nation, and fearing they could not reach their own country, he withdrew himself from them in the night, with two or three friends, from whom he also separated himself, after making them cut off his hair, that he might the better effect his escape, in an unknown character. By the direction of the earl of Derby, he went to Boscobel, a solitary house on the borders of Staffordshire, inhabited by one Penderel, an obscure but honest farmer. Here he continued for some days, in the disguise of a peasant, employed in cutting fagots with the farmer and his three brothers. One day, for better concealment, he mounted a spreading oak; among the thick branches of which he sheltered himself, while several persons passed below in search of their unhappy sovereign, and expressed, in his hearing, their earnest desire of seizing him, that they might deliver him into the hands of his father's murderers'.

An attempt to relate all the romantic adventures of Charles, before he completed his escape, would lead me into details that could only serve to gratify an idle curiosity. But there is one other anecdote that must not be omitted, as it shows, in a strong light, the loyalty and liberal spirit of the English gentry, even in those times of general rebellion and fanaticism.

The king having met with lord Wilmot, near Boscobel, they agreed to throw themselves upon the fidelity of Mr. Lane, a zealous royalist, who lived at a short distance. By the contrivance of this gentleman, who treated them with great respect and cordiality, they were enabled to reach the sea coast; the king riding on the same horse, before Mr. Lane's daughter, to Bristol, in the character of a servant. But, when Charles arrived there, he was informed that no ship would sail from that port, either for France or Spain, for more than a month: he was therefore obliged to look elsewhere in quest of a passage. In the mean time he entrusted himself to colonel Wyndham of Dorsetshire, a gentleman of distinguished loyalty. Wyndham, before he received the king, asked leave to impart the secret to his mother. The request was granted; and that venerable matron, on being introduced to her royal guest, expressed the utmost joy, that, having lost, without regret, three sons and one grandson in defence of his father, she was still reserved, in her declining years, to be instrumental in his preservation. The colonel himself told Charles, that his father, sir Thomas, in the year 1636, a few

This tree was afterwards called the Royal Oak, and was long regarded with great veneration by the people in the neighbourhood.

days before his death, called to him his five sons, and said, "My children, you have hitherto seen serene and quiet times; but I must warn you now to prepare for clouds and storms. Factions arise on every side, and threaten the tranquillity of your native country. But whatever may happen, do you faithfully honour and obey your prince, and adhere to the crown. I charge you never to forsake the crown, though it should hang upon a bush !” "These last words," added Wyndham, "made such an impression on our breasts, that the many afflictions of these sad times could never efface their indelible characters'.'

While the king remained at the house of colonel Wyndham, all his friends in Britain, and over Europe, were held in the most anxious suspense, with respect to his fate. No one could conjecture what was become of him, or whether he was dead or alive; but a report of his death, being generally credited, happily relaxed the search of his enemies. Many attempts were made to procure a vessel for his escape, though without success. He was obliged to shift his quarters, to assume new disguises, and entrust himself to other friends, who all gave proofs of incorruptible fidelity and attachment. At last a vessel was found at Shoreham in Sussex, where he embarked, and arrived safely at Fescamp, in Normandy, after having been concealed for one-andforty days, during which the secret of his life had been entrusted to forty persons'.

The battle of Worcester, which utterly extinguished the hopes of the royalists, afforded Cromwell what he called his crowning mercy; an immediate prospect of that sovereignty which had long been the object of his ambition. Extravagantly elate with his good fortune, he would have knighted in the field of victory Lambert and Fleetwood, two of his generals, if he had not been dissuaded by his friends from exercising that act of regal authority. Every place now submitted to the arms of the commonwealth, not only in Great Britain, Ireland, and the neighbouring islands, but also on the continent of America, and in the East and West Indies; so that the parliament had soon leisure to look abroad, and to exert its vigour against foreign nations. The Dutch first felt the weight of its vengeance.

The independence of the United Provinces being secured by the treaty of Munster, that republic was at this time the greatest commercial state in Europe. The English had long been jealous

1 Clarendon.-Elench. Mot.-Heath's Chron. 3 Parl. Hist.

2 Clarendon.-Heath.

Whitelocke, p. 523.

of the prosperity of the Hollanders; but the common interests of religion, for a time, and afterwards the alliance between the house of Stuart and the family of Orange, prevented any rupture between the two nations. This alliance had also led the states to favour the royal cause, during the civil wars in England, and to overlook the murder of Dorislaus, one of the regicides, who had been assassinated at the Hague by the followers of Montrose. But after the death of William II. prince of Orange, who was carried off by the small-pox, when he was on the point of enslaving the people whom his ancestors had restored to liberty, greater respect was shown to the English commonwealth by the government party in Holland, which was chiefly composed of violent republicans. Through the influence of that party, a perpetual edict was published against the dignity of the stadtholder. Encouraged by this revolution, the English parliament thought the season favourable for cementing a close confederacy with the states; and St. John, who was sent over to the Hague, in the character of plenipotentiary, had entertained the idea of forming such a coalition between the republics as would have rendered their interests inseparable. But their High Mightinesses, unwilling to enter into such a solemn treaty with a government whose measures were so obnoxious, and whose situation seemed yet precarious, offered only to renew their former alliance with England; and the haughty St. John, disgusted with this disappointment, as well as incensed at some affronts which had been put upon him by the retainers of the Palatine and Orange families, returned to London with a determined resolution of taking advantage of the national jealousy, in order to excite a quarrel between the two commonwealths'.

The parliament entered into the resentment of its ambassador; and, through his influence, in conjunction with that of Cromwell, was framed and passed the famous Act of Navigation, which provided, among other regulations, that no goods should be imported into England from Asia, Africa, or America, but in English ships, nor from any part of Europe, except in vessels belonging to that country of which the goods were the growth or manufacture. This act, though necessary and truly politic as a domestic measure, and general in its restrictions on foreign

1 The duke of York being then at the Hague, St. John had the presumption, in a public walk, to dispute the precedency with him. Fired at this insult, the prince Palatine pulled off the ambassador's hat, and bade him respect the son and brother of his king. St. John put his hand to his sword, and refused to acknowledge either the king or duke of York; but the populace taking part with the prince, the proud republican was obliged to seek refuge in his lodgings. Basnage, p. 218.

powers, particularly affected the Dutch, as was foreseen; because their country produces few commodities, and they subsisted and still subsist chiefly by being the carriers and factors of other nations. A mutual jealousy, accompanied with mutual injuries, ensued between the republics; and a fierce naval war, ultimately occasioned by a dispute about the honour of the flag, was the

consequence.

Van Tromp, an admiral of great renown, had received from A.D. the states the command of a fleet of forty sail, to protect 1652. the Dutch merchantmen against the English privateers. He was forced, as he pretended, by stress of weather, into the road of Dover, where he met with the celebrated Blake, who commanded an English fleet of only fifteen sail. Elate with his superiority, the Dutch commander, instead of obeying the signal to strike his flag, according to ancient custom, in the presence of an English man-of-war, is said to have poured a broadside into the admiral's ship. Blake boldly returned the salute, notwithstanding his slender force; and, being afterward joined by a squadron of eight sail, he maintained a spirited conflict for four hours, took one of the enemy's ships, and sunk another.

Several other engagements ensued, without any decisive advantage. At length Van Tromp, seconded by the famous De Ruyter, met near the Godwin Sands with the English fleet commanded by Blake, who, although considerably inferior in force, did not decline the combat. A furious encounter took place, in which the admirals, on both sides, as well as the inferior officers and seamen, exerted uncommon bravery; but the Dutch were ultimately conquerors. Two English ships were taken, two

burned, and one sunk.

After this victory Tromp, in bravado, fixed a broom on the top of his main-mast, as if determined to sweep the sea of all English vessels. But he was not suffered long to enjoy his triumph. Great preparations were made in England to avenge so mortifying an insult, and recover the honour of the flag. A fleet was speedily fitted out, to the amount of eighty sail. Blake was again invested with the chief command, having under him Dean and Monk, two worthy associates.

Feb. 18, While the English admiral lay off Portland, he descried 1653. a Dutch fleet of seventy-six ships of war sailing up the Channel, with two hundred merchantmen under its convoy. This fleet was commanded by Van Tromp and De Ruyter, who intrepidly prepared themselves to combat their old antagonist, and support that glory which they had acquired. The battle

that ensued was accordingly the most furious that had been fought between the hostile powers. For two days, the contest was maintained with the utmost rage and obstinacy: on the third the Dutch gave way, and yielded the sovereignty of the ocean to its natural lords. Tromp, however, by a masterly retreat, saved all the merchantmen except thirty, but he lost eleven ships of war, and had two thousand men killed'.

After this signal overthrow, the naval power of the Dutch seemed, for a time, to be almost annihilated, and their trade was severely injuried. Above fifteen hundred of their ships had fallen, during the course of the war, into the hands of the English seamen. Convinced at last of the necessity of submission, they resolved to gratify the pride of the English parliament by soliciting peace. But their advances were treated with disdain. It was not therefore without pleasure that the states received an account of the dissolution of the haughty assembly.

The cause of this dissolution it is our business to investigate, and to relate the circumstances with which it was accompanied. The zealous republicans, who had long entertained a wellfounded jealousy of the ambitious views of Cromwell, took every opportunity of extolling the advantages of the fleet, while they endeavoured to discredit the army; and, insisting on the intolerable expense to which the nation was subjected, they now urged the necessity of a reduction of the land forces. That able commander and artful politician, who clearly saw, from the whole of their proceedings, that they were afraid of his power, and meant to reduce it, boldly resolved to prevent them, by realising their apprehensions. He immediately summoned a council of officers; and, as most of them owed their advancement to his favour, and relied upon him for their future preferment, he found them entirely devoted to his will. They agreed to present a remonstrance to the parliament, complaining of the arrears due to the army, and demanding a new representative body. The commons were offended at this liberty, and came to a resolution not to dissolve the parliament, but to fill up their number by new elections.

Enraged at such obstinacy, Cromwell hastened to the April 20. house with three hundred soldiers; some of whom he placed at the door, some in the lobby, and some on the stairs. He first addressed himself to his friend St. John, telling him he

1 Burchet's Naval History.-Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. ii.