Military Command, increas'd Oliver's Jealousy of him, that he might prove an Obstruction to the De­sign he was carrying on, to advance himself by the Ruin of the Commonwealth; and therefore re­solv'd to place Lieutenant-General Fleetwood at the Head of Affairs in Ireland. Before, he de­ni'd that his Preferment by Oliver proceeded from any Suspicion that the General had of being disturb'd by him in his Designs, because he knew himself uncapable to do him any harm. Here he affirms that the Increase of that Suspicion, meaning doubtless that Suspi­cion which he had before deni'd, was the rea­son that Oliver resolv'd to place another above him. Now all men know, what never was, can never increase. To salve then this same slip of the Lieutenant-General's Memory, we [Page 33] must believe that either Cromwell was not so cun­ning as the World took him to be, or else that the Lieutenant-General dissembl'd with his best Friends. But 'tis to be hop'd that the Lieute­nant-General may be pardon'd for forgetting himself a little, provided he might gain the Honour of being thought an Antagonist capa­ble to prevent the Ambitious Designs of a Man so formidable as Cromwell. 'Tis the na­ture of such Aspirers as the Lieutenant-Gene­ral, to be like Bladders, sometimes shrivel'd up with Self denial, and by and by swoln up with the Wind of Vanity and Self-Conceit; or otherwise, like Prospective Glasses, that lessen at one end, and magnify at the other.

But it seems Cromwell was too nimble for him, and soon rid himself from all his Fears of the Lieutenant-General's obstructing his De­signs; which the disappointed Lieutenant­General loudly bemoans. For upon Fleetwood's Arrival in Ireland, he fetches a deep Sigh, and with the Cobler cries out, Perdidi Operam, find­ing all his Cares and Fatigues recompenc'd only with p 425 Envy and Hatred. Which was, no doubt, the reason that afterwards he resolv'd to repay Cromwell in his own Coin. Nevertheless, as much rejected as he was, he will not forego the high Opinion he always had of himself; [Page 34] and because he had no other Witnesses, cun­ningly brings in Envy and Hatred to be the Testimonies of his Great Performances. For Envy and Hatred among Great Personages, never attend little matters. I must confess he tells yee of many things he did in Ireland; among the rest, how he smoak'd a Party of p 423 the Irish to death in a hollow Rock; and how out of his great Ingenuity, perceiving the Smoke that went into the Cavity of the Rock, came out again at other Crevices, he, as Lieutenant­General of the Horse in Ireland, caus'd those places to be closely stopp'd, and another Smo­ther to be made; and then conceiving the Work to be done, by the same Authority as before, he sent in his Men armed with Back, Breast, and Head-piece, to fetch out the dead people. But this was no such mighty Act to deserve the Hatred and Envy of any Man. And therefore seeing the Lieutenant-General gives us no account who they were that envy'd and hated him; and for that we see no ground to believe it; more especially, if he means Cromwell to be one; for Men of Cromwell's Tem­per never hate or envy those that they know can do 'em no harm, unless the Lieutenant­General mistook Contempt and Slight for En­vy and Hatred; we can only believe it to be [Page 35] a Stratagem of the Lieutenant-General's him­self, to insinuate the Grandeur of his own Atchievements and Merits, which others ei­ther could not, or were unwilling to do to that degree as he was desirous they should. More then this, it is observable that notwith­standing all the Great Actions in Ireland, which the Lieutenant-General assumes to himself to have so gloriously perform'd; Whitlock, so par­ticular in relating the Actions of other Great Officers in Ireland, as Broghil, Waller, Jones, Axtel, Zanchy, &c. makes no mention at all of the Lieutenant General, till after Ireton's death; and then he says no more of him, but that he was appointed to command the For­ces in Ireland, till the farther Pleasure of the Parlament was known.

This is the Substance of the First Volume of Ludlow's Memoirs, so far as they relate to his Inconsiderable Quarrels and Dissatisfacti­ons with Cromwell's Proceedings; which may be reduc'd to three particular Heads: His pri­vate Treaty with the King; his suspected De­signs to ruin the Republican Party, and set up for himself; and his neglect of recompencing the Lieutenant-General according to his Me­rits. Which are Accusations so far from do­ing [Page 36] any Injury to Oliver's Memory, that they rather ingratiate him with the most considera­ble part of the Nation. So that, as I have already once or twice repeated, I admire to what purpose these Memoirs were printed in England, unless it were to expose the Author to be a Person that hated Monarchy, and conse­quently the present Government, with such an Inveterate Abomination, that it may be que­stion'd whether he had any Kindness for Adam, because he reign'd single in Paradise. They might indeed have serv'd to shew his Gratitude to the Canton of Bern, to which purpose they were written: But to print 'em so unseasona­bly here in England, with a Noisy Title, and himself standing in his Ornamental Iron at the Entrance into the Booth of his Memoirs, like a Charlatan and Three Trumpeters solus in a Bartlemew-Fair Balcony, was an Act that want­ed so much Consideration, as ought to have preceded their being thus sent to Farce it abroad in the World. Besides, that when you expect a Gawdy Shew, there is nothing to be seen, but Relations of things long since Lippis & Tonsoribus nota, and already recited by others with much clearer Exactness, and a more per­tinent Fidelity.

[Page 37] Nevertheless, the Gentleman-Usher to these precious Memoirs applauds his Author for a Person that serv'd his Country with that Inde­fatigable Care, Diligence, and Fidelity, as no man more; which he does upon a false Notion of Ludlow's Services, and for want of well distinguishing between the nature of Publick Services. For it is one thing for a man to serve his Country, another thing to serve a particular Party. Now I do not find by the Preamble, that he ever did any Service for his Country, otherwise then by expending his Care and Diligence for the Service of the Re­publican Party; (which, by the way, the Writer of the Preamble calls his going through innumerable Hazards for the Liberties of England,) for he never acted under Cromwell's single Power, and he hated Royalists and Presbyterians both alike. But whether he serv'd his Country in serving the particular Party of the Republi­cans, is a Question that lies wholly at the Writer of the Preamble's door to decide. I am apt to believe, if he will be so adventu­rous to assert it, he will meet with Champions enow that will undertake him. Certain it is, there were some, and those no mean Persons, nor few in number, among whom there were some Judges of the Land, who never believ'd [Page 38] the Writer of the Preamble, that ever Ludlow did any Service for his Country; and there­fore tho' the Lieutenant General so frequent­ly complains that he could never be gratifi'd according to his Merits, they would have recom­penc'd him to the full of his Deserts in fighting for his Country, had the Lieutenant-General not fled from his reward. And so we proceed to his Second Volume.

VOLUME II.

THE Second Volume begins very tartly and roundly indeed, and displaying a kind of Billingsgate Passion against Cromwell for dissolving that part of the Parlament, which the People afterwards in Derision call'd the Rump; and which the Lieutenant-General calls a Villanous Attempt, and a Barbarous Usage of p 458, 461 the Parlament; which they who well consider will find to be the Language only of Preju­dice and Self-Interest, and in the Lieutenant­General to be no way justifiable, 'Tis true, his Charge against Cromwell is very high, and very plausible; but whither the Accusati­ons will fix a real Guilt upon the Party ac­cus'd, is the Question. For this is an Axiom [Page 39] in Logic, that nothing is to be admitted for Truth, but what is acknowledg'd to be cer­tainly such. That is to say, all Precipitancy and Prejudice in judging is to be avoided; and nothing is farther to be absolutely conclu­ded, then as it is so clearly and distinctly Evi­dent to Reason, that it can no way be call'd in Question. Now there is no Body will de­ny but that Cromwell turn'd out the Rump; yet there are Thousands will deny that he did amiss in doing it. But to shew how Partia­lity blinds the Reason of some People, I would fain know, where lay the Difference between purging the House, and turning out the Members that were treating with the King in the Isle of Wight, and dissolving the Repub­lican Rump: for Oliver was as much a Ser­vant to the one as the other. Yet the Lieut. Gen. could approve the first Act, whatever Exclamations he makes against the Latter. Then Oliver was faithful and an Assertor, now a perfidious Invader of the Liberties of the People. Neither did Cromwell owe 'em that Obe­dience which the Lieutenant General pretends: He was a Member of the same Body, equal in Authority, superior in Power, and fought for himself as well as for them; and if they aided him with Money, and their Counsels, [Page 40] he assisted them with his Counsels and his Sword. They sate under his Protection, and ow'd their Grandeur to his Victories; and he might be said to have giv'n 'em their Be­ing in a Political Sense; and to support that Being of theirs, he ran all the Hazards Abroad, while they enjoy'd the Fruits of his Labours at Home. Their Power was only precarious, and while they rul'd by Laws only of his and their own making, he was not Circumscrib'd to any limits of Obedience, to Acts and Or­dinances made only for present Conveniences; which in an unstable Government there may be as great a necessity to alter or repeal upon new Emergencies.

In this Confusion of Popular Anarchy, Cromwell resolv'd to be govern'd by the only standing Law in the Kingdom at that time; which was the Law of Self-Preservation: And the ejected Republicans may thank the E. of Essex when General, and the Scotch Commissioners for teaching him that Lesson. Mr. Whitlock in his Memoirs tells the Story thus.

Collonel Cromwell being made Lieutenant­General of Manchester's Army, gave such an Account of the Miscarriages of the Parlaments Forces before Donnington Castle, as made great [Page 41] Impressions of Jealousy in the Earl of Essex's Breast, then Captain General for the Parlia­ment: Insomuch that he was advis'd to put his strength to rid Cromwell out of the way; and the means to effect it was suppos'd to be by the Scots Commissioners, who were not well pleas'd with Cromwell for certain words which he had spoken, as they apprehended Deroga­tory to the Honour of their Nation. So early did Cromwell begin to be both Eminent and Formidable.

One Evening Mainard and Whitlock were Summon'd to Essex House, whither they went to attend the Lord General, not knowing the occasion of their being sent for, and found al­ready come before 'em, the Scots Commissi­oners, Mr. Hollis, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir John Meyrick, and some others. After the usual Complements, the Lord General addressing himself to Mainard and Whitlock, told 'em, he had sent for 'em upon a special occasion, to have their Advice and Counsel in a matter of great Importance, wherein the Lords Com­missioners of Scotland were concern'd as well for their own, as the state of England; and referr'd himself to the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, as a much better Orator then him­self, to acquaint 'em with the Business.

[Page 42] Upon which, the Lord Chancellor, after he had assur'd 'em of the good Opinion that himself and his Brethren had of their Worth and Abilities, You ken vary weel, said He, that Lieutenant-General Cromwell is no Friend of ours, and since the advance of our Army into England, he has us'd all under-hand and cunning means to take off from our Honour and Merit of this Kingdom. Therefore, it is thought requisite for us, and for the carrying on of the Cause of the tway Realms, that this Obstacle or Remora may be remov'd out of the way, whom otherwise we foresee will be no small impediment to us, and the gude design we have undertaken.

He not only is no Friend to us and the Government of our Kirk, but he is also no well­willer to his Excellency, whom we have all cause to love and honour: so that if he be per­mitted to go on in his way, it may, I fear, endanger the whole Business; therefore we are to advise of some course to be taken for prevention of that Mischief.

You ken vary weel the Accord betwixt the two Kingdoms, and the Union between the two Kingdoms by the solemn League and Covenant, and if any be an Incendiary be­tween the two Nations how he is to be pro­ceeded [Page 43] against. Now the matter is, wherein we desire your Opinions, what you take the meaning of this word Incendiary to be, and whicher the Lieutenant-General Cromwell be not sike an Incendiary, as is meant thereby; and whilke way wud be best to proceed against him if he be prov'd sike an Incendiary, and that will clepe his wings from soaring to the Pre­judice of our cause.

Now you may ken that by our Law in Scot­land we clepe him an Incendiary, wha kindleth Coals of Contention, and raiseth Differences in the State to the publick Damage, and he is,tan­quam Publicus Hostis Patrioe. Whether your Law be the same or not, you ken best who are mickle Learned therein; and therefore with the Fa­vour of his Excellency, we desire your Judg­ments in these Points.

Whitlock repli'd, That the sense of the word Incendiary was the same in England as his Lordship had express'd it to be by the Law of Scotland, One that raiseth the fire of Con­tention in a State, or that kindles the burning hot flames of Contention; but whether Lieutenant­General Cromwell were such an Incendiary be­tween the two Kingdoms, could not be known but by proof of his particular Words and Actions tending to the kindling of such [Page 44] a Fire of Contention between the Two Na­tions.

That it was not for the Lord General and the Lords Commissioners of Scotland to ap­pear in any accusation of this nature, unless they were certain it could be made out by sufficient proofs.

That they were to consider the Condition, Parts, and Interest of the Person who was to be accus'd as an Incendiary.

That Lieutenant General Cromwell was a Gentleman of quick and subtle Parts, and one who had gain'd no small Interest in the House of Commons, and wanted not Friends in the House of Peers, nor Abilitles in him­self to manage his own Defence to the best advantage.

And therefore since neither his Excellency, nor the Lord Chancellor had mention'd any particulars, nor that he knew of any by his own private Observations, that could amount to a clear proof that would satisfy the House of Commons that Lieutenant General Crom­well was an Incendiary, his advice was, That they should desist from any further prosecution of this matter, till they were certain of evi­dent Proofs to make out their Accusation.

[Page 45] Maynard gave the same Answer, only va­ry'd in words. However, Mr. Hollis, Sir Phi­lip Stapleton, and some others, spoke smartly to the Business, and mentioning some particu­lar Passages and Words of Cromwell, tending to prove him an Incendiary, would willingly have bin upon the Accusation. But the Scots Com­missioners were not so forward to adventure upon it, for the reasons alledg'd by Maynard and Whitlock. Nevertheless, this business was not carri'd so privately, but that Cromwell was in­form'd of it: Which Mr. Whitlock gathers from hence, That though Cromwell took no no­tice of any particular Passages at this Confe­rence, yet he seem'd more kind to Whitlock and Maynard then formerly he had bin, and carri'd on his Design more actively of making way for his own Advancement.

From hence it is apparent, that there was a Party in the Parlament that bore an early spleen against Cromwell, and fain would have nipt him in the Bud; but his eminent Service at Naseby procuring him to be appointed and continu'd Lieutenant General under Fairfax; the continual Successes that attended him from that time forward, set him above their Ma­chinations. Nevertheless, they did not erase out of his Breast the remembrance of the [Page 46] kindnesses they would have done him; nor did their Flatteries of his Prosperity make him the more neglectful of standing upon his Guard. And it was as warrantable for Crom­well to secure himself from the Contrivances of his Enemies in a shatter'd Parlament, of which he had so long before such timely no­tice, as it was for them to seek his Ruin. For they were not his Sovereigns, but his Equals. This I urge to throw off that common asper­sion from Cromwell, That he sought his own Advancement from the beginning, more then by enlarging his Fortune by acts of Prowess, and joining with others to procure the general good of the Kingdom. For Baxter confesses, that at first he took extream care to get as ma­ny Religious Men into the Regiment that wasBaxter's Life, Part 1. to serve immediately under him, as possibly he could; who being People of more under­standing p 98 then common Soldiers, were the more apprehensive of the Importance and Consequence of the War, and being consci­ous that they Fought for the Publick Felicity, became the more Valiant; and he instances Airs, Berry, Desborough, and the rest of that Troop, that they prov'd so Valiant, that as far as he could learn, they never turn'd their backs to an Enemy. He adds farther, That [Page 47] at Cromwell's first making choice of such Men, it was the very Esteem and Love of Religious Men that principally mov'd him; and the avoiding those Disorders, Mutinies, Plunder­ings and Grievances of the Country, which Debauch'd Men in Armies are usually guilty of. Now it is not easy to believe, that a Man of such Principles should be guilty of that inordinate Ambition which his Maligners lay to his Charge. But when he found that his Prosperous Atchievements rais'd him Enemies on every side; that they who were most be­holding to his Victorious Successes, combin'd with the greatest Animosity to his Destructi­on, 'twas time for him then to look about him, and to oppose their undermining Devices with countermines of the same nature. Nor does it appear by any proof that carries Au­thority with it, that he pretended to single Greatness till he was forc'd to it for his own safety. It is agreed by the Author of the Me­moirs himself, that Cromwell offer'd more can­did and easy Conditions to the King then the Presbyterian Party did; which if the King had accepted (and it does not appear to be Crom­well's fault that he did not) Cromwell himself had then put a stop to all his single Advance­ment; whereas he would surely have taken [Page 48] another course, had he at that time meditated single Sovereignty; but the King, who was design'd by Fate to be a Victim to Evil Coun­sel, refus'd those Offers, trusting to vainer hopes. On the other side, it was manifestly apparent that the Presbyterian Party aim'd at nothing more then their own Advancement by their Selling the Bishops Lands, and when they came to Treat with the King, by their so stifly adhering to their Proposition for the Abolishing of Episcopacy, knowing there could be no Bishops without Maintenance, and that then they must be the Paramount Clergy of the Kingdom. But then (indeed) Cromwell perceiving that it was not safe to rely upon the King, nor willing to truckle under a Party that were Treating for their own Ad­vancement upon his Ruins, 'tis rational to be­lieve, that from that time forward he began to look upon the King as a Conquer'd Prince, and that none could better supply his room then the Person who had Subdu'd him.

The Motives and Provocations that incited Cromwell to Dissolve the Rump, were some­what different; for before the Presbyterian Party was Expell'd, though the Royal Party had deserted the House, there was a Number still left sufficient to take upon 'em [Page 49] the Name of a Parlament; and there was some face of that Authority which the Law of the Land had invested in the Representa­tives of the People; besides, that the King had acknowledg'd 'em to be a Parlament, upon the Treaty at Uxbridge. But they being Eject­ed, the small Remainder was only a Junto, which deriv'd their Authority from the Power of the Sword; their Votes and Acts were no farther Laws then the Sword constrain'd Obe­dience to 'em; they were only continu'd in their Seats by Cromwell for a present Conveni­ence; and therefore as they were only coun­tenanc'd and supported by the Power of the Sword, which was then in the hands of Crom­well, they were to be lookt upon as no other then a Party set up by him, and owing their Authority to him. So that when they began to extend that Authority beyond its Limits, and assum'd to themselves a Democratical Power in opposition to him from whom they deriv'd their subsistence, they were rather Rebels to Cromwell, then Cromwell to them; and as he set 'em up in hopes that they might be service­able to him for the good of the Nation, might pull 'em down again, when he saw 'em ex­ceeding their Commission. Now whether the design, for the bringing of which to pass, [Page 50] Cromwell fix'd 'em in their Seats pro tempore, were good or bad, is not the Question: But whether they who were no lawful Authority, but only acted under the safeguard of another unlawful Authority, had power to make any act good or evil, as it suited with their In­terest, or oppos'd their Designs. For if they had not, which is most probable, Cromwell is ne're a jot the more Impious, the more Per­jur'd, the more a Villain, because they call him so. For being a Junto of his own erecting, upon such and such Considerations, he might without any fear of those Reproach­es, send 'em a grazing when he found 'em de­viating from those ends for which he had suf­fer'd 'em to keep their Places. Now it is plain, that Cromwell never intended they should sit long, or thought 'em able to accomplish his main Design, which was to settle the Na­tion. For Whitlock in his Memorials gives yee an Account, how that aftter the Battel of Worcester, Cromwell desir'd a Meeting with se­veral Members of Parlament, and some Chief Officers of the Army at the Speaker's House, where in the presence of a great many that met, he propos'd to 'em, That since the Old King was Dead, and his Son Defeated, he held it necessary to come to a Settlement of the Nation, [Page 51] and therefore he had desir'd that Meeting to Consider and Advise what was fit to be done.

Whitlock offer'd, Whether it were not re­quisite to be understood in the first place, in what way such a Settlement was desir'd; whe­ther of an Absolute Republick, or of any Mixture of Monarchy.

Cromwell concurr'd with Whitlock, that his meaning was, that it should be consider'd, Whether a Republick or a mixt Monarchy would be best to be settl'd; and if any thing Monarchical, then in whom that Power to be plac'd.

Sir Thomas Widdrington was of Opinion, That a mixt Monarchical Government was the most suitable to the Laws and People of the Nati­on; and if Monarchical, that it would be most just to place it in one of the Sons of the late King.

Fleetwood thought that the Question whether a mixt Monarchy, or a Republick, would not be very easily determin'd. But,

St. John, the Chief Justice, was of the same Opinion with Sir Thomas Widdrington, and so was the Speaker; but they did not mention where it was proper to be plac'd.

Widdrington again propos'd the Duke of Glo­cester; and Whitlock propounded that a Day [Page 52] might be fix'd for the King's Eldest Son and the Duke of York to come into the Parlament, that so upon such Terms as should be thought fit and agreeable, both to the Civil and Spiri­tual Liberties, a Settlement might be made with them.

Cromwell repli'd, That it would be a busi­ness of more then ordinary difficulty; how­ever, he really thought, that if it could be done with safety to the preservation of the English Rights, a Settlement with something of Monarchical Power in it, would be very effectual.

In short, the Soldiers were against any thing of Monarchy, as Desborough and Whalley, who were present at the Meeting; but the Lawyers were for a mixt Monarchy.

Hence it is apparent, that the Dissolution of the Rump, in order to the setting up a Go­vernment with a mixture of Monarchy in it, had a truer and more noble Aim, as being more conformable to the Laws of the Land, then the continuance of a Republic.

The Point is not here, Whether Cromwell did ill in setting up himself; but whether he did amiss in setting up himself above the Re­publican Rump; and for that, he has of his side the Opinions of the Greatest and most Learn­ed [Page 53] Lawyers of that Time: And Whitlock testi­fies, That St. John, the then Chief Justice, with many others, advis'd him to Dissolve the Rump. So that Ludlow's Outcries of Villa­nous, Wicked, and Perfidious, are False and Scandalous, as being grounded upon Igno­rance, Passion, and Partiality. He could not be tax'd with Wickedness or Villany, be­cause he pursu'd the Constitutions of the Na­tion, at least much closer then they who had design'd the Subversion of the National Go­vernment: Nor could he be charg'd with Perfidiousness, because he never promis'd to perpetuate their Session, but had often desir'd 'em to Dissolve themselves, which they fore­slowing by a thousand cunning delays, he took the liberty to dismiss 'em by force.

But how highly soever Ludlow was offend­ed with the Dissolution of his Republican Brethren, many others were not of his Opi­nion. For Whitlock tells yee, that their Disso­lution caus'd much rejoycing among the Kings Party; and that among the Parlament's Party several Pastors of Churches and their Congre­gations were pleas'd at it; and that several Acknowledgments of the Justice of that Acti­on were sent up to Cromwell and his Council of Officers, not only from several Parties of the [Page 54] Army, but from others in various Countries, with Engagements to stand by him; and Baxter tells yee, that no sort of People express'd any great Offence at their being cast out. Though he closes his advantagious Testimonial of the general Approbation of the Action, with a lash of his Satyrical Pen, upon the score of his old Friends, the Exterminated Members. For Mr. Baxter does not appear in his descants upon Cromwell to be a Man without Gall. However, he serves as a good Witness against Lieutenant General Ludlow, to shew that Oli­ver's Dissolution of the Rump was no such Crime, as he proclaims it to be. And thus it is observable how strangely Falshood is im­pos'd upon the world in the various dresses and disguises of Truth. If you will believe the Affirmations of Self-interest and Partiality, there as many Truths, as there are Wastcoats of the Virgin Mary among the Papists; at least there is no Champion of a Party but has his Wardrobe of Prerences, and Dresses of Justice, Piety, Virtue, and whatever is re­vear'd and esteem'd among Men, to prank and trick up their Minion Falshood, that it shall not be possible to distinguish her from Truth; nor are they at the same time without as many Magazines of deformed Vizors and [Page 55] Disguises to render Truth the most odious and monstrous of all things, and ungrateful to Man­kind. One cries up this for Truth; another asserts for Truth that which is diametrically opposite; a third steps in, and charges 'em both for Impostors. And the generality of Men, too lazy to examin which is Truth and which is Falshood, refer themselves to him, who having got something of a Name in the World, either for his Learning or Piety, or it may be sometimes for both, has the greatest Authority over their Persuasion.

This is Cromwell's Case; of whom it was said, That no Man was higher Extoll'd, no Man more basely vilifi'd; no Man Worse, no Man Better spoken of; as Interest led the Judg­ments of Men. The Presbyterians, with Bax­ter at their Head, affirm it was an Act of Re­bellion, Perjury, Perfidiousness, and Impudence, to turn so many of their Members out of the House at once: The Republican Party say, No; that was no Crime at all; but it was a Villa­nous, Barbarous, Perfidious Act to Dissolve the Rump. Whence it is naturally concluded, that until Both Parties can make out their diametri­cal Infallibility in these Points, Cromwell's Re­putation stands Irreproachable, as to those Acts with which they charge him committed [Page 56] against themselves. Add to this, that being all Parties and Accomplices, they were no competent Judges of the Justice or Injustice of their own Cause; consequently neither of Cromwell's Proceedings against themselves. So that having no Right to Judge, they had no Power to Condemn. ‘Quis tulerit Graechos de Seditione querentes?’

And now we come to the Accomplish­ment of the Southsayings and Conjectures of our Irish Lieutenant-General, That after all was done, Cromwell would certainly fool the Rump, and set up for himself. And here with the Painter-Stainers Brush of his over­weaning Malice, he strives to render Oliver as deformed as possibly he can, to the end he may make his Rump appear the more sleek and im­maculate. To this intent, his main pretence is violent Usurpation, but his chief Reasons, which he displays too inconsiderately to the World, were his own Discontents, and the Abatement of his Pay, and his being at length turn'd quite out of Commission: For, says he,p 465 the Pay of some of the Officers of the Army was al­so reduc'd; among whom it fell heavier on me, then any other; for I was oblig'd to keep a more plentiful [Page 57] Table then the rest, and Twenty Horses continually in my Stable ready for Service: And indeed it would have vex'd a Saint, to have bin thrown down like Lucifer, from so much Glory all of a suddain. Then for his Commission, he himself acknowledges that it was not taken from him, till he was discover'd to be a p 522, &c Disperser of Petitions and Memento's against the Person who procur'd it for him, and in whose Name it was given. And here his pretended tender Conscience being prick'd and goaded with a hundred scruples and nice­ties, 'tis very pleasant to see how it caper'd and curvetted upon the demand of that Com­mission. However it is apparent, that he was us'd with a world of Civility, more then he deserv'd, and that great care was taken to recover him from those Pious frenzies and fe­garies, with which his Celestial Bigotry was led astray.

As for his Charge of Usurpation and Ty­ranny upon Oliver; we must take him for a Person abstracted from all other Parties but his own, and deal with him as one that boast­ed that he had Subscrib'd the Engagement to be true to the Rump, without King or House of Lords, with his Hand and his Heart; and then we must affirm, that he has gon all along up­on [Page 58] a wrong ground; seeing there could be no greater Proof of usurpation, then that very Engagement which the Lieutenant General Sign'd with his Hand and his Heart. For it was a demand of Fealty by those who had no Legal Authority to require it, and a per­fect Invasion upon the Prerogatives of the King and the Lords, and erecting a spurious Commonwealth upon their Ruins. So that the Confidence of the Lieutenant-General is greatly to be wonder'd at; who being an Ac­complice in so signal a usurpation, durst ad­venture to call Cromwell a usurper, who did no more then what they had done before him with much more Injustice and Illegality. For the Lieutenant and his Copartners usurp'd upon the Fundamental Constitutions of the Nati­on; whereas Oliver was only a usurper upon usurpers, if it might be call'd a usurpation. However, to make it out, the Lieutenant-Ge­neral conjectures this, and surmises that, ac­cording as his own idle Fancy prompted him; and would make the world believe that he knew Cromwell's Thoughts, and all the reasons of his Actions, which he takes so much care to bespatter with his fond Reflections and In­terpretations, to the best advantage of his un­defiled Rump. Whereas there be some who [Page 59] reck'n that Action of Cromwell's among the most Glorious of his Performances, and which came the nearest to one of the most fa­mous Atchievements of Hercules himself, to cut off that many-headed Geryon of Anarchy, Folly, and Tyranny, at one Blow.

But notwithstanding all his stroaking and clapping his Republican Rump, there are others that write with more Impartiality, who give us a better account of things; and from those bare Relations of Matters of Fact, we find that Cromwell always advis'd with the Greatest Lawyers in the Nation, before he put his Determinations in Execution. In an acci­dental Conference between Cromwell and Whit­lock, the latter agreed with the former, That Ludlow's spotless Rumponians were a Proud, Ambitious, and Self-seeking sort of People, ingrossing all Places of Honour and Profit to themselves and their Friends, and daily break­ing out into new and violent Parties and Fa­ctions; that they were delayers of Business, and Men that design'd to perpetuate the Power in their own hands. So that it was then con­cluded between 'em, that there ought to be some Authority and Power so Full and so High, that might restrain their Exorbitances, and reduce things to better Order.

[Page 60] Certainly these were Inducements for Crom­well to Dissolve the Rump, much more Just and Honest, and far more Beneficial to the Nati­on, then those Figments which Ludlow charges him withal. Had they bin those By ends, and that Ambition which Ludlow would pre­tend to discover in him, it was well known, and Whitlock put him in mind at the same Con­ference, that he had all the Kingly Power in him already; that of the Militia as he was General: That as to the Nomination of Civil Offices, those whom he recommended were very seldom refus'd; and that though he had not a negative Vote in passing the Laws, yet what he dislik'd was not easy to be carri'd; and that it was in his Power to dispose of the Public Money: Then as to Foreign Affairs, though the Ceremonial Application were made to the Parlament, yet the expectation of good or bad Success was from himself; and particular Solicitations of Foreign Mini­sters, were only made to him.

But Cromwell well knowing that the Power of a King was universally understood and Re­verenc'd by the People of this Nation, and that a single Person under what Title soever, was more agreeable to the Constitutions of the Kingdom, in all probability believ'd [Page 61] that it would be much better to destroy the Re­publican Hydra, past recovery, then to be guil­ty of so many foreseen Miscarriages, by suf­fering the unruly Monster any longer to domi­neer under the Protection of his Power. For certain it is, that whatever the Nation had suf­fer'd, though it had pass'd in their Names, would have bin all laid upon his Shoulders. And by the Event it may be justly thought, that these were the real Motives that sway'd Oliver to assume a Single Title, rather then the Fictions of Ludlow's Malice and Discontent. However, Ludlow pretends, that his Rump was dockt in the full career of their good In­tentions for the Good of the Nation; to which some Credit might have bin given, had some indifferent Person spoke it: But as the Praises and Encomiums of a Bigot gain little Belief, so neither are his Defamations and Re­proaches any more to be regarded among Men of Sense. More then this, Cicero will not al­low that any Man should accuse another for that which he is as much, or more guilty of himself. Now it is apparent that Oliver, as has been said, so far as concern'd the Rump, was much less a Usurper, then Ludlow and his Party, who had Usurp'd all the Authority in the Kingdom to themselves, and were going [Page 62] about to Subvert the Fundamental Govern­ment of the Nation; whereas Oliver did but dissolve a Conventicle of a Parlament, out of a firm belief that they were meditating the Ruin of the Kingdom; which having no Le­gal Authority, might easily be Dissolv'd by the same Power that Supported it. So that there is not the least pretence for Ludlow's Out­cries of Usurpation against Oliver, who had as much right, if he saw cause, to Dissolve 'em, as they had to Sit; more especially see­ing neither Ludlow, nor any of his Party could claim any redress from the Law of the Land, to which they were all sworn Enemies by vir­tue of their Engagement; nor was there any other Law to make it Usurpation, unless they meant some petty Votes of their own, which signifi'd nothing.

The Lieutenant-General's next Charge up­on Cromwell, is an Accusation of Tyranny; not that the Lieutenant General ever felt the effects of it, unless it were his being turn'd out of Commission for endeavouring to raise the Posse Comitatus upon him, as we told yee before, by dispersing Petitions and Memento's against Oliver and his Government, which he p 524 thought, in his silly Conscience, to be a Du­ty incumbent upon him: But because the [Page 63] Lieutenant-General having read or heard that Usurpation and Tyranny were generally Con­comitants, he thought it a Duty incumbent upon him to give Oliver a double scratch, and because he had charg'd him with Usurpation, that therefore it behov'd him to accuse him of Tyranny, by reason they were so near a kin. Such Blunders do Men commit that are sway'd by Prejudice and Disgust. Now therefore we are to examine who were the greatest Ty­rants, the Rump, or Cromwell. The definition of Tyranny, according to Aristotle, is the Do­mination of one or more Men, with regard to nothing else but their own proper Interest and Advantage.

Now you have heard the Characters of the generality of the Rump; that they were Proud, Ambitious, and Self-seekers: Endowments so temper'd by Original Sin to qualify Men in Authority for Tyranny, that 'tis a difficult thing for those that possess 'em to avoid the Temptations of Despotic Dominion. But to come to particulars; their Despotick Votes, from which there was no Appeal; the Seque­strations, Decimations, their Committee­Men Bashas, and Sangiacs in every Corner of the Kingdom to Extirpate the Ancient Gentry and Nobility of the Nation; their de­signing [Page 64] the very Annihilation of Kingship, by Exposing the Palaces of Royalty to Sale; their Lording it over the Episcopal Clergy to that degree, that they would not suffer 'em to have Two or Three gather'd together in their Saviour's Name, as if the Cavaleers had had no right to Heaven; Taxes impos'd ad Libi­tum, by a Usurp'd Authority, to maintain Wars with Holland, Wars with Portugal, that signifi'd nothing to England, but tended all to the advancement of their own Grandeur: And all this while the Nation rent and torn, Family against Family, Parents against their Children, Foreigners increas'd in the Staple Manufactures of the Kingdom, and Confusi­on, that always nurses Anarchy and Tyran­ny, as the Wolf did Romulus and Remus, raging uncontroul'd from Dover to Berwick.

While the Kingdom was in this disasterous Condition, Cromwell steps in and puts a stop to these precipitant Phaetons, that had quite over­turn'd the Chariot of Government, and finding no other way but to restore the ancient Esta­blishment of a Single Person and a Parlament, takes the Reins into his own Hands. And this is that which our Lieutenant General of the Forces in Ireland snorts and fumes at with so much Indignation, and calls, though very [Page 65] improperly, his own Circumstances consi­der'd, a betraying of the precious Cause, and a Sacrificing of all their Victories and Deliverances to his Pride and Ambition, contrary to his former so­lemn p 471 Vows and Professions. A Charge of a high nature, but which has bin sufficiently answer'd already. However, Cromwell would not be overhasty in this Affair of so great Importance; he first calls an Assembly of Men, the Best and most Able, as he thought, to find out an Expedient to rescue the Nation from the growing Confusions that were like to over­whelm it. But these Persons, after they had for some time laid their Heads together, prov'd as arrant Bunglers, as the others were Fools and Knaves; however, they had the honesty to acknowledge it, and so unwilling to go beyond their Last, resign'd up their Power into his Hands who had call'd 'em to­gether. Now whether this were done out of Policy for form and fashions sake, or out of sin­cere Intention, is not here to be disputed; we are only to clear it from Ludlow's Aspersi­on of Tyranny, as being a Method that lookt with a much better face of moderation and reason, and carri'd a fairer pretence of satisfa­ction to the Nation, then the Lawless Violence of the Rump in taking Possession of their seve­ral [Page 66] Thrones, and Voting themselves into an Arbitrary and Despotic Domination, without the least Consent of the People, but impo­sing themselves upon 'em for their Repre­sentatives, without any regard to the Laws and Constitutions of the Land.

On the other hand, Cromwell and the Gentle­men before mention'd, had resign'd their Au­thority up to him, before he would intrude himself upon the Nation, draws up a certain Instrument, containing several Covenants and Compacts between him and the People, which he took an Oath in the Presence of God, never to Violate or Infringe, but to Govern the Three Nations according to the Laws, Statutes, and Customs thereof, seek­ing Peace, and causing Justice to be equally Administred.

This the Rump never did, they broke the Laws and Statutes of the Realm every day in the year; and requir'd that all People should Swear to them, but they Swore to no Body: They gave no reason of their Actions, but call'd them­selves, Custodes Libertatis Angliae, and as such, they lockt it up with their Great Seal, and would never part with it to the People: They were only ingenuous in one thing, that they ac­knowledged what God they serv'd by their [Page 67] Deus Nobiscum upon their Coin. And this same Mammonish Deity seems to have had a great influence upon the Conscience and Piety of our Lieutenant-General, by his Com­plaint for the Abatement of his Pay, and the Viol of his Wrath pour'd out upon Cromwell, for distributing a Thousand Pounds a Year to p 479 the Members of his Council, when he himself was turn'd out of the Council of State, and his Lieutenant-Generalship in Ireland, and sent a Grazing into Wiltshire, after all his great Services at Wardour-Castle, and against the Bogtrotters, and his obstructing the Proclaiming the Instrument of Government in Ireland, in Obedience to the squeamishness of his crazy Consci­ence. Which put him into such a heat every time he thought of it in Switzerland, that he was resolv'd to be even with Cromwell for it; and therefore lays it as a heavy Charge upon him, his allowing a 1000 l. a Year to his Privy Council, to tell the World, That heIbid. did it as a Publick Robber who had possess'd himself of the Purse of the Nation, because nothing of Conscience or Honour could be presum'd would ever keep 'em steady in their Fidelity to him. Never considering that his Spotless Rumponians were of the same Opinion, which made 'em carve the Wealth of the Nation so profusely [Page 68] one to another, to cement their mutual Uni­on, that Martin was reported to have spent a Hunder'd Thousand Pounds of their Libera­lity upon his Concubines, of which the Dona­tive of Darby House was a part. And they who desire to see a farther List of the Muni­ficent Gratuities of their Fidelity to each other, may find it in the History of Independency, unless my Memory fail me.

But to return to Cromwell, it is apparent that still he gave reasons for what he did. He tells the world, That having had sufficient Experi­ence of the Inconveniences of a Republican Dominion, which was altogether dissonant from the Temper of the Nation, he had re­duc'd it to the Ancient Form of a Single Person and a Parlament, as being most agreeable to the Sense of the Nation, judging it to be the most likely means to avoid the extreams of Monarchy on the one hand , and Demo­cracy on the other, yet not so neither as to found Dominium in Gratia. And to shew how far he was from intending a Tyrannical and Despotic Rule, he drew up an Instrument containing several Covenants and Agreements with the People, with the Form of an Oath to be taken by him for the Performance of the several Articles.

[Page 69] The chief of these Covenants were, That the Laws should not be alter'd, suspended, re­peal'd, or abrogated, nor any new Law made, nor any Tax or Imposition laid upon the Peo­ple, but by common Consent of Parlament.

That there should be a Triennial Parla­ment, not to be dissolv'd before they had sate Five Months; which should be summon'd sooner, if the Necessities of the State requi­red it.

That the Office of the Single Person should be Elective, and not Hereditary.

That Liberty of Conscience should be al­low'd to all Professors of the Christian Faith: But the Publick and open Profession of Po­pery and Prelacy not to be allow'd.

That every successive Single Person should take and subscribe a solemn Oath to seek the Peace, Quiet, and Welfare of the Nations, and to cause Law and Justice to be equally administred.

Now, with our Major-General's leave, I would fain know what Tyranny there was in all this? More then this, as to the Sincerity of Cromwell's Intentions, if we may believe him, as there is certainly much more reason to believe him speaking as it were in the Presence of God, then to give Credit to an [Page 70] exasperated Bigot jabbering to the Canton of Bern, he assures the Parlament which he had call'd, That he desir'd not to keep the Go­vernment any longer then he might preserve England in its just Rights, and the People in their just Liberty of Conscience. To this we may add, that at another time in his Speech to his Parlament, speaking of his Go­vernment, he has this Expression, That let men say what they would, he could speak it with Comfort before a greater then any of 'em, as to his own Intentions, it was a Thing calculated for the Interest of the People alone, and for their Good, and without Respect had to any other Interest.

I do not find in all Ludlow's Memoirs any such League made for the Welfare of the Na­tion by the Rump, or any such Tenderness so much as pretended by Ludlow's Republican Patriots. Ludlow takes no notice of all this, but runs on, hunting after all the Riffraff of Defamation and Reproach which he can rake together, on purpose to pull down his Memo­ry, and bury it under the Rubbish of his Me­moirs. He scrapes together with an implaca­ble Malice, all the Bad, or will admit of bad Interpretation concerning him; but he omits every thing that might be justly said in [Page 71] his Favour: Which, if we may believe Cicero, is the greatest Proof of the Injustice of an Accusation that can be.

Baxter, though no Friend to Cromwell, was in this particular more Ingenious; he mixes what he thought bad, and what he esteem'd good in Cromwell, both together; and his Words are worth reciting, as bearing a signal Testimony against the Virulency of Ludlow. I did in open Conference, says he, declare Crom­wellBaxter's Life, Part 1. and his Adherents to be guilty of Treason and Rebellion, yet I did not think it my duty to rave against p 71 him in the Pulpit; the rather, because as he kept up his Approbation of a Godly Life in the general, and of all that was good, except that which the Interest of his sinful Cause engag'd him to be against; so I perceiv'd that it was his design to do good in the main, and to promote the Gospel, and the Interest of Godli­ness, more than any had done before him; and it was the principal means that he trusted to for his own Establishment, ev'n by doing G O O D; that the People might love him, or at least be willing to have his Government, for that Good. And speaking of his Carriage after he had assum'd the Pro­tectorship, He had the Policy, says he, not to detect or exasperate the Ministers or others that con­sented p 74 not to his Government, having seen what a Stir the Engagement made before; but he let men live [Page 72] quietly, without putting any Oath of Fidelity upon any but his Parlaments.

From whence it is obvious, that it was a piece of Tyranny in the Rump, that they would let no body rest in quiet, that did not swallow their Engagement; which was a Ty­ranny not only over the Bodies, but the very Souls and Consciences of men; of which Lud­low in the height of his Partiality says nothing.

By the way, there is one Accusation which Baxter and Ludlow both charge upon Cromwell, That he permitted many things, to necessitate the Nation to take him for their Governor: Which Cromwell taking notice of, gives this so­lemn Answer, in his Second Speech to his Par­lament; And I say this, says he, not only to this Assembly, but to all the World, That that man lives not, who can come to me and charge me that I have in these great Revolutions created Necessities: I chal­lenge ev'n all that fear God. After all this, I must leave it to Judgment, whether it be fair to favour the Suppositions and Conjectures of Bigotry, against so solemn a Chalenge as this.

And now we are to compare the Benefit which the Nation receiv'd by the Rump, with the Advantages of the Protector's Govern­ment. As for the Actions of the Rump, the chiefest of Remark was their War with the [Page 73] Dutch. A War by which the Nation reap'd no Benefit, and which the Dutch declin'd as much as possibly they could, disowning the rash Action of Trump, and taking God to witness, that his fighting the English Fleet was against the Knowledge and Will of the States­General. But the Rump, who then thought themselves the Lords of Three Kingdoms, and were setting up for a Commonwealth, and flush'd up with Cromwell's Victories at Dunbar and Worcester, resolv'd to let the Dutch know, that as they were the largest, so they would be the Topping Republic in Europe, and would not have the Point of Precedency disputed with 'em. Which was the Reason that most people, because they could find no better, gave for their entring into a War impertinent­ly expensive to the Nation, and altogether against the Protestant Interest, which ought to have been much more dear to those pretended Zealots, then a Punctilio of Honour. As for their War with Portugal, it had somewhat a better pretence, because that King protected Prince Rupert's revolted Ships in his Harbours; but it caus'd a great Cessation of Trade.

On the other side; Cromwell made Peace with the Dutch, and made 'em pay for it. He renew'd the Leagues with Sweden and Den­mark, [Page 74] by which he kept the Sound open to his Merchants, and strengthen'd the Protestant Interest. He reliev'd the distressed Protestants of Savoy with considerable Sums. And if he err'd in closing with the French instead of the Spaniard, yet thereby he added Jamaica and Dunkirk to the British Dominions; the Loss of the last of which Places has been too sadly la­mented in these our last Wars with France. At home he took care to fill the Seats of Justice with Men of known Integrity and Ability; and he went a great way in reforming the Abu­ses of the Law. Lastly, he kept the Nation in Peace, Trade flourish'd, and Money was plentiful under his Government.

But he was no sooner laid in his Grave, but the Rump, which was enough to shew the Nature of the Beast, broke in upon his Son Richard, and put all into Confusion again; and by that means made good the Truth of all the Remonstrances and Declarations that the Army and Cromwell put forth in Justification of their Proceedings against him. This Baxter says, as done by them, was as barbarous a Perfidi­ousness as ever History did declare; that they should so suddenly, so scornfully, and proudly pull down him whom they had so lately set up and sworn to, and that for nothing; they could scarce tell why themselves; [Page 75] nor were ever able to give the world a fairer reason for their Villany, then the Munster Fanaticks had for their Bedlam Outrages and Rebellion; as if Perjury and Rebellion had bin newly put into the Commandments.

And here it is time to make a stop, that I may not trouble the Reader with Repetitions and Impertinences, which would certainly be the consequence of any farther tracing the re­mainder of his Memoirs, wherein he seems to be only in a pleasing Trance, gratifying his own Humour, and talking of old Stories, like old weather-beaten Officers in the Chimney-corner of a Lame Hospital.

From the whole there is only this one Ob­servation farther to be made, How great a Prejudice Posterity receives from such Moun­tebanks in History as the Author of these Memoirs. For the Supream Law of History is, That there be no suspicion of Favour or Affection; none of Envy or Partiality, nor any thing of Ostentation in the Writer; of all which Crimes these Memoirs are apparently guilty. And therefore such Commentaries as these, are better committed to the Flames, then transmitted to future Ages, which are thereby led into Error, and altogether depriv'd [Page 76] of making a right Judgment of preceding times. Truth is darken'd either Libidine Affen­tandi, or odio Adversus Dominantes; and so be­tween Folly and Knavery there is no care of Posterity. And therefore in regard that Men for Scandals and Defamations of the Living, are many times punish'd with severe Penalties, How much more do all passionate and misgui­ding Histories, that murder the Fame and Re­putation of the Dead, deserve the Condemna­tion of all the Rational part of Mankind?