the court or in the camp, he was generally the mere
puppet of others; at one time of his wife, at another of
his bifhops, now of his nobles, then of his troops, and laft
of all of the enemy. And he feems, for the most part,
to have followed the worst counfels, and thofe too of the
worft advifers. Charles is the victim of persuasion,
Charles the dupe of impofition, Charles the pageant of
delufion; he is intimidated by fear or dazzled by hope;
and carried about here and there, the common prey of
every faction, whether they be friends or foes. Let them
either erafe thefe facts from their writings, or ceafe to ex-
tol the fagacity of Charles. Though therefore a fuperior
degree of penetration is an honourable diftinction, yet
when a country is torn with factions, it is not without its
inconveniencies; and the most difcreet and cautious are
most exposed to the calumnies of oppofite factions. This
often proved an obftacle in the way of Cromwell. Hence
the prefbyterians, and hence the enemy impute every
harfh treatment which they experience, not to the parlia
ment but to Cromwell alone. They do not even hesitate
to afcribe their own indifcretions and mifcarriages to the
fraud and treachery of Cromwell; against him every in-
vective is levelled, and every cenfure paffed. Indeed the
flight of Charles to the Isle of Wight, which took place
while Cromwell was at a distance, and was fo sudden and
unexpected, that he acquainted by letter
letter every member
then in the metropolis with the extraordinary occurrence.
But this was the state of the cafe. The king, alarmed by
the clamours of the whole army, which, neither foftened
by his intreaties nor his promifes, had begun to demand
his punishment, he determined to make his escape in the
night with two trufty followers. But more determined
to fly, than rightly knowing where to fly, he was induced,
either by the ignorance or the cowardice of his atten-
dants, to furrender himself to Hammond, governor of the
Ifle of Wight, whence he thought that he might eafily be
conveyed by ship into France or Holland. This is what I
have learned concerning the king's flight to the Ifle of
Wight, from those who poffeffed the readieft means of
obtaining information. This is alfo one of the criminal
charges; that" the English under Cromwell procured a

great

66

great victory over the Scots." Not" procured," fir, but, without any folecism, gloriously atchieved. But confider how fanguinary that battle must have been, the mere idea of which excited fuch trembling apprehenfions, that you could not mention it without ftriking your head against Prifcian's pate. But let us fee what was the great crime in Cromwell in having gained fuch a complete victory over the Scots, who were menacing England with invafion, with the lofs of her independence. During this confufion, while Cromwell is abfent with his army:' yes, while he was engaged in fubduing an enemy, who had marched into the very heart of the kingdom, and menaced the fafety of the parliament; while he was employed in reducing the revolted Welch to their obedience, whom he vanquished wherever he could overtake, and dispersed wherever he could find; the prefbyterians "began to conceive a difguft againft Cromwell." Here you speak the truth. While he is repelling the common enemy at the hazard of his life, and bravely defending their interests abroad, they are confpiring to ruin his reputation at home, and fuborn one Huntington to take away his life. Does not this atrocious infance of ingratitude excite our abhorrence and our rage? By their inftigation a mob of worthlefs people, recking from the taverns and the stews, befieges the doors of the parliament, and (O indignity) compells them by clamour and intimidation, to vote fuch meafures as they chofe to dictate. And we fhould now have feen our Camillus, on his return from Scotland, after all his triumphs, and all his toils, either driven into exile, or put to an ignominious death, if General Fairfax had not openly remonftrated against the difgrace of his invincible lieutenant; if the whole army, which had itself experienced a good deal of ill-treatment, had not interpofed to prevent fuch atrocious proceedings. Entering the metropolis, they quelled the citizens without much difficulty; they defervedly expelled from the fenate thofe members who favoured the hoftile Scotch; the reft, delivered from the infolence of the rabble, broke off the conference which had begun with the king in the Ifle of Wight, contrary to the exprefs orders of the parliament. But Huntington the accufer was left to himfelf; and at

laft,

last, struck with remorse, folicited the forgiveness of Cromwell, and confeffed by whom he had been fuborned. These are the principal charges, except those to which I have replied above, which are brought forward against this noble deliverer of his country. Of how little force they are, is very apparent. But, in fpeaking of fuch a man, who has merited fo well of his country, I fhould do nothing, if I only exculpated him from crimes; particularly fince it not only fo nearly concerns the country, but even myself, who am fo closely implicated in the fame difgrace, to evince to all nations, and as far as I can, to all ages, the excellence of his character, and the splendour of his renown. Oliver Cromwell was fprung from a line of illuftrious ancestors, who were distinguished for the civil functions which they fuftained under the monarchy, and ftill more for the part which they took in restoring and establishing true religion in this country. In the vigour and maturity of his life, which he paffed in retirement, he was confpicuous for nothing more than for the strictness of his religious habits and the innocence of his life; and he had tacitly cherished in his breast that flame of piety which was afterwards to ftand him in fo much stead on the greatest occafions, and in the most critical exigencies. In the last parliament which was called by the king, he was elected to represent his native town; when he foon became distinguished by the juftnefs of his opinions, and the vigour and decifion of his counfels. When the fword was drawn, he offered his fervices, and was appointed to a troop of horse, whofe numbers were foon increased by the pious and the good, who flocked from all quarters to his ftandard; and in a fhort time he almost surpassed the greatest generals in the magnitude and the rapidity of his atchievements. Nor is this furprising; for he was a foldier difciplined to perfection in the knowledge of himself. He had either extinguifhed, or by habit had learned to fubdue, the whole host of vain hopes, fears, and paffions, which infeft the foul. He first acquired the government of himself, and over himself acquired the moft fignal victories; so that on the first day he took the field against the external enemy, he was a veteran in arms, confummately practised in the toils and exigencies of war. It is not

poffible

poffible for me in the narrow limits in which I circumfcribe myself on this occafion, to enumerate the many towns which he has taken, the many battles which he has won. The whole furface of the British empire has been the scene of his exploits, and the theatre of his triumphs; which alone would furnish ample materials for a history, and want a copiousness of narration not inferior to the magnitude and diverfity of the tranfactions. This alone seems to be a fufficient proof of his extraordinary and almost fupernatural virtue, that by the vigour of his genius, or the excellence of his difcipline, adapted, not more to the neceffities of war, than to the precepts of christianity, the good and the brave were from all quarters attracted to his camp, not only as to the best school of military talents, but of piety and virtue; and that during the whole war, and the occafional intervals of peace, amid fo many viciffitudes of faction and of events, he retained and still retains the obedience of his troops, not by largeffes or indulgence, but by his fole authority, and the regularity of his pay. In this inftance his fame may rival that of Cyrus, of Epaminondas, or any of the great generals of antiquity. Hence he collected an army as numerous and as well equipped as any one ever did in so short a time; which was uniformly obedient to his orders, and dear to the affections of the citizens; which was formidable to the enemy in the field, but never cruel to those who laid down their arms; which committed no lawless ravages on the perfons or the property of the inhabitants; who, when they compared their conduct with the turbulence, the intemperance, the impiety and the debauchery of the royalists, were wont to falute them as friends, and to confider them as guests. They were a ftay to the good, a terror to the evil, and the warmeft advocates for every exertion of piety and virtue. Nor would it be right to pass over the name of Fairfax, who united the utmost fortitude with the utmost courage; and the fpotless innocence of whofe life feemed to point him out as the peculiar favourite of heaven. Juftly indeed may you be excited to receive this wreath of praife; though you have retired as much as poffible from the world, and feek those fhades of privacy which were the delight of Scipio. Nor VOL. VI.

Ff

was

was it only the enemy whom you fubdued; but you have triumphed over that flame of ambition and that luft of glory, which are wont to make the best and the greatest of men their flaves. The purity of your virtues and the fplendour of your actions confecrate those sweets of ease which you enjoy; and which conftitute the wished-for haven of the toils of man. Such was the ease which, when the heroes of antiquity poffeffed, after a life of exertion and glory, not greater than yours, the poets, in defpair of finding ideas or expreffions better fuited to the fubject, feigned that they were received into heaven, and invited to recline at the tables of the gods. But whether it were your health, which I principally believe, or any other motive which caufed you to retire, of this I am convinced, that nothing could have induced you to relinquifh the service of your country, if you had not known that in your fucceffor liberty would meet with a protector, and England with a stay to its fafety, and a pillar to its glory. For, while you, O Cromwell, are left among us, ne hardly fhews a proper confidence in the Supreme, who distrusts the fecurity of England; when he sees that you are in fo fpecial a manner the favoured object of the divine regard. But there was another department of the war, which was deftined for your exclufive exertions.

Without entering into any length of detail, I will, if poffible, defcribe fome of the most memorable actions, with as much brevity as you performed them with celerity. After the loss of all Ireland, with the exception of one city, you in one battle immediately discomfited the forces of the rebels: and were bufily employed in fettling the country, when you were fuddenly recalled to the war in Scotland. Hence you proceeded with unwearied diligence against the Scots who were on the point of making an irruption into England with the king in their train: and in about the fpace of one year you entirely fubdued, and added to the English dominion, that kingdom which all our monarchs during a period of 800 years, had in vain ftruggled to fubject. In one battle you almost annihilated the remainder of their forces who, in a fit of defperation had made a fudden incurfion into England, then almost

deftitute