12 APRIL 1856, Page 16

BOOKS.

Gui3OT'S HISTORY OF RICHARD CROMWELL LED THE RESTORATION..

Tim interval between the death of Oliver Cromwell and the Re- storation of Charles the Second has an historical interest be- yond the events or the persons engaged in them, inasmuch as it offers to the political student an example which cannot be else- where examined so well, of a revolutionary chief quietly trans- mitting his authority to a successor. The nearest apparent ap- proach to the case is that of Augustus succeeding to the power of Julius Caesar; but there is really no resemblance between them. His prestige as the nephew of Julius was unquestionably of great advantage to Augustus, yet that alone would have availed him little. But for his own abilities Antony would have crushed him ; he had to attain imperatorial power by severe and long-continued struggles. When he reached it, he was un- doubtedly the foremost politic man of all that world ; and though Augustus wanted the military genius of his uncle, he had long been exercised in war, he had commanded victorious armies and when he reached supreme power he might pass for as good a general as any then living. In point of weakness of character and final result, Henry the Sixth would seem to be nearer Richard Cromwell ; but the accession of the house of Lancaster was only a change in the line of a dynasty, not a popular revolution. The house of York being put aside the title of Bolingbroke was the best ; and had Henry the Fifth lived till his son was of full man- hood, the dynasty of Lancaster would doubtless have been perma- nently established. What might have happened in 1658-1660 had Cromwell's eldest son possessed the vigour and capacity with the military experience and reputation of his father, it is difficult to say. Oliver himself could not get the various and discordant parties to assist him in ruling by a National Assembly called a Parliament: It was with the greatest difficulty that he kept the more violent factions in order ; nor was his vast renown in war always suffi- cient to prevent conspiracy or mutiny in the army. His difficul- ties and dangers embittered his life, if they did not shorten it. The son of Oliver would indeed have been free from the Royalist odium of the King's execution, and from the charge of treachery, which the Republicans brought against the Protector ; but if without the hatred he would have been without the fear. Suffi- cient time had not elapsed since Oliver attained supreme power (five years) to allow living indignation to subside and a younger generation with only traditional feelings to come upon the stage. M. Guizot seems to think that the Restoration must have taken place under any circumstances ; but, as he seems writing with some bias against revolutions in general, he may be unconsciously swayed by his inclinations.. "When revolutions are verging towards their decline, it is a melancholy but most instructive study to watch the disappointment and anguish of those men who have long beenpowerful and triumphant, but have at length reached the period when n just retribution of their faults, their dominion escapes from their grasp; i leaving them still subject to the sway of their un- enlightened and invincible obstinacy. Not only are they divided among themselves, like all rivals who have once been accomplices, but they are de- tested as oppressors and decried as visionaries by the nation ; and, stricken at once with powerlessness and bitter surprise, they burn with indignation against their country, which they accuse of cowardice and ingratitude, and struggle vainly beneath the hand of God, whose chastisements they are un- able to understand. Such, after the death of Cromwell, was the condition of all those parties which since the execution of Charles I. had been con- tending for the government of England as established by the Revolution : Republicans and partisans of the Protector, Parliamentarians and soldiers, fanatics and political intriguers—all, whether sincere or corrupt, were in- volved in the same fate."

Under the actual circumstances, Henry Cromwell, the Governor of Ireland, a soldier of some repute, and the best qualified for rule of the Protector's sons, had more than misgivings as to the success of the attempt.

With Richard Cromwell, indeed, success was not likely. His abilities were of a fair order; on urgent occasions he could ex- hibit conduct and courage ; he was tractable, and amenable to good advice. Had he succeeded to undisputed authority-, he might have borne a comparison with any Sovereign, except Wil- liam the Third, who has reigned since Elizabeth, the epoch when Parliament and a Ministry began to override the power and personal qualifies of the Monarch. For his actual position Richard wanted capacity aud the faculty of command. He was too apt to listen to other than sound advisers' and to be influenced by the last word ; his goodnature induced levity of behaviour unseemly in the position of a ruler, and especially imprudent in him who relied for support upon Anti-Royalists and religionists. Above all, he wanted consistent resolution, and that hardness of charac- ter which puts aside individual right or suffering to attain the object. The reputation of such a character, had he possessed it, might have prevented the military chiefs from pressing him into the dissolution of Parliament, which was in effect his own resig- nation. Whether the scheme of violence indicated in the follow- ing extract would have been permanently successful, may be doubted ; and Richard's. humanity perhaps enabled him to escape "the remembrance of a crime perpetrated in vain." "At Whitehall, on the other hand-, the officers who were devoted to Richard —,Lord Faukonbridge, Lord Howard, Whalley, Lord Broghill, Goffe, In- goldsby, and others—gathered around him, and urged him to take his ene- mies by surprise. It is time to look about you,' said Lord Howard : 'em- • History of Richard Cromwell and the Restoration of Charles II. By M. Galina. Translated by Andrew It. rwoble. In two volumes. Published by Bentley. pire and command are not now the question. Your person, your life, are in peril : you are the son of Cromwell, show yourself worthy to be his son. Phis business requires a bold stroke, and must be supported by a good head. in Do not suffer yourself to be daunted. Fleetwood, bert, Desborough, and Vane, are the contrivers of all this. I will rid you of them : do you stand by me, and only back my zeal for your honour with your name; nay head shall answer for the consequence.' Ing,oldsby added his entreaties to those of Howard, and offered to become personally responsible for Lambert, who was considered their most dangerous enemy. Richard was racked by painful perplexity. I have never done anybody- any harm,' he said, and never will ; I will not have a drop of blood spilt for the preservation of my greatness, which is a burden to me.' Howard indignantly remonstrated with him on this want of courage : ' Do you think,' he asked, this modera- tion of yours will repair the wrdngyour family has committed by its eleva- tion ? Everybody knows that by violence your father procured the death of

i the late King, and kept his sons n banishment : mercy in the present state

of affairs is unseasonable. v aside this pusillaninntv ; every moment is precious ; your enemies spend this time in acting, which we waste in con- sulting.' But Richard was not to be persuaded. Talk no more of it,' he said ; my resolution is fixed. I am thankful for your friendship, but violent counsels suit not with me.' Howard left Whitehall, having discharged his duty as a loyal servant to the Cromwell family.; and now, free from all obli- gation towards them, he devoted his energies, in concert with Lord Brogbill, to preparing the way for the restoration of Charles Stuart." , When the history of the .twenty-one eventful months that elapsed between the death of Oliver and the Restoration is ex- amined, the direct cause of Richard's downfall, and of the anarchy which rendered Charles a national necessity, will be found to be the army ; just as the military, was openly the predominant power during the civil wars which preceded the estaiilishment of the Roman Empire—as it has, though less openly, influenced every revolution in Europe from the abdication of Napoleon, if not from 1789. The -violence the adherence to impracticable opinions, and the determination to compromise nothing that characterized the Republicans and sectaries of Richard's House of Commons would have rendered government very difficult without external. hinderance ; while the individual zeal or imprudence of the Crom- wellians sometimes played into the hands of the extreme party, and the Royalist Members were ever at hand to embroil the fray. Still the wild party was in a decided minority; the Royalists always voted against their peculiar notions ; the Government, though delayed, was not defeated. It was the union of the ex- treme Republicans, beaten in the House, with the leaders of the army, who had the substantial grievance of long arrears, that caused the downfall of Richard and the Cromwellian party, after a contentious struggle of eight months, from the 3d of Sep- tember 1658 to the 25th of April 1659. The Republican Rump, which, under the patronage of the army, nominally rose to supreme power, had greater difficulties to con- tend with than even the Cromwellians. They had lost the peace- ful and conservative element which the Cromwellians possessed in a degree ; by excluding all the Members of the Long Parliament who had been expelled in 1648, they exhibited to the country an act of tyranny, while they shut their eyes to what would seem the staring conclusion that the fag-end of a House of Commons origi- nally summoned by the King had no claim whatever to represent the entire body and abstract power of "the people " ; they justly distrusted the officers of the army who had unwillingly restored them ; they were at loggerheads about forms and even prin- ciples of government. Still the old energy of the Commonwealth- men remained, though exercised under adverse circumstances. They struggled against their own well-grounded distrust, their internal dissensions, popular odium, and financial difficulties ; exhibiting no lack of practical capacity in their proceedings or their plans, though the latter were of necessity imperfectly carried. out. After a struggle of three months against insurmountable -diffi- culties, the conspiracies of the Royalists, ending in Booth's abor- tive rising of the 1st August 1659, gave them a glimpse of success. By the 21st of the month, Lambert, at the head of the Re- publican forces, had defeated the insurrection and captured its leaders. Victory promised the Republic prestige, confiscations money: but these hopes were dashed by the culpable ambition and inflated vanity of the successful soldier. After various in- trigues and some open demonstrations, Lanabeit, on the 13th October, dissolved the House by preventing it from meeting. The precautions taken by Parliament, through the soldiers who still adhered to them, rendered it an exploit of greater danger than attended the dissolution of the Long Parliament by Cromwell. It wanted the calm completeness, the lightning-stroke of that action, as well as the concentrated English character condensed into the only order—"Take away that bauble."

"On the next day, the 13th of October, Westminster and its neighbour- hood presented a warlike aspect on all sides. Informed that Lambert had determined to dissolve it on that very day, the Parliament had prepared to make a vigorous defence : the regiments of Morley and Moss occupied the doors court-yards, and immediate approaches of the Palace ; other troops quartered near London, among others Colonel Okey's regiment of cavalry, had been ordered to hold themselves ready to march to their assistance at a moment's notice. Lambert, on his side, had received a note in these terms —‘ Secure yourself, or tomorrow before this time your head will be in dan- ger ' ; and Haslerig had, it is said, firmly determined to have lhim arrested and shot without the least delay. Notwithstanding the hesitation of some of his friends, Lambert boldly took the offensive : at the head of his own regiment of infantry be proceeded through the streets, barred all those by which the Members could gain access to the House, cut off all communica- tion with the City, and then hastened in person to Westminster. When

near the Palace i, he met Colonel Morley, who, pistol in hand, told him he would fire on him if he advanced a step further. Colonel,' replied Lam- bert, I will go another way, though, if I pleased, I could pass this way' ; and he turned off in another direction. But here his progress was arrested by Colonel Moss, with his troop : Lambert at once advanced towards the soldiers, and asked them, if they would suffer nine of their old officers, who had so often spent their blood for them and with them, to be disgraced and ruined with their families?' ' It were much better,' replied Moss, that nine families should be destroyed than the civil authority of the na- tion trampled under foot.' Lambert rejoined; a conference ensued ; some of Moss's soldiers went over to Lambert; but the majority remained in sus- pense. The mounted guard of the Parliament, under the command of Ma- jor Evelyn now came up, on their way to their post. Lambert went up to them, and 'peremptorily addressed them. Evelyn looked around him • seve- ral of his men seemed wavering ; his Lieutenant, Caithness, advised him not to resist; he dismounted from his horse' and his whole troop went over to Lambert. At about this time, Lenthall the Speaker, who was proceed- ing in his carriage to the House, was arrested near Paitice Yard, by a de- tachment of Lambert's soldiers stationed there under the command of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Dukenfield, one of his boldest adherents. Lenthall insisted on being allowed to pass, reminding the soldiers that he was their chief general: but the soldiers mockingly forced him to turn back, and offered to conduct him to Wallingford House, the residence of Fleetwood, who they said, would give him any explanations he might desire. If Lieutenant- General Fleetwood has any business with me,' replied Lenthall, he may come to my house ' ; and he returned home without further obstruction.

"Such was the posture of affitirs at about the middle of the day. Lam- bert manifestly had the advantage. Haslerig and his Mends applied to the i

City for assistance ; but the citizens replied that they had no wish to inter- fere n the quarrel, and would confine their efforts to the maintenance of order within their own precincts. The public took no interest either in the conflict or in the Combatants. The streets were full of careless passengers, bent, as usual, on the pursuit of their own affairs, who merely paused a mo- ment to make a few inquiries, and then resumed their course. The issue was still uncertain : in various places, the officers and soldiers of the two parties, posted opposite one another, had drawn near enough to enter into conversation, and seemed determined not to come to blows. A few Mem- bers of Parliament, in the meanwhile had succeeded in getting to the House by the Thames. The Council of State had met. Lambert and Des- borough on one side, and Ilaslerio•' and Morley, on the other, were present: those Members of the House who had made their way to Westminster were invited to attend the Council. A stormy debate began. Colonel Sydenham justified the conduct of the army.: It was,' he said, the last remedy, made use of by a particular call of Divine Providence.' Bradshaw, old and infirm though he was, rose to protest against this justification. He was now go- ing to his God,' he said, and had not patience to hear His great name so openly blasphemed ' ; and after stigmatizing what the army had done as de- testable, he left the room. The others, less sensitive, continued the con- ference: both parties felt the uselessness of discussion ; all acknowledged the pressure of necessity, and used it as an excuse for cowardice as well as for violence. It was admitted that reconciliation and conflict were alike impossible. The Parliament yielded : it was agreed that it should sit no longer ; and that the council of officers should undertake to maintain the public peace and to prepare for the convocation of a new Parliament, to which the settlement of the nation should be referred. The Council of State sent orders to the troops to return to their quarters : they 'instantly obeyed ; and by an agreement between mutual weaknesses, the Long Par- liament retired noiselessly from that hall from which Cromwell, six years before, had driven it so ignominiously ; and Lambert, the paltry imitator of Cromwell, remained master of the field, without having achieved a victory.',

This violence of Lambert gave Monk an opportunity of inter- fering with effect on the broad and undeniable principle of the superiority of the civil to the military power. Backed by the authority of the dispossessed Parliament, supported by a rising of Fairfax in Yorkshire, and Royalist gatherings in different parts, Monk advanced into England. The imitator of Cromwell quickly found out his inferiority to his original : Lambert's army melted away from him, and he had to succumb without striking a stroke. Monk's subsequent march upon London—his restoration not only of the Rump but of the entire Long Parliament—the cautious and taciturn reserve in which he veiled his design, if he really had a design beyond that of being guided by events and following for-

tune—the unprincipled hypocrisy and falsehood by which he duped the Republicans' and the quiet boldness with which he moulded the army, to his purposes—are all distinctly impressed upon the mind of any reader of history, if he is not familiar with the details.

The present work of M. Guizot is a full and clear account of the events that intervened between the death of Oliver Cromwell

and the Restoration. The portraits or characters of public men are not so numerous as in his two previous works, "The English Revolution" and "Oliver Cromwell" ; perhaps because they have been already painted. The narrative owes its fulness less to minute detail than to a free quotation from public decuments, and to a particular account of some things which history, perhaps improperly, condenses by generalization,—as exhibitions of po- pular feeling, or the full statement of Lambert's adventures in dissolving the House of Commons, already quoted. Reflections are mingled with the narrative, generally just, mostly somewhat pedantic seldom very deep in thought or forcible in expression, though there is an effort to be impressive. The work is useful, but inferior to the two previous histories. In fact, it is rather a political narrative than a history. The existence of such classes Its the people, or the citizens or the gentry, may occasionally be admitted, when they are roused to some expression of opinion, or directly suffer from some military irregularities that may influence opinion. Of the physical state of the country as indicative of population and cultivation—of the manners and condition of the people—nay, even of the material interests which must exist in all countries and must be vitally influenced by such times of Un- certainty and confusion as those in which M. Guizot's story is laid—we hear nothing. It would, seem that in the eyes of the Doctrinaires the only interests worth mentioning are the interests of rulers and professional politicians.

The letters of M. Bordeaux the French Ambassador, inserted, with a few other documents, in the Appendix contain a clear ac-

count of such passing events as behoved the Appendix, to know, and of public opinion at the moment ; but they display no fore- casting sagacity. They have also incidental notices of more par- ticular if not private matters ; but they want those graphic pic- tures of men and manners contained in the correspondence of genie of the Venetian envoys. As the pith of their political information is contained in the text, and their interest is rather for the stu-

dent than the reader, it seems scarcely worth while to have translated them, since they nearly double the length of the work, without proportionately adding to the interest.