BIILSTRODE WHITELOCKE. * IN this volume, a descendant of Whitelocke presents
the first com- plete biography of his ancestor which has yet been given to the world, and claims for him that justice which has at last been ren- dered to Cromwell and other prominent actors on the popular side during the Civil War and the Commonwealth. The memoir has been composed chiefly from the "Annals of my Life," which the aged statesman :wrote specially for the use of his children, and from his well-known Memorials of English Affairs. The first volume of the "Annals," embracing the first twenty-nine years of Whitelocke's life, exists in manuscript in his biographer's possession. The " Memorials" were originally a portion of the same work, and in their present form they are mere extracts from that voluminous production. The rest, we are told, " containing an immense amount of suppressed passages, not suffered to appear either in the first or second edition of the Memorials,' has seemingly been lost in some inexplicable way. The probability is, that one of his descendants has mislaid them ; and hence any hope, that time may reveal the spot where they lie neglected and forgotten." The loss of these authentic records is much to be deplored, but enough re- mains to afford a close and continuous view of the writer's private and public life, and to rescue his character and services from the obloquy cast upon them by the prejudices of two centuries. The biographer has performed his task with not less candour than ability, and produced a work of great interest, which cannot safely be neglected by any one who wishes rightly to understand the most important period in our national history. Bulatrode Whitelocke, born in 1605, was the only son of the eminent judge, Sir James Whiteloeke, a man of the most liberal, enlightened, and generous nature, which was fully inherited by his son. Both were educated in Merchant Tailors' School, which was even then renowned for its good training and the sound learn- ing it taught. Here an event occurred in Bulstrode's thirteenth year which greatly exalted him in the eyes of his masters and schoolfellows' and which he himself, with the superstitious feeling of the age, deemed prophetic of his future fortune. A kind of civil wax had broken out between the scholars of his own and those of Paul's school, and whenever they met each other singly or in parties, savage frays ensued, in which Bulstrocle, now the stalwart leader of his school, manfully bore his part. " To suppress this intestine feud, and not unmindful of their peaceful and erudite monarch,, who was well informed of all the incidents of the day in his gude ' town of London, the Masters hit upon an expedient to heal the breach, probably suggested by our Scotch Solomon himself, who loved to interfere in small matters, while leaving the graver cares of state to his • Memoirs, Biographical and Historical, of Balstrodc Whitalccke, Lord Com- missioner of the Great Seal, and Ambassador at the Court of Sweden at the period of the Commonwealth. By R. H. Nhitelocke, Professor Royal of Wurtcmberg. Published by Routledge and Cc.
favourite Staenie. An embassy was contrived for the purpose of pacifica- tion, and young Whitelocke was nominated Princeps Legationis. With a large train of his schoolfellows, he accordingly marched through the streets to Paul's School, duly announced his arrival there, made his solemn entry like an ambassador into the school-room, where all the scholars and many other auditors were present, and was here received with many of those for- mal ceremonies that still delight diplomatists. He made an oration in La- tin, which, fortunately, has not been preserved by the Latiners' of the time but it set forth the miseries of civil war and the benefits of peace, winding up with a proposition for steadfast amity, with a league offensive and defensive between the two republics. After a brief withdrawal, he and his associates were readmitted, when they were answered by one of Paul's scholars in another Latin oration, in which the orator stated that they had taken the amicable proposal into their serious deliberations, that they had found it acceptable, and had ratified it with their unanimous consent; whereupon some prefect called aloud, Plaudite ! ' and they were honour- ably dismissed. The event was looked upon as ominous, nor was it forgotten in after-life."
At the University of Oxford, young Whitelocke's studies _were carefully watched by his father's early friend, Dr. Laud, then Pre- sident of St. John's; whilst in company with Mr. Juxon, a better man than Laud, and his future successor in the see of Canterbury, the young man enjoyed the recreation of hunting, and contracted a fondness for field sports, which he retained to the end of his life. Twenty years afterwards, Whiteloeke refused to serve on the committee for drawing up the charge against Laud, and when the chairman moved for a peremptory order to enforce his attend- ance, he pleaded, with success, that " it would be disingenuous and ungrateful in him, the pupil, to be personally the instrument in taking away the life of a man who had been so instrumental for the bettering of his." A serious accident, from which he did not recover for many months, prevented Whitelocke from taking his degree ; and, as soon as his health permitted it, he sat down in the Middle Temple to the diligent study of the common law, at the same time perfecting himself in manly and elegant accom- plishments, especially music, in which he grew to be quite a master. Among many celebrated men with whom he became in- timate at this period, was the great Belden, from whom he re- ceived good counsel, instruction in the Oriental tongues, and other branches of knowledge, " and, although he does not own it, a great bias to his political opinions." In 1626, Whitelocke, though still a mere law student unknown to fame, was, through the inte- rest of one of his father's friends, chosen Member for Stafford, and joined in the Remonstrance against " Tonnage and Poundage." On the abrupt dissolution of Parliament, he was called to the bar, and, not long afterwards, being chosen Master of the Revels by the young Templars, his fame in this capacity soon spread to the Court, and he was in danger of having his head completely turned. "The maids of honour to the Queen, and divers other
great ladies, were constantly inviting him to their balls And at this epoch of his life he might, had he so willed it, have easily been received as a young courtier in the Royal train. The King smiled upon him, and old wily lawyers of the day were not blind, as they thought, to the, future." Fortunately, the debts incurred by his gay doings called him off from this temptation, and sent him back to the steady pursuit of his profession. When next he appeared at Court, it was as one of the conductors of the famous masque, which the obsequious Societies of the Four Inns of Court caused to be performed before the King and Queen at Allhallowtide, 1634, in testimony of their devoted loyalty and affection. Whiteloeke and Hyde were on the committee nomi- nated for this purpose by the Middle Temple, and even Belden did not escape ; but to him, probably, the spectators were in- debted for the grotesque part of the performance, called the Anti- Masque, with the fun of which were mingled broad strokes of political satire, which may not have been wholly unproductive of more permanent results.
These merrymakings were soon succeeded for Whitelocke by a season of deep grief and misery. The confirmed insanity of his wife had compelled him to put her under the care of a doctor of physic at Bow, selected by her mother, who had already placed another daughter under the hands of the same practitioner. Desolate and despairing, the husband now took a sudden and rash resolution to leave the kingdom in which he was banished from her company whom he most loved, that he might seek men:. tal quiet or excitement abroad. " It seems to have been his in- tention to abandon his native land for ever, and strike out a mili- tary career in France, as one of his uncles had done a quarter of a century before ; " and Richelieu, the all-powerful minister, not without sinister motives, was most ready to favour his design. He obtained leave to spend some time with the French army in Picardy, and a commission having been offered him to command a troop of horse, he accepted it ; but, fortunately for his country, the death of his wife, and the iniquitous proceedings of his mother-in-law, forced him to return to England. Cromwell was not suffered to fulfil his intention of emigrating to America ; the uplenetic folly of a weak-witted woman prevented Whiteloeke from transferring his allegiance to the crown of France. How different would have been the course of English history had either of these men disappeared from the scene ; for Cromwell eonld net have conquered had not Whiteloeke been there to keep the sword in his hand'{
The ever memorable Long Parliament met in November 1640, and Whitelocke took his seat in it as Member for Great Marlow. The first important business that devolved on him was that of Chairman of the Select Committee to prepare Articles of Im- peachment against Strafford. The Earl, speaking of this com- mittee, and particularly of the lawyers, said to a private friend, " that Glynne and Maynard used him like advocates, but Palmer
and Whitelocke used him like gentlemen, and yet left out nothing material to be urged against him." As a lawyer, Whiteloeke considered the Earl not guilty, and greatly admired his defence. "The fate of the anointed Strafford, in whose ultimate liberation he for one evidently, believed—and, indeed, what moderate Eng- lishman could at that time have deemed the King capable of such criminal weakness and treachery as to suffer his minister's execu- tion P—left a profound impression on Whitelocke's mind. His conscience seared him here : he admits that he felt remorse, and from this hour he meddled no longer with deeds of blood, nor would have anything to do with prosecutions on capital charges for the future." When the Civil War began in 1642, Whiteloeke was commanded to prevent the execution of a Royal Commission of Array in Oxfordshire. This duty being successfully discharged, and the Commissioners being sent prisoners to town, he marched to Oxford, and entered it without resistance, in conjunction with the forces of Lords Say and St. John, more than 3000 strong. A council of war was held, in which was discussed the necessity of preventing the occupation of that important place by the King. Whitelocke, who was no novice in strategy, was for fortifying the city, and placing a good governor there ; he himself was recom- mended, shortly after, to be the governor, and 1000 men were offered by his neighbours, at a day's notice, to ba under his com- mand, provided he were chosen ; the townsmen, too, joined in the request, but all these suggestions were overruled by Lord. Say, whose authority was paramount. " This was the first great blunder committed in the war, and one which more furthered the King's cause in the field than any other, always excepting the expedition of Essex into Cornwall, where he marched into a trap with his eyes wide open. But for these two pernicious mistakes, the contest would not have been prolonged as it was, and might have ended with perhaps half the sacrifices on either side." Two years afterwards, Whitelocke's life was nearly forfeited through an act of guileless indiscretion, into which he and his brother Commis- sioner, Bolles, were entrapped by the King, when they came to him with proposals of peace. As this event had no ulterior con- sequences of national importance, and served only to exemplify the deliberate perfidy of Charles, and the galeta de cwur with which he hastened to break a promise given upon his word as crowned king, and his honour as a gentleman, we pass on to matters of deeper and more lasting concern.
Soon after Cromwell had been made Lieutenant-general of the Earl of Manchester's army, the latter and the Scotch Commis- sioners plotted how they might get rid of him by accusing him to Parliament as " an incendiary between the two kingdoms." This scheme was quashed by the decision pronounced on it by Whitelocke and Maynard, whom those engaged in it had sent for, to know their opinions as to the law of England touching an " incendiary." An attempt was then made to reach the same end by the Self- denying Ordinance, a measure which would have withdrawn Cromwell from the army, along with all the other officers who were members of Parliament ; but it did not fulfil the great expec- tations which the Republicans built upon it.
"There are some battles that change the destinies of the world, and so there are some speeches. That of Whitelocke's against the Self-denying Ordinance was one of them ; and although it gave rise to a fierce debate that lasted to a late hour of the night, and although envy and self-ends prevailed for the moment, the measure received a blow from which it never recovered. Had it really been acted on impartially, we should have had no Naseby, no Protector, no Bill of Rights, and the people of this country might possibly be living to this day under a triumphant, despotic, and autocratic form of government. The very passing of the measure by the House of Commons prepared the downfall of that Assembly, for Cromwell never forgot or for- gave this impotent attempt to ruin and degrade him."
In that memorable conversation held between Cromwell and Whiteloeke in St. James's Park two months after the battle of Worcester, when the victorious General revealed his design of assuming the title of king, Whitelocke argued strongly against its expediency, and urged him to enter into a compromise with the King of Scots(Charles II.) whose fortunes were then at so low an ebb that he and. his followers would gladly hearken to any terms
by which their lost hopes of a return might be revived. By a private treaty with him," he said, "you may secure yourself and your friends and their lortunes, you may make yourself and your posterity as great and permanent, to all human probability, as ever any subject was, and provide for your friends. You may put such limits to monarchical power, as will secure our spiritual and civil liberties, you may secure the cause in which we are all en- gaged, by having the power of the militia continued in yourself, and whom you shall agree upon after you." After hearing this very questionable proposal, Cromwell civilly put an end to the conference. From that hour, his great intimacy with his legal friend grew cool for a time, and he was studious of an opportu- nity to send him out of the way on some honourable employment. The embassy to Sweden was contrived for this purpose, and it was at the court of Christina that Whitelocke heard of the disso- lution of the "Barebones Parliament" and Cromwell's further elevation. On his return, the friendly intercourse between him and the Protector was renewed until, for refusing to be made the passive instrument of his Highness for depriving many persons of their freehold without offence or legal trial, he was deprived of the Great Seal, of which he was chief commissioner ; but he was soon restored to favour and appointed to other high offices. He, on the other hand, had now acquired certain knowledge that neither the civil nor the religious liberties of England could be safe in the hands of Charles or of James Stuart, and therefore with other lawyers he urged Cromwell to assume the title of biog. But time had effected a change of views in the Protector as will
as in his advisers. "The statesman had learned much of the de jure monarch during his absence from England; the successful warrior had studied more impartially the capacity of his son, Richard, to wear the crown after his own decease. Both of them now knew many secrets of state, with which they had on the former occasion been unacquainted Great despondency as to the future must have determined Cromwell to a refusal that in reality sealed England's destinies, and paved the way for the overthrow of his party."
The last efforts which Whitelocke could make for his oountry's welfare were directed against the designs of Monk, the nature of which he had been the first to penetrate and publicly proclaim. The weak, vacillating, and fickle character of Fleetwood, rendered these efforts vain. Almost at the last moment, Whitelocke went once more to him, and urged him to do one of two things- " The first was to draw all his forces together, borrow money from the City, and strike a blow for victory. Upon this, Fleet- wood asked, whether Whitelocke would go with him into the field and to the Tower, and the answer was, yes. Then he asked what the other alternative was. To send some person of trust to Breda, and offer Charles the crown upon satisfactory terms, and upon being again asked whether he himself would go, his answer was again, yes." Fleetwood desired him to prepare forthwith for the journey, but then hastily begged him to stay a moment, while he consulted Vane, Desborough, and Berry. Their advice prevailed over Whitelocke's, and the project was abandoned. The present biographer is severe upon the learned author of the Lives of the Lord Chancellors, for having related this affair "in such a way as to induce the reader to believe that Whitelocke made the offer to go himself," and that in fact it was a mere courtier's race for selfish ends between him and Monk, between the patriot and the traitor.
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