He told his Majesty of France, in reply to his assurances of the impossibility of his interfering, that he had already allowed his own troops to be employed as the tools of the persecutors; which, though something very like giving his Christian Majesty the lie, was not without its effect. Cromwell would not move from the sacred duty he had assumed to himself, as the defender of the persecuted Protestants of Europe. The French Ambassador applied for an audience to take his leave, and was made welcome to go. Louis and Mazarin had both to yield to his wishes, at last, and became the unwilling advocates of the heretics of the Valleys. On the interference of the King of France, the Duke of Savoy was forced to grant an amnesty to the Vaudois, and restore to them their ancient privileges. Many attempts were afterwards made to set at nought this treaty, but while Cromwell lived these persecuted descendants of the Waldenses:

"Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,

When all our father's worshipp'd stocks and stones,"

were never without a champion, ready at every sacrifice, to turn aside from them the sword of the destroyer, and to protect the weak and defenceless remnant from the malevolence of their enemies. But the prejudiced narration of Clarendon may better illustrate the effect of Cromwell's policy on those who were incapable of appreciating the high principles that influenced his conduct, even than the impartial narrations of later historians. "To reduce three nations," says that historian, "which perfectly hated him, to an entire obedience to all his dictates; to awe and govern those nations by an army that was undevoted to him and wished his ruin; was an instance of a very prodigious address. But his greatness at home was but a shadow of the glory he had abroad. It was hard to discover which feared him most, France, Spain, or the low countries, where his friendship was current at the value he put upon it. As they did all sacrifice their honour and

their interests to his pleasure, so there is nothing he could have demanded that either of them would have denied him. To manifest which there needs only two instances. The first is when those of the Valley of Lucerne had unwarily rebelled against the Duke of Savoy, which gave occasion to the Pope, and the neighbour princes of Italy, to call and solicit for their extirpation, and their prince positively resolved upon it. Cromwell sent his agent to the Duke of Savoy, a prince with whom he had no correspondence or commerce, and so engaged the Cardinal, and even terrified the Pope himself, without so much as doing any grace to the English Roman Catholics, (nothing being more usual than his saying 'that his ships in the Mediterranean should visit Civita Vecchia, and that the sound of his cannon should be heard in Rome,') that the Duke of Savoy thought it necessary to restore all that he had taken from them, and did renew all those privileges they had formerly enjoyed, and newly forfeited.

"The other instance of his authority was yet greater and more incredible. In the city of Nismes, which is one of the fairest in the province of Languedoc, and where those of the religion do most abound, there was a great faction at that season, when consuls, who are the chief magistrates, were to be chosen. Those of the reformed religion had the confidence to set up one of themselves for that magistracy, which they of the Roman religion resolved to oppose with all their power. The dissension between them made so much noise, that the intendant of the province, who is the supreme minister in all civil affairs throughout the whole province, went thither to prevent any disorder that might happen. When the day of election came, those of the reformed religion possessed themselves, with many armed men, of the townhouse, where the election was to be made. The magistrates sent to know what their meaning was; to which they answered, 'they were there to give their voices for the

choice of the new consuls, and to be sure that the election should be fairly made.' The bishop of the city, the intendant of the province, with all the officers of the church, and the present magistrates of the town, went together in their robes to be present at the election, without any suspicion that there would be any force used. When they came near the gate of the townhouse, which was shut, and they supposed would be opened when they came, they within poured out a volley of musket-shot upon them, by which the dean of the church, and two or three of the magistrates of the town, were killed upon the place, and very many others wounded, whereof some died shortly after. The court was glad of the occasion; and resolved that this provocation, in which other places were not involved, and which nobody could excuse, should warrant all kind of severity in that city, even to the pulling down their temples, and expelling many of them for ever out of the city; which, with the execution and forfeiture of many of the principal persons, would be a general mortification to all of the religion in France, with whom they were heartily offended; and a part of the army was forthwith ordered to march towards Nismes, to see this executed with the utmost rigour.

"Those of the religion in the town were quickly sensible into what condition they had brought themselves; and sent, with all possible submission, to the magistrates to excuse themselves, and to impute what had been done to the rashness of particular men, who had no order for what they did. The magistrates answered, 'that they were glad they were sensible of their miscarriage; but they could say nothing upon the subject till the King's pleasure should be known, to whom they had sent a full relation of all that had passed.' The others very well knew what the King's pleasure would be; and forthwith sent an express, one Moulins, a Scotchman, who had lived many years in that place and in Montpellier, to Cromwell,

to desire his protection and interposition. The express made so much haste, and found so good a reception the first hour he came, that Cromwell, after he had received the whole account, bade him 'refresh himself after so long a journey, and he would take such care of his business that, by the time he came to Paris, he should find it despatched;' and that night sent away another messenger to his ambassador Lockhart; who, by the time Moulins came thither, had so far prevailed with the Cardinal, that orders were sent to stop the troops which were upon their march towards Nismes; and, within few days after, Moulins returned with a full pardon and amnesty from the King, under the great seal of France, so fully confirmed with all circumstances that there was never farther mention made of it, but all things passed as if there had never been any such thing; so that nobody can wonder that his memory remains still in those parts, and with those people, in great veneration.

"He would never suffer himself to be denied any thing he ever asked of the Cardinal, alleging, 'that the people would not be otherwise satisfied;' which the Cardinal bore very heavily, and complained of to those with whom he would be free. One day he visited Madam Turenne; and, when he took his leave of her, she, according to her custom, besought him to continue gracious to the churches. Whereupon the Cardinal told her 'that he knew not how to behave himself: if he advised the King to punish and suppress their insolence, Cromwell threatened him to join with the Spaniard; and, if he showed any favour to them, at Rome they accounted him an heretic.'

The proceedings the Cardinal did adopt, leave no room to doubt the conclusion he finally arrived at, as to whether it was most advisable to attend to the threats of the Pope of Rome, or of the Lord Protector of England.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE KING SHIP.

AMONG the major-generals appointed by Cromwell, lis own son Henry was nominated for Ireland, with the command of all the forces there. He was afterwards advanced to the office of Lord Deputy, and proved a most important auxiliary to the Protector. He indeed was the true inheritor of his father's indomitable energy and genius, and had not the prejudices of hereditary succession and primogeniture stood in the way, he, as the successor of Oliver Cromwell in the office of the protectorate, might have established the Commonwealth of England on a permanent basis, and saved England, and Scotland too, from the necessity of once more proving the ineradicable vices of the doomed race of the Stuarts. But it was not so to be. The brave Oliver had to do battle alone in that generation against the discordant hydra of despotism and anarchy, and the men who, timidly measuring his footsteps, wrought for us the "revolution settlement," with its forms and shadows of a popular government, could not even appreciate their own Dutch William," much less our true English Oliver. To those who can read the following little fragment of a letter to his son-in-law, Lord Fleetwood, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, believing it to be sincere, and from the heart of him, whom his worst detractors have never dared deny the expression of the warmest domestic affections, it will open up a glimpse of the terrible sea of strife through which the Protector of the Commonwealth had to struggle on.

"DEAR CHARLES,

Whitehall, 22d June, 1655.

"I write not often: at once I desire thee to know I most dearly love thee; and indeed my